#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 8.27 RMU: DOJ sues Baltimore PD; Chicago to clear weed convictions; Meek Mill's legal fight over

Episode Date: August 31, 2019

8.27.19 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: DOJ sues the Baltimore County Police Department for their hiring practices Chicago wants to clear tens of thousands of convictions for marijuana possession; Meek Mill's legal finally fight over; Former NFL pro bowler tweets that his mind is crazy and it's all because of football; Johnson and Johnson is ordered to pay 572 million dollars for their role in the opioid crisis; Rapper Meek Mill's legal fight is officially over + Roland talks with Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson. - #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: Life Luxe Jazz Life Luxe Jazz is the experience of a lifetime, delivering top-notch music in an upscale destination. The weekend-long event is held at the Omnia Dayclub Los Cabos, which is nestled on the Sea of Cortez in the celebrity playground of Los Cabos, Mexico. For more information visit the website at lifeluxejazz.com. - #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. Today is Tuesday, August 27th, 2019. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, the Department of Justice files a lawsuit against the Baltimore County Police Department for their hiring practices. Why are they not hiring enough black police officers? We'll explain. Chicago wants to clear tens of thousands of convictions

for marijuana possession before the drug becomes legal. We'll talk with the DA, Kim Fox. A former NFL pro bowler tweets that his mind is crazy and it's all because of football. We'll talk to the man who diagnosed CTE in deceased football players. And Johnson & Johnson ordered to pay $572 million for their role in the opioid crisis. Also, rapper Meek Mill's 12-year legal fight is officially over. We'll explain those details.

You'll also see my one-on-one presidential candidate, Marianne Williamson. Plus, being at home while black can get you arrested will tell you how. And oh my goodness, today's crazy-ass white person is an Oklahoma TV anchor who actually compared her black colleague to a gorilla.

It's time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin on the filter. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the biz, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the spook, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rollin'.

Best belief, he's knowin'. Puttin' it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks, he's rollin'. It's so much fun. He's got it. He's got it. He's got it. He's got it.

He's got it. He's got it. He's got it. He's got it. He's got it. He's got it. He's got it. He's got it. He's got it. He's got it. Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling Yeah, yeah

It's Uncle Roro, y'all Yeah, yeah It's Rolling Martin Yeah, yeah Rolling with Roland now Yeah, yeah He's funky, he's fresh, he's real The best you know, he's fresh, he's real, the best you know, he's rolling, Martin.

Talk about a shock. The Trump Department of Justice is suing the Baltimore County Police Department, alleging discrimination against African-American applicants for entry-level police officer and police cadet positions. We're going to talk about why that's so important in the black communities in Baltimore with trial attorney J. Wendell Gordon, who has sued the Baltimore County Police Department in the past. Glad to have you here, Wendell. So to look at this, this case, first of all, it's shocking that the Trump DOJ, this somehow actually got through William Barr because this Department of Justice has always been about,

frankly, coddling police departments as opposed to holding them accountable. Yeah. In fact, this is breaking news for Baltimore City. In fact, before I came on your show, I was out talking to some colleagues downtown in the city, and I told them about the breaking news, and no one even heard of it yet. So they'll probably hear about it tonight on the 5 o'clock news, but it's incredibly shocking. It's incredibly timely at this point because Baltimore County has been getting away with a lot of discrimination on all accounts, not just its hiring practices, but it's also its policing practices. And everybody's normally focused on Baltimore City. They give kind of Baltimore, they kind of give Baltimore County a pass. But now the focus is going really where it deserves

to be and where it should have been a long time ago. And again, so break it down for us, what DOJ is alleging and saying they are discriminating against black applicants. Apparently there was some testing that was taking place and the African-American applicants weren't faring very well on this testing, but the white applicants were. And when that occurs, there's supposed to be some type of recognition and basically fixing this problem. And that hasn't occurred. So basically, DOJ said, yeah,

you discriminated. It wasn't intentional, but it's still discrimination and you have to fix it. And while you're fixing it, you have to restore these African-American applicants to where they would have been had the testing process been fair. And basically what we're looking at is an unfair testing process that allowed African-Americans not to be hired because they could not pass the test, not because they didn't have the aptitude to pass the test, but not because the information contained on the test is relevant or important to their abilities to perform their duties, but because it's basically just discrimination.

What people don't understand is that when you talk about discrimination in police departments and fire departments, the testing has been an issue we have seen since the 70s. We've seen this take place in New York and Chicago, all across this country when it comes to the test. I agree with you. And this is basically the ghost of the past where we used to fight very hard and valiantly to get some of these issues resolved. Now, here they are rearing their ugly head again in 2019. And not just not to the surprise of anyone, but certainly to our dismay. I mean, we're just tired of it. And I'm glad that DOJ is finally doing something about it. I wonder how much the actual Trump administration

had to do with this. I wonder if they even know what was going on, because it seems so opposite or contrary to the views that he seems to hold on a national level. But believe me, I was shocked. In fact, when I heard on your show that it occurred, because that's where the news broke. Actually, it actually broke on your show. No one's talking about it. As I said, when I was talking about it, no one even heard about it. So when I heard about it, I was like, wow.

I said, okay, we'll see what happens with this. All right. Well, J. Wendell Gordon, we certainly will follow this to see what happens next. Thank you very much for joining us on Roller Martin Unfiltered. Thank you. All right. Well, J. Wendell Gordon, we certainly will follow this to see what happens next. Thank you very much for joining us on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Thank you. All right, then, folks, let's go to our next story, and that is possession of an ounce of less of marijuana will be legal in Illinois beginning in January. The law, which was signed in June, also recognizes that for decades, people caught with small amounts of pot received stiff fines, possible jail time, and criminal convictions that dog them for life. So what will that mean for people who are serving time for a nonviolent offense?

In just a moment, we'll be chatting with Cook County State's Attorney Kim Fox. We want to go to our panel right now, though. And so let's welcome to our panel. First off, we have Kelly Bethea. Of course, she is a communications strategist. We have Jason Nichols. He, of course, a lecturer at African American Studies, University of Maryland, and also Malik Abdul with Vice President of Black Conservative Federation. And I'm going to

bring in Attorney Fox right now. Kim, how you doing? I'm good. How are you? Doing great. This is obviously critically important when we talk about what is happening with these convictions. All across the country, we are seeing individuals who are still in jail due to marijuana possession. But these states have now made it legal. I mean, I don't understand why it's not being made part of state law to vacate all of the convictions if you're going to make marijuana legal. I mean, I don't understand why it's not being made part of state law to vacate all of the convictions if you're going to make marijuana legal. That's right. And in Illinois, Roland, we did just that. We recognized that as we were moving towards legalization, we were the 10th state to do so. All the other states had done it by

referendum. We were doing it by legislation. And so we made sure that we were at the table to say that any legalization bill would have to have conviction or relief for people who were already convicted for marijuana possession. And so I'm very proud that we sat at the table as part of those discussions. And when the law takes effect January 1st, we have a mechanism in place for those who had previous convictions to vacate those convictions and ensure that no one is sitting in our jails for previous marijuana. How many folks are we talking about will be impacted by this? You know, we have estimates up to 770,000 people statewide. Here in Cook County, we have about 72 percent of those folks of that 772. Wow, that is a huge, huge number. And if somebody is in prison right now due to marijuana conviction, then what happens to them?

Certainly, we would review their record. Under the Illinois law, most of the automatic expungement for people who have 30 grams or less of marijuana, that would be considered a misdemeanor. And so there are very few people who are in jail or prison for misdemeanor marijuana. For anyone who has 30 grams or more up to 500,000 or 500 grams, that's a felony. What we can do is then review those who are currently incarcerated to petition to have those folks released. And what are other DAs around the country, what are they also saying when it comes to marijuana convictions, even in places where they have not made marijuana legal? Are you seeing that this action likely to be taken in a lot of those places as well?

Absolutely. You know, Marilyn Mosby out of Baltimore has been trying to do a vacating of convictions as well, even though it has not been legalized in Maryland just yet. Eric Gonzalez in Brooklyn has also been looking at this. George Gascon, who is the DA in San Francisco, where it is now legal in California, has been working on this. I think what you'll find with the growing number of prosecutors is they're not prosecuting low-level marijuana cases anymore because it is not fair, it's not equitable,

disproportionately impacts Black and brown communities. The question is, just because we've stopped prosecuting, what are we doing about righting the wrongs of the past, the previous convictions? And you're seeing a lot more efforts now of prosecutors doing that. And when you talk about, obviously, with these convictions, are you also seeing a change among state legislators to be more understanding of sort of this tough on crime sort of stance and realizing that frankly that's contributed to mass incarceration in this country? Absolutely, absolutely. I would say that the state legislature here in Illinois was very mindful of that, not only on the conviction relief part, but on the equity of who gets to participate in marijuana sales, recognizing that people who had these convictions would be left out of the ability to make money in this new market

and put in place processes that will allow for those people to participate. Additionally, our legislation said that we were going to reinvest dollars into those communities that have been impacted by the war on drugs. Our governor is signing off on the vacating of these convictions and expungements through the Prisoner Review Board. So we are very fortunate in Illinois to have a legislature that recognizes legalization must come in the form of equity and justice for communities that have been impacted by the war on drugs. Absolutely. Kim Fox, we certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much for joining us. Thank you, Roland. I appreciate being on. All right. Let's go to our panel here. Kelly, I want to start with you. I mean, this is important because, again, now you have these states that are profiting off of marijuana and they should be vacating these convictions. No, they absolutely should.

It shouldn't have been a crime in the first place because marijuana, once upon a time, was just kind of almost like the equivalent of persona non grata. No one really thought about it. But now we're at a place where, thankfully, it's not, at least in D.C. It's becoming more commercialized and people are actually seeing the medical benefits of marijuana. And I think that hopefully people all over the country will see that. But on a side note, I think that once white people actually become affected by something, that's when it starts to become, you know, radically changed. We're seeing this with the opioid crisis. First, with crack, people didn't really think about it and just thought it was like a black people problem.

But now that opioids are in the white community, now all of a sudden, it's a health crisis, although it was supposed to be that in the first place. I kind of liken that to the marijuana. It was never a bad thing. They just criminalized it because I feel like black people were using it. So I just couldn't agree more with the decision that Chicago's making.

I think that a lot of lives will be changed for the better because of it. Jason. Yeah, I mean, I agree. We've known for a long time that marijuana is, you know, not a gateway drug. It's something that people use recreationally. I think there's something as many as 80 percent of Americans believe that marijuana should at the very least be decriminalized, if not completely legal. So it really doesn't make sense that we made this kind of crime.

And I think we've been profiteering off of it, whether it's through private prisons or the mass incarceration. There have been many people who have been profiteering. And now, definitely these people's sentences should be vacated. And not only that, I would also add that a lot of marijuana dispensaries in places that it is legal, very few of those have been licensed to black people. And so I think that that's another thing that needs to happen is that if people are going to profiteer off of marijuana, then I think our community deserves our peace, too. Nellie? This is one of those moments where I can say, you know, good job, D.C. Currently in D.C., you can be caught what I think about two ounces of marijuana.

You can grow up to, I think, six plants. Just recently, it was the mayor. She actually, and it's in the process now where she's getting ready to sign a bill to legalize recreational marijuana. And the council earlier, I don't know if it was this month or the month prior, the D.C. council unanimously voted to expunge the records of people who had been previously convicted of marijuana convictions. And what was happening in the past under the old law is that those records could be sealed after eight years. And now what the D.C. Council has done is actually to speed that process up so they can have those, I believe, the immediate removal of that from their record, and they can also be sealed.

So I think it's a great thing. I was at a Women for Trump event last year and I met some, not just men, but women, actually a number of women, older women, women much older than me, who were actually put there at the Women for Trump event to push for marijuana. Exactly what we're talking about now. It was shocking to me, but it was something I was like, oh, wow, no, they were from the West Coast. But the fact that I think this is a much more bipartisan issue than people would really be willing to realize. And I think everybody smokes. Yeah. And I think it's a good thing. And I don't know people I don't know if people remember, but Attorney General Barr, he was asked about that during his hearing.

And he actually said that he was actually open to the idea of the federal coverage of marijuana. So I think it's all drugs. Well, then again, you've got to be high to be a woman for Trump. So, Roland, they did a good thing. You've still got to be high as hell to be a woman for Trump. Maybe so, but it's a great thing. Maybe so. You've got to be high. hell to be a woman for Trump. Maybe so, but it's a great thing. Maybe so. You got to be high.

But you need their support in order for this team to go. Say what? Depends on the strand. No, you need like a serious. It's a strain. You need. I'm a strain. Well, you know.

I don't smoke like that. And we know who will know. Absolutely. So, yeah, but you got to be real high to vote for Trump. I'm just saying. All right, y'all, next week is the beginning of the school year. Before you send your sons off to participate in organized sports, daughters, too, especially when we talk about soccer,

I want you to read this series of tweets by Leron McClain, a former Pro Bowl fullback in the NFL, who is clearly in distress. He says his brain is messed up. He says he can't help it and can't get any help. Unfortunately, his story is not an isolated case. As football gets quicker and more physical, the dangers of serious head injury increases. Folks, pull up the tweets.

Do we have them? Okay, so we have some issues with the graphics there. But, I mean, you talk about unbelievable when you saw these tweets. I mean, he was literally yelling, yelling on social media saying he needed help. Spent several years in the NFL playing fullback, a position, of course, where they lay with their head all of the time. And you also have, of course, players who are fighting, who are fighting, fighting the NFL. There was a class action lawsuit that also took place. And so this is what, this is what he tweeted 12 hours

ago. Another sleepless, now go to my iPad, please. Another sleepless night, another day, another opportunity, though. State powers of the Kings and Queens is hard, no lie, and I'm scared. Look at me. Talked all that on the field. I was a beast, and now I'm a mess. Man in tears now, but swear I'm gonna fight this, peeps. Keeping this alpha mental. That's what he posted. Getting my story out, peeps, just in case something happens to me. I want everyone to know what's going on daily for 24 hours. The darkest shit ever. It's no joke, peeps. My life is no joke. Man, be in my shoes for a few hours. SMH, some people are sad. SMH, I'm not looking for sympathy. But some of the other tweets, he tweeted this here. Nights like this are the worst. I cannot sleep. My anxiety is up. Real talk talk i'm a fucking mess

like what's wrong with me man come on bro smh please just pray for me god wins god wins that was at 3 26 in the morning uh on august 26 and of course he also was talking about uh what happened with um uh what happened with um um uh andrew luck retiring uh and talking about what he was dealing with. This is what he tweeted at 8.42 a.m. on August 24th. I need to tell my story of how my head is crazy and how football did it. Please, someone help me get out of the NFL. Get this out. The NFL puts paperwork in our faces, and that's it.

Yes, it's programs. Fuck all that I need help now. I need a plan. He said, they don't fucking get it, man. And so, again, a number of tweets that he sent out just crying for help. Joining us right now is the noted forensic pathologist with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who died as well. And, Dr. Amalu, when you see these tweets from Leron McClain, what do you say? What do I say?

It's what I have always said. When I said it, people called me all types of names. Knowing what we know today, and this is for every parent out there, knowing what we know today, there is no reason whatsoever why a child should play football in America today. Playing football causes brain damage, permanent brain damage. There is no cure for it. Once the damage is done, it is done. It is done. And from studies, just after one season of playing football, your child's brain is irreparably damaged just after one season.

If you play high school football for one season, your child's brain receives about 1,400 blows, violent blows. For college football, it's about 1,600 violent blows in just one season. So knowing what we know today, when you play a game like football, not just football, ice hockey, mixed martial arts, wrestling, boxing, rugby, when you play these games, you have a 100%, and I repeat, 100% risk exposure to brain damage. So cases like this, I receive so many emails from all around the world on daily basis of people like the person we're talking about. So the damage is already done. There is nothing we could do about it. But for children who have not suffered the damage, if your child is playing football today, you need to pull him out.

No, there's no reason for any child to play football until that child becomes an adult and makes up his or her own mind if he wants to play a game that would damage his brain. And as African Americans, I'm black too, I came from Africa, I'm an American now, the The single group that suffers the largest amount of exposure and damage are African-American men. So this has become a civil rights issue of our time. Many young black boys are damaging their brains. When you play this game, you suffer from major depression. You have almost a 400 to 600 percent increased risk of committing suicide. You lose your intelligence. You're less likely to attain high levels of education. You're less likely to get a job that requires complex thinking.

You're less likely to become successful in life. You're more likely to become an alcoholic. You're more likely to abuse drugs. You're more likely to engage in impulsive behavior. You're more likely to engage in criminal behavior. This is very well established. In 1957, the American Academy of Pediatrics said that no child under the age of 12 should be playing football in America. This is in 1957, 11 years before I was born. So what is going on?

I have a public high school about five miles away from my house. Every Friday night, there are so many cars in the parking lot. So one day I was driving home, I pulled over to see what was going on. I walked in, they were playing football. Over 95% of the students, of the boys on the field were blacks meanwhile a private high school that is about 10 months away from me they don't have any football program so doc let me ask you this question let me ask question um so when you say so what should from your point of view if someone wants to football, what should be the age they should start?

There is no age to start playing football. It's inherently dangerous. Just like there is no age where you should slam your head on the wall. But because we live in a free society, once you become an adult, 18, you're free to do whatever you want to do. You have every right to exercise your freedom and liberty. If you want to engage in deep-sea diving, that is your prerogative. I will support you.

If you want to engage in skydiving, wonderful for you. But not children. Children have not reached the age of consent to make up their minds, to even understand the intricacies of what they are doing. And so no child should play these games. Children should engage in brain-friendly sports, non-contact, swimming, volleyball, basketball, baseball, so many, so many games. However, these non-contact sports should still be played safely because there is still a very minor risk of accidental injury.

The NFL fought you aggressively, and now they say they're making great strides. Do you believe that the NFL has done enough? And what do you think about what's happening on the college and high school level as well? You know, I've traveled all around the world, and what I tell parents is, let us not make this about the NFL. The NFL is a corporation that is there to make money, and they have every right to make money. The NFL is a legitimate corporation, just like every other legitimate corporation, Apple, Google, Microsoft. They sell a product, which is football, entertainment, sports entertainment. They want to make money.

The NFL is not there to take care of your child. That is not what they are in business for. So let's not make this about the NFL. Let us make this about the dignity and integrity of each and every life. My Middle African name is Ifakando. It means life is the greatest gift of all. The greatest gift a parent could have is the gift of the life of your child. Parents, you make up your minds.

Which is more important to you, the life of your child, or very transient, hectic times, days, periods, on a weekend, several days a week. I wouldn't let my son play, and I wouldn't ask someone else's son to play. And this is not just my personal opinion. This is the position of science. This is not Bennett or Magnus' opinion or perspective. No, this is the truth. This is the fact of science.

But what you can notice, that's amplified by our politics today. As a society, we are beginning to deny and reject the truth for what it stands for. There is only one truth, but the truth frequently is inconvenient and many times painful. So as a society, what we're beginning to do is to develop alternative truths that will serve our convenience. That is a road to darkness embrace the truth respect recognize the truth for what it is and the truth in this is there is no reason whatsoever a child knowing what we know today i'm not talking about in 1970s. The players who have played and suffered

brain damage is unfortunate. Medicine cannot reverse the damage. That's a fact. But what about the future? What about the future? What about children whose brains have not been damaged? And as a physician, as a physician, I'm mandated, I'm required to tell the truth. To tell the truth to parents, to children. And as a Christian, as a Christian, I'm even more required. Okay? The truth sets you free. The truth is liberating. Okay. My son will get into the NFL. Less than 0.03% of football players make it to the NFL. And parents that believe that the NFL will make my son wealthy, that is a big lie.

Football players are the lowest paid athletes. I don't know if people know that. The average salary, an analysis I did a couple of years ago, is about $1 million. The professional span of a football player's career is about three to five years. So you damage your brain for only $3 to $5 million. And then when you're taxed, the money that gets into your pocket is about $300,000 to $400,000. And then when you retire after five years, your brain is damaged. You cannot sustain yourself economically.

Is it really worth it? Like I said to high school students, who is more likely to live in a multimillionmillion dollar home at the age of 60, a doctor or a lawyer or a football player? Of course, the answer is very obvious. If you're a lawyer, a doctor, you're more likely to live in a $1 million home at the age of 60 than a retired football player. That's a great point, Dr. Amalu. And it is certainly, again, when we look at these stories, it causes a great concern. Dr. Ben Amalo, we certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much for joining us. Thank you. Bye-bye. Good to have you here, Jason. This is, you know, look, I don't have kids. I guarantee you if I did, they're not playing football.

Yeah, I agree. I have a son and I, you know, I played football in high school and I have a son, and I played football in high school, and I have a son who's five, and honestly, he's going to play baseball. He's going to play some of the sports that Dr. Amalu alluded to. It's just not worth it. I think there was a sports science. I really enjoy those sports science things that they do on ESPN, and they did one on demarcus

where and they said basically if he hits you from with like a five yard running start it's literally like a truck hitting you and it will concuss you you know uh and a you know truck hitting you you could die depending on your preparation for it so that to me says says, and I love that Dr. Amalu pointed out the economic point, which is they're the lowest paid athletes. You're not going to get a Bryce Harper or some of these other salaries that you would

get in baseball or in other sports. To me, again, this is also an economic and a cultural thing where African American youth are attracted and pushed towards football rather than other sports. But, you know, I think that now we are starting to see that this is, you know, the risk is not worth the reward at all.

Malik, when you see these tweets, when you see, I mean, Homeboy is just McLean crying out for help. Yeah, that's heartbreaking. And, you know, as Jason said, you know, this is really cultural. And I don't know if any other country has football. There's some, but it's not to the extent that we have it. But it's something that, you know, it's a part of an American tradition. And so what you are seeing, you're seeing a lot of parents choosing not to allow their kids to play.

And so definitely support anything like that. I like what, you know, the attention that has actually been drawn to the concussion issue. That, you know, and a lot of football fans like me, you know, back in the day would get upset, you know, if one of our players was hit. It's like, well, get up. You know, it's like you were just hit, you know, get up. But now that we're really starting to look at the effects of that, I think it's a great thing. And I hope that even in our, you know, communities like ours, you know, that's why it's important. I love what's happening at Howard with the golf, you know, Stephen Curry, what he's doing with golfing because the more that we introduce that we excel in everything once we're in it so whether it's

swimming whether it's baseball basketball anything and so the more those type of sports are introduced in our communities accessible yep Kelly just to piggyback off of what Malik was saying I'm a little conflicted about this because while I agree with the doctor, at the same time, this has to deal with access. A lot of schools don't have baseball programs. A lot of schools don't have golfing programs or swimming programs, let alone a swimming pool. at these lower, what's the word, elementary level of education, these institutions, elementary school, middle school, high school, is a football field. It's not a question they don't have it.

Bottom line is football is a revenue-driven sport. And so it is, and the reality is, out of all those sports you mentioned, football actually has more players. So the problem is you have 30 or 40 or 50 people on 60, 70 on a football team, where, hell, that might end up being five sports combined. The reality in America is that football is a revenue-generating sport.

And I agree with you. It's money. It's just flat out. You're absolutely right that it's money. But I also understand the fact that there are schools out there that don't have other programs. No, no, no, no, no. They don't have other programs because football is no, no. They don't have other programs because football is a revenue generating sport. Right, so they invest

in the football and not into the other programs that they could have. No, no, no. It's not that they invest in the football program. The football, this nation, this state, football now is a religion. Right. Football now owns Sunday.

Right. Right next to church. So what has happened is it is so deeply embedded. The NFL is a $10 billion a year corporation. They make more money than all of the other professional sports, including the NBA.

You look at it on the college level. You take the Big East. The Big East became the Big East because of basketball. Georgetown, Syracuse, Villanova, Connecticut. When football money came in, it completely decimated the conference.

Why? Because you cannot compete with football money. And so the problem in America with football is money. And the people, and America with football is money and the people. And it is such it is so massive. Pro college, high school. You've got high school stadiums in this country, several in Texas with 60 and 70 million dollar high school stadiums. So the problem in this country are those who are profiting from football who are not concerned at all about the health piece. But I'm not necessarily talking about just high school. There are PB football teams out there. Yes. Money. I'm trying to say I understand

your point about access. But what I'm saying is what they're doing is their deal is this is about money. And so they're making money in Pee Wee. They're making money in elementary school and middle school. I mean, they're making gobs of money. And you wouldn't think so, but that's what's driving this deal. And you have people out there who are saying long as that money train is going. All right. Your head might hurt. OK, we could teach you how to tackle a different way. But that's what's going on here. And in that movie Concussion, what the doctors say it is.

And the problem is they're seeing the shift now in concussion. that scene where you said, if just 10% of parents pull their kids from youth football, the whole system collapses. Because it's about money. And that's what the NFL is. That's what college football is. That's what high school football is.

And that's why they fought Amalu like crazy. So they're not trying to put the money to create those other sports, to create the alternatives, because folks are saying we're getting paid with football. And that's what's driving it. It's the profit of football. And that's what's scary.

Real quick. Yeah, I just wanted to add to that. If you've been, if you visited places like the University of Alabama recently. Roll Tide. All new buildings. Roll Tide. It funds the school. I mean, it's crazy.

The arm is raised. The arm is raised in college football is ridiculous. I mean, the amount of money being put into, and first of all, let's just be clear. Only a handful of athletic departments actually made money. Oh, absolutely. That's the other thing. It is so, it is so, and I and I'm telling you what is happening is but see We also got to go beyond this. What was other hugely sport is popular among kids soccer

they're now seeing massive brain injuries because Well, that's what I wanted to do that because I was a soccer player up until 13 14 years old. And I don't know whether I got concussed much because of my position. I didn't have to deal with, you know, that much contact. But at the same time, any sport that requires you to move at that speed or be that agile or have any type of ball coming to your face.

Baseball has concussions. There are people who suffer from CTE from baseball and CTE from soccer. Not at the same rate. Not at the same rate. It's repetitive. I get that. So in boxing, for example, anybody will tell you it's better to get knocked out with one punch than to be knocked out on your feet. And that's the thing.

It's the repetition. Play after play after play. These people are running into each other. And some places have actually banned using your head in soccer. Right. So, again, I understand the predicament. I think we need to come to a conclusion

as to exactly are children going to be allowed to play sports at all? Because there are areas where sometimes that sport is the child's ticket out of whatever predicament they're in. But that's the problem. That is the problem. See, that's what they pray

on. Absolutely. That's what they pray on when if sports is the ticket out for maybe one kid. Right. Maybe one. I mean, if you take

a neighborhood, you take a traditional neighborhood, maybe one kid in the entire neighborhood over the course of 22 years will become a pro.

Maybe. That's how small it is. And so, that argument can't work. And the problem is, it is what's driving, I think, so much of this. But what you have, again, what you have, folks, is they don't want the assembly line to end.

Right. That's what they don't want because it's money. And it's billions and billions and billions of dollars that are at stake. And that's what's going on here. And so, all right, folks, got to go to a break. When we come back, we're going to talk about Marianne Williamson. We'll talk about Meek Mill now being free. That's right. No more probation, all this other stuff. We'll have 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. All right, folks, you heard we talk a lot about marijuana stock.org. Why? Because I want to keep you informed of investment opportunities that make sense. We've all watched the growthijuanaStock.org. Why? Because I want to keep you informed of investment opportunities that make sense. We've all watched the growth of the cannabis industry. A recent report by New Frontier Data estimates the global cannabis market at over $340 billion. We know that marijuana legalization is sweeping the country state by state. We also know that marijuana has a good cousin, the hemp plant, with a much higher concentration of CBD.

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All right, folks. In Oklahoma, a major settlement with Johnson & Johnson where over the opioid crisis. Now, that's one of the states they have been suing manufacturers as a result of these crises. Well, a state judge there for the first time this week says that an opioid maker was partly responsible for sparking the opioid crisis that swept through Oklahoma and the U.S. overall, killing an estimated 130 people nationwide every day. Johnson & Johnson, the maker of the opioid

painkillers Duragesic and Nusenta, must pay $572 million in damages to the state of Oklahoma, which has reportedly lost more than 6,000 people to the opioid crisis since 2000. In his decision, the judge said that they caused an opioid crisis that is evidenced by increased rates of addiction, overdose deaths, and neonatal abstinence syndrome in Oklahoma. Also, of course,

another family that is a leader behind opioids, they are being sued and they have thrown out a potential $10 to $12 billion settlement with folks who are suing them. And so we'll see what happens in that case. Rapper Meek Bill walked out of a Philadelphia courtroom today a free man after fighting for 12 years. He pled guilty to a misdemeanor of firearms, possession, and gun charge. All other charges were dropped. He will face no further punishment. The charges stem from a 2007 case that's kept him under court supervision

for more than a decade. Of course, Kelly, there were people, of course, they had, were rallying outside. This has been going on for quite some time. And it shows the extent by which folks are so wrapped up in the criminal justice system. And what's really frustrating about the entire thing is the fact that because this is such a minor charge, all things considering, the fact that he has been under the thumb of the court system for well over a decade because of this one thing.

Right. That's just ridiculous to me. you know, personally, so many other cases with, you know, just absurd facts and evidence and play where the person who's white does not get nearly as much time as Meek Mill did for what ended up being a misdemeanor charge. Jason, this is why I've often said the moment you get into that system, you are not in control of your life. Any one thing that you do can keep you involved with it. And that was the case with Meek Mill. Absolutely. You know, the, we, we definitely need to take a larger look at not only, you know, I know everyone's looking at bail, but also looking at, you know, the probation and parole system and how, you know, it basically keeps its, you know, as my colleague said here, you know, its thumb over, you know, people and keeping them in the system, waiting for them to make some minor error so that they can reincarcerate them or extend their probation. I'm glad to see Meek out.

And we know he's been rapping like a monster lately. So I'm excited for the new music. Malik? Yeah, and if I remember correctly, was it that he was caught with the gun? He was caught with the gun, but it wasn't used in a commission of any crime. Literally just possession.

Yeah, possession of a gun. Well, they alleged that he pointed it. That was the thing. But the point I'm making is that, again, this is one of those things where the moment you get into that system, you don't control

your life. Right. Somebody else is in control. And then once you get in, and once they say you're on probation, you do one thing, all of a sudden that thing just keeps going. And so again, that's why I say we have to do two things, fight the system, but also not get in the system. Yeah. And one of the things that I'm actually, you know, there's a lot of work to be done, but I'm really happy that there's a lot of attention focused on things like this.

Like you said, we really should focus on the parole system too, but I'm glad that the nation is having a real conversation about criminal justice, and I hope that everyone can work together on both sides of the aisle, people working with the president on it, working with Jay-Z, any of these people that are out here fighting the good fight. I think that we should all come together because even you know, even for the people who say, well, just lock them up, lock them up, lock them up, well, that's not financially feasible, you know, to continue to do that.

It depends on who. Which is why so many states have gone broke, even Mississippi, Texas, Kansas. People say, you know, we can't afford this. It makes no sense whatsoever. So that's one of the things that we have been seeing. All right, going to break, we come back. We're going to talk Mary. Yeah. So it's one of the things that we have been seeing. All right. Going to break. We come back.

We're going to talk Mary Ann Williamson, running for president, as well as, oh, Lord, this TV anchor in Oklahoma. What? What? What the hell? What? Y'all, wait till I explain to y'all. Did she really call her black co-anchor saying he look like a monkey?

Oh, Jesus. Yes, she did. I'll be back. Roller Mark unfiltered. You want to support Roll Martin Unfiltered? Be sure to join our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar that you give to us supports our daily digital show.

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All right, folks. November 7th through 11th, I want you to join me in Cabo. That's right. The second annual Life Luxe Jazz Experience will be taking place there. An unbelievable lineup there of food and music and drink and all that good stuff. Golf, spa, wellness, all kind of things happening in Cabo during that time, including the Spirit of Jazz Gospel Brunch and the Jazz Sunset Cruise. Among the guests confirmed, actor Mark Curry.

Saxophonist Gerald Albright, Alex Bunyan, Raul Madon, Incognito, Pieces of a Dream, Kirk Whalum, Average White Band, Donna McClurkin, Shalaya, Roy Ayers, Tom Brown, Ronnie Laws, Ernest Quarles. Now, of course, all of y'all are going to be on the East Coast, and the Midwest is going to be cold as hell. Come on down to Cabo. Let's have a great time for four days in November. I'm going to be broadcasting Roland Martin Unfiltered from Cabo that Thursday and Friday,

and so it's going to be an absolute great time, an unbelievable experience, upscale accommodations, of course, great music and great food and great people. And so we would love to have you join us. Packages range anywhere from $1,300 to $2,000. And again, there's going to be concerts all throughout those four days. And so we're going to have an absolute great time. And so I want you to go to the website right now and check it out. Love to have you there. The website is lifeluxjazz.com, lifeluxjazz.com. If you're looking for an absolutely great time

with grown people, let me say that again, grown people, y'all can leave the kids at home. And so y'all can sit in, roll with our kids, have a great romantic time. Go to lifeluxjazz.com. We'd love to see you in Cabo during that time. And so lifeluxjazz.com, November 7th through the 11th. So sign up today. All right, folks. A lot of folks running for president, and they all have to get easing by tomorrow.

Tomorrow's the deadline, Wednesday, to qualify for the next debate taking place at Texas Southern University in Houston, September 12th and 13th. Now, first of all, right now, 10 candidates have qualified, and so the others are trying to qualify. Now, right now, that means there will be only one debate.

But if more than 10 people qualify by tomorrow, then there'll be two debates. And one of the folks who wants to qualify has yet to do so because she must be at 2% of the polls is Marianne Williamson. Well, just the other day I had an opportunity to catch up with her to hear from her as to why she wants to be president of the United States.

I don't think there was a moment. I can't imagine anybody running for president impulsively. There was a moment when the idea first struck me as a possibility, but then that was followed by a year and a half of processing. I had to talk to a lot of people that I respect and admire, and I had to work through a lot of things within myself. I knew it wouldn't be easy,

and I knew that I would get a lot of the derisiveness and dismissiveness that I have gotten from certain quarters. I'm not at a point in my life where, like my daughter said, mommy, why do you need to do this? But I think that for me, as for so many millions of other people, Donald Trump's election changed everything. And a lot of the questioning and considerations that might have had pertinence before he became president sort of drop away. I think the only question any conscious person is asking right now is how can whatever skills and abilities I have best be used at this moment of time?

You mentioned skills. Obviously, to be commander in chief, to be president of the United States requires diplomacy, requires having to work with Democrats and Republicans, requires all sorts of things. And so why do you believe you have the skill set to handle the most important position in the world? Well, first of all, even the skill sets that you just mentioned, it's not like I'm without diplomatic experience. I've worked with many, many people in my life and people around the world. But more than that, I think that what we need right now is political vision more than we need a political mechanic. You know, what you talked about as political experience. Well,

very experienced politicians took us into Iraq. Very experienced politicians took us into Vietnam. Very experienced politicians went along with the war in Iraq. You can have the best car mechanic in the world, but the best car mechanic doesn't necessarily know what path you should take to Cincinnati. And that's what we're lacking now. We have plenty of political expertise, but what we lack is political vision. FDR said the primary job of the presidency is moral leadership. He said the administrative aspect is secondary. And I also believe that not only do we need the skill set with which to govern the country, and I do believe that I have that, but we need the skill set that's going to be necessary

to defeat Donald Trump. You know, the Democrats, there are differences, certainly. There are differences in our policy positions, but in general, there's a chorus here. There's a common chorus. But a lot of Democrats now are talking about our plans, but in general. There's a chorus here. There's a common chorus. But a lot of Democrats now are talking about our plans, but notice nobody's having the conversation about what is our plan for defeating Donald Trump? And I believe that the conversation that the conventional politicians are having right now, they're sharpening their knives. But Donald Trump

will be bringing a big gun to this battle, not just a knife. And I believe that the particular skill sets that I have are saying, you know, I heard someone the other day say, you know, what is she? She knows about motivating people, inspiring people. And, you know, my thought was, yeah, you might want to think of that. Because we have to do something other than just, this man is not just a politician. He is a phenomenon. And I personally don't believe an insider politics game will defeat him. We need to create a phenomenon of equal force. And that's not an individual, but it is an awakening and an excitement and an inspiration among the American people that I think my conversation has already ignited in a way that other candidacies have not. I THINK THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. I THINK THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. I THINK THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.

I THINK THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. I THINK THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. I THINK THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. I THINK THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. I THINK THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. I THINK THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. I THINK THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. I THINK THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.

I THINK THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. I THINK THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. I do believe that, look, let's just look at the math. Donald Trump didn't win, and if he were to win, he wouldn't win again, just because of the people who are so excited about Donald Trump. And we need to remember, if you look at how many people voted for him, the problem was not just who voted for him, but how many people did not vote and how many people voted for Jill Stein. And yes, the people who really want Donald Trump out, they're going to vote for us. And the people who really want him in are going to vote for him. Let's just consider that done. Then you've got a whole universe of people.

That's who we need to inspire. And yes, I do. I believe that I'm having a conversation that goes deeper. I think that the conventional political establishment is too narrow a container. It's left over from the 20th century. It's not in alignment with the kind of gestalt and zeitgeist of the 21st century. The 21st century is a far more holistic, integrative conversation, particularly among young people. You've got to get deep and you've got to get real. I think that's why people have appreciated

my conversation about race. People have appreciated my conversation about millions of traumatized American children that we're not even talking about. People have appreciated my conversation about the military-industrial complex and recognize that I and Tulsi Gabbard are the only people even going there. So yes, I think that there's an excitement and an energy that we need to ignite that we will not be able to harness the same old, same old, same conversation, but just a better version. I don't think that that's going to get the job done. I mean, look, getting that job done, as in defeating Donald Trump, is the most important thing. I mean, there's no question about that. But I think we're going to need to do more than some people seem to think if that no question about that. You mentioned talking about race. You talked about reparations in various debates as well.

Do you believe that that will ignite or excite a diverse coalition of Democratic voters? Will it turn off white voters? And do you believe that America actually has the stomach, has the will, has the guts to truly confront the issue of race? So you asked very important questions, and you asked two or three of them. And first, your question was, would we be able to put together the coalition? So hear me on this. The traditional political calculation is along a horizontal line. It's the idea that leads us to dumb down the message, dumb it down, dumb it down, so more people will agree with you. I take a different tact. I say go deep, get real, and

go vertical. Because conviction is a force multiplier. You know, Roland, I'm old enough to remember when Donald Reagan was considered too conservative to ever be president. People do not vote. You know, the same part of the brain that rationally analyzes an issue is not the same part of the brain that decides who to vote for. So to me, it's not just would more people want to—if you were to vote today, who would support reparations? No, we would not. But what I'm saying is I'm having a conversation which people of goodwill hear.

You know, too many white Americans just don't really know the history. They're woefully undereducated. And when I talk about it within a context of a historical narrative, how there were 250 years of slavery, followed by another hundred years of institutionalized violence against black people, what the black code laws were, what the 40 acres in a mule meant, how Germany paid $89 billion. Yeah, but I mean, I'm talking about this in the whitest states in America. And at the end, people are on their feet applauding. So yes, I do. I'm not running a campaign where I'm saying to people, I'll get this for you, and I'll get this for you, and I'll get this for you. To me, that's the corruption of our politics. What I'm saying to people, I'll get this for you, and I'll get this for you, and I'll get this for you.

To me, that's the corruption of our politics. What I'm saying is let us join together and do the right thing. And people are hearing me on the issue of reparations when I say that whether you are an individual or you are a nation, you can't have the future that you want if you're not willing to clean up the past. So, yes, I absolutely believe this is a moment when people are open. People really here, particularly young people, young people understand phrases like historical trauma. Young people don't think this is a pregnant moment in America. And I'm speaking into something very contemporary. And it's very now.

And this old conversation, it's not enough. It doesn't inspire excitement. And I have – you know, it's really interesting because when I think of all the people who have told me that they're Trump supporters but they would vote for me and they're Republicans but they would vote for me, and they're Republicans, but they would vote for me. The reparations thing, there's a bigger outlook and moral viewpoint of the world, and their values that I feel I acknowledge and I validate, which too often people of faith feel the Democratic Party does not validate. And that's more important to them. And also,

even on the topic of reparations, I make the argument it's an economic stimulus. You know, there was an article that came out today in CBS that was talking about the fact that if black wealth, if black families made as much money as white families, then our economy would be $1.5 trillion larger. So people understand when I talk about, you're talking about money for the purposes of economic education renewal, that's an economic stimulus. I don't see reparations as a cost. I see it as a benefit across the board. Economics is obviously critically important. What is happening with the economy? Folks are saying we potentially are headed into a recession.

What is your economic plan, your economic policy to ensure that Americans not only will continue with jobs, but also how do you deal with African-Americans who are not getting the resources needed for small businesses, being able to tap those lines of credit, being able to access venture capital dollars as well. And so what is your economic agenda for African Americans? Well, first of all, reparations at $200 to $500 billion this first over 20 years is quite an economic agenda. But let's say, obviously, to get reparations, you need to pass the House and the Senate.

So let's assume, first and foremost foremost that the votes are not there. Okay, so then what do you do to what is still your economic policy if that doesn't happen? Well, first of all, I think it will happen. But even if it were not to happen, there are plenty of areas. I'll give you an example. Just one second, one second, I'm sorry. One second, one second, one second. One second. So Republicans now control the Senate. Okay. If you win the Democratic nomination, if you beat Donald Trump and

Republicans are still in control of the Senate, how reparations are going to get passed? There's not one Republican who supports it. No, definitely. I understand what you're saying, because you're saying if it doesn't get passed, what are you going to do for black America? And I certainly want to answer that question. But now going back to this question, to be honest, Roland, if I'm elected president, there's a shift in the consciousness of the American voter.

So I think it's a really good assumption that if the American people have shifted enough to elect me president, I think there's a real good chance we'll have shifted enough to elect a lot of people with a kind of different consciousness, whether it actually replaces Mitch McConnell or not. But your question is certainly valid, which is what if he's not there, what would you do for black America? And the issues to me have to do with such things as even when minority business owners get business contracts, often historically they've had to wait too long to get paid. So even though they could get the contract, they would still go bust. Under the Obama administration, they put in a rule called pay quick, where people had to

be paid, I think, within two weeks. Trump has repealed that. So the various issues that have to do with discrimination, the various issues such as that, various issues such as having to do with small business loans, making capital available. See, I believe that the purpose of government is to help people thrive. The purpose of government shouldn't be to cap people's dreams. So anything that helps people access their own creativity and their own productivity. This, to me, is my philosophy of where money comes from. So it's not just what I'm, quote-unquote, doing for black people. It's a whole economic theory. We move as many barriers as possible

from as many people as possible so that they can access their own creativity. This has to do with education. For instance, one of my plans is for a department of children and youth. I want every school in America to be a palace of learning and culture in the arts because we know now how much happens before the age of eight. And we know that in a country where the educational funding is primarily based on property taxes, it is children of color who get the most disadvantage. Because if you are in an advantaged neighborhood in this country, a child has a very good chance of a high quality public education. But if that child is not in an advantaged neighborhood, less so. This is where our genius is. It's in every kindergarten in every neighborhood less so. This is where our genius is in every

kindergarten in every neighborhood in America. This is where our potential is. This is where our entrepreneurial potential, this is where our... think of the millions and billions and even probably trillions of dollars of unrealized economic potential that lies in the fact that we do not develop the brain of every American child. These are the kinds of ideas. These are the kinds of visions. These are the kinds of organizing and values and principles that, to me, should govern all of our domestic policies. We've got a couple of minutes left.

Obviously, the next debate is taking place in September. How do you see yourself breaking through? As it stands right now, when you look at the polling data, you are at the bottom. You are, and when I say at the bottom, we're talking first of all, most of the candidates are not even above 3%. So what do you need to do to catch fire to get folks interested in your campaign? I think after the second debate there was a lot of talk about me obviously. I was considered the breakout candidate by most voices and then there was

clearly an attack on my credibility. She's anti-science, she's anti-medicine, she's crazy, she's a grifter and it certainly had its effect. That's number one. Number two, I think a lot of people need to ask ourselves who's even being polled. And number three, it took me a year and a half to process my candidacy. I think it's understandable that it's taken a lot of other people time to process my candidacy as well. But it's the voters who matter. And when I'm out there and my crowds are growing and I see the enthusiasm and I know that my words are landing, that is my indicator for whether or not I'm supposed to be in this race and whether or not I'm supposed to continue.

As long as I feel that I'm saying things that need to be said, Martin Luther King said, your life begins to end on the day you stop talking about things that matter. Not only am I talking about things that matter, I think I'm the only candidate talking about some of the things that really matter, whether it has to do with children, whether it has to do with race, whether it has to do with war and peace, whether it has to do with the deeper corruption of our economy really and where that's coming from. As long as I feel that other people are hearing it and there's an excitement about it, I'm in this race. And that's democracy. It's not about polls. It's about the US Constitution.

And so I'm in it as long as my heart says I'm supposed to be here. And right now, my heart says I'm supposed to be here. All right, Marianne Williamson, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you very, very much. I'm white. I got you, Carl. Yeah, it's illegally selling water with our permit. On my property. Whoa!

Hey! Hey, remember, give us your ID. You don't live here. I'm uncomfortable. All right, y'all, what in the hell? What position is a crazy-ass white woman to compare her television co-anchor to a damn gorilla? This is Finn. We're about to show... Oh, my goodnessor to a damn gorilla. To see this, this is Finn.

We're about to show, oh my goodness, take a look at him. He is a resident of the Oklahoma City Zoo. And this week, the zoo's eighth caretaker took over their Instagram, and we are all loving that they did. Now as you can see, Finn was fascinated. Definitely ready for this close-up. Kind of looks like you.

What do you think of the picture? Hey, totally does, actually, yeah. What? you think of the picture? Kind of does, actually. Yeah. What? Wait, did he say yeah? Yeah, he did. Look. Yeah, y'all heard it, huh? Yeah.

Kind of looks like you. Yeah, he does. And he goes, what? Yeah, it does, actually. So they, of course, had to come on the air, and there had to be an apology. Press play. Because I want to apologize.

The only time I called Jason was to our entire community. I said something yesterday that was inconsiderate. It was inappropriate. And I hurt people. And I want you to know I understand how much I hurt you out there and how much I hurt you. I love you so much and you have been one of my best friends for the past year and a half. And I would never do anything on purpose to hurt you. And I love our community. And I want you all to know from the bottom of my heart, I apologize for what I said.

I know I was wrong and I am so sorry. Alex, thank you very much. And I do accept your apology and I do appreciate your apology. I want to let everybody out there know that Alex is one of my best friends. I mean, we do what we do here and, you know, it's not as if we see each other here and then we leave and we go home. We talk every day, almost every other day. I've told you things. I've shared things with you as a friend. And I do appreciate you and I do love you.

All that being said, and Alex will be the first to admit this to you, what she said yesterday was wrong. It cut deep for me and it cut deep for a lot of you in the community. I've heard the phone community. I've heard the phone calls and I've heard the Facebook messages as well. And I guess coming out of this, I want this to be a teachable moment. And that lesson here is that words matter. There's no doubt about that. Changing demographics here in this country, the demographics are changing. We're becoming a more diverse country and there's no excuse. We have to understand the stereotypes, we have to understand each other's backgrounds, and the words that hurt, the words that cut deep, and we have to find a way to replace those words

with love and words of affirmation as well. You know, what we do here as broadcasters, we use words. Words are the tools of our trade, much like a plumber would use a wrench or a doctor would use a scalpel. I can't hear that bullshit. I can't hear that bullshit anymore. Y'all, go ahead.

So, look. Somebody should have... I was waiting for her to... I was waiting for a handkerchief i was waiting for a white wipe a tear or something not just she's got her face be they ain't crying but it was no tear that fell from her eye you know i do think as far as him him saying yes you know or whatever he said you know there i think many of us have been in situations where people say things and we just kind of respond. Right. And then later we say, well, man,

shit. Your ass told me I look kind of like you, a gorilla. I'd be like, bitch, have you lost your... Becky, have you lost your... I'm telling you right now. That's real. That's real. We don't know what he said after. He might have been like, yeah, your ass look like.

But I don't think that's him. But you don't know what he said. It's easy to kind of do that. Kelly, go on. So this is twofold. One, I think that she was just completely ignorant in terms of her statement. Oh my god, that looks like you.

Yeah, like the fact that you came up with that so quickly, that just kind of rolled off your tongue. That, to me, says that you've been thinking about this. Bitch, it's a gorilla! Oh, roller. It's a gorilla! Dog! I don't care who you are! We are looking... It's a gorilla!

So that's point number one. Point number two is the fact that I don't think he understands the grovement of that sentiment. Because if I were him, I wouldn't be sitting next to her during her apology. If I were him, that would not have happened because. Can I just say. And let me say this right now.

I know somebody sitting there. See, I'm just saying how the natural response would have been. She would have got cussed out. For me been. She would have got cussed out. Me too. She would have got cussed out. I'm a very peaceful person. And I know somebody is saying, I can't believe you would have said that. No.

Right. But heifer would have come out. And look, I don't know what. Everything would have come to me. Y'all, a gorilla. See, let me help somebody out. Because if somebody's watching right now, y'all probably saying,

oh, Roland, you got your alpha shirt on, and you got these alphas who call themselves apes. I don't. In fact, that's prohibited by fraternity. And I've said, call yourselves no damn apes. I don't give a damn if Omegas call themselves dogs. We don't need no damn mascot. And I will never, never, and of course it was outlawed in our fraternity. You can't be putting

that crap on shirts and stuff along those lines. And I've said to anybody who's an alpha, if I ever see you with some alpha gear and a goddamn ape or a monkey, I'm like, I'm gonna cuss you the hell out. I'm gonna cuss you out up and down because the history of black people being called monkeys, chimpanzees, gorillas, is shameful. It's shameful. And for her,

so easily. Yeah, it was very easy. It looks like you. Right. And then what's worse to me, even after all of that, which was just bad on its own, but the fact of the matter is as black as he is and as white as she is together on that

sofa together, that also brings other negative historical connotations. So that to me was more bothersome than the fact that she called him a monkey. Can I be honest? I think, and I'm going to say this because we're unfiltered. I think he wants to smash. He probably already did.

Oh, gee whiz. That's what it looked like to me. Oh, gee whiz. Like, oh, we text each other every day. Oh, gosh. You're my best friend. Man. No, let's not think that the both of them could be married or something. I didn't see a ring. I looked. I didn't look, but I'll tell you this. I always look.

But I think it's possible for people to have relationships with someone of the other race or whatever and have, you know, be sympathetic to them. You absolutely can have camaraderie. But that, that was like, oh, I low-key probably slept with you like a week ago, and then you said that. Y'all getting way off. Yes.

I'm just saying, we unfiltered, so I was just... The bottom line... I said what I said. with you like a week ago and then you said that. Oh, gosh. Y'all getting way off. Yes. I ain't even fucking with you. I'm just saying, we unfiltered. So I was just. The bottom line. I said what I said. It was inappropriate. The bottom line for me is the moment she said, that looked like you.

Yeah, that was flat. I mean, I would have said something. Go off. Yeah. I'm telling you right now, TV show would have stopped. You would have heard, what'd you say? Who look like me? See, right there.

See, we ain't waiting for the phone call. That's what got me, too. Hold up, listen to me. I don't give a damn if you're at the end of a segment. Everything would cease from moving. It would have been like,

hold up. What did you just say? See, we ain't waiting for the phone calls and the emails to come in, and then we ain't waiting for Becky to be crying the next day. No, Becky, we gonna deal with that thing right now.

Gonna make her cry right now. That ain't happening. They ain't happening. We ain't waiting for tomorrow. Yeah, they should have dealt cry right now. They ain't happy. Yeah. They ain't happy. We ain't waiting for tomorrow. Yeah, they should have dealt with it. And we ain't waiting for the moment on the couch, you know, where you're my best friend, and, you know, and I love you. Yeah.

I mean, that obviously wasn't his best friend. They should have dealt. That was a definite insensitivity and ignorance and the whole nine yards. But they should have been dealt with right after the break. But we don't know what he said off camera. My point is we ain't waiting till the next day. But we don't know what he meant.

We ain't waiting till the next day. No. See, I didn't know it was the next day. But another point of the matter is her apology had nothing to do with the historical connotation of it all. They've avoided the word race or racism. Of course! Everything! It wasn't her community that she accepted.

And he's like, you know, we got to find different words. You know, we got to find, you know. And then he kind of likened it to a scalpel. Like, words are a scalpel. Okay. All right. I don't know. I think he's from Mississippi or something.

I don't know. Oh! Ha ha! Oh, no. We don't know. I think he's from Mississippi or something. I don't know. Oh! Oh, no. We'll take that. We'll take that for the team. We'll take that for the team. All right, y'all. I got to go out on this one.

North Carolina man, a brother, dragged from his own home in his underwear when a guest accidentally triggered the alarm. And so remember what happened with the whole Skip Gates thing? And, you know, and Obama wanted to say the cop acted stupidly after determining that Skip Gates lived there? Right. Y'all, watch this video here.

And this is crazy. Mm-hmm. If you're inside, make yourself known. We all know the song. Hey, Brian, can you just hold the camera real quick? Hey, come on out with your hands up. Yeah. I'm out. Just cut.

Hold on, I got a firearm in my hand. Okay, all right, just come on out. You got a firearm in your hand? Yeah. Drop the gun, drop the gun. Okay, come on out here. Come on out. Come on out here. Just come on out for me.

What you mean come on out? Just come on out of Come on out here. Just come on out for me. What you mean, come on out? Just come on out of the house, please. I got all my drawers. Come on out of the house, okay? What am I going to do? I'm going to record this shit. Y'all are crazy as hell. Hold on.

Turn around. Turn around. Put your hands behind your back. Turn around for what? Put your hands behind your back and get down on your knees. For what? Put your hands. Turn around. Put your hands behind your back. Turn around for what? Put your hands behind your back and get down on your knees. For what? Put your hands... Turn around. Put your hands behind your back and get down on your knees. For what?

Turn around and face away from me. Why? Turn around and face away from me. For what? Turn around and face away from me now. I didn't do nothing. Put your hands behind your back and face away from me. I got on drawers. You got to call the super department. They're on their way. Put your right now. Just put your hands. Tell me for what? We got four four alarm here.

I got open door. I'm trying to make sure. I just talked to the wrong people. Okay. Put your just talk to the right. Let me sort that out, okay? Now just put your hands behind your back. Yo. This shit is crazy. Okay, just have a seat right here, okay? Just have a seat right here, okay? Just have a seat. And you guys can run 10-40. Just have a seat.

Do you, what is your name? My name is Kazum. Okay. Do you live here? Yep. Okay. Do you have an ID? Yep. So like I said have an ID? Yep.

So like I said, I got a call here for a 4-4 alarm, right? So I come here, the door's unlocked, right? I make announcements, no one answers. I can't hear you. Okay, I made several announcements, no one answers. I'm asleep, I can't hear you. Just listen to me, okay? I made several announcements, right?

Okay. So then you come downstairs, got something in your hand, you tell me what the fire is. Listen to me, okay? I made several announcements, right? Okay? So then you come downstairs, got something in your hand, and you tell me what the fire is. I'm a club owner. People tell me everything. I get that, okay? Well, I'm giving you orders. Okay, you put the gun down.

I'm just trying to figure out whether you're supposed to be here or not, okay? I got on draws, bro. What the fuck do you mean I'm not supposed to be here? I understand that, okay? So I'm just trying to figure out who you are, all right you mean I'm not supposed to be here? I understand that, okay? So I'm just trying to figure out who you are, all right, and whether you're supposed to be here or not. That's not the problem, bro. All right. Just have a seat for me, okay?

This shit is the craziest shit ever. This is my supervisor. This is Sergeant Gracie. Sergeant Gracie, I made several announcements when I first got here. There were no answers, okay? And then about five minutes Sorry, I'm Gracie. I made several announcements when I first got here. There were no answers, okay? Then about five minutes later I gave another announcement. He said, I'm inside. I gave him commands to come to the front.

He came down the stairwell. He had a firearm in his hand. I told him to drop the firearm. He dropped the firearm. You can release the channel. I told him to then walk this way and turn around and put his hand behind his back. He didn't want to do that at first. I'm at home, bro.

I'm not killing people these days. I'm at home. I ain't bothering nobody. I stay in the house so I don't have to bother nobody. I'm a business owner. I see somebody coming to my door, of course I'm going to come down with a fine. We're talking about come outside, get on your knees. And it's kind of neighbors outside. down with a fine. We're talking about come outside, get on your knees. Have a seat. And it's neighbors outside.

Have a seat. What am I, who is the- Cuz we're gonna clear the rest of the house. Have a seat. Have a seat. Bro, how did y'all come in somebody's house to do this? Have a seat. What have I done wrong? Wait a minute, come on, come on.

Let's get- I haven't done nothing wrong. Let's get, let's get- Step outside. I haven't done nothing wrong. Step outside. All right, folks. So what happened there was they put him in the car, then they cleared the house. Raleigh police, they are investigating these officers' actions. Okay, now his was crazy here. But I understand.

If you roll up, okay, there's an alarm, door open, understand, okay? Why isn't the first thing you ask for, sir, what is your name? That's the first thing. Like, what's the first thing? And I need to see some identification or whatever the heck.

And then when the supervisor comes, sit down. Sit down. And he's standing there. He's calm. He's peaceful. I mean, that's utter nonsense there. Yeah, it's, you know, you see these type of, and I purposely don't watch these.

This is the first time I actually watched it here. But this is the type of thing that what people have to understand when we have this, it's something that you, it's a tenseness that you can feel when you're, when you are treated like that. Like you're in your own house. And you knew that. I mean, the guy was being an ass. I mean, he was being an ass. And then when the supervisor came, he was being an even bigger ass to tell you to sit down in your own house.

And when you didn't sit down, then they said, well, just take him outside. It is that sort of dismissiveness. And the brother actually later gave an interview where he said, look, he said I'm freaking out because this man is shaking with a gun. I could be dead in seconds. No. That's a real fear.

That's a real fear. It's like a damned if you do, damned if you don't. He's in his house and by the looks of the video, you see that he didn't even... His gun was already out. The cop's gun was already out. There was no room for negotiation, no room for actual...

And I got... First of all, I get it. An alarm goes off. Right. You arrive on the scene, a door is open. Right. Got it. Got it. What I'm still trying of all, I get it. An alarm goes off. Right. You arrive on the scene. A door is open. Right. Got it. Got it.

What I'm still trying to understand, though, is that when a guy's coming down, when you don't say, okay, when you say, put the gun down, sir, who are you? I'm the homeowner. What is your name? I need to see some identification. My first thought, I'm dealing with a dude in his underwear. Okay?

So my first thought is not necessarily he broke in to go to sleep. Right. And stripped down. Yeah. Yeah. I'll say, though, there have been people who have broken into homes in their underwear. There are squatters and stuff. That does exist, but that's not common.

But this is simple. I'm probably going to ask for the ID before I handcuff you. I'm not going to assume, if I'm on a situation and a guy comes down, and he comes down, I tell you to put your gun down, and he puts the gun down. And then his whole deal is,

get on the ground, don't face me, I'm going to cuff you. And his gun was still out. That? And then his whole deal is, get on the ground, don't face me, I'm going to cuff you. And his gun was still out. That's what got him. He could have... He could have... He disarmed.

And I... Right. And he still had his gun. He could have usually still had his gun out and said, I need to see some ID. I need to see some ID.

We don't get to the ID for another two to three minutes. Right. No, I... That's crazy. The only thing that I would put into this conversation

is that he was in his underwear. So if you're going to ask for ID, you know he doesn't have it on him. Where is he going to pull the ID out? So are you going to walk with him upstairs or walk with him around the house? You don't know who else is in the house. It complicates it a little bit.

Actually, if I'm going to say, if I told you to put the gun down, what I'm going to do is, as opposed to tell you to kneel down and turn around, I'm going to ask you to step outside the middle of the yard. That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to ask you to step outside. Outside of the house.

Well, you asked the guy that initially. No, no, no. What he told him was, he said... He said, step out of the house when he had to initially. After? No, no, no. What he told him was, he said step out of the house when he had the gunpoint. The guy was like, no. Which I think is his right. The bottom line here is, alarm was turned off. Now, again, it's different if you get to the

house and the alarm is still on. Okay? This is, for black people, the problem here is, again, white cop with a gun on you. He all of a sudden gets trigger happy, get a little nervous. All of a sudden, a bullet hole in me, all because a friend set my alarm off. And the guy turned the alarm off.

The guy turned the alarm off, went back to sleep. That's what happened. Yeah, and can I just say very quickly that I imagine what factored into that from the officer's point of view. And we see this, we saw it with Michael Brown, it was his size. And so I imagine there was a maybe if, you know, I'm 5'7",

so maybe if, you know, and that's not excusing it, but I imagine that he saw him as a threat at that moment. Because of his size. And by the way, the brother had a concealed permit for that weapon. And he kept saying it. And that's what he had. So, they're investigating.

Of course, we'll see whether it comes out. I'm still stuck on TV, Becky. I'm still... I'm still... I'm still stuck on that whole deal. I'm just letting y'all know right now. Whole show, whole morning show would have stopped.

Whole morning show would have stopped. Whole morning show would have stopped. We would have had a come to Jesus moment right there. Church would have commenced right there. And I just... Advertisers on hold. And the thing that people need to understand is that what we are dealing with in America, we're still dealing with people who see us that way.

Mm-hmm. You would never... I guarantee you, TV Becky would never say to the woman doing the weather, if a woman doing the weather, oh, that pig look like you. Nope. Wouldn't have happened.

Wouldn't have happened. And for people out there who somehow think, well, these things really no big deal, no, this is the reality of being black in America. Serena Williams, last night, just beat the dog stomp. Maria Sharapova. And Serena Williams last night just beat the dog stomp Maria Sharapova.

And Serena Williams and Venus Williams have had to deal with people questioning their sexuality because of their size. Look how big they are, muscular, look like men. All those different things. Radio talk show hosts have said some of the most nasty and vile things. We are still dealing with that in this country. It is because in America, for the last 400 years, black people have been compared to animals. We have been seen as that.

And what she and her, oh, it was, oh, oh, it was innocuous. It was just a moment of laughter. No. That is how we have been portrayed in mass media for four centuries. And we need to understand that

whole view. And so when people look at us, and this is why I tell people all the time, don't ask my ass if I play football because you see me wearing Texas A&M gear. Because what you're doing there is you're saying that when I see a black man wearing the gear of a major university,

surely he must have played football. See, we need to understand how deeply embedded this thing is in the consciousness of the country so when somebody sees us and they go oh you must have played football what they're really saying is the only way you could have gone to that university sports if through sports not because you wanted to be a lawyer or entrepreneur or a doctor or, no, no, no. You were there because of sports. So same thing, oh, that looks like you. You told a black man, Yoko Onye, he looked like a gorilla?

We need to understand how that has the psyche on black people, which is why you got black people who are running around wanting blonde hair because America has said the beauty standard is a blonde woman. Folks who changed their eyes. When you go to now, you go to these African nations where skin lightening cream is selling like crazy,

bleaching their skin. Hell, Sammy Sosa went from a black man to a white man. You have to understand the power of white skin on the consciousness of people of color. We have been assaulted with that in this country 400 years and other places for a very long time. And so don't try to act like it's not a big deal when it is. All right, folks, I want to thank our panelists. Really appreciate it. Thanks a lot. If you want to support Roller Martin Unfiltered,

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