#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 8.5 RMU: 31 dead in OH/TX shootings; Black man saves lives during attack; Black women v Dems in CA

Episode Date: August 9, 2019

8.5.19 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: 30 dead in mass shootings in OH and TX; Black soldier saves children's lives during the El Paso attack; Trump responds to white domestic terror attack during presser at the White House; Black women in Calif. are feeling marginalized by the Democratic Party and are pushing for more clout. - #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. Thank you. Today is Monday, August 5th 2019 this is roland martin unfiltered broadcasting live from miami florida site of the annual national association of black journalist convention coming up today folks on today's show a weekend filled with tragedy in el paso texas in dayton ohio where nearly 30 but more than 30 people were killed by homegrown white domestic terrorists. We'll hear from Congressman Benny Thompson about how serious the problem is. We'll also show you the comments today from Donald Trump, which did nothing to allay the fears of Americans who are angry about white domestic terrorism. Also, one of the heroes in El Paso was a black soldier who went into the mall to save children.

You'll hear his reason why. And again, we'll break this whole thing down on our panel. Will Congress finally do something about the issue of gun control in this country? Well, we'll see. Plus, black women in California are feeling marginalized by the California Democratic Party, and they're pushing for more clout. Folks, 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. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling. Best believe he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks, he's knowing Putting it down from Swats to news to politics With entertainment just for

Kicks he's rolling It's Uncle Roro y'all It's rolling Martin Yeah Rolling with Rolling now He's funky He's fresh he's real the best you know It was a stunning weekend all across America where white domestic terrorists again murdered

multiple Americans in El Paso, Texas. 22 people are dead in the shopping mall shooting that took place there. The shooter is facing hate crime as well as capital murder charges. That night in Dayton, Ohio, nine people gunned down in a bar, most of them African-Americans. The shooter in that case is dead. The El Paso white domestic terrorist left a manifesto describing hate for the Mexicans taking over Texas. He drove hours from his home in Allen, Texas to El Paso to commit the crime. Talk about stunning in Dayton, Ohio. Same thing.

A white domestic terrorist shoots up a popular bar scene there. Folks were having lots of fun. Then he opens gunfire with a huge capacity firing weapons. He was killed as he tried to run into the bar by police. What is going on in this country when it comes to white domestic terrorists? This morning on the Tom Jordan Morning Show, I talked with Congressman Benny Thompson, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, and he talked about how serious the problem is when it comes to white domestic terrorists.

Well, good morning to you, Roland. Let me tell you, it's real serious. For instance, for a long time in this country, we were led to believe that the most dangerous element in terms of terrorists were Muslim terrorists. One of the reasons is the FBI stopped producing the data. We now, through testimony, as well as on July 23rd, the FBI director said domestic terrorism is the number one danger in the United States of America. Stop right there, Congressman. Congressman, he said domestic terrorism.

Why won't they call this white domestic terrorism? Well, you know who the problem is. We have somebody in this White House who is absolutely in denial. He says he's a nationalist. So we have a real problem. What we have more importantly, as you know, is we have a number of deaths that are occurring all over the country. What we had over the weekend is just the explosion of the episodes that have been going on. So what we're trying to do is next week, my committee is going to have a series of hearings in Washington

highlighting what's going on in the country. We're going to invite the FBI. We're going to invite the mayors of Dayton and El Paso and other parts of the country to come and talk to us, as well as advocates who want to look at this subject. And let's come up with some real solutions to the problem. Congressman, everybody keeps saying right now mental illness, but Donald Trump overturned an Obama rule that made it harder for folks with mental illness to get guns.

The House actually passed the House passed a universal background bill. Senator Mitch McConnell won't even take it up. I just tweeted this. I said, I have absolutely no confidence that the Republican Party, Trump, the GOP chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, McConnell, any of these people want to do a damn thing about guns because they are wholly owned subsidiary of the NRA. Well, you're absolutely correct. If you look at McConnell's record, he's clearly said he's not going to bring any of those issues up. The Trump administration made it legal for people who are adjudicated mentally ill to buy guns.

You know, that is unfortunate in this country. That puts some 80,000 more people out here potentially who can buy guns who have been diagnosed with an issue of mental illness. Apart from that, Roland, we have some other issues out here in terms of the military-style assault weapons being legal, the clips in the guns, the large magazines. A hundred rounds of the guys who steal largely African Americans in Dayton. I mean, there's no reason why an average citizen should be walking around with weapons that should be reserved for the battlefield.

Oh, no, no. And you can't say that's a hunter, you leaving your right to battle. No, no, no. He was a hunter. He was hunting people. Absolutely. Absolutely. But the notion is that when you do that, you're denying me my rights.

Well, at some point, when the rights infringe on rights of others, government has to step in. So clearly, we're moving. We're going to hold the hearings. We're going to talk about this issue, and we plan to move it forward. But the real challenge is whether or not this country can demand that the powers to be in Washington do something. We can make those assault weapons illegal. We can say that you can't buy a gun if you have a criminal record. We can do a lot of things that we have not been able to do. Congressman, can you do this without the Republicans? Can anything be done between now and Election Day beyond voting them out of office? Can be done to change some of this?

Well, unfortunately, we're going to have to take it to the people. We're going to have to take it to the streets and say, look, if you want to fix this, then you're going to have to put people in office who are willing to do it. We can't get anything over on the Senate side. Simple things that can fix. We can't get it done. So that's why people absolutely need to be focused on next year. Let me be as explicit as possible.

White people are going to have a take to the streets and demand Republicans step up. That's what's going to have to happen. Absolutely. Yeah. And when will your committee meet, Congressman? Well, we're scheduled Wednesday and Thursday of next week in Washington. We will announce it this afternoon publicly. And we want everybody within the sound of our voice to please come to Washington, tune in to the hearing, and you will see all of the facts. All right. Congressman Benny Thompson,

Chair of the Department of Homeland Security, House Committee, we appreciate you taking your time. Thank you, brother. Now, folks, they. Sister, the shooter wore a mask, a bulletproof vest and hearing protection when he opened. Folks in this country, white supremacists commit nearly three out of four murderous terrorist acts. White supremacist groups in America have jumped 30 percent in the last four years. And the number of hate crimes in America has increased three years in a row.

Well, also, folks, it was quite chaotic there. The scene in Dayton was very chaotic, as shown on this surveillance video. Fortunately, the shooter, as we said, was killed before he had a chance to do more damage. These are also the pictures of the people who lost their lives that night. This right here is a surveillance video as folks were running out of that bar in Dayton, Ohio, fleeing the gunman. It was, again, quite sad to see that actually take place. Just unbelievable scene there in Dayton, Ohio, as people were running for their lives. As we said, nine people shot and killed in Dayton, Ohio, including the sister of the gunman. Now, police have not said whether or not there's any link as to whether he was targeting his, whether was um again targeting someone else there they don't know that uh but that was happening there in el paso a shopper in the mall was able to shoot some

video that showed just how frightening the situation was at that mass shooting in el paso crazy i got my gun bus and gun in Walmart right now. AK. Somebody's got a shot. Fuck. It's got an AK. Nearly hit my ear. My hollering shot. No shot. no shot in my pocket. One of the heroes of the El Paso shooting was Army Private First Class Lyndon Oakley Jr., who tried to save the lives of the children in the mall. Here's what he had to say. I want to clarify what I did was what I was supposed to do.

I understand it was heroic, and I'm looked at as a hero for it, but that wasn't the reason for me. I'm just focused on the kids that I could not get and the families that were lost because it hurts me like I lost like they were part of me. I don't even know the people that died or the kids that I took with me. I want to reach out to the families that were lost and the families that lost their children because the focus should not be on me. It should be on the world and what happened in Ohio and the people that were happening in Chicago. What happened yesterday should not be on me.

I know what I did was heroic, but I'm more focused on the families that were lost and the kids that died and the people that died. All right, folks, again. Day after he pretty much ignored this issue yesterday on social media, he was caught taking selfies at a wedding at his club in New Jersey. Donald Trump held a news conference where he spoke about the tragedy. The First Lady and I join all Americans in praying and grieving for the victims, their families, and the survivors. We are a loving nation and our children are

entitled to grow up in a just, peaceful and loving society. The shooter in El Paso posted a manifesto online consumed by racist hate. In one voice our nation must condemn racism, bigotry, and white supremacy. These sinister ideologies must be defeated. Hate has no place in America. Hatred warps the mind, ravages the heart, and devours the soul. The perils of the Internet and social media cannot be ignored, and they will not be ignored. That is why I have called for red flag laws, also known as extreme risk protection orders. to propose legislation ensuring that those who commit hate crimes and mass murders face

the death penalty and that this capital punishment be delivered quickly, decisively, and without years of needless delay. These are just a few of the areas of cooperation that we can pursue. I am open and ready to listen and discuss all ideas that will actually work and make a very big difference. May God bless the memory of those who perished in Toledo. May God protect them. May God protect all of those from Texas to Ohio.

May God bless the victims and their families. May God bless America. Thank you very much. Y'all, Donald Trump actually said, God bless the people of Toledo. Folks, he was reading from a teleprompter. The shooting took place in Dayton, Ohio. If you want to understand how this president doesn't care about these issues, he spoke for about 10 minutes. Not one time did he say he was going to do something about gun control. Now, one time did he say he was going to call on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell

to take up extensive background checks. That's already passed the House. What you have is a Republican Party, as I said on the Tom Jonah Morning Show, that is a, frankly, a subsidiary of the National Rifle Association. This is a party that actually has done nothing. It is a party that has no desire, no interest to do anything about mass shootings in the United States. There's no way in the world any of us can trust the Republican Party on this issue. They did nothing after Sandy Hook.

They did nothing after the shooting in Orlando. They have done nothing in this case. But keep in mind, you have Donald Trump. When there was a shooting in California, San Bernardino, he was quick to go on television networks condemning Muslim extremists. Yet he could not bring himself to say a damn thing about the white domestic terrorists in these shootings. Because even his former communications director Anthony Scaramucci said today on television the reason he won't is because that is his base this folks

is a man who has no business being in the Oval Office joining me right now my panel dr. Avis Jones de Weaver uh leadership uh strategist political analyst also erica savage wilson host of savage politics podcast and honey the rob the rob yara policy advisor human rights advocate as well um eric i want to start with you when i look at this when i look at happened, it is stunning to look at a party that will do nothing, that will do nothing about this. They will be silent. They will offer thoughts and prayers. They'll post up on social media, but they will do nothing.

Absolutely. And for anybody to expect for them to do anything, it will only come by way of public demand. I am here to let everyone know today, as you have done and all of us have done in our respective places, that, listen, this is the time for really the public outcry for democracy is more imperative. This lockstep that Republicans have with the NRA, it didn't just start in the 2000s. This is something that has been happening for decades. And what we are seeing is that Republicans are really, it's just really the wolf really taking off all of his clothing so we can see who he actually is, is that Republicans are now being revealed as really the money-hungry, non-family-oriented party that they are, and that because they are so drawn to authoritarianism that they are definitely going to continue to be in lockstep with this Republican White House occupant.

So for me, this is really a clarion call really for folks to understand that their voices matter, not just in national conversations but at the local level. And so this is where people can be the most functional is that really to push their legislatures at the state level to do things, because those being calls from the state level then funnel up to the federal as well. But as far as the Republican Party is involved for black and brown folks, this is something that we've been very familiar with for several decades now. Hani, black folks are very familiar with white domestic terrorists. And frankly, you have an administration that doesn't even want to use that phrase. They don't even want to say those words. You have mainstream media who's decided to finally

wake the hell up and say what we have as that we've known for quite some time, that the greatest threat of terrorism in the United States are white men. And these white men are listening to the rhetoric of Donald Trump. You can hear echoes of Donald Trump in that manifesto of the El Paso shooter, and it is undeniable. I completely agree, Roland. And the fact of the matter is that we go to countries all the time with ideologies that we do not believe in. So what we need to figure out is what is possessing these young children, which the kids, to do the things that they're doing. And also, I was born in Somalia, and I remember multiple people getting killed.

And with those, they used AKAs. Klishnikovs are war weapons. So these kids, these people who believe in the ideology of Donald Trump are at war. We have to admit that we are at war with white supremacy. So what are we going to do? Hey, it's that particular point in terms of what are we going to do? You have to have members of Congress who are going to take action. You've got to have a Department of Justice who is going to take action. You've got to have a Department of Justice who is

going to get aggressive. I read one story where a former FBI official said that FBI agents are loathe or scared to go after white supremacists because that's Donald Trump base and they don't want to take him off. That's what we're now dealing with. Well, exactly. And we also have to remember that one of the very first things this administration did when it came into office, in addition to rolling back the law that was in place regarding not making available guns to people who are mentally ill, this administration also gutted a program that was specifically meant to be able to target domestic terrorists and white supremacist organizations. It specifically gutted that as one of its first acts as an administration.

And so from day one, this administration has intentionally looked the other way. While this threat has picked up each and every year Donald Trump has been on the scene. It knows what it is doing. I want to tell you, we have a radicalizer in chief in the White House. To me, Donald Trump is as much a radicalizer of these grown men, because they were 21 plus years old who did this, okay? When our 14-year-old kids are somehow thought of as grown, okay? These are adults who made the decision to murder people, and we have seen in each and every year since he has been in office, not only a big growth in the number of hate groups in this nation, it's drawn 30% since he's been on the political scene. But we've also seen

a year over year increase in the number of hate crimes in America. And so this is a dangerous and deadly group of citizens who are murdering citizens of color with impunity. And they are doing it lock and step with the rhetoric of the radicalizer-in-chief that currently inhabits the White House. Absolutely. Erica, for 10 years now, I have been saying white fear, white fear, white fear. I have said that this is the age of white minority resistance. What you are seeing from these white domestic terrorists, you are seeing people who do not like the fact that America is changing.

They have operated where America was a white country. And now all of a sudden, it's, oh, my God, look at these people. Look who's coming in. We don't want these people here. Donald Trump has sent the signals to him. We don't want people of color. He has called African nations shithole countries. He has tried to send Liberians back, Haitians back, Sudanese back.

He has tried to, he has said, why can't we get more people essentially from white countries like Sweden? This is this man speaking directly to the white fear of a changing America. Absolutely. And as Dr. Avis said it, he is definitely the radicalizer in chief. He is radicalizing these groups. And another thing I think is very important for us to hone in on is what you said, Romy, you spent 10 years talking about white fear. And then when we start breaking out this whole immigrant piece, as you pointed out, the difference between immigrants, depending on where they're coming from. And so that determines like, you know, what their skin is going to be like. I think it's also really important that we're talking about this and framing to understand that. So understanding that it's not necessarily immigrants, it's actually people's skin color.

And I think that is what has been very frustrating, that there has been this come to reconciliation. Oh, gosh, the black and brown people were right for all of these years about Donald Trump happening all day today on national programming. It was very, very upsetting because we have been saying this not just for days, not just since 2016, not just since 2015, but for years. And so, again, I go back to saying back to the viewers and to the audience and hoping that people will share this out is that, listen, this is the time for public outcry, that we have a Congress that may be out for five weeks that's up in the air right now. It is incumbent on all of us, voters or not, if you are living in this country, you are impacted by all of these policies, to contact your legislators,

their district offices. If they are not going to be returning back to D.C. to make a decision about better gun legislation and just really to make some forcing the Republicans to do something to Democrats as well, is that we are going to be having this conversation several months down the road. So I would like to implore people to actually be very, very interactive interactive engaged in your local politics your politics right now because all politics really is local right now especially with these tragedies um honey before i go to you i want to play for our folks again i love all these conservatives who say oh no you shouldn't hold donald for these things. You shouldn't do any of these.

Folks, this is a video of Donald Trump at his own rallies in his own words. It would have been boom, boom, boom. I'll beat that. I don't know if I'll do the fighting myself or if other people will. Maybe he should have been roughed up because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing. If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously. I'd like to punch him in the face, I'll tell you. Try not to hurt him.

If you do, I'll defend you in court. Don't worry about it. In the good old days, this doesn't happen because they used to treat them very, very rough. And when they protested once, you know, they would not do it again so easily. We've become weak. We've become weak. And you know what? The audience swung back. And I thought it was very, very appropriate.

The audience hit back. And that's what we need a little bit more of now part of the problem and part of the reason it takes so long is nobody wants to hurt each other anymore right honey we've got to call this what it is and what it is is white folks in america you can sprinkle in some black folks um you could talk about 20, 25 percent of Latinos. But white folks in America, they got to own this. They voted for this man. They voted for this thug.

They voted for this rhetoric. And when he attacks immigrants, when he attacks people, people of color who come into this country, what he is saying is, I want to see white people in America. And he is throwing red meat. And you got a whole generation now of young white men listening to Donald Trump saying, see, that's what I'm talking about. That's what I'm talking about. He's saying, well, I want to hear that's what's going on here. Donald Trump cares more about votes than he cares about lives. He has blood on his hands at this particular time. And what he needs to say is that this is white supremacy. There's a danger happening and that our country needs to come together.

And what is so funny is in the video that you showed earlier, he couldn't even remember the events where they took place. Oh, it's Toledo. His tone is very different when he's talking about, for when he's riling up his base, he's energetic, he's enthusiastic. But when it's when tragedies happen, it's not even the same person. So what we need to what we need to say is, you know, Mr. President, you're doing a disservice to all of us. And you are, quite frankly, dangerous. And then that you're also riling up these chill these this youth. And we need to figure out what we what we really need to do right now well the reality is he knows that his hateful speech is resonating among white voters and that's why he is going to continue it and that's why our responsibility has to in the only way we can respond to this is to operate by saying we're going to throw this man a

past I am sick of this talk of he sounded presidential I am sick of these people who are happy with the entertainment here delivering I'm tired of it and that somebody has to call these people into account somebody has to say enough of this you have these idiots on fox news defending every single move because that network is built to appeal to the fear of white voters and what you're dealing with are these older white voters and i keep i will pound the table consistently that this is white fear that everything about what's happening today is about 2043 and avis i need people to stop acting as if it's gonna go away if trump is gone joe biden it is not this is going to be with us from now until who knows when because white people in america simply cannot handle not having power history shows you they were feel feel for feel

for they were fearful of black people after the civil war they were fearful of black people after the Civil War. They were fearful of black people after World War I. They were fearful of black people after World War II. Everything, lynchings were about black folks getting too much economic power. That's what the right to vote at every juncture in America. When they tried to stop it, it was because how they did get power. Buckle up, black people. Buckle up, Latinos.

Buckle up, immigrants. We are in a place where America was about creating a white nation and people cannot handle that. So you better get used to more of this. I hate to say that, but trust me, this is not going to be the last mass shooting where people of color are being targeted by white male domestic terrorists. Avis.

Absolutely. What we're witnessing right now is fascism in real time. It's not so much that they're afraid of black people in terms of we're something to be fearful of, it's they're afraid of losing the unearned advantage of whiteness once they become a minority in this population. They're afraid of having to actually compete based on a level playing field or more level playing field. They are afraid because they know that unless a thumb is on the scale in their favor, they might not be as good. And in many circumstances, they aren't as good.

And so they want to continue to have that unfair advantage that they have had from day one in this country for centuries moving forward. And they will do anything in order to protect that unearned advantage, including embracing authoritarianism, including embracing fascism, including embracing violence, and including embracing someone who clearly personifies each and every one of those attributes. Erica, I'm saying this because I need us to be prepared. I'm not calling this a race war, but I have to let people know that this is the 100th anniversary of the disastrous fatal riots in Chicago. What we are seeing is the same thing. And I'm telling you, if Trump keeps talking about

invasion, invasion, invasion, what he is, what he's essentially doing is saying white people watch out beware here they come take cover right right these people are armed they are malicious they they are in our police departments they are in the United States military and we we better pay attention. And it's time for the FBI to get serious about this. You heard Congressman Benny Thompson say there's going to be hearings next week. We had better understand what is going on here. White folks are going to use the barrel of a gun to hold on the power, Erica. Oh, absolutely. And so second amenders are coming out fast, heavy, and strong.

It was interesting, I was reading a piece very recently where there was a white journalist that talked about how he'd actually been trying to put together a piece and have it published around concerns about militia groups that we've heard of in Montana and Oregon and things of that nature. So here's the story when, you know, those camp, those people that were in those camp that, you know, said that, you know, of course we know that racism isn't dead, but that we're in this post-racial society. All of those individuals that really worked very hard to mute the concerns that Dr. Avis raised, the very real things that are happening.

You brought up the red summer that happened in Chicago in 1919. You also have this is the 400th year commemorating an enslaved African being brought to this nation. There is a lot that's happening this year. So I'm 100 percent in with you, Roland, that this is what needs to happen. People need to make their focus not about the reality show that is happening, that we were very, very adamant that we knew it was going to happen when he actually got in office because it was walking and talking, but also understand what their power is, understanding what it means for them to understand the laws around their person,

their property. This is not the time to be passing around soundbites saying that, well, people are going to do what they want to do anyway. This is a time to be purposefully engaged and not just the political process saying that you're either Democrat, Republican, Green Party, Libertarian, or that you're an independent, but to understand what your rights are, to understand what governs this nation, and to also understand that you mentioned all those different places that we see white supremacists holding court. Well, we also see it around the Department of Justice with William Barr. So folks need to be very, very learned in this hour.

They need to invest in programming such as this because what we're seeing right now is not the manifestation of just a Trump presidency. What we're seeing is the manifestation of a consolidation of white power that when we saw the exodus of white southerners from the Democratic Party, that that was not just a sign, but that was just kind of like letting folks know what things to come. Honey, you had this idiot Candace Owens who testified before Congress saying all the left, they just use these terms, white nationalism, white supremacy. Those things don't exist. Of course, they exhibit a El Paso exhibit B Dayton, Ohio. Of course, that is the fabric of this country, white nationalism, white supremacy. And I just don't understand how people don't understand what is going on and why we haven't found solutions yet. When I was going to work today, I noticed that all of the flags were half-staffed. This country cares more about symbolism than they do about solutions.

So let us have a solution. What are the solutions? Congress needs to get involved, but people care again more about votes than they care about lives. And that needs to stop. And we need to be firm about this and say white nationalism exists, white supremacy exists, and it's dangerous. And we, Roland, we are in a race war. There have been a lot of studies with even the ADL said that there is a race war happening in our country. Just because, you know, war, I know what war is about. Just because you don't see drones, just because you don't see military armor, war could be also words. That is how most wars are started, with words. And that is what the president is doing.

All right, folks, got to go to a break right now. We'll be back in a moment on Roland Martin Unfiltered, broadcasting live from Miami, Florida, site of the National Association of Black Germans Annual Convention. Back in a moment. You want to check out Roland Martin Unfiltered? YouTube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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of the Democratic Party there. She lost, but it is firing those sisters up. Kimberly, glad to have you here. We were discussing, of course, the role that black women have been playing in politics and about leadership positions. The LA Times did a story talking about what's happening there in California, where black women are saying that although they comprise, although African-Americans comprise a small number of people in the state, they actually have more black people who are Democrats in California than some other cities and some other states.

Absolutely. Absolutely. First of all, thank you so much for having me. I really enjoy your show. I really enjoyed the last segment that you were just engaged in. that. The African-Americans who live here, although percentage-wise comprise a small percent, about 6%, because of the size of the state, it is in actuality one of the largest concentrations of African-Americans in the country. And when you talk about that, when you talk about, again, the importance of having Black women in power, the reality is, and again, you take the last conversation, we have a totally different view of America. Black folks, we see things totally different. We saw this white domestic terrorism long before other folks did, let's say for the last 400 years. But when you talk about where the party needs to

be, when you talk about outreach, when you talk about the need to be able to grow it in a different way, the Democratic Party needs to have black people at the table. And I've been saying the same thing in the school choice movement. I'm like, look, you can't have white folks controlling the whole apparatus when the majority of kids in public schools today are black and brown. It's the same thing in the Democratic Party. Absolutely. Absolutely. And for far too long, many of us believe that the Democratic Party has been carrying the mantle of the party of diversity, the party of women, the party of people of color,

the party of African Americans, and has, in many respects, talked a good game, but not really walked the walk. And as was mentioned before, I ran for chair of the California Democratic Party two years ago in 2017. And that campaign really had a slogan that we needed to redefine what it meant to be a Democrat, because there were many of us who believed that the Democratic Party as an institution and too many of our elected officials had forgotten what it meant to be a Democrat, had forgotten that our party was supposed to be the party of the poor, the party of the working class,

the party that believed in reaching back and pulling people up. I ran again for that position just a few months ago because the person who won two years ago had to resign because of sexual assault accusations. And so I ran this time on the premise that we needed a party of substance, style, and solidarity, a party that was not going to just talk about our values but live our values, and a party that was going to do more, be more,

and mean more in people's everyday lives, a party that was going to be relevant, and a party that didn't just talk about the need to invest in communities of color, especially and including the African American community, but a party that actually did invest in those communities. And there is a big disconnect we found between what the party is saying it does and what the party is actually doing to support communities of color, including the black community. I want to bring in my panel with some questions. Erica Savage,

first off, I got a question. You have a question? Yes, I do. Thank you, Roland, and thank you, Kimberly, for joining us. My question to you is, do you plan to, well, first thing is, do you plan on seeking office again in the near future, and if so, what office are you looking to run for? Yeah. Well, you know, when I ran initially two years ago, the position was never something that was on my radar. And I think that is true of most women who run for office, especially most women of color and especially black women. We are recruited to run. We are asked to run. And I used to run an organization called Emerge California for seven years. I was the executive director. And I know that research shows that women have to be asked on average about seven times before they will consider

running for office. So this was something that was never on my radar. And the reason why I decided to run for it was not so much because of what the chair of the party did, but because of what the chair of the party could do. In many ways, this was about redefining that position. It was about making the position less of a figurehead and more of an activist chair that rolled up the sleeves, got into the community, and really connected the dots as to how politics touches every single aspect of our lives and to make the party relevant in people's everyday lives. And so all of that to say, I wasn't intending to run the first time. I certainly don't count it out in terms of running in the future. If I do, it will have to be a position that really speaks to me in terms of the actual job itself. And at the end of the day, how we are using politics to do good and to help others. For me, that really is the definition

of politics and what we, our elected officials, should be using the power, the money, the influence, and the position to do to help people. Thank you. Avis. Yes, well, thanks so much for joining us. This is really an important discussion. As you've mentioned, Kimberly, Black women are at the backbone of the Democratic Party. But when it comes to actually being in positions of leadership, we're woefully underrepresented when you contextualize that against how much we contribute to the party actually being able to win elections, right? And so what would you suggest that Black women do to better consolidate our power such that we might have more ability to actually get into leadership positions within this power, within the party itself, and also win seats in terms of various different political offices across the country? Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, one of the things that we talked very frankly about was that black women are not just the backbone of this party, but this party cannot win without us.

The Democratic nominee for president will not be able to win against Trump without the very enthusiastic support of women of color with black women at the vanguard and so we understand many of us our power and it's time for us to start flexing that power and so what I would suggest we do is to not be so quick to give away our loyalties our vote our endorsement and our support to the Democratic Party or to elected officials. They should be required to earn that support like other communities require. And so we also need to look at perhaps organizing outside of the party. I certainly believe that these days and times really call for us to, as one

of the panelists was saying before, to be very learned and to recognize our power and our position and not be afraid to flex that. That's it. All right, Hani, last question. Are there any candidates that you currently think that would be beneficial to us as a community, especially black women? Because many of them want our votes, but they, you know, they really do not have solutions to our problems. Yeah, well, you know, as someone who spent almost a decade recruiting, training, and supporting Democratic women to run for office, I'll be the first to say we need more black women running for office. We need not and should not wait to be asked.

We need to throw our hats in the ring and understanding that our voice and our life experiences are desperately needed right now, as well as our leadership. In terms of candidates, presidential candidates, I have a lot of issues that I am really passionate about, but I believe very certainly that the next nominee should absolutely be talking very directly about the issues impacting all communities, especially the African-American communities. And I'm also not interested in any candidate that is not talking about supporting reparations for African-Americans in this country. All right, then. Well, I certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much for joining us for this conversation. And certainly good luck, Kimberly Ellis. Thanks a lot. Thank you.

All right, folks, going to a break. We'll be back. I'm Roland Martin, unfiltered in just a moment. None of us are responsible for our birth. Our responsibility is the use we make of life. Novelist and newspaper person, Joshua Henry Jones. All right, folks, our HBCU Giving Day. School of the Day, University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, of course, located in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, founded in 1873.

Notable graduates include Smokey Norfolk, Teron Armstead, Danny K. Davis, and Don Zimmerman. If you want to support University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, go to uapb.edu. That's uapb.edu that's uapb.edu all right folks uh to our panel here what uh was interesting to me uh in terms of what we've witnessed what we've witnessed uh in the last uh couple of days. What we are seeing here is really, I think, the greatest contrast between two political parties. On one hand, you have a Republican Party that will do nothing when it comes to guns, when it comes to guns, when it comes to gun violence.

They have prevented the federal government from even compiling stats on gun violence. Being the Democratic Party who understands you must be able to do something. And I love these people, Avis, and I'm being very facetious, who say, oh, well, a background check will do nothing. Eliminating these guns will do nothing. Changing the size of magazines will do nothing. Well, damn it, you can do, if it saves one life, it sure as hell is worth it.

Absolutely. And I, you know, obviously the lowest hanging fruit is around the background checks. There's already been a bill that's been passed by the House. But I would certainly love to see the Democrats show a bit more courage here and swing for the fences. Let's just be very real about this. get weapons that could really only belong on the battlefield, where someone could literally murder nine people and injure 20 people in less than 30 seconds. In less than 30 seconds, no civilian should have access to this type of weaponry. We need to look at how we can ban these types of assault rifles that do not belong in the hands of actual civilians. Yes, the minimal thing that we could do would be the background checks.

But for these two specific incidents, those two individuals would have passed the background check because they did not have any felonies. We need to take the instrument of death out of their hands that do not belong anywhere except for on a battlefield. Ana, again, I think when you look at where we are and when you look at a party that is clueless, in fact, I had retweeted this earlier. A Republican in Nebraska, a state lawmaker, he basically eviscerated his own party for their cowardice, for their lack of courage when it comes to gun violence. And I guess we should have known after Sandy Hook,

if little kids could be slaughtered and they still do nothing, they don't care because they are deathly afraid of the NRA. Exactly. That's their votes and their money. That is what matters to the Republican Party, not the lives. If we're in a country where kids can get slaughtered, where a congresswoman can almost be killed and nothing changes, what does that say about this party? And they care so much about lives and they're pro-choice, I mean pro-life. But yet they really do not care about the lives that matter currently right now and what's happening. So what we need to say is to the Republican Party, what do you really care about? Do you care about votes? Do you care about money or do you care about the lives of people? And look, Erica, this is what I want to know.

When the hell these white folks who support Republicans Republicans going to just stand the hell up? In my interview with Congressman Billy Thompson, he says we got to go to the streets. The kids in Parkland went to the streets. Black mothers and black fathers have gone to the streets. OK, the problem are these white folks who continue to vote for Republicans who say nothing and who do nothing. Right. Right. And what really needs to be teased out is what does it mean to be a Republican? I don't know why there's just a clamoring to that uniform. But here's the other piece, Roland, that I'm just going to continue to really, like, hammer on this show much of the same way that you're hammering out that, listen,

we are really in a crisis, is that there has got to be a public outcry because just as you've laid out, there's not been a response from the party of Lincoln, from the party, you know, that supposedly freed the slaves, from the party that is about family values. You know, I'm old enough to remember when they were the party of family values. So since that's clearly not the case and that some people are waking up at today years old and discovering that, I'm saying again, the onus is really back on the audience, on the public. What are you going to do? These individuals who, as Kimberly Ellis stated, elected, their job is to serve the public. When you look at an organizational chart of your city, at the top of

that organizational chart is not the mayor of that city who oversees different departments. It is the residents. So again, I implore, especially for folks that are living in districts that are held by Republicans, if you are not affiliated with part of your Democrat, whatever the case is, it is now up to you to put the pressure on that particular congressional legislator to let them know that, listen, you're not having it because no one knows the day, the hour, when it will be them. And it does not matter what your area code is. It doesn't matter what your zip code is. It does not matter what type of job you go to every day, that there has been a warrant that has been put out on black and brown folks. And there are people who may not even have a background of violence that will respond

to the message that is a Trump Republican message. I'm saying that we have to now demand our legislators to do the right thing, which we are saying, as Dr. Abas has pointed out, is definitely to have much more heavier legislation, because as a veteran who did serve this country, I did not see battle or combat. But I am telling you that military grade style weapons do not belong on the civilian streets at all. Simple as that. So, again, folks, it's about, again, having some courage to stand up. Let me do this here.

The Shannon Watts, of course, she is founder of Moms Demand, the grassroots organization. This is what she tweeted. The House representatives passed a bill to require background checks on all gun sales. Now the Senate must act. So do this C-H-E-C-K-S. Text CHECKS, C-H-E-C-K-S, to 64433. That's 64433 to be connected with your senators to tell them to act on background checks. Moscow Mitch has refused to bring this bill to the full floor folks this is a no-brainer it's a no-brainer so text the word c-h-e-c-k-s to six four four three three I want to thank honey I want to thank Erica I want to thank Avis for joining me today on our panel on Roland Martin unfiltered folks if you want to support what we do we have conversations conversations, frankly, that are honest, that are frank, that you're not going to hear, frankly,

on mainstream television. You're not going to hear on cable news. This is an unfiltered platform. This is a platform. We're not asking for permission to discuss what we talk about. And that's why we have been saying on this show for the last 11 months, white domestic terrorists.

I am sick of these people. When a Muslim kills somebody, oh, Muslim extremists! Yet when a white boy goes out and kills people, it's, oh, it's mental illness. No, it's pure hatred it's racism and we're gonna call it what it is or need your support so go to Roland Martin unfiltered calm join our brain defunct fan club you can you can join

our fan club via PayPal square or even cash out every dollar that you give goes to support this show to make this possible and I certainly appreciate all of you that have done so. All right, folks, I'll see you tomorrow from Miami from the National Association of Black Journalists Annual Convention. I'm Roland Martin. Holla! This is an iHeart Podcast.