#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Biden: Senate won't pass HR 40; NFL drops 'race-norming'; Ohio vets cut mic on Memorial Day speech

Episode Date: June 4, 2021

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coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered. The attorney representing former players in the NFL's landmark concussion settlement is apologizing, saying that he didn't recognize the scope of this problem of race norming. Hmm. We'll be joined by Lacey Leonard, wife of former defensive tackle Lewis Leonard.

Well, they're the ones who sued the NFL and forced them to change that policy in their $1 billion concussion settlement. Four Directions' native voice has joined Fair Count in the fight for voting rights. We'll talk with Four Directions founder O.J. Siemens about the importance of the Native American vote. South Carolina State Senator Mia McLeod is making history as the first black woman to run for governor of that state. She joins us today on

the show. Plus, President Joe Biden offers little hope for the passage of H.R. 40, saying that it's not going to pass in the United States Senate because they only have 50 Democrats. And in Ohio, Memorial Day event, organizers cut the mic of a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel when he tried to address the role that black people played in the role of the holiday. Yeah, they cut the mic. And we remember the life of an esteemed documentary editor,

Louis Erskine, who passed away at the age of 64 of cancer. It's time to bring the funk on Roller Martin Unfiltered. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the biz, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling.

Best belief he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling It's Uncle Roro, y'all It's rolling Martin Rolling with Roland now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best.

You know he's Roland Martin now. Martin. Folks, President Joe Biden, when he went to Tulsa, he talked about the Tulsa race massacre and what happened. Walking through the history, also noting he was the first president to do so. Also there, members of Congress, CBC members, who have been pushing H.R. 40, which is a bill that would study the impact of slavery, potentially leading to reparations. Yet privately, he has told folks at the Senate the votes simply are not there.

I've been saying forever that I don't trust white folks are going to vote for reparations. They want to be a vote to study H.R. 40. Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, who runs the width count in the House, told us we could go today. They did not have the vote. So the question is, what is the path forward for HR 40? Let's go to my panel. Dr. Greg Carr, Chair, Department of Afro-American Studies at Howard University.

Risa Colbert, Black Women in View. Glad to have both of you on the show. Later, we'll be joined by Amisha Cross, Democratic Strategist. Greg, I'll start with you. You have been very much involved within COBRA, efforts to get reparations. I have said consistently, you got to have votes. Clyburn says they don't have the 218 in the House. Biden is saying even if they get the 218 in the House, Senate votes are not there. What's next? What happens? What should happen?

It's really not that difficult, Rowan. It is and it isn't. It's a matter of political will. No one is accusing the Congress of courage. Well, that's not true. I think the white nationalist party has screwed up all the courage it can with its bird chest to support white nationalism. But as far as Democrats are concerned, there are not many profiles in courage. But it's fairly straightforward. As you said, HR 40, since Congressman John Conyers

has introduced it years ago, been introduced to almost every every session it's finally there it doesn't have the co-sponsors yet but we're hopeful that it will get the co-sponsors but but that that's that's really one track the other track is simply to appoint a presidential commission and quite frankly i think that's what some folk have already begun to do i think there are some academics sandy darity being one of them that comes immediately to mind, who are quietly lobbying the Biden administration because everything that is called for in H.R. 40 could be done by executive order. And quite frankly, that's what I expect to happen. And I think politically, that is a strategy that's not only not off the table, I think very quietly that would probably be the most effective way to move forward at this point.

So with that, Recy, again, when you map out what a strategy is, and that is this here, OK, the House still has to vote. Representative Steny Hoyer has talked about, he said they were going to bring it to the floor. Now, even he's sort of mentioning something at the presidential level, which means the votes are not there in the House. Okay. Right. Let's say the 218 votes were there in the House. The votes are not there in the Senate, which means that those who want it have got to be pushing aggressively to President Biden, create fits by executive order. So, again, you know, I get people who are sitting here who tweet me, cut the damn check,

and I'm like, well, idiot, you can't cut the check because any appropriation has to be done by Congress. And again, how are you going to get the votes? Okay? And so, so do you believe that the attempt should be made to vote in the House? Because here's the deal. If you're Clyburn or Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee,

do you want to bring up H.R. 40 in the House doing full well? You don't have the 218 because you risk losing. Well, I mean, as Dr. Carr pointed out, it gets introduced every single session. It never gets to a House floor vote, so... Well, remember, it got introduced. It never gets to a House floor vote. Well, remember, it got introduced. It didn't even get a committee vote.

This, at least, has been voted out of committee, hasn't been brought to the floor yet. So this is the furthest it has ever gotten. Right, and I don't think that the Democratic Party wants to, you know, basically flat-out admit that they're unserious about reparations. I mean, this is the conversation that's been going on for years now.

It was actually pretty prominent in the presidential primary. And so they're going to continue to kind of deflect. And their political reality is they do not have the votes. There is no political will to get the votes in the Congress. I mean, it's getting more and more co-sponsors each session. So there is some small progress there. But the reality is that there is absolutely

no interest whatsoever in the Senate to take upon this study. It's just a commission. It's not like a check is going to be cut directly from the commission. So I agree with Dr. Carr's point. President Biden could appoint a presidential commission to have to study this issue. He could choose to study this issue in any number of the executive agencies, and or they could form a task force, or any number of things can be done at the executive level. I don't know if President Biden is that guy. He didn't run on reparations. And I think he has limits to what he's willing to do to court the Black vote. I'm just being honest here. And so I think that he can be pressured to do something on a small scale, maybe a commission, maybe a commission,

but I think it's going to take a lot of pressure and it's going to take a lot of, at some point, the administration and y'all know I'm team, you know, VP Harris, but she's not the president. And so at some point, President Biden is going to have to be forced, his hand's going to have to be forced to do something by executive order on this. It's not going to go away. You're not going to be able to appease a large swath of the Black community by just saying the votes aren't there. The votes aren't going to be there for a lot of shit. So what can you do by executive order? What can you do with your executive power? But another tack that I would say is that the next steps are really what we're seeing in the state of California. The state of California passed a commission legislation last year. That was something ISQ took credit for,

even though other people were working on that for quite a long time. Gavin Newsom has actually started to bring that panel together, that commission together, probably because he's up for recall. And then I think it was a couple of weeks ago where you had someone on here who successfully got a commission of some sort in their city. Also, you have colleges, you have different organizations that are starting to look into these things. So there are things that can be done outside of the federal level. There are things that can be done at every level, whether it's holding different organizations accountable, universities, companies, corporations, hell, families that had owned slaves, all kinds of stuff. I think that we have to kind of look beyond just simply looking for Congress for leadership on this because there

is none there. I shouldn't say there is none. There's leadership there, particularly from the CBC, but leadership and results don't always go hand in hand unfortunately. See, Greg, it's interesting. I love these people out here who say, Roland, you called reparations a pipe dream a decade ago. You know why I said that? I had no faith that white people were going to vote

on it. I didn't. I had absolutely no faith. And I still don't have any faith in white people actually being honest about reparations. And matter of fact, we'll get to the story a little bit later in the show where the white folks in Ohio cut the damn microphone of a white retired lieutenant colonel

who was just only stating actual history on the creation of Memorial Day. But that's a little bit later. But here are facts. Here are facts, Greg. 69% of the people who voted in the last election were white. 69%. 85% of Donald Trump's voters were white. 61% of the people who voted for Joe Biden were white.

So what you're dealing with, you have about 30-some-odd Democrats who are not from black districts. They are representing people who ain't black. That's really what you're dealing with. And then for the people who are yelling, this is why we got to vote for both parties, okay, show me one Republican, one who's actually going to vote for H.R. 40. I don't know about y'all. I ain't seen one, not even a black one. It is too black. One from Utah, Burgess Owens, dude from Florida.

Hell, I don't even know his name. Okay? And hell, we know Tim Scott ain't gonna vote for anything, ain't gonna vote for this at all, because hell, he couldn't even vote to confirm Kristen Clark. So we know where that's going. And so this is what we're now faced with.

And for everybody who keeps saying they got the black vote, they also got the white vote. And that's what you're dealing with. That's true, Roland. I mean, Recy laid it out. I think there will be more done at the state and local level. The

Evanston and the sister you had on from Evanston and Cobra has been working very closely with her to get some attempt at giving some financial support for home ownership. It's a form of reparations. It certainly isn't reparations writ large, but that's really beside the point. I think the deeper point is this. The reparations struggle in this country is really about America. It's not about black people. I don't have any expectations of this settler colony, current state, and I don't have any expectations of it because I understand it.

What we're seeing right now, and it's uncomfortable for people to hear, and they often hear it and then kind of pass it away, but this country is on, it's entering its final stages. It may take 100 years, it may take 50 years, but what we're seeing here is probably the last chance this country has to hold together in its current form. You know, Joe Biden, for example, suspended the drilling licenses in the Arctic. At the same time, Financial Times just reported today that the G7 countries together spent $190 billion in fossil fuel aid during this pandemic. What's going on locally in this country is really an inward turning battle over who is going to control the levels of power in a world that has already passed America by.

What does that have to do with reparations? Reparations isn't just about cut the check. Reparations isn't just about financial compensation or redressing. Reparations raises an essential question. Is this going to be a country or is it going to eat itself? And quite frankly, all the signs point to it eating itself. So no, I mean, Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, sure, they're a problem. But then so is Karine Jean-Pierre, when she says at a press conference yesterday when Biden's on his way to Tulsa, oh, yeah, the president supports the study, but he's more concerned with dealing with systematic racism

as it exists right now. Okay, sis, let's be very clear. That type of statement is, is, is, is absurd. It doesn't even make sense. But understand what you're doing. Reasy just said it. This is politics. Politicians aren't courageous leaders and heroes. is-is-is-is absurd. It doesn't even make sense. But understand what you're doing. Reezy just said it. This is politics.

Politicians aren't courageous leaders and heroes. And so, you know, yes, let us... First of all, let us continue to push, okay? And if we can get it to the floor, vote. Why? Because whether it passes or not, this is the litmus test. Right. Be on record. Be on the record, because see what these white boys

and their mascots like Senator Scott have decided, they're going to die on this hill. But what they don't understand is they're going to die on this hill. And I think they don't think, they seem to believe in something that doesn't exist. That something is a nation called the United States of America. The reparations test isn't a test of black. It's a test of whether there's going to be a country or not, because we ain't going to just die. You understand? And the demographics are trending against them.

Well, we'll talk more about it, Roland, because it sounds like every story you got tonight is more and more evidence of why reparations, it would be a better bet to invest in reparations than it would be to say no, because if you don't, we've already crossed the line where we say we're not going to take this anymore. This is why what I keep saying

Recy and I've been saying it consistently now for 12 years, when I drop this book next year, it's going to really explain it. We're dealing with white fear. We're dealing with white fear not just from conservatives. We're dealing with white fear. We're dealing with white fear not just from conservatives. We're dealing with white fear from liberals, white fear from Republicans, white fear from

Democrats. We're dealing with people, some who are overt and some who are covert. January 6th was all about white supremacy, white nationalism, and white fear. That was no different from the Reconstruction period in Wilmington and the 100 race massacres that took place all over the country. This is what we are seeing. What we are now dealing with, and we're going to deal with it next in the NFL story, what we're dealing with, Recy, is white folks not being able to handle that. That's why when Greg talked about settler colony, they cannot handle with now with the redefinition of what it means to be an American.

They can't handle that. We now get to actually say what an American is, what a patriot is. We now get to have a say in it. And what's killing them is they have been able to define America through their white prism all of these years. And now it's like, damn, now they got to say so. That's why the voter suppression thing is there, because they are trying to stop what is happening. And they're trying to stop it because their children are sleeping with us and marrying us. They're trying to stop it because now their kids are learning history and not his story. And they're just sitting here going mad like, what? Oh, my God, what can we do? Because an invasion is going on. It's an invasion against

stupidity. That's what it is. Yeah, but I think that we have to realize that this is their last throws. They're throwing everything Oh yes! It's in sync to maintain power. And they're going to fight hard! Yes!

Remember, we had a civil war. Right. The battle lines have been drawn. You are on the side of white supremacy all in. And I'm not going to say there is a side that isn't all white supremacy, because let's be honest, this country is a white nationalist

country. Let's just be honest about that. There's white nationalism that allows us to have a little something-something, and then there's white nationalism that says, hell, no, y'all Edwards can't have a damn thing. Okay, so that's kind of really the spectrum that we're really all operating under, because we can't get that much progress. I mean, we haven't made that much progress

by any metric. If you just look at the economic progress, if you look at the wealth gap, if you look at the health disparities, a number of things, education, and let's not even talk about criminal justice. We haven't made a lot of progress in there. But the balance has been drawn,

and when you have somebody like a Joe Manchin and a Kyrsten Sinema saying that they don't want to break democracy by getting rid of the filibuster, what they're saying is they don't want to break the way democracy works for the white minority rule that's coming. They want to maintain that white power works for the white minority rule that's coming. They want to maintain that white power.

That is their allegiance, first and foremost. So what we have to do is we have to realize that white folks, white nationalists are not going to have a crisis of conscience. It's not going to happen. And so what we have to do is to be more strategic. When we're talking about reparations, are we talking about cut the check or are we talking about repair? Because if we're talking about repair, if we're talking about restoration, then we can be strategic about that. We can support strategic policies that get us closer to there. If you look at what just happened with the American Rescue Plan and the effects on child poverty, that has a disproportionate impact for the Black community.

When you talk about closing the home ownership gap, that has a disproportionate effect on our community. And so what we have to do is we have to move away strategically. I understand on an emotional level, I understand on a moral level why people want to say Black and nothing else, Black and nobody else. But on a strategic level, we people want to say black and nothing else, black and nobody else. But on a strategic level, we have to identify the areas in which we are hurting the most and support not only just the politicians, but the policies and get educated on those,

on how we close that gap. Because it's never going to be a time where, first of all, the Supreme Court has already put to bed any kind of federal strict racial quotas. As close as you get is the Alaska Natives. If you look at all of the, you know, the government federal contracting and things like that, that's a very specific group that's called out. Black folks, not so much. So we have to realize the political reality and get smart and get strategic and push for those things that help get us closer. What Joe Biden, what President Biden laid out were things that get us closer.

It's not repair in total, but it gets us closer to what we need. Now, we could go further. We could have Black and nobody else. But when we do that, that gets us nothing because that's not possible. But what we got to do is we just have to get a little bit smarter about the specific things that we push for and we can identify that don't necessarily have black in front of it. Because if we're waiting for that black, we ain't gonna be waiting a long ass time. It's already been 400 years and we're gonna be waiting a whole nother 400 years.

So let's get what we can right now. You got a trillion, over a trillion dollar infrastructure plan that's talking about climate change. We need some environmental justice in that. Every aspect, we need to get in on that and we need to find out how we can direct that money towards our community and how we can bookmark it and airmark it in a way that still passes the racial muster

from the Supreme Court and government challenges, but we still get ours in the end. Well, look, I spent a lot of time today dealing with dumbasses mad that Reverend Barber was singing a song with the survivors and they were like, oh, what y'all doing? Y'all shouldn't be doing this. Cut the check. I'm like, fool, the survivors asked him to sing the song. That's why we just got to understand. And also, I keep busting bots. I keep telling y'all, when y'all see people with a name and then by eight numbers behind their name, and then you click their bio and they open their account in April, 2021, and they have five to

eight followers, that's a troll farm that's stirring up dissension among black people. I keep warning y'all, the troll farms, Russia out there, they know how to push the racial buttons. And so these troll farms are sitting here slamming Biden, slamming Democrats, black folks on the plantation. All you got to do is check the bots. And I said, y'all might want to get better with your algorithm, because see, if you keep sending names

with a black picture and there are about eight numbers behind your name, and again, you got eight followers and you open your account April 2021, your ass not real. You're a bot. But again, understand what's going on there. Folks, we talk about, again, how we deal with race. We told you yesterday

how the NFL announced they're going to stop using the practice of race norming. The method the league used to determine the compensation for head injuries the players got on the field. You may say, what is race norming? Well, my next guest is going to explain it.

Lacey Leonard, who is fighting the NFL concussion payout protocol, has a personal interest in this. Her husband, Lewis, is a former NFL player. They are the ones who went after the NFL and said, how dare you set up a standard that's different from black players than for white players? They join us right now. Folks, how y'all doing? Hi, how are you doing, Roland? Doing great.

So for the people who don't know, who don't understand why this was such a big deal, just ahead and explain uh what y'all have been dealing with with this race norming you're gonna go first so uh the reason why it's a big deal first and foremost is that we all know that the nfl is made up of about 70 african-american males so to have a standard currently that, well, up until yesterday, right before this story broke, have a standard in place that was set that African-American retired players were given a different test than former retired white players, in order to not necessarily have to pay players,

the money that has been set aside for concussion was alarming because so many families have been fighting for years. This isn't something that's just happened recently. There's been a lot of families who have been fighting for years to receive their NFL concussion benefits. And many were just denied right out from the gate. Almost more than half probably were denied from the beginning. In our particular case, my husband, he actually had received an approval. His NFL concussion settlement had received an approval. And then lo and behold, we had received information

that they were going to audit his approval. They went through an audit for several months and came back with no adverse findings. Now, if you know anything about football, you can imagine that the length of these men's medical records are ridiculous. My husband has probably one of the largest medical records that most doctors have ever heard about. When people see him and they look through the medical report, they're just kind of astounded by how much medical information that has been presented over the years with his history. And to get diagnosed and for a doctor to say, two doctors, neurologists to say, yes, you know, we believe that this particular player is showing signs of early dementia. And then the NFL goes through an audit and find no adverse findings in this audit and then wait until the very last day that they could to appeal their NFL administrator that was supposed to be neutral.

And then tell us, you know, we have reversed his approval and we made an erroneous mistake is what they put in his report. And, you know, unfortunately, your approval was denied. It's a slap in the face because my husband sacrificed not only his body physically and mentally. My husband played his entire career with broken wrists and, you know, being given toward all shots and things that have affected his kidneys. And I mean, his livelihood has forever been changed. And then to get to the point where they make you jump through all these loops just for benefits that they say is set aside for for retired players who are eligible,

and then to have the doctor say, yes, this person has substantial claim and medical report and MRI and testing that supports this evidence, for them to turn around and say, well, you know what? There are some things that we didn't provide in the test. So therefore, we made a mistake.

And so my question to the NFL is, well, why has there been any type of different standards of tests for the black players and the white players? I can only assume that this is a form of systemic racism because I'm sure if the NFL would be forthcoming with who has actually received benefits for this particular claim. And look at the doctors, because a lot of us, there's only certain doctors, let's be clear, there's only certain doctors that they will even allow you to see. It'd be interesting to see how many of the black players that went to some of these same doctors and the white players that went to some of these same doctors have been

approved. However, because the NFL is a private industry, they don't have to share that information. And as of yet, they have not. It literally was only until yesterday, right before ABC decided to break this case, that they put out a statement. You know what? We've made a mistake. At first, we didn't think that. We thought it was a few cases here and there, but we realized that there might be a problem. Really? They have no idea what my husband goes through every day.

This is not a thing that just he goes through. This is a thing that I go through. This is a thing that our children go through. It has affected our entire family. And so to see them just kind of try to brush it under the rug, like it was a mistake, we'll fix it. I think that especially the black community should be outraged.

We dominate. We dominate the NFL. Those are your brothers, your fathers, your big brothers and cousins that are out there on the football field. You know, when they're out there, it's not a black or white thing. And it shouldn't be. It's about a team. It's about a championship.

The fact that they have literally been getting away with this until someone said, you know what? I need to speak up. This isn't right. That is why we're here. That is why it's important. That is why we're here. That is why it's important. That is why we're so passionate. They've already reversed our approval. So we don't know if they'll come back and say, you know what, Mr. Leonard, we are sorry.

But maybe for the younger rookies and the younger players that are currently in the league, this is why we're standing in the gap. Because we don't want what's happened to us and what i've seen happen to my husband to happen to anyone else lewis uh this is the nfl this is the story on the nfl.com uh folks go to my computer the nfl noted that the norms were developed in medicine quote to stop bias in testing not perpetrated uh both seager and the league said the practice was never mandatory but left to the discretion of doctors taking part in the settlement program. What was also interesting is that the lawyer representing the players stated that he saw no racial discrimination in the settlement claims,

and he had to apologize for his comments. Lewis, I mean, my God, this is supposed to be the damn attorney representing the players sounding more like the NFL attorney. Exactly. Exactly. That is true. That is true. And there's so much fraud behind it.

But, I mean, it's sad because when I look at this, I have to look at my brothers who I went to war with, whether they're white or they're black. And I look at a lot of them who has dealt with mental issues, a lot of them who I feel is worse off than me. Some of them who I know has, you know, has called me in within the last week telling me how, you know, they don't know why they want to be away from their family or they don't know why they feel like don't nobody want them around. So it hits home when you look at a situation like that and you look at these attorneys and you try to trust them and you try to, you know you try to you try to you know

um you know you just try to confide in what they're doing and then you find out that they stabbed me in your back and that's really what it is um i know your brother your boy c uh uh chris sigel um he talks about how, well, I guess he said it was an apology. I didn't take it as an apology because he admitted that he knew about it, that it was racism. I mean, that it was race normally in the beginning, but he thought it was only

a case-by-case situation. Okay. Well, if you knew that, then why you didn't stop it then? But not until we bring light to it that you try to backtrack and get out in front of it and then want to tell us that, hey, I still want to defend you. I want to make it right.

I think it's BS. I truly do. Lacey, if it wasn't for the wives, this wouldn't be an issue. I'm not diminishing the players, but the reality is you and other wives are having to deal with the after effects of what your husband and other players are facing. You're the ones having to deal with the dealing with the mood swings, the changes and being in essence, the caretakers of these men. And when you mention, you know, these younger players, I think about when these contract negotiations come up for collective bargaining.

And a lot of players are only thinking about themselves in the now, but not thinking about 20, 30, 40 years from now. And a lot of older players have been highly critical of younger players not understanding their plight. Right. I mean, honestly, Roland, when we look back and think about when we were in our 20s over 10-plus years ago, I don't even think we would have been thinking that. We would have never thought about what we're going

through now the neurocognitive impairment we would have it wasn't something that we had even heard about it wasn't really talked about you know 15 years ago people were not talking about the ramifications not to say that it wasn't happening but we weren't really aware of it and for a lot of the younger players i I understand it. They're young. They're not thinking about 10 years from now. You know, the average NFL player only plays, I believe, what, three years, maybe four years. So these young men, they're not thinking about what life will be for them in the next 10 years or the next 20 years. And they, we have to be transparent. It's important for us to be transparent. Louis and I, um, you know, we are one of those NFL couples that came out.

I think they said most NFL marriages probably ended in divorce about maybe about 80% of marriages in the NFL ended in divorce within the first two years. That was my husband and I. We were college sweethearts, been together all through college, all throughout his entire NFL career. And then within the first two years of, you know, transitioning from life after the NFL, we found ourselves in a divorce and went through a divorce. And, you know, he was dealing, and back then, and it's like I understand it now that I'm closer to 40,

but back then I just thought that, you know, oh just being sporadic he's doing this he's doing that and not understanding all everything that he was even emotionally dealing with in his in here with just that transition and then you start thinking about in the NFL they give these guys you know all these total shots and they're not thinking about these guys' internal organs and, you know, being 30-something years old, having, you know, kidney disease or all the things that come with what they've set these guys up for. They've set them up to just play. They have not set them up to live after football once it's over.

And I'm not talking on a financial aspect, but even on an emotional aspect. Mental health is so big. And it wasn't until me and my husband got to going through what we're experiencing that we realized how important mental health is. I mean, it's really increased our awareness of how important it is and also tapping into the resources that are available, but then also wanting to turn around and give back. You know, Lewis and I have been for the last year, you know, really intentional about how can we help

other players, retired players and their families, so they don't deal with what we've had to deal with. They don't have to go through what we went through with the divorce and, you know, breaking up the Black family. There's so many broken homes as it is, but when that's all you know, and you don't have anyone trying to help you

direct through that, then it just continues to, you know, generational curses just continue to go. You know, and I thank God, you know, Lewis and I have been to go, you know, and I thank God, you know, Lewis and I have been able to restore our marriage. And then even to just right now, we're working on a behavior, opening up a behavioral health facility specifically for retired players to come in and get the resources and the, the, the mental health check-ins that they need and the support that they need, because honestly, Roland, a lot of people cannot relate to what these guys go through. Lewis and I have been to meetings with other players

where they have said they have just wanted to end it all. You know, right there on the, just, I want to end it all. And you sit there and you think, wow, some of these players are people you've seen win Super Bowls or, you know, they might have massive amounts of money. But if you're not happy internally or even mentally, look how damaging that is. We just saw a young man kill himself,

but not only did the NFL player kill himself, he killed a doctor, he killed the doctor's wife, grandkids, children. So mental health is such a big deal. And imagine knowing that you have all these issues with neurocognitive decline and depression and mood disorder. And you constantly hear all these doctors tell you all these things wrong with you. And then you get in front of the people that says, you know, we're going to help you.

And, you know, this is a brotherhood. And then they slap you in the face and say, oh, wait, you didn't we didn't administer this part of the test. So we're going to go ahead and reverse that. So what part is it? Is it the black part? Is it because you didn't include the black part? Or what exactly is it? And that's the part that is just hurtful. It's so hurtful.

And it's sad that in 2021, black folks, us, we're still sitting here going through this. We're still going through this. Lewis, obviously for a lot of players, when the cheering stops, it's a whole different world. How often are you communicating with your former NFL brothers about what y'all are dealing with? And this question is often asked. Do you regret putting those pads on? your former NFL brothers about what y'all are dealing with. And this question is often asked,

do you regret putting those pads on? I don't regret it. I don't because it has helped me to experience some things that I know that I would have never experienced. It helped me to escape some things that I know that I never would have been able to escape. It has helped me to live a life for providing for my family.

But also, with all that, you go to war, as somewhat as we look at it, you go to war on the football field, and you do all you can do for these organizations. And the thing about it is you're so happy to get into the league, and once you get in, you realize how political, how cutthroat, how just whatever other word I can use, but it's not a good – once you win it, it's – a lot of, but it's not a good... Once you win it,

it's... A lot of people say it's harder. Well, it's harder to be... It's harder to stay in the NFL than it is to get there. And the reason being is because you got to put your body through so much. Right?

And I'm not crying from that. I'm not sad from that. It's just what we do. But once we're done and you go and you have, you know, you're dealing with issues, and I think I probably dealt with, before I even found out about that I was dealing with depression, anxiety, and other things, I probably went for about five, six, seven years before I had any clue of why I was feeling the way that I was feeling. And to tell you the truth, six, seven years before I had any clue of why

I was feeling the way that I was feeling. And tell you the truth, Roland, like, even before I got done with the league, I was feeling things that was taking place in my mind and just how I felt. You know, I didn't even realize that I was going through depression even when I was in the league. You know, sitting on the bench and realizing that I really don't even want to be here. But then I realized how many times I had concussions

or how many times I blacked out and went back in the game or how many times I blacked out and stayed in the game or how many times I went home and had headaches where my head, the room is spinning and I'm just kind of dealing with it. And then I show back up the next day, like nothing's going on. Or like you say, even once you of dealing with it. And then I show back up the next day like nothing's going on.

Or like you say, even once you're done with it, we really don't talk about it. Teammates and some of the guys that I deal with, we really don't talk about what we deal with unless it like comes up and we just, you know, somehow we just kind of touch on it a little bit. But when I first got done, I didn't talk to nobody about nothing. But I think once we started to gain awareness about other people talking about it, then it made it a little bit more comfortable for us to come out and talk about it a little

more. But still today today i know that i just throw dirt over things you know i don't i don't i don't come out and express my stuff as much as i should um and i hate it i hate it tell you the truth i didn't want to be on this call today i've been in my room all day um laid up because i mean it's just what I deal with, you know, and although I didn't want to be on this call, I got a wife here that tries to get me up and try to hold me accountable and try to do things to help me to just live a quality life. And I trust in her for that. But it's hard because I know it's a lot of guys out there struggling. But to now, and I'll tell you the truth, I got my phone ringing,

and a lot of my guys who played, they had no clue about race norming. I didn't have no clue about it when I was sitting here with my wife trying to read the denial after we had got approved. And I'm sitting here and, well, the doctor didn't add the norms. The doctor didn't add the norms. I'm like, what is the norms? And lo and behold, we find out that there's race norming. So, but to go back to it,

it's hard for us to talk about some of the things that we go through because we spend so much time being a big guy, being a strong guy, being the guy that everybody look up to. So when you're done, it's bad enough at the fact that you're done. If you wasn't fortunate enough to play 17 years or 15 years and retire, you kind of feel bad that you're done.

And then you kind of feel bad that you feel the way that you feel because you're supposed to be this strong man. You're supposed to be this warrior. You're supposed to be somebody who can endure everything. But it's not like that. You turn into, I don't want to say you turn soft, but you start to really internalize, you know, the sensitive side because it scares you.

It scares me what the next five years look like. It scares me what the next five years look like. It scares me what the next 10 years look like. It scares me that I might not be able to be with my kids when they become old enough to go into the NBA or play sports or become whatever it is they want to become. It scares me that I might not be there because I deal with some of the things that I deal with. So once again, me and my wife are just trying to stand in the gap that we can continue to find answers for ourselves. Because I want to find answers to better myself. And that's the main thing. That's the main thing. But I'm always here to hear my brothers if they have issues. And, you know, I try to correct myself as much as I can

by not being closed up and to myself and trying to express myself like I'm doing right now on this call. And I appreciate you taking our interview. But it's tough. It's tough, brother. It is. It is. Well, Lewis and Lacey, we certainly appreciate your courage. Continue in the fight. Lewis, you did make one mistake. You should have one regret in life. Wearing that shirt on my show. I forgot you was on the wrong side.

You see this shot right here, Lewis? I told him to zoom in on the camera just for you. I knew that was going to get a laugh out of you. So you made one mistake, Lewis. Yeah, all right. It's all divine nine love. You know that. I'm just saying, you know. I'm like, he just went.

You see it, though. That's all it is. I'm like, you see it, you see it though. I'm like, did he wear that damn shirt on my show? I'm like, and normally I wear an alpha shirt on Thursday. Cause Dr. Greg Carr is a fellow alpha brother. So I'm going to go ahead and let you slide with that. You know, this big dog is coming on. I remember alpha's your daddy. So don't get confused.

I appreciate both of y'all coming on. And Lacey is good. My wife's a Delta. Okay, tell my story. Thank you so much. I will do that. Y'all keep swinging. Anytime.

Y'all are welcome back anytime. This is why we created this show, to get our voices out there. Because we don't have to ask anybody's opinion or ask permission to speak to our issues. And so we're certainly going to keep this issue on the forefront. So thank you so very much. Thank you, Roland. Good night.

Thanks a lot. God bless. Man, that was, I mean, Reese, that was very difficult to hear, but this is what people need to understand when they're watching football. If they're watching football. If they're watching football, college football, high school football, pro football, what these players are going through.

Yeah, it was just really heartbreaking. Shout out to black women. Shout out to Mrs. Leonard because you know, if nobody's going to have your back, if nobody's going to fight for you, a black woman's going to fight for you. That's for damn sure. But it was very heartbreaking because you know what? The reality is that these players

are still looked at as mules. They're mules in terms of, they're cash cows, they're mules on the field and their humanity is denied. And just to hear the impact that this has on a mental level, not just for him personally,

but on his wife, on his family and the long-term implications of this is just terribly heartbreaking. But I'm just so grateful for their transparency and really bringing light to this, because this is an issue in terms of mental health that's just not really talked about enough in our community. It's certainly not talked about in terms of celebrities. I know Naomi Osaka is kind of, you know, the topic of conversation this week. But, you know, people kind of look at Black athletes, Black celebrities as they should just be happy to be there. And what do they have to complain about? What kind of mental health? Why would they have any mental health issues and things like that?

But the reality is there can be physiological reasons behind it and a number of reasons that are driving it. So it's really important to have this conversation. And this isn't just an NFL problem. This is something that we have, if you want to call it race norming, but there are formulas that determine whether black people get organ transplants. You know, there's adjustments that are made that were, you know, even when Black people go and get medical care and they're asked to rate their pain on a scale of zero to 10, and health care providers consistently

don't believe Black people are in as much pain as they say they're in. We have Black maternal mortality, which, you know, is three to four times more than white women. Black infant mortality is significantly higher if Black infants are born to white doctors. And so there's so much medical racism

throughout the entire spectrum. Right. And it's so deeply ingrained, not just in the NFL, but in every aspect of our society. So I appreciate them for bringing light to this. It's incredibly disgusting. But, you know, I hope that they get some sort of justice in this case.

Alicia, this is why I keep trying to explain to people, when people are fighting for billionaire owners over the interests of players, understand this is why you are screwed up. Absolutely, Roland. And thank you so much for having that couple on, because I feel like a lot of this story has been lost. The initial response when the story broke last year around race norming and what was going on wasn't one of sympathy. It wasn't one of care or concern,

particularly because the nation writ large doesn't care about Black people, but also because the human element, the fact of the matter of these former players who have had serious concussion issues, they go back to their families. They go back to their families. They often have mental health issues. They often cannot emote to them or be emotional in the same way. They can't relate to them in that way. A lot of these families break up. A lot leads to abuse. It's a very sad and horrible situation. But I think that what we also have to remember, to Recy's point, is that race norming happens in almost every field. I think that when we talk about medicine in general, we have to go back to the roots of how medicine was created in this country. And that scientific process was not so scientific in saying that black people had

smaller brains and saying that black people were not intellectually capable and saying that black people, because they couldn't learn, were more fit to work in the fields and do these things that didn't require them to have an education. I think that we still see that today. That same pseudoscience was used to say that black people didn't feel as much pain. So I think that we're continuing to see this ratcheted up in various ways across multiple industries. And the NFL is one that is bought and sold from black people. There would be no NFL without black exceptionalism. So to watch the NFL push so hard to even have had race norming in the first place,

we never should have gotten to the point where it had to be dismantled. It shouldn't have ever existed. And my problem with that is that there's so many black men who have fought against it who were not heard. There's so many people who are still out there now. Many have been buried because of serious concussion issues. And the NFL owes everything to black

people. They owe everything to black men because black men are the damn league. Greg, it was a serious topic. I did not want to turn to a Greek fight, but I figured that brother, he needed a smile. And when he said it was

hard for him getting out of his room, I knew that was going to bring him a flashback to bring a smile to his face. Yeah, and that was beautiful, brother. I mean, my own brother-in-law, Randy Fuller, went the wrong way. Rose Sy, Omega Sy, Tennessee State. But he also played defensive back for Tennessee State, and he played enough years in the league,

six or seven years in the NFL, to qualify for a pension. And that's important to understand. Frederick Douglass wrote that power concedes nothing without a demand. Never has, never will. Fred Douglass, who wrote in his autobiography about how in the week between Christmas and New Year's, enslavers used to tell their or like it better when the enslaved Africans who had that week not in the fields would run foot races and get drunk and play games

rather than go and work on their own little gardens or patch their cabins, because they would rather watch them perform for them. Athletics is a form of enslavement, as Bill Roden reminds us all the time. And in fact, there's nothing, this just south of billion-dollar settlement for the NFL doesn't occur without black struggle. And I'm not talking about that slick-haired Christopher Seeger. No. Let's talk about the attorneys for two brothers who were playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

We're talking about Kevin Henry and Nadja Davenport, one of my brother-in-law's former teams, the Steelers. Their lawyers tried to intervene and that federal judge, Judge Brody, by the way, elections don't matter, they're both the same party. Yeah, Judge Brody was actually appointed, she's in her mid-80s now,

by George H.W. Bush, but it's a different Republican party then than now. This judge, who dismissed their suit on procedural grounds, turned around since you went on the air tonight, Roland, and now is allowing those two brothers, who were not controlled by the league-adjacent attorney for the rest of the athletes,

allow them to intervene. What does that mean? That means this. It means that, well, right now, they've just convened, and this just happened, like you say, since you've been on the air. They've got a team of eight neuropsychologists who are being convened.

Two of them are women. Three of them are black folk. Now, I don't know if either of the two women are also black, so we don't know. They may just be doing, you know, a PR thing. Oh, two women, eight black. Okay, three black. But anyway, my point is that they're going to be

working on these new norms. Why is that important? None of this settlement happens without this struggle. And it isn't just the league-adjacent attorney who claims he's representing the interests of the players. It's the attorneys for these two brothers who kicked in the door waving the 4-4. The NFL made $15 billion, as you say, in 2019 before COVID hit.

Finally, I took a look at the concussion settlement tables, the qualifying tables. Men like, and by the way, just because we're saying men, it doesn't mean we're not also talking about women, because some of y'all are old enough to remember the ABL. That was the American Basketball League when women tried to put together a professional league that the NBA crushed by going in the tank for years with something called the WNBA so they could put that player-owned league out of business.

And now the WNBA is in place, and they don't pay those women anything based on the male athletes. So, I'm just saying, it's all part of the same criminal enterprise. But when you look at the monetary award table, the highest amount you can get if you're under 45 years old and you're diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease, you can get if you're under 45 years old and you're diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease, you can get $5,200,000. Next up, death with CTE. That's $4.1 million. Then Parkinson's, Alzheimer's in declining order. That's if you're under 45 years old. So that's really in that spot. Randy is mid-40s, late 40s now. He's not even in that,

if that would happen. But if you go all the way down the table, if you're over 80 years old, if you're in your 70s, you know how much money you might get for a level 1.5, which means not ALS, not CTE, not Parkinson's, not Alzheimer's, but these other, and it's going to be, most people are going to be in that other category,

you might get $26,000. And 5% of that goes into a fund to help fund the monetary award and pay the lawyers. It's a criminal26,000. And 5% of that goes into a fund to help fund the monetary award and pay the lawyers. It's a criminal enterprise, brother, even if they get everything that this white boy negotiated. Gotcha. At some point, and by the way, I haven't watched

since Kaepernick took a knee. So NFL goes to hell in my mind. So I don't give a damn either way, but you know. And that's precisely why these wives and these former players are actually fighting. Speaking of fighting, folks, uh, we talk about, uh, black folks put Joe Biden in office. Mm, no, it was a multi-racial coalition that did it. You go to Arizona, it was Latinos and Native Americans

that played a huge role in Arizona. You talk about Nevada. There are a number of states where the Native American vote was critical, even in Georgia, in the runoff with John Ossoff and Pastor Raphael Warnock. Well, the Native American Voting Rights Group Four Directions Native Vote is announcing a partnership

with Stacey Abrams Fair Count. This collaboration between Fair Count and Four Directions hopes to eliminate voting barriers for the Native and Indigenous communities historically undercounted and underrepresented in Georgia. Joining us now is O.J. Seaman, founder of Four Directions Native Vote. O.J., glad to have you on Roller Mark Unfiltered. Hi, I'm Dr. Eppie. Hello, my relative. Great to be back. As usual, your shows are right on the money, and it is kind of like what we do in voting. You bring grassroots issues to the people. So I really enjoy your show, and it's a pleasure to be here.

Glad to have you back. We met in Georgia when I was there covering a rally for Pastor Warnock and John Ossoff. And just talk about, for people who don't understand, who overlook the Native American vote, and what happened even last year when Republicans were targeting voting locations that impacted the Native American vote in various states. Yeah, and it's still happening. I mean, we have legal battles going on in Arizona. We have battles going on in Nevada. You know, even at Georgia, we have the lower Muscogee

Creek tribe that is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit that was filed on the last voter suppression legislation that came out of the state. So, I mean, it's a constant battle where every day you get up, you just got to figure out what state you're going to fight with. And we've actually really, really, we're honored and actually humbled by being able to form a cooperation with Fair Count Leader Abramson and Dr. Janine Abrams-McLean. You know, our culture, I'm a Lakota Sioux, but our culture, the women were always the backbone of our culture and what we've done. And so to be able to team up with such a fantastic pair of young ladies, it's really humbling. Give our listeners and viewers an understanding of how critical the role the Native American vote has played in these elections. Folks don't realize, again, Joe Biden did not win this election by a lot in Georgia, in Arizona, in Wisconsin, in Pennsylvania and Michigan. So truly every vote absolutely counted. Oh, and it did. I mean, in Arizona, it was 11,000.

I think the former guy, I can't remember his name, was basically saying, you know, can you look around and find me 11,000 votes? I mean, that's how close it was. But, you know, in Georgia, when we worked there, we turned out, in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, individuals can identify their race when they register to vote. Well, we turned out 71 percent of those that registered as Native Americans in Georgia. And what's really interesting about this

is that, you know, the Trail of Tears in Andrew Jackson, he went through and tried to do the extermination and removed, well, he thought he did, removed all of the natives from the state of Georgia. You know, there's 100 plus thousand Native Americans in Georgia. And so now one of the things that's really important in teaming up with Fair Count is teaming up together to identify not only Native Americans, but to also do voter registration drives in order to increase that number. We do know with some of the hardships that they're putting on in this voter suppression in Georgia, that we also not only have to fight those, but we also have to increase the actual turnout.

You have an election coming up here because Senator Warnock was a special election. He's up in 2022. And so what we need to ensure is that when people register, they come through the polls, they vote on issues, issues that are going to affect people of color and especially in Georgia. And we need to get the numbers up that we, you know, even higher than we did in 2021. Well, as absolutely great. Last question for you. You know, 2022 midterm elections, you got Senate races in Arizona. A lot of folks not happy with Kristen Sinema, how she's operating.

And so what are the states your organization really is focused on when it comes to the Senate and congressional elections? Well, of course, Georgia. I'm trying to make that my home now. We're looking at Nevada. We're looking at Colorado. And we're looking at Michigan. And, you know, and we have always worked in Arizona over the years. We've actually teamed up with the Navajo Nation a few years ago and filed lawsuits in order to establish more satellite offices and more hours. People don't understand in a lot of places where they set up early elections, they usually set it up in a county building or a municipality where not many people of color are.

And so we're really pushing for more satellite offices and giving equal time for people of color to be able to show up and vote early and register early prior to the 2022 election. All right then. Well, OJ, I certainly appreciate it. Certainly glad to hear what the partnership you're doing with Fair Fight

and look forward to getting out there on the golf course with you. All right, sounds good. I'll look up as the Las Vegas tribe of Nevada has a beautiful golf course. I'll give them a call. Hey done.

Let's make that thing happen. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Pleasure. I appreciate it. See folks. This is why it's important for you to watch rollerball and

unfiltered. We don't deal with mess. We don't deal with gossip. We're not dealing with all the other little silly stuff out there that some folks tune into. This is about issues that matter to us. This is about reaching out and being able to have folks like OJ, Native Americans, giving them a voice for the issues as well. That's why we want you to support what we do for our Bring the Funk fan club. You can join. Of course, our goal is asking 20,000 folks, our fans each year, to give just 50 bucks each.

$4.19 a month, 13 cents a day. You can do so by going to Cash App, dollar sign RM Unfiltered, paypal.me forward slash rmartinunfiltered, venmo.com forward slash rmunfiltered. Zelle is roland at rolandsmartin.com, roland at rolandmartinunfiltered.com. A lot of people have asked me, hey, why don't you go to a subscription model?

Here is why. We've had people who support our show who can't afford to pay $4.99 a month or $5.99 or $6.99. We've had some people, all they've given us is a dollar. I'll tell you, when we were in Tulsa, people literally walked up to me and put checks in my hand, put cash in my hand. They support what we do. And so we want you to do so as well.

We've got several thousand of you who are watching right now on YouTube and Facebook and Instagram and Twitter. A lot of y'all are riding for free. But remember, your dollars makes it possible for us to be able to pay staff, be able to travel and cover the stories that matter. When we come back, we're going to talk to a sister who is running for governor of South Carolina. Yeah, yeah, that's South Carolina. That is next on Roland Martin Unfiltered. When I managed a team of 5,000 as vice president of AT&T, I led by empowering my people. I'm Deborah Peoples, and that's exactly what I'll do as mayor of Fort Worth. Together, we'll get small businesses moving again, invest in our neighborhoods,

and we'll support our schools to help kids catch up after COVID. On Saturday, June the 5th, I'm asking for your vote. I'll be mayor for all the people to build one Fort Worth. Black women have always been essential. So now how are you going to pay us like that? And it's not just the salary. I mean, there are a whole number of issues that have to support us as women.

Yeah, but that's what we deserve. We shouldn't have to beg anybody for that. I think that we are trying to do our best as a generation to honor the fact that we didn't come here alone and we didn't come here by accident. I always say every generation has to define for itself what it means to move the needle forward. When you study the music, you get black history by default. And so no other craft could carry as many words as rap music.

I try to intertwine that and make that create whatever I'm supposed to send out to the universe. A rapper, you know, for the longest period of time, has gone through phases. I love the word. I hate what it's become, you know, to this generation, the way they visualize it. Its narrative kind of like has gotten away and spun away from, I guess, the ascension of Black people.

Hi, my name is Latoya Luckett. Yo, it's your man Deon Cole from Black-ish, and you're watching... Roland Martin, Unfiltered. Stay woke. All right, folks. A black woman has never been elected governor in the United States.

Remember, Stacey Abrams came up less than 50,000 votes short. In fact, in South Carolina, not since 1788, not one black woman has ever run for the position until now. Today, Democratic State Senator Mia McLeod announced her run for the state's highest office. She officially launched her campaign on the steps of civil rights activist Jessica Simpkins House, and she joins us now.

Before we go to her, we're going to play the video that she also dropped today. Check it out. This is Bennettsville, South Carolina, a place so neglected by so many for so long that some even call it the Carter of Shame. It's the place where I was born. It's the place that shaped me. And the truth is, all across South Carolina, we share similar stories. Stories of love, of faith, of defying the odds. But far too often across this state, we also share stories of struggle and neglect

because politicians have forgotten about all but those who agree with them or fund their campaigns. Fixing what's broken is all of our responsibilities. That's why I first ran for the legislature. I've been fighting for parents who, like me, dream of a better future for our children with quality education and great paying jobs

so we can keep our best and brightest here. For women, so we can control our own health care decisions. And for families, so we can stay safe and healthy without emptying our life savings. And why I take on the fights the old guard runs away from. I come from a long line of servant leaders, going as far back as my great-great-grandfather. My name is Mia McLeod.

I'm running for governor to build a South Carolina that can work for all of us, to bring new jobs to our state, and to support the people and the industries that are the backbone of our economy, especially our farmers and small businesses, so we can keep our best and brightest right here, where our jobs pay enough to keep our families secure, to ensure that our state is never again brought to the brink

when a disaster hits. These are the new stories that can define us, the new victories we can share. This is our South Carolina, and together we can create the state we all deserve. That's why I'm running for governor and why I need you to join me. Well, Mia, glad to have you on the show.

First question I can hear from people, Lord, we talking South Carolina. Does this sister have a shot? How do you respond to that? Thank you so much for having me, Roland. I love your show, and I'm happy to be with you tonight. So how do you respond to that? Thank you so much for having me, Roland. I love your show, and I'm happy to be with you tonight. So how do you respond to that? Because there are people, I'm sure there are people in your state who said,

Mia, this is South Carolina. Yeah. I, you know, it's going to be a fight, but I'm used to that. I've spent my life fighting. So it's going to be a fight, but I'm used to that. I've spent my life fighting, fighting for my community, fighting for people across the state. And, you know, I'm not afraid. So let's do it. I'm ready. In terms of winning, what is going I mean, obviously, you're going to need a major, major, massive black turnout. We saw last year, Jamie Harrison raised an unbelievable amount of money and lost by a

wider margin than polls expected to Senator Lindsey Graham. Many people attest that to the power of Trump in South Carolina. So what is your strategy to really drive the black vote, but also to reach white voters in South Carolina to say that they should give you a shot? My strategy, Roland, is more about connection. Here in South Carolina, we don't have a governor who has the courage to lead. You know, we've got a governor who, in the middle of a global pandemic, when Republicans and Democrats were calling me because they could not get their unemployment, many were unemployed for the first time. Many were struggling, trying to avoid getting COVID-19 and were still exposed and were trying to get vaccinated. I mean, this governor has botched everything from the unemployment money that all these families needed to, you know, just to keep food on the tables and

clothes on their kids' backs. And, you know, the vaccine rollout was abysmal. And he has taken zero responsibility. When he exposed himself to COVID, he went and got the monoclonal antibody treatment and was, you know, miraculously cured. But that's not the case for so many across South Carolina. People are still dying here because of COVID-19. So we need a governor who has the courage to lead, who can put people above his politics, and really move the state forward. I went back to my hometown to launch because that's, I mean,

that's, it's a microcosm of South Carolina. It is, it just shows the level of neglect and desertion. And, you know, the fact that so many communities across South Carolina, rural, underserved, impoverished communities, communities of color and others have just been forgotten by this governor and this administration. I mean, they're prioritizing in the middle of a global pandemic, prioritizing fetal heartbeat and abortion bill. And I want to thank you for I think you reposted my speech from the well on that very issue. In addition to that, I mean, we're doing firing squad. So we're regressing. Open carry.

So it's going to be open season on people of color. I've got two young adult sons that I love to the ends of the earth. And I'm going to be that candidate who is not afraid to talk about race in South Carolina, something that, you know, our state and many others across the country have been afraid to address. We don't have that luxury of not addressing the issues that matter to all of us. So I'm looking forward to this fight. I mean, obviously, you're dealing with a conservative state of South Carolina. But for people who don't understand the history, the number of African-Americans who were elected in that state,

in fact, in that racist D.W. Griffith movie, The Birth of a Nation, they used the South Carolina state legislature to show and end up black folks eating chicken and watermelon on the floor. It was a vicious attack directly on black people in South Carolina. But when Meg Kennard, my buddy, wrote a story yesterday about you running,

she posted this on her Twitter page, which was unbelievable. And I had never heard this until I saw her story. She posted this on her Twitter page, which was unbelievable. And I had never heard this until I saw her story. She wrote, McLeod is the first black woman to seek South Carolina's top job. She would also be the first ever black governor in the state whose constitution was reconfigured during the Jim Crow era, weakening the office in the event that a black person were ever elected to it. Wow. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we are definitely not without challenges in this state, but where there are challenges, I believe there are opportunities. And this is an opportunity for just to give

South Carolinians hope for a brighter future. And, you know, a South Carolina where everybody can thrive, a South Carolina where people are paid wages that they can actually live on, a South Carolina that my sons would want to come back to and be proud to call home. That's what I'd like to build, a new South Carolina that includes all of us. And we don't have that now. We definitely don't have it under the current governor. And we won't have it for as long as he's in office. So I feel like I have to run. I have to do this for my family and all of the families across South Carolina that I suffered. Questions for my panel. First up, the historian, Dr. Greg Carr, your question for

me and McLeod. Thank you, Senator. Thank you for your work. And it's funny, your great-grandfather, you mentioned him. I heard you mention him in the ad there. Joseph Morris, of course, a Reconstruction legend. He went to Howard, if I'm not mistaken, before he went to USC Law School, right? So, yeah, I mean, the thing was, they say Francis Cardozo taught him. And, of course, Cardozo was the first black statewide elected official.

And them Europeans threw him in jail and he had to leave the state. But, of course, anyway, that's a story for another day. Actually, it's the same story. You're from Veniceville, of course. And I think about Veniceville because of the Children's Defense Fund. We had a freedom school there for many years. How important is it for the voters of South Carolina and for your strategy? Is it for them to understand not only your roots, but because of your roots, you understand South Carolina in ways that many people, once they hear that, might warm to differently and say, you know what, let me set this other thing aside.

She understands this right down to the DNA. How important is that to your electoral strategy? Oh, my God, it's critical. That's what I mean when I talk about connection. And I mean, not just connection, but legacy. I am still in awe of what my great-great-grandfather and my great-grandfather were able to do during that time. I mean, it was phenomenal even for that time.

But I think about, and it's such a sobering and it's a bit overwhelming, I have to admit, because as I learn more about my great-great-grandfather, who, as you said, went to Howard University and was, when he returned to South Carolina, he was nominated to serve in the South Carolina legislature. And I got emotional today just thinking about my dad, who was our family historian. He passed away in 2011 and wasn't able to be with us today, but he's always with me. and so is my mom, in spirit.

But I used to go to Ms. Majeska Simpkins' house with my dad and sit with her for hours as they talked about the struggle, the struggles that she faced and the struggles that my dad always talked about that he and others faced during the civil rights movement. And all of those struggles are eerily familiar to the struggles that communities of color are still facing today. So legacy and connection and just having that perspective is what distinguishes me and makes me different.

And I believe it's what fuels the fight that's in me. My dad used to say, if you see me in a fight with a bear, help the bear. And I mean, that kind of describes who I am. I am a fighter through and through. And I will not relent. I'm not in this race to make a name for myself or to raise my profile or my name ID. I'm in it for the people of South Carolina.

And people are excited here. They are energized like I'm not seen. And I just want that energy to continue. And for those who want to help us in this fight, even if they don't live here, I hope they'll go to Mia4SC.com and give and donate, become a recurring donor if they can, because it's going to take, you know, it's gonna take a lot of money for us to be competitive.

And it's also going to take, I mean, people fighting with us, joining with us in this fight for a better South Carolina, a stronger South Carolina. So I'm just excited to be with you guys tonight to share a little bit more about my story, my journey and what what we're about to do in this state. Amisha, your question for Neal McLeod. Absolutely. Senator, the video off the top was very strong. That ad was extremely special. And I think it reaches the hearts and the minds of many. My question, though, is related to the timing, specifically knowing that you're going into this race in 2022, the time of the midterm elections, the time that Republicans are really rallying their base and their support and are funding specifically a lot

of challenges in Southern states around what they claim is voter fraud or voter intimidation. How do you plan on dismantling some of that, acknowledging the fact that midterms typically don't bode well for Democrats in general, but also what type of reception are you getting from the national organizations like the DCCC and the DNC? Is there any level of support or any outreach that has come from them in regards to your race? Or the Democratic Governors Association. Mia, go ahead. Right. Well, we just launched today, but we have been in

contact and have been communicating with all of those organizations. And I believe that they are going to be with us in this fight because it is going to be a battle. And as you said, with the midterm elections, you know, they haven't always worked in our favor. But I just believe that this time is going to be different. Trump is not on the ballot. We are, of course, well aware of the voter suppression efforts in Georgia. And although we are not at that level of effort yet here in South Carolina, the Republicans have pretty much a super majority in both chambers.

So, you know, the only way to address that is to address it head on. And I talk to groups all the time about the fact that we can't just depend on, you know, voters to know what changes need to be made. We've got to enlighten. We've got to engage. We've got to inform our voters and make sure that they understand what's at stake and do whatever it takes to get their votes, to vote and make sure that their votes are counted. So I am all over that in the state legislature. We have had a few

changes, although subtle in comparison to Georgia. I do believe that those, you know, some more drastic changes are on the horizon and we are going to fight those to the best of our ability and make sure that our folks, you know, regardless of the ridiculousness of what they come up with, we're gonna make sure that that doesn't stop our people from getting to the polls and voting and making sure that their votes are counted. All right. Black women views.

Recy, your question for this black woman running for governor. Senator, thank you for being here. Um, you know, often black candidates are treated as a cosmetics, diversity, lightweight, niche type of candidate. I like to say that black candidates, black women't want to say more qualified than your opponents, because I'm sure you're very gracious. You're not attacking your other opponent, which I wouldn't be mad at, but you're focusing more so on the Republican governor. But can you give us some insight into your specific credentials? You're a state senator. Any particular areas of strength? I know that you've been really strong on reproductive rights

and things like that. But is there something that you think really resonates beyond obviously the natural base that people assume that you would have with black voters and resonates across the state? Sure, yes. I've been serving in the state, in the state house, in the house for six years and now in the Senate for four years. So I have state government experience, but I had experience before that.

Before that I ran, I directed the state's national crime victims compensation program. And I launched the state's first violence against women program that was the brainchild or the, because primarily of the efforts of then Senator Joe Biden. So those are some of the things that I am excited about. But I also have, I've worked for a Republican attorney general and for a Democrat governor.

So I have experience with colleagues, you know, across the aisle and with people who—I have Republicans who support me in my races for the Senate and I'm sure will be supporting me in this race. Not because I—I think that's because they know that with me they have an advocate. They have a strong advocate, a voice, a fighter, somebody who's not going to back down. I will fight even members of my own party. And I think any of my colleagues will tell you that I am, you know, I'm determined to be on the side of the people no matter what. And when we talk about credentialing, yes, I am much more credentialed,

I think, for this office than my primary opponent, certainly, and my opponent in the general, this governor has never had to work a job that pays $7.25 an hour. He's never had to struggle. That's why it's so easy for him to send federal unemployment dollars back to Washington. And he's never had to worry about whether he was going to have health insurance, health care, if something happened to him or somebody in his family. So that's why it's easy for him to not expand Medicaid. He's never had to worry about not being paid equally or being considered as equals, or he's never had to have the talk with his son or his daughter because, um, that's just not never been an issue for, for him, but it, all of those things have been an issue for me. And so it goes to the heart of who I am that, um, you know, it goes to the heart

of, of connection. It goes to the heart of the courage and the compassion and, and, you know, it goes to the heart of connection. It goes to the heart of the courage and the compassion. And, you know, just that connection that I have with people in the community, black, who are struggling with something through no fault of their own sometimes and sometimes not. Sometimes they have contributed to it, but they still call and I still help. I don't ask, are you a Democrat or a Republican? Do you live in my district? I don't ask those questions because when it comes down to it, it doesn't matter. What matters is they have a challenge, and I am in a position to help them overcome that challenge. And I will do everything in my power to do that, regardless of party affiliation, of gender, of race, but I can promise you that I will probably be the only candidate

and maybe the only candidate in the history of our state who is willing to talk about the issues that really matter to people. Not just now, and I'm not just talking about issues of race. I'm talking about socioeconomic issues. I'm talking about unemployment. I'm talking about employment. I'm talking about jobs. I'm talking about South Carolina is probably not

the only state that has jobs without people and people without the skill sets to fill the job. So what we end up doing is bringing people in from out of state to fill the jobs that we do have. And, you know, we're just, I mean, this is 2021. We should not be focused on firing squads and open carry on guns and fetal heartbeat bills. Those aren't issues that the majority of South Carolinians care about.

They care about being able to live and being able to, you know, just have a decent quality of life without having to work two to three jobs just to make ends meet. So we're going to get through this pandemic, but it will be in spite of Henry McMaster, who is our governor. It won't be because of him. And we've just got to do something different. Our party has to do something different if we want to elect someone who is about all of the people, because doing the same things the same ways that we always have isn't working. And I am that candidate. I am a different candidate. My, you know,

I am different, as you can see. So I'm looking forward to this fight, and we're going to take it head on, and we're going to win. All right. Well, this was, of course, us in South Carolina at the Jamie rally where we, of course, live streamed that.

So we look forward in 2022 coming to South Carolina and doing the show live from one of your rallies. So we'll figure that out exactly when we do it and where we do it. And so good luck in 2022 in the campaign. Thank you so much, Roland. And thanks for inviting me tonight. Enjoyed it. I appreciate it. Thank you so very much.

We'll do it again. Great. All right, folks, gotta go to a break. We come back. We'll talk with Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax. He is one of three African-Americans running for the Democratic nomination

for governor of Virginia. That's next on Roller Martin Unfiltered. When I managed a team of 5000 as vice president of AT&T, I led by empowering my people. I'm Deborah Peoples, and that's exactly what I'll do as mayor of Fort Worth. Together, we'll get small businesses moving again, invest in our neighborhoods, and we'll support our schools to help kids catch up after COVID. On Saturday, June the 5th, I'm asking for your vote.

I'll be mayor for all the people to build one Fort Worth. Black women have always been essential. So now how are you gonna pay us like that? And it's not just the salary. I mean, there are a whole number of issues that have to support us as women. Yeah, but that's what we deserve. We shouldn't have to beg anybody for that.

I think that we are trying to do our best as a generation to honor the fact that we didn't come here alone and we didn't come here by accident. I always say every generation has to define for itself what it means to move the needle forward. When you study the music, you get black history by default. And so no other craft could carry as many words as rap music i try to intertwine that and make that create the whatever i'm supposed to send out to

the universe a rapper you know for the longest period of time had gone through phases i love the word i hate i hate what it's become, you know, and to this generation, the way they visualize it. Its narrative kind of like has gotten away and spun away from, I guessall? I'm Will Packer. I'm Chrisette Michelle. Hi, I'm Chaley Rose, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Folks, we're days away from the Democratic primary in Virginia, where there are several African-Americans who are running for governor. One of them is Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax.

He, of course, was deemed to be the leading frontrunner when he won just four years ago. But a couple of folks, a couple of women, made accusations against him, and he, of course, responded to that and then also has criticized even the leading candidate in the polls, Terry McAuliffe, of one supporting that and also calling for his resignation moments after an accusation was made. He even challenged McAuliffe on the issue during

one of the debates. He joins us right now. Lieutenant Governor Fab Fares, glad to have you on Roller Mountain Unfiltered. This has not been, you know, this, you saw this looking a lot different four years ago. A lot of things have happened over the past four years. Polls are showing the former governor, Terry McAuliffe, with a huge lead. How do you overcome that in the last three weeks or so before the actual primary? What is your plan? How are you doing that? Well, Roland, thank you again for having us on. And, you know, what

we're doing is taking our message directly to the voters, as we've always done, and the voters are responding. We have a powerful message around fighting for justice, fairness, and opportunity, and also making historic investments in education here in Virginia. We put forward the most historic, transformational, intergenerational investment plan in our public schools in the history of the Commonwealth called our 40-30-10 plan. We'd rebuild and reimagine every public school at least 40 years old with a $30 billion investment and would do that within the next 10 years. We'd also raise teacher pay above the national average for the first time ever in Virginia. And we would also guarantee a summer enrichment or employment opportunity to every young person here in the Commonwealth. And so the success that we've achieved now over

the last nearly four years that I've served as Lieutenant Governor of Virginia has been just really astounding. We have made so much progress raising wages, abolishing the death penalty, cast tie-breaking votes to expand Medicaid in Virginia, and so now 550,000 more Virginians have health insurance today as a result. I also cast tie-breaking votes to legalize personal use amounts of marijuana here in Virginia, becoming the first state to do so. So we are really lifting people up, dealing with racial injustice in our Commonwealth. And that is a powerful record. And it's one that's resonating tremendously with the voters around the Commonwealth. I'm playing a video right now. This is a video of you talking to folks who were voting early in September 2020. What has been the response that you've seen out there? Again, polling is one thing, but what are you seeing, hearing from the voters? That's really what it boils down to, Roland. It's the voters. And we're hearing that the

voters are really focused on the policies that are going to impact their families positively. They want a leadership that's been there with them on the ground fighting this COVID-19 pandemic, dealing with issues around racial injustice and criminal justice reform and police reform. These are all things that we have led on. And so what you're hearing, again, from the voters and communities is really a focus on that message and on that record of success that we've had. And so we go into this election in five days on June the 8th with a sense that we really, really are energizing people and we want to make sure that that message carries through. We also, as you know, have run for statewide office before here in the Commonwealth of Virginia against very well-funded candidates. And the voters have always shown up for us at the ballot box in every part of Virginia.

Hampton Roads and where I will be actually this weekend, southwest Virginia, northern Virginia, Richmond area, eastern shore of the valley. I mean, we've traveled all around Virginia and really are meeting people where they are with a powerful, authentic message. And that's, I think, what we are very excited about going into this election day. You were hit with accusations of sexual assault. You fought back against those. They called for actual impeachment hearings. Your response was you will cooperate in any criminal investigation. And during one of those debates, you challenged Terry McAuliffe on this issue. You were not afraid at all to demand that he speak to the issue during one of those debates. Yes, Roland. You know, these accusations were false from the second that they were made and

obviously politically motivated. This has been over two years now since these were made at a politically opportune time. You'll recall in February of 2019, there was a great deal of unrest here in Virginia and some speculation that I might be elevated to the governorship at that point. And it was precisely then that these accusations and the imaginations behind them really kicked into high gear. But we knew what the truth was from day one. And that's why two years later, people have seen the evidence. They know that they're false.

And they frankly don't like that kind of politics. And so we really need to get to a place where people are not weaponizing these sorts of things, that we have investigations and due process and get to the truth. And when we find out that these are false, we need to really have accountability in those instances. And so I've also heard from the voters that they're proud that we stood up, that we had courage, that we were transparent, we focused on the truth. And I think that's really where our politics has to be.

It has to be about lifting people up and not tearing people down. And for those who try to engage in that kind of politics for advantage, I think that the voters really do reject that. And that's what I've heard from people on the ground. And so, again, we want to make sure that our politics is focused on the eight and a half million Virginians who really need a champion. They need somebody who's fighting for them, who's been there by their side. And as you know, I've done a number of things in the policy realm. But we've also started to change the course of the history of racial oppression here in Virginia. A week and a half into my role as lieutenant governor, I protested the honoring of Confederate generals,

a tradition that had been carried on in the honoring of Confederate generals, a tradition that had been carried on in the Senate of Virginia for 150 years. And I'm proud to say that today, that 150-year-old tradition of honoring those Confederate generals has been broken, and it no longer happens. It's that kind of courage and leadership and standing up against what we have seen in the past, the worst aspects of our politics and our history, that we need to carry us forward into the future. And so the progress, the worst aspects of our politics and our history that we need to carry us forward into the future. And so the progress and the success that we've had in this role, again, expanding Medicaid, making record investments in our educational system,

focusing on criminal justice reform, those are all things that the voters care deeply about. And so they see through a lot of the smokescreens in politics and instead focus on their families and their communities and lifting them up. And that's what I've done from day one. And that's why we've garnered so much support over the course of many years. Question from panel Amisha Cross. We got a video playing. You had a stop. Stop the Asian hate rally. And we're playing that Amisha Cross. Your question for Justin Fairfax. Lieutenant Governor Fairfax. thanks so much for your commitment, not only to equity, but also to advancing education, health care, so many things across the state of Virginia, the Commonwealth.

As we move forward in this election process, obviously there have been, it's going to be tough, and it's a tough ride. What do you think are some of the things that you have to prove in order to stand out here? You've definitely got the record, but beyond that, to get people to turn out, to get people to push that button, to finally, you know, envelope around you again, because if this election hadn't been held just a few years ago, I think you would have been the top choice. Today, things look slightly different. We know your record. What do you think it's going to take?

Thank you, Misha. You know, I think what it's gonna take is, again, us getting our message directly to the voters. And I think the voters really want someone who is willing to fight for them, to stand up for what's right. And particularly as we've come out of this COVID-19 pandemic, which has impacted every aspect of our lives, our economy,

our educational system for our children, our healthcare delivery system, they really are facing some of the toughest crises that they've ever had in their lives. And they're experiencing tremendous amounts of hardship. And I think that they want to have someone who has proven that they're willing to stand up, that they're willing to fight under tough circumstances, really focus in on them and lifting them and their families up. And so you mentioned the course of the last several years, we have had to, you know, stay focused through a lot of what goes on in politics. And what I hear, though, from so many people is that they're proud and they're happy that, you know, they have someone in my position who has been willing to stand up with courage, again, against so many of the forces

that we have seen historically that have kept people back, that have left people behind, and that have kept communities from thriving. And left people behind, and that have kept communities from thriving. And particularly when you talk about African American communities, they have suffered the brunt of so much discrimination, of so many efforts to undermine them over the course of many generations. And so it's important to have someone who is willing to go out there and to fight and to have courage and to achieve results. And that's really what we have shown that we have the ability and the drive to do. And I think that that's resonating with so many voters of all backgrounds throughout the Commonwealth. And

that's what we're focusing in on in our message going forward. Recy? Lieutenant Governor, I'm not a Virginia resident, but I have the misfortune of sharing the television market, so I have noticed that your opponents are up on the air with quite a bit of ads, and I haven't seen any ads for your campaign. Do you have a strategy? I know that you're the lieutenant governor, so one would think that that would be kind of a built-in recognition

and awareness of your record, which, as you've laid out, is quite impressive. But do you have a strategy to reach maybe low-engaged, low, you know, people who are not necessarily out there going to events and things like that, particularly in a pandemic, to reach those and remind people of your record? Because I will say that the ads that I have seen from your opponents are pretty impressive.

So how are you combating kind of that disadvantage that you have by not being up on the airwaves? Yes, you know, great question. And one of the things that we have really prioritized is being out in the communities. We have a tremendous network of supporters all around the Commonwealth of Virginia who have been not only carrying our message during the course of this campaign, but really during the course of my entire service as Lieutenant Governor. And so people have gotten to fortunately see me on the ground in their communities

during some of the most trying times that we've had here in Virginia. And so you have seen, as you mentioned, a number of ads. I'm sure you'll see many, many more. There's many millions of dollars being poured into these races. But we've also been in races before where people have poured millions of dollars being poured into these races. But we've also been in races before where people have poured millions of dollars into those races, and we've been outspent

before. But I think what is key here is voters really understanding and believing that you have their interests at heart, seeing that record, that you're willing to fight for what is right and to fight for them. And again, through COVID-19, through the unrest that we saw last year, where I was on the ground during the protests of police misconduct that were happening, the Confederate monuments. And I was really always with the people and I've always been with the people. And they've been with me throughout my service. And so it really is that deep set of connections. It's those networks, those authentic relationships that we've developed over the course of my time, both before I came to office and certainly during

my time in office, that really is energizing a lot of what we're doing. So you've seen races also around the country where people have spent many, many millions of dollars, and it hasn't necessarily translated in the ways that people expected. So it's important for us to continue to deliver that message, continue to reach out, and it's something that I look forward to doing over the next five days as we get up to June 8th for the election. Justin Fairfax. Thank you all very much. Hold on. Greg Carr, your question. Lieutenant Governor, hold on one second. Greg, I think you're on mute. Greg?

Oh, yeah, there I am. There you go. Go ahead, Greg. Yeah, thank you, Roland. It's good to see you, Brother Fairfax. I promise you, man, it seems like you're the hardest-working man in Virginia. Every time I look up, it seems like you are everywhere. I think you done met every one of them eight and a half million voters in Virginia.

Because I'm like, does anybody else work in the government but Justin Fairfax? I see him everywhere. Which actually leads me to the question about not only June 8th, but beyond. With decades of public service in front of you, still to be lived and done for people,

in the short term, what's the ground game strategy for the 8th? I know you've been out there every single day up to the 8th. To piggyback on Reese's question of infrastructure and campaign infrastructure, what's your game plan then? And then it looks like Virginia's gone blue. So how do you see this state continuing to move in that progressive

direction that you've led in as we look out over the next term of years in terms of the future of Virginia? Yes, thank you, Brother Carr. Great questions. First, with regards to campaign and infrastructure, again, I'm continuing actually when I leave here, I'll be getting back on the road and focusing on meeting so many more, not only our supporters, but folks we want to be engaged in this election, because we

know that really voters are focused in a way like I've never seen on their own economic security, on their own healthcare access, because COVID-19 has just brought home so many of the challenges and brought into stark relief to the inequality that exists in our society. And so they really are focused on your message and how you're actively working to make sure that they have more secure and brighter futures for them, their children, their grandchildren. And so we'll continue to work through our networks, to work through the relationships that we've developed over the course of years to get those messages out. And when you talk about Virginia as a whole, it absolutely has been continuing to trend blue.

When I was elected in 2017, it was with the most votes in the history of the Commonwealth for Lieutenant Governor, 1.36 million votes in that general election. And what we have seen is that our General Assembly has now come into Democratic hands. We have achieved tremendous progress as a result. As I've mentioned, we've abolished the death penalty, becoming the first Southern state to have done so, expanded Medicaid on my tie-breaking votes in the works of so many other people. And again, legalizing marijuana, raising the minimum wage, investing in our education system. And so these are all things that we've been able to achieve by speaking directly to voters, by speaking directly to the concerns, the issues that they have had, and also by having courage, you know, standing up for what we know is right. And again, here in the Commonwealth of Virginia, which has such a long history, as you know, over 400 years of history. And in that history are so many

instances and examples of structures and systems that have really kept communities back, particularly African-American communities. And so now there's really an awakening and people are saying that we want to go in a different direction when it comes to the future of our Commonwealth. And we need folks who have courage, who have fought alongside us to make those things happen. And so we're going to continue to have that courage to stand up, to fight, and to have that message be delivered. And so that's really what we're doing, not only for the next several days, but as you mentioned, going into the future, which we know will be very different and much more positive as a result of the work that we're

doing together. Governor, Justin Fairfax, we certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much for joining us here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. And as always, an alpha man who is doing good things. We'll see what happens on June 8th. Thanks a lot. Great. Thank you all so much. God bless you. Take care.

Thank you very much. All right, folks. Y'all know what time it is. No charcoal grills are allowed. I'm white. I got you, Carl. Illegally selling water without a permit. On my property.

Whoa! Hey! I'm uncomfortable. All right, folks. Monday was, of course, Memorial Day, and in Ohio, event organizers were not happy at all that a white retired lieutenant colonel dared to actually give

the history of Memorial Day. Memorial Day was first commemorated by an organized group of black freed slaves less than a month after the Confederacy surrendered. Recent years, the origins of how and where Decoration Day began has sparked lively debate amongst historians. However, Yale historian David Blight, asserting the holiday is rooted in a moving ceremony, was conducted by freed slaves on May 1st, 1865 at the tattered remains of Confederate prisoner of war camp. It was a Charleston Washington racecourse and jockey club today known as

Hampton Park. The ceremony is to believe to have included a parade of as many as 10,000 people including 3,000 African-American schools children singing the Union marching song John Brown's body. They were carrying armfuls of flowers and went to decorate the graves. Interesting that there would be a tie back to Hudson with that song from John Brown. Most importantly, whether Charleston's Decoration Day was the first is attended by Charleston's black community. Hey, Jay, Mike. We'll continue on. This is why you moved in closer so you could hear this. All right, y'all.

So there he decided to continue to speak. And it was after, we don't have it here. He continued to give the history. Okay. And after he gave the history and then went back to the part of his speech that was, that was not part of the black, the black folks in history, they turned the microphone back on. Okay. So he was, so the president of the Hudson American Legion Auxiliary, Cindy Sushane, she admitted that, yeah, because of her quote to the Washington Post, to the Akron Beacon Journal, we asked him to modify his speech

and he chose not to do that. Well, he was under the impression that, you know, again, y'all asked me to speak. I'm going to sit here and give my speech. Speak your speech. And so now it was only two people who could have made that decision. And Kempter did not want to call out exactly who who made the decision. One of the folks is right here. On Wednesday, Sushant confirmed this is The Washington Post.

On Wednesday, Sushant confirmed that, let me find it right here, confirmed to the Akron Beacon Journal that either she or Jim Garrison, the adjutant of the American Legion, Lee Bishop, Post 464, had turned the audio down because the theme of the day was honoring Hudson veterans. She declined to confirm who specifically had turned down the volume. Of course, that fool wouldn't even comment, said he had nothing to add. The Ohio American Legion is investigating the incident.

Recent law, these white folks would even check a white man. A white retaliatory colonel, and it wasn't even like it was his whole speech. He was just saying, this is the history.

You know what? I'm tickled pink by how much that triggered them, because that was a very mild speech. I mean, it wasn't like he got up there and said, -"Black Lives Matter!" I mean, good Lord. But, um, you know, it's so funny because, you know, I'm... Okay, let me say this. The melanemic, to, uh, to borrow from Jane Elliott,

are so full of shit. Because all this weekend, I was having a whole cow about Vice President Kamala Harris' tweet and honor the troops and, you know, patriotism XYZ and you need to recognize the history and there's all this, you know, history behind this long weekend. And here you have an actual decorated veteran who is actually explaining a white man who is explaining

the history and they can't even handle it. And so it's just not funny, but it is funny because even just the mildest reminder of the just sordid history of our country and actually reminded the melanemic

who lost the war, which is the Confederacy, is enough to send them over the edge. But, you know, I applaud, I applaud Lieutenant Colonel for carrying forward with his speech and for not letting them silence him. And, you know, they were able to turn him down, but they weren't able to silence him because you can't silence the truth. If you guys don't want to admit it, that's fine, but it's still out there. Amisha, it's laughable with these idiots. And I just keep, and I love it how they say, well, the speech was supposed to be about Hudson veterans. The man remarked about John Brown, whose family settled in Hudson, Ohio.

Roland, I think they have to consistently be reminded, Black history is American history. American history is Black history. And trying to erase black history and black contributions to things that are, that have been nationalized. Memorial day is a very important holiday that has been, that has been celebrated across this country for decades now, for generations. And to eradicate the fact that black people actually created it. The reason why it's celebrated is because of black people. They don't want to hear it from black speakers. They clearly don't want to hear it from white speakers either. This goes beyond just a notion of critical race theory and teaching our history in classrooms and making the American public more in tune with the black contributions, but also the reasons why there is so much black pain that still exists across this country, because white people just don't want to hear it. They don't want to hear

it from any speaker. And I think that it's extremely disrespectful, to Recy's point, to all of the people who tweeted all this past weekend and kept hooting and hollering over and over again about how they felt that Vice President Kamala Harris was disrespecting Memorial Day and disrespecting veterans because she said, have a good long weekend. At the end of the day, most Americans had a good long weekend. They hung out with their friends, family, traveled, went to picnics. It was what it was. On that same token, you have a decorated veteran who is speaking and honoring the contributions of veterans, honoring the holiday, mentioning the history of said holiday, which, yes, includes a strong contribution

from black people who created said holiday. All of a sudden, his mic gets cut off right when he was about to get really deep into it. And by really deep, I mean probably three or four more sentences. They just didn't want to hear it at all. Greg, we started this show talking about these white Democrats who don't support H.R. 40.

We already know the white Republicans don't support it. Here was a Memorial Day event. Memorial Day. All the man was saying was who started Memorial Day. And these white folks couldn't even handle that. No, of course not. But as you said, and as Reese has said, and as Amicia said, you know, this is where we are,

but this is where we always been, Roland. This is just another little battlefront in the Cold Civil War. I love and appreciate them for this, because they're dropping all pretenses. With your indulgence, I'm gonna channel my inner John Brown, who, as you said, from five years old to about 17, lived in Hudson, Ohio

with his father, Owen, and moved the family there from Connecticut. I'm going to channel my inner John Brown. When John Brown and those 18, 19 guys went into Harpers Ferry, Virginia in October 1859, with five black men as well, including Dangerfield Newby, who came out of enslavement,

said, I'm going to liberate my wife. They were trying to set off what became the Civil War, and they probably did help do that. Lieutenant Colonel Bernard Kempner understands that, and the open enemies of our common humanity that cut his mic, I respect you all because you're fighting for something. You believe it.

The thing about denial, however, is it doesn't stop reality. So you can get your 43 states and try to stop us from voting. That's fine. You can have your affirmative action hires in places like Duke, where Mike Krojewski hands off his job to another unqualified white man. And up in Boston, where Danny Ainge retires and another white man gets promotion, and even Stephen A. Smith walks off the set in disgust. Y'all can keep it up, but your little country is just about over. Now, I'll say this in the context of what happened on Monday. When you see Lieutenant Army Colonel Bernard Kempter say that, as you said, it wasn't as Michiel said.

Michiel, you just said it. It wasn't going to be but a couple more sentences, but you just came back from Tulsa, brother. And the brother who did the children's book, who did the illustration on the children's book on Tulsa, he also did the illustrations on this little book. It's a good book for your children. A Day for Remembering. There's Floyd Cooper. This is the history of that Memorial Day he was talking about.

Roland, let's just pause here. Those clan adjacent white boys between Akron and Cleveland and that little place called Hudson, Ohio, which has racial problems at Hudson High School the past couple years, they're fighting for something that is a betrayal. Forget a betrayal of America. It's a betrayal of our common humanity.

Because what Kempter was telling them about, in May 1865, those black soldiers in Charleston, South Carolina, went into what was a Confederate prison camp, dug up the bodies, Roland, dug up the bodies of the soldiers who had died in the Civil War, irrespective of their race, black and white soldiers. But these black people dug up the bodies,

gave each of them a decent burial, and then 10,000 black people, he mentioned David Blight, but with all due respect to Professor Blight, a black man and black women have written about this for years. My man, Willard, oh man, I can't think of his name, Jenkins, Wilford Jenkins at Temple University wrote about this in his book on Charleston. 10,000 black people showed up that May the 1st and decorated those freshly dug graves with flowers, including 3,000 schoolchildren, black schoolchildren who did it, black schoolchildren before the end of the Civil War. Yeah, because they started schools immediately. And I love this picture.

There's the arch those black men put together, martyrs of the race course. And they marched in there and those children laid those flowers at the grave singing John Brown's body lays a molding in the grave but his truth is marching on turn off the mic

because we about to turn off the lights on your little settler project and you can put your fingers in your ears if you want to you're just going to get run over that don't mean the water ain't going to drown you anyway. I just love how these folk cannot handle any level of truth. You know, that was one of the cable news executives told a friend of mine that when he asked, why don't y'all have Roland Martin on more? And the person says, well, you know, I like Roland, but he's like a strong cup of

black coffee. Thank you. What? And I said, you damn right. I'm telling y'all folk, this is why all you black folks, when y'all going

on these mainstream networks, do what I've always done and Greg is showing y'all. Read some of them damn books. Infuse actual history into your analysis when you're on. Use your television

hits as an opportunity to educate the masses on black people. Use the opportunity to weave in American history. Don't just talk about present day because the reality is, as Dr. Maya Angelou told me, you are a teacher and use it wisely. That's why I don't play around with this. That's why you don't see me sitting here getting involved in gossip and mess. That's why we don't talk about on this show

who got married, who got divorced, who having kids. Because if y'all want to hear that stuff, y'all can go to somebody else's show. This is why we deal with real stuff. And so to that retired Lieutenant Colonel, way to give him hell and way to keep giving your speech. And I told Jackie, I'll book and track him down. I would love for him to come on and read that speech again. So we have a clear audio portion of what he had to say. That way we can

share it and help more folks. And see how stupid they are. You're dumb asses there in Ohio. Y'all so dumb, more people have actually heard what he had to say than the number of people who were actually at the event. That's why y'all keep playing y'all selves. I keep telling y'all folk

while we have this segment crazy ass white people because all y'all are doing is making our jobs easier. So I hope the American Legion of Ohio fire Cindy and other fool, and y'all go ahead and replace them with some black veterans. Please do that. Hey, y'all, an update on our girl Erica. Yeah, go ahead, Greg.

I have to tell you, congratulations, man. You're coming to my hometown. You're on faculty of fifth now. Yeah, go ahead, Greg. I have to tell you, congratulations, man. You're coming to my hometown. You're on the faculty of Fisk now. Yeah, that is true. That is true. The folks at Fisk announced that last week I'll be a scholar in residence, and so

I'll be teaching several times at Fisk in the next year. Looking forward to chatting with the students and bringing the funk on campus. several times at Fisk in the next year. Looking forward to to chatting with the students and bringing the funk on campus. Y'all know how we roll.

Y'all know how we do it. This was the announcement they actually sent out right here. The inaugural Rivas L. Mitchell Distinguished Scholar in Residence. And so I appreciate this President Van Newkirk for for doing so. And so we're 5th President Van Newkirk for doing so. And so we're looking forward to that.

Looking forward to that. Absolutely. Also, let folks know, I got an opportunity. Our girl, Erica Savage-Wilson, we talked today. Erica is improving. Erica, of course, one of our regular Thursday panelists. A lot of y'all have been shout, have been saying you miss Erica. She was involved in a really, really bad accident. Y'all, we almost lost Erica in an accident. She's

going through massive therapy, speech therapy. She suffered traumatic brain injury, physical therapy, all of that, dealing with hearing loss. And so she's a fighter. And so she was talking. She was talking like she's getting her speech back. She just wanted to thank us for the tribute last week, the video we did, seeing how much folks, we miss her and all of that. And so we want people to understand that y'all keep praying for her. She needs it. And again, if y'all keep praying for her. She needs it.

And again, if y'all also want to show us some love, Recy asked us to do this. And so Erica's cash app is, give me one second. I had dollar sign Erica Savage Wilson. I think that's what it is. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, dollar sign Erica Savage Wilson. And so if y'all want to drop her something, please's right. giving her a love offering. So I just wanted y'all to know she did call as I was coming into the office today. And so she wanted just to go ahead and let y'all know. And so it's going to be a long way back for her.

When she called me earlier this year, she said, I won't be back until next year. That's how much therapy she has to undergo. But we know she's a fighter, and we can't wait to have her back on the show. So we just wanted to give y'all that update. We appreciate everybody. Amisha, thank you give you all that update. We appreciate everybody. Amisha, thank you. Reese, go ahead. I'm sorry.

Yeah, it's Erica, E-R-I-C-A, because I know a lot of people spell Erica with a K. So it's E-R-I-C-A. Dollar sign. Y'all should know how to spell Savage and Wilson, but Erica's with a C. Dollar sign, E-R-I-C-A, S-A-V-A-G-E-W-I-L-S-O-N. So please drop her a little something something.

All right, folks. Amisha, Greg, and Reesey, thank you so very much. Folks, again, if y'all want to support what we do here at Roland Martin Unfiltered, y'all know how to do so. John, Bring the Funk Fan Club, Cash App, Dallas Sign, RM Unfiltered, PayPal.me, forward slash, or Martin Unfiltered, Venmo.com, forward slash, RM Unfiltered, Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com, or Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com forward slash RM unfiltered Zell is Roland at RolandSMartin.com or Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com

and so y'all know how we are always in the show go back to the panelists and me as well I want to thank everybody for watching all of y'all who are on YouTube and Facebook and Instagram and Twitter who are watching please support the work that we do we keep it real we

keep it independent and of course we end the show the same way every single day y'all know how we do. We keep it real. We keep it independent. And, of course, we end the show the same way every single day. Y'all know how we do it. And now Misha, just Misha, Greg, and Reesey, and Erica have a way

of ending the show as well. So you got to throw the right fist up, the right fist up, Misha, to join them up. So here we go. Y'all see y'all tomorrow. Holla!

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