#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Biden-Harris & Voting Rights, Black Girl Code CEO out, Black Virtual Mall, LA's Black Female Sheriff

Episode Date: January 12, 2022

1.11.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Biden-Harris & Voting Rights, Black Girl Code CEO on leave, Black Virtual Mall, LA 1st Black Female SheriffPresident Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris take a trip to the epicenter of the American civil rights, Atlanta. Today, they paid their respects to Martin Luther King, Jr. before speaking at the Atlanta University Center Consortium on the urgency to pass voting rights legislation and protect Americans' sacred right to vote. Georgia Congressman David Scott is here to help us break down what the president said. And a coalition of twenty-five faith leaders from across the nation has been on a hunger strike since the first anniversary of the insurrection to urge Congress to protect democracy by passing voting rights legislation by Martin L. King, Jr. Day. Three of them are here with us tonight.We now know the name of the white off-duty police officer who gunned down a black man who he claims jumped on his truck. We'll have the latest from North Carolina.She was suspended from the organization she founded. Tonight, I'm talking to Kimberly Bryant from the Oakland-based tech nonprofit, Black Girls Code about the suspension and the investigation.Plus, she's making history in Louisiana by being elected the first black female sheriff in the state's history. We will be talking to Orleans Parish Sheriff-Elect Susan Hutson about her plans for the parish.And in our Marketplace segment. She made going to the mall easier, and you don't even have to leave your home. The mastermind behind the first-ever Black Virtual Mall will explain how it works.#RolandMartinUnfiltered partners: Verizon | Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband, now available in 50+ cities, is the fastest 5G in the world.* That means that downloads that used to take minutes now take seconds. 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3zSXx0N#RolandMartinUnfiltered partners: Nissan | Check out the ALL NEW 2022 Nissan Frontier! As Efficient As It Is Powerful! 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3FqR7bPSupport #RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfilteredDownload the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com#RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever January 11, 2022. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network, President Joe Biden finally gives his full-throated support to ending the filibuster in order to pass voting rights legislation. We will talk about his speech today in Georgia

along with Vice President Kamala Harris. We'll hear from Congressman David Scott of Georgia. We'll also talk with pastors who are engaged in a hunger strike until voting rights legislation is passed. We'll talk with activists in Georgia as well. We'll fully unpack developments today. What does it actually mean when you have Democrats like Senator Joe Manchin who still are not going to move when it comes to the filibuster? It's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered

on the Black Star Network, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine And when it breaks, he's right on time And it's rolling Best belief he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling Yeah, yeah

It's Uncle Roro, y'all Yeah, yeah It's Rolling Martin, yeah. It's Uncle Roro, yo. Yeah, yeah. It's Roland Martin. Yeah, yeah. Rolling with Roland now. Yeah, yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Roland Martin now. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are flying back to Washington, D.C.

after a day trip to the epicenter of the American civil rights voting rights movement. Today, they paid respects to Martin Luther King Jr.'s and Coretta Scott King's crib for speaking at the Atlanta University Center Consortium on the urgency to pass voting rights legislation and protect Americans' sacred right to vote. Again, there were a number of folks who were there attending the speech. Obviously, this has been an important issue. Senator Raphael Warnock, also several members of the Congressional Black Caucus were there along with the president. But joining us right now is Georgia Congressman David Scott.

Congressman Scott, glad to have you on the show. We are here at this moment. Let's just be real honest. It has been the relentless year of activism by activists and others, protests. Congresswoman Joyce Bading getting arrested. Of course, black women here having events, the Poor People's Campaign. All these things have been happening to

move this president to do what he did today to say, we have got to end the filibuster to pass voting rights. Absolutely. And what was remarkable about today of Rowland was clearly the spirit of both John Lewis

and Martin Luther King Jr. were in Atlanta, Georgia today. And you could feel the spirit. And Roland, you know, as my alpha brother, you continue to lead yourself. You've been at the forefront of this for a long time. I've been following you for a long time, and you've always been out there on top of the issues of major concern to all of us, but especially our African-Americans. And there is no greater issue that we are faced with now than the right to vote. You see, people don't understand that this is the foundation of democracy. It all stems from making sure that the American people not only have the right to vote, but the opportunity. And you don't have the opportunity when they close down Sunday voting. People may

call it sold to the polls, but it helps us. And we have a bill right now in the Georgia legislature to disavow that Sunday voting and all of these other things. So your timing is excellent, what we're doing up here in Washington, but we have got to keep preaching. We've got to keep talking. We've got to keep walking. And let me tell you this. I don't care what they say about Joe Biden, but he put the metal to the pedal, the pedal to the metal in that speech. And the occasion, as I told people that wanted to criticize the president, I said, my God, do you all know that the eyes of the nation, the eyes of the world are on Georgia right now? All around the whole process of voting, which is the foundation of our democracy. We lose that, we're no longer democracy. So this is a threat to our freedoms.

It's a threat to our democracy. And I am just pleased with the outpouring and the performance today and the point of the president and the vice president coming to Atlanta, the home of Martin Luther King, in the very district, congressional district of John Lewis. And it was so special because, as you may know, I know you follow my career by the bit, Roland, but you remember John Lewis and I was with him when we started the Voter Education Project years ago. I was at Santa College and I went with John Lewis many places over this country. And I never will forget when we went to waterproof Louisiana. Is it so waterproof? It's right there by the Mississippi River in the mouth of the Gulf. But they named it waterproof Louisiana.

And why that was in my mind was because it was when we were there. John Lewis had a tragedy in his family, and he said to me, David, I need you to speak for me. I got to go. And that was my baptism into voting rights, civil rights, in waterproof Louisiana.

All those people were waiting for John Lewis. And I had to say, John Lewis isn't here. He had tragedy back home. But I'm here. And we feel collapsed. But anyway, Roland, it's good to be with you. And I just commend you on keeping up the case here and delighted to be with you at this time.

So, Congressman, what's next? I mean, obviously he gives a speech today, and so he comes back to Washington, D.C. You still have several Democratic senators who are not on board yet. For instance, Politico has a story today that shows that Senator Mark Kelly is undecided. You have Sinema. You have Manchin.

You have Chris Coombs of Delaware. You have also Jim Tester. That's five or six right there. And so right now, Democrats don't have 48. You've got about 42, 43. Senator Mark Warner has finally come aboard. Senator Dianne Feinstein. And so how do you get the other seven Democratic senators

to go along with this? Senator Chuck Schumer said there's going to be a vote on Monday. Does the CBC have plans to go across the hall to meet with those senators, to implore them to step up and support this call? I think we all will be doing that. Us members of Congress have our own individual relationships with members.

I've been here for now 20 years. I've worked with members on a lot of things. And what I do on issues like this is to go and sit down, find out what the problem is. We got to protect against reduced absentee ballots, trying to make sure that we have absentee ballots. We got the filibuster rule. That might not be exactly the best way to go. But there are other ways. We got to sit down with these senators.

We got to provide the foot soldiers, so to speak, and go over to them. I'm a sponsor of this act. I believe in it. And we had a while back a number of Republicans. And I said to them, do you all know what the heart and soul was down in Georgia? They removed the, and here they removed the preclearance. That's the heart and soul of the bill.

How can you go against that when I can tell you some of the same things that were going on in the South when John and I were traveling throughout the South with the Voter Education Project are still going on. They ought to be able to understand their movements like getting rid of Sunday voting to the polls, sold to the polls. People would frame it that. But who gave that that name? We did. And it was a powerful weapon. Why? That in and of itself points out the evilness of this, wanting to do away with Sunday

voting because of sold to the polls. This is wrong. So to get to your question, I don't have any bright answers to this except to keep plowing ahead, to keep moving ahead. Get as much as we can get. If we can get protections against reduced absentee balloting, ending Sunday voting, reducing early voting, eliminating ballot voting, maybe we can do that in a way that that's not that can pull those or have the support of the filibuster. And maybe there's a carve out. There are things that can be done. that I'm at the forefront of talking with my senators who I work with,

who I've worked with on a variety of issues, many of which they've come to ask me for. And I did that when we had Republicans with us at the very beginning. And I got to find out what has changed here. Right. And so I want your listeners and the people of America to know, hold on, because God is standing by.

God has been standing by Black people for a long time. Brought us out of slavery. Got us to civil rights, got us voting rights, got us rights that they want to take away. And we've got to stand firm and say, hell no, you're not going to take away our right and opportunities to vote. And then the other thing is that there are an awful lot of white people who feel this way. Which is why we also need them to raise their voices because these voting

laws don't just impact African Americans, they impact everybody. Congressman David Scott, we appreciate it. We're definitely going to have you back because we're going to keep pressing this issue until President Biden signs this bill. Keep on it. I appreciate it. We're definitely going to have you back because we're going to keep pressing this issue until President Biden signs this bill. Keep on it. I appreciate it.

In spirit, first of all, servants of all what? We said transcend all. Transcend all. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Take care. All right. I want to go to Congresswoman Nakima Williams.

She was there in Atlanta today with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. She's about to fly back to D.C. with Vice President Kamala Harris on Air Force Two. Congresswoman Williams, it was a pressure, as I said to Congressman Scott, it was the pressure over the last year constantly applied to President Biden to speak, to come out, to support into the filibuster for the purpose of voting. Hey, Roland, I am glad that you and Congressman Scott are having this conversation because he's exactly right. Activism matters. Your advocacy matters. And what we have heard from the advocates on the ground, we saw that reflected on the stage today loud and clear to the entire country, that President Biden is putting the full weight of the White House behind a change in the filibuster, because we know that we're not going to get 10 Republicans that are going to stand on the side of what's

fair, just, and right and stand up for democracy. This is not the Republican Party that voted to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act under both President Bush's and President Reagan. This is Donald Trump's party. And so what we heard today is that when things change, we have to change. And it's time for that filibuster rule to change so that we can stop standing on the side waiting for someone else to give us our rights. And we have the full support of the White House. And I am glad that the conversation was held with the entire country right here in the cradle of the civil rights movement in my congressional district, the seat that was once held by Congressman John Lewis. We had civil rights organizations in the audience. I was standing

next to Ambassador Andrew Young, who also represented the same congressional district. And that was a powerful speech and powerful words that I heard coming from the president of the United States today, standing on the side of the advocates who've been demanding a change in the filibuster for over almost a year now. So what is the plan now? Obviously, so he's come out, he's made this speech, but the reality is he has to pull these Democrats across the threshold. And so what is going to be that plan?

Senator Chuck Schumer says they're going to be voting on Monday. So how is the president going to get these holdout Democrats, there are anywhere from five to seven of them to support a filibuster carve-out for voting rights. President Biden and President Harris served in the United States Senate. President Biden has strong relationships there, and he's going to have to lean on those relationships.

We have been doing this with legislation all of the entire 117th Congress, And so he's going to have to lean in in these next few days to get this done. There's going to be a vote on the 17th. And when this, we know that we're not going to get 10 Republicans to stand with us on this. And so that means that we're going to move forward with the change of the filibuster. And that will only take a simple majority to do. That's 50 votes with Vice President Harris breaking the tie. President Biden has given us his commitment, his word as a Biden. And that carries a lot of weight with me because when he has told us that before,

he has leaned in and gotten things done. All right. Congresswoman Nakima Williams, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Please tell Vice President Kamala Harris, I said, what's up. Look forward to having her on the show soon. I sure will. All right, then. Thanks, Roland. Thank you so very much.

All right, folks, let's now go to I want to show you some of what President Biden and Vice President Harris had to say today in Atlanta, and then we'll talk with some pastors who are on a hunger strike until this bill is signed into law. In our lives, in the lives of our nation, life of our nation, there are moments so stark that they divide all that came before and everything that followed. They stop time. They rip away the trivial from the essential. And they force us to confront hard truths

about ourselves, about our institutions, and about our democracy. And the words of scripture remind us to hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the gate. Last week, President Harris and I stood in the United States Capitol to observe one of those before and after moments in American history. January 6th insurrection on the citadel of our democracy. Today, we come to Atlanta, the cradle of civil rights, to make clear what must come after that dreadful day when a dagger was literally held

at the throat of American democracy. We stand on the grounds to connect Clark, Atlanta, Atlanta University, Morehouse College, near Spelman College, the home of generations of advocates, activists, educators, and preachers. Young people, just like the students here, who have done so much to build a better America. We visited the sacred Ebenezer Bastard Church

and paused to pray at the crypt of Dr. and Mrs. King and spent time with their family. And here in the district, as was pointed out, represented and reflected the life of beloved friend John Lewis. In their lifetimes, time stopped when a bomb blew up the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham and murdered four little girls. They stopped when John and many others seeking justice were beaten and bloodied while crossing the bridge at Selma, named after the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan.

They stopped. They stopped. Time stopped. They forced the country to confront the hard truths and to act, to act to keep the promise of America alive. All right, folks. So we're going to deconstruct this whole speech of President Biden. We're also going to play some of what Vice President Kamala Harris had to say.

And so I want to go now to Reverend Stephen A. Green, the pastor of St. Luke AME Church, who joined us from Harlem. Reverend Brittany Kastenem, the pastor of Mount Pisgah AME Church, who joined us from Jersey City, New Jersey. Of course, I also have my panel here

with me as well. Mustafa Santiago Ali, Ph.D., former senior advisor for environmental justice at the EPA, Xavier Pope, host of Suit Up, a news owner of the Pope Law Firm, Demario Solomon Simmons, civil rights attorney and founder of Justice for Greenswood. To the pastors, you are involved in this hunger strike.

Joe Madison, Sirius XM radio show host, started here 66 days ago. And so you're joining this as well. You heard both speeches today. Your reaction to what you heard, how does that impact your hunger strike? Sure. Thank you, Roland, for having us. I am one of 25 faith leaders with Reverend Castine who are on this hunger strike. And we started a week ago on January the 6th, the date of the violent insurrection that overtook the

Capitol. And today is a reckoning moment for the nation as we recognize that we have been waiting for the president to do his job, to speak up and to stand firm on his commitment to end the filibuster and to have black people's back. And so now is our time. We are glad to hear the rhetoric from the president, but now it's time for it to be followed up with action, for him to call the senators into the Oval Office and commit them to voting for the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. So, although we are inspired, we are not persuaded or dissuaded from our mobilization,

and we will continue to hold the line to ensure that the Senate will vote on the For the People Act and the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act by Monday, January 17th, the Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Pastor? There we go. We got you. One of the things that I want to state is clearly obvious, and it is that voting in this country, it's not just inconvenient, it's really hard. And one of the things that we've been able to see over the last year or last 18 months is that Republican politicians who've been inspired by our former insurrectionist and chief Donald Trump have made it even harder. And so I'm really proud to be a part of this

movement with other faith leaders, other pastors across the country, because I think a few things. I think that the momentum is on our side. I know that the morality is on our side. And I also believe that the mood of the entire country is on our side. And so, you know, I think I agree with Reverend Green. And I also was encouraged by the words of the president, encouraged by the words of the vice president. But now it is clearly time for them both to use all of their power, all of their relationships, all of their effort and energy to get this done on Monday. And the point that we continue to make over and over and over again is that you have to move on it. It has to actually get done. What I said yesterday is President Joe Biden, he's going to have when he comes back to D.C., he's going to have to call these holdout Democratic senators to the White House, put them across the table, look them in the eye and say,

I, as the president, I, as the leader of the Democratic Party, I need you to get this done. No, absolutely. He has to use the full power of the presidency. You can't stand up to Vladimir Putin and be afraid of Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. I mean, you have to use the power, because the world is watching. We're talking about the future of our democracy. We're talking about the future of the entire climate of the planet, which holds on to the leadership of the United States of America.

And so we're talking about the president recognizing that we are in an uncivil civil war, and that the Republicans have crossed the line. They have declared war on our democracy. Democracy has already died. And now we're talking about resurrecting democracy, resurrecting the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. this weekend. And so we're not talking about trying to just protect democracy. Democracy was eroded in 2010 when Shelby v. Holder democracy was threatened and continued to die on January the 6th. And so now we're talking about restoring and resurrecting our democracy. And that takes a full commitment and a level of leadership that we have yet to see come across the finish line. So again, so the next step is to see what happens when he comes back. The pivotal vote will take place on Monday, as Senator Chuck Schumer made.

And so the president has to deliver. He simply has to do that. And, Roland, we're coming to D.C. We're bringing our hunger strike to D.C. this weekend because we intend to hold a watch night for voting rights on Sunday night at the U.S. Capitol. We will occupy the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Sunday night from 7 p.m. to midnight as we watch the night like our ancestors did on the eve of emancipation on January 1, 1863. So while they waited for the clock to turn from 1862 to 1863, we too are waiting with bated breath for the nation to be true to the words it is written on paper, to be a nation where it truly embodies liberty and justice for all.

Thank you so much for having me. All right, then, gentlemen. I certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much as well. I'm going to go to a quick break. When we come back, we'll hear from our panel. We'll also hear more of President Biden's speech, along with Vice President Kamala Harris today in Georgia,

as he finally calls for the end of the filibuster in order to pass voting rights in the United States Senate. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. ТРЕВОЖНАЯ МУЗЫКА It's time to be smart. Roland Martin's doing this every day. Oh, no punches! Thank you, Roland Martin, for always giving voice to the issues. Look for Roland Martin in the whirlwind, to quote Marcus Garvey again.

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And you are watching Rolling Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks, welcome out to Rolling Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. We are focused on the speech that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris gave today in Georgia. And the reality is he gave this today finally a full-throated call to end the filibuster to pass voting rights because of the level of pressure that's been applied. Because Republicans have already passed 34 different laws in various states as a result of this. And just so you understand what we're talking about here, Ari Berman tweeted this just today.

Give me a second. He talked about, go to my iPad, please. He said, breaking as by, it says as, let's see if I can go ahead and get this going. Give me one second, y'all. You should see it now pop up. There we go. As Biden speaks, North Carolina State Court upholds extreme gerrymandered maps, including U.S. House map giving GOP 71 to 78 percent of the seats in state Trump won with 49.9 percent of the vote.

This is exactly the kind of partisan and racial gerrymandering Freedom to Vote Act would block. What we're dealing with here, and I'm going to walk people through this to understand what we're talking about, is that what Republicans are doing all across this to understand what we're talking about. Okay? Is that what Republicans are doing all across this country, they are passing various laws, not just to restrict voting, but the cutting of drop boxes. In Georgia, they are cutting from a 111 to less than 30 drop boxes. They, oh my goodness, they're not secure. What they also did in Georgia,

what they did was they actually passed the law that said that, oh, we got to protect the boxes, which means that the voting, that the drop boxes are only open when the polls are open. That's the point of the drop boxes. So if you can't go in and vote during the day, you drop your ballot off. What they also did, folks, was they also passed the law

where they said that if my dad, if I live in Georgia, and my dad wants to vote by mail-in ballot, and he says, hey, son, drop my ballot off. I can't. He has to physically drop his ballot off or it's against the law. And there are so many other things that are in the Freedom to Vote Act. Let me know when y'all have Biden speaking about any of the filibuster. This is what people have to understand.

So this is what he said today in Georgia. Can change the outcome. Sadly, the United States Senate, designed to be the world's greatest deliberative body, has been rendered a shell of its former self. It gives me no satisfaction in saying that as an institutionalist, as a man who was honored to serve in the Senate. But as an institutionalist,

I believe that the threat to our democracy is so grave that we must find a way to pass these voting rights bills. Debate them. Vote. Let the majority prevail. And if that bare minimum is blocked, we have no option but to change the Senate rules, including getting rid of the filibuster for this. The President. You know, last year, if I'm not mistaken, the filibuster was used 154 times. The filibuster has been used to generate compromise in the past,

promote some bipartisanship, but it's also used to obstruct, including especially obstruct civil rights and voting rights. And when it was used, senators traditionally used to have to stand and speak at their desk for however long it took. And sometimes it took hours. And when they sat down, if no one immediately stood up, anyone could call for a vote or the debate ended. But that doesn't happen today. Senators no longer even have to speak one word. This filibuster is not used by Republicans to bring the Senate together, but to pull it further apart.

Filibusters have weaponized and abused. All the state legislative assaults on voting rights is simple. All you need in your House and Senate is a pure majority. In the United States Senate, it takes a super majority, 60 votes even to get a vote instead of 50 to protect the right to vote.

State legislators can pass anti-voting laws with simple majorities. If they can do that, then the United States Senate should be able to protect voting rights by a simple majority. Today, I'm making it clear to protect our democracy, I support changing the Senate rules, whichever way they need to be changed to prevent a minority of senators from blocking action on voting rights. When it comes to protecting majority rule in America, the majority should rule in the United States Senate. I make this announcement with careful deliberation, recognizing the fundamental right to vote is a right from which all other rights flow.

And I make it with an appeal to my Republican colleagues, to those Republicans who believe in the rule of law, restore the bipartisan tradition of voting rights. People who restored it, who abide by it in the past, were Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush. They all supported the Voting Rights Act. Don't let the Republican Party morph into something else. Restore the institution of the Senate the way it was designed to be. Senate rules were just changed to raise the debt ceiling

so we wouldn't renege on our debt for the first time in our history, prevent an economic crisis. That was done by a simple majority. As Senator Warnock said a few weeks ago in a powerful speech, if we change the rules to protect the full faith and credit of the United States, we should be able to change the rules to protect the heart and soul of our democracy. He was right. The days that followed John Lewis's death, there was an outpouring of praise and support across the political spectrum. But as we stand here today, it isn't enough just to praise his memory.

We must translate eulogy into action. We need to follow John Lewis's footsteps. We need to support the bill in his name. Just a few days ago, we talked about up in the Congress and the White House the event coming up shortly to celebrate Dr. King's birthday. And Americans of all stripes will praise him for the content of his character. But as Dr. King's family said before, it's not enough to praise their father. They even said on this holiday, don't celebrate his birthday unless you're willing to support what he lived for and what he died for.

The next few days, when these bills come to a vote, will mark a turning point in this nation's history. We will choose. The issue is, will we choose? Democracy over autocracy. Light over shadows. Justice over injustice. I know where I stand. I will not yield. I will not flinch. I will defend the right to vote. Our democracy against all enemies, foreign and, yes, domestic.

The question is, where will the institution of the United States Senate stand? Every senator, Democrat, Republican, and Independent, will have to declare where they stand. Not just for the moment, but for the ages. Will you stand against voter suppression? Yes or no, that's the question they'll answer. Will you stand against voter suppression? Yes or no? That's the question they'll answer. Will you stand against election subversion? Yes or no? Will you stand for democracy? Yes or no? There's one thing every senator, every American should remember.

History has never been kind to those who've sided with voter suppression over voters rights and it'll be even less kind for those who side with election subversion so i ask every elected official in america how do you want to be remembered at consequential moments in history they present a choice do you want to be the side the side of dr king or george wallace And I think that's what we need to do. And I think that's what we need to do. And I think that's what we need to do. And I think that's what we need to do. And I think that's what we need to do. And I think that's what we need to do. And I think that's what we need to do. And I think that's what we need to do.

And I think that's what we need to do. And I think that's what we need to do. And I think that's what we need to do. And I think that's what we need to do. And I think that's what we need to do. And I think that's what we need to do. the moment to decide to defend our elections, to defend our democracy. And if you do that, you will not be alone. That's because the struggle to protect voting rights has never been borne by one group alone. We saw freedom riders of every race, leaders of every faith marching arm in arm.

And yes, Democrats and Republicans in Congress of the United States and in the presidency. I did not live the struggles of Douglas Tubman, King, Lewis, Goodman, Cheney, Swerner, countless others known and unknown. I did not walk in the shoes of generations of students who walked these grounds, but I walked other grounds, because I'm so damn old I was there as well. They think I'm kidding, man. Seems like yesterday, the first time I got arrested.

Anyway. But their struggles here, they're the ones that opened my eyes as a high school student in the late 50s and early 60s. They got me more engaged in the work of my life. And what we're talking about today is rooted in the very idea of America. The idea pondered, graduated from Clark Atlanta, captured in a single word. She was a teacher and a librarian, was also an unyielding champion of voting rights. In 1963, when I was just starting college and university, after registering voters in Mississippi,

she was pulled off a bus, arrested and jailed, where she was brutally beaten. In her cell, next to her, was Fannie Lou Hamer, who described the beating this way, and I quote, I could hear the sounds of the licks and the horrible screams. They beat her. I don't know for how long. And after a while, she began to pray and ask God to have mercy on those people. Annel ponders friends visit her the next day.

Her face was badly swollen. She could hardly talk. But she managed to whisper one word. Freedom. Freedom. managed to whisper one word, freedom. Freedom. Demario, just so folks who have no clue what's in the Freedom to Vote Act, y'all go to my iPad, please. This is what it says on the Senate website.

The bill addresses voter registration and voting access, election integrity, security, redistricting, and campaign finance. Specifically, the bill expands voter registration, automatic and same-day registration, and voting access, vote by mail and early voting. It also limits removing voters from voter rolls. The bill establishes election day as a federal holiday. The bill declares that the right of a U.S. citizen to vote in any election for federal office shall not be denied or abridged because that individual has been convicted of a criminal

offense unless at the time of the election such individual is serving a felony sentence. The bill establishes certain federal criminal offenses related to voting. In particular, the bill establishes a federal criminal offenses related to voting. In particular, the bill establishes a new criminal offense for conduct or attempted conduct to corruptly hinder, interfere with, or prevent another person from registering to vote or helping someone register to vote. Additionally, the bill sets forth provisions related to election insecurity, including by requiring states to conduct post-election audits for federal elections. The bill outlines criteria for congressional redistricting and generally prohibits mid-decade redistricting.

The bill outlines criteria for congressional redistricting and generally prohibits mid-decade redistricting. Now, I love this here, y'all. This is the next one. Listen. The bill addresses campaign finance, including by expanding the prohibition on campaign spending by foreign nationals, requiring additional disclosure of campaign-related fundraising and spending,

and requiring additional disclaimers regarding certain political advertising and establishing an alternative campaign funding system for certain federal offices. The moral of the reason Republicans are so dead set against the filibuster and the reason why these 50 Democrats had better wake up is because of what I said earlier with the Ari Berman tweet.

Republicans are changing the laws where in Tennessee they hold seven of the nine congressional districts. They are trying to break Nashville up into multiple parts so they can control eight out of the nine. They have done this in Wisconsin, Georgia, Texas, Florida. We could go on and on and on. So what they are doing by controlling the state legislatures,

they are going to use that power to ensure that if you're in a state, if 55 to 58 and sometimes if 60% of the people in that state vote a Democrat, they will always remain in control. Yeah, absolutely, Roe. This is a very important show, and just appreciate you educating our community. You know, I would just say that was a pretty strong

speech by President Biden. You know, each week I've been calling on this type of a speech. I've been saying the Democrats need to be stronger, and I've also said many times that it was not just Manchin and Sinema. There was other Democrats. And now that's coming to the forefront and everybody's cards have been put on the table. And I'm appreciative of that. Look, Roland, as you've outlined so well, this is a crucial scenario for our people. If this does not happen, the Republicans who we know are against Black people, they're against truth, they're against justice, they're against equity, they will submit themselves

as the ruling party for generations to come. They will get a majority in the House, and it will be almost impossible for it to be broken based upon how they gerrymandered everything. Every possible tool that the president can use, and I'm not the president. I don't know what the tools are. I'm not the vice president. I don't know what the tools are. But whatever tool they had, they have to go all in right now. And I like your idea, Roland, of calling those Democratic senators over one by one and talking to them and then coming out

and telling the media what they discussed and where are they on their commitment. So this is crucial for us as a people, not as Democrats, but as black people, because we know the Republicans do not care about us. They wanna subjugate us. They wanna discriminate against us. And they don't care about the wrong side of history.

All they care about is power, wealth, and excess, period. So, folks, understand this. Today, there's an election in Florida to replace the late Congressman Alcee Hastings. And when the votes are counted tonight, that means that the Democrat is going to win that particular race. Okay, it's a special election. And, of course, you have the election in November.

That means that Democrats will have 222 votes in the House. And so this is Sheila Shurfilis McCormick, she is the candidate. Go to my iPad. This is the Washington Post piece. This is a photo of her. She is going to win, likely win tonight. All right? So there are nine people who are running.

So here's the deal. They're going to have 222 votes to 212 Republicans. The seat of Devin Nunes, Mustafa, is the only one that is vacant. If you begin to study the numbers, and we always know that the incumbent president, this party loses seats during the midterm. So Democrats are already up against,

facing tremendous headwinds. Well, people have to understand if they are able to move out in Florida, Florida could potentially get rid of anywhere from four to five Democrats. Texas is looking to get rid of two to three. Then you look at Ohio. Then you look at Tennessee going from picking up one. So you start adding it up. The Republicans could literally change the lines and they could pick up anywhere from 15 to 18 seats before a vote is even cast. That guarantees they're going to be in the majority.

And because they control the state legislature, you can't make any changes for 10 years. That means five elections. That means that they will control the House for the next decade. Yeah, I mean, you know, this is a long-term strategy that is now playing out. And they understand that not only do they want to own and control the House and the Senate, of course, they want the presidency, they want the Supreme Court and all the judges that are there.

And then, of course, moving past the trifecta is also making sure that you control all of the state houses or the majority of the state houses. So therefore, then you can hold on to power, as you said, for a decade. I would say that it's even longer than that, because if you're able to entrench in the ways that they are trying to do, and of course, all of this comes back to people actually being able to participate in a fair election. And that's why our conversation is so important around the filibuster and making sure that we're doing everything that we possibly can to make sure that we're protecting voting rights. So this is understanding that they have literally been focused on building a set of infrastructures and controlling those infrastructures around everything that happens inside of your life.

The vote is tied to housing. It is tied to transportation. It is tied to jobs and where resources are going to go. It's tied to health care. It's tied to the environment. And they understand this. And we have been playing around flat-footed and not calling this out, not educating folks. And for the president, I appreciate the full-throated response that he gave today in supporting of voting rights. But I need him to continue that. I needed him to do it before. We talked about this. But now he has got to, for the amount of time that is remaining, he should be having fireside chats where he is bringing those folks

who are part of the civil rights movement who fought to be able to vote. There should be conversations in front of the country literally every day or every evening. Let's say every evening, because after folks get off work. That's the type of set of commitment that's gonna be necessary, be necessary to make sure that

we even have a chance. The other part of it is that, you know, you got to move, you got to put all your chips in in this moment, because if you don't get this, all the other stuff kind of falls to the wayside. The other part of it is also you got to call in all those folks in business and industry who are saying that they support Black Lives Matter and all these other types of things. And they've also got to place pressure on the individuals, especially on the Democratic side of the equation, that we expect you to do the right thing. And that if you don't, there will be repercussions for you not doing the right thing. Now, some folks will say, well, Mustafa, maybe you're taking it too far there. The Republicans are very serious about what they do, and they have no problem in utilizing leverage and pressure

to make sure that they get what they want out of the scenario and out of the sets of opportunities that are in front of them. And if Democrats are not willing to do that, then you're going to get what you get. Xavier, just so people, again, who need to understand here, folks like Senator Joe Manchin, Senator Kyrsten Sinema say, oh, this is going to break. The Senate is not going to fix the Senate. And they fear that if one day they are in the minority in the Senate, that they won't be able to use

the filibuster to stop bills. Well, that's all contingent upon whether Republicans are going to actually honor that. They can change the rule anytime they want to. This is

what you're about to hear is Senator Mitch McConnell talking about ending the filibuster in 2022. But the second video is what he said in 2017 when it came to the Supreme Court. When I was a majority leader, some of my own party urged me to break the Senate for our own party's short term gain. My answer was a simple word. No, We need to restore the norms and traditions of the Senate and get past this unprecedented partisan filibuster. Therefore, I raise the point of order that the vote on cloture under the precedent set on November 21st, 2013, is a majority vote on all nominations. When I was a majority leader, some of my...

So right there, Xavier, the Republicans put two individuals on the United States Supreme Court by a simple majority vote. Lifetime appointments. Supreme Court justices rule on all matters in the country. They are the final authority. So if you're Democrats, you're putting yourself in a situation where you may never be in control of the House or the Senate, and you're trying to protect something that you actually supported

just a couple of weeks ago to raise the debt ceiling. Roland, the Tildes Nation recognizes we can't center what we do based on white conservative Republicans and the racist animus that is bubbling in the country, we won't be able to move forward. And the fear that the Democrats have had over a segment of the population that they couldn't win and waited for a year to act when the Republicans, when they know they have the rules on their side, they're going to act. When they have the position in their power, they're going to act. They're going to manipulate whatever rules they need to be able to do to be able to make sure they are implementing their plan, which is a long-term strategy, by the way. The response that you're seeing from the Republicans now are, they're just part of that strategy. That's part of them making sure that

they're pushing, kicking the can down the road, getting the Democrats to stall and to go further along in the process so that we get close to the election and nothing happens. This is what they want. They're seeing the fruits of their labor. After the election, Republican state legislatures went right to work passing voter laws that restrict the right to vote. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Passed laws by a simple majority. Go ahead. Yes.

So the Democrats have, they're playing on defense based on threats that the Republicans might make, Roland, when they have to be able to be steadfast about a strategy from the very outset. What the Republicans are doing, they're just basically legalizing 1-6. And they're making it acceptable. Even Ted Cruz took back and apologized for calling 1-6ers terrorists. And then you have now Ted Cruz calling any attempts to protect voting rights Jim Crow 2.0. How dare you, Ted Cruz,

when what your party is doing is the embodiment of what Jim Crow 2.0 is. And they are now taking on the footsteps of Martin Luther King's birthday and turning that around and flipping the narrative as if they are the oppressed, insulting our intelligence and trying to cripple our democracy in the process.

Folks, here is some of what Vice President Kamala Harris had to say today in Atlanta. Breached the United States Capitol. The President of the United States and I spoke from its hallowed halls, and we made clear. We swore to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

And we will. We will fight. We will fight to safeguard our democracy. We will fight to secure our most fundamental freedom, the freedom to vote. And that is why we have come to Atlanta today, to the cradle of the civil rights movement, to the district that was represented by the great Congressman John Lewis, on the eve of the birthday of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. More than 55 years ago, men, women, and children marched from Selma to Montgomery to demand the ballot. And when they arrived at the state capitol in Alabama, Dr. King decried what he called normalcy. The normalcy, the complacency that was denying people the freedom to vote. The only normalcy anyone should accept, Dr. King said,

is the normalcy of justice. And his words resonate today. Over the past few years, we have seen so many anti-voter laws that there is a danger of becoming accustomed to these laws. A danger of adjusting to these laws as though they are normal. A danger of being complacent, complicit. Anti-voter laws are not new in our nation, but we must not be deceived into thinking they are normal. We must not be deceived into thinking a law that makes it more difficult for students to vote is normal. We must not be deceived into thinking a law that makes it illegal to help a voter with a disability vote by mail is normal. There is nothing normal about a law that makes it illegal to pass out water

or food to people standing in long voting lines. And this is what the Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda tweeted on yesterday. Back to Lincoln County today, we're still gathering petition signatures to stop the Board of Elections from closing six of seven polling locations. And so while there are people who were critical of Black Voters Matter and other groups for not attending today's speech, they've made the point that their work continues, and that's what's going on. We're going to keep, of course, covering this story, see what happens over the next several days, but also be very mindful of Republicans who are going to be posting wonderful things about Dr. King on Monday,

yet they'll be standing against the very things that he fought for. Be sure to call them out on social media. Gotta go to a break when we come back. Black Girls Code, an organization that has gotten lots of attention over the last several years for their work. Now they're getting a different level of attention with the decision to oust the CEO.

She'll join us next to explain what is going on. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Norske Rundforskning ДИНАМИЧНАЯ МУЗЫКА Okay. It ain't just about hurting black folk. Right. You gotta deal with it. It's injustice. It's wrong. I do feel like in this generation,

we've got to do more around being intentional and resolving conflict. You and I have always agreed. Yeah. But we agree on the big piece. Yeah. Our conflict is not about destruction. Conflict's going to happen. Hi, how's it doing?

It's your favorite funny girl, Amanda Seals. Hi, I'm Anthony Brown from Anthony Brown and Group Therapy. What's up? I'm Lonna Wells, and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. 15-year-old Janiyah Coates was last seen in Little Rock, Arkansas a week ago. Janiyah disappeared on January 4th. She is described as being 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighing 140 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. If you have any information regarding Janiyah Coates, please call the Little Rock Police Department at 501-371-4829. 501-371-4829.

Folks, last month, the founder and CEO of Black Girls Code, Kimberly Bryant, an organization dedicated to educating and empowering young women in technology, tweeted this. Press release, so it's three days before Christmas and you wake up to discover the organization you created and built from the ground up has been taken away by a rogue board with no notification. Now the board announced that she was being replaced for several reasons, but they also talked about what was described. We see reports as

toxic workplace culture. Well, she joins us right now from San Francisco. Glad to have you on the show, Kimberly. So, it has been three weeks or so since you posted that particular tweet. Where does it stand? Are you suspended? Have you been fired?

Have you been replaced? What's going on? Roland, thank you so much for having me on the show today. And I did want to correct for the record that I'm on a paid leave or suspension. I haven't been ousted. I'm still the always be the founder, but I'm still the CEO of Black Girls Code, although there is an interim executive director who is running the organizational work in my absence pending this investigation that, to my knowledge, has yet to be started. So how did we get to this point? What happened? Hmm. Roland, that's a great question. I would say that we got to this point in a few ways. You've been a longtime supporter of BGC and the work that we do. We've been teaching girls of color from underrepresented communities about computer science and technology

for the past 10 years, so since 2011 and to this very day. Over the last two years, however, we experienced this period of really rapid growth. So coming into 2020, like many other organizations, we were kind of shocked, if you will, to have to go into a totally different space of how we do our work due to the pandemic that began at the beginning of March. We went through this transformation, if you will, where we took all of the classes and workshops we used to do in person, we pivoted to a virtual model, and as a result, we had our best year in over 10 years. We reached over 10,000 students. We reached girls and individuals, boys and girls, women and men from bit over 20 individuals at the end of 2020, as well as coming into 2020 with gross revenues or net revenues, if you will, of a little under

$2 million to ending 2020 with net revenue of about $40 million, slightly under $40 million. So the organization was really in this period of both rapid growth from all this revenue and support that we, as so many other social justice organizations, received in the wake of George Floyd's killing. And we also grew our work and started to experience a bit of turmoil, if you will, in a culture that's trying to adjust from being a really small grassroots organization to a very large, heavily resourced one. And due to that, we had some challenges. And as a result of that, even now, some bad actors have come into play to interrupt us from the good work that we've been doing for the past 10 years.

Tech Crunch posted this on December 27th that the Black Girls Code board of directors said they formed a special committee to review and evaluate complaints made by current and former employees about Bryant's conduct. The board formed a special committee to review the complaints and placed you administrative leave. There's a comment here from Heather Hiles,

who's the interim board chair, where it says that the board has a fiduciary responsibility to protect the organization and the well-being of its staff. I can confirm that the recent activities are a result of following through in that responsibility. Were there any complaints from folks that were brought to you, that were brought to HR, anything that came to you before this action was taken? One of the things that I have said before, which, you know,

this all started to unfold on December 21st, and to this date, I have not been told by any member of the board, from any board president or any board member, what exactly it is that this investigation is focusing on. Like, I have not been asked, I have not been told, I have not given a statement to the board, nor have they told me why there is a need for an investigation of me. So you've been on leave for three weeks and have no idea why. No idea why. You know, as I mentioned, we experienced this period of hyper growth as well as we had some employee terminals and issues in the middle of the year that we as an organization started to address. So we hired an external culture strategist, Carla Monterosa from Bravo Partners. We hired her to do an employee cultural pulse survey to understand what some of the things that were happening in this very

multi-generational diverse workforce that we were building. We hired another organization, a consultant, agility consultants, to come in and do a salary and compensation study for our team so that we can raise our equity level. Because, as I said, we grew and we wanted to be able to compensate our team accordingly to the growth that we experienced. So we just finished that compensation study with really a clear pathway of what our compensation policy will be now into the future at the end of December. We brought in executive coach to work with myself as well as the new members of senior leadership and our executive team. So we have been doing the work to address these issues as we grew this high growth organization with very little support from anyone else, you know, internally on our board of directors.

So to be hit with this at the end of, you know, this period of both growth and where we were really doing the work as a leadership team to make sure that we built equity in our organization is the most, most, I want to say challenging, but it's really, really disappointing because when a person brings in a board, that statement is right. You bring in a board to actually help support the mission and the work. And it's unfortunate at times when organizations, especially Black organizations and Black-led organizations, don't receive that support internally to get through the growing pains. And that's really what I want to build in the future for other Black women founders and other women in leadership like myself, because there's still a gap, evidently, and I am the example of it here, of how we as women in leadership are sometimes not supported

and certainly not given the grace to fail and get back up again and keep moving forward with our missions. So, what's next? I mean, obviously, you said you haven't had... No one has said anything to you. You have no idea. All right, what's...

I mean, what's next? Your guess in terms of what's next in terms of this situation is I'm still waiting. What I'm here to do is to support getting through a fair and unbiased investigation that gets to the facts. You know, there could be many truths, but I believe because I'm an engineer, there's one set of facts. And I would like to see this issue resolved as quickly as possible so both the organization and myself can focus on this work that we started back in 2011. You yourself have supported and so many others in our community. And because we need to do this work to support our girls. For me, this feature is really about driving this conversation of when Black women lead,

these are the sometimes unnecessary fruits of our journeys and our pathways. And I want to build more equity and advocacy in my work in the future and have an even greater impact than we have done with Black Girls Code to date by really focusing on how we support Black women in leadership roles, how we give them access to mental health support, because this ordeal for me as a mother who founded this organization for my daughter, who found out this unfortunate news on my mother's birthday, it has been traumatic. And I want this to not happen to other women like me in leadership roles. And so I want to build resources to support their mental health journeys. And also last, but most importantly, funnel their endeavors for the girls that have been a part of our program

and other Black women, really give them the tangible resources so it doesn't take 10 years to get to the point that Black Girls Code did. And then you finally have the resources to actually do this work, and it takes so much of a struggle to get there. So I really want to dedicate this next generation of the work that I'm going to do with my mission to focus on that type of work and advocacy for other Black women. I would encourage folks to follow this story. I have had a community of founders and supporters create a website for me, wesupportkimberly.org. There's a letter of support there.

I encourage people to sign it. I encourage people to continue to support organizations like Black Girls Code, but also to look at how do we uplift, help and give voices and support to other women like me who have experienced some of these similar things. So go to wesupportkimberly.org for that

or follow me on any of my social media. It's the number six in gyms and watch the space. Alright. Kimberly, we appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Thank you, sir. Appreciate you, Roland. Alright, folks. The first woman to be elected as the mayor of New Orleans has begun her second term. Latoya Cantrell was sworn

in Monday as the city's 51st mayor. She thanked the citizens of New Orleans for giving her another chance to lead the Big Easy. I am grateful to be here with you on today, but I am deeply grateful to begin a second term as a city of New Orleans. You all have ensured that I have another four years, but we have another four years, another four years to go. And you know what? Four years ago, we made history when you elected me as the first woman mayor to lead this great

city. Thank you again for entrusting me with the honor of leading our city. You have placed your confidence in me and in my vision for just how great we can be. County Trail's first term was plagued with issues that caused economic hardship for the city. She had to continue with hurricanes and like everyone else

COVID. Folks, speaking of first in Louisiana, last month Susan Hudson defeated the 17-year incumbent Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlon Guzman in a runoff election to make history by becoming the first black woman elected sheriff in the state of Louisiana.

She joins us now on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Sheriff, how you doing? I'm well, Roland. Thank you so much for having me. Glad to have you here. We were supposed to have you last week, but the deaths of Sidney Poitier caused us to have to change our whole news cycle. But certainly glad to have you here. We were supposed to have you last week, but the deaths of Sidney Poitier caused us to have to change our whole news cycle. But certainly glad to have you back. So, all right. So you're now the top cop in the county. What's your plan? We ran on a simple platform. We're going to take better care of those who are incarcerated. We're going to take better care of those who are working in the jail. And we're going to listen to our community and be

accountable to them for every dollar that we spent and every action that we take. And so that's what I plan to do. Very simple formula. So in terms of most people obviously don't understand when you talk about the sheriff's responsibility, you've got the city, of course, but then you talk about the county, you have different responsibilities. How many different cities in Orleans Parish are you responsible for? I'm sorry, the areas, I'm sorry. Why an area? There's only the city of New Orleans within Orleans Parish. So the sheriff runs the Orleans Parish Jail, serves some process, provides security at

the courthouses, and then also enacts and runs some types of seizures and sales. But the majority of the work is about running the Orleans Justice Center, which is the jail. So one of the things that we've heard a lot about, we hear people talking about mass incarceration, they talk about criminal justice reform. What role do you have to play in that? Well, you know, we ran on a platform of progressive reform where we know that jails primarily house people with mental health diagnoses and those with addictions. We know that. That's the same all around the country. So instead of putting them in jails, which are harmful areas, why don't

we do something in our community, number one, to treat their diagnosis or their addiction, and then to help them get back into life and get back into society? And what I found out as I walked this campaign trail this year, so many of these people are our neighbors or people that we know. And so when that message resonated with so many families who are dealing with a loved one with a mental health diagnosis like I have, or dealing with somebody with an addiction, so that is prevalent all over our city, all over our parish. And so that resonated with people. Let's help people and try to prevent crimes

as opposed to making people worse by locking them up. Questions from my panel. I'll start with you, Xavier. Your question for the new sheriff of Orleans Parish. Congratulations for your new post. There were issues with your predecessor in terms of not allowing defense attorneys access to

their clients in the midst of the Omicron surge. As someone who just was in court last week, Tiffany, on a social justice issue, trying to get people out that should not be there in locally here in Chicago and seeing some of the COVID issues, how are you addressing some of the exacerbation of the issues of jails now with COVID and some of the quarantining issues and not being able to show up to court, potentially being quarantined,

and some of the litany of issues that face those that are frankly afraid for their health and for their freedom? Yeah, well, first of all, thank you for the congratulations. But what I found on this campaign trail in dealing with other actors in the criminal justice system is that we all have to work together, especially with COVID. We have to follow the science. We have to listen to the experts about how to be safe.

But we've got to start conducting some business because there are people sitting in jail who've sat here a while. We have not had trials. It's difficult for defense attorneys to get access to their clients. And we are a little short staffed as well. So we all have to be efficient, more their trials and then on to the penitentiary, or if they win their cases, then they get to go free. But we've got to stop holding people here, and we've got to get the business of the courts moving again. And we've got to work together to do that. And I've pledged to do that with all the other actors in the system. Mustafa. Sheriff Hudson, congratulations. I actually lived in New Orleans for a little while. I'm curious, you know, you mentioned the additional support that you're giving around mental health.

And we know that building trust inside of communities has been something in relationship to law enforcement that there's a lot of work that needs to happen. I'm just curious, are there additional things that you plan on implementing to help to build that trust? Yeah, in our city, in the parish, which is a group that we want to do something different. So I was the independent police monitor monitoring the New Orleans Police Department before I left that job to run for sheriff. And one of the things we worked on is starting at how we feed people into the system. And that is with how the police respond to calls for service. And so we looked at how many calls there were for mental health crisis, and there were a number of them. And so why can't we have alternative responders for that? So we're not feeding people into the jail. And then let's have places for them to be treated when they need custodial care or when they need to be in a bed.

And then let's have follow up care. Let's not just drop them after that, like when they after they leave the jail or after they leave a hospital bed. We've got to have that continuity of care from start to finish. We know that we have to do that as a city, and we started working on a game plan for that. And so one of those things is also to make sure that we don't house people in the jail. And the sheriff that I beat, Marlon Gussman, wanted to build a mental health jail. I did not want to do that. And I think that is one of the main reasons that I did win. I said, we need to take that funding and have diversion centers and treatment centers instead of building a jail so that we can treat our community, help people, keep them out of the

jail, which again only harms them, and then allow people to have good lives and return to living in this city, which is an amazing city to live in. All right, DeMario. You're on mute. Now we got you. Go ahead, go ahead. Sheriff, it's really good to talk to you. Congratulations. I feel like we met a couple years ago during a National Bar Association conference

down in New Orleans a couple years ago. We had your office, and I think the police chief come over and talk to some of the lawyers. So I'm really excited about your position. I do a lot of work here in Oklahoma against jails, sue jails often, particularly the Oklahoma County Jail. Oklahoma City is one of the worst in the nation. So I really was very inspired and happy to hear you talk about treating those inmates with more dignity, because as you know, these are pre-trial detainees, meaning they have not in most cases been convicted of a crime. Many people are sitting in jails because they're not

able to pay cash bonds. So I'm just happy to hear that that is your commitment. I'm happy to hear about you talking about trying to really strengthen help with the mental health aspect of things. What I would like to know from you, and I know you've already thought about this, is how do you get to the entrenched culture of anti-reforms that are going to be down, not at your leadership level, but down within the rank and file. That's what we see so often in my civil rights work is that many times people like you with the good heart want to be progressive, but they find it very difficult to get to the rank and file to really do what's necessary to turn that culture from the culture that you don't want it to be. Yeah. First of all, thank you again for the congratulations tomorrow. And please don't sue me to be. Yeah. First of all, thank you again for the congratulations tomorrow. And please don't sue me at any point as I go forward.

But I am a nice person. I am a Christian, a good person. But don't get it twisted. I'm not a pushover. I've had to monitor the police for 17 years and stand toe-to-toe with them, criticize them, and make reforms. So I'm pretty tough. But what we know is that we have to recruit differently.

We have to train differently. And we have to value employees doing something different. So it's not the warrior mentality anymore. We are caregivers in the jail. And we have to get them to understand that. But we have a low morale here because folks here that work in the jail were not paid well, not trained well, not treated well. They didn't have a fair promotion

system, a fair way of making sure that they could, you know, just be incentivized to do better. And so we're changing all that. So we hope that those changes that we're going to make that make it a more fair system for them, that train them better. Again, people love to be trained and love to have tools to do their job. This is what I promised them. And so that's why so many of them voted for me. And that's why so many of them got their families to vote for me, because there's a new day on the horizon for them. One of the main, again, three tenets of my campaign were we take better care of those in custody, we take better care of those who work there, and we listen to

our community. They heard that message. All right, then. Well, certainly good luck in your new endeavor. And again, I'm sure when we roll through New Orleans for Essence, our paths will cross. I got you. I look forward to it. Sheriff Hudson, thanks a lot. Thank you. All right, folks. Got to go to a break. When we come back, more Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. НАПРЯЖЕННАЯ МУЗЫКА We'll be right back. He makes sure that our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Rolla. Be Black. I love y'all. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going.

The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scape. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? I'm Chrisette Michelle. Hi, I'm Chaley Rose, and you're watching

Roland Martin Unfiltered. The Senate has voted to possibly award Emmett Till and Mamie Till Mobley, his mother, with the Congressional Gold Medal. Lawmakers voted unanimously on the bill. Republican Senator Richard Burr sponsored the bill. The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress. It is the highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements

and contributions by individuals or institutions. There's no word when the official ceremony will take place. You know, here's the deal with what's very interesting, DeMario. They will vote unanimously to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till Mobley. But they will not say a word to Senator Rand Paul who blocked the anti-lynching bill. So you're awarding a Congressional Gold Medal

to the late Emmett Till and the late Mamie Till Mobley, but you actually won't pass an anti-lynching bill, and the brother was lynched. You know, Roland, this just reminds me of what we were dealing with here in Tulsa during the centennial for the Tulsa Race Massacre, where they wanted to plant trees, they wanted to put benches out, they wanted to have graffiti art,

but they didn't ever want to cut the check for reparations and to repair the harm for people like my client, Hughes Van Ellis, who turned 101 today. Shout out to Hughes Van Ellis, one of the three living survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre. We're tired of symbolism. You know, I don't know if the Till family asked for this, so I don't want to disparage them if this is something that they wanted. But as a national black folks nationwide, this is a slap in the face. You vote for a symbol of a medal, but you won't vote for the Emmett Till lynching act.

And the fact that we're even having to talk about trying to get a lynching act in 2022 is I'm laughing because it's not funny. It's not a funny laugh. So this symbolism is something that I get. I'm very fed up with. I don't appreciate it. And I think it's just another way to show that these people are not serious about our rights and our dignity. And just so people need to understand something here, Xavier, I just want y'all to see this headline. Senator Burr blocks another black female from 10-year judicial vacancy. That is the Court of Appeals there.

And two eminently qualified African-American women. And Burr was one of the folks who blocked them. So you are, you know, so... And then his was so crazy. One of the black women he blocked was one that he recommended in 2009. So I'm sorry. I'm not impressed, Senator Burr.

Can I just say one other quick thing? I'm sorry. Go ahead, Xavier. I just want to just say quickly that this is just... He would have blocked her in 2009 if it was politically expedient in 2009. What we see now is the racist, the open racist way that the Republicans

are advancing upon this democracy. The way they are putting forth their politics, they've had these policies and the way they approach race and power for a long time. But now they have a seat open window and they're looking at their populace and their base of supporters and saying, maybe convince a certain segment of amount, a certain number of white people to look at it and say, oh, we have the numbers, we're the majority population. And eventually they can convince enough to go along and continue to push their agendas and keep them in power.

So now it's politically expedient for him to turn around and go against a decision that he was for just only a few years ago. So that's what we're seeing rolling right now. And Mustafa, this is from Politifact, where Burr reveled in being responsible for the longest judicial vacancy in history, a seat on the federal district court serving eastern North Carolina. So I'm not interested in Senator Burr and what he did here because when it comes to the real, what's happening today, the non-symbolic things, he actually stands in the way of voting rights. He is supportive of the North Carolina efforts to racial gerrymandering. He has not said anything about what Republicans have done

to block, to stop black folks from voting in that particular state. And by the way, he also was the one who during COVID got those private briefings and then went out and sold stock him and his brother. That's the same Richard Burr. Senator Burr can't change his spots. He's not interested in changing his spots.

You know, they will do the window dressing. Don't get me wrong. You know, a congressional gold medal for, you know, Brother Emmett and his mother is incredibly important because it is a part of history and they need to be honored in that space. But when it comes to systemic change, Senator Burr is not interested in that. And that's what actually changes people's lives. That actually helps people to have access. And they're not interested in that. So, you know, these types of acts, you know, are important. But we have to dig deeper and see how their sets of actions in the past and in the present

either help our lives to be better or continue to hold us in bondage, in a sense. And again, I just want everybody to know there were two black women, Jennifer Mae Parker, as well as Patricia Timmons Goodson, a former North Carolina Supreme Court justice who Richard Burr blocked from being on the federal bench. So, yeah, dude. Roland, can I just jump in right quick? Yeah, go ahead. Because we have MLK holiday coming up,

and this symbolism is something that sickens me each and every year. We have these parades around the country, and we have a very big one here in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and you allow all these corporations and organizations who are racist, discriminatory throughout the whole year, you allow them to come out, participate in these parades, have some type of float and matching uniforms and do some type of dance step,

and they can check the box and look good and they get some symbolism. We have to stop allowing these people who are against us to be able to get over on these symbolism, lack of substance activities like this particular gold medal congressional award. Someone should have said, Richard Burr, you cannot, how can he be the one to sponsor that? That is offensive to me that Richard Burr is the one that sponsors something for Emmett Till when everything he does is to support the degradation that got Emmett killed in the first place. Bump a medal, give us reparations.

Bump a parade and get in our parade. Give us proper education, proper jobs, proper pay and equity, those type of things. Don't allow them to participate in your events. It's just like white politicians coming over to black churches during election season, standing up there, telling some type of story. If they don't have a record and a history of

doing truth, justice, and equity, and what's right for our people, they should be shunned and don't allow them to utilize you as a cover for their racist and anti-black behavior. Well, and that's why I believe what has to happen is we have to have what I call a racial

index. And that is when folks want to buy tables at our events, when you have individuals who want to be on the board of the NAACP or the National Urban League, if they want to come and the board of the NAACP or the National Urban League, if they want to come and do things, okay.

Do you have black board members? Who are your black executives? What businesses are you doing supply diversity with? Are you supporting black-owned media? We will lay it all out. Oh, you're not? Yeah, you can't come and see. That's why when they had that, that's why when we were in Tulsa,

when they had the investment conference, if you will, I was actually mad. See, some folks pulled out. The reason I didn't pull out, because damn, I wanted to speak so bad. Because I wanted to call them out to their face. I wanted to put them on front street as we sat there because all too often,

that's what folks are unwilling to do. And I wanted to ask them in front of everybody, that is, what's your spending? What's your hiring? What's your investment? See, I just think that a lot of times what happens is, and I'm going to pull this up in a second. I'm going to show you what I'm talking about.

See, I think a lot of times what happens, Xavier, is some folk are unwilling to go there. Well, I ain't got a problem. So I'm not one of those folks. And here's a perfect example. Let me go back. Let's see here. Silver. So, here's what I'm talking about.

They had this big black commerce street event in Tulsa that was at the convention center presented by JPMorgan Chase and Company. These were the presenting sponsors nationwide. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of Oklahoma, Combs Enterprises, I think that's P. Diddy, Deloitte Digital, Salesforce, Walmart.org. Here's where the other ones, Bank of Oklahoma,

PepsiCo, Citi, BlackRock, American Express, the American College of Financial Services. And so the only reason I could not speak on the panels because we had to be inside of the bubble where Biden was speaking and there's no way I could have spoken and left there and gotten back

to the cultural center in time. But, oh, I would have challenged them on the spot. No, no, no. Show me your numbers. Banks, what's your lending to African Americans? See, that's the piece. That's how gangster we have to be. And so I dare, if you're an MLK speaker,

do the exact same thing at any event this weekend and next week? You can't take credit for progress of this country that you never partook in. And it seems as if we have too many corporations and too many politicians, particularly on the right, when they know that when a part of the king died, the significant number of people who didn't actually support him when he died. And they're looking to say history is done. Patted themselves on the back.

Good job. There's no more progress that needs to be made so that they can choose, quote unquote, neutral policies to be able to advance upon our rights. And we can't, like my brother said, we can't let them get off the hook with that. And you having an index that they have to be held accountable for. And we need African-Americans,

when you are in a room with these corporations, when you can't go to these different places and kiss butts and be happy to be in the room because you can be out of the room if they choose to. You have to make sure that there to be in the room. Because you can be out of the room if they choose to. You have to make sure that there's equity in the room. You have to speak up and speak truth to power when you're in those rooms. That's right.

And so I want folks, Mustafa, I want them prepared on this weekend, on Monday, when you see corporations and politicians putting out their statements with Dr. King, I want people to question every single one of them. What is your commitment to the things that King stood for? I told y'all Operation Breadbasket was one of the most important initiatives. And so use that as the model to ask them, answer these questions.

Mustafa, go ahead. Yeah, and you can find the information, you know, you walk around with a computer in your pocket or your purse every day. So you can find out, you know, what people's boards look like and to a degree, some of the commitments that they may or may not be making. So that's one part of it, but I'm glad you called out the other part of it is that each and every one of us also have to start to make sure that we're holding our own selves accountable. I put a process in place. When these people ask me to come and speak, my first set of questions are about four or five of those that you just called out.

And if they don't hit it right, I'm not coming because then I'm co-signing on the things that they're doing. And we have to get to that level of actually, you know, it may take a couple dollars out of our pocket, but, you know, we can make sure that we're actually able to look ourselves in the mirror every morning. So we have power unless we give it away. And DeMario, you posted this on Twitter, Uncle Red. Today's his 101st birthday, Hughes Van Ellis.

And so shout out to him. Happy birthday to my dancing buddy at the Tom Jordan Morning Show Cruise, y'all. Before we were in Tulsa, I mean, I saw him. I was like, man, that brother look familiar. I said, wait a minute. That's my man from the cruise. Y'all don't understand. Uncle Red be out there on the dance floor at 2, 3 o'clock in the morning getting it. And so when I saw him, don't let that wheelchair fool you, y'all don't understand. Uncle Red be out there on the dance floor at 2, 3 o'clock in the morning getting it.

And so when I saw him, man, don't let that wheelchair fool you, y'all. Trust me. We on the Joyner Cruise. He's on the dance floor at 2 or 3. Before five women surrounding Uncle Red, he always rolling deep. But he's always having a good time. And so definitely let him know tomorrow that I said happy birthday on this day. Oh, I will.

I will. He told me to tell you hello. The whole family told me to tell you hello. And, Roland, like you said, he went on a cruise earlier a couple months ago. He just got back from West Africa. He spent Christmas in Detroit and Atlanta. The guy has never stopped. He's never stopping for justice.

He told me to tell the nation that he's 101 years old. He's waited over 100 years for justice for what happened to he and his family and community here in Tulsa. And he wants to see justice and reparations for Greenwood. He wants it now, and he wants to be able to move forward with this case. So

he's going to be real happy when he sees this video, Roland, because you know he's a big fan of yours. Indeed. As a matter of fact, I'm going to find a happy when he sees this video, Roland, because you know he's a big fan of yours. Indeed. As a matter of fact, I'm going to find a video of him dancing on the cruise, and I'm going to show it on the show tomorrow. So I'm going to go through my archives and find that. Y'all, real quick, before I go to a break and we go to our Black-owned business segment sponsored by Verizon, the name of the off-duty officer accused of killing an unarmed man in North Carolina has been released. The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office identified the deputy as Jeffrey Hash. Hash shot and killed 37-year-old Jason Walker after he alleged that Walker ran into traffic

and jumped on the moving vehicle that the sheriff's deputy was driving. Hash is on paid administrative leave. On the second day of protests, Fayetteville City Council voted to ask the Department of Justice to become involved in the case. And so we're gonna continue to follow that, see what happens next. All right, folks, gotta go to a break.

When we come back, we'll talk with the owner of a black virtual mall. That's right, in our Market to Play segment brought to you by Verizon. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. ДИНАМИЧНАЯ МУЗЫКА Nettopp You know how some carriers give you so little for your old or busted phone you just end up living with it? I don't think so. Verizon lets you trade in your broken phone for a shiny new one.

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better costs less than you think. Alright folks, the pandemic shut down plenty of businesses and black businesses were especially hit with 40% of them closing business. So a futurist and serial entrepreneur took notice and created the concept of a black virtual mall. Joining us now is the founder of the black virtual mall, Alquintia Selawane from Brooklyn, New York.

How you doing? Fantastic. I'm so honored to be here. Thank you. All right. So let's talk about this virtual mall. Exactly what is it? So it is what, you know, most marketplaces are, except in my opinion, it's definitely

the future of marketplaces and where we need to go to be a little bit more immersive so that the customers have a better experience and the businesses are able to stand out a lot more. All right. And so how does it work? How many businesses are in your virtual mall? So as of now, we have 300 black owned businesses and we have different levels of businesses from kiosk, from your artisans and your newer businesses to storefronts. We also have premium stores, food courts as well.

So we're covering just about every spectrum of business. All right. Now what's the, how can people access the virtual mall? So it's really simple. You go right to the blackvirtualmall.com. It's best use from your experience, I mean, from your laptop, best experience from your laptop.

And so that's it. It's very intuitive. As soon as you get there, you'll see the virtual environment. You just click the screen, and the navigation is that simple. Everything is just very intuitive. Click. You'll see the virtual environment. You just click the screen, and the navigation is that simple. Everything is just very intuitive. Click. You'll see the signage everywhere, and then you're able to go and see the booths that we have with all of the branding from the different businesses. You can click onto the booths and actually access them that way, or there's a navigation panel right there below.

All right. So I am – all right. So, y'all, I want y'all to come back to me and I want you to go to my iPad. So I see this right here, so I'm going to tap that, and then it's going to take me in. So I have, so obviously that's a video that explains what the mall is. And so let me go through here. So you see the top up here, folks. Let me increase it. You see browse each floor, shop by category, apply for space,

food court, movie theater, meet our merchants, lounge, lobby, information desk, all those things that you will see in a mall. Okay, alright. So let's go to the movie theater auditorium. Click here to enjoy free entertaining and educational content. So we click that. And

all right. So if you want to watch these things, so basically you're able to buy these items, buy something to watch. These are actually free items. So I offer some courses that I have. You can watch the course for free, but this one in particular, if you wanted to download the ebook for the course, you'd be able to buy that, but you can see the course for free, but this one in particular, if you wanted to download the e-book for the course, you'd be able to buy that. But you can see the course completely for free. Got it. Okay, cool. So we hit play.

So let's say we go back. All right. Let's just do this here. Okay. All right. So let's go to the food court. All right. Let's see here.

Say it again. This is one of the favorites. The food court actually gets so much traffic. One of my favorites is at the top to the left. So if you click there, if you go back right to the top to the left, there's We Shucking and Jiving. And what I like that we do here differently is you're able to, if you have a video or a promo,

you're able to greet your customer in a way that you typically don't get to in any other platform. So if you click that video right there, she has a promo video, so you can get a sense of who she is. All right, so let's do that. Hold on one second. Audio, guys. I won't shockin' it down. I won't shockin' it down. I won't shockin' it down. I won't shockin' it down. I won't shockin' it down. I won't shockin' it down. Well, I know I got what you want.

I know you like that giant shrimp. I'm starting fishing them peachy grits. My granddaddy make you have a fit. I try to give you all of my best. I do it straight from the heart. Cook it straight from the soul. Right on! I'm gonna shuck it down. Ooh, that's what it is, what it is. That's what it is. Come on down and shuck it down. In case you're food with an old school groove.

Our design is to get your taste palette back in line. Baby, follow us at We Shuck. All right, then. All right. I thought that was so important because at the end of the day, you know how we are. We are so welcoming. We're so creative. And I just think that that's a really good way for you to get a sense of the business, the personality. And if

you click onto any of the signage on there where it's Uber Eats or Grubhub, the food will be delivered right to you. So you can literally come to the mall, grab a bite to eat, watch content, and shop just like you would normally. So you have, so like I said, for the restaurants, these are restaurants that are different parts of the country. Yes, yes. And so you'll see SFDC and we're adding another floor too. So we're really looking for Black-owned restaurants.

So if you're watching, please email us at or go to jointheblackvirtualmall.com so we can cover all the nation. Questions from our panelists. Mazavia had to go. Mustafa, go.

Quincy, you know, this is really amazing what you got going on. I'm curious, and I'm into technology. Will you be eventually moving to the metaverse in the whole crypto world that so many folks are now paying attention to? Well, I'm happy for all of the awareness to virtual reality that Averse has brought forth. But my focus right now is actually putting video into virtual reality. So a lot of those things are very futuristic. And as you know, they require equipment like Oculus glasses and things like that, which are expensive. You know, that's a $300 piece of equipment.

I wanted to create something where all of my users can use. It's very simple. There's no additional equipment needed or anything. And as we move forward, if they are to extend those glasses out to the world or, you know, they make it more affordable, then, yeah, I would focus on that. But right now, my main goal is hitting my target audience, which largely can't afford $300 Oculus glasses, you know, so. Well, trust me, folk been trying to get me to take crypto. I'm like, no, I like cash. DeMario.

Man, that was absolutely impressive. I am really impressed with that. I don't really have a question. Just, I just, I just, I want to impressed with that. I don't really have a question. I just want to get more information. I just think that was just one of the dopest things I've seen. And the way that you can go and say shuck in a job. Like, I'm a vegan, as everybody knows on the show. But I was just so impressed by you could go there, press the button, see the video.

It was such a great commercial. Very professional. Congratulations. I mean, how did you come up with it? Are you a technical background? Is that your background? And do you do other projects besides this, obviously, important labor of love?

Right, thank you. So I actually do have an app development company. I'm not techie techie, as most people. I'm really more, my background is in customer service. My background is really into psychology and consumer behavior. So what I like to do is, you know, take the tech approach, but still make it as user friendly. Because a lot of times we get so specced out and teched out on spec, you forget that it's for everyday users to enjoy. So I wanted to give us that virtual environment,

but we already know that's relative. And so, yes, I do have first generation app development company, and those are DIY apps specifically for businesses. And I am creating now the Black Virtual Convention Center. And that will be a space where you can rent out for 10 days and host your virtual conference. So you'll have an auditorium. You'll have a vendor hall if you want to have vendors come out. You'll also have a private lounge. You'll have everything that you need to have an extraordinary conference, including replay days and a concession stand.

So you'll actually be able to have vendors at your virtual conference that serve food, just like in the food court, and have a full-blown virtual experience. All right. And that launch is in March. All right, then. Well, certainly congratulations

on the launch of your virtual mall. It's a great idea. And folks, go check out theblackvirtualmall.com. Thanks a lot. Thank you. All right, then. Top of the show, we started talking about the speeches today by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris today in Georgia

when it comes to voting rights. We're going to close the show out with this here. And so, Mustafa and Demario, again, what do you think are the next... Okay, Demario just left? Okay, Mustafa, you get to close it out then. Mustafa, what do you think are the next steps? The president

is going to have to continue to engage with folks and highlight, you know, why and how these issues are so important. I think, again, we're going to have to also make sure that those business leaders who say that they stand with the president, that they're also leveraging power, and then each and every one of us. And as we said before, it is going to take a multiracial set of folks actually reaching out and putting pressure on those

Democrats to do the right thing. And then we'll still have work to do even after that. All right, then. Well, look, folks, that's it for us. We certainly appreciate all of you for watching today's show. We want you to support what we do. Please download our Black Star Network app. Of course, you can Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Roku TV. Of course, again, Apple phone, Android phone, Roku TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV, all the good stuff. If you want to support what we do, please join our Bring the Funk fan club.

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Rolling is martin.com. And so we'll close it out with these cool Air Force Ones. I got these at the YouTube Black concert in Atlanta where they customized those for me. And that's the one of a kind. That's it. Only one pair exists. Maybe I'll auction them one day. All right, folks, I'll see y'all tomorrow

right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Holla! 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.

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