#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 9.6 #RMU: JAY-Z/NFL to give funds to group who cut dreads, touted #AllLivesMatter; Racist UAFS coach

Episode Date: September 8, 2019

9.6.19 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Hampton University is offering free tuition to Bahamian students displaced by Hurricane Dorian. JAY-Z/NFL plans to give funds to group who cut dreadlocks and professed #AllLivesMatter; University of Arkansas charges a coach with racism; What's the future of African Americans and bitcoin technology? Tamron Hall set to launch her new show next week; Rev. Jamal Bryant talks with Roland about transitioning from Baltimore to Atlanta and AME to Baptist. - #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: Life Luxe Jazz Life Luxe Jazz is the experience of a lifetime, delivering top-notch music in an upscale destination. The weekend-long event is held at the Omnia Dayclub Los Cabos, which is nestled on the Sea of Cortez in the celebrity playground of Los Cabos, Mexico. For more information visit the website at lifeluxejazz.com. - #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: 420 Real Estate, LLC To invest in 420 Real Estate’s legal Hemp-CBD Crowdfunding Campaign go to http://marijuanastock.org Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. 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 star-studded a little bit, man.

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

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1 tbs. salami Să facem o pătrunjelă. Să facem o pătrunjelă. Să facem o pătrunjelă. Să facem o pătrunjelă. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered for Friday, September 6, 2019, Roland is off today. I'm Dr. Avis Jones-Dweaver. Hampton University is offering free tuition to Mahanian students displaced by Hurricane Dorian. Jay-Z and the NFL plan to give money to a group who cut dreadlocks and professed all lives matter.

We have the details. A former University of Arkansas student charges the coach with racism and has a recorded conversation to prove it. And what's the future of African Americans and Bitcoin technology? We'll talk to the founder of Bitmari. Tamron Hall launches her new daytime talk show on Monday,

and Roland caught up with her at the Essence Music Festival. Plus, Reverend Jamal Bryant talks with Roland about transitioning from Baltimore to Atlanta and AME to Baptist. Also, remembering songwriter LaShawn Daniels. It's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Let's go. Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling Yeah, yeah

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Martel. Hampton University said that it's partnering with the University of the Bahamas to offer a tuition-free semester, as well as room and board at its Hampton University campus for students disabled by the storm. Students will have the option to stay at Hampton after the semester is over while paying university tuition and fees. Hampton University President William Harvey struck the agreement with Rodney Smith, President of the University of the Bahamas, who is the former Administ vice president and chief planning officer at Hampton. So joining me on the panel today is Eugene Craig,

who is CEO of Eugene Craig Organization, Amicia Cross, political commentator, and democratic strategist, Lauren Victoria Burke, with the National Newspaper Association. That must be Eugene. That must be Eugene. So, ladies, what do you think about what's going on, first of all, with the Bahamian situation?

It looks like such a huge, devastating tragedy. It's wonderful to see that Hampton University steps up like this to be able to lend some help. What do you think? Oh, absolutely. I think that, you know, we've seen this before. HBCUs and black organizations tend to step in in a lot of situations at the first note when other organizations aren't. And I think that this speaks volumes for the spirit of Hampton, for the spirit of HBCUs, but also for true recognition of a lot of the devastation that the Bahamas are going through right now. When we look at it, we can relate in many ways to what we

saw in Puerto Rico. But Puerto Rico didn't have an airport that was basically underwater. They weren't necessarily, they were able to get some supplies in a lot sooner. The Bahamas in many areas are just now getting supplies in today. So we still have people that are without power. We have people that are without food. We have people that have been without water for days at a time at this point. And I think that, you know, anything that Hampton can do, anything that, you know, we're seeing Tyler Perry also, you know, do a lot of work there. And we're seeing some of the some of the cruise ships also go in and help as well. There's a lot going on here and it's an all hands on deck effort. I'm hopeful that the American government can also, you know, do its part. But as we've

seen previously, I don't have a lot of strength in my wishes there. But I do believe that Hampton deserves all the kudos. I think that other HBCUs will probably jump on board as well. Absolutely. And it would be wonderful to see this government take this tragedy seriously. But instead, we're stuck on Sharpie gate now for, I don't know, what is it, two days in a row where we have this hysteria going on? When are we going to have some sanity in terms of leadership in this nation? Not until Donald Trump is out of office, obviously. I mean, he's the master of distraction and distracting us into stupidity, usually. And obviously we know the history when it comes to aid to countries where people of color are featured. So obviously the Puerto Rico situation is sitting right in front of us. And, of course, he's not going to say anything about the Bahamas.

I mean, he's not going to say anything about the Bahamas. But it is good to see the corporate actors. We did see American Airlines. We saw Royal Caribbean step up. We saw a guy walk into a Costco in Jacksonville, Florida and buy 100 generators to the tune of $50,000. I mean, so that was that was an amazing story. But you know, at the end of the day, obviously, the the governments have the scale, our government has the scale. Apparently, the Bahamas does have a partnership with the Rhode Island National Guard, which I knew nothing about. I didn't know anything about that. So they flew some planes in. I think it was today, actually, to help. But it would be nice if the president of the United States showed some leadership.

It shouldn't all just be the U.N. The Bahamas is right there, obviously. It's a tourist attraction for many Americans and obviously many people around the world. So he could use his bully pulpit in a sophisticated way to help other people, but that's just not what Donald Trump does. It's not something I would come to expect. So it's not a surprise. Absolutely.

I mean, he'd have to be a sophisticated person to use his bully pulpit in a sophisticated way. Exactly. So, Eugene, in terms of your president, I'm really kind of sort of grasped what we should, you know, obviously we're not going to expect much from him, but I'm thinking about the situation, particularly in the context of what we know happened to Puerto Rico, which actually is a U.S. territory. And even today, he's talking about taking millions of dollars away that was supposed to be used towards rebuilding Puerto Rico that still needs rebuilding and instead diverting it for this wall project that he seems to be fixated on. I mean, at what point will we be able to find some

adult throughout his administration that hopefully will be able to give people the help that they need, especially in moments of crisis? Well, this is a couple things here. The first is this. The United States plays a special role in the region and the world. One of those special roles is making sure that our trade lanes and our trade relationships are well maintained and protected. You know, the Bahamas does not have the capacity to truly handle this by themselves. The American government needs to deploy an aircraft carrier that can serve as a temporary airport to deploy supplies to the island if it has not been done already. That's the first thing.

Secondly, the way that the president is now shifting funds from DOD, from DHS to deal with his wall, his vanity project is absolutely atrocious. You know, you have there's a report today of a school and military base down in Fort Hood that's not going to get built because the funds for it was taken and thrown towards the wall. What I think would be really interesting is to see how the president and the White House response to the tragedy that's now taking place in South Carolina, North Carolina, maybe Virginia, depending on which way this storm goes, which are states that he absolutely needs to win in 2020. Absolutely. So we're hoping that at some point when we have some leadership that we'll be able to count on in the future

to be able to step up to the plate. But in the meantime, where there is help that was coming in, we'll appreciate it any way that it comes. And so turning our attention to the next story, the controversy over Jay-Z and Roc Nation's deal with the NFL continues. The Crushers Club is one of two groups working with at-risk children in Chicago that received part of $400,000 in donations from Roc Nation and the NFL as part of their previously announced Inspire Change initiative. But the organization came under scrutiny recently when on social media, posts like this showed up.

This is Crusher's Club's president, Sally Hazelgrove, cutting a young man's dreads off. They are also known for encouraging the phrase phrase all lives matter. I guess all hair doesn't matter, but to them all hot lives matter and more. Are there organizations that are better suited for this kind of donation? Let's go to the panel and talk about this. I don't know about you guys, but I was absolutely furious when I saw that. I have obviously I have locks. I've had locks for over 20 years now. And it is a, not only a physical thing to me, so I saw that, frankly, as an assault on those young men,

but it's a spiritual thing to me. Right. And it's something that she had no clue about. Of course not. The depth and the significance of it. A complete disrespect to us as a people to say that you cannot be someone who achieves significantly if you maintain your hair as it grows out of your head. Yet, here she is with a, you know, a, you know, helmet head and her hair apparently is fine. Okay. So, you know, it's very interesting

to me. What are your thoughts about this particular controversy, yet another to come out of this interesting and controversial Jay-Z-NFL collaboration? Yeah. I am not an expert on the Crushers Club, but obviously a picture is a thousand words, right? I think obviously another sort of another moment of how hard it is for a minority group to assimilate in a country,

particularly with our history over 400 years. I mean, it would be nice if J.C. had some political advisers maybe. I'm sure he does. I'm sure he talks to people. I'm sure he, you know, is not... I think the only people he talks to are his accountants apparently. Well, I mean, and again, I'm sure he's not a dumb guy at all. And that's what kind of makes it even harder. Because if you're dealing with somebody stupid, then you would just be like, okay, he's stupid. That's what this is.

Right. But Jay-Z is not a dumb guy. And so this is, you know, disappointing on a lot of levels. The fact that he has not stepped up after everything that happened a few weeks ago and sort of maybe just took the edge off things in terms of just saying something about Colin Kaepernick's efforts.

I mean, Colin Kaepernick paid effectively with his career. Absolutely. You know, to use Roland's term, he was white-balled, right? And we all know it, right, in front of everybody's face. Right. This is not the type of thing that we need to wait 40 and 50 years to figure out, as we did with Muhammad Ali and, you know, we did with Jack Johnson and so many other athletes who put, you know, their politics and their personal beliefs

before making the money and being popular. Right. So we know right now in real time what Colin Kaepernick had to sacrifice. Right. So it shouldn't, it's not hard to figure out. Right. You know, we're an information society. So this is not a good thing.

And hopefully Jay-Z will, I have confidence that Jay-Z will figure it out and make a turn. Really? His wife will nudge him. Yeah, I do. I know he signed a contract. I know all that, but I also know that somebody will get in his ear, I think, at some point. What do you think? Do you have confidence, too?

The only reason that Jay-Z did this was because he had to respond to a lot of black Twitter. This was essentially a PR stunt. So he chose a city that, and I'm a native Chicagoan. I'm very familiar with this organization. He chose a city that already has a large amount of disadvantaged youth, disengaged youth, a large amount of African-American males that will not see a high school graduation, much less college. And coming off of, in the previous years, we had three years without a state budget. And a lot of those community organizations that serve those youth that are in turmoil had to face shutting down. And these were a lot of those community organizations that serve those youth that are in turmoil had to face shutting down.

And these were a lot of the black-run organizations. This organization was well known for what it did to black youth, in the same way that a lot of the charter schools in the city are very known for what they do to black youth. It is destined assimilation. They tell you how you can wear your hair. They tell you what clothes you can wear.

They try to change your vernacular. All of these things designed to shape you into what they feel is going to help you become successful. It has nothing to do with academics. It has nothing to do with your actual progress. It has everything to do with them erasing your culture and who you are. And I think that when you have an organization like this,

it is important to call it out. I'm upset that just now it's getting a national resonation. Because this organization has been doing this for years and receiving a ton of funding at the federal level, at the state level and at the local level to basically take young black males and turn them into something else and tell them that what they look like how they walk and how they talk is wrong.

And for Jay-Z, someone who is from Bed-Stuy, someone who has represented black people for a very long time, someone who a lot of these young people actually look up to to decide that this is the organization he wants to support. And I'll give it to you. I think that Jay-Z is a very smart man.

Now, did he handpick this organization? Probably not. There was probably somebody along that line who did. But there should be something from him right now. He should be out responding to this immediately. I'm frustrated that he is not. Yeah, that is interesting. Don't you think, Eugene?

I mean, all of a sudden, he's MIA. He had a lot to say. He had a lot to say when he had this very well-crafted press conference where he's talking about, you know, we're done with kneeling, as if he could speak on behalf of the entire black community, right? But now, all of a sudden, when these controversies are happening, and particularly this one, which a number of people are finding especially egregious, you cannot find him anywhere. Where is Jay-Z? And also, what do you think can be done to correct course here?

I don't I don't really think that he can correct course here unless he comes out and somehow undoes what he did to basically stab Colin Karpenick in the back. Y'all give me slater and hove while I'm trying to get a title deal? So, it's a couple things here. It's a couple things here. I'm almost 100% sure he didn't handpick the organization, right? Absolutely. I'm also, also on the other end of it, his efforts don't start with the funding of

this well the grant that this organization received and it doesn't end there you know the broader effort that's going on with reform you know goes well beyond anything this particular organization can do I mean we're all involved in the orgs and we all understand to a degree how the organization funding works. It's all a relationship. And so somebody in this organization had probably an in with somebody

either on the NFL side or one of the organizations that Jay-Z is affiliated with and was able to grab funding here to potentially try to solve a problem. I mean, we've all dealt with principals at a very high level. Also, Tom, just a lot of things are delegated. But at the end of the day, you know, the blow-up typically blows up in the face of a principal.

I mean, you know, Jay-Z literally currently wears his hair nair free. So, you know, I think he probably has to address it at this point because of the stirrup that it's caused. But I agree with Amisha that it is a response

to Black Twitter, you know, who sometimes can have a larger voice than they probably should. And then, you know, I think it's probably one of those things

where we probably just sit back and watch, you know, take one, a holistic view of what's going on, but two, you know, I think it's probably one of those things where we probably just sit back and watch, you know, take a one, a holistic view of what's going on. But to, you know, see where the actual hard efforts are going. You know, and I would direct folks attention to reform more so than, you know, what this particular organization does. Well, that's the question. And that's the big question. What the hell is the where's the reform where's the beef Jay Z I mean I don't see it here and and what's interesting to me is that you know he came out honestly I'm seeing a lot of inconsistencies because he came out with the with the press conference right saying that there's gonna be reform

right then after that wasn't received well there was some leak about him having part ownership in the team, which all of a sudden has evaporated, right? Apparently that was a lie. Okay, where's Maury Povich when you need him, right? Because I believe if that was the case, they would have announced that at the actual press conference. That would have made sense. And now

this comes out, and I agree. I'm sure he didn't handpick, but this tells me that there was no honest attempt to really be involved in creating social change. It was about him creating a partnership with the NFL for his own benefit. David Chappelle was right when he said a long time ago, we need to stop looking at these celebrities

as the thing that's going to correct stuff. I believe that. I mean, this is a smarter celebrity. Jay-Z is a smarter celebrity, in my view, than most. But at the end of the day, he's a to correct stuff. I believe that. This is a smarter celebrity. Jay-Z is a smarter celebrity, in my view, than most. But at the end of the day, he's a really good rapper. He's a really good lyricist. He's a really good rhythm guy. And he's not a political

scientist. But he's the same Jay-Z who blamed a lot of the community violence and a lot of the disengaged youth on Black fathers not being at home. Oh, God. I'm sorry. I'm not giving Jay-Z Oh, God. I'm sorry. Thank you. I'm not giving Jay-Z a pass here. Yeah, I'm giving him not a pass.

Because that's ignorant. And it's also something that is a Republican talking point. He's making a deal with a bunch of businessmen in the NFL. They want him to sit there as the black person. To be their person of color that they're sitting next to at a press conference. That's his role in that moment, whether he recognizes it or not. So I'm not looking for Jay-Z to be the person in this moment that is the guy that figures this out.

They're not making a deal with Reverend Barber, right? If they were to do it with Reverend Barber, then I'd say, okay, then this is the place. I think he fully recognizes it. I think we're not giving Jay-Z enough credit. I think he's a brilliant man. He recognizes it, and his pockets are getting full. Absolutely.

He recognizes the business deal, but we're looking for more than that. And we should be. Well, the thing is, Jay-Z said it himself. He says, I'm not a businessman, I'm a business man. Right? That's what he said. And so that is his priority with this. It's not about doing anything to advance the cause.

And he was perfectly fine with throwing Colin under the bus. Well, where's the beef then, Eugene? Where's the beef? The thing is this. Reform. Organization reform. $50 million funded. Largely money pulled personally by Jay-Z and other folk.

They're currently bailing people out of jail. They're currently- That's not the NFL, Eugene. That existed prior. I'm not talking about that. I mean, it's very good that you brought that in, but that is completely irrelevant to this conversation. We're talking about the specific deal that he made with NFL in order to undercut the movement that Colin Kaepernick started, and in order to justify their white balling of Colin Kaepernick. Where is the social justice action specifically

in relation to his connection with the NFL? A very big part of that deal provides a funding mechanism for organizations to actually go out and be effective with what they're doing. Right, organizations like this that cut off people's hair and maybe organizations that blame black women for raising children. Are those the types of organizations they're going to continue to select? Absolutely not.

I mean, look, if we're taking a full holistic view of this, right? Yeah. You're looking at, if you're taking a full holistic view of this, look at somebody who just had an organization fund that's in tune to $50 million with Van Jones at the head of it. Oh, that makes're taking a full listening view of this, looking at somebody who just had an organization funded to the tune of $50 million with Van Jones at the head of it. That makes me feel a lot better. We're dragging somebody over

a mistake that we probably can't even actually attribute to them. You know, in regards to Colin Kaepernick, if Hove said there was a conversation with Colin, I'm probably on the side of Hove to say there probably was a conversation with Colin. But if we're keeping it 100 here, you know, Colin Kaepernick probably needs to come out and say something himself.

What? We've all been rocking for him for a couple years now. You know, look, he got his cash and did what he did. Eric Reid got his cash and did what he did. Excuse me. Is he not supposed to? And the ball is still moving forward. Nobody said that, look, you know, there's one singular way to address this issue.

I will say. Or there's one singular path. Or that Colin Kaepernick is the end-all, be-all on it. Let me just say this, Eugene. Good luck with getting your title deal. But I will also say, because you're doing a great job for it right now, I hope they really compensate you well. But let me just also say, is Colin Kaepernick

supposed to take a vow of poverty once he has been, once he has, let me finish, once you have a group of owners colluding not to hire him anymore? Are we supposed to say that he's not supposed to make money any other way once you have seen that his main employers have colluded to not hire him anymore? I don't think that's the argument you're making, is it? No, it's not the argument I'm making. But the argument that I am making is, look, when Colin Kaepernick took a settlement in that particular case, which we all supported him from day one, that kind of closed the page on that chapter and said, OK, what's the next steps forward here? Next step forward needs

to look like second step back. Reforms. More black DAs. More black states attorneys, which a lot of things are coming out of the reform organization. We're just going to title it reform. There are a lot of things that they're supporting. What I'm saying is this. Look,

there's an attempt to drag Jay-Z over a misstep or two and ignore the broader scope of things that he's done. I mean, look, when Freddie Gray happened, you know, he put up cash to get folk bailed out when judges were trying to hit people with a half-million-dollar bail for breaking cop car windows. When Ferguson happened, he funded a lot of the folk getting bailed out. So it's not, you know, it's, you know, one more time, I think this is something that's been largely blown up out of proportion in regards to the full scope of things. Okay, I think we're having somebody, you know,

legacy of work and then take one blip on the timeline and drag them and disregard the whole, everything you said, they're done. Is it just me or are we conflating issues here? You should get a check after that defense. Yeah, you should get a check after that. That's his PR flack. I mean, give me a break, man. Sally Hazelgrove, who's cutting the hairs,

already apologized. Jay-Z has said nothing. You know what? Eugene, you just said more than Jay-Z. Why is that? Why can't the great communicator with all those albums, with all that rapping, now all of a sudden can't say anything about what's going on with Kaepernick

and this thing with the haircutting? Like, why is he suddenly silent? I mean, even if he just does it to his publicist, say something. Right, right. But you can't say nothing, not in this world of communications we live in. Absolutely.

What do you think? Oh, absolutely. I felt that he should have said something immediately. We know that he didn't handpick these organizations, but there's something to be said about every single one in the city that was chosen being white-led, every single one having a very similar agenda. So I'm sorry. Again, as a native Chicagoan, I took offense to it. We have several organizations in the city that are working very hard to help young black men and black women that could use the help, that didn't get anything.

So I don't know how they went about choosing these, but there is a real gripe that people should have. Because if you're someone who has the mantle that Jay-Z does, you should be a little bit more intuitive. And the people who you decide to give money to, or who your organization decides to give money to, if you're the NFL, you should be more intuitive about where this ends up going.

What Jay-Z did was essentially helped to close a chapter on a lot of the abuses that we've seen in the NFL organization specifically as it came to them basically shutting the door on anything that had to do with people protesting police brutality which is a fundamental right you know none of that think about it whether he knew or vetted them or did not vet them does not matter to me now. Because now everybody knows there's a problem. Right. So you can comment anyway. Right.

It's like, where is he? Like, in this moment, like, where is he? Where are you, Jay-Z? You've got to manage a project, you know. Where are you, Jay-Z? Someplace. Not close. Somewhere.

And Lord, please. Please, Jay-Z. All I'm asking is just don't bring Beyonce down with you. OK, that's my only hope. That's my only hope. Because I want to be able to go to her concerts in the future. All right. And another hair-related story.

A former Edmond Santa Fe High School basketball player is charging his former coach with racism. Tyler Williams told his parents when he first met Coach Jim Boone the first thing the coach told him was he didn't like his hair and he wouldn't recruit other players with hair like his. Williams decided to record his conversation with the coach to prove his case. Here's an excerpt from that conversation. All right well appreciate you meeting with us today. Oh I'm glad you came in. Yeah. Awesome. Awesome.

Yeah because I wanted to talk to you about something. Yeah. From, like, the first meeting that we had, remember that? When you first got this job? Yeah. When we came here, you had talked about my hair like you're not liking it and, like, you not, like, want to recruit nobody with locks like mine. No, it's not that we don't recruit them, but we make it very clear that once they get in here, they're not going to have their hair that way.

I told you, though, because you were here before me, and I didn't think it was fair for me to tell you that you needed to cut your hair, and that I was going to let you have it. Yeah, but that's kind of like basically saying, like, you're not going to bring nobody in with hair like mine. No, probably not. That's kind of like, to me, that's a racist comment.

Because I'm just supporting my cultural, like, dreadlocks. Well, it's not meant to be that way. And if you had that issue at that time, you should have brought that up at that time. Yeah, I had that issue, but, you know, I let it slide, you know, because I was the first, like, maybe, you know, I had thoughts that you was racist at one point because you didn't like my hair and you're not bringing nobody in with your life. That just kind of... It's not about race. It's about hair.

It's not about race. Williams will be a senior suiting up for Southern Nazarene University in Bethany this season. But he was set to play his second season at the University of Arkansas Fort Smith as recently as August 16th. That was until Williams was dismissed from the team that same day by head coach Jim Boone. All right, so Life Lux Jazz is the experience of a lifetime delivering top-notch music

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and Ernest Quarles. For more information, visit the website lifeluxjazz.com. All righty. So, sounds like fun, doesn't it? All right. So Bitmari, the leading Pan-African blockchain company in partnership with Bithub Africa will host its second annual Black Blockchain Summit from September 9th to 10th in Washington, DC at Howard University.

The theme for this year's summit is reparations and revolutions. The conversations will be held around the role of blockchain technology in building economic independence and manifest wealth creation. Here to talk about that is Bitmari co-founder Sinclair Skinner. How you doing Sinclair? Great, thank you so much for having me. Oh great to have you here. So tell me about what's going on at Howard. All right, awesome. So on Monday, we start at 8 o'clock, it's Howard University. The address, I think, is 2201 Georgia Avenue. We have the AU chairperson coming.

We have members of Congress talking about issues related to our community. And we also have technologists coming in who have backgrounds in blockchain technology, Bitcoin. How do we use technology to make the changes? Instead of waiting for 2020 for elections to happen, how can we empower ourselves using technology to take control of our own lives? So that's the context of the event. And we have economists talking about it,

as well as technologistsologists on how we can use this technology called blockchain to allow us to hopefully change some of these issues. So can you give us like a quick sort of one-on-one on exactly what this is? What is blockchain, what is Bitcoin, and how can we use it as a community to help ourselves? All right, so it's a technology.

Blockchain literally means blocks of data that are connected together, okay? And these blocks of data, just like when we take pictures, pictures are like data. That's why we can send it if you don't like it. When there was a time you had to take a picture and get it developed at the corner store, wait and see if your eyes would close those out,

we no longer use that. We now have data that can be transferred, saved in blockchain is encrypted data that data can't be counterfeited it would make it wouldn't make a good exchange of value to use your pictures why because they can be copied mm-hmm so then you know you would know okay do you have it or but with this data is encrypted and if you possess it no one else can duplicate it so now if I want to convey exchange of value, I have this data that's encrypted that no one can counterfeit and I'd exchange it with you. So I'll say, I'll give you this amount of data if you give me this in return.

That's what Bitcoin is. It's really just people, it's just data that's being created, that's encrypted to allow us to do exchanges. But also in those blocks, you can save any other type of information. So when it relates to, like, one of our panels is 40 Acres and a Mule, talking about land and how do we control land. Well, in this same data, you can actually have land rights.

You could actually have a deed of property so that if somebody ever tried to undermine you, like the government, there's a place where you can store it safely that's not controlled by the government. So right now, what we see is these technologies come out, but we as a community aren't involved

early on. We become big users at the end, make these folks super rich, but we're not the ones orientating this information. Just as much as we think about, like, I went to Howard University in Tuskegee, but Howard, you couldn't get a taxi to come pick you up. You had to go walk down, you know,

towards U Street or what have you to get a cab. We thought in the engineering school that it was a political science problem. But when they came out with these rideshare applications, in many ways, it made a lot of that racism obsolete. Let me say it another way. We thought it was gonna be, you know, go to the Taxi Commission to stop them from not picking us up. But here comes a technical application using

GPS and other technology that now gives people more flexibility in their choices to get picked up for the transportation. Well, they didn't do that to take away the humiliation we were receiving by not being picked up. These were folks in technology that sought an opportunity. We're saying that if we start at the beginning of these technologies, even though blockchain is still super early, less than really 10 years old, if we're there, we can actually leverage these technologies to help our community. Electricity was a technology. A lot of people were used to using oil lamps and said that electricity was too scary and it never worked.

Well, electricity worked out. Same thing with people with horse and buggies. They said a car, a horse-less carriage would never work. It's crazy. You couldn't get gas anywhere. Well, now, you know, a little over 100 years later, iPhone is only 12 years old. So, so much of what we think is gonna be the way it is, it changes so fast.

So, if we really still think, in the case of Bitcoin, that people are going to pull out paper money or use credit cards with that cassette... Remember the cassette player with the little strip? The back of the credit card, that brown, is the same... That technology is, like, from the 40s. Wow. So to think that we're still going to use those means...

So when we start talking about our community and where we want to take it, we need to also have a context of how technology can be used to help us get there and you know one of the things we started off in with our company was allowing people to send money to Zimbabwe and and may Mugabe rest in peace you know and that's a big issue sending money in our community right in black news right now they charge us more for our money right well that's not because the technology is not there it's because they have a predatorial business

model right well we could change that of course with policy changes but we also can empower ourselves to use technologies that allow us to make those changes i love it lauren did you have any questions i see you taking copious notes yeah yeah money i tend to do that so you to do that. So obviously, we got Cash App, and we got all these PayPal. We have all these payment apps, these new payment apps. So why would blockchain be better? I'm talking in money transferring, why would a new technology or Bitcoin be better than what we see in the basic technology that

typically is around paper money? Well, I've heard you speak out here before. So first of all, you're brilliant. Thanks. Thanks, man. Thanks, man. Thanks, man. You're awesome. And even in this last Well, I've heard you speak out here before, so first of all, you're brilliant. Thanks. You're awesome, and even this last clip. Thank you. Humbly. All those systems have a third party,

and there's a concept of disintermediarization, where we take the intermediary out of the equation to allow peer-to-peer... Again, I'm an engineer. I'm not very good with this stuff. I got it. That middleman's taking a percentage. The middleman is not only taking a percentage, they're controlling the transaction. They actually can say, you know what?

We're closing your account. They can put hurdles that now control our lot, and it's our money. They're not adding any more value. The days of them with the horse and protecting your money with a gun, those days are over. This is all behind a cloud somewhere. So we literally

are paying folks to control our money and again, going back to reparations and revolutions, this is about self-determination. It's not about violence. This is not about us being victims. No, we're not victims. We're taking control. There are tools out there that will empower us, allow us to take control.

So instead of waiting for PayPal to clear, allow me to do this, if I have Bitcoin, just to use an example, I can do transactions anytime, 24 hours, anywhere in the world without asking for their permission to allow me to access my value. So again, though, the people who are in blockchain are mostly Asian and white men. So again you know

I'm on the panel with beautiful, wonderful sisters. Y'all are the ones that need to be making this. We don't want, if we want this thing to be right, it's gonna be more black women gotta be involved. Y'all bring life. Y'all don't just think we have a slogan that says, Satoshi is black. And I brought some t-shirts. I mean. I'll take one. So humbly, the person who actually created Bitcoin, they don't even know who it is.

So the name, the pseudonym they used was Satoshi Nakamori. And then so some people say, well, it must be somebody Japanese. And I said, well, wait a minute. Now, if you're trying to disguise yourself, like Dr. Seuss really wasn't a doctor okay his name really wasn't dr. Seuss so if you're trying to disguise your your identity and your Japanese you wouldn't pick a Japanese pseudonym hello okay it probably was a sister and she

was able to walk away create something that now people are benefiting all over the world and there's different variations not just Bitcoin but as a hosting theorem a lot of different things out there and we're also gonna be telling people how they can use it for wealth creation how you can use this WE ARE GOING TO BE TELLING PEOPLE HOW THEY CAN USE IT FOR WEALTH CREATION. HOW YOU CAN USE THIS TECHNOLOGY TO BENEFIT FINANCIALLY. AND ALSO, THERE ARE SCAMS. IN ANY OF THESE THINGS, THERE ARE SCAMS. WE WANT TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE ARE AWARE. THE BLACK BLOCKCHAIN SUMMIT.COM, GO TO THE WEBSITE, CHECK US OUT. YOU WANT TO VOLUNTEER, COME ON. WE ARE READY TO GO. IT IS ON MONDAYS AND TUESDAY.

HOWARD UNIVERSITY. WE WILL HAVE A LITTLE RECEPTION WHERE WE WILL HAVE A LITTLE RECEPTION. WE WILL HAVE A LITTLE RECEPTION. Just go to the website, check us out. You want to volunteer, come on. We're ready to go. It's on Mondays and Tuesdays at Howard University. We'll have a little reception where we are highlighting the Congressional Black Caucus staffers because it's Black Caucus weekend. We're coming up, and there's a lot of people who do the grunt work of policymaking, and they're celebrating their 40th anniversary. So we said we'll have a reception, invite them out. And we have this big economist named Derek Hamilton.

And he's going to be speaking. Derek Hamilton, his birthday is that Sunday. So we said we're going to get a cake. So you all want to come cut some cake? We're going to cut some cake for you, bro. And then we're going to make sure, you know, everyone else has some food for thought also. Oh, that sounds great.

And I and what really resonated with me was you mentioned how other technologies have control of your money. I'm an entrepreneur. I know many of my other friends who are entrepreneurs that do a lot of transactions through PayPal, for example. And if you have some sort of event or some sort of you actually do what you want to do, sell a lot of goods like that's unusual, an unusual amount they will hold on to your money merchant accounts will do that they'll hold on to your money for literally months potentially before you have access to it so are you saying that something like this could help to alleviate problems like that for entrepreneurs yeah absolutely so our company now is has this thing called I love black people calm and the whole I love black people is we're actually

creating like a global black Yelp or global green book. And we're now able to connect. It could be assisted in Kampala, Uganda. It could be assisted in Chicago, United States. Now they can connect through a platform. And the platform is based on not just black-owned business but black-friendly. So you could be in Denmark, Copenhagen, and you get sick. It's going to be hard to Google non-racist doctor.

But there might be a Mongolian woman that all the black folks go to, and they say, man, she treats us with dignity and respect, so now you can use her. How do you do those transactions? We can now, we have the technology that can link using your mobile phone, the internet, and now with blockchain technology,

we can connect ourselves. Black people represent about 1.5 billion people. So put it in context, Europeans are about 600 million to about 800 million. We're about the size of China, but we've been fragmented. We're all spread out. China, when you go to China, you realize them ain't the same people. Like, there's different tribes. They might all speak Mandarin or Cantonese, but them's different.

You go one part to the other. Well, black folks, again, we've been separated, but we literally are very much the same people, but we don't have access now. We have technology that can link you, that you don't have to have your money held, and you can actually work with folks you want to work with. And we say with this technology, you know, one of the biggest issues

has been racism for 500 years. We have technology now that we can change that. We don't have to wait for somebody to stop being racist. We can create a platform where we don't, you know, we're not going to eliminate racists, but we can actually eliminate your racist transactions by giving you a platform where you can, almost like a black Yelp,

verify that these folks are black-friendly and are black-owned and do your transaction and give you the support for your business as well as give black customers, which there are more black customers than black entrepreneurs and when we pay they're not giving us discount when they're racist we're paying full price to get all around the store or if you go someplace and they say this the hamburger is really good here well the hamburger might be great but if they racist they're not serving you on time right so there's little humiliations that we don't have to

you know we got to stop normalizing and get them here with your sister it's just like sexism we've normalized things too much right we have the we're the adults in the room now we don't have to go for that even if we agree on disagree on something we don't have to go along with it you go your way do your thing but i'm gonna go here where the people are happy to see me right right absolutely i love it so remind us once again where people can get more information You go your way, do your thing. But I'm going to go here where the people are happy to see me. Right, right. Absolutely. I love it. So remind us once again where people can get more information. Okay.

They can go to BlackBlockchainSummit.com. That's BlackBlockchainSummit.com. The event is on Monday. It starts at 8 o'clock in the morning. We still have availability. Come check us out. We also need volunteers. It's a good way to meet some people as well as learn a lot about what's going on and it's

gonna be on Monday the 9th to Tuesday from 8 to 6 on Monday with the reception come check us out and he cut some cake and then on Tuesday we have it from 8 to 2 o'clock so definitely appreciate the opportunity, and rest in peace, Robert Mugabe. I just had one more shout out. Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for joining us. I learned a lot. Yeah, that was great. Absolutely.

The music community is mourning the loss of one of its own, Grammy Award-winning songwriter, LaShawn Daniels. Daniels, who helped write countless hits for artists like Beyonce, Whitney Houston, Jennifer Lopez, and Michael Jackson, died Tuesday as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident. Daniels was best known for his collaborations

with the music producer Dark Child, with songwriting credits on R&B classics including Brandy and Monica's This Boy Is Mine, Lose My Breath by Destiny's Child, Telephone by Lady Gaga and Beyonce, If You Had My Love by Jennifer Lopez, and It's Not Right But It's Okay by Whitney Houston. He also appeared with his wife April

on Braxton Family Values and Tamar and Vince. He was just 41 years old. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Daniels family and all who loved him. Okay, so Tamron Hall is launching a new daytime talk show on Monday, and Roland had a chance to talk to her at the Estes Festival in July.

Here's that interview. I'm here with Tamron. You know what? Why you just got to introduce me like that? This is when you've known somebody your whole life, and they tell you, why can't you let me be great? Why can't you let... I say it about else. Your family never lets you be great.

Tell me who like Whataburger. We're going to boycott Whataburger if they change. I shouldn't say that. I'm a guy. Hey, Whataburger. First of all, okay, they got, look, the family, private equity company bought them. They ain't changing.

They still Texas born and bred. See, Roland and I are loyal Texans. And so when we got word that Whataburger was being bought by a Chicago company, and we both live in Chicago, that was a tough move. But we love Chicago. We love Texas. So hopefully they do right.

They should have us in a commercial. Yeah, they should. I think they should. Real Texans like real hamburgers. Exactly. Call us, Whataburger. Call us. We need to check.

We need the bags. Secure the bag. We believe in getting paid. Let's be real damn clear. Oh, no. Roland, let me tell you, there are many, many moments in my life where I love Roland. But you were... It was a couple of years ago, and you were on social media talking about how much men get paid on the speaking circuit, especially in black churches and black events.

And you were like, women should be paid. Black women pay them the same money that you would pay a black man for these speeches roland was the only man who spoke up and said something like because it's true and i've had some homegirls of mine tamika mallory and others and people get to me i'm like no y'all gonna pay this number or don't call them you know because it is obviously something we will point out when you look at white mainstream media and say that we're not compensated fairly, that we are not given the positions that we've earned and deserve on the screen and behind the scenes.

It's harder to call out your own family, but you have to do it. And you did that that day. And it was one of those powerful rolling moves that only you, that's why you're who you are. That's why you're so important to me and everybody else here. Look, I believe in getting paid. And you getting paid, you got a new talk show. It has been, I want to say, years in the making. But when things went sideways with NBC, you didn't trip.

You didn't go all buckwild. You went, okay, I got something. I'm going to take my time and just wait for it. It's true. I mean, behind the scenes, I'll just, because I said the show is about taking off your masks and being your real self. Roland and I have real conversations.

We are strategy people. Roland's like, okay, I'm going to get this going. I'm going to get that going. Because what we both decided, you and you, I've learned this from you, we're not going to wait around for somebody to anoint us. We're not going to wait around for somebody to say whether we can feed our families and have the success we deserve.

And so for me, it was that time. I've been off air for two years. I went into meetings and I said, if I'm going to come back to TV, this is how I want to come back. I want to come back on my terms at 48 years old. I can say that. I couldn't say that in my 20s. I couldn't say that in my 30s. But you know how it feels to get to that point in your career where you say, okay, they say they want me back on TV. They say they want you back as Roland Martin. We're going to bring it to them. And now we want our people to support. Don't just complain when we're gone. Support us when we're back. And that means the world. And they have pledged their support here at Essence Festival. You walk around the mayor of Essence Festival. I walk around as his of Essence Festival. I walk around as

his assistant. But nevertheless, it feels good to be around the community that says, okay, we were mad when you moved or changed, but we're happy that you are back and we're going to support what both of you are bringing to the table. But this also matters because look, 40 plus percent of daytime television, black folks. Absolutely. A lot of black women. A lot of black women, just like with the Democratic Party. Guess who makes or breaks both? Black women. And so when black women saw me taking off the show,

knowing that there were great ratings, knowing that I was putting in the work, they said, we won't watch. And I said, let me tell you, I don't want some young girl in Texas, Chicago, places that say if it can happen to Tamron Hall it can happen to me and give up because they saw me take a punch on the chin I wanted them to see me get up and rise just like Maya Angelou still I rise and that was so important to me and that's why when people say oh you didn't take the offer

they made but they wanted to sideline me. And I said, they've made me an offer that I can refuse. I'm not mad. I'm not bitter. I'm going to go and have meetings with Roland. I'm going to go meet with Joy Reed. I'm going to go meet with the people that support us and figure out the plan to come back. And so for me, it was very important, as it has been for you and the advice you've given me, is not get mad.

Don't get even. Just get good, get great, get better. And that's what we've done. And what we're dealing with now is a totally different landscape where it used to just be broadcast cable. That's it. Now when you talk about daytime, now you're talking about streaming services, now you're talking about digital. Now the gatekeepers are all open. They don't control access now. And then it's kind of like when you built an audience,

now you can say, no, I'm going to go do this. Listen, Roland and I had a meeting one day. He whipped out his laptop. Look at this. I got this. I got that. I'm like, yes. And it was inspiring because to your point,

the media landscape has changed before. If an anchor, certainly a black woman, left TV, you would never see her again. Be gone. She'd be in PR. Oh, yeah. Whatever happened to so-and-so? But now you can own your identity on social media.

You can own your brand through YouTube. And that's something that you've been great at doing. And I hope that I can reach where you are in that giving advice to people. Like, we are our own businesses. And that's important. We are basically self our own businesses. And that's important. We are basically self-employed. And that is important. I just saw Master P walk by.

He's a... That's someone who taught branding to the hip-hop community in New Orleans and around the country. So you've taught me a lot. I am super grateful. And I think it's important that what we've learned, we're gonna go to NABJ together and teach the next generation of journalists

that you don't have to sit in an office and beg for a contract. You don't have to sit there and have someone tell you a no and you feel like it's over. It's only over if you want it to be over. There's so many other ways to represent black culture, black community in the media, and do it in a powerful way.

And you're a living example of that. When does the show launch? September 9th, nationally syndicated. black community in the media and do it in a powerful way. And you're a living example of that. When does the show launch? September 9th, nationally syndicated. Go to tamronhallshow.com, put in your zip code, and it'll tell you what station is carrying my show. We're also international. We're in Canada.

So you and I can go to Canada and hang out with Drake. I have a huge Canadian fan base. What? Seriously. They have a thing called the Harry Jerome Awards. He was there, Jesse Owens. They had this annual awards deal, and I was the first non-Canadian speaker ever.

And I was like, are y'all serious? This is like the biggest event in Canada for Afro-Canadians. Here's the deal. Pitbull is Mr. Worldwide, not this is Mr. Worldwide. This is Mr. Worldwide. You ain't got.. Worldwide All right, so when y'all see me tweeting her show and posting clips don't be acting a fool Okay, I ain't getting paid to do it. I believe in supporting our people and backing them and that's what's critically important I love you. Well darling Amazing you know how we got a fashion game is OK until I get around this one. Look at this.

Somebody got to do it. That's the real Peacock, not NBC. You silly girl. A multi-billion dollar corporation recently suggested that its employees should spend their money on video games and baseball tickets instead of joining a union. Clearly they are not in touch with what's going on in the lives of most working families. For working people, including more than one million AFSCME members proudly serving their communities across the country, the union difference means so much more than games or entertainment. The union difference means we have a voice on the job and a seat at the table.

When we build power, negotiate together, and take collective action, unions improve public services and negotiate for livable wages, good benefits, fair treatment at work, and pay equity. The union difference means getting our bosses to say yes, even when they want to say no. It means having the power to get things done. The union difference is the difference between risk of injury and workplace safety. It's the difference between being understaffed and providing care and service we can be proud of. It could mean the difference between unfair treatment and due process. Being a union member means the difference between living in poverty and earning a living

wage. The difference between the fear of being bankrupted by a medical emergency and the security of good health insurance. The difference between anxiety in your golden years and retirement with dignity. The difference between unpredictable shift scheduling and meeting your kids at the bus stop, joining them at the kitchen table,

and being there for the most important moments. It all adds up to a lot more than what you can get from a video game. Unions mean power, dignity, respect, fairness. That's the union difference. That's the AFSCME difference. Good to see you, Ronald. Good to see you.

Absolutely, Roland. Good to see you. Absolutely, absolutely. It has now been, what, seven months? Seven months. Now that you switched churches, you left the denomination. You went from the Methodist. You switched states. You go to Atlanta as Baptist. It is the most glorified witness protection you have ever seen. You switch states. Yes. You go to Atlanta. It's Baptist.

It is the most glorified witness protection you have ever seen. I've gone underground, above ground at the same time, and it's been a heck of a ride. Any AME people still mad at you? A whole lot of them. But here's the thing, though. Here's what I find to be interesting. And I've always said this, because when people say say how did you go from the Catholic Church then you left to join a Baptist Church and then you went to this nondenominational and I

said first of all I said when I read Scripture I said disciples went from town the town the town that's right I said also, we are at different stations in our lives. Right. And so there are some churches that I went to at the right time. Right. But then when I grew out of that, I could not stay there for that level of teaching because I'd already gone here.

So it's like going from high school to get your undergrad to get your master's and your PhD. Absolutely. And I say, I think many of us, we are locked in to in to say oh I can't leave when no if you're listening God is like no I need you to go Wow Wow and that's where it is I was I was really wrestling when this opportunity came I'm a third generation AMA my father was presiding bishop at AMA Church my grandfather was a bishop in AMA. MY FATHER WAS PRESIDENT BISHOP AT AN AMA CHURCH. MY GRANDFATHER WAS A BISHOP IN AN AMA CHURCH. AND MY GREATEST

WEIGHT WAS WHAT WAS DAD GONNA SAY. SO I WENT TO MY FATHER AND SAID, MAN, THIS OPPORTUNITY IS HERE. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT IT? HE SAID, GOD DIDN'T CALL YOU TO A DENOMINATION. HE CALLED YOU TO A PEOPLE. SO IF THAT'S WHERE GOD IS CALLING YOU, I'M WITH

YOU. BUT I THINK PEO is calling you, I'm with you. But I think people have the same problem. Because what happens is, and I've had to counsel people on this. They literally said, Roland, how did you leave this church? I said, I grew. Right. I said, I don't believe that we are designed to be at one place for our entire lives. My Angela, I think she was

on Oprah when she said I'm I'm not a Christian because if I am a Christian that means I've done everything I'm supposed to do she said I'm trying to get to be turning while to that point Wow and I think in the learning process and I went through this again you you talk about the same thing. The Catholic church I was born and raised in, the meeting to found it was in my grandparents' living room. Wow. Wow. So when I left the Catholic church, my entire family was Catholic.

The meeting was in the living room. My grandmother and grandfather joined with other families and walked door to door in our community because then what happened was you had to actually have 50 families, not members, families agreed to open a Catholic church. I didn't know. So that was the hardest decision to leave what was my entire life for 25 years. Amazing. Amazing. But it's growth. Yeah. And I think just like a member, preachers have to have growth as well and get out of, no, if I am here to serve people, it doesn't matter where I'm beginning to feel like ministry was a sentence.

Because we have this thought in our mind, once you go to this church, you've got to stay there till they put you in a wicker chair and a cassar for your anniversary and can't move anymore. And what it is that you're saying is correct. Jesus gave the disciples the direction, go. It was never stay. And we've got to get to a place of transition. Now, when you also talk about making that shift, you also walked into a dire situation. Bishop Eddie L. Long went through trials and tribulations. Yes. This massive ministry on television, international, numbers just whittled down to a very small number.

And so this wasn't just you moving. You went from being the founder of a church to walking into a fiery pit, if you will. Yes. And then people challenging you on your own trials and tribulations. So you're walking in with a whole lot of stuff on your back, and then people saying, you got to save all of this. Yeah, it was the greatest challenge of my life. Jill Nelson wrote a book years ago called Volunteer Slavery.

So I wasn't tricked into it. I knew exactly what it was. But here's what's amazing. The church is the largest land-owning black church in America, 280 acres, sanctuary, almost 10,000 people. Bishop Long, at his height, was doing three services a weekend, two on Sunday, one on Saturday, and it went down to 1,500 people. One service, the other two canceled. But that core group was so strong, many people thought it was foreclosed,

they would lose the building. That 1,500 people never missed a mortgage payment. 1,500 people kept the lights on. So the remnant that remained was so committed to the vision, they said, we're here. We're too vested in it to let it slip away. And so I'm still in awe as how it is that they were able to say

that last year, 2,378 churches foreclosed with a pastor. And yet this church was able to maintain without one. It's just the grace of God. Well, which also says that the church is about the body, not the one individual leading. And I think that's also what a lot of people lose sight of. Yeah, they are spiritually mature at a place I couldn't imagine. of the things we were talking about before recording is the shift that I've had to make psychologically from a founder to a successor.

And what I discovered in Baltimore, 76% of my members, I was their first pastor. At this church, they had a different level of spiritual maturity, of understanding the Word of God, the gifts of the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit. So it was not introduction. They were like, come on with it. That's where you are. Let's roll.

And so I had to recalibrate what my thinking is. In these six months, everything I've asked them to do, it has been at my own peril that I underestimated the strength of them while fractured. I said one Sunday morning, we are going to raise $5,000 for Bennett College. That $5,000 grew into $22,000. We got behind that whole movement. It ended up mushrooming outside of our church, of course, to $9 million. Yep. I said, we're going to raise $50,000

to bail young men out of jail over Easter weekend. That $50,000 went to $110,000. I said, we're going to do $20,000 food package for Kenya, Fourth of July weekend. You got to put together $50,000. We pulled together $50,000. What they're saying is, you think small. There it is.

I look like a grasshopper in my own eyes. And so I've had to recalibrate what this new reality looks like. So let me go back to the point about spiritual maturity. Yes. I remember having a conversation with Pastor Ralph West.

And we were discussing a church I was looking at. And when I told him that this preacher was a great, strong preacher, but he didn't do his Bible study, West said, oh, that's the worst thing in the world. He said, the preacher that outsources his Bible study will not have a spiritually mature congregation. Wow. He said, because... Wow. He said, the spiritual maturity of the congregation

means that you have taught them giving, which is what you're just talking about. He said, so I don't have to stand there and beg and spend 15 minutes on offering. He said because they're spiritually mature. When I go to First Baptist Glen Arden, literally

their offering part is so like, alright, it's time to offer. Boom. There's not a lot of time spent on that because the teaching and the training has resulted in a

people who say, no, we know what you're supposed to do. Right. And as versus, you're up there killing yourself, trying to sweat, hoop, sing, dance, and hop to get them excited. Right. That also, I think that's also important because the congregation is telling you, dance and hop to get them excited. Right. That also, I think that's also important

because the congregation is telling you, your preaching now has to go to another level because we've been taught, we're operating at PhD level. Absolutely. It has stretched me at a capacity where like, oh no, you ain't singing no jingle. I need you to give us the full verse. Ain't no phrases.

Come on with it. You went to Duke for a reason. We need to know what it is. My wife, of course, Reverend Dr. Jackie Hill Martin, it is so funny because we'll be sitting there and she knows. I take copious notes. And we'll be in church. She'll look over and she's like, you ain't feeling this sermon, huh? Because it'll have the date.

It'll have the church. It'll have the preacher. It'll have the scripture, it'll have the title of the sermon. And if it's two lines below that, you ain't said nothing. Wow. No, literally. Wow. If I got two lines, this is me. Right.

Like, all right then. What time is this going to be over? Right, right, Dad. What time is this going to be over? Right, right, right. The other thing that was a shift for me, you being now to both churches that I've pastored, is that this is a older congregation. So my church in Baltimore was for 18 to 45-year-olds, millennials, Gen Xers, and I'm pastoring baby boomers.

I called my dad the other week. I said, this is the first time in my ministry I said to one of my members, yes, ma'am. It's the first time I've had to say yes, sir, to somebody I'm supposed to be over. And so just what that shift is and what that represents is it ain't, you ain't the back of Jet Magazine just preaching the titles of the top 20

songs. You gotta go into a whole nother level. Then you deal with Atlanta's The Bastion of HBCUs and they coming from Fisk and Tuskegee and TSU and Spelman. Like, alright now, come on, give us a little something beyond

two chains. Yeah, you're going to have to use all of that Duke, Morehouse, and all the extra reads. That's right. You can't just come with it. You sitting there trying to mention two chains. They're like, when are you going to get to Charles Spurgeon?

There it is. When are you going to get to Dietrich Bonhoeffer? There it is. Say it for the people in the back yeah so it's really been amazing because since i've been there as a whole flush of young people and young adults who haven't been there my new members director said pastor you have to do a reorientation because we don't know how to process these people. We have processed people with church experience. There you go. We don't know how to process those who smell like weed.

Which to me is the problem because how do you think you're going to grow? And that's who you're supposed to be reaching, the unchurched. Yes. If it's going to be a church and not a country club, is you got to look for people who don't look like you. And that's what we're really doing. Because Atlanta has moved in such a way that the crux of the church

no longer lived in Lithonia. They were coming in from Vinans and Sandy Springs and Buckhead but now we're really evangelizing that community and it's making a world of difference now let's talk about that because we talked about evangelizing I have challenged and I love I do this too because all these preachers look at me they're like hold up you ain't no preacher I'm like yes I said no this is a runaway preacher. No, no. I'm telling you all, meet Deacon Roland Martin. No, no, no.

This is what I tell them. Because I've had more people come up to me. They're like, oh, I had this brother's like, you got the mark. You got the mark. You need to be preaching. I said, no, no, no. I said, let me explain to you what God told me. I said, God told me I got enough preachers.

My grandfather was not a preacher. My grandfather, first of all, had all the spiritual gifts. He had healing, he had the prophetic, all of that. So, I experienced that. He passed away, I think, when I was 15, so I experienced all of that. Knew the word Catholic, knew the word backwards and forwards. This is what I told them. I said, God specifically told me, he said, no, no, I got enough preachers. He said, rolling in five minutes of radio, you talk

to more people than most preachers will preach to in their lifetime. Period. He said, so I need you where you are. You and the 1%. So when I'm on television, when I'm on radio, when I'm on social media, and I'm talking about issues of faith and I'm speaking to those,

I'm bringing all of that. I am reaching folks that a pastor would be jealous of and get, and trying to get them to understand because, and I didn't realize that somebody reminded me somebody said rolling you're the one who turned uh jamal on the periscope it was something like that somebody told me yeah just so y'all understand how i roll with technology yeah so he gets to atlanta that's right let y'all know he gets to atlanta and i'm sitting here i'm online and i'm i'm like i'm looking at the New Birth Periscope feed. No, not even the Periscope feed.

I'm looking at their Facebook page. Right. And I hop over to the YouTube channel. Nothing's on there. Nothing's on their Periscope feed. Nothing's on his feed. I said, yo, you know you got more people who follow you on Periscope, Facebook, and YouTube than the church does.

I said, you need to go get this program. You did. Which will send y'all streams to all six platforms. So now it's not just New Birth. It's also going to yours as well. Now, y'all, he in the pulpit. Yes. Because I'm watching.

I said, these numbers are too low. He did. So for New Birth, we owe this man. He has turned around our media department. And before he is wise enough to ask for, we owe him a check. But I'm just going to say thank you. They had some graphics. I was like, these are some tired graphics.

You need to go to this company. Because, again, for me, I understand technology. Yeah, you do. And technology is so critical and valuable, and a lot of ministers, because they are not using technology. The reality is if you are not technologically savvy, your church is going to be extinct in the next five years. It's the reality. When I was there that Sunday, when I visited, I was in town June 23rd or so.

You like, look, y'all watching? Cash app? You like, I was in town June 23rd or so. You're like, look, y'all watching? Cash app? You're like, I'm sorry. These are what people are using out there. A third of our giving is now online giving. A third of it. So I told him, listen, you know, if there's a half an inch of snow, Atlanta shut down.

Right. I said, don't worry about it. If y'all will drop at my house a Roland martin package if i i can turn all of this on it don't matter what it is we can just keep the ball rolling and that's the that's the thing man because see i'm the reason this this this is so personal to me because what the black church is dealing with for me is what black media is dealing with wow black media is literally doing it black media is dying like the black churches because they refuse to embrace technology the chicago defender this uh this week printed their last printed edition people have been calling me and get my bbc called me to get my comment on it and they were like it's so sad i said no it should

happen five years ago they're like wow what they I said, I'm sorry, y'all. I said, I took over the Chicago Defender in 2004. Had not made a profit in 20 years. I said, I launched the first black news source audio podcast in 2005. Wow. First black video podcast in 2006. Wow. The owners were thinking like a lot of board trustees of churches.

They said, we just want to remain a small community paper. I said, I got to go. Because I understood this historic paper could actually be a national and international brand and to build, I said, no, I can't do small like y'all. I left. And that was the same thing. And so they literally are doing things today that I had implemented 15 years ago. So imagine where they would be in 2019

had they listened in 2004, 5, and 6. To me, I just think the black church is the same way. That's where the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper is going in the same way they have a million followers now on facebook but nowhere near that in circulation but they're expending all of their energy trying to handle the circulation part when the whole trend is shifted in another direction and i think when we talk about i'm about the spiritual maturity when we talk about also how do you outreach i like i've ticked some passes off when I said, when was the last time y'all created a one-mile radius around your church

and then had your members tell your members, we're going door to door? It looked at me like I was crazy. I said, I'm sorry. Last I checked, that's also biblical. I said, it's called a census. I said, because we were talking about education. And I was talking about freedom schools. And I was saying that you have retired teachers in your congregation.

I said, so imagine if you said, we're going to go to the mile radius around our churches. And then we're going to knock on the door and say, is there a child here 18 or younger? What's the grade level? I said, and then we're offering free tutoring sessions. I said, first of all, y'all could change reading scores and math scores overnight literally i said second is you're gonna encounter people who likely have not even seen you and your members i said so the offshoot could be mama or daddy because all of a sudden decided well i'm gonna drop by that church on sunday because they care enough about my child and education right off of free tutoring right they looked at me like I was out of my mind I said I'm sorry I said what did y'all miss the part let me echo your point for

the cynics that don't understand it within my first month that was the very first project we did we collected canned food items in our church and went door to door and what's critical I'm saying this to the pastors because Roland's been given this challenge. I didn't send the members. I went with them. I went with them and knocked on the door. I said, hey, this is our new pastor. Like, you the pastor? A new birth? Knocking on the door? Look, bro, I got 10,000 seats I got to fill. I got one with your name on it. And people began coming to the church simply because they couldn't believe that I would come to their door. Right.

That you got to be high tech and high touch. And if the ministry is not doing both of that, we're going to miss out. Right. Look, it's like we might be at Essence or somewhere and folks going, you walk around without security? I'm like yeah because and that's why and so even though I'm sitting up front I purposely always go to the back and walk around you do it like why are you doing it I said because I'm not afraid of the people because that's they also watch that's right and I'm a co-sign it he He's not saying it's for public consumption. Two times at Essence I've been around this mayor.

It's almost like he's running for president and running to be mayor of Essence Festival. I've seen him do it at the Image Awards. Anything that's black, Roland Martin is a dependable voice. But you've got to touch people. Yeah, and you've got an hour where you've got preachers who are not connected to the people because you've got all these armor not connected to the people because you

got all these armor-bearers and security did you don't even know your own dog I can't this is a true story okay I'm at a church in Arlington Texas now mind you I'm coming from the church without walls right my wife is the former edu minister of education she was like member 700 right and was left when they had 20 000 members and she trained them all got it we go to this church they taught me one of the fastest growing churches in america all this sort of stuff and i'm sitting and i'm kind of like, all right, you know, nice-sized room. I ain't saying sanctuary. I got it. Nice-sized room.

And so we then say, hey, all right, we want to meet with the pastor. They said, well, we're going to schedule a meeting with the elders. I said, I'm sorry. I can call my pastor at home or on a cell phone. I said, no disrespect. I'm not meeting with the elders. I'm joining because I want to meet with him and her. So one time we were leaving, and they were in a room,

so I stepped into the room, and literally, if you're her, she had an armor bearer who was, like, doing his hair. No way. And I'm talking, I'm like, why don't she move? Like, why is she? And I'm sitting there'm like why don't she move like why is she and i'm sitting here like finally i'm kind of like and my wife was watching it like and lost their mind uh and literally she is standing in between us i'm like does she think i'm gonna attack this woman suffice to say we ain't joined that church clearly and of course it was all God, too, because see, that pastor then went to prison because he was a man.

But by discernment also picked, it was all this, and this is what I said. I said, they were trying to be mega. They were trying to create this facade. As opposed to just focus on the world and the members. And so they created all this distance. And I just sat there and said, I will not, like for instance, I cannot join a church if there's no opportunity to even shake the pastor's hand. Wow.

Because, now granted, you've got multiple services. I get folks busy. But to me, just to me, if you go back into your cubbyhole and you never, ever even speak to your people, I use the example all the time. The woman with the blood problem would have never been able to get healed if she couldn't touch Jesus or him. Right.

If he was untouchable. Right. And that sets a performance culture, heel if she couldn't touch Jesus or him. Right. If he was untouchable. Right. And that sets a performance culture, that you coming out on the stage to do your thing and then you going back in the green room. No. Did you not do a ministry? Like singers and comedians, everybody else. Absolutely.

Yeah. And that's one of the things that I do every Sunday. I'm tired and drained. But my logic was I had three services in Baltimore. I only have one at New Perth. Right. So I can't shake these. I don't have no evening service.

So it's going to take me an hour to do it. I'm going to sit out there. And you create the time. Yes. And also that's relationship. That's right. That's what it is. Yeah.

Last thing. Last question. How do you deal with people who want to continue? This is going to help somebody who's dealing. How do you deal with people who want to continue to imprison you from your past mistakes and totally ignore who you are today? Amazing revelation God gave me several years ago because I was wrestling with it. I'll tell you this. I'm in the

process. You know the interview that we did for that amazing great special. Yes. People still I get the email. They still see it online. Oh yeah. And I see all the comments. Oh yeah. Is eye rolling going to new birth moving from Baltimore to Atlanta much bigger media market as you very well know. is I roll in going to New Birth,

moving from Baltimore to Atlanta, much bigger media market, as you very well know. I was doing everything to get the stuff from my past scrubbed off the Internet. I said, man, I survived the Baltimore Sun. I can't deal with this in no Atlanta Journal Constitution. I tried two different firms, both firms. As soon as I initiated contract, the firms collapsed. I'm like, Lord, really?

I was like, Lord, you got to do something. And the Lord said to me, man, I elevated Joseph to be secretary of agriculture. And he never got his name exonerated from Potiphar's wife. Nowhere did he ever get his name cleared, but still got elevated. And God says, I need to see, will you trust me to bless you with a bad name? And that's really been the thing that has sustained me, is that the grace of God doesn't erase your mistakes. It blesses you in spite of your mistakes.

And so I've been able to stand and navigate, not as if it didn't happen, but I am where it is that I am, quite frankly, because of what happened. And transparently, had I not gone through the moral failures and the ethical crisis, I wouldn't have been prepared for where I am. So because of what I went through,

Morehouse didn't get me ready for this. Dude didn't get me ready for this. But going through my own cycles of life helped me to prepare for where it is that I am now. All right. Thank you, sir. Love you. You look good, sir.

Even though you're a cat. Even though. Thank you, y'all. Absolutely. So that concludes this edition of Roland Martin Unfiltered. I hope you enjoyed the show. Listen, if you like what you see here, you've got to go to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com and join the Bring the Funk fan club.

We can keep doing this for as long as you support, and we have to support our own, right? So tune in again on Monday when Roland will be back with a very interesting conversation about how Black women face the most online abuse than any other group. That should be a very interesting discussion, right? Until then, I'll see you. Dr. Avis here. See you over the weekend. Bye. Holla. Thank you. I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun?

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