#RolandMartinUnfiltered - APhiA Founders Day '24, NC GOP power grab, Hegseth nomination backlash, Biden pardon fallout

Episode Date: December 4, 2024

12.3.2024 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: APhiA Founders Day '24, NC GOP power grab, Hegseth nomination backlash, Biden pardon fallout TONIGHT on this special Alpha edition of Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. The Republican-controlled North Carolina State Senate overrode Democratic Governor Roy Cooper's veto on a bill that would strip executive power from the state's newly elected Democrats and give it to state legislators.  We have a North Carolina lawmaker in the studio to discuss what's next. Will Florida Govern  Ron DeSantis take Pete Hegseth's place as Defense Secretary nominee? I'll explain why Mitch McConnell is whining about two federal judges "un-retiring." Since President Biden pardoned his son, justice reform advocates say he should be pardoning more non-violent inmates.  I'll talk to one woman who Bill Clinton pardoned.  She's sharing her story about how she ended up in federal prison on drug charges but never sold them.  #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 (link) and Risks (link) related to this offering before investing. Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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grow your audience, and be you without limits. We'll be right back. Man, Black media, he makes sure that our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roland. Hey, Black, I love y'all. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scape. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? We'll be right back. Thank you. Thank you. Today is Wednesday, December 4th, 2024.

Coming up on Roller Martin on Filter streaming live with the Black Star Network, the 118th anniversary of the Coldest and the Boldest Fraternity, the rest of them are youth groups. Just letting you all know. Alpha Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. We're going to, of course, have, we'll be hearing from a number of my brothers all day long. Here's what's coming up on this show. Republican-controlled North Carolina State Senate overrode the veto

of Democratic Governor Roy Cooper on a bill that was supposed to be about hurricane relief, and instead they chose to again strip power from Democrats who are coming into office. We'll talk to a North Carolina lawmaker about the drama happening in the Tar Hill State. Oh, guess what?

Peter Hegg said, these Fox News people are doing all they can can try to get him confirmed as defense secretary. Will Kane? Sorry, player. It ain't happening. The allegations of him being drunk, of him being a womanizer. But also, most importantly, he's simply grossly incompetent and unqualified to be secretary of defense. Trump folks could be turning to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. How about them apples? Also, Mitch McConnell is complaining and whining,

oh, there are two democratically appointed judges who decided to un-retire. This is going to just hurt the entire federal judiciary. Shut the hell up, Mitch. And also, since President Biden partner son Hunter Justice Reform advocates that he should be partnering a lot more people, especially those who are nonviolent inmates. I talked to one woman who Bill Clinton

pardoned she's sharing her story about how she ended up in a federal prison on drug charters when they were sold them. Lots of discussion. Time to bring the funk. Alpha Style. I'm Roland Martin, unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Let's go.

He's got whatever the piss he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's Roland, best belief he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks. He's rolling. It's Uncle Roro, y'all.

It's rolling Martin. Rolling with rolling now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real The best you know he's Rollin' Martell Now Martell All right, folks, if you want to see a naked abuse of power, all you have to do is look to North Carolina, where Republicans are doing it again.

Now, there was a bill in the Senate that was supposed to be about helping folks who were devastated by Hurricane Helene. They were like, nah, we're not going to do that. We're actually going to focus on stripping power from the state's executive branch. Why is that? Well, that's because they lost at the ballot box. They failed. They lost in the governor's race. Josh Stein beat nutcase porn advocate Mark Robinson. They lost lieutenant governor's race. They lost attorney general's race. And so they decided to say, you know what?

We're going to take from the governor the ability to appoint state election board members and give that to the Republican state auditor. Who the hell gives a state auditor power over elections? Joining us is North Carolina State Representative Amber Baker. Glad to have you in the studio. So this is, here's what's insane. These folks have been whining and complaining about trying to help folk impacted by the hurricanes.

But they were like, yeah, let's just spend our time stripping power because Democrats beat us at the ballot box. That's exactly right. So, you know, two weeks ago I was here to talk to you about this bill when it first was passed in both the Senate and the House, and we anticipated that the governor would be vetoing this bill. And so we knew that it was going to just be chaos when it came back. The interesting thing is that we have some Republicans that voted against this bill.

And so we're hoping that those Republicans will stand with the Democrats to uphold the veto. So if the Republicans, they voted against the bill initially, If they vote here, then this bill cannot go into effect. That's absolutely correct. We had a number of absences on both sides. So really, we had an opportunity, had all of our Democrats been present, to really stop it on the floor. So what the hell were they doing? That I can't answer.

I mean, I don't understand. If you know what, first of all, let's be real clear. Republicans have done this before. That's correct. So what the hell were those Democrats doing? What I can tell you is what needs to be. You know, I can't speak for them, but what I can say is at this point, we cannot miss session.

No. Period. Also, you're elected. If you were elected to represent the people, that's your job. So, you know, things come... Unless you're having a baby, unless you're in the hospital sick, have your ass on the floor. Especially since

this is a vote that we found out about that day, so that could be some of it. We didn't know in advance that this bill was going to be put on the floor. Especially since this is a vote that we found out about that day. So that could be some of it. We didn't know in advance that this bill was going to be put on the floor. And so had we been given a previous notice, then we could have made sure that everybody who could be there

would have been there. We didn't know. The day that the bill dropped, the original bill was very innocuous, so it came to us in the form of a conference report. And so it didn't drop until like two hours before we were to vote on it. So it was a number of things that they did to ensure that the public wasn't aware of what was happening, and so we couldn't generate that kind of support to make people aware of what is going on.

But the Senate voted on it on Monday. And I saw Reverend Barber was on CNN yesterday talking about Moral Mondays. They were fully prepared to do what they needed to do to bring about attention, to disrupt the process. A number of people were put out. So we anticipate that when we go back into session next week to vote on it, that we will see that same kind of energy being generated. And we have to keep saying this is about a power grab. It's plain and simple. And they know that they have the short window of time to push through the last bit of legislation

before we go into the breaking of the supermajority. But also people need to understand, well, first of all, we can talk of the supermajority. But also people need to understand, well, first of all, we can talk about the supermajority. So Democrats want an additional seat in the House, so therefore the Republicans no longer have a supermajority. So they have to do this now because come January they don't have that power. That is absolutely correct. That is correct.

So we served this term with 48 members. We need 49 to be able to break the supermajority and to be able to uphold the governor's vetoes. Session before last, we had more than enough to uphold Governor Cooper's vetoes. This last session, you know, we had the person who flipped seats, whose name we shall not mention. Did she lose re-election? She did not lose, but

she is definitely vulnerable. She only won her seat by slightly over 200 votes. So, even though they... Right. So, even though we knew that her seat, they gerrymandered her seat to ensure that she had a better chance to win. She is

extremely vulnerable. So, we know that that's a seat that we have to start organizing now. And what I'm saying to people is we all are still feeling kind of the emotions of what happened on November 5th, but November 6th we started running again because we run every two

years. So I tell people I will get sworn in in January, but then I foul in December for a March 2026 primary. So I can't, I can't, I can't stay stuck. I'm telling people we can't stay stuck because the midterm election started for us on November 6th. And we must be mindful of that. And we came really close in a number of seats, including, um, in, in races. We didn't think we were, were, we could win. So we know that when we are intentional about supporting and getting people out there and running strong

ground gangs in districts that we didn't think we could win in, that it's doable. You also have Republicans who are angry that Allison Riggs won her Supreme Court seat. So they're talking about trying to invalidate the election, even though she won fair and square. Correct. So we know, I mean, none of this should be surprising to anyone. I mean, people have been focusing on what Trump

and all of those folks have been doing in D.C., but North Carolina is the playbook. Right. And so no one should be surprised that once again, they lost fair and square, and so now they're trying to figure out a way how they can invalidate votes or find votes

to now keep her from being seated. But, you know, we know, and that was, and so we know that that was a nationwide canvassing of, I mean, not a nationwide, I'm sorry, statewide canvassing of votes. So it wasn't like we just went into Democratic-leaning districts to see if we could find enough votes for her to beat her opponent. No, that was statewide.

So what are you going to invalidate? And her opponent, who is actually on the appeals court, he's trying to invalidate some 60,000 voters. That's correct. And you know, prior to that, I can't even tell you the number of people that they purged from the road. So we had to definitely, as we were out canvassing,

we had to make sure that if people said they were registered, we checked on the spot. So as we were registering voters, new voters, we were also canvassing and making sure that people whose registration had been, my daughter's registration had been purged. And I'm saying she's been voting since she was 18. And so nobody was immune.

And we need to be real clear that we can't stop at that. Like, again, for people who are listening, Roland, midterm elections started November 6th and I don't think people, they're talking about 2026. No, we need to be talking about January 2025. We cannot lose momentum. I'm already working with a number

of candidates that ran good races. My strength is in grassroots organizing. I'm telling them, in January, you start reaching back out to those people and keep the momentum going because you ran a good race and so we

can flip these seats. The other thing I always mention because people, and you can appreciate this because you have to explain people, it takes money to run this show. It takes money for us to run these races. And as black candidates, we do not get the money that our white counterparts get. And we as black people, you know, I share this story very quickly.

My most prized contribution came from one of my parents who gave me $3. And people like $3, but I know what it took for her to give me that $3. And so I don't value the $3,000 any more than the $3. So don't think that any amount is too small because when you run a grassroots campaign, every dollar counts and we need it for these candidates that we know we can flip these seats on.

Well, you talk about 26 was also going to be critical. Anita Earls. Yes. On the Supreme Court. They have been trying to get rid of her. I mean, they launched an investigation because she gave an interview. Correct. Talk about the importance of diversity.

Absolutely. So her seat's up in 2026, but there are three Republican seats that are up in 2028. Yes. And for people need to understand when Democrats control the Supreme Court in North Carolina, that's when they, that's when they ruled against political gerrymandering. They ruled against the voter ID bill, things along those lines. They stopped a lot of the crazy stuff happening. Unfortunately, when Sherri Beasley lost by 401 votes, Democrats could have, had she

won, would have been six to one on the court. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley, comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission.

This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th. Ad free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. It goes to four to three, the next election, they lose. Yes.

Then what, a brother, he decides to run for office. He loses. Right. And then the Republicans have a five to two majority. Yes. Then what, a brother, he decides to run for office. He loses. Right. And then the Naira Republicans have a five to two majority. Correct. And you also remember that in this hurricane relief bill that we're talking about, there are two circuit court judges seats in there that they are now eliminating. Both of those judges ruled against them.

One against the gerrymandered maps, which is the judge in my district in Forsyth County, and then there's an additional judge that they also are looking to vacate their seats from. And we anticipate that there will be some litigation behind that just because of the legalities of them meddling over there in the judiciary, which they have no jurisdiction, but that's never stopped them. Right, that's exactly what they all want to do. I want to bring in my panel right now,

Robert Petillo, he is host of People, Passion, Politics, 1380 WALK out of Atlanta, Rebecca Carruthers, Vice President, Fair Elections Center out of D.C., Dr. Greg Carr, he's Department of African American Studies, Howard University, glad to have everybody here. You know, I'm going to start with you, Rebecca. I mean, the thing here that people have to understand is North Carolina, yeah, it is the test case, if you will, because of what they're trying to do, what they want to do.

But Republicans, they have been playing this game really ever since 2008, when Obama won the state by 14,100 votes, North Carolina used to have very low voter participation. With that election, numbers went up, and they said, oh, no, no, we've got to do all we can to keep these folks from voting. And it has literally been a war waged against black voters, progressive voters, Democratic voters since 2010, literally the last 14 years. So North Carolina definitely is a test case of what's happening, but it also points us in the right direction for the future of how to fight back. In the months leading up to the November 5th election, I spent a lot of time across the South and I was talking with different voters about Project 2025. And the responses I got was, we live under Project 2025 now.

So we have to go to states like North Carolina and see what it means not to just resist, but how to actually fight back, how to dig in, how to talk the voters, make sure they're understanding what's happening in state, and then how to, each election, each election, keep chipping at some of those supermajorities. So my question for you is, what do you think nationally your party needs to know with how to fight back, not just how you all are fighting back at the state level, but nationally, how do national Democrats fight back

against what's predicted to happen in the next administration? So I feel like the Democratic Party, their messaging is off. You have so many people that are running the party right now that are so disconnected from the needs and the concerns of what people are really living and feeling, right? And so we have these really great speaking points, but if we're not in touch with the people who we need to motivate to understand that the decisions

that are being made are going to impact their life, then it doesn't matter. So I tell people if we don't reconnect and reengage in community, some people are disconnected, and we've got to reconnect. And the messaging has to be based on what are the needs in the communities and in the districts that you're trying to meet. Our messaging out east for our black voters out east could not be the same as what the messaging was in our urban centers. And so we've been intentional about that. Running a 100-county campaign and giving choices to Democrats in rural counties and in counties that had not had an opportunity to vote

for a Democrat was a really good strategy. But we've got to continue to build on that. And we have to have candidates that reflect these districts that they're running in. And those candidates need to know what those issues are, along with a statewide international message, right? So we heard a lot about abortion rights. We heard a lot about voting rights. Okay, that can be our national message and even our state message. But when you drill down, like my grandson said

when we were at a Josh Stein event, that's what Josh was talking about. But when people started asking him about higher rents, they started asking about jobs and how can we get to some of these better paying jobs and he went back to his talking points. My 17 year old grandson who's already pre-registered to vote

by the way, leaned over into my ear and he said, Yaya, that man don't have a clue. I said, what are you talking about Amir? He said, he talking about white people issues. These people are talking about life. He's 17. And that nailed it so we are so insensitive whether you know by intentionally or simply because we

have not stayed relevant in our districts and in our communities and indeed as a party that's where we miss it that's where we're missing this is Robert is where it returns and we returns to understanding how you drill down in terms of understanding local, local, local, local, local. How to sit here and actually have that conversation. How to speak to those very local issues. And even when you looked at the campaign, so Vice President Kamala Harris, when she's coming into town, yeah, it was really, I mean, everything was reproductive rights. And I and others kept saying that can't be the only message that you articulate if you want to be able to reach these voters. It needs to be something different.

But also, we've got to also understand the map. We've got to understand the map. And what I mean by that is North Carolina should be the next Georgia. Go to my iPad. Go to my iPad. This is what I mean. And we have to understand the map here. Okay, so you take 2028 and then also then 2032. So when 2032 rolls around, I saw one particular story,

and they said that California, New York State, California blue, New York State blue, Illinois blue. And I think Michigan or Wisconsin. One of those two, they're going to lose in electoral college because the population decreases. Republicans, so if you look at that blue dot right there in Nebraska, that blue dot in Nebraska, sorry, I can't enlarge it any further. Well, there it is. That little blue dot in Nebraska, well, the Republican that stopped that from happening,

he's retiring. They're probably going to turn Omaha into red. Probably going to winner-take-all in the state, as opposed to congressional districts. So, there's about 12 electoral college votes that are going to change

going from blue states to red states. Well, you go over here to North Carolina. Well, Carolina has 16 electoral college votes. You win North Carolina, you look at Utah and Arizona, okay? That's 17 electoral college votes. You can lose those two states. You pick up North Carolina.

You got 16. So where Democrats are, then, of course, you look at Florida, that's 30. Between those two states, that's 46 electoral college votes. If you're conceding that every single presidential election to Republicans, you're not going to be able to win. And so if you look at North Carolina, Tillis, he may run in 26. You already got people who are saying he's going to be in trouble. Democrats don't. They got to defend Georgia with Ossoff.

A lot of the other red states are up. North Carolina should be an absolute focus of the state Democratic Party, of the National Democratic Party, and the national Democratic Party, and the focus of donors and others. The focus of donors and others should be, we need to turn that state blue. The biggest issue I think the party has is they've been running the exact same campaign since 2008.

After that magic struggle for Obama in 08, they just thought they could copy, paste, and play it back. What the Republicans have been doing is organizing on the state and local level during that period of time. Remember, from 2008 until the Trump era, Democrats lost something like 1,044 seats on the state and local level nationally. At the same time, we saw voter suppression laws be pushed in almost every single one of these red states.

The demographics do not match the electoral outcomes across the South. And that's because, over the course of the last decade, we've seen push after push to just think about what happened between 2020 and 2024. Twenty-six states passed voter suppression laws. Georgia, my state, we changed the way that we count ballots. We appointed a brand-new Trump MAGA board of elections. And as a result of that, we see 100,000-plus votes swinging in the state, not because of the demographics, not because of a change in messaging,

but because of voter suppression. So until the national party is willing to invest in these state and local races to make sure – because one thing I'll say about Trump, and I'll give him credit for it, if you were a MAGA supporter and you were running for school board in Dalton, Georgia, he would show up with an entire MAGA rally to make sure that you got elected. He would bring you up on the stage with the senators and everyone else to make sure that you got elected. You have to have that buy-in on the state and local level

because that's the way that you shift these races. There's no reason for North Carolina, for Georgia, for many of these other states to be red states except for voter suppression. But the problem is you have the exact same 2008 consultants running the exact same 2008 campaign expecting to get different results. They have not modernized. They have not caught up.

And they don't want to listen to anyone else in the room who might disagree with them in their ivory towers. And that's why they keep losing. Greg, also, you look at this year. After Mark Robinson imploded, okay, polls were showing Stein was up 12, 14 points. That's also where

you have to then recalibrate and say, okay, I got this in the bag. How do I now begin to help other folk? How do I now shift resources as well? That also has to happen. So the thinking has to actually be different. But again, North Carolina has the potential to be another Virginia. Even though everybody keeps talking

about how Georgia turned blue, Georgia didn't turn blue. Okay. Warnock and Ossoff won. Warnock won his reelection. Ossoff is going to have a hell of a chance, hell of a reelection bid, especially if Brian Kemp decides to run for the United States Senate. So I never called Georgia blue. What I am saying, though, is that if you look at the results in North Carolina, Democrats won the governor's race, lieutenant governor's race, secretary of state, attorney general and the Secretary of Education. So the first thing they should be asking themselves, how in the hell do you win those top five, and then Harris doesn't win the state? So you now have to deal with that. Biden lost the state by two and a half points in 2020.

So it's not like he won it. No Democrat has won the state since Obama won by 14,100 votes in 2008. But there literally has to be a very specific strategy solely for North Carolina. And I get the other states. I get people talk about how we'm sitting here in the Democratic National Committee, I'm sitting here saying my focus from a state perspective right now is North Carolina and Georgia. Those are my two. Because again, Georgia, electoral college votes, 16.

North Carolina, 16. That's 32. No Republican can win if they loses one of those two states. Oh, absolutely. So it has, the question keeps coming back around. What exactly does the Democratic Party want to do? They're soft white nationalists. The Republicans are hard white nationalists. But the story here is the story has always been it's race. No, why doesn't Kamala Harris win this election

in North Carolina when Josh Stein performed so well? The explanation is the obvious one. Now, ultimately as we've been talking, I mean. It's race, but also her people wouldn't listen. In that, since 2020, between 2000 and 20, I'm gonna pull it up here which says 2020 she made 20 visits to North Carolina the rally in Greenville was the first time they went to East North Carolina so they literally spent you said that they literally spent all this time they kept going to West North Carolina yeah the problem is you have massive black counties that are in East North

Carolina folks go to my iPad here so so you'll see right here. So this is, let me see if I can increase it. But if you look at this here, so you see where Raleigh is. So if you basically ran a line where Raleigh is, they went everywhere west. Raleigh, Durham, Greensboro, Charlotte, Ashfield, all those places. East, it's a ton of black people one time. Multiple visits to Greensboro, Charlotte, Raleigh. We got Governor Walz, and I'm taking credit for this because I was the person that when we screwed up

and they went to Greensboro because we couldn't get the venue, they didn't talk to anybody locally. So they weren't able to get the Coliseum in Winston-Salem, so they went to Greensboro. And so I fought with them to keep saying, Winston-Salem, Forsyth County is in play. You guys have got to come back. So when Governor Walz came, she never made it to Winston. And I kept saying, y'all keep going to the same places. There are other votes in other parts

of the state. Because they also made an assumption that they were going to win 70% of Mecklenburg County. That's never happened. So I'm trying to figure out, like, how the hell you, like, they literally... Their projections were they're going to win 70% of that count.

Let me be clear about this. Obviously, we're talking about the black vote. And also, obviously, the story of this election as the story of the election since, as you said, Robert, the last 20 years, going on 20 years now, is going to be voter suppression. When the cooler heads prevail in 10 or 20 years from now, if there now, is going to be voter suppression. When the cooler heads prevail

in 10 or 20 years from now, if there's still a United States of America, they're going to be saying that it was voter suppression in this election. So chasing these votes without factoring that in is chasing your tail. But I guess what I'm about to ask you, Rebecca, about

this, because like I said, they're going to be, they announced Poor People's Campaign in R because like you said, they're going to be, they announced Poor People's Campaign, they're going to be down there in Raleigh for Moral Monday again, this Monday as you said. The fusion politics that worked during Reconstruction that led to Wilmington and the response, the fusion politics

that worked in North Carolina in the 60s and 70s when poor whites and, you know, we have to concentrate on the black vote. But how can you imagine that same fusion politics busting through before the seawall of demographics wipes these white nationalists out for good? So I'm going to say again, I work very closely with the coordinated campaign in Forsyth, right? We were nowhere in leadership.

We were nowhere in leadership. You mean the African Americans? I mean the African Americans. There you go. So how are you going to... And what's the racial makeup of that county? I don't know, but it... Is it Forsyth County?

Forsyth County. Keep going. I'm going to find it, so don't worry about it. But if your focus is on trying to motivate the black vote, because I got tired of hearing that, and I said, look, if this race is won or lost, it won't be on the backs of black people. Exactly. And it won't be on the backs of black women.

So don't talk to me about how do we get out the black vote. Talk to me about how we're going to get out the white vote, how we're going to get out the LGBTQ community, how we're going to get out white women? I said, no, that's who we need to be focusing on because black people are going to do what black people do, but we're not going to be able to save you this time.

That was my conversation. So how is that different than what the Democratic Party does? They're about to make another mistake. They put Rahm Emanuel in at the National Lab. They're saying white voters too, but you're saying something different. First of all, that ain't happening. Right. Well, I hope not, but these people... That ain't happening. Well, what

I'm saying is you need a diversity of thought on your team. Yes. And I can say in Forsyth County, the head of who was coordinating North Carolina and indeed the playmakers in Forsyth County

were young white males. Oh, yeah. And so that in and of itself is the playbook. And so when I... Here's the ratio of makeup before Forsyth County. So go to my iPad. 54.8% is non-Hispanic white. Black is 25.8%.

Hispanic slash Latino is 14.2%. So, what has to happen, and you're absolutely right, you can't put it in the backs of black people, but what I keep saying that has to happen, black folks, we have to be hitting 70%.

My deal is our turnout can't be 47, 50, 52, 55. No, we got to hit 70%. Then, to those people you're talking about, I'm going to need y'all to turn these white folks out so we get our numbers. But we're not going to get to the

70% rolling. Unless you're not... Especially if you ain't talking to them. Right, and here's the thing, again, 70% rolling. Unless you're not... Especially if you ain't talking to them. Right. And here's the thing, again, Cuts and Cuties was what I did before the barbershop conversations were

the end thing. I'm on something sicker, but go ahead. Well, I did it because I'm always near the people. And I wanted to go into the barbershops not to campaign but to say

what are the issues? And every place two things came up. Nothing's going to change. Right? And I need to know what your nothing is because when people

talk about that it means that they have something in their mind that they've looked for a change. When you can connect their nothingness to what needs to change, whether it's the schools, do you know who ran for school board?

If it's social justice reform, do you know who runs for judges? When you start to connect that, you see light bulbs go off. But the only way that happens, which you said earlier, you have to be in regular engagement.

What I said to the Biden-Harris campaign, I said in November of last year, a year ago, I said January to July needed to be what I call, and I said it on my show as well, I said your information enlightenment education

stage. People don't know what you did. Right. You should be spending seven months fanning out across the country, locking up with city councilmen, state legislators, county officials saying, you need to be having town halls,

conversations, you need to be live stream, whatever, laying out, this is what we accomplished. This is what we actually did. People are like, I didn't know you did that. Then, next question, what do you want to be live streamed, whatever. Laying out, this is what we accomplished. This is what we actually did. People are like, I didn't know you did that. Then, next question, what do you want to be done? But if you only go and have a conversation in October, maybe September, you've given yourself such short runway,

you can't educate anybody. But also, yes, you're right. But also what has to happen is I'm finishing my second term running for my third term. I tell people I got pushed into this. I got pushed into it because I'm an educator

who moonlights as a politician. My career has been spent in highly impacted communities. I live in those communities. I had somebody say two weeks ago, you really do live here. What? We thought you were just saying that, right?

You at the grocery store? No. They had to drop something off at my house. They saw going home. And they saw the car, they saw the grass, and they, right? So what I'm saying is,

it's not just enough for this to be top down. It's got to be top down and bottom up. And right now they did not have the good sense to say, let's invest in some of these down ballot races with all of that money to make sure that we are not only getting the message out, but these people who are running because we're boots on the ground. I don't care how many people you bring in. Your because we're boots on the ground. I don't care how many people you bring in. Your local candidates are boots on the ground. Make sure that your local candidates, your local elected officials, not only have your national messaging, but we need to have our local messaging. And like you said, these town halls and all of this,

it needs to be happening all the time. And I'm telling you, that's all the stuff that I do because I don't know anything else. And so that's why I said this to you. We can growl, bark, be mad, kick butt. But November 6th, we have to do that while we can't rest for each other. We can rest for that other stuff. But we can't rest for that other stuff, but we can't rest for each other because we know in running this race, we're going to find respite in our pain. Right. We're also going to find strength in our pain and keep moving.

So that's the party is so far off messaging all around and they're not willing or either they're unable to sit down with self as I watch all of these different, you know, commentaries about what happened. If you can't name a thing, you can't fix it. And nobody is talking about what race played in this race. Nobody's talking about how we are. They keep saying we got to get away from identity politics. And I'm sitting going like you just like you're ignoring the reality.'re ignoring the reality. Hold it for a moment, Robert. I want to go back to the map. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.

Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Because, so when I was talking to the Harris campaign, they were talking about, hey, where do we go? So again, if y'all draw a line from the top and take that line through Durham, Raleigh, and Fayetteville, I specifically said to them, I'm only going east. And so y'all know, we broadcast from Elizabeth City,

we broadcast from Fayetteville State, we broadcast from Rocky Mount, and we did three, I said, I said point blank that we should've been doing three to four cities a month. Wilson. Going in, sitting with people, and I was trying to actually get them to do an event somewhere at noon,

and then the show at night, that way I can hit two cities in one day. That's right. And actually hit six cities. That's right. And so it was a lot of back and forth there and those things didn't happen. And then... And everything didn't have to be a big elaborate event. That's what I'm saying. But his was a perfect example.

So we were at Fayetteville State. We were at Fayetteville State. I find out Bill... Literally, we were at Fayetteville State at 6 p.m. Bill Clinton was at the Cumberland County Democratic Office at the exact same time. My brain went, why didn't we do this together? It didn't make any sense because they didn't get the turnout at Fayetteville State. But again, if you're trying to maximize.

And so I went to go see him first. It wasn't live streamed. Right. So you probably had about 150 people who were there, and I kept, again, what I kept saying is, you don't just talk to 150 people. You take the, you utilize live streaming where you can reach thousands and you go beyond the room.

But that requires planning. Right. And you had Jamie Harrison at the Forsyth Democratic Party at the same time that Winston-Salem State had their souls to the polls. Their young people, young people strode to the polls, not sold, strode to the polls. Let me tell you something. Winston-Salem State students was on fire. They started at move-in. They had about 300

people, and you got Jamie Harrison with the big fancy bus at the Forsyth Democratic Party talking to maybe 20 Democrats. And I said to them when I found out, tell him to take the bus to Winston-Salem State. So that's

where you have the disconnect about the value and the importance of your state party and what's going on. Yes, everybody was energized. Well, your state party, but also your underground local folk who know. Well, I meant to say the national

race. I get it. Everybody was motivated and organized and excited about our sister Kamala. And, Lord, I love her. But we got to get people as motivated down the ballot. Jessica Holmes, the auditor, part of the reason she didn't win her race was she didn't have the money. Now, you got, Lord Jesus, I'm going to have to come back rolling, y'all going to have to raise money for me

because they getting ready to be mad. Governor Cooper put the girl in the position. Why wouldn't you fund her? Why wouldn't you make sure she had? Because y'all going to have to say it. That looks good in his hat. you make sure she had. Right. Because y'all gonna have to,

y'all gonna have to. Say it. That looks good in his hat. Mm-hmm. She's the first council of state in that position. But don't mean nothing if you're a porno,

but then she don't win. She don't win. The whole point is she wants to win. And you lost half, the treasurer has a PA, the Wesley Harris, my colleague, white male, PhD in economics.

And he wins treasury? I mean, he loses treasury? Because he's not funded. And he showed up in the communities that he needed to show up in. But he didn't have the money. Now, you got all of this money hoarding. Exactly. At the top. Now you got all of this money hoarding at the top. It means nothing

if you're not bringing the rest of the ballot. So what do we see? This is what we see. Hold on one second. I'm going to go to break. We'll come back. I want to pick up on that because again, what we're talking about, folks, is which we focus on a lot on this show, is understanding

how you must be locked and loaded locally, how you must be focused in what is happening on the ground. Not just with candidates, but also, we'll talk about it when we come back, why you also got to be funding third-party groups that are in communities as well. You're watching Rolling Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network on the 118th anniversary of the founding of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. Back in a moment. Now streaming on the Blackstar Network.

I had been trying to get a record deal for a long time. You know, when I finally got signed to the Motown record label in 2003, I was 34, 35 years old. And up until that time, I had been trying to get record deals the traditional way. You know, you record your demo, you record your music, and you send it, you know, to the record labels or maybe somebody, a friend of a friend knows somebody that works for, you know, the record label. And really chemistry was, that was my last ditch effort at being in the music business.

How long have you been trying? I've been trying since I was a teenager. Wow. And, you know, and I'm grateful that it didn't, I'm grateful that it happened when it happened because I wasn't prepared, you know, as a teenager to embrace all that comes with a career in the music industry. What's up, y'all? Look, Fanbase is more than a platform. It's a movement to empower creators,

offering a unique opportunity for everyday people to invest in Black-owned tech, infrastructure, and help shape the future of social media. Investing in technology is essential for creating long-term wealth and influence in the digital age. The Black community must not only consume tech, we must own it. Discover how equity crowdfunding can serve as a powerful tool for funding Black businesses, allowing entrepreneurs

to raise capital directly through their community through the jobs at. On a next A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie, we're talking all things mental health and how helping others can help you. We all have moments where we have struggles and on this week's show, our guests demonstrate how helping others can also help you. Why you should never stop giving and serving others on a next A Balanced Life here on Black Star Network. Pull up a chair, take your seat. The Black Tape with me, Dr. Greg Carr, here on the Black Star Network. Every week, we'll take a deeper dive into the world we're living in.

Join the conversation only on the Black Star Network. Hello, I'm Dr. Willis Lonzer, General President of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated, and I'm very pleased to wish my brothers all around the world a happy 118th Founders Day. What a wonderful milestone in our fraternity's history. For our friends, you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Alright, folks, welcome back here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Robert, before we went to the break, you had a question. Go ahead. So one of the questions I have is you can't outrun, you can't out-organize voter suppression laws.

These people have been organizing and putting billions of dollars, literal billions of dollars. Look at Trump's cabinet appointments right now. A dude bought a space ride from Elon Musk and Trump just put him in charge of NASA today. They are literally buying and auctioning off our federal government chunk by chunk. So what do we need to do to convince the people with the money? Because they can afford entertainers. They can afford pageantry. They can afford fireworks and all this stuff, to invest in those state and local races so we can

start flipping these state houses to reverse things like Senate Bill 202 in Georgia, to reverse things such as the getting rid of drop boxes, getting rid of voter ID laws that have been passed around the country because the Democratic Party keeps telling us, more organized, get more

people, black turnout got to be 100% in order for us to have a chance. But at the same time, you're not putting the money in to make sure that we can get that county commissioner in force to have county elected. So my focus, I believe, I believe my focus, our focus should be

young people. And the reason why I'm saying that is young people, we need to know what motivates you. What does this need to look like for you? Because our way of politicking is not landing with them. What's important to us is not what's important to them. I can't begin to tell you what it is because I haven't had any in-depth conversations.

But my grandson picking up on the fact that the messaging was off was the light bulb for me. Now, who needs to do that work? We're going to have to do the work. The Democratic Party is going to have to do the work. And you can't have some Ivy League white boy tell you what that needs to look like. They're going to have to start to talk to people beyond the echo chamber in New York and in D.C. You're going to have to say, we're going to have to go.

They can't do it. You can't come to East Winston and have that conversation and think you're going to... So we've got to talk to young people. And we've got to listen and find out. Because this shift has to look different.

But I do want to answer, I think, to answer your question, Robert. Here's one thing that has to happen for what black people have to do, which also points to what you did. When we did Women Black Men, we purposely said, we ain't sending all the money to the campaign. I had a very prominent person came up to me, was upset, and said to me that members of the Harris Finance Committee, they said that y'all were the only group that did this. I said, I know, because it was my

idea. And I said, and we're going to do it again. I said, let me be clear with you. I've been saying for years that it's dumb to give money to campaigns and then beg for it to come back. So I said, we ain't raising all this money to send it. So we raised a million and a half. $455,000 we kept, and we gave that money to black male groups. What I have been saying constantly, what black people have to do is not give money, I'm not saying to all campaigns, but not give money to a lot of campaigns

and give that money to third-party groups whose job, like Black Voters Matter, whose job is to go into places, hard to reach places, and they are about what's happening on the ground because they're about 365 seven days a week. The problem is when we, and I keep going back to when I talk about what we as black people have to do, because look, we can't control what white folk do,

Latinos can do, but my whole deal is if we are funding in our communities, organizing and mobilizing, and then when we know, you know there's going to be gubernatorial race. At the outset, we come to the table saying, what's your black plan? And not just what's your black plan, here is our plan. That's right.

This is the amount of money. I was talking to a brother with a black ad agency who said that during 2012, he had pulled all his data together. He pulled everything together, and he comes in, and he sits down, and he says, okay, I need $26 million to execute this strategy for African Americans and black-owned media. Campaign goes, it's 10. White boy's on a campaign, one black person was in the room, 10. He went, okay, can y'all please show me

with the data how you arrived at 10? No. That was just a number. It was just, no, all you're getting is 10. He said, wait a minute, hold up. So you didn't sit down and say, here's

how we're going to spend it. You came with an arbitrary number. That's one of the things that happens. And so what then happens is then it's, oh no, we ain't got it. Then you want to fund staff but you want black people to volunteer for free and all I'm saying is

we have to be to Rebecca's point, okay, what's the number? How much we need to raise? What it's going to take? What can we do? So if we're going to go out and say we're going to raise $500,000 or $1 million or $2 million,

and we're going to say that money is only going to turn out African Americans, we actually have to do that. A lot of us talk about the problem, but we ain't trying to actually make that kind of demand. And I think

that's also part of the problem. They have this expectation of us that we're going to be political sharecroppers. That we're going to simply put the work in. We're going to be banging sharecroppers, that we're going to simply put the work in. We're going to be banging the paper. I was working on a campaign back in 2006. And I'm knocking on doors. We're down in Savannah, Georgia.

We are raising voters. We're trying to get awareness. I'm doing this for free, volunteering, because I believe in the cause. The white boy, Derrick, who I was working with for making $100,000, did the same damn thing. And he took lunch off. So we got to get out of this place of simply saying that we're doing these things for a cause. But it has to be early.

It's got to be now for 2028. Listen, man, I had black people, I had black media companies hit me up. Oh, I hear you the person to talk to when it comes to the Harris campaign. I said, I'm sorry, where y'all been the last nine months?

I said, I've been swinging with these white folks January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August. I said, where in the hell have y'all been? You knew the campaign. Like, why are you coming after the convention? What y'all spending on black media? I said, I mean, I was literally fighting with these folks in January on that whole deal. And to make a point, and you have not only did that, but for years you've been trying to get them to go with you.

Taking all the slings and arrows. I mean, stop. I still didn't give you enough money to do actually what you had me done. When I was like, wait a minute, wait a minute.

This is what the total media buy is? And then this is the check? And I want all these people to understand. I love all these Negroes who are complaining.

That was pennies. And I know people are like, oh, oh. No, that was... Right. I love the Negroes who are whining and complaining

about $350,000. First of all... That is nothing on a presidential campaign. They don't even understand it, right, because the ask actually was $5 million. But here's what they also don't understand. What they also don't understand is the reason they don't know how much the other media people got

because it went through the agencies. Well, the agencies were playing so many games, I said, I ain't dealing with them. In fact, one of the agencies, I get an email out the blue saying, this is who we are, we need you to sign an NDA. I literally responded. First, I literally responded,

who the hell are y'all? I ain't never heard of y'all. And you're not paying me enough to sign an NDA, I literally responded. First, I literally responded, who the hell are y'all? I ain't never heard of y'all. And you're not paying me enough to sign the NDA. I literally said, who are y'all? And then they responded, I said, oh, I ain't dealing with y'all. I'm dealing direct. So, that

was me. So the reason y'all don't even know how much we got is because it came directly from the campaign and not through an agency. But see, I love all the black folks who complaining, but Thayne said nothing about the 10 million BET guy. And for nothing.

10 million for what? So here's the thing. Bottom line, black people are going to have to save themselves. Black folks have to be more beholden to other black people and black communities than to any political party. I'm going to give an example from 150 years ago. So over the last 10 years, the number of white men who hold elected office was the lowest it's been since 1874 during the first reconstruction.

And so this whole pushback that we're seeing, it's not just voter suppression for the sake of voter suppression, but this is literally about power. Once again, you can read White Fear to talk about what happened in 1874. And the reason why I'm bringing this up and saying black people got to care more

about their own communities, because it was Democrats and Republicans who were trying to shut black power down. And if we don't want another 150 years of Jim Crow, post-Jim Crow, James Byrd, so that means we have to learn with what happened post-1874. And we can learn it because we've survived it. We went through it again,

but we have to understand where we are in history. So when it comes to funding us, we have the ability to fund ourselves. And also, to your point, this is also what has to happen. As you said, now, go back, go back to my iPad. Y'all, this is the map. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes.

But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about

what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad.

It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. This is the map of North Carolina.

We are, let me say this right now for everybody who's confused. There is going to be an election, a statewide election in North Carolina in 2026. Is it the entire House? Yes, and the entire Senate. And the entire Senate. So, we know right now, two years from now, there will be a statewide election for the entire House

and the entire Senate. Correct. We know there's one Supreme Court race that's going to be up. So, what should black folks be doing? To your point, looking at the map, okay, who lost last time and how many votes did they lose by? That's right.

Who won last time and how many votes did they win by? And then going in here, and this is not by county, but going into this map right here, y'all, and going through every county and looking at total number of eligible voters in the county, how many voted in the county, how many of them were black. And the voting rolls are public. You can sit here and say, okay, the turnout in this county, the black turnout, was 38%.

Oh, so-and-so lost by a couple hundred votes. Oh, dang. We had about 28,000 black people who were eligible but who didn't vote. So what should our focus be between now and not November 20, 2026,

between now and March 2026 is we need to be touching these 28,000 people. And that's why I said, Roland, for those that I'm working with that had good campaigns, you know, a loss is a loss, right? Some of them, it was a hard loss, right? So take this time to what we were talking about, sis. Do what you need to do. But January, start reaching back out to them. Start touching them now. Yeah. Letting them know I'm still in this. Right. Send out postcards, you know, make phone calls.

There should be a three touch campaign, a postcard, a phone call, a door knock. All before you even ask them for their vote, right? Well, I'll give you an example. So, Don Scott, Speaker of the House of Virginia, does a search for Kimberly Pope Adams. She lost a seat, and it may have been by

less than 150 votes. Okay? She's already announced running for re-election. So, the whole deal is, again is again going look at the data and going okay what are the total number of votes and what households should I be touching now what should I be doing differently

and again for us it's numbers when Don hit me up and said hey man I saw what you did for one night can you come do that for us he said we're trying to win the house we win the house I become speaker of the house okay? He said, we're trying to win the House. We win the House, I become Speaker of the House. Okay, great. He said, so we're going to support your show.

He had five cities. It was four cities. We added a fifth. And so what we did is we took the show in. We broadcast from there. And here's what was interesting. There were white Democrats in Virginia who were saying, why are you paying Roland Martin? Why are you supporting the show to come in? He said, they were like, well, only 75 people in the town hall.

He said, do you know the thousands that watch? He said, are you aware of the phone calls that we got? People said, I couldn't make it, but I saw the rebroadcast. And then all the candidates took the clips, put it on there, surfaced it all out. So the broadcast reached thousands of people, more people than they could hit in door knocking in two

hours. But again, it's thinking totally different. And so what I'm saying to black people, this is literally how we have to be thinking. But also to add to this, and again, you do this work. We also can't

be looking outside of community to do this work. We also can't be looking outside of community to do this work, right? And again, I remember... Assuming somebody else is just going to do it. Well, and to think that the local party's going to do it, and I was in the room when they said, well, what's the plan for the black precincts? And you're talking to the party chair.

And then I'm on a call. You're like, ain't you the party chair? Right, well, and then the same question to the state chair. And so I live by a rule. We don't break rank in front of mixed company. I'm like, why are y'all asking them that? Right.

Why are we putting together the plan? So to your point, I guess I'm the disruptor in the room because I'm like, why are we putting together the plan saying we need money to do this? Here's our plan. And that's what I'm saying. Here's the number. Right. And just on that point, I think it's important for people to understand that look at what Trump did when he was making a political comeback.

He started running for re-election day, 1 a.m. on election night, when he came out and said, I won, these people lied, they stole everything. And he never stopped running for four years. That's correct. He never stopped organizing. They went through state by state, county by county, precinct by precinct, to support state and local officials so that when it was time to appoint your three MAGA people onto the board of elections in Georgia, you had already changed the state law to make it able to do that.

And when the Democratic Party thinks they can just kind of parachute in at the last minute with a catfish dinner and a cha-cha slide and say, OK, look at all the black folks out here to save us again, it's not going to work. If you prioritize the John Lewis voting rights in Biden's first year, when you have a majority in the House and in the Senate, then you can push through big legislation. Then you probably get that. People need to remember also about this election.

1.6%, that's what separated Kamala from Trump at the end of the day. Kamala got about 75 million votes. Biden got 81 million in 2020. So we're talking about a 6 million vote gap that we're missing. Much of that can be accounted towards that voter suppression.

So when you're looking directly at the numbers, we're talking about across those Rust Belt states, she lost by a grand total of 200,000 votes between Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. So if you were able to push through the John Lewis voting rights act, you're going to get about 40,000 votes in each of those states in order to win. If you're able to push through the John Lewis voting rights act, you're going to have about 40,000 votes in each of those states in order to win.

She wins the election. If you're able to push through the George Floyd Justice of Policing Act to make those things done, you don't think you can turn out 40,000 brothers in Detroit and in Milwaukee to get those things done. So when we talk about making these plans and making these investments, we have to have a clear idea of what we're going to do. And running the 2008 campaign again with the big rallies, the hope and change, the moderate message, that is a gone and bygone playbook. We have that, well, nerd moment with Robert.

You know, I like these things. We're entering what political science has called a digital technocracy, which is the point in time where we now have elections by computer. What Elon did, what Teal did, what they did was algorithmize our electoral process. So when you open Twitter now, X, whatever it's called, I'm subscribed and I follow Roland. I comment on his posts. I see 10 Elon Musk posts, four Ben Shapiro, three Charlie

Kirk posts before I get anything I follow because they understand if I can control the feeder information for the news, then now I control the news. This is why when Trump would say something crazy, it disappears in three hours, and Kamala sneezes. It's a five-day story. They figure out how to control that. If Democrats aren't going to

make those investments and want to keep having their little parties and hiring actors and musicians and all that stuff, you're going to keep losing. So you can either understand what's going on, or you're going to be left behind by history. But it is not going to change unless, and again, I need people who are watching and listening to truly understand what I'm

saying here. It's garbage. This is not about, oh, we're being slaves to the party. Oh, we're on the plantation. For all these silly ass people, oh, you a shield. No, this is called reality. This is called, hmm, I'm looking at this person and this person. I'm looking at what this person wants to accomplish.

And I'm looking at what this person wants to accomplish. I now have to say, well, what is it that I want? And if it doesn't line up with this person, then I'm going to vote for this person. Simple. If this person is a part of a party that as a party is likely going to vote on the things that I want,

so I'm probably going to support others the things that I want, so I'm probably gonna support others who are in that party. Does it mean they're perfect? No. Does it mean that I agree with everything they do? No. But I kinda gotta make a decision because one of them is going to win. Right. Yes.

And the reality is, you would rather have power than not. You would rather have the person who you want in power than the person who you don't want. Because the person you don't want is all kind of crazy shit they can do for two years, for four years, and now you're playing catch-up. And this is the struggle for so many different people. And people are just stuck on this silliness of

oh yeah, you a shill, you a shill. You trying to get the vote Democrat. No. I want you to realize that you're a taxpayer. That's right. Money that you make is going into a system that other folk are benefiting from. They are

receiving all money. All y'all people who believe in, man, pull yourself up by your bootstrap. I believe in self-determination. Elon Musk is not the richest person in the world because his ass smart. It's because he's gotten

billions in tax subsidies. Your money has made him rich. He can't build Tesla without the billions in tax breaks for his factories and his batteries. And he took a billion plus from New York State for that bullshit solar plant in Buffalo that didn't do a damn thing, ain't paid it back. So this is what people need to understand.

And now is the time. People hit me up and they said, man, I don't understand. How is it three days after the election you moved on? Because it's over. It's over. It's over. And so I get people being disappointed. Sure.

So was I. Yeah. But three days afterwards, my brain immediately went, there's a Wisconsin Supreme Court position that's going to be in April. April 4th. Democrats have a 4-3 advantage on the Supreme Court. If they win that open seat, it goes to 5-2. And guess what?

Ballot drop boxes. Ruling against partisan gerrymandering. Now you can change power in Wisconsin. Voter purging. All those things can actually happen. You have Supreme Court races that people didn't realize a system

in Kentucky won that Democrats make happen. Michigan, the sister won there as well. And so there are gubernatorial races next year. So people like, well, should Kamala run? Y'all, I ain't talking about 2028 because we ain't got to 2025.

But I need our people right now. We, black people, should be sitting here looking at the data and going, okay, who of our people didn't vote and where do they not vote? What were the demographics and how do we talk to them? And last point, all you silly ass people, my money over in Ukraine. No, it's not because 80 percent of the money that's allocated for Ukraine stays in the United States.

Do you also realize that there is a military contractor that sits in every congressional district in the United States. Do you also realize that there's a military contractor that sits in every congressional district in the United States? That's 435. So all y'all who keep saying, oh, where your money is going, oh, by the way, if Ukraine loses and he takes Ukraine, Putin,

he's going up to Poland next. Poland's in NATO. Do y'all know that NATO requires NATO members to defend Poland? So you're going to have more money and American troops on the line with that. That's kind of why you support Ukraine,

because you don't want American troops spilling American blood if that actually happens. So it would be nice if y'all could learn to read some shit, listen to some shit, and pay attention. I need our people to understand that this is all basic. Data I'm talking about exists right now.

You can literally pull It should be pulling. My state rep, my person didn't win, how many votes did they lose by? Who were the people who voted for my opponent? And how many of our people didn't vote? So the next time, we gonna make

sure that if 4,000 of our people who were eligible but did not vote, we get to them, we win in a cakewalk. But it's right there, but you gotta put that work in. Final comment, go ahead. And I was gonna say this. We

keep talking about the Democrats, right, but the independents, we can't count them out. You know, we have to also factor them in because they're the swing voters. Right. And they can throw a race either way. So we have to think about that. Those of us who have... I've got to think about them second. See, if I'm building... Why does it have to be...

Why can't it be both? Here's why. Here's why I can't do both at one time. Because if I'm building... So let's see here. This is a news desk. I cannot build this set without this pole right here. This poll right here is the most important thing for this set. So I got to get this in place first. This got to be 30 first.

If I'm studying numbers and black people make up 55 plus percent of the district, I got to lock down my base. I got to say, all right, I need your last election, how many votes you win? I'll tell them the votes cast for you. I had 72% of the votes. No, no, no, no, no. I need actual votes. Not the percentage. Oh. I had

21? Like 2,100. Okay. So if I'm looking at the numbers, and I go, you won last time by 2100 votes. Okay, that means I need to get at least 2100 this time. Okay, where am I going to get the 2100 from? So when I look at the map, I'm like, hmm, okay.

400 came from here. 300 from here. Whoa. 500 came from over here. Now I'm understanding my base. What I'm saying for our people is that we have to be looking at our base numbers. One of the reasons, to be honest, one of the reasons why Vice President Kamala Harris lost is because, and I said this in 2017, when she came to the United States Senate, I said no candidate, I said this no candidate, I said this actually in Obama's third year, I said, no future black candidate can run an Obama campaign.

Can't run it again. I'm like, it's not gonna happen. So she wins in 16. When she comes in, I kept saying about her and Corey, I'm like, listen, Obama ain't constantly coming to the Tom Joyner Morning Show. Y'all need to be on the Tom Jordan Morning Show every two

months talking to black people what's happening. I couldn't get them on. I couldn't get them on. It was nine months before she came on to my TV One show. And I was like, y'all, what are you doing? That's 2017.

18 goes by. She was president in 19. She never established a direct connection with black voters in a mass way. Had she done it in 17, she done it in 18, you would have been hearing her voice, constantly seeing her. Baby, you can keep doing MSNBC, but you got to take care of home because that's your base. So when she ran and when Corey ran, if you look at their polling numbers,

the reason they weren't polling well is because they didn't have a solid base of black support. This was black folks in 2019. We don't know who we're going to go for. So you get to December, she drops out. Corey eventually drops out because there was no base of voters. So I think locally, that's how I look at it. How do I lock down?

I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company

dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th.

Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. On my bass, and then it's all right, okay, now what's my other pickups gotcha but if i don't like it if because this is what democrats do they've assumed we got this black base so we're gonna go over here and spend the money and spend the time with the independents and the republican white women in the suburbs and the base like yo you ain't got us like you used to. And all of a sudden, when you see the polling numbers, 82-84, when historically you need to be at

90-92, that 6-8-10 points, that right there is the margin. You gotta lock down your base. And just a corollary to that, again, look at the Trump campaign. They didn't care about no independents. They didn't care about no moderates. They tripled and quadrupled

down on their base. They didn't go on CNN. They didn't go on MSNBC. They didn't come here. And didn't succumb to a meeting like, why aren't you going to MSNBC? The Harris people should have literally said, y'all can go to hell about going on Fox News. See, that's what Democrats keep.

You ain't going to satisfy them by going on Fox News. Y'all's what Democrats keep. You ain't going to satisfy them going on Fox News. Man, y'all can go to hell. And look, they were late to come on your show. They were late to go on and start doing podcasts. And that was all,

that was all, hold up, that was all General Malley Dillon, Stephanie Cutter, and David Plouffe. Which you said from the beginning. I mean, I'm telling you right now. This is not a,

I mean, this country, I mean, George Washington himself said it, that he didn't know whether this thing was going to survive because of the introduction of political parties. In other words, these are delivery systems for ideologies. And the only ideology in this country is white supremacy. So, of course the Republicans don't have to worry about a local thing. They have a visceral gut level.

This is the thing Steve Bannon understands intimately and why they're going to re-rec this country. I don't have to go knock on doors. I am making a blood call to white nationalism. These fools have voted against their interests. And so, you know, right back to my question, and I love the way Amir said it. Y'all talking about white people issues, these people talking about life. So, these three of your, I hate to call them

colleagues, but I guess that's the convenient thing to do, from western North Carolina, who didn't vote for this bill last time, who are in those areas that are hit by this hurricane, what do you think they're going to do next week? And what can we do at this point to stop the thing right in front of us, which is this bill? So it's two things going on. The ones in Western North Carolina that didn't vote for this bill are Republicans. Right.

And so you best believe that they probably have tightened them up and made them fall back in line. The other piece that I spoke about a couple of weeks ago is, you know, we got to make sure that the Democrats hold the line. Yep. And we got

three or four that... Lock down your base. That play on both sides. That might not vote against this. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And the thing is, is that the new incoming speaker has already boasted that he has a working majority because he knows that he has at least three on our side that they feel like that they can manipulate to get

to vote. Which means that the pressure has to be brought to bear on those three and they got to feel it. They got to be inundated with phone calls and emails and whatever. So you ain't got to sit on the show but you can just give it to

me afterwards and I'll take care of the rest. But again, that's what, y'all, the reason Hunter Biden actually got indicted is because there was a plea deal. The House Oversight Committee held them down hearings. They were the ones who wrecked that plea deal. They put public, that's what Biden was talking about in his letter. They put public pressure that Forrest Garland, and again, being a punk ass, he caved and appointed the special prosecutor and was like, oh, no, we're coming after you. Just like they caved in Chicago and appointed the special prosecutor

after the deal had been already done for Justice Smollett, and the special prosecutor indicted deal had been already done for Justice Smollett, and a special prosecutor indicted, led to the whole deal, and guess what? The state Supreme Court threw that damn thing out. That's exactly what that was. But again, Democrats want to play nice. We ain't got time

to play nice. If you in North Carolina, y'all should be whooping the ass of every Democrat saying in the Senate, are you going to hold the line? And then once you clear the whole line, then you target how many Republicans you need to target? It's in the House. In the House.

In the House. So how many Republicans do you need to target? They've already targeted three of the Republicans that voted against the bill initially. But if those three vote, if Democrats hold the line, and those three Republicans vote against it, the bill goes down. Then the bill goes down. Right. So those people are in districts that their people were harmed.

To your grandson's point, they talking about life in those districts. That's right. So we got to tell them people in them damn districts, yo, there's supposed to be a hurricane bill. Exactly. What the hell they doing? Well, I will say this, that part of what some people have already said, you know, call and thank them for voting this bad bill down.

So it's been a little bit of a reverse for the three that said no to the bill, that the push was call their offices to tell them thank you for voting against this bill. So that has, and it has come, the people in Western Carolina, we held on to a seat that we should have lost. Okay, interesting. In Western, because she was boots on the ground, she was there, and even though her district was Republican-leaning,

they rewarded her with sending her back. Because she did the work. Because she did the work. So yes, here's what I'm going to say because I have to still go back. Because

see, Roland, you do that on here, right? You make us forget that we... I don't do that. I don't do that. That's what I'm saying. I don't do that. That's your deal. That's space. I'll say it for you.

I'll say it for you. But the voting records are public knowledge. Right. And so if you want to know who consistently votes with the Republican on big bills, go look at those bills and look at the voting records. Yeah, don't worry about that. I'm going to go look it for you all, and I'm going to tell the voting records. Yeah, don't worry about that. I'm going to go look for y'all, and I'm going to tell you who it is. So don't worry about that.

So let y'all know. Keep us abreast of what happens, Representative Baker. We appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. Thank you. We're going to go to a break. We come back, y'all. We're going to talk about pardons, how critical that is,

and also our marketplace. We're going to talk to a brother who owns a Greek paraphernalia company who's also uh get black owned because a bunch of y'all out there buying buying nice stuff from non-black people which is kind of dumb to me right you buying stuff from timo and then it it ain't gonna say right ain't gonna have even alpha on it right they're gonna have that you're watching roland martin on filter on the black star network support the work that we do they're gonna have that you're watching roland martin unfiltered on the black star network support the work that we do join our bring the funk you want to bring

the funk fan club of course you want to give me a cash app use the cure code uh by doing by stripe you can see the cure code right there so you're checking money order p.o box five seven one nine six washington dc two zero zero three seven dash zero one nine six paypal is rmartinunfiltered. Venmo is rmunfiltered. Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Don't forget also to get our new shirt, y'all. Get the new merchandise. It said, don't blame me. I voted for the black woman. You can get that shirt at RolandMartin.creator-spring.com or just go to BlackstarNetwork.com or RolandSMartin.com to get that shirt. We'll be right back.

Now streaming on the Blackstar Network. I had been trying to get a record deal for a long time. You know, when I finally got signed to the Motown record label in 2003, I was 34, 35 years old. And up until that time, I had been trying to get record deals the traditional way. You know, you record your demo, you record your music and you send it, you know, to the record labels or maybe somebody, a friend of a friend knows somebody that works for, you know, the record label. And and really chemistry was that was my last ditch effort at being in the music business. How long have you been trying? I'm grateful that it didn't,

I'm grateful that it happened when it happened, because I wasn't prepared, you know, as a teenager to embrace all that comes with a career in the music industry. Hi, I'm Isaac Hayes III, founder and CEO of Fanbase. Fanbase is a free-to-download, free-to-use, next-generation social media platform that allows anyone to have followers and subscribers on the same page. Fanbase was built through investment dollars from equity crowdfunding from the JOBS Act. People just like you helped build FanMates. And we're looking for more people to help build FanMates. We are currently raising $17 million

in a Regulation 8 crowdfund on StartEngine. We've already crossed $2.1 million, but we're looking to raise more capital from people just like you that deserve the opportunity to invest in early stage startups without having to be accredited investors. So right now, I'd like you to go to startengine.com slash fan base and invest. The minimum to invest is $399.

That gets you 60 shares of stock in fan base right now today, and then use fan base to connect with friends, grow your audience and be you without limits. This is Herman Skip Mason Jr., the 33rd General President of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated, wishing all of my beloved brothers a happy Founders Day. I'm so glad that you're watching the Roland Martin Unfiltered Show on Black Star Network. This is Harry Johnson, the 31st general president of Alpha Phi Alpha, wishing the Alphas all over a happy Founders Day. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Hi, I'm Congressman Bobby Scott.

I want to wish all the Alpha Brothers happy Founders Day. Alright, folks. Of course, it is Found day for A5A. And a lot of folks out there, when we talk about buying Greek paraphernalia, where are you getting your stuff from? We talk about why it's important to buy black. And so joining us right now is Narlis Nobles.

He's the owner of Burning Sands Greek Apparel. Glad to have you here. Why don't you actually start your company? So the company was actually incorporated in 2021 August, but I didn't actually start selling until 2022. And so obviously you don't just sell, you know, you're a brother, but you don't just sell Zalpha stuff. You know, how has it been going

since you actually launched the business? So very supportive so um so far we've uh kind of expanded the business and the fraternities first and uh we've had great success uh in the first year and we have now just started to launch with females and perils so um delta's being the first of our um females that we have launched for. We tried to get the other organizations also involved in this next year. But overall, the business has been great. We have had an amazing amount of support from the different organizations and definitely appreciate the success thus far. Of course, this was when I spoke to the AKs in Huntsville, Alabama. This was in February 2023.

And that's you there. And the brothers presented me this 8x8 golf bag. And so I see a lot of brothers representing the gear. And the thing that I keep saying is that, you know, look, you've got Divine Nine, black fraternities and sororities. And so if we're going to be supporting businesses, it might be the business that we actually own who understand our needs and desires.

Yeah, I remember your speech very well at the AK, which was well received. I'm all about supporting black businesses but also spending my money for black businesses and also showing that we as black people can rely on each other to support each other. Absolutely, questions from the panel? I'll start with the alpha first, Greg Carr.

Thank you, thank you, Frank. Happy birthday, Frank. I'm looking at your website, man, and I see five of the D9 represented, including us, Alpha, and I'm also a big fan of the hoodies.

So I was looking for hoodies, although I think I'm going to get this old gold piece that you got here, man. So talk to us about I mean, you continue to expand? Is that the idea? Yes, I'm going to get this old gold piece that you got here, man. So talk to us about, I mean, you continue to expand. Is that the idea? Yes, I'm always trying to improve on what we're selling. But when we started the business, I started with golf apparel. I wanted to give a brother something other than T-shirts and hoodies to wear,

but we eventually would expand into that as we move down the line. Thank you, Brian. Rebecca. Thank you so much. Happy Founders Day. I'm a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated. So my question for you is, when will you have the AKA gear?

Right. Well, not the best outfit, AKA, but I've been waiting on the license and a virtual with them for a while. So what he's saying is y'all, AK is a slow giving a brother the license. What he's saying is we have a trademark that we

uphold. No, what he's saying is y'all slow. He said y'all ain't moving fast enough. When did you first apply to sell AK stuff? I'm not going to sell it.

That means a long damn time ago. This is why we can't have nice things. This right here. Because y'all are slow. Robert? I want to talk a bit about why it's so important to support officially licensed black owned businesses doing this work,

because during the pandemic, everybody got a canvas subscription. They got a sublimation printer. They ordered some T-shirts from from Ali Express. And then they got a cricket machine and they start printing their own merchant apparel. You go to homecoming. They get the line names. They got everything and they do it in the fourth floor in their house, right next to your husband's TV studio that he built out and did not know

he was sharing the fourth floor. But with that being said, can you talk about why it's important to go with the officially licensed product and not just, you know, kind of the off-brand merch that some people might be making? You're saying, don't be buying bootleg stuff. Go ahead. Pay to ask for $20.

Go ahead. You're, don't be buying bootleg stuff, go ahead. Pay dance for $20. Go ahead. You're robbing from your organization. If you're one, if you're producing stuff that and not giving to the organization or giving back to the organization, but it's also if you're purchasing, you're literally robbing from your organization. Is a sense of not supporting your organization.

How can you call yourself a member of a support organization if you're not registered or licensed to see your paraphernalia? Well, absolutely. And so what would you say is your most popular item? I would say my leather products, the backpack, probably sold over 150 backpacks. Oh, wow. And then lately, it's been the golf bags also. Okay.

All right, then. So what's the website that people want to be able to get their gear? Where should they go? The website is www.burning-sands.com www.burning-sands.com www.burning-sands.com Folks, with a promo code, Roland Martin, you get a 10% discount. You use that

promo code, so go to burning dash sands dot com and this is actually one of the sweaters from Burning Sands that I'm rocking right now. It looks great. Yeah, it is one of y'all's that I'm rocking right now. It looks great, bro. Yeah, it is one of y'all's. I'm like, hold up. I got the

vest and I got three other ones. So, I got the one you got on. I almost wore that one. I'm glad I didn't wear that one. I wore the different one. And so, y'all, this actually zips. This actually is collared and actually zips from top to bottom. So, and it actually has pockets on it as well. So, those are pretty cool.

Pretty cool. So, Nas, I appreciate it, man. Thanks a bunch. Good luck. Thank you, brother. All right, folks, we come back. We're going to talk about pardons. Folks are saying to President Biden, okay, you hooked your son up. You need to do a lot more damn work when it comes to

pardons. We'll talk to Kimba Smith next right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network on this 118th anniversary of the Coders and the Boulders fraternity of them all, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, Black Americans have one-tenth the wealth of their white counterparts. But how did we get here? It's a huge gap.

Well, that's why we need to know the history and what we need to do to turn our income into wealth. Financial author and journalist Rodney Brooks joins us to tell us exactly what we need to do to achieve financial success. You can't talk about why we are as Black people where we are unless you talk about how we got here. Bridging the gap and getting wealthy. Only on Blackstar Network. What's up, y'all? Look, Fanbase is more than a platform. It's a movement to empower creators

offering a unique opportunity for everyday people to invest in Black-owned tech, infrastructure, and help shape the future of social media. Investing in technology is essential for creating long-term wealth and influence in the digital age. The Black community must not only consume tech,

we must own it. Discover how equity crowdfunding can serve as a powerful tool for funding Black businesses, allowing entrepreneurs to raise capital directly through their community, through the jobs ad. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into

deadly violence. On that soil, you will not be. White people are losing their damn lives. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of violent denial.

This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the proud boys. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution.

But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company

dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad.

Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. The Boogaloo Boys, America, there's going to be more of this. There's all the proud boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes

because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. Greetings. I'm Mark Tillman, 34th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated, wishing my brothers a happy 118th anniversary. And you are watching Our Brother, Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Hey, everybody. This is saxophonist Gerald Albright,

and I'd like to wish all of my brothers from Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the original fraternity, a happy Founders Day. And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. 06. What's up, y'all?

It's Benny Boom, a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. I want to wish all my brothers a happy Founders Day. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network 06. All right, here we go. All right, folks, let's talk pardons. President Joe Biden is still catching hell because he gave a pardon to his son. I don't know why these Democrats keep whining and complaining.

That's what happens when you got to power. But now others are saying, wait a minute, are you going to go further? Are you going to go broader? What else are you going to do, President Biden? When you look at his clemency rates, the numbers are extremely low. I'm talking about damn near Nixon level low. And so he is not being very aggressive in driving these pardons.

But now others are saying, guess what? There are a lot of nonviolent inmates who need clemency, who've been waiting behind bars. My next guest spent six years, a 24 and a half year sentence, drug-related charges in 1994 before being granted clemency by President Bill Clinton.

Kimba Smith is the author of Poster Child, a memoir about how she ended up in a federal prison. She joins us right now. BET Plus is also streaming a film adaption of her life titled Kimba. Here is a sneak peek at that movie. I'm at Khalif. The world stopped. So beautiful.

It's nothing. We don't want you. We want Khalif. I don't know where he is. If you sign the plea deal, at most you'll serve 24 months. The defendant is to be committed for a term of 294 months. Oh! Kemba didn't handle, use, or sell drugs. She got caught up in the war on drugs.

It's a fight they want. It's a fight they're going to get. The president needs to release her now. Free Kemba! Free Kemba! Free Kema! Free Kepa! Free Kepa! I don't want this to be the end of my story. All right, folks, Kimba Smith joins us right now. The only reason I ran that trailer, that's for you, Kimba,

because BET ain't never spent advertising on this show. So that was a freebie for them, and that was only because of you. So BET, y'all see this segment, y'all ain't never spent a dime on this show, to let y'all know. So let's jump right into it. When you look at the clemency numbers of Biden, he's been there three years. His numbers have been shit. They have.

I want to thank you, and founders day brother um there's a little echo on this end i don't know if it's on that end it's not go ahead don't worry about it we got it okay um yeah he he could definitely do better um i'm frustrated in the fact that I have a friend, and her character is actually in my movie. Her name is Michelle West. And so she's been in prison for over 32 years. And I know that her application's been in on the pardon attorney's office for four years now. And she didn't get a response during President Obama's administration, President Trump's administration. And she's someone who I was incarcerated with.

So part of the impact campaign that's been launched along with the film is urging President Biden to commute her sentence along with other women's sentences. Because there are a lot of women who are incarcerated who have experienced trauma, like myself and my story, where I was involved in a relationship where there was domestic violence. And so I hope that President Biden will take cases like Michelle was in consideration and other women. You know, and when you look at this, I mean, the folks that you talked about, I said last night, you got Marilyn Mosby. Others have been advocating for her. Former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., his former wife Sandy Jackson. And again, you have the power of clemency. He was the vice president under Obama. And when you look at Obama's numbers, it doesn't get talked about a lot, but Obama set a real standard for how a president can maximize the pardon clemency power.

Yeah, not only that. So President Obama commuted over 1,700 sentences. And President Trump, you know, he touted the historic criminal justice legislation of the First Step Act. I don't understand why we're waiting up until this 11th hour to do these mass commutations, clemencies. And I know people that I work with in this criminal justice community, we're like, OK, when is it when is it going to happen? And so when he did pardon his son, Hunter Biden, obviously, you know, we all in this

community understand why he would do that. I mean, my parents, they told me to tell you hello, brother. But any parent can understand that situation. But when you have so many individuals that have filed clemency petitions, and I don't talk about myself that often, but I actually have a pardon petition in as well. So it was just disappointing to know that that was the only thing he did, you know, after the Thanksgiving holiday. And so I'm just anticipating and hoping that the floodgates will open. And it seems like it's a safe thing to do.

And, you know, politics is rubbing me the wrong way right now. Right. But it's like, why would you even, you know, I give credit to President Clinton for commuting my sentence. But I also in my growth and maturity in this work, I realized that President Clinton and Biden signed the crime bill that caused the influx of black and brown people in prisons across the country. And so it would only seem right that this is something that our party should have thought of in advance of the 11th hour. Maybe it could have helped the presidential campaign. But I just know that, you know, I heard some of a previous segment. And, you know, I can't tell you with the impact campaign and going across the country to colleges and schools, how many young people have told me that their parent, their mother, their father, their brother, their uncle was incarcerated. And so I do think that criminal justice is a field, especially when you it's one thing if you don't care about the person who committed the crime. And, you know, we have fear-mongering that's going on.

You have people that are incarcerated who have spent decades in prison where your tax dollars have paid to do behavior modification programs, and they're no longer that 16-, 17-year-old, 18-, 19-year-old now that they're 40, 50 years old. And so we need to make sure that we are addressing the issues that are impacting our communities the most and not tiptoeing around it, especially when you have in some red states, and it seems like where they're doing more work centered around criminal justice reform than my home state of Virginia. And so I just feel like that so much more needs to be done. And I've had the experience of being incarcerated, but I also had the experience of being incarcerated, but I also have the experience of being a voting member on a Virginia parole board. And, you know, again, what frustrates me

most during our political seasons is the fear mongering that happens all across this country of people coming out of prison. We incarcerate people more than any other country in the world. And we also, in this voting season, where they want everybody to come out and vote on both parties, but yet we have over 4 million people in this country who have felony convictions that can't even vote because their right hasn't been restored to vote and their voter suppression laws. And again, I know I can go on and on and I only have limited time. But, you know, in Virginia, we had a governor that made changes with regard to that. But then another governor came into office and reversed, you know, all of that. And so, again, we don't want to create a culture in our country because parents can't vote where the kids see that their parents can't vote.

So why do they want to vote? Question from the panel. Rebecca, you first. If the United States eliminated for-profit prisons, do you think we will finally have prison reform in this country? I mean, obviously that's a big topic as far as the for-profit industry. I mean, obviously, that's a big topic as far as the for-profit industry. I mean, we know the prison industrial complex is capitalistic in nature. But I do think that there are a whole lot of other factors that need to be taken into consideration as well. With regard to the black codes, we know the origination of some of these policies that have targeted black and brown people.

With regard to the war on drugs, I mean, that initiated from University of Maryland basketball player Lynn Bias, who OD'd on the basketball court, and congressional members wanted to do something swift right away without doing any type of research of how the impact of crack versus powder cocaine sentencing would have on our black and brown communities. And that was before we had the prison boom. I think that there's a lot of things that need to be looked at in our criminal justice system as with regard to race. And, you know, for me, my crime wasn't that I was criminally minded. My crime was that I chose the wrong relationship.

And we also live in a country that wants to penalize black women for certain offenses more than any. Because when I was incarcerated, the reason why so many Black women organizations got involved in supporting my release wasn't because they felt sorry for me or my mom and dad, because I was the only child. The fastest growing population at the time in prison were Black women. And so I think those are certain things that we also need to be taking in consideration. But yes, that would be a start, but there are so many other factors that need to be taken in consideration. But yes, that would be a start, but there are so many other factors that need to be considered and eliminated. Keep in mind, that was the second war on drugs. The first one took place in the 70s,

and actually, you can actually go back to the 40s, and then you had the one under Nixon, and then that third war on drugs took place after the death of Len Bides. And so we've actually had this for a very long time. But also we also have to factor in that in this country, everything comes down to money. And prisons is seen as economic generators in many of these rural communities as well. Robert.

Not only that, I just wanted to comment. The economic generator with the building of the prison and creating jobs, but even from the standpoint of, you know, me being locked down in a prison and being counted in the U.S. Census and where we have a lot of these prisons that are in rural communities and they are taking money that would go to where, you know, other people would originally be living and where their families are. And instead, because we're being counted in these rural prisons, the money is going to this rural area. So, yes, there is definitely economic consequences to it all. Robert?

You know, today is December 4th. One, it's my father-in-law's birthday. Happy birthday, Kelvin. Also, 30 days ago was the day before the election, and the party was saying that black folks are the backbone of the Democratic Party. They were spending hundreds of millions of dollars to get black folks motivated, to turn out. They were bringing in Beyonce, Meg Thee Stallion, Glowrilla, et cetera.

Thirty days later, we are begging and scraping, trying to get pardons and clemency. So what can be done to make sure we hold these individuals accountable on the front end so that instead of them coming through a month, less than a month before the next president is inaugurated, begging that you have these things done to ensure that they understand that these things are going to be necessary before the election if you want to secure our votes? Because I've had this suggestion since December summer that Joe Biden should pass a law called Hunter's Law, Hunter's Act, the Executive Act, whatever it may be, and just say, look,

if Hunter gets off, everybody who did what Hunter did is cool. So if you're in jail for drugs, you go home. You're in jail for sex working, you go home. Because there's no reason for us to have this two-tiered system, but until we put actual consequences and repercussions for these politicians not to deliver, we're going to still get the same double talk where last month we were doing the electric slide in the aisles to get Kamala elected, and now we are begging and prostrating ourselves just to have basic criminal justice reforming human rights. Well, I'll add to this, Kim, before you answer that. I think part of the thing also is

nobody says that you have to only do clemencies in December. There's this thing like, okay, let's do clemencies around Christmas. The president can actually do pardons and clemencies anytime. You can do it January, February, March, April, May.

That's sort of the thing. So let's wait until Thanksgiving and Christmas to talk about pardons and clemency. And actually, Liz Oyer, who's head of the Pardons Attorney's Office, I mean, she basically and her office were encouraging people to apply for clemencies way before now.

And I can remember when I received my clemency. It was just before Christmas, December 22nd. But there were a batch of clemencies that were done like that summer in July. And I can remember my congressman, Congressman Bobby Scott, he was, you know, trying to urge, push LDF to get my stuff in, you know, before July. But it just wasn't able to, you weren't trying to urge, push LDF to get my stuff in, you know, before July, but it just wasn't able to, you weren't able to do it. But to answer your question, you know, I think that we as a community, like, honestly, with this criminal justice reform movement, typically over the years, I've seen it change some, but the majority of the groups and

organizations that you would see fighting for these criminal justice issues didn't look like you and me. But yet we're the ones that are being disproportionately impacted in our system. And so I'm grateful for Congressman Scott, but ultimately we need to be holding elected officials accountable that are holding these seats and let them know the changes that we want to see with regard to clemency and pardons. You know, again, I just mentioned Congressman Scott was, you know, my advocate. And we need to make sure that there are other congressional members, that there are organizations that come together to push some of these people to want to do the right thing as it revolves around criminal justice. But I'm frustrated because we are, again, at this 11th hour, and, you know, there are

people that are, you know, getting lists to be able to give to, you know, White House counsel or different people that they know within the administration. And, you know, I had big organizations that were, you know, supporting me. You know, Alice Johnson had Kim Kardashian. There are so many of our people that don't have national organizations, don't have congressional members. And so there really needs to be a legitimate process. It used to be a parole board for the federal Bureau of Prisons, for the federal government, but that's no longer in existence. And then the other question is, why do we have a system that's set up where the pardon attorney's office is within the Department of Justice?

And basically some of the same people that wanted to give us these harsh sentences and keep us in prison are the same people that are dealing with these pardon applications. So there's a lot of restructuring that I think that needs to happen. And there also needs to be the staffing to be able to handle looking at these opportunities, because I'm sure the pardon attorney's office has been overworked. But I do hope that our administration is comfortable in doing these mass commutations. As long as there's no threat to public safety, I feel like that our administration should just go for it. Greg? Thank you, Roland, and thank you, Sister Kimber. It's hard to believe that it's been almost 30 years since you were on the cover of George Curry and Emerge magazines.

I still have my copy, you and your high school graduation attire, Kimber's story, I'll never forget that. And, of course, Elaine Jones, as you said, with the Legal Defense Fund, writing in the beginning of that issue about the dilemma that you faced. Earlier you said you were hopeful, and then you just kind of reiterated it a moment ago in response to Robert's question. We know that Biden could do a lot of things.

I mean, sure, Marilyn Mosby, as far as I'm concerned, he should do something. He should pardon Marcus Garvey and have Kamala Harris, whose daddy's from Jamaica, make the damn statement if he wants to drive these white boys wild. But in reading through your work with the Drug Policy Alliance and just reading over your website, when you ask at the end of one of your fact sheets, beyond the review of how marijuana is scheduled under the CSA, what other actions can the Biden administration take to end criminalization

and its harms? And of course, at this point, we're at the 11th hour, as you say. Why did you say you were hopeful? Some people that maybe, and I'm one of the people who am hopeful that perhaps this Hunter Biden announcement, and I like the way you framed it, Robert, maybe that is the thing that will draw all the attention.

And then maybe what is lined up is this kind of wave of pardons. Are you hearing anything? Is this hope coming from just years of experience and maybe hopeful? Are you just saying this is a shot in the dark? I mean, why did you say you were hopeful? I said that I'm hopeful because I was incarcerated when Clinton was about to go out of office. And I can remember the anxiety that I had. And I have been advocating for my friend, Michelle West, ever since I stepped foot on the ground coming out of prison. And so I can't sit here and lose hope and think that this administration isn't going to do the right thing. And I don't know if they're going to commute Michelle West's sentence.

But I used to, I mean, sitting and thinking about what my parents went through, I'm not going to sit here and say that I don't think they're going to do anything. I don't have that luxury. Yes, ma'am. And so there's some people that, you know, do their reporting. So I'm just going to believe in the power of God and that he is able and that there's some families this holiday that are going to be able to have their loved one home. Yes, ma'am. Well, we are going to keep following this, and then we'll see certainly what happens.

There's a lot more work that needs to be done. When the president gets back from Angola, he can actually do a hell of a lot more. So sorry about that. Again, I said we're going to keep following. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes.

But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated.

I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. need black organizations advocating about this year around, because there are a lot of white folks with these organizations who are advocating for a lot of people who look like us. And unless a celebrity gets involved, then all of a sudden folks begin to wake

up. It actually shouldn't take that. And honestly, whoever's in office, I will say, you know, my friend Topeka Sam and Van Jones with the First Step Act, there were a lot of people that came home under that administration as well. And so that was a lesson for me because, again, I don't have the luxury to just sit back and, you know, complain when I understand what a day is. And so it's just really important. Whoever's in office that we put, we do the right thing to offer people second chances and help to change the narrative in our country.

As far as people coming out of prison. Absolutely. Kimma Smith. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. All right, folks,

we come back. DOJ drops their report on, on the excessive force being used against black people by the Memphis Police Department. We'll tell you about that. And also, I wish Mitch McConnell take his punk ass home and retire. I got to talk about this BS that he said about these federal judges. Wait till we tell y'all about that next. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network.

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So you're checking money over at Appeal Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196, PayPal, R. Martin Unfiltered, Venmo, RM Unfiltered, Zelle. Roll them at RollinsMartin.com. Back in a moment. Hi, I'm Isaac Hayes III, founder and CEO of Fanbase. Fanbase is a free-to-download, free-to-use, next-generation social media platform that allows anyone to have followers and subscribers on the same page. Fanbase was built through investment dollars from equity crowdfunding from the Jobs Act. People just like you help build Fanbase, and we're looking for more people to help build Fanbase. We are currently raising $17 million in a Regulation 8 crowdfund on Start Engine. We've already crossed $2.1 million, but we're looking to raise more capital from people just like you that deserve the opportunity to invest in early stage startups without having to be accredited investors. So right now, I'd like you to go to

startengine.com slash fanbase and invest. The minimum to invest is $399. That gets you 60 shares of stock in Fanbase right now, today. And then use fan base to connect with friends, grow your audience, and be you without limits. Now streaming on the Blackstar Network. I had been trying to get a record deal for a long time. You know, when I finally got signed to the Motown record label in 2003, I was 34, 35 years old. And up until that time, I had been trying to get record deals the traditional way.

You know, you record your demo, you record your music, and you send it, you know, to the record labels, or maybe somebody, a friend of a friend, knows somebody that works for, you know, the record label. And and really chemistry was that was my last ditch effort at being in the music business. How long have you been trying? I've been trying since I was since I was a teenager. And and, you know, and I'm grateful that it didn't, I'm grateful that it happened when it happened because I wasn't prepared, you know, as a teenager

to embrace all that comes with a career in the music industry. Hello, I'm Tim Reed. I actually played an alpha man on TV's Sister, Sister, and then followed in my son's footsteps and became one. So happy Founders Day to all my frat brothers out there. Oh, six! It's your boy Rob Hardy. Want to give a Founders Day shout out to the Ice Corp Brothers at Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. Extra special shout out to Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network.

All day. Hello, I'm Congressman Gregory Meeks, and I'm here to wish all of the brothers of the mighty Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity happy Founders Day. Oh, six. You're watching Roland Martin, unfiltered on Black Star Network. All right, folks, some breaking news. The Department of Justice very late dropped their report into the Patterson practices of the Memphis Police Department.

This is the press release right here. It came out today. Comprehensive report. They established that the Memphis Police Department used This is the press release right here. It came out today. Comprehensive report. They established that Memphis Police Deports force use excessive force. They conduct unlawful stop searches and arrests. They unlawfully discriminate against black people when enforcing the law. They unlawfully discriminate in their response to people with behavioral health disabilities. It also says the Justice Department also identified serious concerns about MPD's treatment of children.

Finally, the department identified deficiencies in policy, training, supervision, and accountability that contribute to MPD and MPDs in the city's unlawful conduct. It says here the city and MPD cooperated fully with this. This investigation opened on July 27, 2023 after the brutal murder of Tyree Nichols. And so this is, again, this is the press release here. They have the whole report

that was released as well that details all of this here. And so when you look at that particular report, you'll see right here where it lays out, again, racial segregation, poverty, and public safety challenges. And then it goes on here to say excessive force. You look at unjustified neck restraints. The police department uses unreasonable force on people who are restrained under control. NPD's use of less lethal weapons

violates the law. ND officers unreasonably shoot at people in cars after placing themselves in dangerous situations. MPD's deficient policies and training contribute to excessive force. Weak oversight contributes to excessive force. They conduct unlawful stop searches and arrests. They make unconstitutional stops. They search people unlawfully. They unlawfully search and seize cars. They make unlawful arrests. They make unconstitutional stops. They search people unlawfully. They unlawfully search and seize cars. They make unlawful arrests. They discriminate against black people in this enforcement.

The police department engages in racially disparate enforcement. The MPD does not assess whether its practices are lawful and effective. Also, discriminate in their response to people with behavioral health disabilities. This goes on and on and on. They lack effective policy supervision and training. They fail to hold officers accountable for misconduct. MPD supervisors fail to identify

or investigate misconduct. The Internal Affairs Unit does not conduct thorough and objective investigations. The Police Department does not adequately discipline officers for misconduct, impeding the city should improve oversight and transparency. This is a 70-plus page report. A stinging indictment of Memphis Police Department, Robert. And here's the deal, and black people

better get used to it. You ain't gonna see these under Trump vans. This is the 12th of the DOJ under Biden-Harris. There have been 12 or 14 police patterns and in practice investigation that was one, a small police department in Louisiana under Trump Pence. And I think the big concern people are gonna have to understand

for those folks who, you know, said, well, I'm voting on the economy or something, or getting rid of the immigrants. This might be the last one of these reports ever. Not just for the next four years. Ever. Because of what does the Department of Governmental Efficiency, when they're talking about cutting these government programs, these are the types of quote-unquote DEI, minority-focused programs

that they are going to be cutting. Vivek Ram Swani said, we're going to be doing wholesale deletions of departments, firing all the attorneys who work in those areas. They act with Charlie Kirkus said that one of the greatest mistakes of the 21st century was the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and he is part of that advisory council that is part of determining what programs will be done. So there's a very real chance. This is the last report of this nature in American history.

And we have to confront the reality that we're going to be going into a place as black Americans where despite what has happened for the last 150 years, we can no longer count on the protections of the federal government to step in when local racist jurisdictions violate the civil rights of African Americans. And because of that, we have to start developing the patterns and practices on the local level that will be able to handle these things. But without that federal backstop, just look at the 1960s. Look at the 1950s. Look at what happened in the lynching movement. That is what happens when we don't have federal oversight.

Rebecca. the lynching movement. That is what happens when we don't have federal oversight. Rebecca? You know, listening to everything that Robert just talked about, it also lets us know the reason why we can't be beholden to a particular political party. And the reason why is those folks don't know how to fight. Because when we have power, when we have access to power, we actually have to go at 100 miles an hour and we have to implement all these things and burrow it inside of government where it becomes permanent, or it becomes harder just to pull out of government through a department of efficiency. And I think we have played the game too polite, and I think we're going to have to go back to some of our leaders that led us to the 60s civil rights movement. We're going to have to go back to that thought of Malcolm X.

We're going to have to go back to that thought of all those people who, unfortunately, like you said, the Boulay type view as too radical. Guess what? That's where we're at in America now. We actually have to be radical for our existence if we actually want to live as a community over the next 150 years, because we're gonna have to dig deep and learn what got us out of here in order to get us, to advance us with where we're at now in history. Yeah, I think they, this is not then in this sense. I'm very much, well I've always been ambivalent

about the project of the United States of America. I mean it was a criminal enterprise in the beginning, but I mean it just is, it's not a matter of opinion. At the same time, reconstruction, the first reconstruction as you say, that was as close as this country ever came to being something other than what it was set up to be. It failed because they couldn't break the grip of white nationalism. And so that second Reconstruction a century later, like you talk about, that was an attempt to, using the amendments of the first Reconstruction, try again.

And Charlie Kirk, who is a magnificent example of an inbred, useless waste of DNA, is empowered and emboldened now because he sits at the top of this rocket of white nationalism that started 500 years ago so that someone like that, not only utterly unremarkable, but really a useless human being, feels empowered because of the uselessness of white nationalism. This country is on the verge of being broken up. And that's okay. In fact, it might be the only way to do it. And I think that's because exactly what you're all saying.

The local dimension, the state-level dimension, white nationalists love states' rights when they're in control. They love the federal government when they're in control. To the point you made earlier, Rebecca, this is about control. And ultimately, I think, finally, what we're looking at is Kristen Clark would have been nice if she was attorney general. Well, guess what? You didn't have the guts to put a real attorney general in,

just like you was going to put Merrick Garland's useless affirmative action ass on the Supreme Court. This is white nationalism. It works. Well, fine. As Ralph Bunche said, the Negro is a special award to the federal government. If we're not going to have that as a weapon, perhaps, as you say, Rebecca, we can retreat to our sensibility that has kept us alive in this criminal enterprise all along, which is we have to rely on ourselves. That can happen at the state level. It can happen at the local level.

And when these white nationalists come in and the white adjacent nationalists like Robert Swami come in to try to use the federal government as a cudgel, I say let's dance. Because you're going to wreck this thing. And it probably needed to be wrecked from the beginning. And you won't have the ability to punish us, because you won't have a federal apparatus that has much teeth in it. Because you're going to end up catching a stray.

Those millions of white people who think that their whiteness is going to save them, and it won't. Well, let me go ahead and put this on. Watch, I'll tell talking about this summer. So, if y'all want to see some stupidity, Senate GOP leader, actually he's a minority leader, Mitch McConnell, he's not happy about two federal judges reversing their announced retirements after Trump won.

McConnell criticized the pair of, quote, partisan Democrat district judges who planned to unretire after, quote, the American people voted to fire Democrats last month. Listen to this SOB. Just before Thanksgiving, the Senate reached a deal on judicial nominees. Republicans would forego our available procedural roadblocks

on the remaining nominations to district courts, which have the votes to be confirmed. In exchange, the Democratic leader wouldn't bring any of the remaining nominations to circuit courts to the floor because they don't have the votes to be confirmed. As a result, President Biden is getting around a dozen more district judges and the next president will get four more circuits to fill. At least I expect you will. We've already seen two partisan Democrat district judges quote on retire and quote after the American people voted to fire Democrats last month.

This is noteworthy. Looking to our history, only two judges have ever, ever unretired after a presidential election. One Democrat in 2004 and one Republican in 2009. But now, in just a matter of weeks, Democrats have already met that all-time record. It's hard to conclude that this is anything other than open partisanship. They roll the dice, they're a Democrat, they've replaced them, and now they won't. They're changing their plans to keep a Republican from doing it. It's a bracing admission, and the incoming administration would be wise to explore all available recusal options with these judges, because it's clear now that they have a political

finger on the scale. This sort of partisan behavior undermines the integrity of the judiciary. It exposes bold Democrat blue where there should only be black robes. all sons of bitches to try to lecture about history and the federal bench. This is the same asshole

who kept a Supreme Court seat open for 10 months when Scalia died to prevent President Obama from appointing a Supreme... He appointed Garland. I despise it. I thought it was stupid.

I said he should appoint a black woman. But he chose not to. They said, we ain't even giving you a hearing. We ain't even going to give you a hearing. Then, when Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies, he rushes through

in the middle of a presidential election after lecturing everybody. Well, we should let the voters decide in November when it came to Garland. Rush Amy Coney Barrett through because they knew Trump was going to lose to Biden. This is the same man who blocked 100 judges from being appointed by Obama and that's how Trump was able to appoint 234,

237. 100 of those were supposed to be under Obama. And then now your old crip-keeping ass wants to stand here and complain, well, they're not right. That's not fair.

That's not right. Those judges decide to un-retire. They got that right. I've seen athletes announce retirements and say, I'm going to keep playing. I've seen politicians like Susan Collins announce, I'm only going to run for two terms.

Her ass been there damn near 30 years. We see it all the time. Oh, but now the Crypt Keeper. Mitch McConnell's upset because two judges, on the internet, broke the all-time record. We've only had this happen twice before in history. Once in 2004 by a Democrat, once in 2009 by a Republican. So now two judges do it.

You know what? I hope every Democratic judge that said they was going to retire don't retire. But shall we remind y'all what happened with Anthony Kennedy? When the deal he cut, he stepped down? Oh, I'll step down if y'all appoint my chosen successor. That was Brett Kavanaugh. This is some bullshit, Rebecca. And he the last person I want to hear from talking about judges and deals and stuff like that.

I mean, listening to him, I guess it's factory reset that he did on camera last year didn't take. You know, here's the thing. We really need Dick Durbin to go ahead and remove those blue blue slips. He won't. If if Mitch McConnell is going to say what he says, then you know what? Give it to him. If he thinks that Democrats are being partisan around the judiciary, then do it. Remove the blue slips, because we know right now that that means that if, what that

means for viewers is that it would just go to regular order where it is a simple majority vote up and down whether or not this person is going to become a judge. I think the rules of the Senate right now just says it's going to become a judge. I think the rules of the Senate right now just says it's going to be two hours of debate. There can't be any filibuster, so it doesn't require 60 judges. So at that point, go ahead and run the numbers up. We have

about 30 days until the next Congress gets sworn in. We have about six weeks until the next president gets sworn in. So run up the numbers. Robert? Everybody keeps talking about Gucciman came back from prison as a clone. That's a clone of Mitch McConnell. The real Mitch McConnell been dead for ten years. That's a clone. But there's no way that somebody who held up that many

judges, who held up Merrick Garland, who literally said the era of bipartisanship is over. He said that almost 10 years ago. So that Mitch McConnell clearly is dead. And that is either a clone or one of those Elon robots, because there's no way you can be that brazenly hypocritical. There's no way that you can look at the American people in the eye and attempt to have any moral authority. When one day you're saying that you are completely against Trump, you need to impeach him. We need to let the judicial system handle this. And then, you know, you're saying that you are completely against Trump and you need to impeach him, you need to let the judicial system handle this,

and then the next thing you know you're saying, well, the judicial system can't handle this because he's the president. These people are playing by a different set of rules. I think we have to understand there's no – the kids – close your ears. There's no benefit to doing the right thing. Sometimes you just got to play bully ball. Sometimes you just got to get in there like a power forward in the 90s. None of this Steph Curry shooting threes. We're talking Ewing. We're talking about Larry Johnson.

You got to throw... Putting your butt on that ass and backing him down. Yeah, we can't be these pristine three-point shooters no more just trying to draw contact and get fouled. We got to get in the paint because you got these people who are throwing around alternative facts and they are making

them stick because they own the algorithm. And we're still sitting here like, well, that's just hypocritical. I can't believe the gentleman from Kentucky would say such a thing and then get your ass kicked. No question. Play bully ball. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun?

Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad.

It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I thought maybe the video was still running, but I realized you stopped it because he does tend to freeze as you say for that reason.

But, I mean, we saw, what, in this week two federal judges were approved, one in California and one in Massachusetts. But Schumer, to the point you make on the bluestips, which he's not going to do, Schumer then made a deal. So there are four, and you heard the Crypt Keeper talk about it, there are four

circuit-level judges that they agreed not to advance in order to get these two district-level judges. The Democratic Party is not... Actually, I think it was 12 district judges. The districts, right. And two of them got appointed this week, right. In exchange for the money ball, which is, of course, the circuit courts.

Circuit and appeal, right. Right. I mean, if this project continues, and again, it's not at all clear that it is. Not in the current form because states' rights work both ways. So as they're Trump-proofing in California and Maryland and places like that, as North Carolina can be swept, as you say, and Georgia, this is a cold civil war that's gonna heat up over the next four years. But when it comes to the federal bench, it's very clear.

This is more than just law making and law fear. This is about the concept of a nation and the idea of fairness. As you say, once it's broken, it's not going to be put back together. This man who is dissembling toward the same night that awaits us all, is responsible more than anybody else in the Senate for ripping up the floorboards of this funky

criminal enterprise. And the only thing that was holding it together was the idea that there is some level of fairness that can be imposed. That's why you see a Kristen Clarke, people say, like her or not like her, this is wrong. There's no such thing as this is wrong with these people.

And what they're going to find out is none of us ever believed that in the first place. And the only thing keeping us from your ass was the idea that it could be something different. But I think this time when they wreck it, we're going to worry about 100 years from now. It ain't going to be in the United States in 100 years. It might not be one in 50. And in January, the Republicans will have a 53 to 47 majority in the United States

Senate. Luckily, we won't have those turncoats, Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin. They'll be gone. But the reality is that Dick Durbin has abided by the blue slip. But let me also remind people, Mitch McConnell,

there was a Democratic senator and a Republican senator that did not want a judge picked. That was in Wisconsin. Rob Johnson and Tammy Baldwin. He was like, I don't give a damn. We put them on the bench. He ignored the blue slip. But again, Democrats want to play by the rules

because if we don't, they're going to do this is what Democrats say. If we do this, and when they get power, they're going to do it. They've already shown you they're going to do it. They've already shown you they're going to do it. This is the only way I can describe it, that the Democratic Party seems to be that kid who's in the library. They're reading.

They're working hard. They're playing by all the rules. Then you look on Instagram, and your cousin who I thought is over in Dubai on a jet ski. I'm talking about twerking. I mean, they're having a good time having a hot girl summer. So what do you want to do? You want to keep working hard and losing? Or do you want to do what the winning team is doing and actually throw some elbows and win?

Just borrow high ground and get in the snowboard. Well, that's why I could not help but laugh when Charlemagne was on The View today and they were talking about he felt that well Democrats, you know, you're going to be able to have the moral high ground, why did Biden do this? And I was sitting here like, and? I mean, I'm sorry, we literally have somebody right now who will lie to our face. Donald Trump literally. Donald Trump

literally. Exactly. Donald Trump literally literally sat there I don't know nothing about Project 2025. I ain't I don't want to know about it. And all these

media people like, well see, he said he didn't know anything about it. Anything about it. And all these media people like, well, see, see, he said he didn't know anything about it. He didn't think about it. And what did he do? He appointed everybody by 2025 to his administration. And it's like, y'all fell for it. So all these folks are mad. They mad at Biden.

Well, he shouldn't have said it. He shouldn't have said it. If Biden did not say, I'm not going to pardon Hunter, you know what would have happened? Every day, they would have asked him, you going to pardon Hunter? Hunter? Hunter? Every single day. So everybody, I knew the moment his ass said

ain't pardoning Hunter, it's kind of like Hunter going to get pardoned. I don't know why we even... I don't even know why we even... His kid, why wouldn't he pardon his son? But it goes to show you, so all these people, then I think one of Charlemagne's points was like, well, Democrats want to have the moral high ground. Actually, if you look at on most things,

they do operate from a higher moral high ground than Republicans do. Think about it this way. Think about it this way. Think about it this way. So damn, when Michelle Obama said they go low, we go high? No. Bust their ass lower. Perfect example.

Justin Fairfax, career ruined by fake allegations. Al Franken, career ruined. Another person's running. Yeah, career ruined by a photo that was taken. When that allegation dropped against Justin Fairfax, literally, literally 15 seconds after the story, Demi Kressel posting, he got to step down. People like Terry McAuliffe and others, I think Tim Kaine and others,

he got to resign, got to resign. You're thinking about Al Franken. Al Franken took a photo. He took a photo. What did you say? Say it again. And the black person that Terry McAuliffe used to throw that stone was Justin is now running

next year in Virginia. And his campaign manager is McAuliffe's daughter. There it is. What I mean was Al Franken. Al Franken is forced to resign for taking a picture with Joe. Right now, you got Peter Hegseth. Come on.

Okay. His mama. His mama. Then his mama go on Fox News today, blasting New York Times for printing my letter. Your ass wrote it. He wrote your letter. How you mad?

Because you wrote your son a letter calling him out for being abusive towards women. My God. And then you want to get him out of that. No, your son ain't ish. Just think about this for a second, though. As a Democrat, your career is over if you take a picture that's wrong. RFK admitted to raping a nanny. Donald Trump was found liable. No, no, you can't move on to raping a nanny. Donald Trump was found liable.

No, no, you can't move on. Okay, the nanny. His wife killed herself after reading his diaries of his numerous affairs, what, 30, 40, whatever. The man cut the damn head off of a

whale. He tried to eat a bear. Tried to eat a, I mean, he got a worm in his head. Donald Trump, like, I cracked up at Indian dumbass Scott Jennings. Matter of fact, I just saw the video. Scott Jennings on CNN. Well, it was just,

you know, it wasn't called for for them to, for the New York Times to report a private letter. And then the respondent responded, but y'all had Hunter Biden's junk on billboards. So it's like, they sitting here like, this isn't right. This is just, this is, this is. Peter Navarro. Come on, man.

Peter Navarro left prison, went to the RNC the next day after he left prison, and is now in the cabinet. And we are ending people's careers over pictures from 10 years ago. Right, so that's, so the reality is is Democrats, and this is the whole deal, Democrats have been playing by the rules. Here's the deal.

First rule, light club. Let me just be real clear. I don't want to hear no more of this bullshit. If America decided to vote for a man who was a massive liar, who is a massive liar, who cheated on his taxes, who had his foundation shut down, who overvalued his businesses, who got convicted on 34 felonies, who was found guilty of sexual assault in a civil trial, and then kept defaming the woman.

The man slept with a porn star, cheated on both wives, lied, got four or five baby mamas, all this sort of stuff. We go down the line, led an insurrection, and America said, oh, no, we good. You can still be president.

Damn your rules. This is where all bets are off. Don't come at me with no bullshit. So I don't want to hear nothing about Peter Hegg said, where are all y'all conservative evangelicals? Where y'all at? Where y'all at?

The Lord is with you. In fact, Eric Erickson, you know, a conservative Republican from Georgia, he goes, well, you know, everyone's a sinner, you know, and that was seven years ago. That was seven years ago. He gave his life to God. Things have turned around

or whatever the hell. But not promising senators if I'm confirmed, I'm not going to have a drink. Say no! That's not how being a drunk works, though. I have done a lot of that. You're being a drunk works though i have done a lot why are you promising not to drink i've done a lot of dui cases in my legal career over 16 years i've done dui trials nobody just says hey i promise i'm not i'm not drinking no more and

then the judge just lets you leave like no that no, that's not... It is a disease. You need medical treatment. So if he's going to come forward and say, look, I have a very severe drinking problem that I'm seeking treatment for, and I will do it while being a defense secretary, that's wonderful. But it's like, hey, look, man,

I promise I won't get drunk in front of y'all anymore. It's a level of ridiculousness that can't be quantified. And you also, we're not going to put you in charge of...'all anymore. It's a level of ridiculousness that can't be quantified. And you also, we're not going to put you in charge of the world's most lethal military. But we know what's going to happen.

He's not going to get confirmed. Instead, Trump is going to go state by state. He's going to take all these Republican governors. And now the Democratic Party is going to have to figure out, okay, what do we do

when we have all these vacancies of all these Republican governors? What's going to happen? Is the DGA prepared to now fight state by state? Because different states have different rules on temporary appointees, who gets to ascend into that gubernatorial seat or whether or not there's a special election. So there is a real opportunity here if you have actual strategy at the DNC and at the DGA. And so far I'm not seeing any indication that there's going to be strategy because Trump is going to have to go get governors.

Well, I don't want to hear none of these more high ground people running their damn miles because it ain't going to fly. Jeffrey Toobin is on the op-ed page of the New York Times saying that Biden just disgraced the office by pardoning some...

Is this the same Jeffrey Toobin? Really? Really, Jeffrey Toobin? Brother, can you believe... Really, Jeffrey Toobin? Jeffrey Toobin who was masturbating on a Zoom. Disgracing the office. Are you serious? Look, that's why God knows I still... Like the boy wasn't even smart enough

to click stop camera. I mean, come on. But I mean, he was waiting the whole time they were talking. Man, I can't wait for the thing to be over. Wait, wait, wait.

And then what these men do this here? Woo! Go ahead. Let me show y'all. There's a camera on the iPad. If you do this, they can't see you.

They can't see you. No, but he ain't, right, so, we's a camera on our face. If you do this, they can't see you. They can't see you. No, but he... Right, so we ain't listen to your ass. Nobody. But this, we got to have this platform, man. I mean, you can't listen to none of these people. But here's the problem with the whole moral high ground argument. For those who understand tactical war,

the high ground is supposed to be the strategic place that you go, and no one's supposed to lose when you're up on the high ground. So all this moral high ground, it's a fake high ground. It's not really a high ground. It is what white supremacy tells us in this country, what polite society should do. And so you should toe the line. You should not ruffle feathers. It's not an actual morality in the moral high ground that we're here for.

Well, and it's also driven by media. Just like the media will sit here and badger Vice President Kamala Harris about why she, will she appoint a Republican to her cabinet. But she don't, I'm sorry, have you heard any of them badger Trump about how he needs

to appoint a good job. Chris Byron Donaldson. And I gotta find a clip for y'all. This is the last thing, really, because we're about to go. If y'all want to see something that's just so stupid. So David Frum apparently was on MSNBC, he made a comment about Peter Hegseth.

And y'all, if y'all want to see a case of kissing a lot of ass, Lord have mercy, Mika and Joe. Mika literally apologizes to the audience at the shot that David Frum took at Fox. And it's like, wait a minute, hold up. All the trash Fox. Hold on. Let me play this for y'all. Give me one second.

Y'all just got I saw this and I said, y'all got to be kidding me. But this goes to show Mika and Joe are so scared of Donald Trump. They are so scared. What does he have in them? Hey, he got text messages or whatever pictures. I don't know. Watch this here. Watch this here. Watch this, y'all. OK, listen to this. Turn it. Listen to this. It's right. David, I'll start with you on this. What's your sense of where the Hegs pick is headed here? Well, just given what one sees on camera, if you're too drunk for Fox News, you're very, very drunk indeed. So that's alarming.

In 1989, President George H.W. Bush nominated John Tower, senator from Texas, for secretary of defense. Now, Tower was a very considerable person, a real defense intellectual, someone who deeply understood defense, unlike— All right, so because of that comment, if you're too drunk, Fox News, that means you're drunk. Mika literally, y'all, came back on the air

and she said, late in the program, hold up, they literally apologized for his comment. Let me get it queued up here. I'm trying to get it queued up for y'all. And again, it goes to show you.

Okay, play it. Come on now. Oh, wait, hold on. I got the audio up. It's right here. It's up. God, that's on. The audio's up. All right, well, the audio's up. So Mika said, before we go to break,

a little earlier in this block, there was a comment made about Fox News in our coverage by Pete Hicks and the growing number of allegations about his behavior over the years and possible addiction to alcohol or issues with alcohol. The comment was a little too flippant for this moment that we are in. What? We just want to make that comment as well. We want to make that clear.

We have differences in coverage with Fox News, and that's a good debate that we should have often. But right now, I just want to say to say there are a lot of good people who work at Fox News who care about Pete Hegseth, and we'll want to leave it at that. What? Now you know what you just did though. More people now know she made

that comment than when she made it. Because ain't nobody watching MSNBC anymore. Not more than Joe. It really does feel like paper. It really does. But what does it say? What does it say? That you're going to apologize

for Fox News dog y, y'all, all day? That's what you said. Fox News aired an entire segment on MSNBC supporting chemical castration for children and being part of this cabal that wants to mutilate the genitals of teens, but saying that somebody who says that they're going to stop drinking is drinking too much, apparently has crossed the line. And do it with the Republicans because John Tower was all those things and a stone cold drunk, which is why he couldn't be

converted. Which is why his own colleagues said, now play it. Exactly. Rebecca, go ahead. Exactly. This is why you need to support the Black Star Network. No question. Because over the next four years, if you actually want quality information, and yes, we offer color commentary, but

if you want people who are actually talking about issues that impact you, impact your real life, then, you know, you're going to have to tune in to those platforms that's delivering that information. What's unfortunate, we're seeing a lot of the corporate media, unfortunately, we're

seeing that they're already showing, just like some of the corporations are backing down from diversity, equity, and inclusion, they're all falling down on the knee and they're getting ready to kiss the ring. And so you have to understand, as you're getting information over the next four years, you're going to use a lot of critical thinking and also making sure that you're qualifying where you're getting your information. Let me real clear, y'all. I just want to be as clear as I possibly can. We ain't kissing no Trump MAGA ass. Come on now. We ain't kissing no ring. We ain't bowing down to nobody.

I told y'all what happened when he had a meeting with the TV anchors and I was invited to it. And they invited me to three of them. I made two of them. Biden people never invited me to one. Just saying. So Trump walks in. You know, normally when the president,

I don't call him the president. The president walks in, everybody stands up, they move to him. Everybody moves to him. All of that Simpson's meme, I like walk, I fell back. So I was standing there and I was sitting there, and I was sitting there going, I was like, well, I ain't going to call this ass Mr. President

because he ain't got no respect for the office, so I can't call him President Trump. Not going to happen. And I was like, I can't call this ass Mr. Trump. So I'm like, damn, what I'm going to say? So he's shaking everybody's hand, and he get to me. He stick his hand out. Hi, good to see you.

Good to see you. I went hi damn that was it that was it I wasn't about to sit here and call him by no title cause he didn't have any respect for the office so I'm not gonna call you

by the title of the office I'm not gonna do it so yeah unlike Joe and Mika and Morning Joe we ain't kissing no Trump ass I ain't going to do it so yeah unlike Joe and Mika and Morning Joe we ain't kissing no Trump ass I ain't going to Mar-a-Lago we ain't sitting down he gonna be talking to Kristen Welker we already know how that interview

is gonna go he gonna run over her like a freight train but just as Rebecca said if y'all want honest conversation about the truth about what these yahoos are going to do two blocks from us, I'm telling you right now, when they come in here with their carnage, somebody has to speak truth about what they are doing, and that's going to be us.

And we ain't going to apologize for it, and we ain't going to bow down to nobody, we ain't kissing nobody, but it's not going to happen, because you have to call out evil when you confront evil. That sign back there, what is it? It's by Ida B. Wells Barnett. It's right there. And this is her famous quote where she said, the light, the way to right wrongs is to shine the light of truth upon them.

And that's what we're going to do. We're going to shine that light that's going to be black and it's going to be real bright. And we're going to sit here and hit them with the light because it's going to be a whole lot of darkness under these evil people come 12.01 p.m. on January 20th. And y'all already know

on that day, we ain't streaming a damn thing dealing with inauguration. That's going to be MLK Day. And that's what we're going to be talking about. Just letting y'all know. Robert, Rebecca, Greg, I appreciate it. Happy Founders Day to all our Alphas who contribute to us. Thanks a bunch as well.

Support the work that we do. Join our Bring the Funk fan club. If y'all want the truth, that's all you're going to get right here. The truth, nothing but the truth. So help us God. So give to us via Cash App. You can use the Stripe app because the Cash App changed their rules. So here's the QR code right here.

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RolandMartinUnfiltered.com, or RolandMartin.Creator-Spring.com. Folks, that's it. I will see y'all tomorrow from Oakland, California, the Bay Area. I'm headed there to speak at Frankie Beverly's Proud and Immortal service on Friday. It's going to be broadcasted tomorrow from Oakland. To all alphas, happy Founders Day. How? A 1986 initiate of the Zeta Pi chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at the University of Georgia. Wishing all of my fraternity brothers a happy Founders Day. And you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. What's going on? This is R&B singer Joshua Showtown Williams, and I just want to wish all of my brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha a happy Founders Day.

You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Peace. Yo, it's December 4th. You know what that means. That means happy Founders Day to the good brothers of the one and only, the Ice Cold, the first and the best, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. My name is Will Packer. I represent that number six Osirian line,

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