#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 9yr old describes TX shooting; 1-on-2 w/Val Demings, Primaries Recap, Twins walking for Foster Kids
Episode Date: May 27, 20225.26.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: 9yr old describes TX shooting; 1-on-2 w/Val Demings, Primaries Recap, Twins walking for Foster Kids A 9-year-old fourth-grader recounts the moments when a gunman bar...ricaded himself in a classroom killing 22 people. You'll hear this child describe how he heard the shell casings fall on the floor and how he knew it was safe to escape. The husband of one of the teachers dies from a heart attack. And dumb ass Ted Cruz is kind of blaming the school for Tuesday's massacre. Two more Buffalo shooting victims have been laid to rest. Republican senators failed to step up and advance a bill to help fight domestic terrorism. I'll have a recap of Tuesday's primary elections, and we'll talk to the first black major-party nominee for Arkansas governor. Plus, my one-on-one with Representative Val Demings. We talked about these mass shootings and her campaign to unseat Senator Marco Rubio. Illinois has passed a bill requiring the police and coroners to pull in the FBI if they have a body they can't identify within 72 hours. We'll chat with the Illinois lawmaker inspired by Jelani Day's case to create this legislation. May is National Foster Care Awareness Month. I'll talk to twin brothers born into foster care who are walking over 100 miles to raise awareness for foster children. Former Raiders Head Coach Jon Gruden can move ahead with his lawsuit against the NFL. #RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered Venmo ☛https://venmo.com/rmunfiltered Zelle ☛ roland@rolandsmartin.com Annual or monthly recurring #BringTheFunk Fan Club membership via paypal ☛ https://rolandsmartin.com/rmu-paypal/ Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com #RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
This is an iHeart Podcast. He makes sure that our stories are told. I thank you for being the voice of Black America, Rollin.
Be Black. I love y'all.
All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going.
The video looks phenomenal.
See, there's a difference between Black Star Network
and Black-owned media and something like CNN.
You can't be Black-owned media and be scary.
It's time to be smart.
Bring your eyeballs home.
You dig? Today is Thursday, May 26, 2022.
Here's what's coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered,
streaming live on the Black Star Network.
A nine-year-old fourth grader recounts the moments
when a gunman barricaded himself in a classroom,
killing 22 people.
You'll hear this child describe how he heard
the shell casing fall on the floor
and how he knew it was safe to escape.
Also, the husband of one of the teachers
who died in the massacre,
he himself has now died of a heart attack.
And yet that idiot Senator Ted Cruz
is kind of blaming the school for Tuesday's massacre.
And wait till we show you how a Sky News crew
just lit his behind up over the shootings.
Man, why are cops all of a sudden now changing their story?
Yeah, we were initially told that a school resource officer actually shot at the suspect.
Now we're told there was never a school resource officer on the scene.
Huh.
Why are the cops playing games with the truth?
Two more Buffalo shooting victims have been laid to rest.
We'll tell you exactly who they are.
Plus, Republican senators failed to step up
and advance a bill to help fight domestic terrorism,
a bill that was approved by the House
in the wake of the Buffalo shooting.
Also, a recap of Tuesday's primary elections.
We'll talk to the first black major party nominee
for Arkansas governor.
Plus, my one-on-one with Congresswoman Val Demings
who is running for the U.S. Senate in Florida.
Illinois has passed a bill requiring the police
and coroners to, of course, also pull in the FBI,
bring in the FBI if they have a body
they cannot identify within 72 hours.
We'll chat with the Illinois lawmaker inspired by Jalonde's case to create this particular bill.
May is National Foster Care Awareness Month.
I'll talk to two twin brothers who, born into foster care,
who are walking more than 100 miles to raise awareness for foster children.
Plus, former Raiders head coach John Gruden
moving forward with his lawsuit against the NFL.
Hmm.
Remember the one who got fired because of his crazy-ass comments
caught in the email?
Same John Gruden.
Folks, it's time to breathe the funk.
I'm Roland Martin, unfiltered, on the Black Star Network.
Let's go.
He's got it. Whatever the piss, he's time to breathe the funk. I'm Roland Martin, unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Let's go. He's got it.
Whatever the piss, he's on it.
Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine.
And when it breaks, he's right on time.
And it's Roland.
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 Rolling Martin
Rolling with rolling now
He's funky, he's fresh, he's real
The best you know, he's fresh, he's real the best You know he's rolling, Martin
Martin ¶¶ Folks, it is just continuing bad news out of Uvalde, Texas,
where people are just dealing with the tragedy of 19 children being gunned down in a classroom.
Folks, this shocking eyewitness account comes from a 9-year-old student
that was provided by Texas TV station KENS Channel 5
with details of when the domestic terrorist entered his classroom
and killed 19 classmates and two teachers.
Our next person saw and then we have a door in the middle and he opened it and then he came in and
he crouched a little bit and he said it's time to die. When he shot it was very loud and it hurt
my ear. When I saw the bullets on the floor when When I heard the shooting through the door, I told my friend to hide under something
so he won't find us.
I was hiding hard, and I was telling my friend
to not talk because he's going to hear us.
The cops said, help if you need help.
And then one of the persons in my class said, help.
The guy overheard, and he came in and shot her.
And then the cops barged in into that classroom and the guy shot the cops
and the cops just started shooting.
Opened the curtain and then I just put my hand out and then I got out with my friends
because I knew it was the police when I saw the armor and the shield. There's another young student, nine-year-old girl, who said that she smeared blood on her
body so the shooter would think that she was already dead.
Controversy also has erupted because a parental video now being released shows parents battling police outside of Robb Elementary School
as they pleaded with cops to go into the school, but they stood idly by waiting for a tactical He's a pirate! He's a pirate! He's a pirate!
He's a pirate!
He's a pirate!
He's a pirate!
He's a pirate!
He's a pirate!
He's a pirate!
He's a pirate!
He's a pirate!
He's a pirate!
He's a pirate!
He's a pirate!
He's a pirate!
He's a pirate!
He's a pirate!
He's a pirate!
He's a pirate!
He's a pirate!
He's a pirate!
He's a pirate!
He's a pirate! He's a pirate! He's a pirate! He's a pirate! really Now, what has not been established is when that video was shot, was it taken before cops
stormed in or after?
But it has been spreading like wildfire.
The Associated Press reported on these parents, stating that some of the parents were trying
to actually get into the school to save their children.
One person was tased.
One parent was literally tased by cops.
Another was handcuffed, preventing them from going inside.
Now, early on, we saw Texas officials praising law enforcement for their quick action.
We were told that a school resource officer fired upon this domestic terrorist.
Now we're being told that's not the case.
There was no cop present.
People are demanding answers as to why police waited an hour to go into the school.
We were told the man was barricaded on the inside.
Now we're told there was no barricade.
They literally waited for someone to bring the key to unlock the door.
More tragedy.
Joe Garcia, the husband of Irma Garcia, one of the teachers, killed, suffered a fatal heart attack.
Joe and Irma were high school sweethearts and married for 24 years. They leave behind four children, two boys and two girls, ranging in age from 12 to 23.
Let's talk about this with our panel right now, folks.
So much to unpack happening there in Uvalde, Texas.
Joining us is, of course, Dr. Larry Walker,
assistant professor for the University of Central Florida,
Dr. Greg Carr, Department of Afro-American Studies
at Howard University, and Terraine Walker,
founder of Context Media.
Recy Colbert, who normally joins us on Thursday.
She is on vacation living it up.
So if y'all see her on social media, you'll see exactly where she is.
Let's start here.
Greg, I want to start with you.
And that is, you know, typically in these situations, news media always runs with the account of law enforcement.
Now we understand that all the praise
that was given to law enforcement initially,
now is not true.
They literally are speaking on this issue
and admitting what went on here.
Others are claiming that this could be a cover-up,
the massive failure of law enforcement.
We now know that this 18-year-old shot his grandmother, told someone else he was going to
the school. The school, my understanding, the school was never notified there was a threat
against them. And so as more details emerge, there are a lot of questions for the city of Uvalde, for the police department, and for all those law enforcement officers who were on the scene, who waited outside for an hour to go inside of that school.
And in fact, another young boy reported that law enforcement were on the outside, and they asked for the students to call for help.
One of them did, And then he was shot.
Yes. Yes, Roland, it's not going to cost the patty rollers anything.
They don't have any concern for life other than their own. They demonstrated that. And as you
said, it hasn't been established where in the sequence of events, the video that you just shared with us, with the parents being held at bay by those fine law enforcement punks
outside the school as their children were being shied in the school.
We don't know when, whether it falls in the sequence, but one thing is absolutely clear.
They have proven time and time again that they will not change their behavior until their backs
are broken.
And that's going to have to happen politically.
Watching yesterday, as you broadcast from Black Lives Matter Square here in D.C., and
watching the video that you shared at that time and the day before, we're getting a very
clear consensus here.
When Beto O'Rourke challenged the shovel-mouthed bastard who was the governor of the state
of Texas and his punk attorney general and lieutenant governor.
It's very clear that that same law enforcement mentality was present at that press conference,
hands on their belt buckles projecting their shrunken manhood, 10-gallon cowboy hats on.
Meanwhile, people are dying.
And of course, all of our hearts go to the Garcia family.
That brother and one of the family members, as I read the reports today, is attested to have said
that the man basically died of a broken heart. He died of sorrow. His wife, who had been a teacher
for almost a quarter century, lost her life. And in her arms was a child that she was protecting.
And that's a true hero, not those punk cops standing outside pushing people back.
And so the only other thing I would say is that during this primary season, the White Nationalist Party, their candidates have run over 100 ads across the country with guns
at the core of those advertisements, the shriveled Klan adjacent governor of Alabama,
Kay Ivey, shooting a baby 38, the punk governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, who campaigned with a
rifle across his lap when he stole the election from Stacey Abrams four years ago, and so forth
and so on. They're not going to change, Roland. You've been reporting this over and over again.
This isn't about what they did or didn't do
or being caught on tape or reports.
This is about a mentality,
a mentality that says we are gunfighters, damn it,
and the lives that we care about will be ours and ours alone.
And they're not going to stop until we break their backs politically.
It's just that simple.
Larry, just looking at just how crazy this thing is changing, again, all of a sudden we're hearing a totally different story about the role of law enforcement and what they were doing.
And you just sit here and just sort of just shake your head because now they're trying to figure out, okay, what's now going to be the story?
All that praise for law enforcement now has to get pulled back when
we begin to find out what really, really happened here. So, Roland, you have folks rewriting the
script multiple times within a 36-hour period. And so we need to really get to the bottom of this.
And I think I saw recently that we're know, we're seeing some, you know, policymakers ask for an investigation, which we need by the FBI to get to the bottom of this, because we don't know what the real story is.
Like I said, the story keeps evolving.
You know, we talked about the SRR, school resource officer, allegedly.
Then that changed.
And then you talked about waiting an hour.
I can't imagine, I mean, my thoughts and prayers go out to the family members
who've been impacted by this mass murder, another one here in the United States.
But as a parent, I cannot possibly imagine standing outside of that school and having,
you know, law enforcement sit there after we've complained for years about all this,
you know, all the guns that they're giving, all, you know, tanks, et cetera.
But no one went in to find, to make sure we saved the lives of these young children.
And it's a tragedy.
But we really need, as a country, to really do some more self-reflection in terms of the fact that there's a gun for every man, woman, and child in our society.
And since this country's inception, we've had a problem with guns and violence in our society. And Brother Carr outlined the terms of the issues
relating to law enforcement,
because we can't allow this to happen.
This is not the first time
we've seen children killed like this in a school.
And if we don't have policymakers,
particularly at the federal level,
particularly in the Senate,
have the courage to take on the gun lobby
and do something about this,
then every few weeks, every few days
we're on the show and we'll be having the same conversation. And I'm hoping that this tragic
death is a tipping point for Americans to realize that we need some serious, comprehensive
gun laws changed to make sure that folks don't have access to semi-automatic guns, et cetera,
things that they don't need to protect themselves. This is ongoing. And I think, you know, we're
going to talk a little bit later on about Senator Cruz being confronted by that reporter. But it is
the question. You can't say, well, you know, I don't know, quoting Senator Cruz here, you know,
we would prevent bad guys with guns getting guns. Well, you know, a lot of these mass shootings,
people are getting guns legally.
So what is the plan to address this issue to prevent that we don't have any more strategies like this in America?
Last year, Torin, the Texas legislature lowered the age for folks to buy guns, 21 to 18.
Now, all of a sudden, some people are looking at raising it back to 21.
Now, here's what's crazy.
This is a headline in the Texas Tribune.
Why 18-year-olds buy AR-15s in Texas,
but not handguns.
Why they can buy AR-15s.
Now, how crazy is that?
You know, first, I want to say my condolences to the families and parents of those children
who were massacred in Uvalde. The second thing I want to say is what we have to understand is
you're not really pushing back against people. What you're pushing
back against is a mentality and a self-image. This happened in Texas. The idea of masculinity
and the idea of manhood in Texas is wrapped around the idea of the good guy with the gun,
the cowboy, you know, the one man who's going to ride into town and make everything
all right and clean up all the bad guys and ride out into the sunset.
That's an American mentality, but it's an extremely exclusive Texas mentality.
And what you saw with the way those parents were treated outside of that school was the
mentality of I'm the man with the badge, I'm the man with the gun, and it's up to me to
control everything.
Now, I will say this.
Because we don't know exactly what the time timeframe was of those parents, you know, being hysterical
when the cops pulled in, we don't know if they were actually trying to get into the
school.
But I will say, if you are a human being and you're dealing with parents who are faced
with the possibility that they might be losing their child, there's a level of tact and there's
a level of compassion that you have to have while containing the situation so they don't
endanger themselves.
What we saw was people who were afraid of losing control, afraid of their authority being challenged, and they reacted in the worst way possible.
Now, as far as the idea of children who are, well, young adults who are 18 being able to get an assault rifle,
again, that goes back to the mentality in Texas where if you have a weapon, then you're
automatically seen as the defender.
You automatically see yourself as the defender.
And that's a mentality that's going to be very, very hard to unpack because it goes
back 200 years, maybe 300 in that society.
You know, again, you know, the culture in America is John Wayne.
The culture in America is the Alamo.
It's all these images that we are imprinted with.
And if you're dealing with young men who are, who feel powerless in any other way, and they feel like they can get power through a gun or they can be heard through a gun,
that's a mentality that you're going to have to change. You can enact laws to push back against
that. But until you deal with the root cause of that and you deal with the mentality that
pushes that forward, nothing's really going to change in this society. And to the other
brother's point, unfortunately, I don't think that this is going to be much of a tipping point, because I don't think a lot of legislatures have enough moral courage
to make it a tipping point.
We live in a white-dominated society, and if Sandy Hook didn't, wasn't a tipping point,
if the school, Parkland wasn't a tipping point, those were, you know, affluent, young white
kids.
If people were willing to let gun law stand the way they are when their own children are being slaughtered,
this with black children and with
Hispanic children is not going to change much, unfortunately.
That may sound pessimistic, but that's just the way I feel about it.
And when you look at these politicians
and how they
obfuscate, how they actually just
run from any sort
of accountability,
the perfect example, Cancun
Ted Cruz. He was interviewed by a reporter
for Sky News. And if you want to see somebody who's used to being yellow and running,
watch this pathetic excuse for a human being. There are 19 sets of parents
who are never going to get to kiss their child goodnight again.
Is this the moment to reform gun laws?
You know, it's easy to go to politics.
But it's important.
It's at the heart of the issue.
I get that that's where the media likes to go.
It's not.
It's where many of the people we've talked to here like to go.
The proposals from Democrats in the media inevitably when some violent
psychopath murders people. A violent psychopath who's able to get a weapon so easily,
18 year old with two AR-15s. If you want to stop violent crime, the proposals the Democrats have,
none of them would have stopped this. But why does this only happen in your country? I really think that's what many people around
the world just, they cannot fathom. Why only in America? Why is this American exceptionalism
so awful? You know, I'm sorry you think American exceptionalism is awful.
I think this aspect, I think this aspect of it. You get your political agenda. God love you.
Senator, it's not. I just want to understand why you do not think that guns are the problem.
Why is this just an American problem?
It is just an American problem, sir.
Mr. Cruz, why is America the only country that faces this kind of mass shooting?
You can't answer that. You can't answer that, can you, sir? You can't answer that. Why is
this country—
Why is it that people come from all over the world to America because it's the freest,
most prosperous, safest country on earth and maybe the freest maybe the most
oh no larry you can't dare question american exceptionalism
oh and then ted cruz just going to be just so upset.
So, Roland, you and I have been in politics for a long time.
He's just waiting for a particular word or phrase to say he can't talk to you anymore
because the reporter was asking him legitimate questions.
Why is it we have these mass shootings consistently in the United States and they don't happen anymore?
And so, obviously, when he said American exceptionalism, you know, you know, some folks in this country get when they pose,
when you frame it that way.
But the point is, it's accurate.
Mass shootings occur consistently in the United States.
And once again, we talk about the connection between,
the other colleague talked about the issue of culture, right?
In the United States, we talk about guns and this overall mentality.
But Senator Cruz has to answer the question because he's talking about Democrats,
but we know statistically more than half of Americans support some kind of ban on assault
rifles. He didn't mention that. So what's the plan to ensure that this doesn't happen again,
that we don't have to talk about this, parents don't have to experience this,
communities aren't traumatized by these mass killings.
What is the policy plan at the federal level to do something about it?
You just can't ignore it.
Well, they are continuously ignoring it.
But we have to do something about this.
And most of them, like I said, Americans support some kind of assault rifle ban.
But in the Senate, Republicans don't support it.
The gun lobby has a lot of power. You know that NRA, et cetera, for years. And no one takes more
money from getting the gun lobby than Senator Cruz does. So I think that pretty much answers
the question in terms of who's putting money in his pocket, and then why does he respond the way
he did, and why does he, you know, support
common sense gun laws?
You know, to run in love with how
they go, whoa, these things,
it would not have prevented it.
They literally
pass bills
every day and fund things
that don't actually
prevent something from happening
every single day.
So there's a notion that, oh, if your proposal cannot prevent it,
well, first of all, we know for a fact, Ted,
that if this person wasn't able to buy AR-15s,
they wouldn't have used AR-15s.
If they couldn't buy a weapon until they were 21,
he was 18.
He would have to wait.
But see, they don't like those things.
The idea that you can't do preventative measures
that could lessen the possibility of one of
these things. Oh, no, no. It has to completely prevent it from happening.
You know, sometimes I wish that America had the same thing they have in England,
where they have prime minister's questions time, and you probably see it on C-SPAN,
where, like, when you have to stand up in Congress and offer your position and you get yelled at by
the people in the opposition. We don't have that in this country, and I wish we did. You know, it's very sad to
see somebody who is a sitting congressperson say that they don't want to bring politics into
something when somebody, all these children are dead. It really shows a lack of respect for the
families. It shows a lack of respect for the bereaved. And it shows real moral cowardice. And unfortunately, moral cowardice is what drives people like Senator Cruz.
It drives people who don't have enough courage to put forth sensible gun sense and
rather insensible gun laws. Unfortunately, like I said before, you know, there's a mentality in
this country where people equate the idea of gun ownership with independence. And to a point,
that's true. But when you don't specify
the danger in guns and you don't specify the idea and sensible gun training and the fact that a lot
of this stuff is tied to mental health, because if you're going to talk about guns and you're
going to talk about independence and freedom, we also have to talk about the mentality of people
who are going out here to get guns. There is a serious mental health crisis in this country.
There is a serious health crisis in this country. And all these things are intertwined.
Unfortunately, it's not-and you can't even say in this particular situation that this
was somebody who fell through the cracks.
There were warning signs in front of him before he even bought a gun that people either ignored,
and he was still allowed to go and legally purchase an AR-15.
An 18-year-old who's not in the military does not need an AR-15.
That's just period, point blank.
And the fact that this sitting congressperson did not have enough respect for the press and did not have enough respect for
this contingency of the places he's supposed to represent to sit down and answer honest questions
or just say, I don't know, or I don't have a plan, that speaks a lot to his character,
and it speaks a lot to the character of a lot of people who are in government right now.
Well, and look, I mean, Greg, it's just pure cowardice. And what we're seeing is what Republicans are going to do is they're going to play the wait game.
Let's see how long we can wait this thing out.
I mean, perfect example, today Republicans blocked Congress from even starting discussing the domestic terrorism bill
that was passed in the House very quickly when one Republican voted for it.
So it ended in a 47-47 tie.
And so that's not moving forward.
Now the Senate is recessed until June 6th.
You know, and again,
this is sort of the stuff that you're dealing with.
And this is where Democrats are going to have
to get a hell of a lot more aggressive on this
because otherwise nothing is going to change.
This is also why I tweeted earlier,
hey, all of y'all people who want something done,
this domestic terrorism bill was passed. All these black
people who whined about the so-called
anti-Asian bill, which didn't exist.
I'm going, okay, what are y'all saying
to these Republicans who are blocking this domestic
terrorism bill passed in the wake of
the killing of 10 black people in Buffalo?
That's right,
Roland.
You have been talking about this for quite some time. And
when your book comes out later this year, White Fear, it'll be made even more concrete.
Their political strategy, their political agenda is very simple. It's a five-letter
word, P-O-W-E-R. It's power. There's no cost. They're running a brain damage candidate
for the United
States Senate in Georgia in Herschel Walker. The corn-pwned liar out of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee
Sanders, is running for governor. Very strong. This isn't about the truth. This isn't about being
caught on record. This is about power. Chimney's Ted Cruz. And you know, it's so funny, every time
you see him and many of these white nationalist politicians, you can't help but think of The Handmaid's Tale, the television series made off of Margaret Atwood, another Canadian, her novel.
They are like characters out of central casting.
It's almost like the more marginal you even look or sound, the more favorable you are to the white nationalist party.
But we understand that the solution for this, Roland, is, as you've been saying
all along, it isn't just the federal government, it's the states.
We saw California this week, in the wake of the shootings, introduce and move through
the legislature a number of bills for trying to ban weapons, and Governor Newsom's strategy, which was approved by the California
legislature this week in the wake of those shootings, is to take a page from Texas's
ridiculous abortion law and to deputize all private citizens who then have the ability
to sue gun manufacturers who manufacture, distribute, or sell assault weapons or ghost
guns in parts of the state. So,
you know, this is where, finally,
the rubber will meet the road in terms
of the federal judiciary we've been talking
about over and over again.
We saw Clarence Thomas finally promoted
to some relevance with this super-white
nationalist majority on the court.
Today, rule to exclude
exculpatory evidence from
capital punishment facingfacing defendants
and say that it's a matter of states' rights.
Well, if that's true, as California gets these guns off the street, that is probably the
model for how we can move forward.
But I do want to ask you one thing, Roland, because you're a Texan.
I'm sure you've received, for every little report I've received, you've probably received
a dozen of our people now carrying their weapons around, because they, not that they weren't
doing it before, but now they really don't trust.
And with the Supreme Court weakening open carry laws, potentially, in places like New
York State, I'm wondering if you're wondering whether or not we're going to see more of our people simply say, well, if you're not going to do anything to protect us,
we're going to do a whole lot more to protect ourselves.
You have seen a significant increase in black gun clubs. You've seen African-Americans embracing
that. And so I wouldn't be surprised if you see that. I wouldn't be surprised if you do see an increase in African-Americans homeschooling their children.
Because, look, at the end of the day, look, remember what happened yesterday.
Police thwarted a kid who had two rifles at a school in Richardson, Texas.
Stephen F. Austin was on lockdown today in Houston due to a threat against the school.
And so we are seeing these things happen repeatedly as a result. And so, but this is
what happens when you have a political party that refuses to confront the reality of guns in this
country because they want no gun control, none whatsoever.
Got to go to a break.
We come back, we're going to talk to Buchanan for governor in Arkansas.
We'll also talk about the election results from various primaries on Tuesday.
You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network.
Next on A Balanced Life,
we're talking everything from prayer to exercise to positive
affirmations and everything that's
needed to keep you strong and
along your way. That's on a next A Balanced
Life with me, Dr. Jackie,
on Blackstar Network.
I'm Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach and host of Get Wealthy. Let me ask you a question.
Are your financial affairs in order or are you like Prince Aretha Franklin
and Chadwick Boseman's celebrities
that passed away with no will?
Well, that's the topic we're covering
on our next Get Wealthy program.
Do you have the proper strategies in place
to make sure that your assets
and everything that you've worked so hard for
pass on to the next generation
and you create legacy wealth.
So I encourage people to be thinking about
what is the long-term plan
as opposed to just for today
or just right after I pass away.
That's right here on Get Wealthy,
only on Blackstar Network.
Hey, everybody, this is Sherri Shepherd. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. And while he's doing Unfiltered, only on Blackstar Network. and it just messes me up every single time. So I'm working on it. I got it.
You got Roland Martin.
Hi, my name is Latoya Luckett,
and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered.
What's going on, everybody?
It's your boy, Mack Wiles,
and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered.
What's up, y'all?
It's Ryan Destiny,
and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered.
What up, Lana Well,
and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. I've been telling people constantly about the importance of elections in November.
There are, of course, U.S. Senate races.
There are congressional races.
But there are also statewide races as well.
And we have African-American candidates who are running for U.S. Senate positions, but also for governor.
On Tuesday, there were a number of elections that took place.
We're going to talk about those in just a second.
But joining us right now is someone who is going to be the Democratic nominee for
governor in Arkansas. He is going to be facing Sarah Huckabee, who easily won the Republican
nomination. Chris Jones joins us right now. Chris, glad to have you on Roland Martin Unfiltered.
Good to be on, Roland. Good to be on. You, of course, kicked off your campaign with an ad that got a lot of folks' attention when you actually started.
A lot of people were extremely impressed with that particular ad introducing you to the public. Over the last several months,
you have traveled across this state,
an opportunity to talk with voters there.
And so how are you going to make the case
in what's described as a deep red state
to actually beat Sarah Huckabee?
Yeah, again, appreciate you having me on the show, Roland.
You know, that's a great question.
That's the question that, as a mathematician, we laid out and thought about before I even ran the race.
Let me start by saying I'm a seventh-generation Arkansan.
And so my family has been here, and I have an understanding of how Arkansans interact with each other.
And the best way to get an Arkansan to move is to look them face to face, eye to eye, shake
their hand and have a conversation with them.
The reason we traveled all across the state was because we needed to engage all Arkansans.
And that was particularly important, and you will appreciate this, is because we're not
a red state.
We're a non-voting state.
We're 50th in voter registration, 50th in voter turnout, and actually first in absentee
ballot rejection.
There were one million people who could have voted last presidential cycle,
but they chose to stay home. Those are the folks we're going after. Those folks are bringing in
and engaging. And that's the pathway to win the race in November.
It's interesting you make that point because that's something that Reverend William Barber
often talks about when it comes to when he talks about low-income voters, poor voters, individuals who have checked out of elections.
And so how have you gotten the Democratic Governors Association to support that?
And when you look at the numbers in terms of the last election, you know, what number are you trying to hit?
Obviously, we're going to get as many votes as possible.
But in order for you to win, what number must you hit to secure a victory?
Yeah, we've been in contact with the Democratic Governors Association and with the Democratic National Committee.
They are supportive. They've been giving us advice.
Council are going to be supporting with resources. You know, I'll say this. And when you think about the electorate
here, you know, the number we're trying to win, we think that the race is going to land at a
presidential level, which is big for an off-year election in Arkansas.
There are 3 million people in our state.
And the last gubernatorial election, about 890,000 people voted.
The last presidential in 2020, about 1.2 million people voted.
And what's interesting about our race now... I'm sorry, go ahead.
I was going to say, in just Tuesday,
our primary election turnout was about on par with the 2020 presidential election turnout.
So we believe that we're going to get close to those numbers.
And what that means for us is we need to get about 650,000 to 675,000 people to not only turn out but to vote Chris Jones for governor. And so the strategy to do so, how are you reaching out to Black organizations? How are
you engaging Black fraternities and sororities, links, Freemason, Eastern Shore, Prince Hall Mason.
How are you sort of putting that coalition together to get people there?
Because at the end of the day, it's a huge task at hand because there are many people who are simply saying, you have no shot.
That's literally what folks are saying.
Fine, you're running.
They're saying, you got no shot at winning. Yeah. You know, and they, it's interesting that those, a lot of folks said we
had no shot at winning the nomination and we cleared a crowded field, which included a formerly
elected official. There were five of us total and we got 70% of the vote in the crowded field.
So I'm not saying it's going to be easy. And I'll go back. You might not remember this,
but some years ago, you were the keynote speaker at the MLK breakfast at MIT.
And I was there at the time.
It's at MIT?
Yeah, at MIT.
No, no, no, no. I remember.
Yeah. Yeah. And I say that to say that we met and we connected. And you know, that's a place where
you take complex problems, you take complex situations and you break it down and you can clear a pathway. Now,
again, don't get me wrong. It's not going to be easy. It's going to take fraternities and
sororities, which we are engaging with. Churches, a huge network. I mean, just as recently as
yesterday, I met with a group of church pastors and we're talking about various strategies across the state and how we make sure we continue to engage with churches. It takes old, long-time tribe and true leaders.
I met with one just earlier today and talked about messaging, how we're answering questions,
how we're engaging with the right folks and bringing people together. And it's going to
take a coalition not only of African Americans, particularly in the Delta
and South Arkansas, but
of white folks and of Hispanic
folks. So it's going to have to be a broad coalition
to come together to reach that number.
And on that particular point there,
when it comes to reaching those white
voters,
again, the Poor People's Campaign
has done a very good job of
going at them, economics,
going at them and saying, hey, look, you're over here voting for the same party,
and they have that delivered for you and taken you for granted.
And so what have your conversations been like with white voters who are conservative voters in Arkansas?
Because you're going to have somebody who Donald Trump is
going to be coming through there. They're going to be yelling
MAGA and having their hats and everything.
But when you look at the numbers,
when you look at the economic numbers, when you look
at the education numbers,
ain't like Arkansas is killing it.
Right. I mean, we're
47, 48 in education.
We're bottom five in health.
We're bottom five in infrastructure. We're bottom five in health. We're bottom five in infrastructure. We're bottom
five in broadband. You know, my conversations are about those kitchen table issues. And when you
think about our agenda, it's pretty simple. And we talk about this in all 75 counties. I'm going to
tell you a story I had with a conversation with a guy in South Arkansas in a second. But our agenda
is spreading PB&J across the state. So wherever I go, I talk about the idea of spreading PB&J. And the reason we say spreading,
you think about the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. If you have a bad sandwich, you take
a bite and all you get is dry bread. And I'll talk about the fact that there are too many places
across Arkansas, and when you take a bite, all you get is dry bread. But PB&J is preschool,
broadband, and jobs. It's quality education starting with pre-K.
And we know that pre-K is important because if you have a great pre-K experience,
then you're more likely to read at grade level. You're more likely to graduate on time.
You're more likely to have a living wage job. All issues in Arkansas. By the way,
my hometown of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, nine out of ten kids in school there are not reading a grade level.
Pre-K helps with that.
You're less likely to go to prison.
Arkansas incarcerates more people than most countries on our planet.
And so we can begin to solve that problem by investing in pre-K.
The B and P, B, and J is broadband, and that's a proxy for infrastructure.
And then the J and P, B, and J is jobs, and particularly in those areas that have been left out and marginalized in the Delta, where we find a higher percentage
of African-Americans. So I'm having those conversations. But to your other point,
I'm talking with white folks across the state. And I had a conversation in a place called
Louisville. And we were at a restaurant, Sterling's Place. And there was a guy named Jim,
had a cutoff shirt. It was plaid. If you look at him, you'll say there's no way he's going to vote for a Democrat,
and he's certainly not going to vote for a black man.
So I tapped him on the shoulder, and I said, hey, I'm Chris Jones, I'm running for governor.
Gave me a little weird look, but after we talked for about five seconds, he said, look, let me tell you,
I just want my asphalt fixed.
That was an opportunity to talk to him about PB&J, the B, infrastructure,
and how the next governor is going to decide where the infrastructure money is going,
how his hometown of Louisville in Lafayette County, South Arkansas,
has been left out and neglected for so long, and that's why his roads aren't fixed yet,
and how as governor, the fact that I'm showing up is an indication
that I'm committed to making sure that the roads get fixed in Louisville.
And he said, you know what? I like that. I'm Republican, but I'm going to support you.
So those are the conversations we're having, and I think it matters.
All right. Before I go to my questions, this is the ad I was talking about that actually caused a lot of people across the country to take notice of your campaign.
Let's see. Get this. Here we go. to take notice of your campaign.
Let's see.
Get this.
Here we go.
To me.
All right, folks, do you have the audio?
I'm also an ordained minister.
All right. Now imagine that this stool represents time.
Not just my lifetime, but my ancestors and my children.
As a Christian, I thank God every day for that time. As a physicist, I know that time is also relative.
And with the right amount of energy,
you can bend it and be anywhere.
My ancestors labored in the soil of rural Arkansas,
making my three daughters eighth-generation Arkansans.
By the 1940s, my papa Jesse Torrance,
with his third-grade education,
was driving a truck he couldn't afford to own.
But by the 1980s, he was helping me set up my own business.
His legacy was entrepreneurship and hard work.
Three, two, one, and liftoff.
Liftoff.
Some lessons were tougher than others.
That moment, something opened up in me.
A world of science and sacrifice, service and exploration.
I knew then that I wanted to be an astronaut.
I didn't know that being deaf in my right ear would keep me from flying.
Ten years later, I accepted a full NASA scholarship,
and my life changed forever.
I went to Morehouse College for physics and math,
and MIT for nuclear engineering,
and a PhD in urban planning.
And along the way, God just blessed me.
My wife is Dr. Jerilyn Jones.
She's an Air Force veteran and ER doc.
She's my partner and an incredible mom to our girls.
And I love being a girl dad.
I was also blessed to run the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub,
where we gave access to the tools and technology
that Arkansans need to build businesses and create jobs.
Arkansas is ready for a big leap forward,
but we need the right leaders.
The last few years have shown just how easy
it is to slip back in time. So that's why I'm running for governor. Taking Arkansas
into the future requires improving education opportunities from cradle to career, enhancing
infrastructure from bridges to rural broadband, and making available every tool Arkansans
need to build businesses and healthy families.
It's about living up to our potential.
It's about living out our values.
It's about working hard together.
And my fellow Arkansans, it's about time.
All right, questions from our panel.
I'll start with Larry.
Dr. Jones, so the question I want to pose is undoubtedly, like most Democrats, you know, you're going to be painted as some kind of left wing person who's out of touch with voters in your state.
What are you going to do to counter that narrative to ensure that you can get the vote of your cross-section of people in what you described? Yeah, I appreciate that question because I do get it often. And we've thought
about that. The way to counter that is by showing up. We did a 75-county tour, went to all 75
counties and had conversations with people in restaurants, in their homes, at festivals. And now,
starting next week, we're going to do another 75-county tour,
and it's called the Walk a Mile in Your Shoes tour,
where we're meeting folks where they are.
I'm going to walk a mile with folks
in every single county in the state,
and a part of that is also going to be, again,
showing up on their porches,
going to their shifts at work with them,
showing up at festivals,
and having these conversations
because it's the conversations
that allow us to break through that typical party identification, because that's what people kind
of default to. But once you have those conversations, it definitely changes the narrative.
Teron?
Dr. Jones, my question is specifically for Black voters.
There is a lot of frustration and there's a lot of pain coming from Black voters right
now because they feel like they religiously go out to vote, but a lot of their concerns
are not taken care of, or their needs are not being listened to or not being met.
How do you plan to counter that in Arkansas?
Yeah, I mean, I hear it often. In fact, I heard
it today when I was having a conversation. That pain comes from lack of resources for mental
health services. That pain comes from over-incarceration and investment in things like
prison as opposed to investment in pre-K. That pain comes from poor schools and no economic
development.
You know, the way we counter that is by talking about not only what I've done.
I ran the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub, and we specifically work with communities across the state. And they were low-income communities.
They were African-American communities.
They were Hispanic and Marshallese communities.
And we work with them to build entrepreneurship and to strengthen education. So not only building on that track record, but then also focusing on what we plan to do in the future,
which is investing in communities that have been left out and marginalized and sort of providing that foundation for them to flourish and grow.
So we're having these conversations about what has been done and what we will do.
And that is allaying those concerns that are very, very valid.
Because they've been pounding their head against the wall so often.
And the rational reaction is if I keep doing the same thing and I get the same response, then I need to change my behavior.
And so we're telling them that this is a different environment and a different moment. in that you're facing a choice between someone who is showing up, talking with you, listening to your concerns now as I'm trying to get the job,
versus someone who literally stood on stage and lied for twice impeached president,
and versus someone who is saying that I don't have to show up, I don't have to talk to reporters,
I don't have to talk to Arkansans because I feel like I deserve it and I own it and it's going to be mine already.
All right. Greg.
Thank you, Roland, and thank you, Dr. Jones.
You know, we know that this isn't about intelligence.
This isn't about preparation.
If it were, there wouldn't be, obviously, you'd be headed toward an acclimation.
I watched you in several interviews.
I mean, you visit every county in the state.
We know that.
And I remember when that ad first came out,
I was like, man, this is incredible.
There's my, one of my old heads, Holly Garima,
the filmmaker says, you are a reminder black,
you and your wife.
In other words, you're a reminder of the elephant
in the room, which is race, of course.
Given your background, not only, you know, go Maroon Tigers,
but also your work in city planning, your work in how you envision, you know, the future.
Two quick questions.
Number one, what's your relationship with the business communities in Arkansas?
Because it was seen that if they would come out forcefully for you,
you might be able to overwhelm those white nationalists that say,
I may be outside, but damn it, I'm white.
And then the second question I may be outside, but damn it, I'm white.
And then the second question I would ask is, you know, what kind of support do you need,
and how careful do you have to be so that if, say, the DNC or other outside folks say,
let's get in here with some support, that doesn't kind of stimulate folk to react against
you by saying the same way they said in the civil rights movement, these outsiders are coming in. You know, how careful do you have to be about outside stuff
and then, you know, the business community question? Yeah, I'll start with the second
outside question, which again, the way you framed it is great. You know, the real question is,
where's the focus of the agenda, right? So having outside support is going to be needed.
We cannot win this race without everyone, internal and external, coming in and saying, hey, look, I'm going to invest in some way and in some level.
And people understand that.
But the question is, where is the agenda focused and where is the conversation focused?
And so when we go out and about, we're always talking about the fact that I-40 was shut down and that was $25 million in economic activity lost.
The fact that West Memphis is in need of a 9-1-1 system. The satellite
poles are needed. We talk about the fact that Madison County only has two ambulances and folks
that literally had a heart attack and the ambulance
was on the other side of the county and couldn't get there. So when we talk about those conversations,
then people can begin to get beyond the fact that, well, who are you supporting?
Who is supporting you, if you would? Because we need national resources. The other benefit is that
she's already nationalized the race. She's made it hypernational. And so the question that
Arkansans
are asking themselves is, well, if we're getting this attention and these resources, then how is
it benefiting me? Who's going to care most about me? And that's the question that we're providing
an answer to. And then your sort of first question, remind me what your first question was again?
Yeah. And my friend, Halle Garima, who an Ethiopian filmmaker, lived here most of his life.
He says, you know, in this country, the success story that you outlined begins with slavery, which means it's a reminder.
It's almost like a grievance narrative compared to African people who come here from other places, and they are from somewhere else, Blacks.
The African people in this country are reminder Blacks.
And I'm wondering how you, you know, you overcome this notion that clearly you are,
you are a community-made man, you and your wife, MD,
community-made couple and family.
But for some people, you know, and again,
it's this idea that, you know,
it doesn't matter how smart he is.
It doesn't matter how wonderful they are.
It doesn't matter what vision he has for me.
My whiteness is all I have.
And I can't see past that. How do you deal with that?
Yeah. Well, part of it is
we're committed to being authentic no matter what. So I am
who I am. My experiences are what they are, and I want to bring all that
to bear to serve Arkansas. The other part of it is
folks understand at the end of the day who's going to be
better for my pocketbook. You know, who knows about the dynamics of Arkansas's economy enough
to be able to benefit me? Who knows about attracting business enough to be able to benefit
me? And I'm in my work with the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub because I think you made a great
point about how our business leaders support me. leaders supporting. We work directly with the business community. In fact, the current
governor appointed me to an entrepreneurship accelerator program where we were providing
grants to organizations that were focused in various early stage technology areas.
So I have lots of relationships with business leaders across the state.
And those business leaders are the ones that have conversations and say,
well, you know, hey, we might be Republican, we might be independent,
but we work with this guy and we understand that he is really trying to bring
some benefit to various communities across the state.
All right, then.
Well, Chris Jones, we certainly appreciate it.
Good luck in the race,
and I'm quite sure we'll be crossing paths
on the campaign trail.
Thanks a lot.
Glad to be on the show.
And you all go to chrisforgovernor.com
to check me out, chrisforgovernor.com.
Appreciate it.
All right, thanks a bunch.
Folks, Tuesday's primaries have set the stage
for a number of races in Georgia.
There, of course, incumbent Governor Brian Kemp is going to be facing Democrat Stacey Abrams.
In the U.S. Senate race, the clueless former football player Hershel Walker,
proudly suffering from CTE, is going to be facing U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock.
In Texas, State Representative Jasmine Crockett defeated Jane Hope Hamilton in a runoff election for the U.S. House seat,
representing Southern Dallas, being vacated by the retirement of Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson.
That's pretty much a shoo-in, so you could pretty much call Representative Crockett the Congresswoman-elect from the 30th Congressional District. Also, there will be a Republican runoff in Alabama between Katie Brooks and Congressman
Mo Brooks for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination as well.
Then you have Yolanda Flowers and Malika Sanders, 48, that will be battling out for a runoff
for the Democratic nomination there as well.
So you have, of course, a number of other races
that have taken place in other states,
and so we have been looking at all of those,
and we'll continue to be covering these primaries
and setting the stage for November.
Folks, keep in mind, we talk about getting ready
for November, June 18th.
The Poor People's Campaign will be holding their mass march here in D.C. on June 18th.
Please go to their site and register.
We're going to be broadcasting live from there on that particular date as well,
poorpeoplescampaign.org.
And so looking forward to that.
And, you know, one of the things that we keep letting people know, And so looking forward to that.
And, you know, one of the things that we keep letting people know,
you also have a U.S. Senate race taking place in Florida.
So coming up next, we'll be talking with Congresswoman Val Demings,
who is trying to dethrone Senator Marco Rubio in the Sunshine State.
So a lot of different things happening, And we'll hear from her next.
You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered
on the Black Star Network.
Don't forget to download the Black Star Network app
on all available platforms.
Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV,
Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV.
And of course, join our Bring the Funk fan club
where all the dollars you give goes to support this show.
Send a check or money order to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196.
Cash app is dollar sign RM Unfiltered.
PayPal is RMartin Unfiltered.
Venmo is RM Unfiltered.
Sale is Roland at RolandSMartin.com.
Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com.
We'll be right back.
We welcome you to the launch of the Mass Poor People's Low-Wage Assembly
at Mara March on Washington, D.C., June 18, 2022. We are a new unsettling force and we are powerful.
A new unsettling force and we are here.
We're rising up to demonstrate the compelling power that we poor and low-income people have
to reconstruct society from the bottom up.
And we need to do it with the loudest voices possible, the biggest actions
possible. Because we know that there is no scarcity in this land. The only
scarcity is the moral will to do what's right. Hold on just a little while longer.
We are those with sub-minimum wage jobs
who can't afford sky-high rent.
People with disabilities are the fastest-growing minority group.
It's crazy to me that in 2021, it's still
legal for workplaces to pay a sub-minimum
wage to people with disabilities.
They are still so much trial and tribulations that we go through as indigenous people.
We can't get a decent wage to sustain ourselves, nor can we get adequate housing.
Veterans across this nation say enough is enough.
We can't pat essential workers on the back on one day
and then cut their health care the next day.
Health is a political choice.
What more do I need to do to prove that my voice is just as valuable as anyone else's?
There are still forces in denial that would try to slow walk our transition to a clean economy
and a just future for us all.
We have an immoral system run by immoral people.
But together we walk, and we walk and we fight.
It's time for a change!
Reconstruyamos esta gran nación!
See, we are people of resilience
as we fight these interlocking injustices together.
When we work together, mobilize together,
and rise together, we become a voice for the voiceless,
and we become an agent of change
in a time where great change is needed.
We need the third reconstruction
to ensure that deaf people, people with disabilities,
and all people can have the right to live and to thrive.
We know what they are doing,
but the question is, what are we going to do?
Reconstruction begins when we change our mentality
and say, it's time for you to get your foot off of my neck.
Hey, I'm Donnie Simpson. What's up? I'm Lance Gross and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered.
All right, folks, in today's Black and Missing, Tyshonna Jones hasn't been seen Philadelphia Police Department at 215-418-0265.
215-418-0265.
The way Illinois State Police handled August's disappearance and death of Illinois State University graduate student Jelani Day
caught the attention of Illinois lawmakers, one in particular is State Senator LG Sims Jr.
He created a newly passed bill that requires medical examiners and county coroners to call
the FBI when they can't identify a person within 72 hours.
Senator Sims joins us now from Chicago.
Glad to have you on the show.
And so walk us through this when you say requires them to call the FBI, because normally the FBI only gets involved in cases that rise to a federal level.
And thank you. Thank you, Roland. Thanks for having me. I love that sweatshirt, my brother.
Well, you know, you know, Alfa's run everything. Everybody else just second there. That's right. So the new law, Senate Bill 3932, as you mentioned, was spurred and sparked by the disappearing.
So Mr. Jelani Day, Mr. Day was he was reported missing on August 24th, discovered on September 4th, but wasn't identified until September 24th. What this new
law will require is if a medical examiner or coroner has custody of human remains that aren't
identified within 72 hours, then that coroner or medical examiner would have to reach out to the
Federal Bureau of Investigations for assistance. What we are finding, particularly in the case of
Mr. Dave and other smaller counties around the state of Illinois,
they don't have the resources necessary to identify remains or to process those remains
quickly. So what we wanted to do was make sure that we provided those resources and take every
opportunity to provide resources to get loved ones and bring closure to the loved ones. When
you talk about the pain that Mrs. Day and the Day family experienced
and all of Jelani's loved ones experienced, that's a terrible pain.
So we wanted to make sure we were shining a bright light on this issue.
But also, there are other instances where individuals go missing.
You have black people, black women in particular, they make up 35% of all
missing persons cases even though black women are only 13% of the United States population.
So we've got to make sure that, you know, there was a case in my district, Ms. Kiara
Coles, who's a United States postal worker.
She went missing and she has not been found.
We've got to bring a priority to these missing persons and
identify those individuals who have gone missing and help their loved ones get the closure they
deserve. And first of all, how have local folks responded to this? There's been a number of a
great deal of positive support for the new law as was
talked about with Governor Pritzker identifying and signing the new law
into into signed the bill into law there was a groundswell of support including
from the loved ones of Mr. Day and his family that was one of
the reasons why this was such a priority for us.
There were individuals from across the state. Now, to say that everyone was on board,
that would not be true. There were some individuals who did not want the law in
place because they felt that they could address these needs themselves. But the point is trying to get assistance to those who desperately
need it. And that's really what we were trying to do. All right, then. Well, Senator Sims,
certainly congratulations on that. And it was a case that we certainly covered,
and it was certainly far too long it took to find him. And so hopefully that will not be the case
when someone comes up missing in the future.
Absolutely. I hope that I never want to hear that pain on any on any family's voice again.
But I also I was so proud to be able to get this bill passed in the law and to hear the joy in Mrs. Day's voice as we pass this law on behalf of Jelani.
And she now knows that his
legacy and his lane will live on.
All right, Ben. Well, that's absolutely
true. We certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Great job.
Thank you, my brother. We appreciate it.
Take care. Talk to you soon. and Val Demings. She's trying to unseat Senator Marco Rubio in Florida. We'll talk about her
campaign, her race, and what she wants to do for Black businesses. You're watching
Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network.
I'm Dr. Greg Carr, and coming up on the next Black Table, thinking about the Black Freedom
Movement in a global way, Dr. John Monroe joins us to discuss his book,
The Anti-Colonial Front,
which maps the social justice movement in the United States
and its impact internationally from Asia to Africa
and how movements like anti-communism
were used to slow down racial equality
like critical race theory today.
Critical race theory today, communism back then,
it's essentially mobilized to shut down any challenges to a given
system of power connecting civil rights movement to
colonialism on the next black table exclusive here on the
black star. Hey, Fan Patrol Grooming is a men's grooming company that delivers on this promise every day to men everywhere.
Everything we do, every product we make is designed to help you to present your best self.
It's a promise they've kept since 1991 when they first introduced the Bump Patrol brand,
the number one men's product for a smooth, bump-free shave and silky skin. Millions of customers count on their exceptional skin care products,
which can be found at more than 30,000 retail stores in more than 50 countries around the world.
Now you can have exceptional beard and skin care products that are as unique as you are.
Fellas, we prepare to, of course, head back out into the world with COVID restrictions being lifted.
It's time to get your groove back or visit or visit www.patrullgrooming.com to order a Patrol Grooming box.
Also use the discount code hashtag rolling 30 for a 30% discount at checkout.
That's right. A 30% discount at checkout.
It's the, a 30% discount at checkout. It's the hashtag
Roland30. Folks, we certainly
appreciate Patrol Grooming being a partner here
at Roland Martin Unfiltered.
This is De'Alla Riddle,
and you're watching Roland Martin
Unfiltered. Stay woke.
This is Director X, the director of Superfly
on the red carpet, well, the black carpet,
and you're watching Roland Martin
Unfiltered. Yo, what up, y'all? This is Jay Ellis, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Hi, I'm the black carpet, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Yo, what up, y'all? This is J. Ellis,
and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered.
Hi, I'm Chaley Rose,
and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered.
I'm Lex Scott Davis,
and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered.
Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your boy, Jacob Lattimore,
and you're now watching Roland Martin right now.
Eee! All right, folks.
Congresswoman Val Demings is running for the U.S. Senate in Florida.
She'll be facing incumbent Senator Marco Rubio earlier today.
She and I had a conversation about the campaign, talked about a variety of issues,
what happened in Uvalde, her police, her experience as a former police chief,
and what she's going to do to help black businesses.
Check this out.
All right, Congressman Val Demings, glad to have you. It's been a while and so glad to see you,
chat with you. Let's just jump right into it. You have been constantly on the road, obviously,
still sitting member of Congress, but you're also running for the United States Senate. And, you know, we
were dealing with huge issues. But I got to first start off with, obviously, shootings in Buffalo,
Uvalde, your former police chief. And it is, what's interesting is that you have all of these
Republicans who don't want to deal with gun control, yet you have police chiefs, law enforcement,
who are saying, what are y'all doing relaxing gun laws?
Well, Roland, let me say it's good to be back with you, and I'm going to go right here. I am sad and mad as hell that innocent people are being gunned down in innocent places in a country that we say is the greatest country in the world.
It is appalling and disgraceful what happened in Buffalo.
And it is appalling and disgraceful and heartbreaking what happened at Robb Elementary.
Yet the people with the power to make a difference, 50 in the U.S. Senate, including the person that I am running against, can run to the microphone in a minute and quote scriptures and offer thoughts and prayers.
But as you well know, faith without works is dead.
So when you finish praying, get up off of your knees
and damn it, get something done
to protect innocent people in innocent places.
So I've seen the natural reaction
from Republicans and conservatives saying,
oh no, Democrats, you just want more gun control.
That's not going to solve any of these problems.
They're talking about creating single doors for students to go through,
putting steel doors in place, bulletproof glass, things along those lines.
Again, you've served as the head of the police department.
And so from your vantage point,
what is needed to deal with what we are witnessing
when it comes to our schools?
But again, our mass shootings aren't limited to our schools.
In Texas, they had a mass shooting at a church,
they had a mass shooting at a school,
two mass shootings at a school,
a mass shooting in El Paso at a Walmart,
and of course, Buffalo was at a grocery store.
Roland, look, when I was appointed chief of police,
crime was at an all-time high.
And my first priority was the reduction of violent crime.
My second priority was to remove crime guns
out of the hands of criminals.
Look, the Republican Party and Marco Rubio love to talk about the Second Amendment.
Let me just say this.
I grew up in a house with a man who went hunting like every other day.
If he didn't do it, we may not have had anything to eat.
I carried a gun for 27 years. This has nothing to do, this issue,
with the Second Amendment. This is about keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people.
It's about keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill. It is about keeping guns out of the
hands of terrorists. And it is about keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous felons.
So I'm going to say what my husband says.
You can make your mouth say anything,
but doggone it, what are you going to do
to address this issue?
As a police chief, if I stood up in front of my citizens
after a shooting, and there were innocent people
were killed and said, you know,
thoughts and prayers for the victims and quoted scriptures, and then went about my business, I would have been
fired and I would have deserved to have been fired. As a police chief, our primary responsibility as
law enforcement officers is the safety and security of the people in our jurisdictions. And look, America has failed those children.
America failed the citizens in Buffalo.
We failed the victims of the Pulse nightclub
that is in my district.
We failed the students and teachers at Parkland
and now Rob University.
We have got to pass legislation like universal background checks, which 90% of Americans agree with.
Red flag laws.
Here in Florida, we have over 5,000 instances where red flag laws have been used.
And people believe that they reduce violence or lead to more successful outcomes.
So we need to start talking and get busy and do something to protect innocent people.
As you're talking, I thought about yesterday's news conference.
I sat there.
I'm a native Texan, still vote there.
And Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick were talking about mental illness.
Yet last year, the same governor cut two hundred eleven million dollars from mental mental health programs.
And I think that's also what what what drives me crazy when I listen to folks bring that up immediately.
But then when you look at the voting record, they cut mental illness.
A number of states that refused Medicaid expansion for mental illness. So what are you seeing and what are you hearing on the campaign trail when it comes to this issue?
You know, Roland, Marco Rubio has been in office since 1998.
He's been in political office.
You know, good for him if that works for him.
But it doesn't seem to be working very well
for Floridians. When I'm traveling the state from the panhandle down to the Keys and I'm talking to
Republican voters, independents, and Democratic voters, they are sick and tired of hearing news
like we've heard this week coming out of Texas. They are sick and tired of career politicians
who say one thing, run to the microphone and say one thing, and do absolutely nothing to address
the issues. Mental health, and I think for the former chief of Dallas, David Brown,
said it best when he talked about some of the responsibilities that are on law enforcement.
And look, everybody counts and everybody's accountable.
That includes law enforcement.
But Chief David Brown says this.
Every time there is a societal failure, we give it to law enforcement to handle.
He was the police chief in Dallas.
He said not enough mental health funding.
Give it to the police. Not enough drug addiction funding available. Give it to the police. And so in this country, and you had to mention the states that have not expanded Medicaid, here in Florida, we're one of only 12 states that have not expanded Medicaid, which is shameful and disgraceful again.
The people are sick and tired of it.
And it is time to elect people who are not playing politics,
but believe that we should address some of the quality of life issues,
as well as hold America to its promise.
And we're not doing that very well right now.
Now, on that particular point, what you just laid out there,
you hear the people who are highly critical of defund the police. I've interviewed the people who said that. And what I've heard them say is, stop giving all of the money to police departments
to do the functions that are, frankly, outside of what they actually are there for. And that is we've got to reimagine
policing. We've got to reimagine our budgets to say, look, if you're sending cops to handle
mental illness cases, send mental health professionals. If you're sending people
to handle domestic violence, make sure you have domestic violence specialists.
That point you make there is so important because a lot of cities, half of a city's budget goes to the police department.
And I've interviewed cops who say, why am I doing stuff that frankly is not what cops should be doing?
Police are not the answer to every problem in America.
And let me say this too, Roland. As you know,
I served as a law enforcement officer for 27 years, had the honor of serving as the chief
of police in Orlando. Our primary responsibility is the safety and security of the people in our
jurisdictions. As I said earlier, the police are crime fighters. This is not about defunding the police. This is
about funding the police and making sure that they have the resources, the equipment, the training
that they need to effectively protect people from those who would do them harm. Crime is still one
of the top concerns. Look at New York. Out of all of the great
candidates that they had running for mayor, at the end of the day, it was the police captain
who won that election. People want to be safe. But the other issue is we have got to be serious.
I think we can walk and chew gum at the same time. We've got to be serious about funding programs that address those social
ill problems, mental illness, drug addiction, substandard education, substandard housing,
all of those things that directly impact the quality of life of people living in this country.
I believe we can walk and chew gum at the same time. And we can do this if we elect people who have the political will to get it done.
You are obviously in a very tough race.
It is in a state where Democrats have had fundamental issues, especially with Hispanic slash Latino voters.
What is happening there when it comes to your infrastructure?
You look at the governor's race.
Andrew Gillum lost by 30,000 votes to now Governor Ron DeSantis.
And one of the things is that two of the counties where Democrats depend upon both
Broward County and Miami-Dade, their turnout didn't even hit 60%.
People are suggesting right now this is going to be a wave election for Republicans. And so what are you doing? What
are you saying to the DSCC, to the party, that they cannot, they've got to put the resources
into Florida, but also establish a strong, strong ground game and messaging to reach voters who say
that, you know what, I don't believe enough
has been done to get me excited. Well, Roland, let me just say this.
I grew up, as you well know, poor, Black, and female in the South. Florida is my home. I grew up in a rural part of Florida. I'm used to tough things.
But I do believe that we can win this race because the people, as I said a few minutes ago, are sick and tired of career politicians who say one thing and do another.
Yes, they're concerned about crime.
Yes, they're concerned about funding those mental health and other quality of life issues. Yes, they're concerned about funding those mental health and other quality of life
issues. Yes, they're concerned about the prices of goods and services. Yes, they're concerned about
the doggone affordable housing crisis that we're seeing not just here in Florida,
but all over the country. And they deserve to have someone who cares about those things and therefore will do
something about those things in Florida. And you know, you mentioned Andrew Gillum's race and
statewide races. While losses are painful, they've always been so very close. And I do believe that
we're building the most unique, diverse coalition. We're doing what I did as a police chief. I didn't pick and choose winners and losers
based on their ability to pay to play.
I didn't pick and choose winners and losers
or who I would talk to based on their political party.
We're working to get some things done.
And we're building, we have this coordinated campaign
that we're getting ready to launch in Florida,
working along with the
Democratic Party and other Democratic races that are going on in the state to work cohesively,
to work together, to make sure that we are turning out voters that are sick and tired
of what they are getting. Republican, independent, Democratic voters who believe in the Constitution, believe in the rule of law, and believe in our democracy.
And I really do believe.
And you mentioned the Hispanic voters, and we clearly understand that it's not just Cuban-Americans.
We have Puerto Ricans.
We have Venezuelans.
We have Colombians and others.
And we are talking to them about things that matter to them.
We're talking to white voters. We're talking to African-American voters.
But we're also talking to another major voting bloc in Florida, and that is the Afro-Caribbean voters.
And we're leaving no voters behind. We're getting the work done.
And I do believe, Roland, that come November, our work will pay off.
I got to ask you this here because look,
there are a lot of disaffected African-Americans. People are very frustrated with President Joe Biden as polling numbers are down. Folks are saying that enough has not been done.
I've been reading Luther Campbell's tweets this week. I've been, look, I look at the chat rooms
and we're live on our show and I'm dealing with people who are coming at me. I got people right now who are saying,
oh, the Asians got a hate crime bill.
Why haven't we seen any Black-specific bills?
Even though there was a bill that was passed in the House
dealing with domestic terrorism after Buffalo,
the Senate just, Republicans stopped it from going forward.
So what do you specifically say to an African-American,
a young voter, somebody who is middle-aged, someone who's older, who is saying, you know what?
I'm sorry. Enough hasn't been done. I'm just going to sit this thing out.
Yeah, Representative Val Demas is running. She's great. But I'm sorry. I'm just not interested.
What do you say to that person, whether they're in Florida or they're in North Carolina, Wisconsin or Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia or Nevada, who's saying, hey, I'm just not going to vote.
What do you say? You know what, Roland? And I appreciate you and your listeners for your viewers for asking that question. I understand and I feel their frustration.
But we didn't build a great nation without the young people's energy and talent and brilliance.
If you look at every great movement that we've had in this country, whether it was the women's suffrage movement and women fighting for the right to vote. Remember those Black women? 22 of them were founders of my sorority and others
who said, we're not accepting the status quo. Yes, this is hard. Yes, I'm frustrated. Yes,
I'm discouraged, but doggone it, I'm going to work to get it done. If we think about the civil rights movement of 1964 and the voting rights movement of 65, marriage equality, all of the great,
the major pieces of legislation that we have seen in this country, it was always because of the
talent, energy, and brilliance of young people. Dr. King was 26 years old when he became the leader of the civil rights
movement. John Lewis was 17 years old when he first got involved. And yes, I understand the
frustration, but the country needed that young energy and talent then, and doggone it, we sure
enough need it now. There is a concerted effort to make the work of our great leaders in vain. Forget it. Let's turn back
the hands of time. We cannot allow that to happen. And so we need you. We will include you in our
efforts. We're asking you. We're already building coalitions with young voters. We need your ideas.
We need your talent. We need your energy. And with you standing with us, we can win this race and build an America that works for you and works for everybody like it was intended to be. of diversity in media, Black-owned media. I've been one of those folks really pressing
the federal government when it comes to $1 billion
being spent every year on media,
only 51 million going to Black-owned media.
Talk about, again, what you want to do
if you're not a state senator,
not only when it comes to Black-owned media and advertising,
the fact that the $560 billion is spent every year on federal
contracts and African-American businesses only get 1.67%. I mean, if we went from 1.67% to 10%
of federal contracts, that's going from literally $9 billion to $56 billion. That has a dramatic
impact on the future of Black America,
the economics of Black America, and the creation of wealth in Black America.
Roland, I'm so glad you mentioned that. And you know the work that we have done and continue to
do as it pertains to media diversity, along with Hank Johnson from Georgia as well is working on this. And the bottom line is this.
In 1968, the Kerner Report, as you well know, I know you're quite familiar with it.
Oh, yeah.
At who is telling the story and who's reaping the benefits of in this area, in this space of media.
And, you know, America is a very diverse country. America says that if you're
willing to work hard and play by the rules, that you too can have an opportunity to succeed. Our
job as legislators is to make sure that we continue to create those opportunities. Look,
we have the greatest talent, as I just said, the greatest energy in this country.
Let's create the greatest opportunities.
And certainly, Black media, Black-owned companies are a major part of that.
And so my job is to help to balance the play and feel and give those opportunities.
Who tell the story matters.
Who's making those decisions matter.
And we have to create opportunities
and avenues for Black-owned companies,
Black media,
to be able to reap the benefits
of living in the greatest country in the world.
I want to thank you, Roland,
for being a part of the work that we are doing.
We are not done.
So I look forward to what we're able to do together in the future. All right, Congresswoman of the work that we are doing. We are not done. So I look forward to
what we're able to do together in the future. All right, Congresswoman Val Demings, we appreciate
it. Look forward to having you back on the show and seeing you on the campaign trail over the
next several months. Thank you so much. You take care. Stay safe. Thanks a bunch. You're welcome.
All right, let's get it cranky with our panel.
Look, Florida's going to be an extremely difficult race to win, Democrats to run.
Actually, Larry, you're there in Florida, have been in disarray in this state.
You know, DeSantis has been cementing power.
You're there.
How do you see the state of Florida shaping up in this Senate race?
Roland, as always, it comes down to turnout. You talked about that, you know, during your
discussion, particularly in the black community and the unique demographics and the diversity
in terms as it relates to the state of Florida. There are a few things that, you know,
Congressman Demings mentioned, I think are really important as it relates to demographics. Obviously, the, you know, Latino,
Latino community in the state, but also Afro-Caribbean, people of Afro-Caribbean descent,
which includes my in-laws who are from Jamaica. So it's really important in terms of, like I said,
as it relates to the, you know, racial, ethnic diversity of the state, that Democrats and
obviously Congresswoman Demings make sure that those communities,
people come out to vote because, Roland, you're right.
A lot of black folks when I talk to, when they come and they talk about President Biden and what they haven't seen may not turn out November.
And it's incumbent on, you know, obviously Democrats to do a great job in terms of to get out the vote. But I think that, you know, Congressman Demings has a unique opportunity because people, particularly in Central Florida, know who she is and obviously, you know, her work in Congress.
But it's going to take a lot of work. But I think she's got a great platform.
She clearly articulated that today. She's a super strong candidate.
But it's also going to be really important in terms of what the DNC, in terms of the consistent support she gets over the next
couple of months. I think the race will be close, but once again, it's going to be in terms of what
you see at the margins in terms of, like I said, some of the folks from those different racial
ethnic groups in terms of getting them out, but not only in terms of getting them out,
but prior to that, really speaking to issues that they're really passionate about. One of the major issues that the state of
Florida, particularly Central Florida, where Congressman Demings represents, is a housing
crisis. And the rate in which housing has gone up over the last year in Central Florida and
statewide, and also that's going to contribute to more homelessness in the state. So we're seeing,
once again, that gap between the haves and the have-nots in the state growing. But that's going to contribute to more homelessness in the state. So we're seeing, once again, a gap between the haves and the have nots in the state growing.
But it's going to be really important in terms of how, you know, Congresswoman Demings, as she talked about in this interview,
but talks to the everyday Floridian about why they should vote and why they shouldn't support Senator Rubio.
But once again, I think she does a really good job expressing those issues as a matter.
But it's going to matter in terms of how people really feel about the Democratic Party right now.
Greg, Democrats have been getting crushed by with Latino vote.
You look at the last election, the Venezuelans went for Trump over Biden in a huge way.
She is going to have to close that gap. And she's got to maximize black turnout.
I remember looking at a story, the Tallahassee Democrat,
in the race between Gillib and DeSantis,
and they showed the top 15 counties,
and they show in terms of the turnout.
And so you saw the top 12 counties,
or top 11 or 12 were all red.
What turned out was anywhere from 65 to 75 percent of eligible voters.
You didn't get to about 57 percent.
I think Broward probably was around 12, around 57 percent.
Miami-Dade was 54. There is no way in the world Representative Val Demings can win if Broward County and Miami
Dade County are below 60 percent. They've got to be higher than that. And so, you know, you always
have these white Democratic consultants who are always about television, television, television
and radio. But it's also got to be boots on the ground. It was important for her talking about
that Afro-Caribbean because you're seeing a significant Haitian population,
Haitian-American population in Florida.
It's also, you know, they're not as strong as that Cuban-American vote.
They're in by every day, but it does matter.
And so she has to maximize those numbers and close the gap with Rubio among Latino voters.
And then, of course, really get those white progressives out to vote.
That's absolutely right, Roland. And I agree with Larry. I agree with Dr. Walker.
This is a turnout election. Every turn, every election is a turnout election, particularly for the Democrats.
It's complicated calculus because Val Demings is a loyal and faithful member of the Democratic Party.
That presents problems because on things like immigration, the Democrats and Republicans
aren't different enough to energize the immigrant African community in Florida, whether it be
Haitians, whether it be those who are Americans, technically, but still a colony like Puerto Ricans and others, it's difficult.
And we know that the Venezuelans, just like the older Cubans, are racists.
And we know that the United States government, Democratic or Republican, has been trying to undermine the Venezuelan government for a number of years.
I mean, the clown, Juan Guaido, is favorably looked upon by the Biden administration.
And Val Demmons wouldn't go against that.
But that having been said, we're facing a situation where, again, this isn't about appeal to logic or issues.
We know that perhaps nearing 60 percent of Floridians are against that 15-week abortion ban that the clown governor, who, as far as many of us are concerned, stole the governorship from Andrew Gillum, signed into law.
But that really doesn't matter.
What matters is, can you get your people out?
Marco Rubio, who does not have the excuse of Herschel Walker, maybe Herschel Walker has CTE.
Marco Rubio is just an idiot.
On the leaked abortion draft, the overturning role, Val Demings comes out, of course, in
full support of women's right to choose, and little Marco starts prevaricating, because
he understands he doesn't have to have a position on the issues.
All he has to do is continue to have a pulse, and the machine will turn it out.
And so, finally, again, echoing what Larry just said, Dr. Walker just said, and what
you just said, Roland, what we're seeing in these primaries in this primary season, in a season where
Brother Jones won the Democratic
nomination in Arkansas with about
66,000, I think,
votes, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders
won the Republican primary with 288,000
votes, and the cat that finished second
was within 8,000 votes of the
winner on the Democratic side.
These people are fired up trying
to protect their white nationalist
concept of this country.
So I wouldn't spend a whole lot of time
chasing folks. How long, Roel, have you
been telling these damn white consultants
to stop chasing them three toothless white voters
that ain't never coming home? Expand
the base. I just don't know
if Congresswoman Demings is
going to be able to do it,
in part because that's not the Democratic establishment playbook.
Doron, again, when you look at one of the things that I think is a plus for her,
they're going to try.
It's a little hard to try to call her anti-police.
When she's a former police chief,
her husband is a former head of a police department
who's now a mayor. And so Marco Rubio can't have a law enforcement debate with somebody who had
that gun on a hip and a badge on their chest for longer than he's been a U.S. senator.
No, Roland, you're absolutely right. Yeah, because we know that that's the Republican
go-to is like anybody who's automatically a Democrat is soft on crime or they're, you know,
they're in the pockets of criminals. Somebody like a Val Demas, you can't say anything about
that because of her track record and because of her bona fides. I think once you take that,
once you take that out of the equation, the thing to really pay attention to is that Florida, as always, is, again, a battleground state.
And as Representative Deming said earlier, every vote is going to have to matter in this election.
But here's the thing. As you alluded to in your interview with her and as some of the other brothers on the panel have said, you can't win an election, whether it's a local election or a governorship
or a congresspersonship, or definitely not the presidency
without the black vote.
And we are in a time right now in America
where there is a lot of frustration
within the black electorate, not just young people.
You have a lot of people who are middle-aged
and a lot of people who are older, who are very frustrated.
And you have to speak to that population of voters voters you have to let them know that what their concerns
are are your concerns as well and they want to be spoken to in that way and as um dr carr said
the democratic establishment is so concerned with trying to catch the white woman in
and the white voter in the suburbs and completely ignoring their base and that is not going to win
you an election that's and those days are over. You can't show up to the black electorate with music and
dancing and this sort of thing and expect them to come along with you. You have to speak to them
like intelligent voters. You have to speak to them, to their concerns, and you have to tell
them what you can do for their concerns because they've heard this before. They heard it two years
ago. They heard it four years before that. So you have to respect the intelligence of the black
electorate, which is your base, and appeal to them, and then you can win.
All right, then. Well, this is certainly one of the races we're going to be watching.
All right, y'all. You know what time it is.
No charcoal grills are allowed.
I'm white. I got you, Carl.
Illegally selling water without a permit.
On my property.
Whoa!
I'm uncomfortable.
All right then.
Now, LA Clippers guard Norman Powell says he was at a Las Vegas gym when a white woman approached him and told him he was not an American.
Now, Powell was working out when this Gina turned Karen roll up on him.
This girl is insane, though.
She came here earlier talking noise and we sent her away.
She came back talking crazy, saying that we're not American, which is pretty crazy to me.
You're not American.
How am I not American?
How are we not American?
I was.
All right, y'all.
So the video there froze.
I mean, again, just so you understand.
So here's a brother.
Okay, y'all got it working now?
Go ahead and play it.
American, which is pretty crazy to me.
You're not American.
How am I not American?
How are we not American?
All right, not quite sure why our video playback machine is freezing.
Let me see if I can find the video myself.
All right, let me see here.
All right, because this is one of these crazy,
and I keep telling you how we're dealing with nutcases here.
All right, play the video.
She sent it away.
She came back talking crazy, saying that we're not American, which is pretty crazy to me.
You're not American.
How am I not American?
How are we not American?
I was born and raised here.
My family's senior.
My descendants are from Africa, yes.
My family came before the Mayflower, and I was a slave.
How were you a slave? What made you a slave?
Because I was black, and my last name's Howard.
You were black?
Yes.
You got revert to LIGO? You like Uncle Ruckus? I was a slave. You seen the bo slave? Because I was black and my last name's Howard. You were black? You got Reeve at a LIGO?
You like Uncle Ruckus? You seen the Boondocks?
You like Uncle Ruckus?
I like the blues.
I like the blues.
What does that have to do with anything?
Our music. What does our music have to do with anything?
Oh, we already called the police.
We already called the police. They're on their way.
No you ain't. Don't lie.
We already called the police. We already called the police. They're on their way. Don't lie. We already called the police.
No you ain't.
We already called the police.
My man's on the phone right now talking to the police.
Let's see.
My man's on the phone talking to the police.
Oh, you're on live.
You're on Instagram live right now.
You know that I come from a family of gamblers.
That's cool.
My grandfather-
That has nothing to do with what you're talking about
right now.
My grandfather paid for my grandma's ring.
That has nothing to do with what you're talking about.
Literally nothing to do.
Did she barely bend her finger from the diamond?
Literally nothing to do. I do not care.
I do not care.
I do not care.
I do not care.
I do not care.
That's fine.
See, black folks
can't even work out by they damn self.
I mean, she just
rolled her head. I wish he had
turned the camera around
so we can see what this
fool looks like.
Oh,
boy. You know what?
The only black person that woman
has been close to is Uncle Nearest. That's what that is.
That lady is drunk,
clearly. That woman,
because you can tell by her voice,
man, first of all, it's entitlement.
This would actually be funny if it wasn't so dangerous, because we know the history of white women accosting black men in this society.
But that's just entitlement, alcohol, arrogance.
And she probably tried to push up on you, told you to kick rocks. And she's mad about that.
It just sounds like a whole lot of that. But you're right. I wish I would have stayed on the phone.
I wouldn't have held the phone to myself. I'd have just put the phone on her
and just let her do her thing for about five, ten
minutes until the cops pulled up. That's just nuts.
Greg,
you got to kick,
listen to this fool sitting here, go on
and on and on.
First of all, he gave her
a lot more attention than I would have gave her a dumb ass.
No
question. I agree with Terrain.
Just put the camera on her and let her talk.
But you're right, brother.
You're right, Brother Terrain. It would be funny
if it weren't so serious.
The Know-Nothings
were a nativist political party in the
1850s. Remember, that's when the
Whigs went out of business after Franklin Pierce
was elected and then James Buchanan
and the Whig Party collapsed and you get the Republican party come out of the ashes.
Why do I go through that?
The Know Nothing parties, the name of their party was Know Nothing.
It was a way for white northerners to hide their pro-slavery sentiment and claim that
they weren't being pro-slavery.
Why do I even bring all that?
And what does that do with what we just heard?
This is the electorate.
This isn't about issues. This isn't
about, oh, I see the compelling
economic case you're making. I see
how this could improve my, or I see in
Florida how a woman's right to choose. No,
this is about, I was
a slave, and just in case
everybody's laughing at that, all the California
people who are talking about lineage and
ADAS, y'all better look out. Better go ask the
Native Americans. If you can find one drop, what are the chances she got better records than you do?
She might mess around and get a reparation check before you. But the whole point is that we are
living and dealing in a society now where there are no rules that need facts or the truth.
And so while that might be an outlying funny moment that we saw there, it's also a snapshot of what we are dealing with in a society where, yeah,
you can be a whole-ass police chief, like hopefully Senator Val Demings.
And guess what?
The cat that wouldn't bust a grape in a fruit salad can look her in the face,
call her anti-police, and guess who will line up and vote for Marco Rubio?
That lady we just heard.
Larry, I remember I was walking, I was in a restaurant,
and I was meeting some folks for lunch, and I'm chilling.
I got linen on and sandals in Houston, and I'm literally walking,
I'm walking forward, and I'm about to turn right,
and so this old white dude was sitting there next to,
he probably was in his 60s, with two white women.
He looked up, he said, I need some water.
And literally, I ain't even breaking a straw.
I said, hell, I don't work here.
And kept moving.
I'm like, I'm like, and one of the white women
like hit him on his arm and like trying to get his attention.
And literally, my whole dude was like,
I'm not sitting here paying your little punk ass no mind.
Another time, though, I was in a, actually it was a Dillard's, I was looking at some
suits, and so this white guy goes, excuse me, I did this in 38.
I said, I damn sure don't work here.
I said, first of all, look at how I'm dressed.
Ain't nobody here dressed this clean.
I said, do your ass see a badge on my damn name?
I said, matter of fact, why don't your ass go get me a 44?
See, I ain't got, look, I'm not, see, he was way too nice with homegirl.
He was even engaging.
I would have cussed her punk ass out.
Y'all would have heard all I would have sounded like Recy
with her dumb ass.
Oh, baby.
That would have been a show.
Listen, Rolla, I don't know what it is
about gyms and some folks, but I
had something similar happen to me a couple months ago
when I was in the gym minding my own business with my AirPods
and some woman came up to me and started talking crazy.
I had a choice right there as to what I was going to do.
And I decided I was going to just pretty much ignore it and keep it moving.
Because sometimes, you know, obviously he's an NBA player.
He's streaming this.
He's got folks that are witnesses there.
But also that racial and gender dynamic, get brothers in trouble. It's been, you know,
for hundreds of years, we know those kind of challenges
that can happen. But I thought it was
interesting, Roland, when she mentioned the Mayflower.
So, you know,
Brother Cardinal, when she said that,
that's a clear signal about
where you find a racial hierarchy,
so to speak. So, you know,
like I said, fortunately for
him, like I said, he's got a big platform. He could stream it. I wish he would have showed it so we So, you know, like I said, he fortunately for him, like I said, he's he's got a big platform.
He could he could stream it. I wish he would have showed us so we can once again, you know,
people can contact her employment, et cetera, to make sure nothing like this happens crazy again.
But I've had things like this happen to me in public.
Moli, you just described it. Folks out here are crazy.
And like I said, she talked about the Mayflower. So she already knew what she was trying to tell him. I do recall. I need to find this video. I was on a plane. I need to find this
video because I had a crazy as white person moment. I was on a plane and first class because
I ain't flying coach. So I'm in first class and I said that, Greg. So I get on and I tell a dude, I'm sitting right there.
So I put one bag down.
I put my bag on the seat, put the other bag up.
So this white woman literally just like brushes past me.
And like, now I'm the only black person in first class.
And everybody else was like, what the hell?
And so I started having white passengers apologize.
I said, hey, y'all ain't got to apologize for her rude ass.
And so the flight attendant came up to me.
So, now you know me.
I ain't letting that shit go.
So when you in first class, you get off the plane first.
So I literally get off the plane.
And I kneel down and tie my damn shoe and I'm waiting on her punk ass
to come off
and she came off
and threw me a look
I grabbed my phone
and I started live streaming her punk ass
and I was like oh yeah you rude ass heifer
oh I saw a killer and I was like yeah I, yeah, you rude-ass heifer. Oh, I saw a killer.
And I was like, yeah, I'm following you to baggage claim, too.
And I said, what, you're mad because I was black in first class
and you were white in coach?
Oh, I was killing her.
I was killing her.
I live-streamed her from the plane to the baggage claim.
Oh, I ain't had no problem lighting her punk ass up.
And again, the other pastors, they were all white.
They were apologizing, saying, oh my God, that was just rude of her.
Like, she literally was so mad.
But you know what?
Here's what I think happened.
Here's what I think happened.
I don't think she was mad that, you know, like she couldn't wait to get to her seat.
Here's what I really think happened.
Because you know how it is when you, you know,
the only time black people get to experience white privilege
is if you're at the airport
because you got TSA pre-check or clear
or when you 1K and you get to get on for everybody.
Because you know how, you know,
how many of y'all got status on the airline?
So you know when you fly, none of y'all got status on the airline?
No, I'm just watching.
Okay, y'all seen this before.
I'm lower tier.
Y'all seen this before.
Y'all seen this before.
You know when everybody in line and they got like line one,
then they got the other line for like groups two through five
and you know when you got status you could walk up any damn time you want to
and they gotta wait because you know you got status so you know you walk up and you stand
there and they chilling wait you know and look i'm real black with it too because see i don't
even look at i walk up I'm like and so you waiting
and then they go oh excuse me one second
and then they call you over
and then you go ahead and don't even matter
see I think that's probably what happened
she probably was mad as hell like
how they gonna weigh this black man for
and look I ain't look I'm telling y'all
right now y'all can do whatever y'all want to
I'm gonna be real black and real
arrogant with it.
Because this is the only, like, I love it when they go on the plane and they say,
I'm sorry, we got a bag.
I say, shit, not for concierge first.
I'm like, I know you got room for first class.
Then they start moving stuff in the closet for the flight attendants.
I'm like, yeah, this goddamn bag going to be on the plane with me.
So I'm just letting y'all know.
I get real.
I'm like, because look, I see how they roll.
I'm going to roll the same way.
And I'm going to sit here.
So that's probably the only time.
So that's the only time we really get to have
that privilege that they enjoy.
And guess what?
I'm going to use the hell out of it.
But Roland, I would say, and we all know this,
just in case, because getting new viewers every week,
you earned every bit of that.
Oh, yeah.
In other words, it ain't like nobody.
You was born into that thing.
Yeah, what the fuck give me those miles?
Like, I had to.
My wife had to learn.
She tripped out, man.
We'd get on the plane, and she was, no, she's like,
she's like, what are you doing? I said, shit, but get on the plane and she was, no, she's like, she's like,
what are you doing? I said, shit, but get on the damn plane.
She's like, but they in line. I said, no,
they in that line.
I'm in this line.
I said,
I earned this shit. And so she
was like all concerned. I said, well, hell, you can
go stay with them. I said,
because she was with me, she get on first.
So then we get on the plane, then she get on,
ain't no damn room. I was like,
his ass came on late.
I said, next time get on the damn plane
with me, you have your bag stored.
I said, see? See what happened when you
like this? Doc, I know.
You left her?
Hey, hey, shit, hey.
This is real simple, bro.
Let me tell y'all something.
All y'all women, let me explain something to y'all.
Okay?
Y'all don't want to sit here and listen to your man,
and y'all want to go stand in groups two through seven going right ahead.
My ass in group one, okay?
Now, if you don't want to get on the plane because, you know,
you feel like that's interrupting, that ain't my problem.
Rolling ass getting on in group one, I got status.
I'm a wild boy, but I ain't that wild.
Man, hell not, hell.
What?
You actually thought I was going to be in group one and I was going to stand my ass over there in group two through seven?
Because, look,
she a preacher. She can go pray with them. She can go lay hands
on them. She can talk to them.
My ass getting on in group
one.
It's all right, bro.
They don't call it ice cold
without reason.
What the hell, bro?
What the hell, y'all?
Man, y'all lost y'all.
See, right there.
Come on, come on.
Man up, Toron.
Come on.
Look here, bro.
All you do,
you tweet all that shit about manhood and everything.
Now you're like,
oh, damn, man.
I don't know
how I would do that one, man.
That's a little rough.
You got to pick your battles now.
You know,
I stand on what I say,
but I mean, if she ain't going to come along with me,
then we going to figure something out.
No, we not.
Hey, I'll figure that shit out.
She can stand over there.
Row over here.
Guess what?
She ain't did that shit again.
Hey, Roland, listen.
Listen up.
If I follow you, you know, follow you, you know,
walk in your footsteps and end up homeless,
I'm going to be knocking on your door.
Hey, no, that ain't a problem. Look, here's the lesson. follow you, you know, for walking your footsteps and end up homeless. Don't be knocking on your door.
Here's the lesson. And what I'm saying, ladies, follow your man.
Okay. I'm with you on that.
Tammy Wynette says, stand by your mate.
Let me tell you, let me explain something to y'all. Literally. If Roland was in group four and my woman was in group one,
I'm walking my ass on the plane with her.
I ain't tripping.
I don't care about nobody else.
See, y'all sitting here, y'all see, I can't believe it.
I can't believe the three of y'all thinking I'm just out here by my damn self.
Y'all lost your mind.
See what?
Man, y'all, okay.
That's the lesson right there.
What do they call it?
Young folks say gang, gang.
If you rolling, we rolling together.
No question.
Come on, get up here.
What you doing?
If you roll, reverse, you be over there.
Yeah, I got it.
I got it.
I see you on that point.
Yeah, I get you on that one.
Yeah.
Oh, now he get us on that one.
But if she don't want to get on and skip everybody,
now I don't know if I'm going to do all that.
Man, please, you lost your mind.
Y'all go ahead and do that, but Roland getting his ass on the plane.
I'm just letting you know right now.
Just letting you know right now.
My brother down in the cut being quiet.
He's probably the smartest one in the house.
Hell no.
Y'all think I'm lying.
Y'all send her a tweet and see if she tell you I'm lying.
That's exactly what happened.
I got my ass on that plane, sat the hell down, chilling.
But wait a minute, Homer.
So, wait a minute.
Now, you on, she walks past you, and there's nowhere to sit?
No, she in a seat.
Wasn't no overhead, the luggage up seat. Wasn't on overhead. The luggage
up above. Phil.
Guess what?
That's what happened when you asked in group four.
And that's the last
time that happened. That's the last damn time
that happened. That's what
teachers call a teachable moment.
It was a teachable damn moment.
She's like, hell, his ass in group one.
I'm in four. Guess what?
I'm walking on group one.
I'm like, mm-hmm, walk ass on this plane.
OK, see?
Some of y'all women go ahead and be like that.
OK, I see how y'all want to roll.
Look, we ain't got that problem.
See, I'm real clear.
If you want to be an independent black woman,
go on right ahead.
Be independent.
Is that what independent mean?
Indie.
Hey, brother,
I'm going to send you one of them
spinning sticks for your desk so you can have...
No, I just like...
That's what that mean.
Hey, if you want to do your own thing,
hey, knock your damn
self out.
No question. Knock yourself out.
Rogue getting on the planee getting on the plane.
Getting on the plane.
Shout out to the FBI. Shout out to the
CIA. What's going on?
I'm going to ask you to bring me a damn water
while I'm waiting. All right.
I got to go to a break.
Y'all think I'm lying.
Okay. All right. Okay.
Y'all go ahead and be all quiet and shit.
I see y'all trying to be.
Larry like, I ain't trying to get in trouble.
Larry going to stand his ass over there in group four and five and some shit.
Here he group one.
Here he group one.
His woman, she don't fly much.
She group five and he going to stand his ass over there with group five.
Lost your damn mind.
Lost your mind.
Uh-uh. Okay. Okay.
Alright. Y'all keep
doing that. Okay.
Uh-huh. Ain't gonna have no water, no
overhead luggage. Y'all gonna be sitting
there with your bag in your damn lap
because you want to walk in there with group five.
Not Uncle
Ro. Alright. I gotta go to a
break. We'll be back back Roland Martin on the filter
on grown ass Roland Martin
group damn one
Roland Martin
1K on United
Roland Martin
concierge
just so y'all know some of y'all may not know
when you concierge
only you're not American Airlines they meet you
they have a person who meets you atcierge only, you know, American Airlines, they meet you at,
they have a person who meet you at the door
to walk you to the gate.
You know, the person at the gate
holding your boarding pass to get you on.
You damn right, I'm getting my ass on the plane in style.
I'ma be as black as possible doing it.
And if you white in line and you got a problem
with me walking in front of you,
suck it up. That ain't
my problem.
I earned it, as Greg said.
I'll be back in a moment.
I'm Dr. Greg Carr, and coming up on the next
Black Table, thinking about
the Black Freedom Movement in a global
way. Dr. John Monroe joins
us to discuss his book,
The Anti-Colonial Front, which maps the social justice movement in the United States
and its impact internationally from Asia to Africa and how movements like anti-communism
were used to slow down racial equality like critical race theory today.
JOHN MONROE, The Anti-Colonial Front, The Anti-Colonial Front, The Anti-Colonial Front,
Critical race theory today, communism back then,
this essentially mobilized to shut down any challenges
to a given system of power.
Connecting the civil rights movement to colonialism
on the next Black Table,
exclusively here on the Black Star Network.
A powerful movement is rising across America.
From the Mississippi Delta to the Apache stronghold.
From the homeless encampments
of Washington state to the coal fields of Appalachia of West Virginia. We are the 140
million poor and low-wealth people in this country and we are building the Poor People's Campaign,
a national call for moral revival. On June 18th, ahead of this year's midterm elections, while the Congress is still in
session, we will hold a mass poor people's and low-wage workers assembly and moral march on
Washington to arrest the attention of the nation, to put a face and a voice on poverty and low wages
in this country. This is a watershed moment for justice and democracy in America.
There are those who say that transformative change is impossible.
But history teaches us that it is precisely in times like these that people must build a broad and deep movement from the bottom up. We must compel this nation to repent, to lament, and to see the realities that have been hidden
for far too long.
On June 18th, we will come together
to lift the voices of the poor and low-wage workers
who know that change is not only possible,
it is essential for our survival.
We will make the connections to show how systemic racism,
poverty, ecological devastation, the denial of health care,
the war economy, and the false moral narrative
of religious nationalism and white supremacy
are hurting us all.
We will show the nation the faces of Americans
who cannot afford to go back to normal.
We will detail the policies that can move us toward a society that works for everyone.
And we will pledge to go home and build power for transformative change in this year's election and for years to come.
Because the question should have never been,
how much will it cost to address poverty?
The real question is, how much is it costing us not to?
Somebody's been hurting our people.
It's gone on far too long.
And we won't be silent or unseen anymore.
Join us in D.C. on June 18th.
Build with us for a on June 18th.
Build with us for a third reconstruction in America.
Visit poorpeoplescampaign.org.
Hi, I'm Eric Nolan.
I'm Shante Moore.
Hi, my name is Latoya Luckett,
and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered.
All right, y'all.
May is National Foster Care Awareness Month,
and my next guests are twin brothers born into the system,
and they're going the extra mile for youth in foster care. Devon and Tavon Woods are walking 176 miles from Statesboro, Georgia,
Jacksonville, Florida, to raise awareness about the foster care system
and youth who are in need.
There are more than 400,000 kids in foster care.
And the Woods brothers say the children just want to be loved and protected.
They join us now from Statesboro, Georgia.
Glad to have y'all here.
First of all, why the hell y'all walking to Jacksonville?
Like, y'all could walk to Atlanta or Charlotte. Why y'all walking to Jacksonville?
The reason we walking to Jacksonville because a four-year-old boy named James Rich Jr.,
he got killed last year in the foster care system. I mean, we've been in contact with his mom
and I always been telling her
that we was going to do something.
So I finally made a decision
to actually do it in Jacksonville.
Not just for James Reese Jr.,
but for all of the kids
around the world in the foster care system
that have been failed.
So when y'all get to Jacksonville,
is there some kind of rally or anything along those lines?
Yeah, the news is going to be there.
We're going to have James Reese Jr Julia's mom is going to be there,
and a lot of other people is going to be there as well.
All right, so you're starting.
First of all, how long is this walk-in?
How many miles are y'all doing per day?
We're averaging around 21, 22 miles per day.
21, 22 miles per day?
That's almost like a marathon.
Right.
Now, what do y'all have?
Do y'all have cars following y'all?
They got water, food?
What's up?
No, sir, we don't have anybody following us.
Oh, man, our support has been crazy.
So we've just been putting our route, you know, like where we're going between that daylight.
We're going from this city to that city.
And people will just be seeing us and be like, oh, y'all the twins off Facebook.
Like, it's crazy because we've never been on this side of town, you know, on this way to Georgia.
And so many people have been noticing us, just bringing us water.
So the support has been amazing.
Okay, hold up.
So y'all just, ain't nobody following y'all.
So y'all just walking, where y'all staying?
Y'all got like tents or something?
No, we Airbnbs.
Wow.
So basically, look, y'all walking from one Airbnb to the next.
No, no, no, no, no.
No, so this is how it is.
Whenever we get
to the city that we're staying at
for the night, somebody
will meet us and bring us to the Airbnb.
So once we make it into the city...
Hold on, somebody y'all don't even know?
Exactly. They have it set up like
full Airbnb.
Like,
we've never been in these cities before,
but we just post on our social medias
and everybody been treating us
like we from these specific towns
and we never been here before.
Now, hold up.
Y'all eating everybody mac and cheese?
Yes, sir.
Y'all brave as hell.
Not everybody.
It's like we eating at restaurants and stuff like that.
All right, I'm just checking.
Greg Carl.
I'm just saying, you know, because look, when I travel the country,
I have people, like I gave a speech in Akron, Ohio, and this woman,
I mentioned they had some horrible dessert at the speech.
And I said, damn, y'all need some pound cake.
And I did.
I did.
I'm real black now.
And this sister was like, she said, you know,
I baked the pound cake yesterday.
It's in the freezer.
My homegirl went to her house, brought the pound cake from her house
to me at the venue where I gave my speech for me to bring home. See? Right. But it was pound cake from my house to me at the venue where I gave my speech
for me to bring home. See?
Right. But it was pound cake.
I mean, it's a little hard to mess up
pound cake, and it was good, too.
So y'all have just been
hooking, so you put it out there
and the public has been just
showing up and showing out. Yes, sir.
It's crazy. It's like every time
we came in, they're putting us
in their newspaper. Man, they've been taking it like, it's crazy, man. Owners of restaurants
wanting us to come to their restaurants. Wow. It's been amazing. Wow. I'm going to go to my
questions, but I'm going to give y'all one tip. Now, go back to the video.
Them videos, y'all keep shooting in vertical, okay?
And y'all keep shooting them photos in vertical.
I'm just going to help you out with a little television.
So when you shoot in vertical, see them black bars on the side of the screen right there?
Yes.
That's because you're shooting in vertical.
If you shoot that bad boy horizontal, it gonna feel the whole screen up and for television
So just when y'all shoot video shoot this way so when the local television stations pick it up
Yeah, that's what you've been telling us
You're right mister all telling us that
Make sure y'all shooting it.
Shoot landscape horizontal so when you put it on TV,
because see the problem is we got to put a screen behind it because it's the black.
We got, boom, right here, right here.
All right, questions.
Let's see, Larry, you first since they walk into Florida
and you in Florida.
Yeah, first of all, congrats. It's a great idea.
You know, so this is a personal issue for me because my mother-in-law was a foster care parent for years.
So I know how important it is to be involved in foster care and positive role models.
Can you talk about, are you sharing, do you sharing, are you raising money? Do you have, you know, is there some kind of website, et cetera, that folks who are watching can go to to support your effort, not only in terms of the walking, but obviously, I'm assuming you guys have larger plans in terms of bringing attention and importing the foster care and obviously protecting the lives of children who have foster care.
Is there a website or something else that you guys or people can donate, et cetera?
Yeah, we have a GoFundMe and different other ways for people to donate.
My website is actually being built. It should be finished in a few weeks. But yeah, man,
everybody has been supporting. Everybody has been donating. And of course, our largest,
our biggest goal is to open up transitional housing for kids aging out of foster care.
All right. Let me go to Toron. Your question.
We just lost Toron. He just dropped. So try to get him back back on the line.
Greg. Thank you, Roland. And listen, brothers.
Let me tell you something, brothers Woods.
You all are restoring people's faith in humanity.
Be walking down the road in Florida by yourself and just taking the good grace of people.
Y'all need to run for office. But let me ask you, man.
I mean, in a moment when, you know, about 14 percent of the children in this country are children of African descent, African American, but almost a quarter of those kids in foster care are black.
Any any policy changes you'd like to see in the American foster care system?
I mean, should people have to qualify differently to become foster parents?
Do we need more black foster parents? I mean, how do we deal with the adoption piece?
Because some, as you all know better than any of us, you know, one of the reasons why children end up in foster care is
because people don't adopt them. Any thoughts on what needs to change in this system, brother?
Yeah, I feel like, man, the adoption process should be a whole lot different, man, just as
far as picking who the kids go with. Because in most instances, like for us for example um just getting placed
with a family night that's not giving us the proper things that we need for life as far as love
you know affection uh you know the emotional side as a kid would need so i know that that's one of
my biggest things just being more uh focused on the adoption process and like making that uh
evaluation much deeper and really deep
digging into those parents that's willing to adopt these innocent children.
All right. We don't have to run back.
OK, I'm still working on it. All right. So so let's talk about some walking tips.
Now, everybody think everybody think walking a lot is all in the shoes,
but it's not just
the shoes, it's the socks.
Last year,
we were in Austin for the Poor People's
Campaign March in Austin,
and
I ain't have no issues walking,
but
Anthony, who work with us,
his ass like 20 years younger than me
and he was whooped.
I mean, his legs were burnt
and we were just doing seven miles a day.
I was like, damn dog, you got to get out more.
So it's not, so everybody watching,
it's not just the shoes.
You got to have the right socks
when you walking a lot.
Yes, sir.
So what was y'all,
how did y'all game this whole thing out?
Well, honestly, Mr. Rona,
I ain't gonna lie.
I put all this together within
like two weeks ago.
Wow.
So it was just,
it was just so quick
because I was like, man,
like it's foster care awareness month
and not even foster care awareness month. I was just like, man, like it's foster care awareness month and not even foster
care awareness month. I was just like, man, somebody got to walk the extra mile for these
kids because it's not, it's not just bringing light and shining a bright light, which it is,
but it also giving kids all around the world in the system hope that, okay, like I can walk,
I can keep going. Like no matter what I'm going through, no matter the pain,
still keep walking. I can still keep pushing till, no matter what I'm going through, no matter the pain, I can still keep walking.
I can still keep pushing until I get to the finish line.
So we honestly, I put this together so fast.
And our preparation, we didn't start planning.
We planned as we got on the road.
After the first day, we're like, okay, this is what we need to get.
This is how we got to do this.
So after that first day, man, we got a system down pat.
And ever since then, man, we've been killing it.
So how many days y'all now been walking?
Four days.
Four?
Yes, sir.
And how many more days y'all got left?
Tomorrow's the last day.
Tomorrow's the last day. Got it. Anybody cramped up?
Yeah, yes, sir. Most definitely. That's why we got
pickle juice.
Pickle juice?
Yes, sir. Oh, y'all damn sure from the South. Oh, we got pickle juice. Pickle juice? Yes, sir.
Oh, y'all damn sure from the South.
Oh, we from South Carolina.
Y'all straight up black ass from the South.
Because you, I bet y'all grew up with the peppermint
stick in the pickles, huh?
Yeah.
Hell yeah.
See?
Oh, I see.
Oh, yeah. See? Oh, yeah.
See?
Everybody, somebody on YouTube said, hell yeah, old school.
Old school.
So blisters, anything like that?
No blisters, no, sir.
Man, look, thank God for that because ain't nothing like getting some blisters
and you got more miles to walk.
Yes, sir.
We have got the, what is it called?
Mold skin. Mold skin to put on our feet. The what?
The what skin? Mold skin.
Mold skin. They sell it at Walgreens. It's just like a little
padding you put on the bottom of your feet to prevent your feet from rubbing against
your socks and stuff.
Okay.
All right.
Now, y'all got a GoFundMe.
So how much are you trying to raise?
Really, the GoFundMe is just, I forgot how much you put it.
I think it's like $50,000.
Yeah.
All right.
So first of all, I'm trying to put it in this other monitor so I can see.
Y'all, no, give me the GoFundMe in the monitor, y'all.
I need to see the monitor.
I need to see the GoFundMe.
I don't need to see myself.
Can I see the GoFundMe in the monitor?
Well, hurry up.
I need to thank you very much.
All right, yeah, so y'all set a goal of $50,000.
You've got $9,149 raised, 148 donations.
Okay, so what's the easiest way
to search on GoFundMe? Just type
in We Are Their Voice.
Okay, so everybody who's watching,
okay, so everybody who's watching right
now, it's 2,000 of y'all
watching on YouTube and Facebook,
another several hundred
on the Black Star Network app. So I want you to
type in We are their voice
and donate to their effort
support them in doing that
the goal is $50,000
and let's see
I want to see by the next 24 hours
what this thing looks like
and so congratulations
somebody also commented
they said they saw the FAMU shirt
one of y'all go to FAMU?
Oh, no.
Don't say FAMU.
No, that's the restaurant we ate at today.
Oh, so damn.
Y'all ain't packed.
Y'all just getting clothes along the way, too?
No, we packed.
We got our own clothes.
No, but somebody, I guess in one of the videos,
they saw an orange and green
shirt. They thought it was a FAMU shirt.
Oh, no. That was a Mossy Oak shirt.
Yeah, that's a Mossy Oak shirt.
Oh, got it.
What's that? Another restaurant somebody gave y'all
a shirt? No, that's Mossy Oak.
That's a hunting
clothing line.
Alright, well, somebody thought it was FAMU.
But look at that. They they giving y'all shirts.
They giving y'all.
You know somebody going to walk up to y'all and give y'all a pair of underwear, too.
They going to give y'all all kinds of stuff.
Okay.
So, what?
All right.
So, what's been the craziest thing somebody has done for y'all on this walk?
Man.
Oh, yesterday at the church.
Oh, yeah.
That was crazy.
The lady said she saw us on the news, Miss Peggy.
She saw us on the news, and they was waiting for us to come through their town.
And she saw us, and she invited us to their church.
And, man, we went to the church.
They allowed us to take showers there.
We ate.
And, man, we got to talk to all the kids.
It was, like, over was like over 75 kids there.
That was one of the biggest
highlights of this trip.
Wow.
But y'all ain't at the church?
They had chicken tenders.
Oh, so y'all like,
you can't mess up chicken tenders.
Yeah.
Right.
As long as you ain't got to let that sucker simmer for a while, y'all good. I'm just looking. Yeah, yeah. Right. You like, long as you ain't
got to let that sucker
simmer for a while,
y'all good.
Okay, I mean,
I'm just looking,
look, man, look.
Look, walking 26 miles,
you know,
you eat the right,
you eat the wrong damn food,
it's going to be a tough walk.
That's right.
All right, then.
Well, gentlemen,
congratulations.
Tavon and Davon,
again, folks,
it's We Are Their Voice.
That's the GoFundMe page.
Y'all can check that out.
Support them in what they're doing.
I see already, let's see, y'all, we're at 9,149.
So it looks like it's at 9,201 now.
So you picked up four new donors, five new donors.
And so support them in what they're doing. And certainly congratulations, gentlemen. Good luck. So you picked up four new donors, five new donors. And so support them in what they're doing.
And certainly congratulations, gentlemen.
Good luck. Thank you.
All right, then. Glad to have y'all on the show. Wow.
Pickle juice, Greg!
Bro, that did
my heart good, brother.
Anybody,
please, every time
we own here, man,
you show the need for black media.
That's priceless, man.
Those cats are pure bread.
That's some South Cackle Lackey.
Where did they get the pickle juice from?
I mean, you could have took that interview in a million different directions.
You ain't lying.
Let me say this here.
So Wendy Clarissa Geiger just sent me a tweet, and she said,
Roland, I know why Greg Carr is not flying first class.
He figures how many more books he can buy if he flies coach
than if he flies first class.
See, what y'all don't know is when I travel,
I definitely go overseas with as few clothes as possible
and bring all the bags and come back with two bags full of books,
at least.
So,
she did peep the game, Roland, no question.
It don't matter when I get on the
plane because I'm going to get
books, that's true. I got you.
All right, then. Well, look, we
appreciate Toron, Larry,
Greg, thank you so very much.
Appreciate y'all joining us.
Reese is on vacation, that's right. I got
alphas in the house.
And of course, we had Brother Sims from Illinois.
Also a fellow alpha.
That's how we do it.
Y'all know how alphas roll.
Everybody else, they're just imposters.
All right, y'all.
That's it for us.
Tomorrow's show, y'all don't want to miss it.
We got Randall Pinkett.
Actually, his co-writerwriter Jeff, two alphas.
They got their book dealing with white faces, black faces,
dealing with black folks, how can they succeed in corporate America.
You don't want to miss that conversation.
Then I got, of course, a writer who talks about how she believes that wokeness among white liberals is destroying democracy in media.
She and I got an interesting conversation.
Congressman Mo Ro Khanna is also on the show talking about what Democrats need to do to win in November.
So it's a fantastic show for tomorrow.
Y'all don't want to miss it.
Don't forget, download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV, and of course,
you can always join our Bring the Funk fan club
where every dollar you give goes to support this show.
Send your check and money over to PO Box 57196,
Washington, D.C., 20037-0196.
Cash out, dollar sign RM unfiltered.
PayPal is RMartin unfiltered.
Venmo is RMartin unfiltered. PayPal is RMartin unfiltered. Venmo is RMartin unfiltered. And then, of course,
you go to Zale, Roland at RolandMartin, RolandSMartin.com. And then, of course, you also
have, give me one second, y'all. Give me one second. Roland at RolandSMartin.com, Roland at RolandMartin.com, Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com.
Kenneth, come here.
So, y'all, so the other day I introduced y'all to two of our interns.
He's our third intern, Kenneth Goodall.
Kenneth, come on.
I told you to come on, man.
All right, so this is Kenneth.
You had no folks today, right? Yes, sir. All right, so this is Kenneth. You're at Norfolk State, right?
Yes, sir.
All right, so is what, junior, senior?
I'm graduating.
You graduated already.
All right, so Kenneth is interning.
He trying to sit here and get a job.
So you know he's gonna be real focused in his 10 week intern.
So Kenneth, glad to have you here.
And so looking forward to you and the other interns, okay?
Thank you, thank you.
All right, cool, Back to the controller.
All right. All right, y'all. That's it for us.
I'm going to see y'all tomorrow.
Y'all know how we do it. Holla! Thank you.