#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 7.22 #RMU: NAACP convention; Black judge hit w/ 6-month sentence; Cop posts on FB AOC should be shot

Episode Date: July 23, 2019

7.22.19 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: @NAACP convention beings in Detroit; Ex-Judge begins 6-months sentence after she was convicted of mishandling a confidential document in 2014; Louisiana cop posts on Facebook that @AOC should be shot; We pay tribute to Art Neville of the legendary Neville Brothers who passed away today. - #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. to, yeah, banana pudding. If it's happening in business, our new podcast is on it. I'm Max Chastain. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers,

but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-away, you got to pray for the providers, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-away, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by 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.

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I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 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 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. including stacy abrams as well as a speaker of the house nancy pelosi rashida to lead the congresswoman here from detroit as well as naACP president Derek Johnson. Also folks Cincinnati ex-judge Tracy Hunter is ordered to begin her six months jail

sentence where she was convicted of mishandling a confidential document in 2014. We'll talk to folks involved in that. Folks in Cincinnati are talking about protesting that particular decision. A Louisiana police officer suggests on Facebook that New York Representative Alexandria Oquido-Cortez should be shot. He has been fired, as well as the officer who liked it on Facebook. Also, folks, a tribute to Art Neville of the legendary Neville Brothers, who passed away today in New Orleans. Folks, we have a jam-packed show for you. It's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered.

Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the biz, he's on it. It's time to bring the funk on World of Markdown and Filter. Let's go. We'll be right back. Spunky, fresh, he's real, the best you know, he's Roland Martin. Now. Martin. Want to thank all of you for joining us today on Roland Martin on the Filter. We are broadcasting live from Detroit. This is the 110th annual NAACP annual convention. Of course, what is happening right now is we are in the youth and college division mass meeting. And so what people don't realize, students from all across the

country have been here since Saturday. First off for the NAACP Axo competition. Now what is happening here is their mass meeting. And so a speaker from Austin, Texas is up right now, Tiffany Lofton. You'll have to see her on the show. She, of course, leads the NAACP's Youth and College Division. And so hopefully we'll be able to grab her before we end our broadcast today. Folks, there have been a number of folks who have already kicked off this convention. The focus of this convention is that when we fight,

we win. That is the course. That's what they're using as the rallying cry for this year. Among the folks who spoke today included Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Rashida Tlaib, the underfire congresswoman from Detroit who replaced John Conyers in Congress, longtime congressman from here. Of course, she is part of the squad, one of four young freshman members who Donald Trump has been targeting with his racist tweets and comments. She received a rousing welcome today from the folks here. In addition, Stacey Abrams, of course, she ran for governor of Georgia, delivered a fiery speech as well, talking about what is important to move folks forward when it comes to winning elections. And so here's a roundup of all of these speakers.

Put power back in the hands of the people. The American people can finally and fully achieve justice in America. Seventeen centuries ago, St. Augustine said, any government that has not formed to promote justice is just a bunch of thieves. We must achieve economic justice, end the disparity of income in America, and reverse the damage of the Republican special interest agenda. That is why the House passed Paycheck Fairness Act, equal pay for equal work for women in the workplace. And just last week, we passed a $15 minimum wage. $15 minimum wage, the first time in a decade.

Thirty million people in America will receive a raise. 20 million of them women, many of them women of color. As Dr. King said, of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhuman because it often results in death. As Dr. King said about that. House Democrats have now sent 10 bills to the Senate to lower the cost of prescription drugs and health care, reverse the GOP's sabotage of the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, and strengthen the pre-existing condition benefit. We must also achieve environmental justice so that all children, no matter where they grow up, can breathe clean air and drink clean water.

Education is the key to success, no matter what your race or where you live. And safe schools and communities demand that we prevent gun violence once and for all. That means we will not take no for an answer on background checks. That's why the House passed H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Check Act, and whipped Jim Clyburn's bill to close the Charleston loophole. And Congresswoman McBath has been a leader in this fight for us. And we must achieve real justice in our criminal justice system. We cannot accept a system in which the wealthy people with high-paid lawyers can plead ignorance

of the law and not go to jail, while children born not in privilege, when they even assert their rights, are accused of resisting arrest. In AACP, we don't support political parties or candidates. We can actually disagree with certain policy issues. But when individuals begin to question our humanity or our existence, go back where you come from, or our ability to have equal rights and equal protection under the law, we must fight and win. And we've partnered with some data scientists so we can begin to focus on how to increase the turnout. We don't need a scenario where 28,000 people go to the polls, but they skip any part of the ticket and we lose. We don't need a reality where, in our household,

that we're active voters, but somebody in our house is not registered to vote but not voting. But in the United States, if we hit 60%, we think it's a success. But for this election, it's too much at stake. History has taught us that when others tried to oppress us and deny us the access to vote, we were able to muster up the strategy and the skills to pass the Voting Rights Act in 1965, because when we fight, we win. History has taught us that when they were denying our young kids a

quality education, that we were able to muster up a legal strategy to overturn segregation in the land because when we fight, we win. And at the end of the day, if we don't fight, we don't win. And what we have seen over the last 10 years or 12 years, we haven't been fighting the right fight. We haven't been focusing on the right thing. We have rested on laurels that no longer exist. History should be a teacher of what we can do moving forward, not the stopping place assuming it's

always going to be that case. I want to thank all of you for joining us here today. It is important for us to stay together in this journey to make democracy work for all. Our responsibility in 2020 is to not only speak truth to power, but to wrest it away. Because the power is ours and now is our time. That is why I'm here. You see, we've got this election coming up and I'm not going to tell you who to vote for. I'm not going to tell you which party to choose. But I will tell you that when a hostile power tells you you don't belong here, you might want to listen to what they're trying to tell you.

I'm here to say that when they try their best to stop you from doing something, it might mean that if you do it, you win. And I'm here to tell you that voter suppression is real. Not just in Georgia, although we are a singular example, but in Wisconsin and in Texas, in Tennessee and Michigan, in California, in New York, any place we put obstacles in the way to exercising the most fundamental part of democracy, then we're in trouble. And when we concede, when we say it's the user's error, you should have gotten up earlier. You should have used an absentee ballot in a state where they rejected it at a 10% rate in certain counties. You should have had that ID checked, even though you can't

get your driver's license fulfilled in North Carolina because you don't have the right piece of paper and it's been 30 days since you asked. When we refuse to acknowledge the complicated nature of suppression, then suppression thrives. And it works because it's insidious, because it's pervasive, because it's been baked into the DNA of America. From the creation of our country, we have worked to tell people you are not enough and you cannot participate. Because the powers that be know that when we can hold power too, the world changes. When we get counted by the 2020 census, we suddenly become entitled to the resources that flow from D.C. like manna from heaven. Billions of dollars lost every year because black men go uncounted, because black women go uncounted, because black children go unseen.

You want to know why there's a crowded school in your community? It's because those children didn't get counted in the census. You want to know why the roads haven't been fixed in your part of town? It's because the algorithm that allocates the funds ignored you in the last census. And so I'm not just fighting for the right to vote. I'm fighting for the right to vote, I'm fighting for the right to count and to be counted. I refuse to be erased from the narrative of America. So over the next few days of this conference, I need you to understand and remember

not only who you are, but whose you are and why you're here. We have to plan for victory. We can't keep fighting 2008 or 1998 or 1988. We've got to be fighting for 2020 and beyond. So say it with me. We're going to plan. Next, we're going to pursue. Say pursue. Once we've had our fun in the conference, once we've written down our plans, we're not going to forget that we got to do the work when we get back home. Because in states across this country, we have to start putting in place voter protection operations today. We've got to start putting in place voter registration efforts today. We've got to make sure that the census is not just a conversation, but an action plan that we are pursuing, that we're already talking about what's going to happen. That when you leave here, you leave here not only with a plan,

but with a commitment to pursue justice. Say pursue. They are chasing us. We can't let them catch us. But we can chase freedom and we can get it. We can chase power and we can have it. We can pursue our identities and our opportunities together. So number one, we're going to do what? And then we're going to? And if in November 2020 something has gone horribly wrong, we are going to do what we have always done and we are going to persist. Say persist. I'm going to tell you all a secret. November 2020, if every person we want gets the job we've asked them for, it will not fix America. Politicians aren't magic.

Voting isn't magic. Persistence requires that we recognize the fight is never over. The fight's not about the last bell ringing. The fight's about the action. The fight's about keeping your fist up, not just to punch something, but to raise our fist in recognition of something. We have to fight every day. We have to persist because poverty persists. Because injustice persists, because injustice persists, because racism is real, xenophobia is real, bigotry is real, homophobia didn't go away because same-sex marriage became legal in the United States. We know that the isms that are the original sin of America will persist,

but we fight and we win when we persist as well. Say persist. When we recognize that it's not just about resistance, it's about persistence. Resistance is saying I'm not going to let you go any further, but persistence is about pushing the line farther and farther away. Because 2020 isn't going to be enough. 2022 isn't going to be enough. 2024, 2026, 2028. We will keep fighting as long as there is a fight to be had. Because for as long as power is out there, there are going to be those who try to wrest it from us. But if we plan, if we pursue, if we persist, the power will be ours.

Thank you so much. All right, folks, joining us right now is the head of the NAACP's Youth and College Division, Tiffany Lofton. Of course, we're here at their mass meeting. Hey, what's happening? What's up, Roland? Good to see you again, Uncle Ro. Thanks for coming. She's running around so busy she can't return text messages all day.

I'm like, you're busy. I've just been busy. So, first of all, so for the folks out there who don't know, first't know, how many young folks who are here? 900 from 47 states, 339 chapters. Okay, so explain to people. Here's the piece. Most people believe that when they think of the NAACP, they think of a whole bunch of old black people. Let's just be straight up.

But the reality is NAACP has always had a youth and college division. It has. It's had it for over 42 years. And we have to recognize that the youth in the NAACP have just as much power, privilege, and rights in our Constitution and bylaws as the adults do. Folks don't know that either. They think that, oh, they have like a little kid program. No, we don't have a little kid program.

We're currently here right now in our mass meeting where our folks are making policy decisions and deciding what their agenda is going to be for the next year. And yes, we might be doing that separate from the adults, but the youth and college movement, as I like to say, has actually been alive, well, and thriving and growing transformationally since I've been here over the last year. And so we talk about, so what's happening is you do sort of have like two separate conventions. What I mean by that is one convention, but pretty much the adults got their thing and youth and college, they've got their thing. And then AXO has their thing.

Right. Yeah, absolutely. AXO has their program. They started three days before we got here, and then our students get here for three days. And for three days, we do really intense organizing training so that they can learn how to do voter registration when they get back to school, because all these folks are going back to school in about three weeks. And then we have folks who are training on intersectionality. So we had a whole entire panel about Muslim, queer

identity, hip-hop, Native American and indigenous folks. And then we also had folks from the undocumented UndocuBlack was here. I made sure I tried not to. And the point of that is, not only do people feel like the NAACP is for old people, they also feel like the NAACP is just for

one type of black person, like a Christian black person. And it's not, right? Like, we had folks from the Muslim community and faith just do a bomb poetry slam just now. Folks from the queer community came and did a workshop earlier. Our keynote speaker on the first day was Haben Girma. She is the first black West African Eritrean woman to graduate from Harvard Law who was deaf and blind. She rocked the whole freaking house.

And she was like, if you want to come ask questions, type it into this keyboard right here. And then the keyboard sends a message to the other keyboard, which writes it in Braille, and then it goes to my brain. And these people in the room were like, I want to ask a question. I want to ask a question. And so the goal of this is really to help people recognize that, like, where you live, that's not the only type of black, right? What is the black diaspora and what's the agenda that we can all have going forward to move everybody to fight for liberation for all black people? So the reason I wanted to do this show from here, first of all, we were set up actually in the main convention center. I'm so grateful you came over here, Roland. I wanted to do it because, again, there are a lot of people out there who have absolutely no clue about the breadth of NAACP. You have been

in this position a little more than a year. This is now your second convention. What do you want folks to know that these young folks are doing that doesn't get attention, that doesn't get coverage, that folks may be shocked and blown away by? The first is you should know that these are the folks, when you think about why the NAACP hasn't done something, before you ask that question, you should probably reference the people that I'm talking to here in this room, the folks who are standing around the room who've already taken stances on trans black folks who have stood out against violence for trans communities, for LGBTQIA, SGL communities, for people who are concerned about what's happening with police brutality.

These are the young folks. You might not see the NAACP out there because these folks are rockin' regular T-shirts, but they're the folks who are the presidents, vice presidents, secretary treasurers, second, third vice president of those campaigns and of that work. That's the first thing I want you to know is that these folks are invisible to you, but the things that you're asking, we are already involved, right? When we talk about clemency for Centoria Brown, the president of Tennessee State Youth and College chapter was here. He was a part of the coalition to help make that happen, right? And people are like, oh, where's the NAACP? We do want to work. We just don't always do the credit and with the logo, right? So that's the first thing I want people to know. The second thing, which is the last, is

intergenerational organizing is something that I get harped on a lot because I'm responsible for the young people, right? So there are older folks who say, well, you talk too much about the young people. You need to talk about the older people. That's actually kind of like your title. That's my job. My job is National Youth and College Director. My job is not to do everything for older people.

My job is 35 and younger. I have people here who are 13 years old. My youngest state president for South Carolina, he's 13. Oh, the youngest state president? My youngest state he's 13. Oh, the youngest state president? My youngest state president is 13. Tyler, he right here with the orange T-shirt on. He's sitting right over there. And so, Tyler, and so what happens is our folks from 13 all the way to 35 are the ones who are doing their best not to quit

and practice healthy intergenerational organizing at the national level at our convention so that when they go back home, they can mirror that work. Folks also have to understand that the three previous people who held your position, Jamal Bryant, Pastor Jamal Bryant, Sammy Dow, Jeff Johnson, and also Stephanie James. Stephanie James Brown. And what they're, they're not organizing people to run for office, teaching them how to do it with Collective Pack. And so that's the thing I think people have to understand, that the value is raising them up, putting this notion of organizing and mobilizing

into their brains and their spirit at 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. You've got to start early. It's all of a sudden when somebody's 20, 25, they've been doing the work for a decade. Absolutely. You've got to start early. You've got to train people early because two things. One, if you don't start early, we're missing an entire generation of people who are already engaged on their cell phone. Everything that we're talking

about, everything we're saying, people already have access to it on their device. And so if we don't engage with them while they're learning it, they're going to create their own reality of what they see and what they think and believe. They're not going to have their own opinions that are constructurally put together with other diverse conversations and issues. They're not going to have their own opinions that are constructurally put together with other diverse conversations and issues. They won't be able to debate them with other people because they're not exposed to it. When I debate other people, Roland,

it grounds me more in what I believe. Or it challenges my values, and then I learn something new, and now I'm like, I actually feel differently about something. So you have to start in middle school, high school. And that's where the folks who are here in the room, we have college students. Once you start early, it is statistically proven that when you start earlier, our folks actually stay in the same sort of ideology belief, right, moving forward than they do when they get older

and try to shift and go change. So everybody here that's progressive and fighting for liberation, those folks are going to stay progressive and stay fighting for liberation way down the line. Last question here, and I got to ask you this because you're actually working. First of all, you got someone named Bob Sanders who says, to be honest, too many Jews run the NAACP. That's not true. That's a lie. What are you talking about? You haven't gone to our website.

Go to NAACP.org. Next. And then someone says, NAACP need to worry about black people, need not to worry about a gay community, but there are black gay people. Pause. Here's the problem. So when we say we're fighting for black people, again, there are different types of black people. So if you're fighting for only one type of black person, you're not fighting for black people. You're fighting for those people. I'm fighting for liberation of black people, whatever their religion, whatever their sexual orientation,

whatever their age, whatever their reading ability, whatever their national background, those are black people. And the black diaspora is way bigger than that. So for you to say something like that, it's just really narrow-minded because your type of black is not black. It's actually just anti-black. And then also last person here says, as long as NAACP fights solely for black people, then I'm good. I hope you're good because I'm good too.

As long as we're fighting for the people of color, I'm good know what i'm saying no but you said only black people we're not fighting for only black people we fight i literally just got finished telling y'all that we had folks who were from the undocumented community people who were from the lgbtqia community people from different religious communities we had the nation of islam who was here we had muslim folks who were here and not all those folks are black i i'm not going to do what white people do. White people will tell you, oh, I got a black friend. Look, I'm not going to do that. What I'm going to say, though, is that if there's something that you want the NAACP to work on, chances are probably we're already working on it. Or you should join your local NAACP to be a part of the work. So that way you stop talking about it and you could be about it. Because we can't

have folks who are critiquing an organization that they're not a part of and they can't have folks who are critiquing work that they've never done well i literally had to blast somebody the other day who's talked about what the nba is not doing what is not seeing south carolina and i went uh boom boom boom boom boom like what the hell are you talking about right and then if you live there you don't know right i said so stop i said plus there are 2 000000 chapters. Okay. So here's the piece. This is actually a live working session. They just called my name. I'm going to ignore them.

They just called her name. So she got to get back to work. But again, though, I'm like, there are 2,000 chapters. Yes. So what Sabana says, they ain't doing nothing. So you're saying 2,000 chapters is not doing anything. What are we doing? We just sitting there?

We just chilling? We just having meetings? Because that's not what's happening. We have 2,200 chapters across the country. Folks don't even know this, that there was a woman named Crystal in Texas who actually was put in jail because she voted when she was on parole. The NAACP got her free. Exactly. The NAACP was a part of that coalition to help get her free in Texas. We had folks, like I said, who granted clemency for Centoria Brown.

We have folks who are fighting for, there was a black woman who was in Virginia who was golfing, and the white men were telling her to hurry up and golf. Did you see that story in Virginia? The woman who they did that to was the NAACP president. So she was the one who was actually run out, and now she's running for office. So my whole thing is, if you're talking about what the NAACP is not doing, you're probably sitting at home, on the couch, behind a computer, or on your cell phone, talking smack. But every day that you wake up in the morning you're

not going out to work with the real black people that i'm working with so i invite y'all to come down to the next convention i invite y'all to come down to our state conferences i invite y'all to join in discussion with us on social media to help push us and continue to push us i don't i don't shy away from being pushed push the naacp absolutely you know what i'm saying but also don't talk about what you don't know about. Last one, and you got to go. This woman is freaking hot. Who said that? Somebody.

They ain't got no blue check? Don't worry about it. Okay. That means I don't know them. I thought I might know you. This is you, too. She's so silly. I don't know.

Oh, you two don't have blue checks. You are silly. You are beyond silly. If they don't have one. Let me call my man over here. Where's James at? You are so silly. My man's here. They. Let me call my man over here. Where's James at? You are so silly. My man's here.

They better chill. They like my haircut. You see this? Yes, they've been commenting on your haircut. Yes. That's why I'm glad I said it on this side. You posted the photo on social media. So, yeah, we saw it. You can follow us at NAACP underscore YC on Instagram.

And you can also follow me at Tiffany D. Lofton, L-O-F-T-I-N. Also on Instagram and Twitter. I don't know why I put it on TV. Because you love me, y'all. Roland's sticking up and doing the work for young folks and representing who else is here except for Baller Alert. That's it. Like, nobody else is here. And this is where the movement's happening.

So thank you for coming. And there was only all y'all people, all them black websites, all this black media, all these so-called new black media people. I can only know one who was live streaming the speeches from earlier today and who will be live streaming tomorrow and Wednesday. Wow. Roland Martin unfiltered. That's why we're here. Holla. Go to work.

Can I do that? Holla. That's at the end of the show. We're not finished? No. Okay, I'm going to go. You're finished. I got to go back to work.

Holla. Get out of here. Bye, girl. All right, folks. Let's talk about this with our panel here. Joining me, of course, Dr. Avis Jones DeWeaver. She's political analyst Mustafa Santiago Ali. He is a former senior advisor for environmental justice with the EPA.

And joining us in one second is going to be Mark Thompson, host of Make It Plain, who's actually launching his own digital show. So we're going to get him in for a second. And so, Anthony, if you could get Mark Thompson, bring him over here. I want to first start. It's real hard for me to hear right now. It's real hard for me to hear right now, y'all, but that's why I'm putting these headphones in. Avis, I want to start with you.

We've talked about, we typically talk about the 2,200 chapters of the NAACP, we have to be focused, Avis, on our organization's infrastructure and using our infrastructure and putting them to work. People can tweet all day. People can comment on Facebook all day. But unless you have institutional infrastructure, you cannot mobilize and organize people. Absolutely. You know, being a critic is very easy to do. But doing the work takes organization, doing the work takes coordination, doing the work takes leadership, and doing the work takes money.

Things just don't magically occur. It takes strategizers and people who are out in the field making it happen. And so although we are in an era in which we do see some very creative uses of social media in order to spread the word about injustices and in some instances organize pretty quickly actions against a specific injustice. But the reality is for sustained movement and for sustained actions to occur, having an institutional grounding is absolutely necessary. And I have to agree with Tiffany. Instead of being on the sidelines and critiquing, figure out how you can get involved to make the difference that you want to see. Mustafa, I saw you earlier when I arrived at the convention hall. And again, this is not for

me about a commercial for the NAACP. What it is about is saying that if we are going to move folks to vote in 2020, if we're going to move folks on a black agenda, if we're going to move people to change our communities, you have to have organizations. You have to have infrastructure. You have to have people who are mobilizing. It's real easy to say, oh, we should sue somebody and we should do this and we should get people together.

But unless you have the ability to do so, you just got a bunch of people who are talking, doing nothing. That's exactly right. And, you know, the beauty of what is going on there at the 110th convention is that folks understand that justice costs and they are literally willing to do the hard work, to make sure the structures are in place, to make sure that all of the various issues that are going on inside of our communities is tied to our vote and is also tied to power and how we translate that power into real change. We have that power translate into change in relationship to resources that need to come back to our community, into the court system, how we can make sure that we have the right types of judges that are in place, and how we can also make sure that both on the local level, the county level, the state level, and on the federal level that we have folks who care about what's happening inside of our communities and can hold them accountable. Mark, it is very frustrating for me when I hear people say, NAACP, they ain't doing nothing.

And then when you begin to ask them the question, then they can't even remotely articulate anything that somebody is doing. The reality is, for a lot of civil rights organizations, they are bad at PR. A lot of people are doing the work. Second of all, this is a volunteer organization. You've got, yeah, paid staff in the national headquarters, but when you talk about 2,200 chapters, these are black people, largely black people. You have folks who are white and others who are involved in LCP. But these are black people who are literally volunteering their time, who could be doing other stuff, who are choosing to be active. I don't know if you can hear me, too.

But you said something to me a little bit. It's not interesting. Oh, absolutely. I'm covering our organization. That's why you and I here, if we weren't here, that's the most coverage. We're going to give them hours more coverage than they're going to get from the mainstream. I noticed today, as soon as Nancy Pelosi finished speaking. Cameras went down.

Went down. They didn't want to hear what the president of the organization had to say. So let's repeat that. When Nancy Pelosi finished speaking, all those media cameras left. When the president of the organization spoke. They were gone. It was three or four who were left. That was it.

If that. So, you know, I think you're right in that regard. But people say they're not doing anything. You have to be doing something if you've got 2,300, 2,400 branches. Somebody's doing something. And as a matter of fact, you know, Dick Gregory used to have a saying, when people say that, in the end, they end up calling up calling them say when black folk in trouble at working everywhere else the first two names they call it jesus and n-double-a-c-p so you know it it's it's a lot of

work that still needs to be done this is that boulder that we have to constantly keep pushing uphill it's a generation there's always going to be the smaller few of us that are going to step forward. We wish it would be more. We have to figure out a way for it to be more. If nothing else, I think what the NAACP is doing, and what I'm hearing from these young people are inspiring me tonight here, is talking about real issues that affect everyday black folks. Some of which, not only does the NAACP not get the publicity role,

as you know, but some of the issues, people are dealing with some issues that aren't even getting press coverage. Right. And that's the thing, Avis. When we talk about where we are in mainstream media, I can tell you right now, we were at this convention in San Antonio last year. Okay. There were no candidates there.

You did not have a lot of the top political people. Right. The media press riser was essentially empty. Right. For the entire convention. And this is where I think for black folks, this is important. Let me be real clear. These black websites out here, they weren't here.

Okay. Other folks who were in black media, folks in so-called new black media, They weren't here. Okay. Uh, other folks who were in black, black media, folks, the so-called new black media, they weren't here. And I'm sure somebody is saying, oh, well that's because they're doing nothing. But yeah, but I, I cover a lot of black stuff and I don't see a lot of those same people, a lot of these places. And so we have to understand that we have to also be the ones who are telling our story. You can't be saying Chicago Defenders no longer printing hard copy when they were actually covering the stuff

that black folks did, Avis. Absolutely. You know, it's very important that we do that because oftentimes we will be the first ones to complain, and rightly so, that a lot of the mainstream media does not cover those issues that are important to us. And that's absolutely true. But it also means that we have an even greater responsibility to make sure that we are there in those spaces where our people are, so that we can relate our stories from our perspective. And it's really unfortunate that

from your experience, you're seeing that we're really not there to the degree that, quite frankly, we should be. Mustafa, there are a number of things being discussed here. It's not just President Jackandis coming in on Wednesday. Earlier today, there was a session dealing with blacks in technology and leadership. Environmental issues have been dealt with. We talked about what's happening with young folks as well. So there's a breadth of issues that are being talked about. You also have continuing education going on here

where folks are literally going through additional training when it comes to mobilizing and organizing. Yeah, just yesterday we actually had a CLE, a continuing education program, where we were talking about environmental issues and climate issues with a number of the attorneys who were there, along with activists and others. about the various pieces of legislation that they have been moving forward on, you know, everything from voting rights to health care to criminal justice reform, everything that impacts our communities is being covered at this conference. And that's why folks across the country should be there. And if they're not, they should be streaming this to make sure that they're getting that information.

And then when folks come back home at the local chapters, they need to get involved. All right, folks, hold tight one second. We're going to go to a break right now. We come back. We're going to talk about this stunning case story out of Cincinnati where an ex-judge is now headed to jail. We'll explain to you those details. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered live at the end of LACP convention here in Detroit. Back in a moment. You want to check out Roland Martin unfiltered? YouTube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real.

It's Roland Martin unfiltered. See that name right there? Roland Martin unfiltered. Like, share, 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. Hey guys, you heard me talk a lot about marijuana stock.org because I want to keep you informed

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go to marijuana stock.org. That's marijuana stock.org. Be sure to get in the game and do it now. Folks, today in Cincinnati, a former judge was sentenced to jail because of a mishandling a confidential document. Now, first of all, she was convicted in 2014. But yet over the last five years, Judge Tracy Hunter has been fighting this conviction. Well, today, a judge decided that it was time for her to go to jail. It all came to an end this morning when the judge said this.

This month in the Hamilton County Justice Center, credit one day. Mr. and Ms. deputy can take her way. I don't care what anybody says. Joining us right now is Jennifer Branch, civil rights attorney and co-counsel for Tracy Hunter. Jennifer, thanks for joining us on Roller Park Unfiltered. Thank you, Roland. I'm glad to be on to talk about what happened to Tracy today. So folks have been sending me information and I've been reading stories and this has been going on for five years. Now, what is this confidential document she was accused of mishandling and how's that result in a jail sentence? There is no document.

They never introduced a single document into evidence. And it is a miscarriage of justice. She did not commit any crime. And the crime that they accused her of committing was handing a document to her brother who was being fired. That didn't happen. She didn't commit a crime. And she has been appealing this for five years. She did nothing at all. And she got thrown in jail today for six months. It's an outrage. So let's take folks back. When she won, it was a very controversial race that she won.

And there were those who were angry that she actually prevailed in that election, correct? Yeah, you can say everybody was angry. In 2010, she ran in a Democratic primary for Hamilton County Juvenile Court judge. The Democrats did not endorse her. They opposed her. She won the primary. She ran in the general election. She ran against the Republican judge. And in that race, there were several hundred votes that never got counted. And she called me 10 days after the election in November of 2010, and I've been representing her ever since. We were able to go to court. It took a year and a half, but eventually the federal court said, count those votes. And when they were counted, it turned out that she had won by 74 votes. It's a reminder that

every vote counts and you got to count them all. She got on the bench in May of 2012 and changed things in Hamilton County Juvenile Court. She wouldn't let children be shackled in her courtroom. She used her discretion to say that juveniles should not be charged as adults. And she made changes in making evening the playing field for children so that they would get evidence before trial, what we call discovery. She made a lot of changes and she made a lot of people mad. And I think that's why she ended up in jail today. And so she fought this thing for five years. First of all, how has this impacted her life,

her career? With also going to jail, how has this impacted her life moving forward? Well, when she was convicted in October of 14, at that point, the Supreme Court of Ohio took away her law license. She's not been able to be a lawyer. She's not been able to make a living since before she was indicted. And she has not been able to have any peace the last five years, because since her conviction, we were able to go to the appeals court. We lost. We went to the Supreme Court. We lost. We went to federal court. And at that point, we won. And we had a habeas case pending. And every day that case was pending for the last three years she woke up every morning not knowing if today was the day there'd be a decision and today was the day she moves and have to go to jail it's been devastating to live a life like that especially when you didn't

all right then well first of all uh certainly extend our best um the people there who are upset they're talking about uh issuing protests across cincinnati uh we certainly will be following uh to see what happens next jennifer we should appreciate it thanks a lot thanks for your interest all right then all right folks uh this is an unbelievable crazy story louisiana police officer suggested that alessandra oquesoortez, congresswoman from New York, should be shot on Facebook. Charlie Rispoli, a 14-year veteran of the police department in Gretna, Louisiana, called her a vile idiot. He deactivated his Facebook account, but nothing you post on Facebook goes away. Folks, he has now been fired, well as, I need to double check,

I think there's another officer who liked his post and I believe that he's either been fired or suspended. I'm going to pull up in one second. I want to go to Mustafa first on this. I mean, what you have here, Mustafa, here you have police officers. This is a cop. This is a cop who is angry with the congressman Ocasio-Cortez. And I read, I saw a story today, apparently, that Fox News has mentioned her name three times, as many times, as her name has been mentioned on MSNBC and on CNN as well. And so the right is having so much hatred toward this woman. And now, of course, with Donald Trump attacking the squad, that is, Cleza Cortez, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar, you have folks who literally are endangering these people's lives.

This is a cop saying she should be killed. Yeah, it's the same thing that has been going on now for a while, where we continue to dehumanize people so that then they can justify these types of actions, whether these actions are through words or through deeds. We know how this can play out. We saw how this played out in Charleston with the Charleston shooter, where he was surrounding himself with this type of negativity and how he felt that he had the right to be able to go in. And I actually talked the other day about, folks ask him, you know, after the murder was over, after he had been convicted,

if he had any remorse. And he said he would do the same thing again. So when we allow these officers to be able to say these types of things, it just ties into this sort of atmosphere of hate that the administration and not just the administration and others continue to place on our country. And it puts a very, very dangerous scenario that we unfortunately continue to see folks speaking out in these negative ways, speaking out about violence and not really being checked. So it's good to hear that this officer has now been fired because he should have been fired right away. In fact, Avis, both police officers have indeed been fired. The one who liked the post as well. This is concerning because, again, the hatred that is that is being cast towards Ocasio-Cortez, being cast toward these other women, this could lead to, again, something tragic happen. Let's not forget, Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was almost assassinated outside of a grocery store by this deranged man.

That's what we're dealing with. And when people attack them the way they do, Avis, this could have serious repercussions. Absolutely, it could have serious repercussions. And it's especially appalling that this is a police officer. But, you know, it's kind of in line with what we've seen recently with all these studies of the social media activities of police officers across the country, where apparently a great deal of them are engaged in very violent discussions online that are specifically targeting individuals. This was particularly egregious because you're targeting this congresswoman.

But you're absolutely right. What we're seeing is not only Fox News that specifically demonizes her constantly, but also, clearly, Trump demonizes her and now the entire, quote unquote, squad in the same way. And what they're ultimately doing is they are radicalizing a white supremacist element in this nation that is growing and that is violent. Let's not forget that this is a very violent group of people. The number one terrorists in America are white men. When you look at mass shootings, who does it? It is primarily white men. And so the fact that he's a white man with a badge makes it that much more dangerous because we also know that oftentimes police will just protect each other.

I am super shocked that he was fired and as well as someone else. I am glad it happened because usually that accountability isn't there. You look at what's happened recently with Arizona, for example, where a number of police officers were caught with putting very racist and also violent statements and memes on Facebook. And instead of any of them facing any sort of blowback because of that in terms of disciplinary action, you have the police union out here talking about they're going to hire a firm that's going to scrub their social media activity, which means that we won't even know in the future what policemen are engaged in this violent behavior, because I would argue that there's probably not much difference between someone who would write something like that on Facebook, have a gun at his side each and every day and possibly could lose his temper and act in a very dangerous way,

particularly towards people of color. And that is what ends up in the situations that we see time and time again with unarmed people dead. Mark Thompson, again, it should be of grave concern to anybody when you have folks who are making these threats, but to have police officers who are doing this. We also know now the 328 cops, which was a very small sample, folks uncovered violent takes, racist comments as well. I mean, this, people should be concerned about this. And we've also seen in the past that lately,

and this is not to say all military and all law enforcement are this way, but there are those who are white nationalists who are attracted to military and law enforcement careers. That's just a fact. I want to be clear. Not all military and law enforcement are white nationalists, but many white nationalists want to be military and law enforcement are white nationalists but many white nationalists want to be military and law enforcement and we've been saying all along that these institutions need to figure out ways to weed out those bad apples early on to even have an early detection

system um but you're right if if something were to happen to any member of the squad the way it happened to Gabby Giffords, that would be a tragedy. And if you or I were to do something like that or encourage people to do something like that, we'd be accused of incitement. Why isn't Trump accused of incitement? Second of all, I will say this. I'm glad the cop got fired. Now, if a cop can be fired for saying a member of Congress should be shot, why can't cops be fired for outright shooting black people or killing black people, choking them to death? That's the only other question I have. That's my reflection on AOC. But what kind of system do we live in where someone making a threat on Facebook, which is horrible,

can be fired as he should have been. But someone who carries out a violent act against another human being has to go through an administrative review. And we have to wait and see what all the results are. Tired of that. And frankly, you know, that's the place we put Buttigieg and de Blasio in right now. But trust and believe, if a cop had done something on those forces, they would have been fired too.

Mustafa, what we have to deal with, what we have to deal with here, Mustafa, is that they're angry. They're angry at these sisters. They're angry at these freshmen because they're challenging white supremacy. And also they're not backing down. They're in their face. That's what you're dealing with here. Right. They are actually utilizing their power. They are standing up for what they believe in. They're standing up for the communities that have been

disproportionately impacted from both police brutality and a number of other issues. And that causes those who have been in power fear. They're actually afraid of these sisters who continue to show that they are willing to stand up and push back. And as President Johnson said, when we fight, we win. They have been fighting for our communities from the first day that they came into office, and they've been fighting for our communities even before they ever got to Capitol Hill. One of the things that also, again, I want to talk about, being here at this convention, Mark, and when you hear the issues that are being talked about,

there are going to be a lot more media folks who are going to be here on Wednesday. Oh, yeah. When the presidential candidates uh come through uh and uh but what are you what are you expecting uh from this presidential form I was there I was in Houston in uh 2016 when Mitt Romney spoke uh at that time uh came out against the Florida Care Act did not go over well in that room. And then I remember when Vice President Joe Biden also spoke that year as well. What do you expect on Wednesday? Well, frankly, I mean, to be very honest with you, the last time I saw Joe Biden speak at the NAACP was in Philadelphia,

maybe two or three years ago. And Joe Biden has a large following within the black community. That's why he's polling so well. I expect he will be cheering on. But I also think that these NAACP delegates also going to cheer on the others. Also, I think, you know, people are willing to hear and listen. There's not I don't think anyone coming that they won't have some regard for, respect for. I think we will hear everybody's black plan. We will hear what people are planning to do for and on behalf of the black community. And that's okay too. I'm not knocking that. There's any place where you need to talk about that. It's here. But it's going to be very, very interesting

because one of the things that is really intriguing to me that in such a diverse field, you still have a white male that is polling better than everybody else. The two black candidates, the women, obviously it's because Joe Biden was Barack Obama's vice president. I think that helps him. It's like I remember when in South Africa, you could be you could be an honorary white in South Africa if you were colored Indian. Well, Joe is an honorary black person, I think. So it'll be very interesting to hear what he has to say. Joe is riding off of a lot of that Obama Association. Right. But we've not heard a lot of specific plans from him about what he's going to do on behalf of the black community.

Kamala started talking about home ownership. Elizabeth Warren started talking about some things. Pete Buttigieg, who I just mentioned, has talked about a Frederick Douglass plan and a Madam C.J. Walker, Reginald Lewis plan. So everybody's making their pitch. Bernie, it'll be, you know, people will react to him, I think, in a positive way. But it's going to be very, very interesting. Last thing I'll say is I don't necessarily think that anybody's going to come in necessarily and alter the course of the race.

I don't know that anybody here is going to come and just wipe everybody out. But, you know, we'll hear what they have to say. Well, first of all, for Biden, he ain't an honorary black man for me. He's a white man. That's what he is. That's what he is. Mustafa, what are you expecting Wednesday when these candidates come in and speak to the NAACP presidential forum? Well, I think that what we're going to hear from them is, you know, a number of the things that we heard in Miami

and some of the things that they'll be preparing when they come back again here in a week where they're putting a black sort of face on the issues. They will talk about, you know, police brutality. They'll talk about the need for criminal justice reform. They will talk about their plans for creating jobs, especially for our communities. All of these things are important, but what I need to hear is,

how are you gonna actually really make that happen? Besides just saying that you're gonna do these things for black folks, I wanna know how you're gonna make it happen. How are to know how you're going to make it happen. How are you going to move the resources to make it happen? I want to hear about who is it and what types of people are you looking to put in positions of power inside of your administration, in those secretary positions, in those administrator positions

that can then help to make real resources move into our community. So for me, those are the things that I need to hear. And of course, Abe, the reality is this here. If the Republicans maintain control of the United States Senate, that's going to be a huge stumbling block, frankly, for any major policy moving forward, even if Democrats control the House, because at the end of the day, Mitch McConnell can simply ignore whatever comes out of the House. And so it was, I think, to Mustafa's point, who they appoint, what how do they use executive power to sort of drive an agenda?

I think it's really actually more important than any bills they're proposing, because if it can't get through the Senate, it ain't going to happen, Avis. Well, you're exactly right. And I'm hoping that, you know, though it's critically important that they come there and they speak directly to issues of concern to Black people, because Black people are quite the most practical voters in America. They're going to need to come up with some real meat when they're talking to the audience there. I also hope that, generally speaking, that a lot of the candidates who are currently running, I'm hoping in the not-so-distant future, reconsider running. Because as you mentioned, we need to focus on capturing the Senate.

Of course, there's a lot that can be done by executive action that can undo what was done via executive action with this president. But the challenge with executive action is that's all it is. It can easily be undone by the next president. And so the best thing to do is to get laws passed and signed. To do that, we will need to take control of the Senate. And so I'm really hoping that at some point in the not very distant future, some of these people who seem stuck at the 1% or a range who are either currently senators or could easily, perhaps more easily, much more easily win in the Senate versus winning a presidential bid. they go home and reconsider what's best for themselves, what's best for the party, what's best for the future of this nation, because it clearly will not be best for the nation to have Mitch McConnell once again in the position of majority leader in the Senate. All right, then. All right, folks, some sad news. New Orleans legend Art Neville, founder of the Meters and the Neville Brothers, has passed away at the age of 81.

Papa Funk, as he was known, was responsible for shaping the sound of New Orleans music. He was also the voice of the carnival season anthem Mardi Gras Mambo. Art and his three younger brothers, Charles, Aaron, and Cyril, formed the Neville Brothers. Their sound was distinctly New Orleans. Papa Funk will certainly be missed, and we extend our prayers to the Neville Brothers, the Neville family, as well as the folks here in New Orleans. Papa Funk will certainly be missed and we extend our prayers to the Neville brothers, the Neville family, as well as the folks in New Orleans. Certainly want to thank Avis, Mustafa, and Mark as well for joining us today on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Of course, we are here at the NAACP convention. For those of you who missed earlier in terms of our coverage,

we've been, of course, live streaming all day. Earlier today, like I said, we live streamed the morning session, the plenary session, which featured Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, as well as Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence, and, of course, the speech by NAACP President Derek Johnson. And so you can check that out, okay, by going to our YouTube channel. We want you to go to YouTube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin and see what they have to say. We're going to be live streaming sessions tomorrow as well. And then on Wednesday, we, of course, have the presidential forum taking place and also a CEO roundtable taking place after that as well. Folks, like I said, this is the only black site, the only black digital operation broadcasted from NAACP. Why does that matter?

It matters because we must control our narrative. The reality is there are amazing things that are going on here, but if mainstream media ignores it, then you might say, you know what? Nothing's going on. Nothing even matters. Later this week, National Urban League Convention taking place in Indianapolis. Exact same thing. We've got to understand that when we talk about black media, we talk about historically the Chicago Defender, the Pittsburgh Courier, Land Daily World. We talk about all those different places. They actually covered those things. If you read Ethan McKaylee's book on the Chicago Defender, they literally had people who were overseas in theaters of war covering what was happening on the ground as well.

And so it's real easy for some people to sit behind a microphone and just chat about what other folks are doing. But it's different when you come out here and you're actually interviewing people, talking to people. I've been interfacing with NAACP presidents and officers all across the country talking about what is happening in their local communities. I was talking with the Texas branch, the Texas State Conference president, about some things that are happening there as well. The same thing in other parts of the country. This is why you have to be in the mix, which is why we want you to support Roland Martin Unfiltered. Your donations, joining our Bring the Funk fan club,

allow us to be able to come here, bring staff here, to be able to broadcast. Look, this stuff ain't free, okay, and it's also not cheap. And so we'll be here. We're going to be broadcasting later this week as well in the Urban League, and so we want your support. We need black folks to stand with us and join our Bring the Funk fan club. All you got to do is go to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com.

All I'm asking is for, again, 1,000 of our supporters to give a minimum of $50 each for the course of the year. That's what we're looking for this month. So go to rollermarknonfilter.com. You can join via Cash App, PayPal, and Square as well. All right, folks. Again, you can see all the previous videos. Be sure to check that out.

We'll have more stuff for you tomorrow right here at Roller Mark Nonfilter, broadcasting live from NAACP convention here in Detroit. I got to go. I want to thank Tiffany Lofton and the Youth and College Division. They're doing an absolutely fantastic job. Support what she's doing. And, again, if you're one of those folks out there who just whines and complains what the NAACP is not doing, well, I'll ask you this.

What the hell are you doing? You could take over a chapter. But if you actually care about it, be about it. Don't just whine and complain about it. I got to go. Holler. A lot of times, big economic forces show up in our lives in small ways. Four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one.

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