#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Bebe Winans' BLM anthem; Erika Alexander on John Lewis doc; Dr. Cornel West's 'Black Prophetic Fire'

Episode Date: July 6, 2020

7.3.20 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Bebe Winans' BLM anthem; Erika Alexander on John Lewis doc; Cities prepare for the July 4th celebrations amid COVID-19 pandemic; WTH?!? Alabama students have COVID-19 parties; Two people accused of assaulting a Michigan woman outside Chipotle have been charged; NFL to include the Black National Anthem before games; Colin Kaepernick's organization commits $1M to support local bail funds; Dr. Cornel West talks 'Black Prophetic Fire' Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛https://www.paypal.me/rmartcinunfiltered #RolandMartinUnfiltered Partner: Ceek Be the first to own the world's first 4D, 360 Audio Headphones and mobile VR Headset. Check it out on www.ceek.com and use the promo code RMVIP2020 - The Roland S. Martin YouTube channel is a news reporting site 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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. to, yeah, banana pudding. If it's happening in business, our new podcast is on it. I'm Max Chastain. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You say you'd never give in to a meltdown. Never let kids' toys take over the house. And never fill your feed with kid photos.

You'd never plan your life around their schedule. Never lick your thumb to clean their face. And you'd never let them leave the house looking like less than their best. You'd say you'd never put a pacifier in your mouth to clean it. Never let them stay up too late. And never let them run wild through the grocery store. So when you say you'd never let them get into a car without you there, know it can happen.

One in four hot car deaths happen when a kid gets into an unlocked car and can't get out. Never happens. Before you leave the car, always stop, look, lock. Brought to you by NHTSA and the Ad Council. I know a lot of cops. 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. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English.

I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them.

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey folks, today is July 3rd, 2020. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, a jam-packed show. Elijah McClain, that's three out of Colorado. The police chief announced the firing of three officers who defaced a memorial.

They literally reenacted the death of Elijah McClain. I will show you her comments. Also, B.B. Winans has a powerful video celebrating Black Lives Matter. We'll talk to him on today's show as well. Speaking of powerful as a new documentary out on Congressman John Lewis, Erica Alexander, living single. She is one of the producers. We'll also talk with Reverend Dr. William Barber about that as well. Also, folks, on today's show, got a great one as well. Full Hour with my frat brother, Dr. Cornel West. We'll talk about Biden, Trump, politics, Black Lives Matter, all of that stuff.

It's a jam-packed show. It's time to bring the funk on Rolling Mark Unfiltered. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the on Rolling Mark Unfiltered. Let's go. Sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling It's Uncle Roro, y'all It's Roland Martin, yeah Rolling with Roland now He's funky, he's fresh, he's real The best you know, he's funky he's fresh he's real the best you know he's rolling big news out of rora colorado where the police chief has fired several officers

who jokingly took photos and reenacted the death of Elijah McClain. That is a young black man who was killed a year ago by cops. It is a shot. The photos are shocking. They are stunning. This is from the news conference earlier today by the Aurora police chief. Again, please brace yourself. And I immediately ordered an internal affairs investigation and I promised that I would expedite that investigation, as is my right as the chief of police. It is important to understand after I ordered the investigation, I made sure that each officer was ordered in that evening and that those interviews were done that

evening. I had placed them all in administrative leave with pay immediately and I want everyone across the country to know that by city charter I can only place officers on administrative leave without pay if they're charged with a felony. So that is why they were placed with pay. I know that everyone this story came out on Monday night. I had our legal adviser reach out to Shanine McClain's lawyer and told her that I would like to sit down and make sure that she has all the information. No one has the right to see these these pictures before she sees these pictures. This is her son. This is her son being mocked. I met with Elijah's mother this morning along with her attorney at 9 a.m. and she was able

to see these photos before the world sees them. And that's the right thing to do and that is why I haven't come out with anything sooner. The case was completed Monday night, late Monday night at about 8 o'clock. I ordered a mandatory Chiefs Review Board to be held first thing Tuesday morning. As soon as the Chiefs Review Board met, they gave me their recommendation which was termination and I immediately ordered those officers in for what's called their pre-disciplinary hearing with the chief of police. This is part of the due process that is given to these officers. At their discipline pre-disciplinary hearing they are told that they have three days to send me anything that they

would like me to consider in addition to their statements that I read in the investigation. None of them sent me any additional information. I want to make that clear. There were four officers to start with that were involved in this and found to be in violation of conduct unbecoming was the directive they were found in violation of. One officer, as you all are aware, resigned Tuesday morning. And I want to tell him I appreciate you doing the right thing. I appreciate you realizing what you have done and what a despicable act and what you have brought upon this nation, upon this family, and you have embarrassed law enforcement yet again. After the preliminary hearing, it's by city charter that I must wait. I must wait.

I have no other remedy but to wait 72 hours before their final disciplinary hearing. So those officers had requested an IRB, which I denied. An IRB is an investigative review board, which is merely a recommendation that is given to the chief of police. Nothing was going to change my mind on termination. Therefore, I denied their right to an investigative review board, and I am legally able to do so. I met with these officers today at 1130, 1145, and 12 o'clock, 72 hours since Tuesday when they had their predisciplinary hearing with me, and I terminated the remaining three.

They are no longer able to wear this badge or represent this agency. Folks, this is, again, a very shocking and stunning story. This is the kind of stuff that we have seen, the actions of these type of police officers all across the country.

In this moment of reckoning, what we are seeing take place all across the country, and moment of reckoning, what we are seeing take place all across the country, and that is folks with Black Lives Matter protesters holding police accountable for these type of actions. You heard, of course, the chief also say in terms of the limited options that she has when it comes to actually dealing with these police officers. As I said, this moment that we're in, this reckoning that we're in is causing people all across the country to challenge these police officers, to demand a level of action. And that's one of the things that we're also seeing. And so

many artists have been releasing songs, speaking to this pain, if you will, that people are dealing with, they're going through and what they are experiencing. B.B. Winans actually has released a new song called Black Lives Matter. And folks, I want to give you a sense of that before we talk to him. Check this out. Tomorrow hope to see His eyes looking back at me With that smile, His possibilities And our plans Don't take away from me With your hands At night I close my eyes

And pray Close my eyes and pray. Lord, cover him with love and grace. How can you know his heart, my friend, we've already judged him by his skin. It's the right to live we're after. Want to trade these tears for laughter In one moment dreams are shattered Our sons and daughters matter Black lives matter

Let these words I sing Resound clear With hands lifted high Revealed Urgently regard Dispelled seeds In hope of saving lives We hold dear See it's the right to live we're after

Want to trade these tears for laughter In one moment dreams are shattered Our sons and daughters matter Yes, they do Black lives matter My children, your children Rich children, poor children Jesus loves the little children

Are the children of the world His children, her children Your children, our children Jesus loves the little children Thank you. Have to trade these tears, these tears for laughter In one moment, one moment dreams are sad Our sons and daughters matter Yes, black lives matter My children, your children Rich children, poor children

People love the little children All the children of the world His children, her children Your children, our children She loves the little children All the children of the world It's the right to live We're left there

I must train my teeth My teeth to laugh In one moment One moment Dreams are shattered Our sons and daughters matter Black lives matter My hope to see you

without looking back at me. And joining us right now is B.B. Winings. B.B., that is a... I mean, that is an emotional song, brother. I can't even talk. I'm over, brother. I can't even talk. I'm over here crying. You saw my son in his eyes. And at that time, my son was 16, 15 years old, actually.

And I just remember weeping uncontrollably because for the first time, it became really personal. And when it becomes personal personal you can't help i think but to move and to to to put that emotion into action and so this song is that action and it's it's filled with personal emotions when you talk about those emotions I mean I was looking at the comments of people on YouTube and I was looking at the comments on Facebook and people were just I mean people were literally just talk about how emotional it was. I was getting ready to walk away from the camera because I don't know how to cry cute. And so tears started swelling up and they're still there.

Any moment I could just start breaking down because there's a line that says, it's the right to live that we're after. You know, I'm not after your money. I'm not after, I'm after the right for our children to live, to live without fear and, and to live the life that they're due and the rights that they're due. So it is very emotional. It's like I said, it's very personal. And so your children, it says your children are my children. So when we lose anyone, we lose part of our family. And it's important now that we don't go backwards. We have to continue to go forwards until we have

those rights. And that's an important point right there. And that's what black folks keep saying. Look, can we just be able to walk and go to the store? Can we just be able to ride our bike? Can we just be able just to live a life like everybody else. That's all we're asking for. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And see, and one of the things that I was asked about, do I live in fear? I don't live in fear because I know how to handle myself because of my maturity and my experience. But when you talk about our children, and I'm especially talking about my son, he's not equipped enough to handle all the emotions, the raw emotions that can happen when we are treated differently. When we are, you know, just taking our rights are taken from us. And so my prayer is God, give him, give him the understanding, give all of us the understanding of how to handle crisis so that we can live and be able on the other side, continue to change what's wrong with America. On that particular point, you are seeing this, you know, you use those videos.

I have often I keep saying, B.B., there's never been a moment in my 51 years where I have seen this amount of change happen this quickly in this country. Yeah, I agree. I agree. And, you know, someone asked me today, why do you think so? And my answer was simple, because it's time. It's the right time. And nothing can change and cause us to veer off because it's our season and it's the time and it's got to happen. Well, and it must happen. Last question for you. You put this out. What do you hope this does for a young person or even an, even an adult or even someone else who sees this? I mean, what, what are you hoping they walk away from when they see this? One of the things that I think is most important is our young people. And so my daughter saw it and my daughter called me.

And I think it's the first time, I think it's the first time out of everything that I've sung and I've done, that my daughter said, Dad, this is powerful. And thank you for doing this. And so it reached her. And so one of the things that I want this song to do is not only reach everybody that it can, but explain very simply what we are protesting what are we fighting in a way that is not uh uh uh uh uh uh hard to understand because music has a way of going through doors like nothing else and so i want everyone who hears this song understand the reason why we are saying and moving and acting in the way we are.

And B.B. Winans, we certainly appreciate it, man. It is an absolute fabulous song. I hope that folks will certainly move by it and move to action, move to action, because that's what it requires to change this country. Yes, sir. Thank you. Thanks. I appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. Thank you. Folks, yesterday I told you about this amazing film, actually this video that put up by the folks at 11 Films.

And I wanted to show it again because it was just a really, really powerful, a powerful film. So I want you all to check this out. We showed it yesterday and talk about on the heels of that BB video song. Watch. I, Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States. So help me God. There's a right in the street. If you have been waiting to break glass in case of emergency, we are there. You know what I am? I'm a nationalist. I will teach my graduates to hang on to one.

Can anyone on the Republican side say unequivocally, black last minute. You and me, brother, we're the dangerous ones. You and me, brother, we're the dead. You should have known from all this, I got a daughter right here. She's 18 years old. 18. She's the first half vote. Ain't no burning furnace. So let it burn, let it burn. Let the motherfucker burn. It's election day.

We have to fight until the end, we gotta go down swinging. We are the first generation to be able to say, I guess it's gonna burn either way. You can't tell me nothing. Well, the shots been fired, but the war ain't won. These white boys with money

better learn how to run. Oh, I'll hit you back, but hit you done. You and me, baby, we're the dangerous ones. You and me, baby, we're the dangerous ones. My daughter said if I was 18, I would have been out there doing it. So get your butt out there and vote. She's 17. She's telling me what to do. So I had to do it.

Black voters matter. That fed my spirit. You know what? I'm grateful that I came out. Because I matter. Wow. Again, a powerful film there by the folks with 11 Films. Talk about just absolutely amazing there. Man, that was powerful. You know, folks, we are in this moment. We're in this moment. We're in this moment. And we're in this moment where we are. We're faced with a choice. We're faced with a choice. And the choice we're faced with is whether or not we are going to use our power, use our ability to be able to

truly change this country. So let me frame this in a way that I think people might be able to understand this here. On Monday, it will be six weeks since George Floyd was murdered. And what we have seen, we have seen a level of change. We have seen a level of action that goes beyond police reform. I mean, you saw the sisters, current and former employees at Essence magazine, break out their list of demands and ushered in change there. I was seeing a story, OK Africa.

Some sisters came out, forced that CEO to resign. The Bon Appetit editor. We've seen a Refinery29, the co-CEO and the founder as well, forced out. What does all of this mean? Well, all this means is that action is required in order for us to go to the next level. What it means is that this is not the moment for people to remain silent. This is the moment where people, no matter whether you work in black media or mainstream media, whether you're working in corporate America, whether you're working for labor unions, whether you're working for police departments and city councils and you name it. This is the moment where people have to be able to use their voice, use their power in order to be

able to affect change. This is that moment. And what it requires right now, it requires for us to be unwilling to be satisfied. Let me say it again. Unwilling for us to be satisfied. Unwilling for us to be satisfied with small gains. No, this is the time for us to be able to push folk to go to the next level. A time for us to demand radical change. Let me say that again, radical change. My next two guests, we're going to talk about radical change.

In a moment, I'm going to talk to Erica Alexander, who is one of the producers on the documentary Good Trouble on Congressman John Lewis, Reverend Dr. William J. Barber, Poor People's Campaign. Same thing. What we cannot be doing right now is thinking so small and narrow that we're not truly moving this nation to the next level. So those of you who are on YouTube right now, those of you who are on Facebook, those of you who are on Periscope, do understand there has been no greater moment in the last 50 years for us to be able to do something

in this third reconstruction, to be able to change, to operate in a whole new paradigm. But what it requires are those folks who actually have the conviction and the willingness to be able to push the envelope and use your voice. Yesterday, we had a sister on, staff sergeant, who put it all on the line because she said, I'm not cutting my locks. She said, I'm not cutting my locks. She said, not cutting my locks. We we played you that video in the India. She talked about I am not my hair.

She talked about what what that actually means. She talked about the power of that. Some of you may have missed that yesterday had a whole hour on the Crown Act. Before I go to Erica and Dr. Barber, I want to play that video for you because I want you to listen to what India says in that video,

which is what she calls a songversation. Because, y'all, this is the moment. Everything that we have been talking about for decades, this is the moment. Jenna Six, Trayvon Martin, Black Lives Matter, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, John Crawford III, Rekia Boyd, Ayanna Jones. I can go on and on and on. This is the moment and we have to be the people of the moment. I'm going to play this for you. We're going to come back. We're going to talk about a warrior who was on the front line then, who's still on the front lines. It's Congressman John Lewis. So folks, check this out. jerry curl 13 and i got a relaxer i was the source of so much laughter 15 when it all broke off

18 and i went all natural february 2002 i went on and did what i had to do because it was time to change my life to become the woman that i am inside 97 dreadlocks all down i looked in the mirror for the first time and saw that hey I am not my hair I am not the skin I am not your expectation no I am not my hair I am not the skin I am the soul that lives within. Good hair means curls and waves. Bad hair means you look like a slave. At the turn of the century, it's time for us to redefine who we be. You can shave it off like a South African beauty.

Cut it on lock like Bum Ali. You can rock it straight like Oprah Winfrey. If it's not what's on your head, it's what's underneath. Then say, hey, I am not my hair. I am not the skin. I am not the skin. I am not your expectations. No, I am not my hair. I am not the skin. I am the soul that lives within. Does the way I wear my hair make me a better person? Does the way I wear my hair make me a better friend? Does the way I wear my hair determine my integrity?

I am expressing my creativity. So consider this for a moment. This song is actually not about hair. It's about self-definition and how we define each other. So there's a difference in identifying with something and identifying as something. And so in this song, I'm saying that I identify with my external characteristics, with my blackness, with my beauty, but I identify as my soul. And the truth is, racism and discrimination is actually born out of identifying people as their external characteristics. And so we needed legislation to say that people can wear their hair however they want to at work.

Sad that we need it. Glad that we have it. So this is our song. I am not my hair. I am not the skin. I am not this skin. I am not your expectation. No, no. I am not my hair. I am not this skin. I am a soul that lives within. Wow. Powerful song there, folks, by India Ari. Speaking of powerful, Congressman John Lewis, a freedom fighter, a man who's been on the front lines for a very long time, is the subject of a new documentary. It is called Good Trouble. Erica Alexander. You've seen, of course, Black Lightning, Living Single, numerous other TV shows and movies. Well, she is one of the producers of that documentary.

And Erica Alexander joins us right now on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Erica, welcome back to the show. Thank you for having me, Roland. You're looking good. Always spread the good word. You are a true good troublemaker. There's no doubt about it. Well, you know, somebody got it. Somebody got to do it. It looks like we're having some issues there with your video, but don't worry about it. You're fine. We can still hear you quite well. So let's get right to it. Yeah. Yeah. Don't worry.

No, no, no. It's huh? I turned on my camera now. How about that? Yeah, that helps. That helps. Yeah. Yeah. A bit video helps on a video show. Thank you. Surprise, surprise. All right. So let's talk about how did you get involved in this documentary? Well, you know, Destiny a little bit brought the congressman and I together, much like we met in the 2008 campaign. And at where were we, Denver? I met Congressman Lewis campaigning for Hillary Clinton and I campaigned again with him in Georgia with, well, I campaigned actually with him for the first time in Georgia in 2016 with Stacey Abrams and Ayanna Pressley. And that was like a dream team. Ayanna and Stacey, we traveled all around Georgia with him and it was a masterclass on how to be young, gifted and black in the South in American politics. And so after that, his constituent services representative, who's my friend, became a conduit to the congressman for this film.

And we needed a director and it turned out that Dawn Porter, who is the director on this film and her producing partner, Laura Michael Chisholm, they were doing a documentary on John Lewis. So me and my partner at Color Farm, Ben Arnon, we decided to work together on this film. And that's what happened. This is obviously it tells a story, but also brings it present day and shows what he is still doing and how active he is and how revered of a figure John Lewis is to so many people around this country and the world. Yes. Yes, he is. I mean, look, everybody talks about the good trouble moniker and that icon status, but the truth of it is he earned it the hard way. He fights for civil rights. He's about

justice for all. He did it with the courage of his convictions through nonviolence, the philosophy of nonviolence, the peaceful protests he endured, and the violent protests that he survived, and the love for what he calls the beloved community. And I'm grateful to him for it. And speaking of that, again, I think that they are very few. I mean, look, you look in Congress, the respect that he garners even from folks on the right, even though I have a fundamental problem with folks who do the annual sojourn down to Selma, Republicans who go down there, what I call the field trip, and they come back and don't want to move forward in the Voting Rights Act. I've made it perfectly clear to folks down there that they should say to all of those white Republicans, if you're unwilling to go back to Congress to stand up and fight for reinstating the section of the Voting Rights Act

that were root unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, then you don't come down here for a field trip. And so I understand why the congressman does it. But that was the issue that I had with Selma 50. Folks came there and they were sitting in the audience. And, you know, you had President George W. Bush on stage. You had President Barack Obama there speaking. But I'm sitting there going, I'm looking at all these white Republicans who going right back to D.C. down there celebrating, taking pictures, but refusing to be leaders today.

Yes, I agree. I mean, look, that's why you're a battle cat. I love you, Roland, because you always speak truth to power and you talk about these things in real time. You're right. I believe that the act of living an example of courage and faith through right action means they must do that. They can't just use those things as photo ops. He's a lot more open to the fact that he keeps doing it despite their actions, which is for his own reason makes, I guess, sense for him. I think I lean more toward what you're talking about. And, you know, the bottom line is that this nation is a young nation. We, it wasn't designed with us all in mind. And the only way we're going to get to what they call, you know, a fair union or more vision, the vision that they first started out with is to hold people accountable. And that's what you're talking about. And I think we're getting to that now. You are have always been in the battlefront as a warrior and a gladiator speaking and talking and doing. And everyone else is catching up. And we have to have to keep doing that. We have to keep saying we're operating, obviously, in a very difficult period. You see what is happening in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd. Massive change. Are you shocked and surprised to see how fast things are moving?

Today, the Washington Redskins announced that they are undergoing a review of their name. Really, what that means is after the founder of FedEx, who's also a minority owner of the Redskins, announced that that name needs to come off the team. And then you had those investment folks representing $620 billion who sent letters to Nike, PepsiCo, and FedEx saying time to change that name. And in fact, if you go to Nike.com and you type in Washington Redskins, all of their gear has been taken down from the website. Are you even surprised at how things have moved so quickly in the last six weeks? Yes, I'm very surprised. I mean, we're out here in Hollywood and everything has changed. It's changed our lives. The whole place is shut down. Difficult to get anything in

theaters. It's very significant and special to be talking about somebody like John Lewis right now. But the truth is, it's always been locked into the money game that people could get. I think if Georgia wants to have free and fair elections, they're going to have to start to hold those corporations accountable and make sure that they. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's all good. No, that was my fault. I'm a call 9-1-11 brother. Do everything that they can do. I mean, we're talking about the institutions of education, religious sports foundation, all the traditional partners that people usually have. They need to make sure that they bear down on this. So, yeah, I'm very surprised. And we've been having these conversations among ourselves talking about that.

We can't believe how long this will go on. And does it have a long tail? I don't know. But for whatever reason, yes, they need to keep it moving. Also, I think I think this moment is also a challenge to us. I mean, look, you have been very much involved in politics. You were you know, we talked in 2016 when you were a Hillary Clinton delegate. And you and I sat down in 2018. I was actually looking, the reason we heard that audio,

I was actually looking for the clip. I mean, while we started talking, I was kind of like, dang, I should have thought about this beforehand. And when we were talking, you made it perfectly clear that, fuck hope, fight. Now I played that clip and people like, whoa.

But again, I mean, the point here was that, you know, I all it's about hope and change. Yo, that was 2008. This 2020. No, that's real. I mean, you know, and I've given a speech to a women's group just after 2016 election. And what I said is, you know, it's all well and good, you know, when they go low, we go high. But I say when they go low, bury them. Somebody got to go out and do the work of that type of thing. We have a very high, I think, aspirational version of ourselves, but we don't get there without having to go meet these people where they live and confront them. And I'm not saying you do that. I'm not suggesting

anybody do that in a dirty way or something like that. I'm just saying we got to get our hands dirty. These people are absolutely undermining everything. And they are, I think, self-saboteurs. They'll take not only us down, they'll take themselves down in order to so-called win. So yeah, I'm with that. No, they will. And look, Valmata is, they'll take themselves down in order to so-called win. So yeah, I'm with that. No, they will. And I think, look, my mind is they are about power. And the reality is they have allowed Donald Trump to do whatever it is that he wants to do. They do not care. They will do whatever it takes to win. And this is the moment where you got to have warriors, warriors like John Lewis, warriors like SNCC, warriors like folks like that, who made it perfectly clear that we are going to swing. And when we swing, we will swing hard.

Absolutely. I mean, one of the things I wanted to talk to you about was that not only does the thing premiere today, but John Lewis, everyone knows him as a civil rights leader and legislator, but he's a man of deep faith and he knows that houses of worship are having, um, you know, trouble nowadays, um, having, uh, you know, no services and that type of thing. So inside of this film, we call ourselves trying to swing and create, um, some, some good trouble by changing film distribution a bit. And so we are like, with houses of worship, excuse me, that can't meet in this pandemic, and they've suffered financial losses. We created a special opportunity for them with the release of this film. We call

it Good Trouble Sunday, and they can have a 50-50 split with the ticket. So, you know, go and check it out. Poor People's Campaign is partly doing it. We're doing it with every church that wants to sign up. We're trying to give them some ammunition to stay not only during this time profitable, but so they can do and service the community. But John Lewis, this was very important for him to help. So I'm hoping with this digital screening program, they can do that. And people who want to sign up should go to www.goodtroublesunday.com. Good Trouble Sunday is this Sunday, July 5th. But for those who aren't already signed up,

it'll go on throughout the summer. And again, we split that ticket with you. You send it to your parishioners and they get a ticket from you. And then they also get $5 donated to their house of worship. So where can folks, so where do they go to actually see the documentary? Where can they go? They can go to their streaming services. It'll be on, you know, Apple, where you usually purchase streaming. You can also go, we're doing partnerships

as well through the NAACP, the UNCF, Color of Change, and also the Poor People's Campaign. We're also doing it, again, through your church, synagogue, those types of things. They can purchase, they can not purchase, they can sign up for this program and you can purchase it through them. And the donation will go straight to them, which I think is a really good thing. So please participate this weekend or, you know, during the summer, if another date is available or better, and also use the hashtag good trouble, John Lewis, good trouble hashtag. So we can see what you're up to. All right. Eric Alexander. I appreciate it. Always good to see you.

Thank you. Always good to be seen. And thank you for being the battle cap for a better, better tomorrow. Thank you. All right. Thank you so very much. All right, folks. We have always talked about the folks at the Lincoln Project and they're doing what they're doing when it comes to when it comes to what's happening out here in political world. Sorry, folks, having some slight technical issues here. And so I want to play you their latest ad. Tomorrow, Donald Trump is going to be speaking. He's going to be speaking tomorrow at Mount Rushmore. What a joke.

Apparently, he's likely going to talk about cancel culture. He's going to trash Black Lives Matter. He's going to trash everybody else. This is what these never-Trump Republicans have to say about that. The alternate domination of one faction over another is itself a frightful despotism. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. It is of little use for us to pay lip loyalty to the mighty men of the past unless we sincerely endeavor to apply the problems of the present,

precisely the qualities which in other crises enable the men of that day to meet those crises. Four of America's greatest presidents are carved into the living rock of South Dakota's Black Hills. They are a memorial to those who served with honor, led with courage, and took this great nation into the future. Their words, deeds, and legacies will survive time immemorial. America's worst president will neither be remembered nor revered. The Lincoln Project is responsible for

the content of this advertising. All right, folks, joining us right now is Reverend Dr. William J. Barber. Reverend Barber, glad to have you on the show. Glad to be here. What's up, Fred? I see the 858 this evening. Well, you know, I've been wearing alpha gear all week, so I wanted to close the week out strong. We were talking to Eric Alexander about the John Lewis documentary, Good Trouble. And we have seen a whole lot of that over the last six weeks. And what I keep saying, this is the moment. I've had people say, well, you know, you got these never Trump Republicans. You can't trust them. Here's my whole deal. I don't care who it is. If they are against getting this thug in cheap thug in cheap out of the White House. Fine. We can argue next year on some other stuff. But if we agree on this one today, let's roll.

We're in a time rolling where we cannot make perfection the enemy of great and the enemy of our power. And we have to stop having this strange remembrance of the past like everybody's always been together. You know, we talk about John Lewis. I was just reading today his speech that he was going to give on to Marshall Washington and the speech that he adjusted to give because the movement was more important and because dealing with the moment in time was more important. We need all hands on deck. And I don't care if those hands are black hands, white hands, green, whatever, not green, but we need all hands on deck. We need everybody engaged because, Doc, what I'm interested in, and not just Donald Trump, we got to get that Senate turned around, Doc, because, you know, McConnell, people forget, Doc, last week was the seventh year, the seventh year that McConnell has blocked the voting or fixing the Voting Rights Act, seven straight years. So we got work to do, Doc, and we don't have time to be divided. Look, I said it like this to somebody, you know, in college, if you made a 670, you got to see.

If I only agree with somebody 70% of the time, but we can get this guy out of the White House, Doc, let's do that and fight over the other stuff next year. And when we talk about that, I mean, what we are dealing with here is we are dealing with a group of people who have no sense of decency. They don't care. It's all about winning. Right. They don't even care if they make their own allies sick. You know, you think about it. What, Herman Cain got sick at the rally? As much as he supported Trump, Trump is now talking about, let's cut, let's get rid of Obamacare in the middle of a pandemic. And he knows that the one provision we need right now in America is that insurance companies can't turn you off because you have a pre-existing condition.

Because if you have any trace of COVID, that's a pre-existing condition. I mean, you're right. There's a level of meanness that we are seeing. There's a ruthlessness. And you can't play with it. And people don't need to play with it or understand. I've heard some folk talking the other day, well, I don't know if I'm going to vote. What is wrong with you? And Roland, when you think about it, our people have always, we've never been able to vote for Jesus. We've been able to shout over Jesus and clap our hands at Jesus, but we've never voted for perfection. We voted for moving the ball forward and continuing to push forward. And there are times that we just had to nullify someone and get them out of the way. And that's what's at stake in this moment. You know, I was looking at, I don't know if you

don't mind, in terms of good trouble and John Lewis, listen at this. This is 63, Roland. He says, we march today for jobs and freedom, but we have nothing to be proud of. Then he goes on to say in good conscience, we cannot support wholeheartedly the administration's civil rights bill for it is too little and too late. That's that's not one thing in this bill that will protect our people from police brutality. He goes on to say the voting rights section of the bill is weak. He goes on to say there's nothing in this bill that can ensure the equality of a maid who earns five dollars a week in a home of a family whose total income is one hundred thousand dollars a year. We must have a good FEPC. He was criticizing John F. Kennedy. But but but but but at the same time, they used John F. Kennedy to move the ball forward.

Now, John F. Kennedy was killed, you know, assassinated in November. But, Roland, you know, like I know, they had the ability in the March on Washington then. It was broad. It was deep. They knew John Lewis was critical. And at the same time, he knew how to have somebody you could push versus having somebody like Goldwater who you couldn't push anywhere. We have to make some clear decisions in this moment. Absolutely. The People's Poor People's Campaign, they are partnering with the folks with this documentary, Good Trouble. Tell folks about that. You know, Eric Alexander is a great friend. She's been right in the middle of the Poor People's Campaign, the National Call for Moral Revival. And we decided this movie, this documentary is critical. Good Trouble. People need to hear it. They need to learn more about John Lewis.

They need to learn, you know, about what he really was about in this moment. You know, another line from that speech was, he said, by and large, American politics is dominated by politicians who build their careers on immoral compromises and allow themselves with open forms of political, economic, and social exploitation. That's John Lewis in 1963 at 24 years of age. And this movie is so critical to this moment. So what we're doing in partnering with them, they decided that churches could partner with them to have screenings and all the people that buy tickets. Then the church gets something like five dollars back of the ticket price to help the congregation continue, particularly in this moment of COVID. And so we're right there with them. John Lewis, I remember when I was with him a few years ago on the Edmonds Pettus Bridge, told him what we were planning on

doing with the Poor People's Campaign and he simply said, my brother, do it. Keep on moving, get in good trouble. We love him, we know he is fighting and battling pancreatic cancer right now. But what he has done and the legacy and the markers that he has laid down and the wounds that he took in order to fight against the evils of segregation, the racism are such a model for what we must do. And I want people to really get this documentary. I want you to get it, look at it, show it to people because there's a great lessons in the midst of it. All right. Reverend Dr. William J. Barber, we so appreciate it, man. Thanks a lot. Thank you, man. All right. All right. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. All right, folks. Coming up next,

I'm going to talk to our mother, brother. He's a reverend, but also Dr. Cornel West. We got lots to discuss with him. But I want to do this here. I want to do this here. We had B.B. on the show. I want to go ahead and I'm going to play B.B.'s video again, Black Lives Matter. A lot of you may have missed it who did not see us at the top of the show, but I want you to be able to actually see this powerful video. And then on the back end, we're going to have our conversation with Cornel West. So, again, this is a really a moving, moving video. And so I just want to be sure to get told, BB, I'll do that. We certainly want to get the word out and pass the word. I want you to tell others to check this out. So. So here we go.

Tomorrow hope to see His eyes looking back at me With that smile His possibilities And our plans Can you hear me all right? Tomorrow hope to see His eyes Looking back at me With that smile His possibilities And our plans Don't take away from me

With your hands At night I close my eyes And pray Lord, cover him with love and grace. How can you know his heart, my friend, when already judged him by his skin. It's the right to live we're after. Want to trade these tears for laughter.

In one moment dreams Are shattered Our sons and daughters Matter Black lives matter Let these words I say resound clear with hands lifted high. urgently regard His fell feet in hope of saving lives we hold dear

See it's too right to live we're after I can live where after Want to trade these tears for laughter In one moment dreams are shattered Our sons and daughters matter Yes, they do Black lives matter My children, your children Rich children, poor children. Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world.

His children, her children, your children, our children. Jesus loves the little children, All the children of the world It's the right to live We're after Have to trade these tears These tears for laughter In one moment One moment

Dreams are sad Our sons and daughters Matter Yes, black lives matter My children Your children Rich children Poor children Jesus loves the little children

All the children of the world His children Her children Your children All the children of the world His children, her children Your children, my children Jesus loves the little children All the children of the world It's the right to live We're after

I must train my teeth my tears to let there in one moment one moment dreams are shattered our sons and daughters

who matter oh the lack of life My sons and daughters matter Oh, black lives matter Tomorrow hope to see His eyes looking back at me. Thank you. We'll be right back. Martin Unfiltered. Support the Roland Martin Unfiltered Daily Digital Show by going to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing 50 bucks each for the whole year. You can make this possible.

RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. I'm hanging out in the front with you, Kenan. Alright, Doc, stay right there. Alright, good to see your face, brother. Yes, sir. We about to chop it up real good. No, I'm just following you, brother. You Charlie Parker on the horn. I'm going to blow my trumpet

on the left side of the stage, brother. All right, folks. Welcome back to Rolling Martin Unfiltered. Let me explain to everybody what's happening. Some of y'all are like, what's going on? These technical issues. Here's the deal. I'm not in the studio. I'm actually broadcasting from home. We're actually using for the first time a software called Ecamm Live.

And the deal is at the studio, they're rewiring our whole control room. They're putting in the whole new lighting panel. So we're not doing our normal show. And so what happens is we do a real show. And so this software is not necessarily used to the kind of show that we do. And so when you use something, a new software, you stress test it. Well, guess what? We have stressed this whole software out. And so that's why you sort of have, you don't have the same smoothness that we normally have. And so just want you all to understand what's going on. Second,

many of you have not been able to see a show on Facebook. Well, what happens is Facebook, when you play music, they automatically put a block on your video. So even though we were interviewing B.B. Winans, Facebook blocked us from streaming the show talking to B.B. Winans. And so I'm going to send them an email as soon as we get off. So now y'all understand what's going on, what's happened. So let's get right to this conversation, folks. Many of you know him well. He is one of the foremost intellectuals in the country. I did not say black intellectuals, foremost intellectuals. He's an author, a scholar, lecturer. He is a professor. And he simply goes by. The only time you might ever hear him not got something to say is if you listen to, of course, John Coltrane. It's true. And Curtis Mayfield.

Dr. Cordell West, how you doing? How you doing, my brother? Man, I'm great, sir. You got longevity, though, brother. You rolling. You are in Curtis's language, brother. You've been keep on pushing. And I respect you, though, brother. You, Roland, you are in Curtis's language, brother. You've been, keep on pushing, and I respect you, though, brother. Love and respect. I love that A5A, too, though, brother,

in the name of Donnie Hathaway and Duke Ellington and Martin Luther King Jr. and John Hope Franklin and a whole host of others, including Roland Sebastian Martin himself. And Cornell. And earlier we had Reverend Dr. William Barber. Oh, Lord, Lord.

And we want to salute Brother BB, too, man. Yes, sir. That's an amazing song. He represents a grand exemplar of our great tradition, man, the black musical tradition, the greatest modern tradition in the modern world, you know, catastrophe and responding with creativity and compassion. So we salute BBNCC, their whole family is part of the nobility of the artists that keep us real and keep us accountable.

Speaking of that, are you, I asked this to Erica Alexander, and I said this and I've been saying it, in my 51 and a half years, I have never seen the kind of movement that we have seen in this country, actually around the world, since George Floyd was murdered six weeks ago. When you see King Leopold's statues coming down in Belgium, when you see them targeting roads in England, when you see in New Zealand taking down colonizer statues as well, when you see corporations having to respond to rebellions on the inside from black employees and young white allies as well, when you see police departments, I mean, George Floyd's murder literally has unleashed something that this we have not seen in more than 50 years.

You are absolutely right, though, brother. And Brother Floyd Jr., though, man, his impact on the world. We were comparing him with Emmett Till in 1955, but now it is so global and international. It's amazing. It's amazing what happens when the manifestation of a spirit of a hatred of an injustice, in this case of white supremacy, and the fact that it's a combination. You got a neo-fascist gangster in the White House lying, tied to crimes. You've got pandemic in place so people do have extra time to think about some things rather than just get caught in their routine. And then you've got public lynching and then the hunger and the thirst for something real. All that coming together and my brother,

this marvelous manifestation of militancy on the streets in the name of a bearing witness in the face of white supremacy is a beautiful thing, though, man. It was unprecedented. Nobody could have predicted this. Nobody. Right. Well, and I think I was I was on I was having a conversation last night and someone said that this thing just happened. I said, no, this did not just happen. I said, this was a buildup. This was a constant buildup. I said, you can go back to Eric Garner. You can go back to those days, John Crawford III, Raquia Boyd, Yonah Jones. You can go back. You can Breon Taylor, Mont Arbor. You can go back to Trayvon Martin. You can go back to to Jenna Six. I said, you can just keep going back. I said, and then what you had was you had, I said for the 12 year old kid, white kid,

when Obama announced in February of 2007, that white kid's now 25. And so you have all of those things. And I said, we can't overlook that for them, they first president was a black guy. And then the second time, eight years, then a woman is a leading candidate. So the world that they have seen is totally different from previous generations, and it has unleashed these forces that, frankly, America and the world was not prepared for.

That's exactly right. The one thing I would add, though, brother, and you tell me what you think about this, is the intense Afro-Americanizing of young people of whatever color in hip-hop culture. Yes, yes. From Tupac and Biggie all the way through Missy all the way up to Jay-Z and Kanye. We know I confuse our brother Kanye, but I still love the brother and appreciate his genius. But the impact of the hip-hop artists in shaping the sensibilities of a lot of those young activists who are out there, because they've heard from N.W.A., they've heard from the various artists about police brutality. Now they get a chance to see the public lynching before their very eyes.

And so in that regard, the role of the arts becomes very important in terms of shaping the sensibilities of these hundreds of thousands of folk, but disproportionately young folk, who hit the streets. Does that make sense, my brother? No, no, it makes total sense. Because, again, but that's a part of these forces and how they're moving and how they're converging. Yes. One of the things that and Reverend Barber and I were talking about this here, and this probably was around the third week after the death of Floyd.

And people kept talking about riots. They kept talking about looting. They kept talking about rebellion. Many of us were using the phrases reckoning. Then I went to my library and then I grabbed a series of books. And I see your books behind you. One of the first ones and I was trying to really think about this thing in a much broader and bigger way. The first thing I thought about was DuBois' Black

Reconstruction. Then I pulled out Eric Foner's book, Reconstruction, America's Unfinished Revolution. Those two go together, hand in hand.. Oh, yeah. Then those two go together hand in hand. Nineteen thirty five. Nineteen eighty seven. Then I pulled out Manning Marables, the second reconstruction and beyond in black America. Oh, yeah. And then Dr. Dr. Barber's book, the third reconstruction.

More Mondays. I have been saying that this is the third reconstruction, that we should not look at this as sort of this short term thing. We should look at this thing as the first reconstruction was 12 years. The second reconstruction, Marable has it 45 to 2006. I really have it from 54 to 68, which lasted 14 years. We have to be thinking in terms of the third reconstruction because we have to, reconstruction means literally reconstruct the nation, reconstruct the system, reconstruct the paradigm, not make small fixes. Your thoughts? Oh, you're absolutely right. And I would turn to Du Bois' great text in 1921 called The Gifts of Black Folk. A lot of folk know the 1903 book, The Souls of Black Folk, but The Gifts of Black Folk. A lot of folk know the 1903 book, The Souls of Black Folk,

but The Gifts of Black Folk. He said, what are the gifts? Well, two of the major gifts is the reconstruction of freedom, the reconstruction of democracy. But the big difference here, though, brother, is that this third reconstruction that you talked about, that Brother Barber talks about, and Brother Eddie Glyde talks about in the Third American Founding in his recent book on James Baldwin, Begin Anew, is that this moment of the decay and decline of the American empire, so that the impact of America around the world is lessening, not just his reputation, but its inability to present itself as something that it is not, which is this beacon of liberty. I mean, here's July 4th, right? Right, right.

Frederick Douglass, celebrations of shame, national greatness, swelling vanity, boast of liberty, unholy license. America reigns without rival when it comes to revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy. That's Brother Frederick Douglass, July 5th, 1852. Well, now the chickens have come home to roost, though, brother. America has been revealed to be a place that cannot deliver basic goods and services to its own people. Forty percent of Americans living near or in poverty. It cannot protect rights and liberties when it comes to those dissenting voices that are being pushed to the side too often.

And it cannot deliver purpose and meaning because this commodified culture is so spiritually empty and vacuous, and it's all about getting over and manipulation and domination rather than learning how to care and nurture for others and cultivate intimacy and love, which is what makes life worth living. That's why you got the drug overdoses taking place. That's why you got the unbelievable sense of meaninglessness, what I call nihilism taking place, so that the culture of an empire, as well as this nation state, with all of this militarism around the world, Afrikaans and Africa expanding and so forth, dropping drones on innocent people. And then the greed, my brother, the greed beginning on Wall Street and spilling over, which is out of control.

That's the difference between the second reconstruction and the third one, because the second reconstruction, America was just beginning to expand itself beyond the continental bounds. Internal imperial expansion for Guam, Puerto Rico, Philippines, and so forth. Now America is on the decline and decay. And you begin to see what Malcolm was talking about. You're going to reap what you sow. Sooner or later, those chickens are going to come home to roost. And then the question becomes, how do we, in the belly of the beast still love truth, beauty, goodness, love black people enough to recognize that the reconstruction and the reawakening is the only option or America goes under? I was I was on this call last night and this guy kept saying, well, well, just can we put a number on it?

And he said he said, is it reparations? I said, no. I said, no, it's not. He says, well, can you put a number on it? I said, no. I said, it's an unknown number. And he was like, he's like, well, I don't understand. I said, see, here's the problem with this conversation. I said, America, how America always works is, is it's so like you take your car in and you don't really want to hear what the mechanic, just tell me how much it's going to cost. Just money, money, money, money, money. So they give you the number and you're like, okay, fine, fix it. I don't hear nothing else. What I explained to them is I said you can't put a number on this. And I know Bob Johnson came out, say, 14 trillion. And I've seen other report. I said the reason you the reason I said I'm not going to put a number on it, reason I'm not going to call it reparations is because I said this thing is so deep. It is so pervasive. It is so systemic that if I put

14 trillion on it, once I get in, I may realize it's 40 trillion. Yeah. 20, 28, 45. Yeah. I say, so what you want me to do, you want me to limit. So when we hit that limit, well, you said it was 14. Hey, here's 14. I said, no, no, no, no. I said, cause you got to deal with education. You got to deal with housing. You got to deal with health. I started going through all these different categories and I said, it's not that simple. And I think that's the problem with America. The impatience of America is like, look, look, how much is it going to cost for y'all to go away? And I'm saying it ain't that simple to

simply say how much it's going to cost, because again, I'm sitting here with, where do we go from here, chaos or community? King said, America ain't ready to write that big check. And he didn't put a number. He just called it that big check.

That's real, though, brother. I mean, part of it is people always want And he didn't put a number. It's a market-driven culture. It's a money-obsessed culture. But you are absolutely right to resist it. But I think what you and I would agree is that there's got to be some kind of repair. So some form of reparations is required. And so we're going to have a dialogue. And the dialogue's got to be a robust dialogue. We've got to bring in William Gardner. You know what I mean? You've got to bring in William Gardner. You know what I mean? You've got to bring in all the different voices.

You've got to bring in Sister Eve, and Tone, and all the other voices that have been talking about reparations. But at the same time, you see, I want to talk about redistribution of wealth in addition to reparations. Right, right. And that's what I'm saying.

That's not just about being a citizen. That's not just about being a descendant of slavery, Jim Crow, Jane Crow. That's just as an American citizen, they have a right to Medicare. That's what Brother Bernie is absolutely right. They got a right to a job with a living wage. They got a right to decent housing and they got a right to quality education so they can get their minds and souls together to be fortitude, to love and respect ourselves enough to be willing to fight. And that piece right there, again, because what it does is, and this is how I've laid it out. I said, we, black folks, we've never had full citizenship. That's true. I said, we've had it

technically. The fact that yesterday yesterday I did a whole hour special Today on the Crown Act Today is the first anniversary of the Crown Act I said if you want to understand Why we're not at full citizenship The fact that a law Had to be passed That says you cannot

Discriminate on somebody's hair Tells me There's no full citizenship. I said, if we have full citizenship, there would be no need for the Crown Act. That's right. I said there will be no need for us trying to get McConnell to vote on the bill the House passed that restores what the Supreme Court took out of the voting rights that declare unconstitutional. I said that's what I said to this group of largely white folks. I said, that's what y'all

don't understand. I said, we have always had to go back and legislate our rights when you got it just because it's you. That's exactly right. And that's what Malcolm was trying to tell us in the 60s, that you cannot be a full-fledged citizen if you have to undergo constitutional revision with an amendment to make you citizen, and that is on paper but never enforced, is never executed on the ground. And when you try to execute it on the ground, you get white backlash so that it can never be true in practice, even when it's on paper. We break our necks to get it on paper. Right. Even when you get it on paper, it's not enforced, you see.

So that, you know, it raises deep issues in terms of whether the country has the capacity to treat the masses of Black people with respect and dignity. That's Garvey's question. Garvey used to say what? As long as Black people are in the United States, the masses of Black people will live lives of ruin and destruction. Now, I have great love for Marcus Garvey. I have great love for the Black nationalist tradition. I'm not a Garveyite. I'm not a Black nationalist. He's my brother. They are my brothers and sisters and so forth. But that question, the Garveyite question remains unanswered because the masses are black, but I'm not talking about the exceptional Negroes. I'm not talking about the black middle class. I'm not talking about those who have been incorporated and in some sense

integrated. And I love them too, but I'm going to bring critique to bear on them if they don't put black porn working people at the center of their view and of course for me the christian focusing on the least of these always the most weak the vulnerable. I know you heard the same thing from Brother Barber. The thing that as I look at right now and first of all, these brothers and sisters with Until Freedom and other organizations, New York Justice League, they are strategizing their planning and they're operating. But one of the things that, and there are numerous groups out there. There are groups that are national, there are groups that are regional, that are local. You, of course, you have your traditional groups, the NAACP and Urban League, but then you have a number of other different groups. What has been, it's not necessarily troubling me, but as I've been sort of trying to, again, think about this in terms of reconstruction terms, the thing that I, what I keep saying is, I think, Doc, that the ask is too small.

And as I was sitting here, so this was one of the things that, so MLK wrote in, and where do we go from here? He says, one of the main questions that the Negro must confront in his pursuit of freedom is that of effectiveness. What is the most effective way to achieve the desired goal? If a method is not effective, no matter how much steam it releases, it is an expression of weakness, not of strength. And so I think right now, the ask is too small. I have been on calls with I'm a vice president. I'm vice president digital for National Association of Black Journalists. And we were on a call and someone was talking and they were talking about, well, this corporation, this corporation, they were asking for one hundred thousand.

I said, I'm sorry. They said I said that's too small. They say, Roland, what are you talking about? I said one hundred million each. That equals a billion. But they were like, what? I said, yes million each. That equals a billion. Folks, they were like, what? I said, yes, a billion. I said, y'all, this ain't a small ask. I think what we're seeing, I think people are excited. Well, Adidas is giving 100 million, and Michael Jordan and Comcast is giving 100 million, and Apple 100 million. And I'm sitting there going, 100 million. And I'm sitting there going 100 million a year.

I think we got to be challenging our folks to say that the ask is too small. That's true. That's true. Because see what has happened now is, you know, when you have brothers and sisters of all colors in the streets and the status quo is running scared that they throw money at the problem. But see, philanthropy is not justice. Charity is not justice. And it's not investment. And it's not investment. And it's not consistent and recurrent. I like your notion of annual, yearly, a pattern of support, you see. But we got to make sure that the vast amount of that money, though, just doesn't end up

in professional pockets. Somehow we've got to get to our precious brothers and sisters in the hood, dealing with poverty, dealing with inadequate housing, dealing with massive unemployment and underemployment, because it's so easy that the money remains circulated within the professional class, be it black, white, or whatever. And so you end up with a class hierarchy that's just more colorful at the top, but the class hierarchy still got too many folks suffering, disproportionately black, disproportionately brown, disproportionately indigenous peoples.

Which also, which still requires organization, which still requires structure. And courageous leadership. Right. And courageous leadership. Right. And that's the piece where what I keep saying to folk is it's real easy to say it's real easy. I go back to the to the the May Day marches we had. You had Latinos, Hispanics marching all over the country. A million in L.A., a million in New York, in Chicago, in Houston, all over the place.

But people say, well, why was it ineffective? It wasn't effective because you had boots on the ground, but you did not have organized infrastructure who could then take those demands, place it within a public policy narrative and then drive it through. Clarence Mitchell. If there's no Clarence Mitchell walking the halls of the Senate and the House pushing folk on the bills, so he was doing that work. And so that's the other piece. And again, I look at these groups and what I keep asking the groups is, okay, this is what you're doing, but what's your plan? I see the, but what's the plan? And you're doing, how is it reaching people? Where is it going? Where are resources going? And I think we as we keep doing is challenging black folks, black organizations right now saying, oh, OK. So the corporations are giving you NAACP this money and the urban this money. OK, but we want to see the plan. Yes. What you're going to do with the resources that they are given.

There you go. We want accountability of you when the money comes in, in terms of your plan, how it will be executed. Now, I do want to say this about that, maybe because I was there marching with the my Latino brothers and sisters. You remember at that particular moment, DACA was off the chart. Yeah. We put pressure on Brother Barack Obama. Tremendous pressure for him to push through on an executive order. We had almost a million folk in Washington, D.C. And I give Mark Mario credit because he was there.

Right. It wasn't that many black folk there. You know. Very true. Brother Tavis was there. But, I mean, you were covering it. But, I mean, you everywhere. You know what I mean?

You everywhere. That's the kind of Houston, Texas brother you are. You everywhere. That's right. That's right. But the thing is, is that you have to be able to have an inside-outside strategy. You got the sister Barbara Lee's on the inside. You got Bernie Sanders on the inside. I'm talking about the folk who are really going to fight.

Now, I'm not talking about folk who are just posing and posturing like peacocks. I'm talking about they're going to really come through. But you have to have insiders who are heeding the call of folk on the street so that ago and we had a great conversation. You had some prison stuff that you were doing at a podcast. And we had this great conversation with Brothers of Alpha. Oh, yeah. I wanted to be there, but my brother was in Broadway. Yes, sir. It's all good. We had an unbelievable conversation. And the thing that I and the reason, and I have been pushing them,

and I've been talking about this here because what keeps getting stuck in my head is something that King said, because again, I keep getting stuck on organization and infrastructure because you can't mobilize people unless you have something you're mobilizing them into. That's right. And I want to get your perspective on this because I have been preaching and yelling this for more than a decade now. When King said there are already structured forces in the Negro community that can serve as the basis for building a powerful united front, the Negro church, the Negro press, the Negro fraternities and sororities,

and Negro professional associations. I love this line. We must admit that these have never given their full resources to the cause of Negro liberation. He said, too many Negro newspapers have veered away from their traditional role as protest organs agitating for social change and have turned to the sensational and the conservative in place of the substantive and the militant. Too many Negro social and professional groups have degenerated into snobbishness and a preoccupation with frivolities and trivial activity. The reason that's important, because what I have argued and what I said to the Brothers

of Alpha and all of Divine Nine, I said, we have this massive infrastructure. We're international, national, regional, state, grad chapter, local chapter, and we have programs that go all the way down to pre-K. We're self-funded. Corporations don't fund us. I said, yet our focus to for the most part is on internal. And I've argued that if there's a city council, a school board, a county commissioner, a state legislature, if they see

men in black and gold and don't automatically shudder, that means we have not been showing up flexing our muscles. Ooh, that's a powerful, powerful way of putting it, my brother. That's very real. And we should be very candid about what Brother Martin was hitting here. He was talking about the worst of the Black bourgeoisie, the worst of the Black middle class, or what James Weldon

Johnson and Rosamond in the Negro National Anthem said, we're falling in love with the felicities of the world, drunk with the wine of the world, see, which is the superficial stuff, status, position, rather than service and sacrifice. Now, the best of the black bourgeoisie, Martin himself, Duke Ellington himself. We can go on and on. Those middle class folk that said every black person, and obviously as a Christian, everybody, but every black person has exactly the same status. If your child is Jack and Jill, you ought to be as concerned about brothers and sisters in the hood as Jack and Jill brothers and sisters. See, that's what Martin was getting at. So when you look at the churches, the mosques, fraternities, sororities, they've got wonderful folk in them.

But they also have tendencies, and you and I have seen it over the years, to deal with superficial things. Right. And in a moment of crisis, and we always live in every moment of crisis, be black in America, every moment of our lives in certain moments of crisis is how do we tease out our courage and our vision to make sure that we can create some kind of organization? Garvey used to say what disorganization is the major obstacle for black freedom. Stokely Carmichael, Kwame Nture, it was said over and over again, organize, organize, organize. Right. Variety of different kind of organizations. See, I don't think we'll ever have

one overarching organization. Nope, nope. People have come down on me recently. I've been defending my dear brother, Mr. Louis Farrakhan, in terms of his right to speak. They canceled him on Fox. I was on Fox News.

I said, no, he got a right to speak. Well, you disagree with him. Well, he's my brother. We overlap on some things. We both hate white supremacy. We argue on other things. But we have to be willing to take a risk. If somebody messing with you, you not perfect, I'm not perfect.

But you are my brother. And if you know over the years, I've got to step forward. Why? Not because we're any of us exemplify purity, but because there's a slice in the black community of people who are willing to step out, be courageous, cut against the grain. And when they do that, even when you disagree with with them you have to defend their right to be to speak and so forth and so that requires just a matter of consistency though brother and consistency is a rare thing these days even given this historical moment that we in it's hard to find consistent food that's why i started off talking about your longevity, man. The ups, the downs, rolling is still there.

That's right. Gang on do it. And you're absolutely right. On that one, I want you to explain, Proffos, we discussed this the other day, that I don't think white America has really any understanding with the relationship between

nations of Islam and African Americans. And some people got mad at Ice Cube when CNN's Jake Tapper was criticizing Farrakhan and Ice Cube tweeted, watch your mouth. What do you say to

the white folks and some black folks who say, wait a minute, how can you be black and criticize a Richard Spencer, criticize someone? They will throw in a David Duke and other. How can you criticize them? But then you'll say that Farrakhan should speak. How do you respond to that? Well, one is I say, first, you got to quit lying about my brother, Minister Louis Farrakhan. When he said Hitler was wickedly great, he was the greatest among the wicked ones. And it was an indictment of a Holocaust.

It was a critique of Hitler's treatment of Jews. So what has happened is you get this shoddy journalism where they say, Minister Louis Farrakhan said Hitler's a great man. That's a lie. He said he's wickedly great. Well, he said something about Judaism. He said Judaism can be used as a gutter religion. Well, I'm a Christian. You know that. Can Christianity be used as a gutter religion? Hell yes. Ku Klux Klan. Constantine using Christianity to defend the empire. Christianity used against women, against gay brothers and lesbian sisters. So first you got to tell the truth about Mr. Louis Farrakhan. Now, does Mr. Louis Farrakhan speak only the truth? No. He got to be accountable like everybody else. And in fact, you challenged him aggressively on his attacks on people of Jewish faith.

Absolutely. And when we met for nine hours when we first met, and all I told him was, I said there's no such thing as the Jews. You've got reactionary Jews, you've got right-wing Jews, you've got centrist Jews, you've got progressive Jews, you've got revolutionary Jews, just like there's no

such thing as the blacks. Nobody speaks for me or speaks for you. We got Clarence Thomas on one hand. We got William Barber. We got Michelle Alexander and Angela Davis on the other. And he received that. He said, Brother West, I see what you're saying. I see what you're saying. So part of the problem is, is that when you have a corporate media that is so intent on lying on the brother, first you got to make sure you get the truth. Then when you get the truth and you still have disagreements, then you have a serious conversation and dialogue. But I think one can never deny the level and the breadth of the longevity of Minister Louis Farrakhan's hatred of white supremacists. That's just a fact. His impact on everyday Black people, that is just a fact.

That does not mean in any way that we agree with everything. Of course, as he's a Muslim and I'm a Christian, we got theological disagreements, just like Malcolm and myself. But at the same time, I'm going to be very honest and always try to be candid and speak whatever truths that flow out of my soul and deal with consequences. And what has happened is it's been almost taboo to have anything to do with Mr. Louis Farrakhan because of the corporate media, you see. I think that's wrong. I think that's wrong. Speaking of that, I'm looking at various comments here on our YouTube channel, other channels. And there have been a number of people who said, I hear you, Dr. West, but I can't get over what you did to Obama. And when you and he's been gone now for three years out of the presidency. And you and I had a previous conversation about that where we had a very honest dialogue where I stated where I thought you made missteps.

As you reflect on that, as you reflect on how a lot of black folks who really loved you and respected you, they turned away. How have you thought about that and played that through your mind in the last three years since he left the White House? Well, I mean, one, as you know, I mean, you know, for me to do over 65 events for Brother Barack Obama for free to Ohio in 2008 and then support him again in 2012, I would say, well, I am going to speak the truths inside of my soul in regard to any head of the American empire. That my critique of the system is different than a critique of just the person.

I've never been obsessed with just the individuals. I've always been obsessed with the injustice in the system as a whole. So when they say to me, oh, Brother West, you were hating on Obama. No, I hated his relation to Wall Street when he bailed out Wall Street and didn't bail out the homeowners and 58% of the black middle class lost their homes. Oh, you hate Obama. No, I hated him dropping drones in Libya, in Yemen, in Somalia, in Afghanistan, 563 of them, over 4,000 people killed, many innocent ones. I'm a Christian. Every baby got the same value. I don't care what color they are. So I got to bear witness to that truth. Now, the symbolic significance of Obama, I never deny. He is historically unprecedented. He's brilliant. He's poised. He's subtle. He got a

magnificent family. He and Sister Michelle have done a wonderful, wonderful job with their two blessed daughters. But that doesn't mean I don't critique the system. He was head of the U.S. empire, tied to Wall Street, tied to drones. So just like Martin had to come out with a critique of Vietnam, just like Martin had to come out with a critique of wealth inequality and Wall Street greed, why is it that the Wall Street criminals get away, but those who commit crimes in the hood go straight to jail? I had to raise my voice, and I went at Obama tough because my expectations were high. Therefore, my disappointment was deep. And so in that sense, I would say to many of the young brothers and sisters, whoever they are,

and they don't have to still agree with me or whatever, but as they look back, do they not admit that when it came to Obama speaking to issue, even of white supremacy, you remember when the black leaders came out of the White House in March of 2009 talking about, well, there's no such thing as a black agenda anymore because Obama said he's not president of black people. He's only president of America. And I disagree vehemently. And I said explicitly right there in Ebony magazine, that makes me want to vomit. We ain't been a black people for all these years and get a black president. And all of a sudden, we don't have a black agenda anymore no something is wrong that's a key sweat moment something something just ain't right brother something just ain't right

i had to raise my voice and say that but it's true that it was the some of the language that i use upset some folk but when it comes to me speaking what's inside of my soul brother i'm gonna be like al green i just got to get it out no matter what it sounds like. And I'm sorry sometimes I want to be accountable, but in the end, it ain't about hating Obama. It's about hating deeds. See, I believe in hating the sin

and trying to always love the sinner. And I've never talked about him personally in terms of his character. I've talked about his conformity, his complacency, and sometimes his cowardliness. People don't want to hear that, but everybody got cowardliness. I got it. I know you probably got a little bit. He got it too. We need to call it out. What is your present day relationship with Tavis Smiley? I don't I don't have one. I've never had a

relationship with Tavis. We would speak. I would see him. But we never had a relationship. He lost his show. He lost the lawsuit. He no longer does his day. The Black America events. There are a lot. Basically, before this whole phrase cancel culture came out, there were a lot of folks who said they canceled Tavish and they were linking the two of you because frankly, because of your, your criticism of Obama. Um, is there, is there a place for Tavish Smiley in black America and should there be some type of reconciliation? Because when you bring up his name to a lot of black folks, they have, they, they, they are still very angry, again, with you and him, but especially him. Well, I mean, when you turn back to Brother Tavis's powerful text, Accountability,

they actually read that text. They'll see that he turned out to be more right, because all he was calling for and I was calling for was accountability. When he and I went on the poverty tour, because Brother Barack Obama would not mention the word poverty only talk about the middle class who's talking about poverty now almost everybody mm-hmm so that people have to give brothers have us credit in that regard and one tables will always be my brother I always have a deep love for brother tables we certainly are not as close as we were before for a variety of different reasons but that doesn't mean i don't love my brother and his contribution from black covenant and a host of other things are are undeniable his impact undeniable tom

jones show undeniable so the idea of just pushing people away so quickly i think it's not a good thing it's not a good thing. It's not a good thing. And all of us in life go up and all of us in life go down. And it's the bounce back and he's bouncing back. And it's a beautiful thing. We are seeing we are seeing. I also think with with with George Floyd, I hope to see I hope to see a massive resurgence. As Dr. King, in where we go from here, the militancy, the militancy of black media. The reason I created the reason I created my own platform was because I said, be perfectly honest, I wasn't interested in asking a white producer, can I go cover black people and them saying no. I said we could not have gotten to where we are now unless we had a black-owned media that speaks to us. I was very critical of the fact that the initial, the first funeral service for George Floyd, all of the networks were carrying it. TV One? No. The Sisters Network, Cleo TV? No. BET? No. BET Her? No.

Revolt? No. Own? No. Bounce? No. Aspire? No. Afro? No. And I said, what the hell? How can you have this moment where the nation is transfixed and you turn to these other networks and they were showing the funeral of George Floyd and the black networks were showing damn sitcoms. Wow. Sad. believe that part of the problem that we have is that we have too many folk in black media who are doing exactly what King said when he said they have turned to the sensational and the conservative in place of the substantive and the militant. And we are seeing entertainment. We are seeing gossip. We're seeing reality shows. And we are not seeing people who are modern day Robert Abbott's modern day A.I.

Scott's modern day Claude Burnett. So I don't believe I don't be Wells Barnett. And I'm sorry. In this moment, black networks and black media cannot be filled with a bunch of them gossip and entertainment. You are absolutely right, brother. That's why we got to go back to the best of our history. You see, because to be a black journalist is to be part of a black middle class that oftentimes could be so obsessed with the white normative gaze or white persons and powers being the point of reference for you. You have to define yourself in relation to the greatness with inside of your own tradition or any forms of greatness and other traditions. So that what is the standard that William Monroe Trotter set? You read Kerry Greenidge's powerful text. What's the standard I had to be well set? What's the standard T. Thomas Fortune set or the names that you talk about? Martin Delaney. Martin Delaney or Frederick Douglass. Yeah. That same tradition. And what did they do? They pierced through the superficiality. And see, sometimes that means, oh, Brother Roland, you've got to be willing to give up popularity for integrity. you ain't loving black people for them to love you back you loving black people because they're worthy of being loved and you trying to bear witness to get them to see things they're not seeing

and do things they're not doing vision and courage that's precisely the history of the best of black journalism and Malcolm himself, Muhammad Speaks, right? he's a journalist too, in that regard and he continued to grow, as we know what did he say? whoever's for truth, too, in that regard. And he continued to grow, as we know. What did he say? Whoever's for truth, I'm for.

Who's ever fighting for justice, I'm with you. But I'm beginning on the chocolate side of town. He didn't add the Parliament Funkadelic language. But he said, I'm starting on the chocolate side of town. That's me and that's you. We know black people come in a lot of different forms, but it doesn't stay there. We love folk as a whole, but we start there

with our mamas. And today, my mama's birthday, brother, 88 years young. All right. Happy birthday, Mama West. I'm telling you, she set a standard. You see what I mean? There you go. But I'll tell you one thing, I'm never going to give up

trying to be and aspiring to be her level of spiritual excellence and the level of moral excellence in that regard. It also requires it also requires for black people to have to be willing to fund our own stuff. And the reason that's vital is because I sort of lay out, you can't keep saying, man, we want y'all to fight, but then you expect us to have somebody else pay for it. I've

said it, and this is no, this is no, this is not denigrating the NAACP, but the reality is this here. If the NAACP's budget is based upon corporate giving, then the NAACP cannot truly be hardcore on fighting for black folks against their very interest. The color of change doesn't accept any corporate gifts. And what I tell folk all the time, the reason the Chicago Defender was as powerful as it was because black folks had subscriptions. They paid for it.

And so it's getting our people to understand this here, I do it all the time. I tell people, I say, I got 2.7 million social media followers. If 20,000 of our people gave 50 bucks each,

and that's, the Wall Street Journal costs $350 a year. I say if 20,000 gave 50 bucks each, that's $4.19 a month, 13 cents a day, that completely funds the show. We can travel, we can cover stuff. We will do 700 hours of content this year. I said, but we've got to be willing to fund it. Now, we've got about 8,800, 9,000 folks. We got 11,000 to go. But the point I'm trying to make is you can't keep expecting somebody else to fund your freedom fighters to fight for your freedom because whoever's funding your freedom Fighters is really who they're responsive to No, I tell you those strings Are real, those strings

Are very, very real You are absolutely right, my brother Absolutely right And that means That we have to have a black Business class That puts Struggle for Justice black business class that puts struggle for justice more at the center than just a matter

of making money and living large. Now, we're not denying, you know, they can live well. Right. But when you're in struggle, you got to be able to make some sacrifices here and you got to be able to provide support for folk who are fighting for your cousins because all your cousins not doing as well as you are and they are just as precious as you are and many of your cousins catching hell and getting tired and all of us got you know loved ones dealing with mass incarceration and all of this mass unemployment and the inadequate education and housing. And they are just as priceless as anybody else. Mm hmm. And that's why I don't have it.

It actually is upstairs. Martin Depp's book on Operation Breadbasket. One of the most underappreciated things that MLK left us that Reverend Jackson picked up and they use the power of boycotts and the power of the church to increase the wealth of black folks when it came to jobs, putting money in black banks, when it came to black businesses, also supporting them. John Rogers lives in that tradition where I lived in Chicago six years where I saw John Rogers at Rainbow Push every Saturday with his check because he said we can't ask our civil rights leaders to fight for us and then expect them to starve because ain't no 401k plan in the civil rights movement. And I think just for too many of us is I think a lot of black folks are just keep saying you can't sit back and say, man, what y'all going to do?

If you're unwilling to also make sure the black church, the reason it was so powerful because of black folk funded the pastor. They had independence and autonomy when the pastor was courageous enough. Right. Pastors can sell out, too. Like in Detroit, they sell out to Henry Ford. Reverend C.O. Franklin refused to. Charles Leander Hill of Hartman Memorial refused to. Charles Adams refused to. But you are absolutely right.

And John Rogers is a good example. I break bread with him every year. He's tied to Brother Father Flayton. The St. Sabina. He gives to St. Sabina. Just like he gives to Brother Father Flager, St. Sabina. He gives to St. Sabina. Like he gives to Brother Jesse, you see. But he's very much part of the black upper class, really. He's got some serious cash at Ariel.

But he's never forgotten from whence he comes. And he provides certain kinds of financial support to forces for good, like Brother Flager and like Rainbow Coalition, a host of other organizations. And last question for you, last question for you. 50 years from now, a kid is stumbling through books and they come across a cornell west book they're perusing youtube and they come across a video an interview this interview a speech a lecture and they're like who is this what do you want that kid to know who Cornel West was? Wow, that's a powerful question, though, brother.

I would say this, that if they had any sense of what I tried to do in my to be part of a great people, of a great tradition, who've been hated chronically for 400 years and kept dishing out love warriors, who were terrorized for 400 years, but still was free, who was traumatized for 400 years, but still had a style and a smile. And so they would then connect me to Ma Rainey's, the Bessie Smith's, the John Cole trains, Curtis Mayfield, the dramatics and the delphonics and the emotions and all of those of that tradition in the face of overwhelming catastrophe that said, here comes some more compassion. Here comes some more courage. Here comes some more creativity. Listen to Mary Lou Williams on the piano and you understand what Wes was trying to do. Be a part of that tradition. Not looking for popularity now. No, not at all. Looking for integrity. Putting a smile on his mama's face and his daddy's and grandma and granddad, because that's where I come from.

That's who I am. So I would hope they wouldn't focus on me. They would see through me this great tradition. I do believe, though, brother, it is the greatest tradition in the modern world. There's been no other people who have been both hated and terrorized and traumatized the way Black people have, and yet keep dishing out love warriors. Now, how long that tradition gonna last? We don't know. We don't know. We may reach a point where the Black community say, you know what, we just need to create a Black version of the Ku Klux Klan.

They terrorized us. We terrorized them. Our tradition says we were looking for something deeper, but we might run out of gas. And they'll say, well, Brother West was one of those old Neanderthals. He was part of those old love warriors. Hey, that's true. That's true. We don't know what the future will bring, you see. But a little small, small, small slice in my shipwreckage life make access to that great tradition. So if they end up listening to John Coltrane, Love Supreme, they understand what I was talking about. Oh, yeah. Listen to a little reefer.

They understand what Wes was talking about in his text, in his interactions in his movements, in his style, in his smile that's where I come from my my bookie producer Jackie Clark hit me, she said Dr. Wes called me twice already

wanted to make sure we doing this interview tonight, I said let him know we good we gonna do it a whole hour. She said he's excited. He wanted to make sure. I said, we on. Noah, see, when you called through her, I said, brother

Rowley, I'm stopping everything. People don't understand what we got together. You know what I mean? Yes, sir. We don't have to agree on everything, but we brothers. So I stop everything, but then I call her, and she's been magnificent. And I call her and say, I just want to make sure. I just want to make sure I ain't missing this

on Mama's birthday. I ain't missing this. This brother rolling right here. They also don't know that you and I have closed many parties together, the last one on the dance floor. So just so fun. Don't get confused with it. You ain't like a little midnight star.

What you talking about? But I love you, brother, and I respect you. Dr. Cordell West, it's always a pleasure. Our folks, they have absolutely enjoyed this. They're going to enjoy the restream as well. We appreciate it. Keep swinging.

And in the words of our frat brother, Vertner Woodson Tandy, and I end many of my speeches this way, we will fight until hell freezes over and then we will fight on the ice. Lord have mercy. I never heard that formulation. Yes. I know being faithful unto death

of Gardner Taylor, Emanuel Scott, and Carolyn Knight, but on the ice, brother. Bertner Woods and Tandy said we can fight until hell freezes over and then we can fight on the ice. On the ice. That's the tradition we come from, brother. Go down swinging like Muhammad Ali and Ella Fitzgerald. Don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing and the staying in the swing.

Yes, sir. Keep that staying in the swing. Yes, sir. That pile on your face, though. You know what I mean? Indeed. You got to find the joy. See, black folk, we've been a people of joy. We're soulful people.

And that's what soul is, that sharing of the soothing sweetness and joy in the face of all the ugliness. That's what's kept us going. That's part of what the 858 stands for, brother. That joy, that service, that willingness to go down swinging. I salute you, man.

Likewise. We salute you as well. Dr. West, thanks a lot. You take care. Take good care. God bless you now. Thank you, sir. Yes, sir. Love you as well. Folks, I hope y'all absolutely enjoyed today's show. Unbelievable. Erica Alexander talking about Congressman John Lewis in the documentary. B.B. Winans with an amazing Black Lives Matter song closing out with Dr.

Kona. We had Reverend Dr. Barber, of course, talking about the movement. And of course, John Lewis in this last hour. Dr. Cornel West, please. We want you to support what we do at Roller Mark Unfiltered. We black on, black control. We're going to ask nobody's opinion. Support us at Cash App, dollar sign, RM Unfiltered, paypal.me, forward slash R Mark Unfiltered. We got Venmo. You can also send us a cashier's check.

New Vision Media, 1625 K Street Northwest, Suite 400, Washington D.C., 2006. That's it for us, folks. I will see y'all guys on Monday. Enjoy the fourth. Tomorrow, we are restreaming our reading of prominent black folks on Frederick Douglass's What to Make of the Fourth of July. Y'all don't want to miss that. Y'all don't want to miss that. We got to go. And some of those people include Eric Alexander, Sam Jackson, Paulette Washington, Denzel's wife,

and many others. That's what we do. So they can play Trump's speech. We're going to have the reading of Frederick Douglass' speech. I'll see you guys on Monday. A lot of times, big economic forces show up in our lives in small ways. Four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. Small but important ways. From tech billionaires to the bond market to, yeah, banana pudding. If it's happening in business,

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