#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 9.12.19 #RMU: Dem debate analysis; Christianity's role in slavery; Joe Morton talks media diversity

Episode Date: September 18, 2019

9,12,18 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: What should we expect from tonight's Democratic debate? 1619-2019: How was Christianity used to keep us enslaved; For the first time in our history, most new working age hires are people of color; Joe Morton talks media diversity; An Alaska High School swimmer is disqualified because how her team swimsuit fit on her. - #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 - #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: Brian Courtney Wilson Prolific, singer-songwriter Brian Courtney Wilson announced his JUST B(E) Tour with dates across the country including Charleston, Charlotte, New Orleans, St . Louis, Orlando, and more. Visit http://briancourtneywilson.com/ to purchase tickets Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man.

We met them at their homes. We met them at the recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to it. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like, he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Thursday, September 12, 2019. This is Roland Martin Unfiltered, broadcasting live from the campus of Texas Southern University here in Houston.

It is debate night. Democratic candidates for the first time will be on one stage all together. The top candidates broadcast live on ABC News. We're going to break all of this down on the show today. We're going a little bit early because doors are going to close at 7 p.m. Eastern and we got to be inside. And so, folks, it's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Let's go. 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 belief he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling It's Uncle Roro, y'all It's rollingin' Martin. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Rollin' with Rollin' now. Yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Rollin' Martin. Now. Martin. Hey, folks, Roland Martin here, broadcasting live from Texas Southern University in Houston, where it is a big night.

The Democrats are going to be debating tonight right here on the TSU campus. So right behind me is the Recreation Physical Ed Center. And so as you see right now, of course, you have all the folks that are going through security. And, of course, all the TSU dignitaries, guys, if you can pan left right here, you will actually see us. Just pan left there. Just pan left there. And you will see the folks in line, some of the TSU dignitaries who are standing in line. And, of course, they are waiting to go inside. Security is real tight here. We got some issues here, folks. Security is real,

real tight here, okay, here at TSU. You got, folks, helicopters flying all above. That's happening. You got all these streets that are blocked off as well, all across the campus here. Folks have had to park from a certain distance. So do me a favor, pan that way, pan that way, pan right. And what you're going to see is, if you pan right, what you'll see is you actually see folks who are in line, who are in line, waiting to get inside here at TSU. They're waiting to get inside. Folks are going through all sorts of security precautions here at TSU. They're waiting to get inside. Folks are going through all sorts of security precautions here at Texas Southern University. And they actually asked people to come here, to come in as early as folks as 2.30, 2.30 to actually come inside. And

so that's what we are seeing. And again, students also had tickets to be able to get in. You've got folks who are dignitaries, alumni, all sorts of different people. Members of Congress are going to be here as well. This is a major deal. This is the first Democrat debate taking place on an HBCU campus since Morgan State took place when President Barack Obama was running as well. And so I'm going to do this right here.

I see one of the TSU members of the Board of Regents who is over here. And so I'm going to do a quick chat with him. And so he's going to talk to him in just a second. So come on over. How are you doing, Doc? I'm all good here. So first of all, tell everybody who you are. I'm Derek Mitchell.

I'm a lawyer here in town with Holland & Knight, and I'm also on the board of regents of the Texas Southern University. The Texas Southern. So what does this mean, having this Democratic debate on the campus at TSU? Roland, it's a great day for TSU, bottom line. This is monumental. You don't get this opportunity. And so we have rolled out the red carpet for TSU to shine, to let the rest of the world know that good things happen on this campus and all other HBCUs as well.

And of course, what I was just saying is the last time we actually had a debate on HBCU campus was at Morgan State. And so it's been a while. How long, what's been the planning like? Because ABC is broadcasting. They pretty much taken over this whole area here. You know, it's just like we are the landlords and they have, they are the tenants and have taken over everything. This is about a six month process. I think once ABC recognized that they needed, I felt like they needed to be in the middle of the country. Houston is a Democrat city, if you will. Everybody knows that.

And why not TSU, right? And so also we're fortunate to have one of the greatest alums ever in Michael Strahan with ABC. And so, again, we rolled out the red carpet. They took over from here, from there. And you can see now we got, you know, probably 10,000 people here. Folks, I ask you, how did TSU get this debate? Sure, there was a lot of competition. Yeah, I'm sure there was. I think at the end of the day, they saw the importance of HBCUs. They see the importance of the black vote.

And I think they realized that if you are here on campus, you're showing that the black vote means a lot. All right, then. Well, we're looking forward to it. I know they're going to be closing the doors in about an hour and 15 minutes. We're going to get done. We actually went live a little early just so we could be sure to get inside. So always glad to be back home here in H-Town.

Good seeing you. Thanks, Bob. I appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. And again, folks, again, we're here at campus of Texas Southern University where the Democratic debate is taking place. As I said, you've got, of course, the dignitaries, the TSU folks are going through this entrance right here where they have it set up.

And y'all might not realize it's a loud buzzing you're hearing. I'm not going to show it, but the loud buzzing you're hearing, the Trump people are actually flying a plane above talking about socialism will kill Houston's economy, vote Trump 2020. Yeah, right. Okay, whatever. So that's what's happening there. And so, as I also said, folks, again, you see people who are lining up all over here to get inside. Thousands are going to be here. Let me tell you how major this is, okay?

This is actually, this is how major this is, okay? This actually, this is how crazy it is, folks. I actually, when I tried to rent a car, I rented a car, it was a couple days ago. Literally, there were no cars. Literally, there were no cars. And it was, I said, wait a minute, what the heck is going on? So I texted family members, this is the only major event going on. So it's not like you have this huge convention going on. So thousands of people are here. People have come in from all over the country to be here as well in a moment. We're going to be chatting with Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who is here, of course.

Now, while this is happening, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, ALC, is taking place in D.C. So let me explain what happened there. I did talk to Tom Perez about that. There were a lot of a lot of DNC and a lot of CBC members who were not happy at all about that fact that this was taking place. But ABC actually chose the dates. Now they set aside two dates. They set aside Thursday and Friday. And so they have to choose the date that also went along with their primetime schedule. Keep in mind, ABC also owns ESPN. Disney owns ABC and ESPN.

So it couldn't take place on Monday night. Why? Because of Monday night football. That was a concern also, of course, of being on Thursday night, of being Thursday night football. And so they chose Thursday and Friday. Only 10 or so candidates qualified for this first debate. That's why you have this one debate tonight. So there are not going to be two debates at all, just one.

So thankfully that's the case. But again, there are a lot of CBC members who were not happy at all that this also would be taking place during CBCF AOC. But as Tom Perez, the chairman of the DNC, said, it was all about the scheduling of ABC, the networks. They make those decisions, and that's what we see right here taking place. So, you know, as I said, there's been a tremendous buzz all around the campus right now. I want to talk to the congresswoman from Houston who's coming right now. So as you see her, she just walked over, and so I'm going to chat with her in just a second. It's a wee bit warm out here. I'm native of Houston so but we're sort of used to the heat here and so I'm going to pull a congresswoman right now. So congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee always glad to see you. How does it

feel having this huge opportunity in your city but also on the campus of TSU? Well it's long overdue. This is an outstanding university, but more importantly, as I was flying home from Washington, my seatmate, I explained to them what this meant. This is a university that was in essence born out of the ashes of segregation. He asked me where it was. I said it's across the street from the University of Houston,

which is what happened to Negroes and colors, that they had to be separate and in some instances unequal. But now look at us. The university is flourishing. It has one of the highest enrollments. Individual students are themselves stars. Historic teachings on the history of not only this great campus but the history of African Americans, you know, are well

taught here. And certainly, we know that we have not only those who graduated years ago, which include Barbara Jordan and Dr. Ruth Simmons and Mickey Leland, and certainly Michael is of a earlier, more recent vintage. Michael Strahan. Michael Strahan. But we have students whose names are not counted that are going on to enormous success. And we have Dr. Thomas Freeman, who is an icon in his own right. But I think what I want to say about this is it's interesting to be this old a university

that's now going into its second decade. And in fact, today is Founders Day, same time. And not second decade, second half of the century going into its hundredth years. And to have to introduce Texas Southern University to someone, now I believe with this national exposure, which we're enormously excited, we can do it. And first it was to get this debate here. And I'm delighted the DNC listened to those of us who thought that we should have the convention. We didn't get the convention, but we insisted. And then, of course, it's good to have friends in high places. And Michael was very effective in

getting ABC to steer their eyes toward this campus, but they won't be disappointed because just the sheer existence of these iconic students, some first in their family to go to college, some here, day-to-day work study, and they are here, and they are giants, and they are great, and the programs are great and I am delighted to be Able to represent Texas Southern University Now one of the things that the fact we've had the debates that so far voting rights hasn't come up one time

We've had issues here in Texas other parts of the country. Are you hopeful that at an HBCU? That these candidates will be questioned about voting rights Absolutely, and interestingly enough we were in Memphis last week on voting rights, heard some stark testimony, some stark testimony again this past week, Tuesday. Voting rights is the Achilles' heel of any election of anyone running for president of the United States that has a progressive agenda. If you don't have the voters voting, if you have voter suppression, if you have voter intimidation, we are working, as you well know, in the Judiciary Committee to try to secure some

form of voting rights. But obviously, the bill has to be signed by the president. So it will be very important for these candidates, Roland, to talk about voting rights. Certainly in the criminal justice reform, we've made a step. We made a step. But there are those languishing, the bail reform has not moved, police accountability. So let's get into the weeds of that. Tuition, even though we're at a state historically black college, a state institution, these students need tuition relief. They need loan relief, and they need jobs not for a moment but for the future.

You mentioned being a member of the Judiciary Committee. Y'all had a little news today that took place there. loan relief and they need jobs not for a moment but for the future you mentioned being a member of the interior committee you had a little news today it took place there in terms of moving forward about 24 17 for an impeachment investigation chairman Adler said y'all can call it whatever y'all want to call it but it's to actually have these hearings how first of all are you pleased with that a lot of people have been calling for that for quite some time, and more and more Democrats, I think now more than 135, 140, said it's time to investigate this president in an impeachment inquiry. Long overdue. It is an impeachment investigation. Many of us are beginning to craft, not to

prejudge, but articles of impeachment. Having read the Mueller report and gone through it and had the hearings, we know the testimony of Robert gone through it and had the hearings. We know the testimony of Robert Mueller, who indicated singularly that he did not exonerate, but more importantly that if the actions of the president were that of a civilian, that person would be indicted. We didn't say they'd be convicted. They'd be indicted. We are the indicting entity. And so we're not after a witch hunt. We're not trying to go after anyone. We're simply trying to follow the constitutional directives that is given to the Article I body, and that's the U.S. House of Representatives.

I believe that it is important for the United States to know that none of us, and certainly we understand that it applies in particular to people of color, are above the rule of law. And that's what we'll be doing going forward. We have Corey Landowski this coming week. We want Robert McGahn to come and answer the questions of did the president or not tell him to fire Robert Mueller, yes or no. But I think these are questions that go to the governance of the United States. They go to the question of abuse of power. And one thing was said today in the hearing. Impeachment does not equate to crime and criminal acts as one would perceive in the civilian world. Yeah, because crimes and misdemeanors. The Constitution does not define

high crimes and misdemeanors. And the criminal standard is just is not applicable because this is a whole there's a constitutional standard. Constitutional standards, a question of whether or not this person upholding the oath of office, the rule of law, and leading the nation appropriately as evidenced by Article 2, which is that of the executive. That's what we want the American people to know. And I just want to say this. We're not, we can't be driven by polls. We're not disrespecting the American people. But we must be reminded that the hearings in the Senate went for nine months, nine months before the American people turned to the extent that we were then moving toward the articles of impeachment, even though the articles of impeachment come from the House. So I think it's important to note that we're not trying to do anything but provide facts to the American people.

All right, then. Well, look, as always, glad to be back in hometown of Houston. This is a great opportunity for TSU. Tremendous excitement on this campus, and so we're looking forward to tonight's debate. We are absolutely delighted, and let me say I cannot leave your outstanding podcast without saying HR 40 is a reality. I just put forth the Judiciary Brain Trust in Washington at the ALC and the Judiciary Brain Trust was packed. We did voting rights, criminal justice reform with Gwen Carr,

Eric Garner's mom, and we did police accountability, as I said, and we did reparations, HR 40 dynamic panel. It is a reality because we want this commission to be able to discern and decide and to look at what that was worth in terms of systemic changes, and there are going to be many debates about what it should be, but to deal with the idea of unpaid help for so long. All right. Well, we certainly appreciate it.

Thanks a bunch. All right. See you inside. All right. Well, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. All right. See you inside. All right, folks. Right now, I want to introduce right now my panelist, Dr. Greg Carr, Chair of the Department of Afro-American Studies at Howard University. Also,

Erica Savage-Wilson. She is host of the Savage Politics Podcast. And A. Scott Bolden, former Chair of the National Bar Association Political Action Committee. Dr. Carr, I want to go to you. You, of course, you teach at Howard University. And so just from your perspective, how critically important is it is

when we see these debates take place at Ohio State and these other universities, to have it take place at the HBCU, how important is that? It's of critical importance, particularly this election, Roland. I mean, we talked about it last week when you laid out some of the major agenda items that should be discussed tonight.

Hopefully they will be. And then talking to Representative Jackson Lee. Tonight, they're all on the same stage for the first time as the top tier candidates. We're going to see what Elizabeth Warren does with Joe Biden and everybody else for that matter. But most importantly for our community, we should be tuned in to hear the kind of information

we're gonna need to make a critical decision. And having it at Texas Southern, the place that came into existence as a result of Sweat vs. Painter as you led through us, and a place that has been a source and a resource for black struggle and the education of our people for quite some time, there's no more important place to be.

And in fact, Scott Bolden, this university was born out of segregation. Heman Sweat wanted to go to the University of Texas at Austin. They did not allow him to do so because of segregation, and so therefore they created the law school here at Texas Southern University. Barbara Jordan wanted to go to the University of Texas, could not go because of segregation. She had to come here to Texas Southern University. Barbara Jordan wanted to go to the University of Texas, could not go because of segregation. She had to come here to Texas Southern University. And so here we are in 2019 talking about obviously these Democrats being here and we're talking about a university that was born out of

segregation that to this day is still of of course, educating predominantly African-American students, but also white Latino students as well. Well, if there's another public interest law school or one where graduates a great number of African-American lawyers, other than Howard University School of Law, it would be Texas Southern. They compete for students in the best and brightest of minds. I tell you, the symbolism of being at Texas Southern University and the law school of Roland is really rooted in what this debate is going to be about. I want to hear the candidates talk about race, racism, and the law,

about gun control and stopping gun violence. I want to hear them talk about an urban agenda, if you will. There's no better place to do that. And while I know the media will control the questions and ABC and what have you, we've got to talk about these issues because any candidate I vote for or Black America votes for, we need to hear those issues

and the candidates need to connect with us on those issues so we know what to expect after after 2020 when they beat Donald Trump Erica will you talk about again this debate and the issues we also talk about this is the first time we're gonna have the top candidates on stage at one time I believe that this is a huge night a critical night for Senator Kamala Harris. She's the only person on this stage who's an HBCU graduate. In some ways, you're talking about this is home territory, but also throwing the reality that Senator Elizabeth Warren, she graduated from the University of Houston just two blocks away. Castro from Texas, Beto O'Rourke from Texas. But I dare

say, out of all the folks on stage, she's had a tough last month. She's going to have to come out on fire. There's been questions about her health care plan. She dropped her criminal justice reform plan on Monday. The person who I think has to score well tonight to put her campaign back on track is Senator Kamala Harris. Your thoughts? My thoughts surrounding that is that Kamala Harris has definitely lend her voice and in this political conversation however she just did a podcast interview with Angela Rye recently was about an hour long where she went over some of those very things that you laid out so I'd like to kind of just like take a time you know we're

actually this is the week of the annual legislative conference um by the congressional black caucus foundation um and so during this time we've got a gathering of a host of people politicals and things of that nature um bringing that to the point where this is now the time this is we're entering the season where we're going to start have to looking at who's in the field and who needs to go ahead and kind of like bow out of the field. And so during the summer, all of those different debates that we had, they were kind of priming us to this moment. Voters are now paying attention because we're about 13, 12 months out from next year. And so I think with Kamala Harris, those same stakes apply to all of the candidates. Going back to the AOC, the Black

Women's Roundtable rolled out a poll by Dr. Avis Jones-DeWeaver and Melanie Campbell and all of them. And in that poll, it showed that amongst millennial women and just Black folks in general, that we're largely still undecided. So while you lay that out about Kamala, I hear what you're saying, but I think that that pressure is applied to all of those candidates that are in the field because we're going to have to start doing the linear down. But Greg, here's why I'm specifically talking about Senator Harris. If you look at the polling data right now, in essence, there are two tiers that are happening. A top tier, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren. Then there's a second tier.

And that is Senator Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, and then there's a third tier, and that is Beto O'Rourke, Cory Booker, Julian Castro, and the rest of the candidates. And so if you're Harris, what you don't want to do is you don't want to be in the position where, frankly,

those top three are getting further away from you she had a spike after the first debate did not do after the second debate i'm just saying that in terms of her candidacy and i would also say pete budaj what you don't want is for those top three to solidify themselves going into october when really this thing is about to pick up. I agree with you, Roland. Let's be clear. The way it's looking now, Joe Biden has topped out.

He's not going to grow any base. If anything, he's just trying to maintain whatever he can to get to the 90. He's got a double-digit lead. No, brother, but he can't... He ain't got to top out. He can't grow anymore. Elizabeth Warren has all the momentum. No, she and Bernie Sanders are fighting for the out of the race. I guarantee you. Time will tell. Time will tell, brother. Let's put it this way. Elizabeth Warren has a lot of the momentum, but she's got to make

inroads in black communities. Now, she's spent a lot of time, including time at HBCUs, like Morgan State. And the more people hear her, the more her momentum is building. Bernie Sanders, of course, in that top tier, the third candidate in the top tier, seems to be fighting for the same candidates that Elizabeth Warren has. But, of course, he's got

problems not really being in the Democratic Party. He's got a lot of young people and millennials and more people, non-whites around him, particularly young women who are in his campaign. But even that might be... But he's not growing either. No, he's not growing either. He's not growing. He's staying right where he is.

Now, we said this when all these candidates first announced, Roland, on your show. In many ways, people in that second and third tier may be auditioning for the vice president slot. Now, let's be clear. If Kamala Harris is going to make a move, you are absolutely right. Tonight is the night she has to make a move.

She doesn't have the black vote. Barack Obama exhausted the vote for me because I'm black, Crabb. Now she and Cory Booker are going to have to do something more than show up and be black. And between Howard and Texas Southern, there's a class distinction as well. Yes, she went to HBCU, but it wasn't a public HBCU.

Don't start now. I went to Howard Law School at Morehouse College. Don't start pitting us against one another now. What I'm saying is that what we read is Kamala Harris has not made the case to the black community that she needs, particularly to get away from Joe Biden.

She can't outrun Barack Obama's legacy. And that's Corey's problem and her problem. Gentlemen, here. No, but here's the deal. First of all, Obama has nothing to do with them running. The point is this here. They can't run the same way Obama ran. Just breathe. Breathe, Scott. The bottom line is this here.

It's not just Biden and Obama. It's also African-Americans want Trump out. And there are black voters and white voters who believe that Joe Biden, not just because he served eight years with Obama, but also those 36 years in the United States Senate, is that he has the stature and to appeal to those disaffected, rural, working class white voters. But again, this debate tonight, this thing really starts September 15th. And so we'll really, excuse me, October 1, I think people will begin to drop out. We'll see what happens tonight. Got to go to a break. We come back.

A biracial swimmer in Alaska disqualified because of her butt cheeks? What the hell? I'm going to explain next to Roland Martin Unfiltered. Oh, God. You want to check out Roland Martin Unfiltered? YouTube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Oh, God. 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've heard me talk a lot

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That's marijuana stock.org. Get in the game, and get in the game now yeah and they're about some ignorant motherfuckers and they bought it's roland martin here we are on the campus of texas southern university where the democrats will be debating tonight uh in a little more than a couple of hours but i gotta talk about this story out of alaska where a young swimmer a sister biracial was disqualified after a race because the judge ruled that he could see her butt cheeks. Okay?

Now, after lots of public outcry, the decision was reversed. Now, Brecklyn Willis, she's a member of the swim team at Diamond High School in Anchorage, Alaska. She has competed in four events in a swim competition on Friday. She won. She swam in four of them them won a heat during the meet. But a race official said that her swimsuit has shifted into a position that showed too much of her backside, claiming that was a rule against that. Folks, it was a team, a school-issued swimsuit. Many people say that she's a curvaceous person, but she's also a sister, meaning she got butt.

She's racial. Erica, this is absolutely insane. In fact, there was a female judge who actually said, we're going to have a problem with this once this gets out. This guy tried to claim that the rule existed, and they said, no, it doesn't. This is nonsense, this rule. This is crazy.

So cue Serena Williams and then just cue also the policing of black bodies. This is not just black women. To be black is to live in a police state constantly. It does not matter where you live, what type of occupation that you have. That is really the existence of being black. And so when we hear stories like this that have actually made national news, I know for myself and people that I communicate with, this is not something that surprises us because we've actually experienced the same things growing up in school and whatnot and in our own profession. So I think that this

is kind of a part of that larger conversation where we're just talking about like on the debate stage, which is a perfect place on the HBCU campus, that these are some of the conversations that need to be had from a constituent or just, you know, folks in the public to people who are actually running from higher office to talk about what are their... Where do they stand on making sure policies that really do continue to keep us in a place where everything we do from our hair, our wear locks,

to our bodies, to the way that we communicate is always, always something that's being policed. Utterly idiotic, Greg. It's utterly idiotic. It is, but I mean, I agree with Sister Wilson. I agree with Erica. I mean, at the end of the day, the rule does exist.

It exists in the warped fantasies of white men and the white racial imaginary. As she said, remember that catsuit Serena had on almost 20 years ago now at the U.S. Open? And remember what they tried to do her at the French Open saying she couldn't win, so she just put on a tutu and revolutionized the tennis world in a tutu. My point is that there will never not be a fascination,

number one, with the body. She's right. It's not just black people. Look at the ESPN annual body issue, this fascination with the body. But when it comes to black people, black men like LeBron James with his arm around the waist of a model

on the cover of Vanity Fair like in a replica of the King Kong 1933 version, or for that matter, coming forward to 2019, this example. What we are dealing with is this fetishization of the body, and black women have had to suffer the brunt of it, brother. Mm-hmm. Whether it's their body or their hair. Scott.

I mean, this is swimming while black. And you got wrestling while black. Remember the cat that cut his dreads off or said he couldn't compete. And they know that people of color, we love competing. We are athletic. They love to say we're scientifically engineered differently, which is complete falsity.

But white privilege and white racism, they continue to be obsessed with us and our ability to achieve athletically and intellectually despite their efforts to suppress us. Our candidates win despite voter suppression and oppression. And they continue, white America continues to be obsessed with this. And we keep winning, which is why when we all grew up, we say, you've got to be twice as good in order to survive, let alone succeed. Our parents were right. We do, because white privilege and white racism

continues to be obsessed with us and trying to see how much more we can overcome. And we keep winning. And good luck to that swimmer and glad she got that resolved and she needs to keep swimming because they're telling her she probably got to lose weight to be a championship swimmer because she too curvaceous. Curvaceous.

Keep your curves, young lady. Keep your curves. Well, first of all, they ain't going nowhere. Right, right. They ain't going nowhere and they might as well suck it up. All right, I got to go to a break. We come back, our 16 all, they ain't going nowhere. Right, right. They ain't going nowhere, and they might as well suck it up. All right, I got to go to a break. We come back, our 1619-2019 segment, talking about slavery and Christianity.

And then also, my man Joe Morton, Papa Pope, is in the house. All of that next on Roller Martin Unfiltered. You want to support Roller Martin Unfiltered? Be sure to join our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar that you give to us supports our daily digital show. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real as Roland Martin Unfiltered support the Roland Martin Unfiltered Daily Digital Show by going to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing 50 bucks each

for the whole year. You can make this possible. RolandMartinUnfiltered.com All right, folks. 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 Day Club Los Cabos, which is nestled on the Sea of Cortez in the celebrity playground of Los Cabos, Mexico. The Life Luxe Jazz experience offers the ultimate getaway for discerning jazz aficionados by pairing an upscale international destination

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to sign up today. All right, folks, of course, it's time for our 1619 2019 segment. And so I want to talk. All right, folks, of course, we're focused on 400 years since the first Twingon Africans arrived in the United States. This whole issue of Christianity and the enslaved, a huge, huge issue that we have always focused on. And people talk about, oh, you celebrate the white man's religion. Well, joining us right now is Dr. Corey D.B. Walker, visiting professor at the University of Richmond. And Dr. Walker, how you doing? I'm doing great. How about yourself?

All right, so people always are talking about this and are raising this issue saying, oh, that black people, you're celebrating the white man's religion. And so when was Christianity introduced to people of African descent? Was it before those 29 Africans arrived in 1619, or was it when people came to this country? Well, Roland, Christianity is an African religion. You have to remember that when you think about Jesus, Jesus fled, and Joseph and Mary fled to Africa. When we think of the early Hebrews in Egypt and when you think of the early church fathers,

they're all North African. Those 20 and odd Africans were part of a flotilla of Angolans of 36 ships that left Luanda to come to the New World. When they were intercepted and when they were pirated by British ships, remember those 20-odd Africans were on Portuguese ships flying under Catholic auspices and the Spanish crown.

When they were then moved to the US, those 20-odd Africans had already understood the rudiments of Africanized Catholicism. The Jesuits had already been in Angola since the 16th century, and as early as 1575, all Jesuits required any enslaved African to be baptized. Now, that does not mean that this is the same Christianity that we would see coming out of Europe. Of course, with all religions, religions are syncretistic products,

and the Africans who were then baptized to become Catholic continued their own religious traditions, their own religious mores, and combined them with new world ways of thinking and new world ways of being. So you got to hybridize truly an Africanized Christianity, which is a new world African religious experience. And obviously all that's important because it's amazing when I listen to people who slam present-day African Americans who are Christian, who have no understanding of our history. It's unfortunate because what we tend to think is that there's a hard demarcation around Christianity. We also remind ourselves that one-third of Africans coming into the Americas were Muslim.

And when you begin to think of just Frederick Douglass' narrative, you see Frederick Douglass talking about an elder within his village writing an indecipherable script. He's writing in Arabic. When you think of the ways in which slave narratives that are coming out of North Carolina are written in Arabic, you're thinking of really a syncretistic and multiple, multiple cultural religious worldview of new world Africans. And that new worldview and that worldview of those Africans

includes Christianity and Christianity in all of its varieties. It's not just a Christianity that's given to us by the colonizers or by missionaries or by the masters. Africans have always been Christian from the beginning. We have always written about Christianity. When you read St. Augustine, it is the African church writing to the Italian church. So there is no European Christianity. There is an African Christianity, just like there's an African Judaism, just like there's an African Islam. And with all of the Abrahamic traditions, they're all combining in some very unique ways with traditional African religious mores.

And they're combining and then taking part of traditional African religions. And I know my brother Greg Carr can remind us that even some of the ways in which we think about Christianity borrow and blend from African religions, questions around resurrection, questions around monotheism. They don't just erupt out of Europe. They erupt out of the continent. They erupt out of Africa. And if there were a couple of books that you would recommend for folks to read

to better understand this, what would that be? I would recommend Michael Gomez's Exchanging Our Country Marks. Brother Gomez at NYU has written on the extensive collaboration and creativity of a new world Africans, particularly around Islam. I would also look at Linda Hayward's book on Queen Nzinga, because that's where we begin to look at the ways in which Angola and Angolan Africans really populated the new world and really populated the areas in and around the Chesapeake when we think about 1619. So if you're looking at two scholars, look at the work of Michael Gomez and also look at the work of Linda Hayward. And of

course, you always got to look at the work of John Thornton, Africans in the Atlantic world. All right, then we're going to have a longer conversation. I'm going to have this again. Unfortunately, I got to cut it short because we're here at TSU. I got Joe Morton coming up next. Then I have got to get inside because they're going to be closing the doors. And so, Dr. Walker, we're going to definitely have another part to this conversation. I appreciate your perspective on all of this. Always appreciate it. Thank you, my brother. All right. Thanks a lot. We're going to go to a quick break. When we come back, we're going to talk about the importance of diversity in media, not just diversity, inclusion, a seat at the table power with my man, actor Joe Morton. That's next, Roller Martin

Unfiltered. Hey, fam, I want you to like, share and subscribe to our YouTube channel, youtube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. And don't forget to turn on your notifications. All right, folks, we are here on the campus of Texas Southern University, of course, where the debate will be taking place here at TSU. The Democrats will be on stage. But joining us right now in the studio, I wonder what command would think of the folks here. You know him, of course, as Papa Pope on Scandal. You also know him, folks, from movies and television. He is an Emmy Award winnerwinner a bad brother Joe Morton Joe how you doing you man I'm sorry I

couldn't be there in DC with you but I was good talking with you first of all just what is your take on all this whole crazy presidential campaign all the Democrats running that of course the orange one in D.C.? You know what? I think that having all of these candidates is a really good thing. I mean, we're going to get a chance to hear a lot of what the Democrats are thinking, what they have to say, what they might propose, as opposed to going on, you know, the fact that maybe Biden is the most electable because he says so, because he's the only one whose name recognition is the highest. So I think this is a good thing.

And look, I agree, because what it also does is it energizes different people to get involved in the race, although there are about six or eight people who need to drop the hell out. But don't you think that'll happen, you know, just because the way that happens? The debates will happen, people will drop away, because the money will fall away?

No. Bill de Blasio need to go back to New York and be mayor of New York. The boy John Delaney, whatever his name is, he was the first one in. I think he polled that.5%. Boy, go sit at home. But there's just some folks who are just running to be running. But you're right. When the money dries up, that's when they all leave.

That's right. That's right. And I think, again, it's not just the money. It's, you know, people will begin to realize this one is not being listened to. That one's not being listened to. It will work itself out. Let's talk about, of course, media diversity. You, of course, won a show that was created, led by Shonda Rhimes, a number of other hugely successful on ABC.

Then she left to take a huge deal with Netflix. And the thing that I tell people, just like with this show, the fact that if you do not have those of us, not a seat at the table, but who actually have the table, who are creating these things, owning these things, that is the only way this stuff changes. Otherwise, we're really asking somebody, why could you, out of the goodness of your heart, please hire folks? No, we have to be in a position where we have a stake, an ownership stake, to change what is happening when it comes to media inclusion, diversity, and what it looks like. You know, I agree. I mean, I think when Shonda did what Oprah does, what a lot of these new sort of black producers are doing is saying that they want to take responsibility for their own stories.

They don't want to ask other people for money. They want to raise their own money. I think all this is really important. I also think that it's important for audiences to understand, because remember, you know, in those days of Oscar So White, I kept thinking it was too late. If you want to change things, just don't spend the money to go to certain movies.

Spend money to go to black film, if that's what you want to support, if that's what you want to see out there. I mean, I think, again, like any other business, it has to be supported by its audience. I had Tyler Parrish speak at NABJ last year, and he said, and when he also, of course, was honored the BET Awards, he said he had no issues with Oscars so white. He said, but while y'all demanding a seat at the table, I'm going to go build my own table. But what he also did was, first all go ahead go ahead joe no no i was just laughing at what you said i thought that was building his own table is exactly what we need

it's what shonda does it's what's what oprah does it's what ava duvernay is doing um i think all of these folks it's what spike did years ago um by of creating his own, as you were, as Tyler Perry says, building his own table. Roland? Hello? Roland. Roland. Roland. Can't hear. Can you hear us?

I guess he can't hear us. No. Can he hear us, though? forward slash Roland S. Martin, and don't forget to turn on your notifications. Martin! I don't know if you guys can hear me there, so Greg Carl, your question for Joe Morton. Brother Morton, when I first encountered you, it was, of course, in that classic watershed film, Brother from Another Planet.

Could you say something to those folks out there who want to build a bridge between independent black filmmaking, that kind of visionary black filmmaking and popular culture, and the world of mass commercial entertainment media? Because you walked in both worlds. It's a difficult thing to, especially these days, I think, to build that particular bridge, but it's not impossible.

I mean, I think, again, it's happening. I think Will Packer is doing it. Certainly Shonda Rhimes is doing it in terms of television. Ava DuVernay is actually making it possible for lots of young, black, independent filmmakers to find a screen to show what they're doing. So, I mean, it takes, again, it takes a village. You know, we all sort of have to figure out ways to

help one another build these kinds of things. It's not just one person doing it by themselves. Thank you. Hey, Joe, I've got a question for you. It's Scott Bolden. Yep. You know, I've been a longtime fan of yours. Who are some of the folks that you know, in the industry that are doing incredible things that we don't know about, that have seats at the table, decision-making authority, or who are upcoming that we ought to be watching and looking out for? Well, I mean, I don't know that we don't know about it,

but I think Ice Cube has done a tremendous amount in terms of what he's built and the kinds of films he's produced. Certainly, Will Packer has done the same thing. I think that Will Smith is trying to do something more than he's done in the past. I mean, I think there's actually a lot of people out there. We're trying to figure out ways to tell stories beyond stories that have to do with equality or have to do with racism, that we want to tell other stories about who we are and how we exist in this world. And I think that's probably the biggest hurdle to get over. You know, I was looking today at a lot of different directors and producers

in terms of the kind of budgets that they receive, and for most of them, the highest budget may be around $35-40 million, except for in two cases, with Ava DuVernay doing A Wrinkle in Time. She had a $200 million budget, and Ryan Coogler had $100 million in terms of Black Panther. Those are the large movies. But I think for the smaller films,

what Ava in particular is doing in terms of making things available for people, a space available for them to show their films, I think is an amazing thing. Absolutely. Erica. Hi there, Mr. Morton. This is Erica Savage Wilson. Glad to have you in D queue to watch on Sunday to help them prepare for the week specific to the climate that we're living in

being very stressful could you talk a little bit about the responsibility you feel as an actor to participate in that since I started in this business many years ago, I sort of, you know, I entered in the late 1960s. And in the late 1960s, a lot of the roles that were being offered to black male actors in particular were, you know, drug addicts, gangsters, boogaboos of one sort or another. And at that point, I made a very conscious decision

that the kinds of roles I wanted to take, the way I wanted to diversify my particular career was to play, not to play those kind of characters, but to play any number of different characters from any number of different walks of life that simply show black folk is as human as anybody else. And with that in mind, that's how I sort of moved forward. Joe, I gotta ask you, normally for the last several years on nights like this Thursday night, we would be live tweeting you. Do you miss Papa Pope? I do. I mean, I think we probably all do. I mean, on one hand, the cast of Scandal,

we still stay in touch with one another. There is a group text in a way that we keep in touch with each other. I think we miss being with each other. We miss doing the show. We certainly miss being around Shonda. But at the same time, I think, you know, Shonda's decision to have the show end at its height

was exactly the right decision to make. Well, I could tell you as somebody who was the chief gladiator, certainly miss it. It was no show like it. But we're, of course, it wouldn't be mine if it would be. I would feel a lot better if command was in charge of Washington, D.C. today with crazy man in the White House. You know what? I mean, I certainly appreciate the compliment. But the other side of things is command is a fictionary character. Unfortunately, the man who's sitting in the White House is not fictional.

And so we have to very in a very real way, make sure we vote him out of office. Amen. Well, I'll tell you what. I'll tell you how much I miss your character. Probably at least once every three months, I'll watch one of the video compilations on YouTube of some of your greatest monologues, because, man, the writers of Scandal gave you some damn good stuff to work with. They did. They did.

And, you know, one of the things you have to sort of reconcile yourself with when you leave a show like that especially the kind of writing that um i had access to um is that that's a once in a lifetime opportunity i'm certainly and grateful that um it was given to me um it will be a wonderful Christmas morning if that kind of thing should come around again. So what are you working on now? Still working on CBS. We're shooting our second season of God Friended Me, which I'm thoroughly enjoying. I think

the beauty of this particular show is that we talk about the connectivity of human beings, that we are all in some way connected to one another, that because of that connectivity, we are in a position to help one another. It's the kind of show that your whole family can watch without any kind of— you never have to hide your children's eyes or anything. It's the kind of show that makes you feel good at the end of it, even though we may bring tears to your eyes. It's the kind of show that I think talks about Americans in a very diverse way,

which if you watch the show, you would see it. We have all kinds of things that happen on the show. I'm really enjoying it, and I hope everybody watches. Last question for you. You were off Broadway, an unbelievable one-man play, Dick Gregory. Is that still possibly going to make its way to Broadway? John Legend was one of the executive producers. And, man, it was just an unbelievable play.

I think it will be amazing. What's the status of that? Well, we keep trying. You know, a one-man show on Broadway is a very difficult thing to achieve, but we're still pushing for it. And hopefully one of these days, sooner than later, it will happen again. Well, maybe. Well, I would hope, you know, just like the Broadway play that Carrie was on, Netflix is going to show. I'm telling you, if that was shot, for the folks who saw it, and let me tell you what happened there, Greg.

Joe invited me to opening night. I had speeches, all kind of stuff, couldn't get there. And then they were closing, and he said, look, Roland, we close it in two weeks. You better get to New York to see this. And so, man, went to New York, and it was a tour de force. Dick Gregory, I was just so pleased that he was able to be alive to see that. Those of you who saw us live stream Dick Gregory's funeral,

you got a taste of Joe Morton playing Dick Gregory and just an unbelievable role there. And so maybe we can't get it on Broadway. Maybe we can get somebody to at least shoot it and have it. Because, again, I just think people would just really love to see you bring Dick Gregory to life. And we certainly miss him. Well, as they say, from your lips to God's ears. Joe Martin, always a good pleasure talking with you, brother.

You take care. I'll see you soon. You, too. Have a good one. All right, then. All right, folks. That is it for me. It is going to be.

So, let's see. Real quick here. I'm going to start with Scott. Scott, who's the one person that you think is going to have a breakout performance tonight? We ain't doing crazy-ass white people. Not tonight. Yeah, that's called a debate, bro. Not tonight.

I got one minute before I got to go inside. Okay, I think Kamala's got to. But look for Elizabeth Warren to go after Biden because she's got to move, and I think she is more likely to go after Biden than Bernie Sanders is. He's going to be sandwiched between the two of them. Watch her tonight,

and she's going to be at a historical black college. Look out for her attacks. Look out for her attacks. All right, Erica. I'm watching Kamala Harris and Julian Castro. Greg. They said exactly what I said. Buttigieg is over.

It's going to be... Between Kamala Harris and Julian Castro, they auditioned for the vice presidency. Elizabeth Warren has all the momentum. Look for her, as Scott said, to try to take Joe Biden's head clean off. I'll tell you right now, the person who is going to be real desperate tonight is Beto O'Rourke because his campaign is failing. Of course,

he's shooting in El Paso. Most folks thought that was going to bring some life to it. We'll see how he performs tonight on the stage here at TSU. Again, folks, in about 30 minutes, those doors right there are going to close. Guys, pay and write for me. Pay and write there. As you see, people are still coming in. So in 30 minutes, these doors will close. And then the debate starts at 8 p.m. Eastern on ABC. George Stephanopoulos, Lindsay Davis will be asking questions.

Jorge Ramos with Univision will also be asking questions as well. This will air on ABC and Univision. And so we look forward to seeing what happens tonight. Again, I will be inside as so they have a media center. But I'm from Houston, so I'll be sitting next to the president of Texas Southern University. That's how it is when you know people. I got to go. Also, I want to thank the two TSU students for helping me out. Y'all, come on, real quick, get over here. Come on, come on, move, move, move.

All right, Tilly, who are you? Hi, my name is Chiara James. My name is David Brown. All right then, so they helped us do today's show. Every time I come, okay, y'all go back. I mess with y'all. Every time I come to Houston, I always call the folks at TSU

to give their students the opportunity to actually work on doing this kind of show. And so that's what we did. I want to thank the students who also helped us on yesterday. So, all right, folks, I got to go. Don't forget to support Roller Martin Unfiltered. This is why we do the show, for us to be able to bring you this type of information. No other black website is doing this. No black cable network is doing this.

We're totally different than everybody else. So we need you to support us with your dollars. Joining our Bring the Funk fan club. Please go to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And I know to Scott Bolton, we still haven't gotten a check from you. I wonder why. All right, folks. I gotta go. I'll see y'all later. Thank you. We'll be right back. And subscribe to our YouTube channel. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. It's Roland Martin Unfiltered. See that name right there? Roland Martin Unfiltered. Like, share, subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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