#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Abbott Threatens to Prosecute Absent Dems, Jay Jones’ AG Run, Jobs Report Fallout & Gut Health Tips

Episode Date: August 6, 2025

8.4.2025 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Abbott Threatens to Prosecute Absent Dems, Jay Jones’ AG Run, Jobs Report Fallout & Gut Health Tips Texas Governor Greg Abbott is threatening to track down and prosecute Democratic lawmakers who left the state to block a Republican redistricting vote. We've got Texas State Representative Charlene Johnson and Cliff Albright, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, breaking down what this political standoff means for democracy in Texas. Fresh off his win in the Democratic primary for Virginia Attorney General, Jay Jones is taking on Republican incumbent Jason Miyares this November. He joins us tonight to talk strategy, civil rights, and the road to victory. After a brutal jobs report that led to the firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics chief, Morgan Harper is here to break down what it means for the economy and working families. Then on Fit, Live, Win... Dr. Aja McCutchen joins us to explain why gut health is the foundation of your overall well-being. She's got the science and the steps to help you thrive from the inside out. #BlackStarNetwork partner: Fanbasehttps://www.startengine.com/offering/fanbase This Reg A+ offering is made available through StartEngine Primary, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC.  This investment is speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment. You should read the Offering Circular (https://bit.ly/3VDPKjs (https://bit.ly/3ZQzHl0) related to this offering before investing. Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform 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.

This is an I-Heart podcast. I'm Noah and I'm 13 and I started this podcast because honestly adults don't ask the right questions. Now You Know with Noah DeBarroso is a show about influence. Who's got it, how they use it, and what it means for the rest of you. It's not the news. It's what the news should be if someone Gen Z or Gen Alpha made it. Politics is wild and I'm definitely not here to payment, but I'm here to make sense of it. Listen to Now You Know with Noah DeBarrasso on the I.

I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. When I became a journalist, I was the first Latina in the newsrooms where I worked. I'm Maria Inojosa. I spent my career creating journalism that centers voices who have been historically sidelined. From the most pressing news stories to deep cultural explorations, Latino USA is journalism with heart. Listen to Latino USA, the longest running Latino news and culture show in the United States. Hear it on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Don't let biased algorithms or degree screens or exclusive professional networks or stereotypes.

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print. Tim McGraw. Tickets are on sale now at AXS.com. Get your tickets today. AXS.com. up on Roland Mark on Philger streaming live on the Black Star Network. Republicans in Texas are hot as hell with Democrats as 51 flee Texas to stop them from voting on racist gerrymandered maps that will destroy black and brown representation in Texas. We'll talk to several state representatives. We'll talk to Cliff Albright, co-founder of Black Voters Matter. This is a massive attack on Black America.

Let's be real clear. New York State Governor Kathy Hockel says she is sick and tired of Republicans doing this and she will work to expand districts in New York for Democrats, same with Governor J. Pritzker in Illinois. Same thing is happening in California. We're going to see the same thing, potentially in Virginia and Maryland. This is a gerrymanding battle in order to stop Republicans from their racist attacks on African Americans and Latinos.

Also on today's show, we'll talk with Jay Jones. who wants to become the next Attorney General of Virginia. He'll be on the show. We'll break down with Morgan Harper, the brutal job stats that led Donald Trump to fire the commissioner over that department. It's amazing. He was loving the job stats two months ago. Now he doesn't like him because they show that his tears are destroying the economy.

Folks, it's time to bring the funk on Roller Martin Unfiltered. On the Black Star Network, let's go. Got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling. Best belief he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for gigs, he's rolling.

Yeah, yeah. It's Uncle Roe Roy, y'all. Yeah, yeah. It's rolling Martin, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Rolling with rolling now. He's bunk, he's fresh, he's real the best, you know, he's rolling Martel now. Martel!

Folks, don't y'all know a hit dog will holler? Well, that's Texas Republicans, as the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott is angry, upset, saying he is going to go after Democrats, jail them find them, try to kick them out of office because 51 Democrats have fled the state, went to Illinois, because that keeps the Republicans from having a quorum in the House and stopping them from passing racist gerrymandered maps. And remember, Donald Trump told Texas, I need five seats. Go get me five seats. So as a result, they said, okay, we're going to redraw congressional maps in the middle of the decade.

Now, normally this happened once every 10 years. Now, they drew the maps in 2021. They were Republican maps in 2021. They then said, oh, no, race had no factor in any of this. Race had nothing to do with the maps that we drew. Donald Trump then has his Department of Justice sent a BS letter claiming that these are unconstitutional racist maps. So Texas goes, okay, that's the justification

for Greg Abbott calling a special session in order to change the maps. But here's the problem, y'all. See, political gerrymandering, Supreme Court says that's allowed. States have jurisdiction. Now, the state Supreme Courts can overrule political gerrymandering. But racist gerrymandering, ah, that's still against the federal law. And the Supreme Court has actually ruled against racist gerrymandering.

So Texas goes, oh, oh. Okay, hold up. We need to switch this thing up. So, no, no, no, no. So we're not redrawing maps because of the letter from the DOJ. We're redrawing the maps to gain political power. That's partisan gerrymandering. But you're actually doing it because the pretext was the letter from the DOJ.

And then they didn't even want to call in the DOJ folks to come and explain why they called it unconstitutional. In fact, just last month, Texas was actually defending the maps in court saying they weren't based upon race. Here's Greg Abbott on Fox News. Abbott joins us now. Thank you so much. Can you tell us from your perspective, what is the issue? Why did they leave? So they're leaving and they've left because they're very un-Texam. Texans don't run from a fight. And there's a fight going on in the legislature right now about redistricting as well as other things. But I'll make two quick points, Dana, about this. For one, to run to states like New York.

Illinois to protest redistricting. And it's kind of like running to Wisconsin to protest cheese. It's just kind of outrageous. Those are New York and Illinois to hallmark states. They've already done redistricting to eliminate Republicans. But the second thing is far more serious. And that is what these Democrats have done, just a small fraction of them were needed to break a quorum. That small fraction is holding hostage legislation in the state of Texas, where we will be able to provide assistance and reform for all of the victims of that horrific flooding that we've had in the state of Texas. Our fellow Texans are being let down and not getting the flood relief they need because these Democrats have absconded from the responsibility,

and I believe they have forfeited their seats in the state legislature because they're not doing the job they were elected to do. Ah, so they left, and you're saying Texas are not getting the flood relief. they deserve, 130 people died as a result of floods. So please explain to me, Greg, why did you make redistricting, racist redistricting the priority and not flood relief? Hmm. Do y'all see how they, how the story just get, let's switch it, let's switch it.

One of the state reps joins us right now, Charlene Johnson, along with Cliff Albright, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, represent Johnson. I want to start with you. Let's just be abundantly clear with here. You don't have to say it. I will. Texas Governor Greg Abbott is full of shit. That's what he is.

The Republicans are doing this because Donald Trump ordered them to. And if Greg Abbott had any guts, if Greg Abbott had a spine, he would have told Trump, hey, you my man, but go sit your ass down. We drew the maps.

Race wasn't a factor. So we're going to reject your argument with this DOJ letter. Everything you're seeing the pretext of this was the letter. But here's what's so stupid registered Representative Johnson. If they just never sent the letter and just did it for political partisan political reasons, it would make sense. But they are specifically targeting four black members of Congress and Latino.

These are racist maps with racist intent. And what they don't want, that's why I wore the color of chain shirt voting while black. Right. Right. You're exactly right, Roland Martin. Thank you for having me on. And the seats that they picked out, they were not just picked out randomly. They were picked out on purpose because those for a seat represent minority districts, but they also represent people who have spoken out against Trump. Al Green always calls out Trump. Mark V's seats. These are Democratic seats that they went after. So you mean to tell me that these are the only seats that you could pick out as diverse as takes zeals, we need to have more representation of color in D.C. So what this is, Greg Abbott calling us, you know, that we left our jobs. We were the ones who were fighting for the flood, the flood issue, the flood bills. He didn't bring this up until after we left. His priority was to do this map. We've been down there two weeks, and we have not discussed maps on that house floor. We've only

had the hearings for the maps that they wouldn't even show the maps to the people who were coming until after they had public hearing. And how shady is that? Right. So they wouldn't show the maps. And again, now they're trying to sit here

and flip it, y'all get the video ready of the leader of the committee who was trying to say, oh no, this is about you know, Trump won these districts and this is about the map according to how he won. And we should be rewarding the folks, that's not it, we should be rewarding the folks, you know,

he should be rewarding that. No, no, what you're doing is you're screwing the people because 61% of Texas is minority, yet 61% of the folks who vote are white, and what the Republicans in Texas want, they want, they want more white Republican representation in Congress. They do not want to see people of color represented in Congress. Exactly. Trump is afraid of the blue wave in 2026. So he wants to try to cheat his way to not lose his power in the house by asking Texas to give him more seats. Now, he's just going to come and ask for it. Instead of Governor Abbott saying, no, we need to focus on the families who had lost loved ones in the floods flooding. No, he bowed down to Trump and he just handed us over to him. So don't say that we didn't do our job when he failed to do his job. job to protect Texas from President Trump. Cliff, I want to bring you in here, and I need people to understand, Cliff.

This is a direct attack on black people. Texas has the most eligible black voters of any state in America. This is white conservative Republicans saying we do not want black people in Texas to have fair representation in Congress. You absolutely right, Roland. And first, let me just say to Representative Johnson and to all the other, you know, reps, thank you, you know, thank you for showing the kind of fight

that, you know, black folks across this country, progressives have been wanting to see at the national level. And so thank y'all so much. You know, we're pleased to have supported the Texas Downs when they did this back in 2021 over voting rights. At that time, they were right then and they're right now. They were courageous then and they're courageous now. So, yes, this is definitely attack against black voters just as much as it's an attack against

black representatives. We saw this back in 2022. Part of what they're hoping on is they know that this isn't legal, but they hope that they can do it and just make it happen in 2026 before all the litigation and court cases takes effect. That's what happened in 2022. what happened when Congress shifted? It was because of gerrymandering that took place in Louisiana, in Alabama, in Georgia, in Florida.

That's what made up that difference, that four or five seat difference back in 22. It was strictly off of racist gerrymandering. They're trying to do the same thing, even if it doesn't last past 26, they know that the damage would be done. And then once you get somebody in there, it's hard to get them out.

Well, and let's unpack that because what people don't understand is We had 10 County Commissioner Lee. I'm Noah. I'm 13. And as you might have seen from the news, I got a podcast. And I explain those fake headlines like your uncle would. Like your cousin would if he actually did the research. Honestly, adults don't ask the right questions.

Now you know with Noah DeBaroso is a show about influence. Who's got it, how they use it, and what it means for the rest of you. It's not the news. It's what the news should be if someone Gen Z or Gen Alpha made it. When I'm watching everything. Majority of the youth, 18 through 24, say they trust Republicans more than Democrats from the economy. You kidding. Politics is wild and I'm definitely not here to tame it, but I'm here to make sense of it.

Just what's happening, why it matters, and what it means for us. Bring your brain. Listen to Now You Know with Noah de Barossa on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. When I became a journalist, I was the first Latina in the newsrooms where I worked. I'm Maria Inojosa. I dreamt of having a place where voices that have been historically sidelined would instead be centered. For over 30 years now, Latino USA has been that place. This is Latino USA, the Radio Journal of News and Cultura.

As the longest running Latino news and culture show in the United States, Latino USA delivers the stories that truly matter to all of us. from sharp and deep analysis of the most pressing news. They're creating these narrative that immigrants are criminals. This is about everyone's freedom of speech. Nobody expected two popes from the American continent to stories about our cultures and our identities. When you do get a trans character like Imidavetes,

the trans community is going to push back on that. Colorism, all of these things like exist in Mexican culture and Latino culture. You'll hear from people like Congresswoman, I don't want to give them my fear. I'm not going to give them my fear. Listen to Latino USA as part of the My Cultura Podcast Network, available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Don't let biased algorithms or degree screens or exclusive professional networks or stereotypes. Don't let anything keep you from discovering the half of the workforce who are

Stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time to tear the paper ceiling and see the stars beyond it. Find out how you can make stars part of your talent strategy at tear the paper sealing.org. Brought to you by opportunity at work in the ad council.

Our IHeart Radio Music Festival presented by Capital One is coming back to Las Vegas. Vegas. September 19th and 20th. On your feet. Streaming live only on Hulu. Ladies and gentlemen. Brian Adams. Ed Sharon. Fade. Chlorilla, Jelly Roll,

Chon Fogarty, Lil Wayne, L.L. Cool J, Mariah Carey, Maroon 5, Sammy Hagar, Tate McCray, the Offsprin, Tim McRaw, tickets are on sale now at AXS.com. Get your tickets today, AXS.com. Listen, Simmons on last week. So, first of all, the filing deadline

is in December for the March primary. And so if they're able to pass these maps, the court case is not going to happen in three or four months. And so the Supreme Court has a rule that, well, you've got to have a certain amount of time to allow voters to prepare for the election. And so what Texas wants to do, Texas wants to pass these maps, now they become the new maps, lawsuit is filed, filing deadline for the new maps is in December. So the primary in March, and the general election in 2006 is based upon the next. new maps. Now, the old maps locking in five new members

and then you're going to have litigation. Those maps could very well stay in place for the 2008 midterm elections. And so let's just say the Supreme Court overrules Texas, then the old maps or

newly redrawn maps not in effect until 2030. Representative Johnson, that is their strategy. Exactly. Call it what it is. It's a power grab. It's a power grab for Trump to take over power of the Congress, of both the House and the Senate, but he really wants the House. This is a racial attack on black and brown voters and representation. He is afraid because he know that his approval level is in the trash, just going down further and further and down because people are realizing that he did not keep his promises. He did not reduce the cost of eggs. He did not reduce the debt. He did not keep his promises, therefore he should not keep his job. But he wants to come to Texas to do a power ground and attack on black and brown. We are tired of it.

We are saying we are sick and tired of. We are sick of the attack of our people, and we just not do anything about it. So we had to fight. The best way we knew how is to do a quorum break and not give them the opportunity to vote that map in. We were ready to fight. We were ready to stick together. But here's the key right here, Cliff, and people watching, to understand, the proper language must be used.

It's actually, it's actually, so for the purpose of, of the lawsuit, Democrats should not actually call the power grab, should not call us in partisan gerrymanding. They have to specifically say this is racist gerrymandering, because when the, when the lawsuit is filed, then they're going to enter into evidence that, what, what's the point? which is why State Representative Jelonda Jones when she was on the redistricting committee which she actually resigned from,

they told people testifying they couldn't take sides. So people were commenting on a process never seeing the maps because they wanted there to be non-racial language discussed so the lawsuit is followed. They could say, well, the people testified

but race was never brought up. Exactly. It never was a fair process. And you're right. We have to call it. what it is. It's a racial attack. It's racial Mandarin. That's what it is. Cliff, speak on that. And Cliff, for the purpose

of people understanding, y'all have filed numerous lawsuits. So explain why the language must be proper, because when you file the lawsuit, it's going to be based upon the reasons for the lawsuit. Yeah, that's right. Many of cases have been lost, not

so much because the case didn't have merit, but because the way it was framed, because the language that was or the issue that was raised simply wasn't the right issue, especially when you're dealing for court like the Supreme Court that we know isn't legitimate that is looking for any reason

to throw out any of our lawsuits against the racist gerrymandering. And so, you know, I know that our friends that I'm sure that's going to be honest, folks like Legal Defense Fund and others, you know, they're going to get it right. They just have to have like the ammunition, the backup, the evidence, and the testimony.

But at the end of the day, part of that testimony is going to be this part of the reason that we know this is so racist is that you pointed out the hypocrisy of Abbott a little bit early on. Here he is talking about, you know, oh, we can't leave these seats vacant, right? They

abandoning their post. This is the same Abbott that has left District 18, right, after the death of Sylvester Turner, has left that vacant. So clearly he's not in a rush to fill seats because that's a seat that should have been filled. But what's the commonality

between that seat and these seats that they're targeting, again, black representation and black voters. It's all racists. And so again, and I need everybody watching, again, please listen, the language you use is critically important.

Now, I need y'all to see how their trial nine to flip it. Let me say it again. The Trump Department of Justice, that idiot, Dylan, her meat, whatever name is, this all started because they sent an action

truth be told, they kind of screwed up, but not necessarily. So here's what they did. I need to unpack it for y'all. They sent a letter saying, your seats are unconstitutional. They were drawn based upon race. Texas Republicans are on record by saying they were not drawn based upon race. Then they go, special session. Then they flip it to, oh, no, it's about power. Here's the chairman of the committee.

Listen to what he says, because he's trying. to now run from the race aspect. Listen. I've seen no evidence that this was racially drawn. This is a political performance map. I haven't looked at those. The question I had when I looked at this and I was evaluating it myself was,

does this improve the political performance of Republicans in Texas? Which is where we have been trending and what we need to do to respond nationally. This is not just a Texas issue. It's a nationwide issue. It's perhaps one of the biggest issues that we're taking up. And when we've seen all of these blue states overperform with their maps and Texas is underperforming, that puts Republicans at a distinct disadvantage nationwide, and it's right for Texas to step up.

So I have not seen any evidence that this map was racially based. What I have seen is evidence that this map was politically based, and that's totally legal, totally allowed, and totally fair. Guys, what are you doing? Go back to the video. Thank you. as a pretense to kick off this process, you're saying this is about politics. This is about political power. I disagree with the assumption that this process had anything to do with the DOJ letter. Yeah, they sent a letter, but as you know, the proclamation called us in to do congressional redistricting.

And we did congressional redistricting when we passed HB4 based off a political performance. So frankly, don't care what the DOJ letter said. And I think it's pretty clear that no one does on the prevailing side of this bill. So this bill was not based off of that DOJ letter. This bill was based off of improving political performance. Joseph Johnson, that's absolute total bullshit. This all started based on the letter. The letter, because no constituent answer that.

The letter is what started this process, and Department of Justice is wrong about Trump. So, yes, that is absolutely a false statement that he made. This is definitely based on the Department of Justice letter, and it's definitely based on race. They said it in the letter. They can say what they want on that press conference. And here's what's crazy.

This right here, Cliff, this is the proclamation issued by the governor. Legislation proposing a constitutional amendment allowing the Attorney General to prosecute state election crimes. Legislation that provides a revised congressional redistricting plan in light of constitutional concerns raised by the Department of Justice. The governor in declaring the call for a special session cites the letter. Now the committee chair is like, oh, yeah, let me have nothing to do with this. It's literally the reason why the governor calls a special session.

Exactly. Black and white. Everything that's saying and do is a lie. You know, and they act like, you know, we're not in the age where, like, there's things in writings. There are things in photographs. There's videos, like the video that you just showed. And so, like, they just expect that they just go in the court and just be able to lie. But, again, part of why they're doing this is because they're counting on some illegitimate court at some point. Maybe it's a judge, I lean, and it's not going to be heard.

I don't think this is our district. But maybe it's another judge like that, right? Maybe it's a judge like, what's the name, it just got approved? the Piro from Fox TV. Maybe it's the corrupt Supreme Court. They know they don't have the law on the side. They know that it's racist. They know that there's all this stuff that contradicts them,

but they're still going to try to get away with it. And again, I just want everybody to understand. Right here. Look at the top left corner. July 9, 2025. See right here, in testimony whereof, I have here unto sign my name and have officially caused the seal of the state,

Texas to be affixed at my office in the city of Austin, Texas, this the 9th day of July 2025, Greg Abbott. That was on July 9th. What happened on July 7th? Right here. U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, a letter to Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton, says, R.E. unconstitutional race-based congressional districts. This letter will serve as formal notice by the Department of Justice to the Department of

the state of Texas of serious concerns regarding the legality of four of Texas congressional districts. As stated below, congressional districts 9, 18, 29, and 33 currently constitute unconstitutional coalition districts, and we urge the state of Texas to rectify these race-based considerations from these specific districts. And Representative Johnson, the Republicans in Texas are on record as saying, no, we did not draw these districts in 2021 based upon

race. So, Chairman, how can you say you didn't draw them on race in 2021? You were defending the districts in court. They send a letter now based upon race. The governor cites the race, but then you go,

oh, no, I don't care what the letter says. Exactly. That's what they do. They lie to get what they want, and they will attack us to get what they want. Well, that's exactly, go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. Cliff. Final comment. Just real quick. And I know that you put it in this context and throughout all the coverage that you've been doing on this and you've been doing an amazing job. But there might be some folks listening or maybe that'll see this clip and they'll hear all this Texas stuff and the letter from the Texas governor and all that stuff.

And they'll be thinking that this is just a Texas issue. And I just want to connect the dots the way that I know that you always do because we need to be clear, everybody across this country, particularly every, every black person. across this country. I don't care what state you live in. This is our issue. This fight is our these legislators that have courageously left the state. You know, there are reps too, right? Because what's at stake is control of this Congress. I don't care what the issue is that you care about. If you're upset about, you know, there's all these students that are going viral because they don't have no longer have the student aid to be able to go to college that's starting this month and next month. If you care about education, if you care about student aid, If you care about the fact that black unemployment has just reached its highest point since COVID,

if you care about any of these issues, if you care about folks being kidnapped off the street by, you know, people in masks, you know, so-called ICE agents or vigilantes or whatever they are that are in masks, if you care about any of these issues, then you need to be caring about this fight. And you need to be caring about these Texas dams that are fighting this good fight. everybody needs to be involved in this issue. Everybody needs to be reaching out to their elected officials, especially if you live in one of these states that can

use the nuclear option, whether it's California, Illinois, or New York, or New Jersey, or Maryland, everybody needs to be involved in this fight and make it a call to your elected officials somewhere because this issue is not just about Texas, right? We want our fam in Texas to get the representation

that they deserve. We want that, but we also need to be clear that this affects every one of us. And Representative Johnson, last point, you've got the governor sitting here threatening this little nonsense here. He says this amounts to an abandonment of forfeiture of an elected office. He's saying he's going to have folks arrested. If the House reconvenes at 3 p.m., he's going to call for the Attorney General to remove the missing Democrats from membership of the Texas House. In that opinion, the Attorney General considered whether Texas law allows for determination the legislature has vacated office,

all of this is so bullshit he literally has no legal ground to stand on this is nothing but bullshit from Greg Abbott to fire up his Republican base and he knows it and guess what if he attempts it

y'all are going to court anyway and the courts are going to sit here and stay it so you can't remove anybody so hey knock yourself out last call are y'all prepared because again deadline is December the reality is

y'all got to hold out for four months or y'all prepared 51 Democrats to hold out to not be in the state for four months well we are doing everything we can and yes we are willing to fight this fight we want to fight it to the end

we are taking it one session at a time this session ends and he could call another session if he wants to which you probably will we are in it for the fight we are not afraid we're not afraid of the warrants We were not afraid to leave the state. We were just sick and tired of being stepped on for them to have more power. So we're here for the fight.

We're here for it. Come and take us. All right. Representative Johnson, I appreciate that. Cliff Albright. Appreciate it as well. Thanks a lot. Folks, going to go to a break.

We'll be right back. Rolling Martin Unfiltered right here in the Black Star Network. Next, on the black table with me, Greg Carl. The United States is the most dangerous place for a woman to give birth. among all industrialized nations on the planet. Think about that for a second. That's not all. Black women are three times more likely to die in this country

during childbirth than white women. These health care systems are inherently racist. There are a lot of white supremacist ideas and mythologies around black women, black women's bodies, even black people that we experience pain less, right? Activists, organizer, and fearless freedom fighter,

Monifa Ocunwele Bandelae from Mom's Rising joins us and tells us this shocking phenomenon like so much else is rooted in unadulterated racism. And that's just one of her fights. Monifa Bandelae on the next black table here on the Black Star Network. This week on the other side of change. Diaspora Wars.

I'm Noah. I'm 13. And as you might have seen from the news, I got a podcast. I explain those fake headlines like your uncle would, like your cousin would if he actually did the research. Honestly, adults don't ask the right questions. Now you know with Noah de Barroso is a show about influence. Who's got it, how they use it, and what it means for the rest of you.

It's not the news. It's what the news should be if someone Gen Z or Gen Alpha made it. And I'm watching everything. The majority of the youth, 18 through 24, say they trust Republicans more. more than Democrats to run the economy. You kidding me. Politics is wild and I'm definitely not here to pay it, but I'm here to make sense of it.

Just what's happening, why it matters, and what it means for us. Bring your brain. Listen to Now You Know with Noah DeBarossa on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. When I became a journalist, I was the first Latina in the newsrooms where I worked.

I'm Maria Inogosa. I dreamt of having a place where voices that have been historically sidelined would instead be centered. For over 30 years now, Latino USA has been that place. This is Latino USA, the Radio Journal of News and Cultura. As the longest running Latino news and culture show in the United States, Latino USA delivers the stories that truly matter to all of us. From sharp and deep analysis of the most pressing news, they're creating this narrative that immigrants or criminals,

This is about everyone's freedom of speech. Nobody expected to popes from the American continent to stories about our cultures and our identities. When you do get a trans character like Imira Perez, the trans community is going to push back on that. Colorism, all of these things like exist in Mexican culture and Latino culture. You'll hear from people like Congresswoman, AOC. I don't want to give them my fear.

I'm not going to give them my fear. Listen to Latino USA as part of the My Cultura Podcast Network. on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Don't let biased algorithms, or degree screens, or exclusive professional networks, or stereotypes. Don't let anything keep you from discovering the half of the workforce who are stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time to tear the paper ceiling and see the stars beyond it. Find out how you can make stars part of your talent strategy at tear the paper sealing.org.

Brought to you by opportunity at work in the ad council. Our IHeartRadio Music Festival, presented by Capital One, is coming back to Las Vegas. Vegas. September 19th and 20th. On your feet. Streaming live only on Hulu. Ladies and gentlemen. Brian Adams. Ed Sheeran.

Fade. Glorilla. Jellyroll. John Fogarty. Lil Wayne. L.L. Cool J. Mariah Carey. Maroon 5.

Sammy Hagar. Tate McCray. The offspring. Tim McGraw. Tickets are all sale now at AXS.com. Get your tickets today. AXS.com. Internet has been sworn.

Who has a right to blackness and black vulture, who is overrepresented, underrepresented. It's too much. It's making us busy. We don't have to be prifle without this air of superiority, right? All stories matter within this black sphere that we exist in. Only on the other side of change on the Black Star Network. Bruce Smith, creator, and executive producer of the proud family, louder and prouder. You're watching Roland Martin.

All right, folks, these Texas Democrats, they are in two places. New York State, also Chicago. A little bit earlier today, New York State Governor Kathy Hockel sounded off on what's happening there, and she says she's ready to act to change. their districts in light of what these racist Republicans are doing in Texas. For Representative Plessa and your colleagues from Texas, what is your response to Governor Abbott accusing you all of possibly committing a felony by being here and not returning to Austin by this afternoon? Is it safe to say you have no immediate plans and plan to stay here indefinitely?

Have it from her in Texas and says, come and take it? That's what we're going. we're saying. Look, governor is very good at manipulating the truth, right? And what he's saying is not completely accurate. He knows that we're using a tool that was given to us by the founders of the Texas Constitution. He knows what the rules are. And he's trying to manipulate the situation to make it play in his favor. It's not going to work. The people of Texas know they've seen this playbook before, and they want fair maps. We, I told you, we had nine hearings on redistricting, we had hundreds of Texans show up against these maps. It was a handful of people that testified in favor of these maps.

I'm talking about 500 people that showed up on Friday. Texas Republicans didn't give them an access to have their voice heard. They limited debate in those hearings. So what I say to the governor is you need to have better policies. You can't just, you're not going to just eliminate 20. So let me be clear, I'm a criminal, I'm a lawyer. A part of my practice is criminal defense work. There is no felony in the Texas Penal Code for what he says.

So respectfully, he's making up some shit, okay? He's trying to get sound bites, and he has no legal mechanism. And if he did, subpoenas from Texas don't work in New York. So he's going to come get us how? subpoenas in Texas don't work in Chicago. He's going to come get us how. So let me be clear. He's putting up smoke and mirrors, and I'm hopeful that the media doesn't follow that.

I will also say this. I was on the redistricting committee. I sat in on the meetings. We had three sham hearings with no maps, with no maps, where people were forced to testify that they were neutral on the maps because of our processes. when actually, I would say about 99.9% of the people were against it. So they set it up. So when the litigation happens, because it's going to happen, trust and believe, right?

That there will be testimony saying that everybody was neutral on it, which is, excuse my French, a damn lie. Then, when they got the map on Wednesday, and let me be clear, it was the worst kept secret in Texas. I was on the redistricting committee and I was wondering in January why I'm on the redistricting committee I mean, they're not in a redistricting year and we didn't meet once right? But this was

always the backup plan always. I sat in on the hearings. It was a joke. The chair of the redistricting committee, Cody Vasude is a lawyer in the legislature he is the expert on points of order he knows the law

Cody pays attention to detail. During the redistricting committee meetings, well, I hadn't looked at anything. I don't know. I ain't seen no maps. Yeah, uh-huh, whatever you say. So you peeing on me and you telling me it's raining and you expect me to believe it, wrong answer. When they finally had the one public hearing with the map, and the secret was out, the stuff is going to get filed on Wednesday.

and we're going to have a marathon hearing on Friday is what they said. The plan was filed on Wednesday, and they had a 10-hour meeting on Friday. And the thing that was the most offensive to me as a person who went to these and asked questions about these, and let me be clear, the districts that are targeted overwhelmingly are black districts. Okay? They are pitting Jasmine Crockett against Mark Visi, and they are pitting Al Green against CD18 where there's a black representative. If you don't know who sat in CD18, I live in CD18,

by the way, Barbara Jordan, Mickey Leland, Craig Washington, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Sylvester Turner. So those are the people they're trying to take out. So I'm real upset about it and my constituents are real upset about it. But it's really interesting that the map person who says that some law firm drafted the maps and he don't know that much about the maps, I felt like I was in a bad addition of an episode of white man's burden. For the most part, he told us, grown people speaking us as if we were kids, said to us, you need to be happy. We didn't have to give you any hearings in the first place, and we know what's best for you. Well, I respectfully submit that they don't know what's best for us. They do not know what's best for us. And let me also

be clear. My constituents demanded that I be here. So you think I'm going to listen to Donald Trump and Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick and the Attorney General who can't treat his wife right and who lies on documentation. So I think he need to worry about going to jail. But my point is this. We, the Democratic contingent, we are paying attention to what our constituents are demanding of us. They've literally told us if you don't quorum break, we will primary you.

That's how important it is. This is—people wonder, why should New York be concerned about what's going on in Texas? Why should anywhere be concerned with going on in Texas? I'm going to tell you why. My grandmother says this. If you allow yourself to be a rug, people will step on you. No one was paying attention to North Carolina in 2024. There were seven Republican congresspeople.

There were seven Democratic congresspeople. Guess what? The Republicans rigged the game in North Carolina. And they took three seats. I'm going to say this. Again, that's ebonics for those of you who don't speak it. They took three seats. Congress has a three Republican majority.

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. So we weren't paying attention what was going on in North Carolina. And look what we have. We got that big, ugly, terrible bill shoved down our throats. So guess what? I was paying attention. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Texas will not be North Carolina. We will not give him what we need. And we're marching. we ain't fleeing, we're fighting, and we are so incredibly thankful that the governor, that the governor has hosted us because we need allies. So do they're their silence voters than serve them? From my perspective, to refuse to stand up and fight for our democracy as we are joining in solidarity with our friends from Texas means one thing.

You won't fight for democracy. You're doomed to lose it. For almost 250 years, our democratic experience has been fought for, and it's endured. As governor of a state were made, those early battles took place. We're commemorating them next year. Those battles for freedom were here. That's why I cannot stand by and let this happen, while Donald Trump and his co-conspirator Greg Abbott

erode our democracy and drag us toward authoritarianism. Now, what Texas and Republican states are doing at the direction of Donald Trump, I say is nothing short of a legal insurrection against our capital. Legal meaning they're using the legal process does not mean it's legal, and it must be stopped. If Republicans are willing to rewrite these rules to give themselves an advantage, Then they're leaving us no choice. We must do the same. There's a phrase, you have to fight fire with fire.

That is a true statement of how we're feeling right now. As I've said, another overused but applicable phrase, all's fair and love and more. That's why I'm exploring with our leaders, every option to redraw our state congressional lines as soon as possible. Bringing my panel right now, joining us right now, Dr. Omey Kongo, to being a senior professor of lecture, School of International Service, American University. He also, of course, is the author of the book,

Lies About Black People. Also, Dr. Neon B. Carter, Professor of the University of Maryland University of Park. She joins us right now as well. Glad to have her here. Dr. Larry J. Walker, Associate Professor University of Central Florida, out of Orlando. Glad to have all three of you here. So let's unpack this thing right here.

here's the issue that Democrats are facing Naomi, I'll start with you and that is Democrats believe in fairness Democrats believe in what's just they believe in what's right and so what has happened is you've had these bipartisan these commissions

these independent commissions other voters voted upon California New York State Michigan as well okay that's great I believe in fairness Republicans are like I won't give a shit about that let's take Ohio the voters in Ohio

passed a similar commission. Republican legislature said, bump that, we ain't doing that shit. They overrobed that commission. And so basically, Democrats have been fighting essentially with their hands behind their backs or Republicans have been sitting here slashing and burning.

And so the problem that Democrats have, they're going to have to go to the voters to overturn those commissions that were approved by the voters to be able to do this and so even Attorney General Eric Holder who leads this redistricting fighting gerrymandering, he now is on the record

as saying, hell, I've been against gerrymandering, but if they're going to use gerrymandering to bolster their numbers, I can't be against it and screw my own party. Yeah, I mean, look, this is a war of the weapons, right? And for a long time, Republicans have used gerrymandering very skillfully. You remember Project Red map where, you know, over 20 years ago, Republicans looked at the sea of

American voters and saw that the policies that they favor are not popular. People don't like them. People don't want more restriction in their life. They don't want less social welfare in their life. So Republicans knew that the only way that they could continue to win is to rig the maps. And they've done it quite skillfully. they were starting, like I said, using those 2010 numbers, turning over those small house district and those house seats all across these states in New York, in the Michigan's, in the Ohio's, with their eyes on gubernatorial seats, with their eyes on being able to have these state legislatures because that's where most redistricting happens in many places. And so they could have this moment.

so they could have their moment. And now we're here in Texas where they're not even pretending anymore that this has anything to do with fairness. And they can call it a party in J.R. Madder. They can call it whatever they want to. But we only see that there are districts

where they are represented by minorities and or Democrats that these they are being packed essentially between Austin, Dallas, and Houston. And so we know what this is about. And also the Rio Grande Valley. We know what they're doing. And I think the problem with Democrats

I'm Noah, I'm 13, and as you might have seen from the news, I got a podcast, and I explain those fake headlines like your uncle would, like your cousin would if he actually did the research. Honestly, adults don't ask the right questions. Now you know with Noah de Barroso is a show about influence. Who's got it, how they use it,

and what it means for the rest of you. It's not the news. It's what the news should be if someone Gen Z or Gen Alpha made it. And I'm watching everything. The majority of the youth, 18 through 24, say they trust Republicans more than Democrats to from the economy. You kidding me. Politics is wild and I'm definitely not here to pay it, but I'm here to make sense of it.

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is coming back to Las Vegas. September 19th and 20th. On your feet. Streaming live only on Hulu. Ladies and gentlemen. Brian Adams, Ed Sheeran, Fade, Glorilla, Jelly Roll. Sean Fogarty, Lil Wayne, L.L. Cool J., Mariah Carey, Maroon 5, Sammy Hagar, Tate McCrae, the Offspring, Tim McGraw. Tickets are on sale now at AXS.com. Get your tickets today. AXS.com. They don't recognize that this is not something you can sort of, you know, be nice about. This is naked, bare-knuckle brawls here. And I think honestly what's happening in for Republicans.

in Texas right now is they didn't anticipate that the Democratic caucus would do this, because this is something the Republicans would do. First of all, we saw that, Larry, when the Republicans ran out of D.C. so they would not vote on the Epstein files. This is former Attorney General Eric Holder. Again, he has been leading a group against

gerrymandering for a very long time. He now says, hey, that's not helping us. Watch. And so I've been against gerrymandering. But in light of what Texas Republicans are doing at the direction of the White House, I say that what we've got to do is take responsible, responsive measures that are temporary in nature and combat that. We simply can't lie down and think that if we play fair, we're going to get a fair deal. We've got to do things that maybe I didn't necessarily support before, but that I find necessary to support now.

Here it is, you can, what Nyamba just said, Democrats have been playing nice. That is, this is what's right, this is what's fair, this is what's just, and the other, other sides like, we ain't doing none of that shit. You have to be gangster as, as gangster as they are. Larry, you're on mute. so Rowan this is like politics if you have gladiators in Rome back in the day

fighting so this is about maintaining a permanent majority so you're right the Democrats have the right to have the right to fight you have to get the street and fall because if you don't 2026 28 and beyond you're a home for policy

right now, the Trump administration and obviously those Republicans maintain a power structure and look into some of these things. The other thing that's really interesting here at former Attorney General talk about, you know, this is your rendering. And he's done. You know, Larry, hold on one second. I got to stop you. We got to get your audio fixed. I don't know if it's the headset or whatever, but we're hearing every other words. So guys, work on that. Let me go to Amy Congo. Look, Roland, you've been talking about this for weeks. Democrats, go hard, go hard, fight back, speak up.

Don't just give speeches on the floor. Like, get out there and use your power. We talk about how blue states are funding red states. And all of these things, these Democrats are finally starting to do that. The fact that the matter is, but I think you said it's a couple of weeks ago as well that I'm also going to repeat. You said something to the effect of don't give these ultimatums to the Republicans and, you know, with Abbott, say, If you do this, we're going to do it in California. We're going to do it in New York.

Do it anyway because these guys are shady. They are all about power grabbing. So the fact that Pritzker and Hockel and Newsom and possibly the, you know, Westmore down here, you know, in Maryland are thinking about doing this, you know, in terms of adding more seats, don't think about it, do it. This is the fight to maintain a democratic experiment. What are you going to do to help protect individuals in fighting for this democracy? So the fact that they're doing that, I hope that if Texas, the Republicans back down, that these New York, these are these blue states still do it because they are going to figure out some other shady way to keep hold of the house. And their goal is if Trump tries to run for another term to help him do that, you know, or if someone like a JD Vance comes in, make sure they get somebody in there who makes sure that Trump doesn't get prosecuted. That's their end game.

So they have to fight this in every way, shape, or form. But lastly, I'm going to say, Roland, for people who live in Texas, particularly those who have been affected by this flooding, it shouldn't matter if they be district or not. You should, y'all who live in those districts should not be voting for these individuals who would put something like this on the floor where they should be working only and primarily to be getting you the relief that you need for what just happened with this flooding and the lives lost there. And so the fact that they can still redistrict and win seats, there shouldn't be a Republican in Texas who is satisfied of the Republican Party down there. But regardless of what they do, this is what Blue State leaders need to do, and this is what those Democrats in Texas need to do. And I applaud that 100%.

We need more of that nationwide. Folks, in 2021, where these maps were being withdrawn, Texas Democrat fled. But then you had some Texas Democrats who were weak, who were like, oh, we need to go back and fight this, which was strong. because they had no votes. And so a former State Representative Jarvis Johnson joins us right now. Jarvis, this here is a photo.

You were in that photo. This was a news conference. This article was May 31st, 2021. And I remember some of those Democrats and some of them actually lost when they actually ran for re-election because they were like, well, no, we were elected to do our job.

We're going to come back and fight the good fight. And it was like, the hell are you doing? You don't have the goddamn votes. You're going to get your ass kick. And it was stupid as hell to sit here and go, let's just come back and debate this on the floor. No, the votes were not there. So the smart strategy is leave the state,

stay out long as you can, and keep forcing Abbott to have to call special session after special session. But you cannot think you're going to somehow appeal to their good side and we're going to make the good faith argument. They will spend 60 seconds voting for these new maps in a heartbeat. all day long. I always say you can never be rational with irrational people. And the fact is that Republicans have become so irrational. And unfortunately, Democrats feel like at this

point that they can appeal to their sensibility. We know exactly what they're doing. This is a power graph. When they can't win, they cheat. Their own base is tired of their beliefs, their policies, their talking points are all horrible. They're all trying to protect Trump. But this is a power graph form. And Democrats need to start understanding. if Republicans were willing to burn the nation's capital down behind a lie, then Democrats better start learning how to stand up for truth and learning how to fight fire with fires. At the end of the day, everybody wants to talk about all Democrats,

you're derelict in your duties. Your duty is to protect your constituency. And so to Trump and to Abbott and all the Republicans that want to keep talking about how Democrats aren't doing their job, exactly doing their job. And so you need to start doing yours. stop cheating. Stop trying to draw lines so you can get more seats. Have good policy and go to your voters.

But stop doing this. And Democrats that are there, I'm telling you, please, stay. You ain't got nothing to come back to. Yeah, and here's the thing right here, okay? This happened in 2003. Democrats flee, and the deal was cut. I got no problem saying it. Former state rep Ron Wilson was a turn coat.

He stood with those Democrats, stood with those Republicans, because he thought he was going to get that congressional seat. at Al Green. He ran for it, got his ass kicked. Then he lost his own state rep seat. You ain't got to say it. I'm a say it. I don't care. That's what happened. And guess what? They got screwed. 2021. Same thing happened. This is the NPR story. Right here. Under revisions during closed-door negotiations, Republicans added language that can make it easier for a judge to overturn an election and push back the start of Sunday voting when many black church girls head to the polls. The 67-page measure would also eliminate drive-through voting and 24-hour polling centers, both of which Harris County, the state largest Democratic stronghold, introduced last year.

Let me also say this to everybody who's watching, who don't understand why Jarvis is saying what he's saying. What Texas also did, Republicans in Texas used to vote straight ticket. Guess what? Democrats in Harris County, where Houstonians got organized. Democrats in Dallas County got organized. Democrats in Bayer County where San Antonio's got organized.

Democrats in Travis County were already organized. They then begin to emphasize straight ticket voting. Guess what happened? Republicans lost Bayer County, lost Travis County, lost Dallas County, lost Harris County, lost Dallas County, lost Harris County. And what did the Republicans in Texas do at the state capital Jarvis? And took away straight party ticket voting. Under the guys of, we want the voters to be thinking about the people. people they should be electing. So therefore, we shouldn't have straight ticket voting in Texas.

And you understand, in Harris County and all the other suburban counties around the state of Texas, you're going to have a large, very large ballot. And so you're going to take voting and now you're going to make these lines extremely long. You're trying to discourage people from voting. You're trying to take away people's opportunity to vote. Standing in line for seven hours simply to vote is ridiculous in America. But the fact is this is why they did it purposely to discourage voters from making sure that they can go to the polls and go in do their duty and go back to work. So let me, again, let me also help people who don't understand what we're talking about

here. They hate Harris County. Harris County had 24-hour polling centers. They said, that's illegal. I don't understand why. If you can go to a damn McDonald's 24 hours, why in hell can't you vote? It's safe. Then they said, oh, yeah, we need to get rid of this voting in your car

because a person should have the privacy of voting in a booth. What the hell you're talking about? My car is more private than anywhere else because ain't nobody in the damn car. They took that away. Why? Because they could not stand the big numbers that were happening in Harris County. Oh, and then what happened when the hurricane hit Texas in Harris County was devastated, this same asshole governor refused to give a billion.

in funding that came from the federal government, taxpayer money to the folks in Harris County and put the money elsewhere because he did not like the fact that Hidalgo is the county judge and Democrats control Harris County and Democrats control the mayor of Houston, then Mayor Sylvester Turner. And so these white racist Republicans have been denying billions of dollars to places like Harris County because they're pissed that people vote blue in Harris County. That's why Democrats in Austin cannot come back and must use every tool to stop these fascists in Texas.

Absolutely. And I hope that these Democrats truly understand. There's nothing to come back here, too. If you come back here, then we lose. We have to be willing to tear this system down to rebuild it. But we got to do it in the name of democracy. We got to do it right. But if the Democrats don't stay together, and here's the problem.

The rumors are, oh, they ain't going to be able to stay together. So, of course, the governor's going to call it again and call it again and call it again. But at the end of the day, if Democrats stay strong, you can defeat Republicans because they can't go into November trying to do this because they've got to get into their own elections. But if we stay strong, we can win. We can protect our seats. We can protect and save what they are trying to steal. And exactly, they're literally taking away our black seats and literally creating themselves

more Republican seats. So at the end of the day, there's all. all this threats that they're going to arrest people and fine people, all that's lies. They can't do none of that. They can't do any of that. These are all just lies. So in 2021, I helped lead the quorum break, and it was hard to keep it together. But at the end of the day, I still believe that the Democrats can pull this off, but they've got to stay strong.

Absolutely. Jarvis Johnson. I appreciate you joining us at late. We call you, me, Lee. So never say I don't reach out to her makers and show them some love. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. All right, brother. Take care. Go to my iPad, folks. This is for the same NPR story. It says right here, the vote in the Texas Senate came just a...

This is like the last time they did this here, y'all. And Larry, this is what people need to understand how they don't give a damn about rules. The vote in the Texas Senate came just a short time after a final version of the bill had been made public Saturday. Around midnight, Republicans wielded their majority to suspend rules that would normally prohibit taking a vote on a bill. that had not been posted for 24 hours which Democrats protested as a breach of protocol that denied them in the public time to review the language first. So they will change the rules

to suit them. They will change other procedures. And so you cannot trust Republicans to do what's right and was fair so you have no choice but to be as hardcore as they are. This is about power

and not democracy. And if people don't realize that then we're going to continue to have the problems that we've already seen in the last couple of months. And listen, you're right, Roland. Democrats have to be, once again, we're willing to fight in the ring over this issue.

The Republic is going to continue to change the rules. There was a time that, you know, it was a handshake agreement about policies and procedures, whether the state or the federal level. Those days are gone. So you have to understand that they continue to change the rules and Democrats have to be willing to adapt. In fact, they don't.

need to start going on a defense of some of these issues. And I don't just mean in some of these blue states, but Democrats are going to really think about a long-term plan as to address the issues relating to these voting, because it's going to continue to happen. Yeah. And once again, this is about power and not democracy. Yes, it's going to continue to happen because the margins are small, Neambi. They are small margins.

As you heard Representative Jolanda Jones say, there's a three-vote, there's a three-vote lead they have in there. They took the three seats in North Carolina. North Carolina used to have a 10-3 delegation Republican versus Democrat. Then when Democrats got control of North Carolina State Supreme Court, they outlawed gerrymanding, racial and partisan gerrymanding. So North Carolina's congressional delegation went from 10-3 to 7-7. Republicans got control of the state Supreme Court, and then they took the seats back.

Yo, that's what's going on here. People need to understand. These people do not believe in fairness. They do not believe in what's right and was moral and judgment. just. And so this is where Democrats can understand. It's about power. And to all the folks who are watching who are like, oh man, you sitting there talking

Democrat and Republican, guess what all y'all black folks who's saying that bullshit? You know what these folks going to do? They're going to vote against everything that's for black people. They are anti-black. They are anti-brown. They do not care about the advancement of black people. And so why in the hell would I even

remotely consider voting for these racist, fascists? And that's exactly who they are. This is a racist gerrymandered bill. This is a racist map. 61% of Texas is minority, and these white Republicans want 70 plus

percent of the congressional delegation to be white and Republican. And in this particular case, Role and procedure is for fools, right? I mean, these people will use every rule that they can get, then they change those rules. And if there are no rules, they'll bend them,

right? Because they want to make sure that they are always in control. And as much as possible, they want to push out as many people that are going to be in opposition that will throw up some red flags that will stand in their way. And what they want to do, I mean, like, there was no need for to do this gerrymandering right now. This isn't about right sizing. This is about Donald Trump, right, wanting more votes. And they said, we're going to get them for you, sir.

And that's what they're doing. nobody's asked for this. Nobody needs this. And I think the problem that Democrats keep having over and over again, at least it seems like the Texas delegation has got it, but maybe the National Democratic Party hasn't gotten it yet, is you cannot negotiate with these people. You cannot treat them like plain dealers. They're not. They are willing to backbite, backslide, and say whatever they need to say to get the things done. I mean, even trying to browbeat these Texas lawmakers into coming back into the state is as it. if these people give a durn about their constituents and who they're not serving.

It's just an attempt to get them to come there so they can hold that boat and keep going about business as usual and making sure most of those people are out of their seat and that their constituents end up with worse representation. And so, you know, this is the appeal, right, to our lowest sales. The call is coming up inside the house. I got to touch your people quick. So here's a live look right now. Texas Democrats in Chicago

are assembling for a news conference right now. That's right now. I'll tell you when we go live. Let me quickly go to Jay Jones. He's running for, because I've got to go take this live. I don't want to have to cancel him. But let me bring up Jay right now. He's running for Attorney General in Virginia.

Jay, why do you want to be the chief legal officer for the state of Virginia? I'm Noah. I'm 13. And as you might have seen from the news, I got a podcast. and I explain those fake headlines like your uncle would, like your cousin would if he actually did the research.

Honestly, adults don't ask the right questions. Now you know with Noah DeBarroso is a show about influence. Who's got it, how they use it, and what it means for the rest of you. It's not the news. It's what the news should be if someone Gen Z or Gen Alpha made it. And I'm watching everything. The majority of the youth, 18 through 24, say they trust Republicans. more than Democrats differ on the economy.

You kidding. Politics is wild and I'm definitely not here to pay it, but I'm here to make sense of it. Just what's happening, why it matters, and what it means for us. Bring your brain. Listen to Now You Know with Noah DeBarossa on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. When I became a journalist, I was the first Latina in the newsrooms where I worked. I'm Maria Inogosa. I dreamt of having a place where voices that have been historically sidelined would instead be centered. For over 30 years now, Latino USA has been that place. This is Latino USA, the Radio Journal of News and Cultura. As the longest running Latino news and culture show in the United States,

Latino USA delivers the stories that truly matter to all of us. From sharp and deep analysis of the most pressing news, they're creating this narrative that immigrants or criminals. It's about everyone's freedom of speech. Nobody expected two popes from the American continent to stories about our cultures and our identities. When you do get a trans character like Imira Perez, the trans community is going to push back on that.

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Vegas. September 19th and 20th. On your feet. Streaming live only on Hulu. Ladies and gentlemen. Brian Adams. Ed Sheeran. Fade.

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Tate McCray. The offspring. Tim McGraw. Tickets are on sale now at AXS.com. Get your tickets to Jay.AXS.com. Guys, bring up Jay's audio, please. All right. Jay, we can hear you. I'm going to go live to Chicago. I need to go to you real quick. Why do you want to be the chief legal officer of the state of Virginia? Because Virginia is on the cusp of a new generation.

We want to make sure that we are prioritizing justice for everybody and making sure that we're standing up to excesses and overreach of the Trump administration when our current Attorney General would rather be Donald Trump's pro bono attorney. Absolutely. So again, this is one of the things. We're seeing what guys, I don't know why y'all had that second thing up, so please get rid of it.

So Jay is full screen. Please, thank you. Jay, what people understand is the action you're seeing happen in Texas right now is because of the Attorney General. That's what's happening right now. So the Attorney General is crucial in every state. Look, attorney generals have never been more important than right now to be on the front lines, to push back on all of the excesses and overreach of the Trump administration, to push back on the actions of governors who are trying to take the law into their own hands.

that's why the 23 Democratic Attorney General that you've got across the country are the people who are doing the work on the front lines right now until we can get elected here in November of 2025 and then get at least a House of Congress back in 2026 so that we can get things back on track and make sure that we restore the trust

of not just people in Virginia but across this country in their governments and in their institutions. Obviously, when you see what's happening in Virginia, you've got a tax on DEI, you've got Republicans right now in cahoots in Virginia with Trump, but they are targeting

presidents of universities in Virginia. They want to take over the universities, public institutions. You've seen they run out the head of Virginia Military Institute who's African American. They want to run out the president of George Mason who's an African American. We go over and over again. That makes no sense.

Look, they are using Virginia as a laboratory to go take these ideas on the road. We have a governor who would rather be Donald Trump's best friend and his lackey and an attorney general who is too weak to stand up to the president when his job is supposed to be defending our institutions of higher learning. As attorney general, I will always protect Virginia's education system. I'll always put Virginia first. We don't answer to the president. We in Virginia are bigger and better than all of what

we've seen over these last three and a half years. And that's why this election, where early vote starts in September and election days on November 4th, is so important. We can get a new governor, we can get a new lieutenant governor, I will become the next attorney general, and we will grow our majority in the House of Delegates so that we can bring some common sense back to Virginia, and we can show the rest of the country that we're better than what we've seen for these last seven months. You've got black attorney generals in, correct, Maryland, Nevada, Illinois, Massachusetts, and I think I'm leaving somebody out. Minnesota and Washington. Yes, Minnesota and Washington. And again, for people who don't understand,

as a result of these elections, as a result of we've seen, secretaries of state and the governors, excuse me, Secretary of State and Attorney General's, have become hugely important when it comes to elections. I mean, look, these are critical places, and I think we also mentioned Letitia James in New York, some of the best attorneys general in the country that you mentioned, and I can't wait to be standing shoulder to shoulder with them

as we fight back against the craziness that we see. But what you are also seeing is that the Trump ecosystem, this MAGA network of donors from all across the country are investing in these races. They're running negative ads against me here in Virginia that are paid for out of Texas by folks who fund the president because they know that this is their only shot this year to try and hang on. And so we are fighting back against this ecosystem at every level because they are trying to steal these elections. They're trying to make sure that they can hang on because what Donald Trump will like the least is to see me across the lawsuit from him when we sue to make sure

that we're protecting Virginia's rights and our freedoms. Absolutely. Jay, we want to have you back. I have to cut you short because the news conference is started, but I want to have you back before the election because it's important for people to do indeed vote. Tell folks where they can go get more information about your campaign. Please just go to our website. It's my name, jayjones.com. We will make history here in Virginia and every cent counts.

And if anyone feels that they want to get involved, all the information is there. And I thank everybody for their support. This is going to be a big one. and Virginia will be the first and many dominoes to fall as we head towards 2026. And also, of course, we were there in Virginia for the Commonwealth Gale of the dinner, the big Democratic fundraising dinner. And, of course, that was a difficult dinner for you to attend because your father, historic figure, and Virginia had recently passed.

So certainly condolences to you and your family. Thank you very, very much. and really appreciate everything and the opportunity to join you. We will be back. Thank you for everything, Roland, and we'll talk to you soon. Appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

Folks, let's go live to Chicago where Democrats are gathering for this news conference as we speak. Other states will do exactly the same thing and neutralize what you're trying to do in Texas. It's not going to work because we are not going to let it work.

We are going to stand strong with these courageous individuals who are standing behind me who come to Illinois, knowing that the rest of the nation is with them. Thank you so much. Thank you. And as he said, we are ready to fight.

Fire with fire. No but a knife to the gunfight. We are ready to bring the fire, bring the heat. We could do that too. And it's absolutely my pleasure to introduce Chair of the Progressive Caucus, Representative Anna Maria Rodriguez Ramos. I got that out.

Hello, everyone. Thank you for being with us today. Good afternoon. I'm Anna Maria Rodriguez-Ramos, Diputado del Distrito de Strait 102. I'm the state representative for House District 102. And we're here fighting because instead of Governor Abbott and Texas Republicans focusing on working families and the negative impacts of Trump's horrible bill,

As I shared and I expressed with my colleagues the other day, with his horrible bill, my daughter just got an organ transplant six months ago. With his horrible bill, I don't know that we can pay 75% increase in premiums. It is going to hurt my family and thousands of families statewide and nationwide. His horrible bill is hurting working families. When families can't afford to buy groceries, when families don't know if they're going to be able to keep. their children alive because they can't no longer afford health care, that is what our focus should be. But instead, they're focusing on pushing these racist radical redistricting map. And why is it racist? Because 70%, over 60% of our Texas population are Hispanic and African

American and our Asian community. That is, the largest African American population in the country is in Texas. The second largest Hispanic population. in the country is in Texas, but they want to silence our voice. This is nothing short of blatant racism. They're going to cry and say, no, you can't say that. In fact, they punish us. Congressman Cockpocket knows that. They don't allow us to say that word on the House floor. They say, you can't call us what we are. Use another word. But that is what you are and that is what you are trying to do. Hurt these working families. Trump's policies, when he's kidnapping families of color in the streets,

that is nothing short of racism. He is coming after all of us who don't look like him and his Republican colleagues in the Texas House. So I will now introduce beautiful Congressman Al Greene, wonderful congressman from Houston, who's gonna really share a little more and enlighten a little more about the impact of these maps. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for listening to Rodriguez Romo's friends. Friends, after her profound words, it just seems to me that we ought to give her another expression of course. And to all of my colleagues who have traversed some great distance to be here, and I'm talking about these state representatives now, I consider you my colleagues, it's easy to do something but you don't have to do it. They are leaving their homes.

They're leaving their families. They have jobs. They have responsibilities. And this is courage that is uncommon. And with this kind of courage, they ought to be commended as well. Let's give them a big hand, please. Yes.

We have a challenge before us. Dr. King reminded us that life is an inescapable network of mutuality tied to a single garment of destinies. What impacts one directly, impacts all indirectly. And that's what we're facing now. This challenge of it not being Texas, it's not just Texas. It really is the United States of America, because if they succeed in Texas, they will take this to other states,

They will take this to the county court level. They will take this to the commissioners, the school boards. They will take this across the length and breadth of the country. But they'll do it if we only stand by and watch them. But if we take a stand, we can stop them. That's what we're doing today. We're taking a stand, and we're going to prevent them from going forward in Texas. I'm right.

We're probably why we have to take this stand. because one vote makes a difference one vote makes a difference it was one vote that allowed them to get the big ugly steel out of the house one vote

and it was one vote in the Senate with the Vice President casting that vote that allowed it to get out of the Senate and back to the House friends I regret to tell you

that the 18th Congressional District was not represented when that first vote took place it was not if the 18th had been represented they'd have to find that one vote someplace else one vote makes a difference

and in Texas they are trying to silence five democratic voices in the Congress of the United States of America they have already made an effort to eliminate some of the districts

there are no longer going to be there's no possibility of Democrats being elected they are doing what the president has insisted be done and I want you to know that we didn't introduce the race card when this message was sent by through the Justice Department to the state of Texas to our Attorney General they mentioned the race car because they talked about racial gerrymandering they brought it up and when they brought it up they did it knowing that this was a buzzword it was a trigger they knew that if they could use

the race card in Texas where we've had white primaries, and when the Supreme Court said, well, you can't do that, then we had white pre-primaries, where we've had all sorts of obstacles of voting, they knew that that's a buzzword that people would respond to in Texas. But we are going to respond to that buzzword by telling them that your racism is not going to change democracy in the state of Texas, is not going to change it in the United States of America. racism is going to be met with our taking a stand for democracy. You take a stand for racism.

We will stand for democracy and we will win. And we will win. My comment is this. As you know, the president and I don't exchange Christmas call us. The president is a very vindictive person. He is a don't bring me any bad news person. Just fired someone because he got bad news. We friends have to understand what we're dealing with.

And if we understand what we're dealing with, we can stop what we're dealing with. We're dealing with an egotical person who believes that he has to be right and if he's not then the world is wrong he would impeach judges that differ

with him he would fire people that don't give him good news he would change congressional districts just to get rid of people that have challenged it

but I want you to know this the challenge is not over it is not yes we have brought challenges against it and I want to assure you this I there are no circumstances that will prevent me from continuing to challenge the bigotry emanating

from the presidency in policy I will not stop and I promise you this president is going to be brought down yeah he's going to be brought down he has to be brought down and I don't mean physically I'm talking about the We will bring him down. He will be impeached again. I thank you. I'd like to bring your chair, Jessica Gonzalez.

Hello, again, my name is Jessica Gonzalez, and I'm proud to represent House District One On Four, which includes parts of Dallas in Grand Prairie. I'm also honored to be the chair of the Texas House LGBT Phaq. Look, when we all got elected here, we were elected by our constituents, and that's who we work for. They elected us to represent their voices, their family, and their future.

And that's exactly what we're all doing here by denying the Texas Republicans quorum in order to pass these great congressional maps. And so I'm very proud to stand united with my Democrat colleagues. Look, one thing I do know is that Democrats, Texas House Democrats know how to fight. We've been in these fights before. fight every single day when we're in regular session. So we have our sleeves, our sleeves are rolled up and we're ready to take this fight wherever it's going to take us because our communities, our state and our nation is worth, definitely worth fighting for.

And we know, we know this is not about providing flood relief because these congressional maps have been pushed. We have not had real discussions about providing folks relief who are in desperate need of it. And so we're just not going to stand for We're tired of it, and we're not going to let them do that to our communities. And so, I'm, again, I'm proud to stand here united with my Democrat colleagues. You know, when I first got elected to House District 104, I was the first Latina to ever be, to ever serve in that position, and I'm very, very proud of that. My community is a majority, minority district.

And so when we do these kinds of, you know, play these political games that Republicans want to play with our community, it hurts people like my in mind. my district and the districts of people that are standing behind them. And we take our jobs serious, unlike Texas House Republicans. So thank you. And next, I want to introduce our former colleague, Congresswoman Julie Johnson. Thank you. The most beautiful group of people, you know, it is such, it's a big honor for me to be standing here

as a former colleague, a former member of the Texas House. I'm Noah. I'm 13. And as you might have seen from the news, I got a podcast. And I explain those fake headlines like your uncle would. Like your cousin would if he actually did the research. Honestly, adults don't ask the right questions. Now you know with Noah DeBarroso is a show about influence. Who's got it, how they use it, and what it means for the rest of you. It's not the news.

It's what the news should be if someone, Gen Z, or Jen Alpha made it. And I'm watching everything. Sheesh. Majority of the youth, 18 through 24, say they trust Republicans more than Democrats

differ on the economy. You kidding. Politics is wild and I'm definitely not here to payment, but I'm here to make sense of it. Just what's happening, why it matters, and what it means for us. Bring your brain.

Listen to Now You Know with Noah DeBarras on the IHeartRadio app. Apple Podcasts wherever you get your podcast. When I became a journalist, I was the first Latina in the newsrooms where I worked. I'm Maria Inojosa. I dreamt of having a place where voices

that have been historically sidelined would instead be centered. For over 30 years now, Latino USA has been that place. This is Latino USA, the Radio Journal of News and Cultura. As the longest running Latino News and Culture Show in the United States, Latino USA delivers the stories that truly matter to all of us.

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to vote in Texas and now as a member of Congress. And, you know, what is happening is so outrageous. And I want to talk a little bit about my district and the impact that this is having. So I represent Texas 32nd Congressional District. It's an urban district. It's 80% in Dallas County.

A little bit of the Collin County, the county to my north, and a little bit of Denton County. But for the most part, it's very urban. There's not a single farm plot in Texas 32. They have divided it into seven new congressional districts. Two that go all the way to the Oklahoma border. Two that go almost from Dallas to the Louisiana border.

And then the others in a mishmash, of rural Texas. My district has been, I have seven cities that have been dismembered paired with six to seven rural counties. So what they've done is they've taken a group of people predominantly minority, I have a minority majority coalition seat of a city and then paired it with five to six rural.

counties that have no commonality of interest whatsoever the issues facing the constituents of my district are very different than the issues facing the constituents of Upshire County which is in very East Texas they're very different issues I have 62% renters that county is mostly rural white farmers and the list goes on and on and so what is happening here is the most blatant racist disregard for the voters of texas because let me remind you and i was there we were all there when these maps were passed in 2021 by unanimous votes of the republicans who just now issued arrest warrants for my dear colleagues and

friends. Because they all swore at that time, these maps were the most beautiful maps. They were perfect. They didn't disenfranchise voters. They've had lawsuits. They've filed affidavits. They've given depositions. They've sworn and

all at waste of Sunday that these are the perfect maps. Until President Trump gets nervous because his poll numbers are in the crapper because he knows that the American people are not swallowing the crap he's pushing

because he's harming millions and millions of people. His poll waters are under water, and he knows he's not going to win. He knows he's not going to win in November of 2026. So rather than push for policies that the American voters want to support, they come back with this rigged-up thing, a DOJ opinion, that implies that these Texas maps now have to be completely dismembered. And it's wrong. And the voters of Texas, I hope, are listening.

Because the courage that my dear friends and colleagues are showing by saying, uh-uh, no, we're protesting. We're putting ourselves in a great risk to stand up for democracy and America. And voters, I hope you're seeing that. I hope you're feeling it. I hope you are experiencing the courage and the hope that these folks are providing. Because what is happening is an attack on our democracy throughout this entire country. And I'm so pleased and so proud that they're standing up for us all.

Because what's happening here now is cracking throughout other states. You know, we're having a national conversation over voter. rights. And I want to encourage California and New York and Maryland and Washington State to say, you know what, we're gloves are off. If war is war and Democrats, if y'all are going to do it in Texas, we're going to do it here. And this is a national war. And Democrats are no longer going to sit by handcuffed. This is an all-out war and everything is on the table. and that is a message I really hope gets out loud and clear but at the end of the day I want to say thank you to each one of you for what you're doing know that the Democrats of the United States House of Representatives are 100% behind you I hope you're feeling it and I hope you out there the voters are getting a little glimmer of why politics is important and that

they said well I don't know politics doesn't affect me I'm saying honey it does if you don't do politics politics will do you and here we are politics is doing a lot of people right now but you know I want to end with this we're all very proud Texans up here most of us some are proud of us we're all very proud Texans we come from a state of great pride and I And I never thought, as a Texas, as an elected member of the Texas House of Representatives and now as an elected member from Texas to the United States House of Representatives, that I would see the governor of the proud state of Texas, been to knee to a felon from New York, who never

thought I'd see the day. Thank you. All right. Thank you all so much. I'm so proud to stand with my colleagues in the Texas House and our friends in Congress. We're all here tonight. It's not on vacation. We are here fighting and actively working for our constituents and the people of Texas. This is us on the job, fighting for our constituents.

Hi everyone, my name is State Representative John Busey and I have the great pleasure of representing Austin in House District 136. Look, I didn't run for office to walk out of the Capitol, but I also didn't run for a state representative. But I also didn't run for office to stand by while democracy is stolen in broad daylight. Texas Democrats broke for them because sometimes the only way to uphold your oath is to refuse to play along with a rig game. Let's be clear. This special session was supposed to be about saving lives after a tragedy. A cabin full of eight-year-old girls was washed away in the middle of the night. Families call 911 only to hear that help wasn't coming.

At the end of the day, 137 Texans lost their lives. That's an emergency. That demands our actions. But instead of holding hearings on flood prevention, Greg Abbott and Donald Trump held eight hearings on redistricting, not for fairness, not for representation, but to manufacture five more Republican seats in Congress to enable Trump to cling on the power.

That isn't governing, that's a heist. And we're here to stop it. When politicians can redraw the maps in the middle of the decade, just because they're scared that voters won't re-elect them, that's betrayed. Look, the governor can lie all in once, but we're not running away, we're running into the fight. Texas Democrats are standing up for one of our most basic American principles, the right to representation. So no, this isn't political theater, it's survival. Because if we lose the power

to choose our leaders, we lose everyone. We broke forum because this isn't just about maps. It's about power. And in Texas, the power still belongs to the voters. I want to thank you all so much, and I have the pleasure of introducing one of our great champions, Congressman Mark V.C., he's a passionate advocate for Texas's 33rd district. He's fighting for working families, voting rights, and economic opportunity. And if you didn't know, he's in fact, is the founder of the voting rights caucus in Congress. He's from Fort Worth to Washington, Congressman V.C. has shown us that he will stand up to Donald Trump. He will fight for Texans, and he will fight for Americans. Please help me welcome our good friend, Congressman Mark. Thank you, Representative.

and you know the press you all been getting something wrong I've been seeing a lot of headlines that say that these Texas legislators are fleeing these Texas legislators ain't fleeing these Texas legislators are fighting yeah they are fighting racism and they are fighting rigging and that is what it is all about and I got to tell you it's crazy to think about this 60 years ago today The Voting Rights Act of 1965 declared that no American, no black American, no Latino American, no Asian Americans, no working class voter would ever be denied their voice in our democracy because of who they are or where they live. But that promise is under attack today by Greg Abbott bending a knee to Donald Trump, and it is absolutely wrong and it is embarrassing. And I got to tell you, I'm proud of these heroes that are standing behind me, some of which are my former colleagues in the state legislation where I spent eight years before going to Congress. And I got to tell you, I came into Congress right after the 2003 mid-decade redistricting when a group of Democrats had just left the state to block discriminatory redistricting that had happened literally just before.

I was sworn in. And I got to tell you, we made a big mistake back then. We had no blue stakes back during that time period after Tom DeLay did his mid-decade redistricting. We didn't have any Democratic states that followed suit. And so it gave them the incentive to do it again, and that's why we are here right now. But I got to tell all of my friends that are Republicans that are out there watching right now, the game has changed, baby. Thank you, same no more.

We are going to match Donald Trump's energy when it comes to redistricting. As it was said before, it's been Democrats, we have shown up to a gunfight with nothing but good intentions and dull knives. And that era is over. We are not going to unilaterally disarm. And that is, that's what's different this time around.

And so to the governor of this state, of Illinois, the governor of California and New York, thank you for standing tall with us. We need our other Democratic governors in New Jersey, New Mexico, Maryland, not New Mexico, Jersey, Maryland, Oregon, and Washington. We need for them to stand with us now also. This is serious business. This is absolutely serious business. democracy is at stake here and we have to keep fighting Donald Trump each and every

step of the way with that I now call back to the podium representative Harold Dutton who I serve with out of Houston Harold good afternoon everybody let me start by saying my name is Harold Dutton I'm from Houston most people say I'm Fifth Ward and I guess that's true. One of the things I learned in Fifth Ward, after seventh grade, was that we learned that in order to have democracy, it had to be of the people, by the people, and for the people.

But in Texas, what we've changed that to is we're going to have democracy by being of the party, by the party, and father party. That's absolutely crazy. crazy. And I want to correct something, and I think Representative Beezi said, we're not running from anything. We're trying to make sure that when democracy is in Texas, it is going to be of the people, by the people, and for the people. And secondly, if you see us running in a fight, we're chasing somebody.

Let me end with this. I'm here because one of my constituents told me, she said, well, if you all are going to hang separately, you might as well hang together. And so I'm here with my colleagues because I don't think we're going to hang. Because another constituent said to me, Representative Green, said, do you know the story in the Bible about Haman and Mordecai? Haman built the gallows for Mordecai. And guess who they put on the gallows first?

Haman. And so I think all of this is going to backfire all these republics because I think they have raised democracy issues so far and so high that the people in Texas now are getting the message. And that's one of the reason we're here. I'm thankful for the Illinois delegation. I have worked with him before.

My first cousin was Monet. cousin was Monique Davis who was a member of the Illinois delegation for a long time she said to tell you all hello to because she wanted to come over I had to stop it from doing that but but again I think that the challenge for us the challenge for us is really to make sure that our people get to vote and we're going to do that with that let me stop and introduce That's me. No, I'm going to do sojourner truth. It's better known as Jasmine Brock.

I will be your last and final speaker, but let me tell you something. I want to make sure that I make it clear who these people that are standing behind me are. Because I don't think that the American people truly understand the amount of a sacrifice that these warriors and heroes are making right now. Most people don't understand that in the Texas House you only get paid $7,000 as it is as a salary. But these people are saying, listen, we are going to do our job because we understand our oath, unlike those that serve on the federal level in our Republicans, as well as those that serve in our current Supreme Court and happen to have been appointed by Republicans, as well as those that serve in the federal

in the Texas House right now and happen to be Republican. These are people that understand what it is to be a representative. They understand their constituencies and instead of trying to stunk on them, they want to do everything that they can to stomp for them.

And so that's why they're here. Now let me say, this governor talks a lot of noise and I made sure that I put up my warrant from four years ago to make it plain that they talk a lot of of noise, but these guys are weak. That's why they're over here trying to bully people.

Bullies are always weak. The difference is they expect Democrats to kind of be the nice guys that we are. They expect us to take the punch and say thank you. Well, I am here to tell you not only are we going to punch back, but we're about to beat you down. I'm going to win. I'm going to tell you why we're going to win because people are tired. I'm Noah. I'm 13. And as you might have seen from the news, I got a podcast, and I explain those fake headlines like your uncle would, like your cousin would if he actually did the research. Honestly, adults don't ask the right questions. Now you know with Noah de Barroso is a show about influence. Who's got it, how they use it, and what it means

for the rest of you. It's not the news. It's what the news should be if someone Gen Z or Gen Alpha made it. And I'm watching everything. Sheesh. Majority of the youth, 18 through 24, say they trust Republicans more than Democrats differ on the economy. You kidding. Politics is wild and I'm definitely not here to payment, but I'm here to make sense of it. Just what's happening, why it matters, and what it means for us.

Bring your brain. Listen to Now You Know with Noah DeBarossa on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. When I became a journalist, I was the first Latina in the newsrooms where I worked. I'm Maria Inojosa. I dreamt of having a place where voices that have been historically sidelined would instead be centered. For over 30 years now, Latino USA has been that place. This is Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture. As the longest running Latino news and culture show in the United States,

Latino USA delivers the stories that truly matter to all of us. From sharp and deep analysis of the most pressing news, they're creating these narrative that immigrants or criminals. This is about everyone's freedom of speech. Nobody expected two popes from the American continent to stories about our cultures and our identities. When you do get a trans character like Imidavetes, the trans community is going to push back on that.

Colorism, all of these things that exist in Mexican culture and Latino culture. You'll hear from people like Congresswoman, AOC. I don't want to give them my fear. I'm not going to give them my fear. Listen to Latino USA as part of the My Cultura Podcast Network, available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Don't let biased algorithms or degree screens or exclusive professional networks or stereotypes. Don't let anything keep you from discovering the half of the workforce who are stars.

her skilled through alternative rocks rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time to tear the paper ceiling and see the stars beyond it. Find out how you can make stars part of your talent strategy at tear the paper sealing.org. Brought to you by opportunity at work in the ad council. Our IHeart Radio Music Festival, presented by Capital One, is coming back to Las Vegas. Vegas. September 19th and 20th. On your feet. Streaming live only on Hulu.

Ladies and gentlemen. Brian Adams. Ed Sharon. Fade. Glorilla. Jellyroll. John Fogarty, Lil Wayne, L.L. Cool J., Mariah Carey, Maroon 5, Sammy Hagar, Tate McCrae, The Offspring, Tim McGraw. Tickets are on sale now at AXS.com. Get your tickets today. AXS.com. And as it's already been said, we got a few truth tellers that came before us. A number of them came out of Texas. So I need y'all to understand that maybe you haven't learned these amazing warriors' names, but you

will know their names. Y'all know how the president feels about me. Got my training ground right there in Texas. We know that there was another amazing black woman out of the state of Texas by the name of Barbara Jordan that had to check another to what the president by the name of Nixon. So I'm here to tell you, just like I told a group of folk

in Arizona yesterday. Frankie Beverly and May said it best. We are one. For everyone that's been asking, where are the Democrats? Well, here they are. For everyone that's been asking, where is the fight? Well, here it is. But let me tell you something.

Don't leave them out on a ledge by themselves. They need to know that you, the American people, stand with them because they are standing for you. There are so many people that they will never meet, but they understand the importance of making sure that they have a voice when it comes to their government. They understand the importance of standing for what democracy is and making sure that it does not fall by the wayside.

They understand that we have a Timu Hitler in the White House right now that thinks that he is going to become the dictator of the United States. Well, I got another thing to tell you, sir, the Democrats, no matter whether we're talking about these Texas House Democrats, or whether we're talking about the governor from Illinois, the governor from California, or whether we're talking about New York, or I can go through the states, and it's not just the governors. It is the state houses.

It is the state senators. It is those congressional delegations that are saying, do what you got to do, and I will fight, and I will win, and I will earn my seat back to the people's house in D.C. I am here to tell you the time is up for playing in our faces. The Democrats are not going to stand for this any longer. We know that we are standing for the people. And so long as we stand for the people,

I absolutely believe the people are going to stand for us. So I just want to be clear. Do whatever you can to support these here. heroes because they are the ones that have to leave their families. They are the ones that have warrants out for their arrest. They are the ones that are doing things that honestly a lot of other people do not have the audacity to do. So make sure when you talk about them, press, put some respect on their names. I appreciate that. How will you pay for this?

Mr. Rule, are you taking questions? Where are your question? Yes, we are we doing? That's what it is. Okay. Oh. Sorry. Hi, I'm State Representative Ron Reynolds.

And I'm proud to serve as the Chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus under the great leadership of our chairwoman, Barbara Gerber Hawkins, and its Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus under the great leadership of Chairman Gene Wu. And we're all united, standing on the right side of history. You know, Congressman B.C.'s right. It was 60 years ago that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed into law. And it was signed by a great Texan by the name of Lyndon Baines Johnson. But that voting rights act didn't come easy. It came as a result. of people who made the ultimate sacrifice,

people who we may remember, like Congressman John Lewis, who made good trouble. He risked his life to end Jim Crow. He did everything with other freedom fighters. They took freedom rides. They sat at lunch counters. They did everything they could to end poll taxes and literacy tests.

And thank God, many of us here today would not be here but for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It was, as Congresswoman Crockett said, Barbara Jordan, who was the first African-American congresswoman from the South since Reconstruction. She was only there because of that bill. And here we are on the right side of history trying to stop the Texas Steel by Abbott and Trump.

They want to take us back. They literally want to take us back by disenfranchising black and brown communities and we say no no no we say hell no not on our watch we will not allow you return back the clock we're going to continue to fight we're going to continue speaking truth to power we're going to continue doing everything we can to protect the precious fundamental right to vote and i will end with this our scripture teaches us in proverbs 3189 to speak out for the one who can not speak for the rights of those who are doomed. Speak out, judge fairly, and defend the rights of oppressed and needy people. Ladies and gentlemen, I submit to you that the Democrats are

going to keep speaking out. We're going to call out the racist gerrymander that President Trump these mega extremists like Trump, like Abbott, want to push down our throats. Not on our watch. We're not going back. Thank you. Thank you very much. I want us to be given a special thank you to the IBEW for hosting us. And I thank you for all the fighters in Illinois and have been so nice to us. We're not going to do group questions. Members will be available for individual interviews if you want. But we do, the Democrats, we, our House Democrats, I do have to make another meeting. So we have a limited amount of time.

Folks, that was a group of Texas Democrats, state representatives, as well as U.S. House members, just concluding a news conference in Chicago. 51 Texas Democrats have left the state preventing the Texas House of Representatives from having a quorum, which stops Republicans from being able to pass the racist gerrymandered maps they presented late last week. this is critically important because in order to vote on these maps, the House has to be in session. But there has to be a quorum. The Republicans control

the legislature, control the House, more than 20 votes. So, 51 Democrats had to leave the state, meaning he don't have the jurisdiction. Understand what happens in Texas. The law allows

for the governor to send Texas state troopers to literally, not to use arrest, but let's say bring a legislator back to the state capital in order for them to be in session. So by leaving the state, Texas no longer has any jurisdiction to be able to arrest a lawmaker to come back and be present in the state capital. That's why they're in Chicago. Earlier today, a number of them yesterday and today they were in New York State,

meeting with Governor Kathy Hockel. Yesterday, Governor J. Pritzker of Illinois, who's actually helping fund them being there. A private plane was sent for them from Texas to fly to Illinois. They're putting them up there because there are obviously significant costs to house and feed 51 people, and you don't know how long they're going to be there.

Now, here's the deal. The special session in Texas, which the governor calls for it. It's a 30-day special session session. It expires August 19th, and the governor can't immediately call another special session. So that's likely what he is going to do.

Now, somebody asked the question, how long must Democrats hold out? December. December. So let me explain the politics here. There's a deadline in December to file to be to run for office in

2006. You must file by a certain date in December control room, find the date for me and get it to me please. So if that's the case if that's the case then what's going to happen is then what's going to happen is

you're then going or going to see you're going to see these members you're going to see these members file. So they have to fight They have to fight Texas. They have to fight Texas through December. They've got to stop the Republicans from passing this map.

That means that if the session in August 19th, the governor calls for a 30-day session, then that's going to begin on a certain day. Then they can't have a quorum for 30 days. So let's say that's August 20th through September. That session ends. They got to hold out September to October. They got to hold out October to November. Then they've got to hold out through December to keep the House from being able to vote on these maps.

Now, Supreme Court has a precedent in that they don't like to rule on cases where essentially maps are locked in. So let me explain what that means. What that means is they believe that you have to have sufficient time for the voters to decide who they want to vote for. So, Republicans want to pass the maps before December so those maps take effect. Lawsuits are filed. They know there are hearings. The lawsuits will not be determined.

It's going to go all into the Supreme Court. It's not going to be determined for a year, two, three, maybe even four years. Do you all know right now? Lawsuits were filed against the 2021 maps that is still going on right now in 2024. So the lawsuit from the 2021 maps are still taking place right now. So the Supreme Court freezes maps in place. And so what the Supreme Court will say is we will leave,

even though they make, because it happened in Alabama and Louisiana, even though the Supreme Court declared the maps to be unconstitutional, they were frozen in place until arguments, could be heard and the cases could be fully adjudicated. So, Republicans have been elected in the past. This is like in the last four to six years in maps that were declared unconstitutional but the Supreme Court froze them in place.

That's why we're where we are right now. Back to my panel, on my Congo, Larry, Nambi, Liambi, I'm gonna go to you. These are the things that people need to understand, the nuances of what's going on here. And so, J.B. Prisker is the richest governor in the country. He's worth more than a billion dollars. Democrats, we pulled the Texas Tribune article up last week.

They were like, hey, we have to fund this. Like, people don't understand. And you got to keep 51 out of the state. So Nambi, it's, so what they're going to be doing is, what they're going to be doing is looking at your numbers and saying, okay, how many people, who can go home for a week or come back. It's going to be all

of that. It's going to be a lot of planning around scheduling, but the only power that Texas Democrats have to stop these racist gerrymandered maps from becoming law is to do what they are doing. Absolutely. And I think

one of the things you said, Roland, is this is going to have to be a game of wits. Because on the numbers, Republicans have it, right? And so it's about logistics, like you said, negotiating who can go home and win but for how long. But we have to also remember they're going to be fines imposed on those

same legislators for all the days that they're missing. I think Abbott says something like $500 a day. So this is going to be costly in more ways than one. Whether he does that, whether they meet those obligations, there are another thing. But I think

as you noted, this is a long game. And so there's going to have to be a lot of coordination, a lot of funding, for these folks while they stay out of the state. And we have to also remember people have families, right? People have kids, people have parents that they're caregiving for. They have clients, right?

Some of these members are our attorneys. So they have other people there also obligated to. So this is not a small thing that they're doing. It is going to be a real sacrifice. And it's going to require a lot of support, not just from their local constituents, but also the constituents of the local jurisdictions where they're going to be fleeing to. Understand here, okay, when we talk about a quorum, there are 150 seats in the Texas House, Larry. Democrats have 62 of those seats.

And so in order for them that they have a quorum, that's why 51 can't show up. It's a numbers game. Yeah, and as, you know, my colleague noted, It's a matter of not only sacrifice, but how long can they hold out? This is going to be a tremendous coordinated effort. As you mentioned, Roland, you know, your 30-day session, the governor's call them that. We're going to have individuals fault, you know, some of the individuals that stay behind where they fly roll out. So it'll be had to be really important in terms of how they coordinate activities to make sure that they can't vote on this unfair map.

The other thing is, rolling, is how do you want to remember historically? We talk a lot about those fighting in a civil rights movement, but there are a lot of people behind the, you know, that you don't know about that make tremendous sacrifices. So this is an opportunity to stay staff-ass and make sure that we have a fair map and they don't provide Trump with the votes that he needs. This is a piece from the Texas Tribune that says denying quorum has been a Texas political strategy since 1870. And while the Democrats could technically direct.

the GOP's redistricting plan, such efforts have been largely symbolic and had limited success blocking past legislation. Now, according to this story right here, it says right here, June 1870, Omicongo, 13 Texas senators walked out of the capital to block a bill given the governor of wartime powers depriving the upper chamber of the two-thirds quorum required for voting. Though the fleeing members were arrested and the bill eventually passed the quote run Senate incident established quorum breaking as a minority party tactic that has persisted in Texas politics since ever since. Quorum breaks took place in 1979, 2003, 2021, and that's what's going on here. So you see right here, this expert says it's a messaging move. It's a last resort for Democrats who have run out of options legislatively and even legally. So you need two-thirds of the House members present in order to call it into session.

again, Democrats have 62 out of 150 by keeping 51 out. They don't meet the two-thirds quorum in the Texas House. This is powerful. This is powerful. And they're standing on history. I'm glad you shared that particular point

about the history because some people are going to call them all rabble rousers. I'm sure some people are calling them insurrectionists and all this other type of stuff. They're standing right in line with what has happened in Texas for decades. to 1870. I think that's very powerful that you would share that. I think it's also important that while the press conference was playing rolling, I was scrolling through the other news

networks, nobody was playing this. Nobody was playing this live. Nobody was giving them the attention that they deserve. So that was another thing that I picked up on as they're fighting. And then the last thing I picked up on was I looked at the diversity of the people who were on that stage versus the Texas Republicans, right? You know, he saw people part of LGBT community, Latino, black, you know, white males, black women, like run down the list and it was all there. So that is a group of individuals that look like America, who are fighting for America. So when you were talking about they're going to be gone, Nyambi is talking about the cost. I hope people like George Clooney and they're like going to be stepping up, you know, to help these individuals.

I'm thinking about that Texas representative Ramos. She was talking about her daughter. And I was wondering, is her daughter with her? Did she have to leave her in Texas? These people are putting up a real sacrifice for this country. and they're standing in line of what they've been doing in Texas, what I appreciate what they're doing, as opposed to what Trump and his ilk are doing.

Everything these Texas Democrats are doing, it is legal. And all we've been asking for us for Democrats to use their power to legally fight back, and now that they're doing that, they deserve not only our praise, but our support and probably our financial support as they go through this as well.

Neambi, Larry made the point about coordination, and that is the case here. And I think this is so unique and different. I'm Noah, I'm 13, and as you might have seen from the news, I got a podcast, and I explain those fake headlines like your uncle would, like your cousin would if he actually did the research. Honestly, adults don't ask the right questions. Now you know with Noah de Barroso is a show about influence.

Who's got it, how they use it, and what it means for the rest of you. It's not the news. It's what the news should be if someone Gen Z or Gen Alpha made it. When I'm watching everything. Sheesh. Majority of the youth, 18 through 24, say they trust Republicans more than Democrats from the economy. You kidding. Politics is wild and I'm definitely not here to tame it, but I'm here to make sense of it.

Just what's happening, why it matters, and what it means for us. Bring your brain. Listen to Now You Know with Noah de Barossa on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. When I became a journalist, I was the first Latina in the newsrooms where I worked. I'm Maria Inojosa. I dreamt of having a place where voices that have been historically sidelined would instead be centered. For over 30 years now, Latino USA has been that place. This is Latino USA, the Radio Journal of News and Cultura.

As the longest running Latino News and Culture Show in the United States, Latino USA delivers the stories that truly matter to all of us. From sharp and deep analysis of the most pressing news, they're creating these narrative that immigrants are criminals. This is about everyone's freedom of speech. Nobody expected two popes from the American continent to stories about our cultures and our identities. When you do get a trans character like Imidavetes,

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And here's Heather with the weather. Well, it's beautiful out there, sunny and 75, almost a little chilly in the shade. Now, let's get a read on the inside of your car. It is hot. You've only been parked a short time, and it's already 99 degrees. in there. Let's not leave children in the back

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But let me reiterate this again for people who think that this, we're playing around here. here, Republicans are doing this because they are scared to death. They are scared to death of losing the House next year. They know, they know that they lose the House next year.

Democrats can stop any bill from passing that goes to down the trial. That's what's going on here. So what they're trying to do is, I need people to understand, they are trying, they are anticipating, they are looking at polling data right now. They know,

gas prices are up grocery prices are up they know Donald Trump is down in a huge way on immigration they know he was at 55% among folks 1829 when he first was inaugurated he's down

some 27 points in that category so they see the writing on the wall we are seeing the impacts of tariffs we were going to folks we were going to have accounts Morgan Harper on but we needed more time to explain economic stuff we're going to have her back on tomorrow they they know what's going on they are freaking out so their deal is hell let's get let's get five in texas let's see how many

we can pick up in florida they see how many can pick up in ohio so they're hoping they can they can rig this map to pick up 10 12 seats and the reason has a battle because democrats could could literally wipe them out in california the problem is the problem is is they got to get around that independent redistricting committee in California. There's an independent redistricting committee in New York State. Democrats, blue states are the largest states.

So between California, Illinois, New York State, Virginia, Maryland, Democrats could conceivably pick up 20 seats. If they lose five in Texas, unless they lose in Florida, a net gain of 10 seats. They only down three. So they could actually win. That's why this ballot is going on. It's about the House.

The Senate is hard for them to win the Senate, but they have a better shot at winning the House because you've got 35 Republicans who are vulnerable who are in district that Biden won. Absolutely. And I think, though, you know, Texas is a real bellwether. This is a real test because so goes Texas, so goes a lot of the Republican Party.

I mean, Texas is a big state with a lot of votes, but it also has a lot of young people and a lot of black folks and a lot of Latino folks who are pissed off and rightfully so because these people have seen their children die yet again. We saw what happened with Yuvaldi and we kind of moved on and then we saw just what happened with these floods. So I think it is about, you know, what can be happening in these blue states, right? But it is also about what are the future prognoses, right, of this party should Texas go down? And let's be clear, you know, Abbott is thinking about his legacy too. And he's trying to think about how he can hitch his wagon to a star that looks like success. But as you know, Donald Trump is failing in so many areas. He has not kept a promise or at least not kept it the way that people wanted him to.

But he's also not changed people's lives in any appreciable way. I think many people will say their life is worse now than it was nine months ago. And not only that, when you look at a place like Texas, what's happening with the energy costs, with the grid there, whether it was the snowstorm where people lost power or, again, with these floods and these natural disasters that is only going to keep happening. I mean, people are really hurting and somebody has to pay. And unfortunately, it's on Republican watch. And they know that. And their time is ticking, even in a place like Texas. It's just a matter of this is going to happen faster or slower, and they are trying to really stave off the inevitable because you've got a lot of young, very restless people in that state.

And if you look to places like Maryland and other Democratic states, I mean, they have to protect themselves. I mean, this administration is downright vengeful and going after those places. So it's not just about depriving Republicans of seats. It's also about how can we inoculate ourselves as much as possible from this administration. but the young people in the state got a vote 2002 Larry when Beto O'Rourke former congressman ran against Greg Abbott

for governor 75% of young voters in Texas under the age of 30 did not vote. Texas has the largest black voting population in the country not hitting the numbers and this is the thing we've got to understand here. This is why Republicans are scared. Go to my iPad

Antoine. House Republicans in competitive districts who voted for Trump's budget bill. You see this. Alaska, Colorado, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska. Don Bacon right there represents Omaha, Nebraska. He's retiring. New Jersey, Tom King Jr., Mike Lawler, competitive district there in New York, Andy Ogles in Tennessee, Monica Della Cruz in Texas. You have Michigan, two seats in Virginia, two in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin is critical because you now have a Democratic control. state Supreme Court, and they've put back on the ballot. They've now made it lawful to have ballot drop boxes and things along those lines. They also outlawed partisan gerrymandering there in Wisconsin. Three in Arizona, three in Colorado, three in Florida, four in Iowa, three in Iowa, three in Ohio, then you see four there in Pennsylvania. And so that's what we are seeing. Republicans desperate want to gerrymandered Pennsylvania.

because this is what they're basing layer. They're saying, well, Trump won these states. Well, that means nothing. People have to understand. Congressional districts, there are 435 in the country. They represent some 800,000 people. It has nothing to do about Trump winning a state. That means nothing.

Hell, in North Carolina, Trump won North Carolina, but Democrats won the governor's mansion, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general. They won the state school superintendent and a Supreme Court seat, Republicans won the state auditor. So that means nothing. Who gives a damn of Trump won the state?

That's not how congressional elections are, but this is about them. They're like, those are 35 vulnerable people. That's why they're trying to steal these five seats with this racist map. Yes, trying to create a permanent majority, and you can't let that happen. You know, Roel, I want to go something

you highlight about young people in certain demographics. I think there are two challenges, misinformation change and voter suppression. But the bottom line is if either Democrats can win with issues like we're talking about what's happening in Texas to make sure we prevent some of the gendermandering,

then none of this will matter. We've already seen some of the implications in terms of some of the student loan issues like Biden and people have to pay now back the SAVE program is eliminated. But it's really important that not only in Texas, but what's happened that's going to happen in Florida and some of these other states,

other red states, as they try to peel away some more of these congressional districts, Democrats have to have a plan. You need to have money and consistent support. That's the only way we can deal with this tidal wave as a relationship training. Otherwise, we're going to be dealing with some of these same issues. The country is on the verge of a recession that's going to impact a number of working class

and underserved individuals throughout the country. So this is the first step. Um, I understand, on my Congo, I understand the points that Larry just made there, um, and, and I agree photo suppression, those things, but here I think is, again, the fundamental problem in Texas and that we also see in other places. We see this for Democrats in Louisiana. We see this because we saw it in Georgia. It's an unorganized state. There are 254 counties in Texas. Democrats only have county offices in 81 of Texas, 254 counties. So the issue that you have is you do not have a sustained organizing apparatus in Texas that is 365 days, seven days a week. Beto O'Rourke was putting that together. He traveled all across the state. He visited all 254 counties. But what happens when the election is over?

And so what should be happening right now, whether it's called nonpartisan groups, non-profits or whatever, while this battle is happening, you can't just hope people turn out. the state has to be organized and mobilized. Yeah, absolutely. This is an all-hands-on-deck approach, and we can't just leave these Democrats out there to drive, almost like the way we treat. Like, sir, you know, when elections come, oh, our guy in, see you in two years,

see you in four years. Like, we can't have this mentality. Oh, they're just going to hold out to December. It's all going to be fine. Republicans never quit. Every single day they're fighting to move the needle just a little bit. And so if you're going to have all of those districts that don't have representation right now,

you've put out the work. You've put out the car. for people to get out there. And every time you have people like, you know, Cliff Albright, I mean, there are people like him who have the blueprint for what needs to be done and how it can be done, right, in terms of their organizations. If people don't understand that this has to be step by step, district by district, we're going to lose. Everything is going to be temporary. Things are going to look good for the cameras here and there. But people have to be involved in this fight at every level. When I brought up like George Clooney and others who can

help, you know, these guys financially, I was just using that as an example that these celebrities who talked a lot during the last election need to be involved in the game. The youth people that you talked about, I'm sorry, the youth that you talk about with everything that's happening in Texas, from women's rights to the job opportunities to what's going to be happening with this bill, there is no reason for young people to not be engaged in this fight. Everybody's talking about the young guy at James Taylorico, you know, in Texas, who's bringing youth along with him or whatever. If these young people are not going to get immobilized right now, not in the summer of 2026, then this is.

theirs to lose. This is their future. I miss all of our futures, but it's primarily their future. And so if they're not going to see that through the inaction of the flood, do they want to be the next flood victim when people don't vote for a monitoring system? They have everything to lose in this system. And so if they don't get behind these Democrats as well and start waking up and do some of that work that needs to happen in some of these districts that you just talked about that have no representation, then I'm afraid that these Democrats who left Texas is going to be all in vain. And we can't let that. happened, Roland. So let me close this out with this

for folks to understand. You heard Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. You heard her say in that news conference, we've got to get behind these folks. And what she's saying is they are doing their job. The question now is what are you going to do? I see your comments in the chat. I see this. Somebody says, Roland, this is S.L. Watson 35.

Roland, there needs to be a leader to help us mobilize our Texas state. You're correct, we have it to be a cohesive plan. You already have that. You already have groups who are doing that. But here's the question I will say to S.L. Watson 35, if you're in Texas, you can be a mobilizing leader. Let me unpack that. And I say this all the time. If you're going to organize Texas, you have to organize Texas counties.

In order to organize Texas counties, you've got to organize Texas cities. To organize Texas cities, you have to organize Texas neighborhoods. To organize Texas neighborhoods, you have to organize Texas streets. to organize Texas streets no Texas neighborhoods you got to organize Texas blocks Texas blocks Texas streets Texas streets

Texas houses Texas houses means one person in the house so what now then happens so one person in a house says we got to organize and mobilize here in Texas so the person in the house says

I got to organize my neighbors. The neighbors say we got to organize our street. The street folks say we got to organize our block. The block people say we got to organize our neighborhood. All of a sudden, when neighborhoods mobilize,

you now organize and mobilize the city. When the cities mobilize, you begin to organize, organize and mobilize the county. When the county and the cities are mobilized, you now begin to organize and mobilize the state. So where do you start? I keep this very basic and I keep it very clear and very simple. And that is this.

Go look at the existing data. You can pull up the data by going to the State Board of Elections, the County Board of Elections, and you can say, how did my precinct vote? Folks, elections are based upon precincts. There are X number precincts in a state, in a county, in a city. You pull the data and you say, oh, my precinct, which could be a collection of neighborhoods, my precinct has

700 registered voters. That doesn't mean eligible voters to be registered. But let's just say it has 700 registered voters. Well, those 700 of the 700 registered voters in the last congressional campaign in my precinct, 300 voted. That means it's right there, the data. 400 registered voters in that precinct

did not vote in the last congressional presidential, state, county commissioner, city, school board, DA, whatever election. And so if you're watching us right now or listening, stop trying to worry about a big leader to the organizing state. Stop trying to worry about, man, who can do the county, who could do the city, who could do the neighborhood. You watching right now should first start. with what's

in my concentric circle let me first start with my family. No, we first start with in my household. That's my family. Let me then start with my neighbor on the left, neighbor on the right, across

the street. You begin the bill there. This is how it is done. The reason, and let me real clear, Republicans, whenever you hear Republicans complain about what's happening in Texas, I'm trying not to cuss because I keep running the people

who kept telling me, come on, Roland, you guys stop cussing. But I really want to tell them the F-off right now because Republicans have controlled Texas for the last 30 years. Since George W. Bush was elected to a second term, Republicans hold every statewide office in Texas. All of them. They have controlled the House and the control of the Senate.

It's a fact. So when they complain about what's happening, you can't blame Democrats. They couldn't blame Biden. They control the state. The Texas power grid is trash. You know why? Because Republicans unplugged from the national power grid

is that we're going to create our own. That's why you have folks who died when it got hold all across Texas. I mean, we can go on and on and on. Greg Abbott spent $3 billion building bull. I'm Noah. I'm 13. And as you might have seen from the news,

I got a podcast. And I explain those fake headlines like your uncle would. Like your cousin would if he actually did the research. Honestly, adults don't ask the right questions. Now you know with Noah DeBaroso is a show about influence. Who's got it, how they use it, and what it means for the rest of you. It's not the news It's what the news should be

If someone Gen Z or Gen Alpha made it When I'm watching everything Sheesh The majority of the youth 18 through 24 Say they trust Republicans More than Democrats If you're on the economy

You kidding Politics is wild And I'm definitely not here to pay it But I'm here to make sense of it Just what's happening Why it matters And what it means for us Bring your brain

Listen to Now You Know with Noah DeBarraza on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. When I became a journalist, I was the first Latina in the newsrooms where I worked. I'm Maria Inojosa. I dreamt of having a place where voices that have been historically sidelined would instead be centered.

For over 30 years now, Latino USA has been that place. This is Latino USA, the Radio Journal of News and Cultura. As the longest running Latino news and culture show in the United States, Latino USA delivers the stories that truly matter to all of us. From sharp and deep analysis of the most pressing news, they're creating this narrative that immigrants are criminals. This is about everyone's freedom of speech. Nobody expected to popes from the American continent

to stories about our cultures and our identities. When you do get a trans character like Imidipedez, the trans community is going to push back on that. Colorism, all of these things that exist in Mexican culture and Latino culture. You'll hear from people like Congresswoman, AOC. I don't want to give them my fear. I'm not going to give them my fear. Listen to Latino USA as part of the My Cultura Podcast Network,

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The offspring. Tim McRaw. Tickets are on sale now at AXS.com. Get your tickets today. AXS.com. What shit along the border. Even the Republicans were like, this shit ain't work.

so they quietly stopped spending. He wasted $3 billion. The problem we have in America is that there are a lot of people who complain, who don't vote. The opposition, they vote. And when you complain and say, well, I'm not voting unless I get tangibles.

Fool? You can't. can't get any tangibles unless you vote. It doesn't work the other way around. Now what it means is when the election is over, then you are putting pressure on that person, I need you to deliver. But then what happens when your person doesn't win, you're still a constituent, and you can make demands of them?

This moment that we are looking at right now is a choice. challenge to the people, the silent majority in Texas who don't vote. I'm going to give you the stat again and you heard me say it several times. I'm still registered vote in Texas. So it's my brother, so my two sisters, so my parents, so my numerous, all of my nieces, nephews, all 13 of them, my cousins, my aunts and uncles, I've got four or 500 relatives in Texas. Folks, they are registered. But the problem is 61% of Texas is black, Latino, Asian American, Native American. Yet 61% of the people that vote in Texas are white.

Yes, there's voter suppression. Yes, there's gerrymandering. but in the history of black people we've had to hop jump hurdle go under go over every obstacle

presented so if you don't have an ID we should be working with folks to help get them an ID we should be re-registering every single year oh they're moving folks like crazy in Florida fine register to vote every single year just fill the card out Turn it in.

Y'all ain't screwing me over. The only way we change this by taking our country back and taking our state back is if we use our power at the ballot box, but it cannot happen if we are not organized and mobilized. This shirt I'm wearing, color of change, gave me this shirt. It says, voting while black. If you are complaining while black,

and you're not registered with all due respect, shut the fuck up. Nambi, thanks a lot. Y'all y'all touch of the day. Nambi,

Larry, Omicongo, I appreciate y'all being on today's show. Thank you so very much. Folks, in a lot of stuff we wanted to get to, we obviously did not get to because we were so focused on what's the racist gerrymandered the maps in Texas. We're going to be covering more of this tomorrow. We're not letting go of this story.

We don't give a shit what MSNBC, CNN, Fox, ABC, NBC is doing. This is personal to us because, oh, when we talk about celebrating Juneteenth, that originated in Texas. We talk about what's happening in Texas, and I'm telling y'all, if we take Texas, the Republican Party falls apart. They fall apart. and so for me being a native of this state being a homeowner in the state you got damn right it's personal

you don't want to support the work that we do join our bring the funk fan club every dollar you give goes to support what we are doing because again mainstream media is not covering this at all you heard Omicongo say nobody was covering the Texas news conference we were covering it live

right here on Rolling Bark Unfiltered there's nobody in black on media that's doing we're doing every day as well and so listen September 4th is our seventh anniversary our goal is to raise a million dollars between now September 4th what we do here this show and Blackstar network the other shows cost $195,000 a month that's real so your support is critical to support us cash shop here the number right here's right here there's a QR code right here click the cash up button to contribute you can use this use this QR code for uh for uh credit cards as well. Of course, you can also support us by sending your check and money orders

milling to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 2,003, 7.0196. Paypal's R. Martin unfiltered, Venmo, R.M. Unfiltered, Zelle, at Rowlandsmartin.com, rolling at rolling martin unfiltered.com. Download the blasted network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, of course, Roku, Amazon Fire, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Also, of course, if you want to, of course, get my book, White Fear, have the Browning of America's making white folks lose their minds. Available at bookstores nationwide, get the audio version I read on Audible. Also, get out Blackstar Network, Rolling Martin Unfofer's Swag.

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dot com listen to the audio of course the I listen to our podcast through IHeart Radio Network and all the different platforms out there actually we need to change that graphic because we need to show people where all of our podcasts are all different platforms

so Keenan let me know about that and hey if y'all on YouTube hit the like button right now before y'all sign off we should easily be at 2,000 likes but we're at 1,400 so let's get to 600 real quick. So y'all, all your people on YouTube, hit that button right now, right now, right now. Don't forget also, you've got download the fanbase app. And if you want to invest in

fanbase, go to startengin.com for slash fanbase for more information. Folks, that's it. I'll see y'all right here. Roller mark unfiltered. I'm Noah, and I'm 13. And I started this podcast because honestly, adults don't ask the right questions. Now you know with Noah de Barrasso is a show about influence. Who's got it, how they use it and what it means for the rest of you. It's not the news. It's what the news should be if someone Gen Z or Gen Alpha made it. Politics is wild and I'm definitely not here to payment, but I'm here to make sense of it.

Listen to Now You Know with Noah de Barroso on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. When I became a journalist, I was the first Latina in the newsrooms where I worked. I'm Maria Inojosa. I spent my career creating journalism that centers voices. who have been historically sidelined. From the most pressing news stories to deep cultural explorations, Latino USA is journalism with heart.

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presented by Capital One is coming back to Las Vegas. Vegas. September 19th. on your feet streaming live only on hulu ladies and gentlemen brian adams ed sherin fade clorilla jelly roll chan fogerty lil wane l l ll cool jay maria carey maroon five sammy hagar tape mccray the offspring tim mcraw tickets are on sale now at a x s dot com get your tickets today a x s dot com this is an i heart podcast