#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Black mayor under fire for taking down confederate statue; FAMU responds; Jackson water crisis

Episode Date: August 31, 2022

8.30.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Black mayor under fire for taking down confederate statue; Duke/BYU update; FAMU responds to critics;Jackson water crisis; Rep. Khanna talks student loan debt; Black North Carolina mayor under fire for dismantling a confederate monument Duke's United Black Athletes Executive Board makes a statement about the racist comments made to a Duke volleyball player during a game.  And FAMU releases another statement about the football players' concerns.  Mississippi's largest city is in the midst of a water crisis. Folks there will have little to no water indefinitely. I'll talk to one of the city's council members about how heavy rains and flooding caused the city's water treatment center pumps to fail catastrophically.   A Black North Carolina mayor is getting heat from white folks for dismantling a confederate monument. Enfield's mayor is getting hate emails, and a flyer from a white supremacist group is popping up around the town. Mondale Robinson will be here to explain why he took the monument down himself.  Gas prices are steadily declining. I spoke with the U.S. Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, about the decrease in money we are spending at the pump.  California Representative Ro Khanna will be joining us to discuss President Biden's student loan debt relief and explain how his mid-west apology tour attempting to save the Democratic party is going.  In our Marketplace segment, a black woman found a solution to what she calls "overload bag syndrome" by creating a multifunctional designer bag.  Support RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered Venmo ☛https://venmo.com/rmunfiltered Zelle ☛ [e-mail] Annual or monthly recurring #BringTheFunk Fan Club membership via paypal ☛ https://rolandsmartin.com/rmu-paypal/ Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com #RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network, a small-town North Carolina mayor takes down a Confederate monument. Old white folks are pissed off and the Klan is really upset passing out leaflets in town. We'll talk to Mayor Mondale Robinson about what is happening in his city.

Plus, the state has launched an investigation of that. Also, I have an update on the Duke BYU saga. Duke's United Black Athletes Executive Board, they've issued a statement regarding the issue. We'll also talk about the latest drama with Florida A&M and their football team. The lawyer for a top player says that he was misadvised by administrators on what classes to take. That's why he got a four-game suspension from the NCAA.

And band members of the Marching 100, they are pissed off, saying that they are being treated worse than the football team. Wait till I tell you about them taking 13-hour bus rides, having to eat cold meals, and not even being able to shower after games. Yeah, I don't know what's happening down in Tallahassee. Also on today's show, folks, Mississippi's largest city has a water crisis. Jackson, Mississippi residents are being advised not to drink the water. That's coming from the governor.

But why isn't the governor partnering with the mayor on this very issue? Yeah, we'll sit here and talk about that issue as well. Folks, a lot of things going to be covering here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Gas prices is one of the issues as well. We've talked to the Energy Secretary, Jennifer Granholm, about gas prices and what the Biden administration is trying to do when it comes to having clean energy in the United States. Plus, California Representative Ro Khanna will be joining us to discuss President Biden's student loan debt relief and explain how his Midwest apology tour can save the Democratic Party.

Hmm, let's unpack that, folks. In our Marketplace segment, a black woman found a solution to what she calls overload bag syndrome. Yes, overload bag syndrome, creating a multifunctional designer bag. We'll show you that right here on the show. It's time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin.

I'm filtered. I'm the Black Star Network. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the mess, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's Roland.

Best belief he's knowing. Putting it down, he's right on time. And it's rolling. Best believe 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. Martin, yeah. Rollin' with Rollin' now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Rollin' Martin now. Martin! All right, folks, black mayors all across the country, they are sick and tired of Confederate monuments and the mayor of Enfield, North Carolina, took down one of those monuments. Mondo Robinson said enough is enough.

He replaced a white Republican mayor in that particular town in North Carolina. The decision to topple the 94-year-old monument on Sunday night was based on the best interest of nearly 2,400 people who live in the city, 85% of them black. This is what happened. Yo. It's time for this monument to come down. People voted. I tried with a hammer. That wasn't enough.

So now here come the tractors. Drive it down. Yes, sirs. Yes, sirs. Yes, sirs. Death to the Confederacy around here. Push that little one over too, bro. All of it.

Not in my town, not on my watch. Not in my town, not on my watch not in my town not on my watch not in my town not on my watch all right folks uh as a result of that uh white races were not happy they begin to post these notes all around town. Not happy at all. It says white people of Enfield, you have let a nigger, their word, tyrant, stomp on your white heritage. What will you do? Don't let them get away with anything.

Loyal White Knights, the 24-7 phone number as well. Listen to their podcast and their phone number for them to call in. Joining us now is the mayor of Enfield, North Carolina, Mondale Robinson. Glad to have you back on the show, Mondale. So folks have not been, the white folks, they have not been happy with you. Look, the same thing happened in Birmingham. Randall Woodfin took a monument down there. You had Stephen Reed in Montgomery, Alabama, did the exact same thing. And so, I mean, look, you have these places, these majority black cities,

where they have been forced to keep these monuments up by Republican legislatures. Yeah, it's good to see you, Roe. I hope you had a good vacation, brother. Here's the problem for me. This monument has stood since 1928 in that park. And in my entire life, and I'm only 43 years old, that park was called the White Folk Park. It wasn't until recently until it got a name, Randolph Park. Everybody in Enfield knows that park as the White Folk Park because black people first were not allowed there. When they were, that monument was at, a water fountain was at on that monument that said white folk only. Later in the years after it was placed there, they put some, they etched on the back some

ode to other wars. But the main purpose of that Confederate monument, my man, was to remind black people that the Confederacy was still alive. And this is some of the sentiments we've received, not just that leaflet that you saw from the Klan, but some of the e-mails I've been receiving from white residents and also white people all over this country about the invisible empire and how black people need to understand that the Confederacy has never died and will never die. And I mean, you know, for me, it was a no-brainer. My dad suffers because he was the son of a sharecropper. My grandfather died not even being able to walk. My mother has memories of being sprayed with water holes.

And I, you know, deal with PTSD that's definitely associated with the epigenetics. And that PTSD was every time I saw that Confederate monument on the front of that statue, I felt some type of way. This park is less than a block away from my house, and it had to go. So, you know, I'm not going to sit around and talk about it. I'm just going to do it. And whatever the legislature want to do, whatever the SBI want to do, we can deal with that when it's time to deal with it. Now, is there a state law in North Carolina that prohibits Confederate monuments from being taken down or removed without approval from them? So this is the tricky part.

There is a statute that was passed 2015 and modified in 2017 in North Carolina that says the state, you cannot move, remove, you can't permanently move or remove statues that are odes to veterans or that are murals to veterans. But that's if the state own it. There are some exceptions if it's personally owned by a private group like the Daughters of Confederacy or if it's property of a town or a city that state does not want you moving those monuments. But my board voted for the one to remove it, so I did that, knowing that we had exceptions. There are exceptions for moving monuments if it poses a public safety or a risk to public health. And I feel like black children seeing this monument in the front of swing sets at a park is definitely a threat to their personhood.

And I felt that that's enough ground to take it down the way I took it down. And so with this, with that particular statute, in the case of Alabama, there's a fine. There were people who stepped up, paid the fine in Birmingham, paid the fine in Montgomery, and they moved on. What are the repercussions you might face in North Carolina? So here's the tricky part. The SBI is doing the investigation, but when they interviewed me, they told me they were doing an investigation on behalf of Halifax County, the county where Enfield is. The problem with that is there's no client. I mean, there's no plaintiff in this case because the SBI was talking to me about destruction of property, personal property. Well, my town owns that property. So I don't know what destruction they're talking about because Enfield's not going to press charges against me. The call to the SBI

was actually done by Enfield's police chief because he felt like he didn't like the way I took it down. But he's not a voting member of our board. Our board had already decided that it was going to go. And I told the board to save the town money, I'll take it down myself, and I did just that. So whatever the repercussions is, if it's a fine, if it's a charge, we're going to carry on doing what we do, Roland. You know that. Totally understand, Mondo Robinson. We certainly appreciate it.

Thanks a lot. Indeed. All right, I'm going to bring in my panel right now. Dr. Mustafa Santaygo Ali, former senior advisor for environmental justice at the EPA. Teresa Lundy, principal founder of TML Communications, Demario Solomon-Simmons, civil rights attorney, founder of Justice for Greenwood, will be joining us a little later in the show.

Look, here's the whole deal here, Teresa. You know, you've got these Republicans who are defenders of the Confederacy. They do not like when black folks exert their power. They want to control these cities. Now, Republicans love talking about local control, except when black people are in charge. Absolutely right.

But even the basis of what the Confederacy stood for was about controlling slavery, controlling the rule of law of which black people were enlisted in. And so, you know, as we think about what the Civil War looked like and, you know, what they were fighting for, part of it was the moral sense of slavery. And so now it's modern-day slavery in the midst of having these elected officials still trying to control.

African-Americans, our funding. They come with different laws and, you know, also just try to matriculate different things that really don't have a hold on some of our communities. So it's definitely important that we start to understand what it looks like and also the senders of these messages who say they fight against slavery, but yet we keep seeing it time and time again when their claws actually hang out for them. And the thing here, Mustafa, it is simple.

These Republicans do not want black folks determining their own fate. They want to force black residents and black elected officials to have to keep these Confederate monuments. They want to keep the Confederacy alive, and that is today's Republican Party in Mississippi, in Alabama, in South Carolina, in Georgia, in Arkansas. We could go on and on and on. It is in the South. My grandmother says you have power unless you give it away. So we're utilizing our power. We're utilizing our power to make sure that monuments of hate no longer have fertile ground in the 21st century. And we also understand that these monuments of hate also have traumatic impacts in and on our lives. And we are no longer going to carry that trauma by allowing these types of things to be placed and to be

viewed inside of our communities. So I'm very, very happy that the mayor moved forward in the way that he did and the decisiveness of the way that he did. And I hope that all of us will also back him up. If there is a fine, we should make sure that the money is raised in a matter of minutes to make sure that that's taken care of. I just get a kick out of the folks, again, who do all they can to defend this nonsense. All right, folks, got to go to break. We come back on Roller Martin Unfiltered. We'll talk about President Joe Biden challenging Republicans, saying, I ain't a hell of y'all pro-law enforcement,

but y'all pro-insurrection. Is the president finally, finally getting tough on Republicans as we head to the midterm elections? We'll discuss that next. You're watching Rolling Mark Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Don't forget to download the Black Star Network app available on all platforms.

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we all shine. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. White people are losing their damn lives. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial.

This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at every university calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. Here's all the Proud Boys guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is White Field.

When we invest in ourselves, we all shine. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. Pull up a chair. Take your seat. The Black Tape. With me, Dr. Greg Carr, here on the Black Star Network. Every week, we'll take a deeper dive into the world we're living in. Join the conversation only on the Black Star Network. Folks, in the state capital of Mississippi, Jackson, thousands are without water.

The governor is telling them don't drink it, use bottled water. This has been a fundamental problem for quite some time in Jackson, Mississippi. The mayor, Chokwe Lumumba, declared a water system emergency. He says complications from the Pearl River flooding caused a massive pump failure at the water treatment plant. The governor, Tate Reeves, issued this warning. Please stay safe. Do not drink the water. In too many cases, it is raw water from the reservoir being pushed through the pipes. Be smart. Protect yourself. Protect your family. Preserve water and look out for your fellow man and look out for your neighbors.

Regan said the cause of the problem is unknown. The city-run water treatment plant has been poorly operated and understaffed for years. When the governor made that announcement, the mayor was not there. Joining us now is Jackson, Mississippi, council member and alpha man, Brian Grazel, who represents Ward 4. Glad to have you here, Fred. First and foremost, Mississippi got more than $400 million in infrastructure money last year. Where in the hell did the money go? It was supposed to be specifically for pipes

and water treatment facilities. You know, I believe that that's a really good question because to date, the city of Jackson has not received the bulk of that money. We received one tranche, I think roughly about $44 million, and the state is opening a program September 1, which will allow them to allow us to apply for a match of those funds. The infrastructure statewide is very antiquated, and we need help. And so the issue in the city of Jackson is actually more than 30 years old. It's just come to a head. And the divestment in the city of Jackson has been extremely, extremely egregious. And so we need all the help that we can get. We're still trying to find that money, and we're trying to pinch payments to do what we can to bring clean drinking water to the citizens of Jackson. The thing here that the governor is trying to blame incompetence in Jackson, but it's also

this is the state capitol. So the state also has a responsibility here, correct? Absolutely. In fact, when we issued our legislative asks this past legislative session, we didn't get a dime. And so, again, we were left out basically to fend for ourselves and to move monies around necessary to try to make ends. Our water treatment system, again, it's one of the most unique ones in the country. We have a conventional system, and then there's another system that actually most people aren't even certified in working with. And so we're trying to do what we can to make sure that we can kind of mend fences here and work with the state and also the federal legislation. I know Senator Wicker has put some interest in. He's been committed to helping us,

and we're trying to secure the funds necessary. At the end of the day, we're going to need a new plan, but right now we just want to get clean drinking water to our citizens. You got schools that are virtual as a result of this. Folks are having to bottle water. What is the city and the state doing? Are they bringing in bottled water? Are residents having to force to spend their own money? And has the city suspended, folks are having to bottle water. What is the city and the state doing? Are they bringing in bottled water? Are residents having to force to spend their own money? And has the city suspended folks paying their water bills? So as there's kind of been a mixture for the longest time,

the city has taken donations and also purchased water for citizens. Yesterday, the state came in with aid to bring in bottled water. The Corps of Engineers have also come in with non-potable water to actually help mitigate some of the stresses of having drinking water. But for the longest time the city has been doing that. Now, in terms of paying the water bills, so part of our issue was that the city stopped cutoff years ago, which is why we have a deficit in our enterprise fund. Now, hold on. When you say stop cutoff, meaning if people who owed their water bills, the city would not cut their water off? Correct. So that was another issue.

And how, first of all, it's still like in perpetuity. So somebody could literally not pay their water bill for six months and the city still wouldn't turn the water off. Actually, I know someone who we've been trying to work with who hasn't paid their bill in seven years. Well, seven years. Yes. And so as a result, we have a twenty seven million dollar deficit. But we are working through that. We are starting to recover our enterprise. We have new meters in place. And of course, Roland, that is a totally separate issue that we can definitely discuss because it helped to get us to the point here. Well, I'm just trying to understand, though. I mean, $27 million deficit is significant.

I mean, I get if you are a month or two behind, but damn, seven years? Yeah, it's a decision that I wouldn't agree with. This is my first year in office. Well, I'm wrapping up my first year in office, but it's a business decision that I wouldn't necessarily agree with. But let's keep in mind, too, that the issue at hand is a billion-dollar problem. So that $27 million wouldn't even be a drop in the hat with this billion-dollar issue. Okay, now when you say it's a billion-dollar problem, what does that mean? That in order to completely overhaul the water treatment facility in Jackson, Mississippi,

you're saying the cost would be around a billion dollars? At least a billion, and that's for a plant. But to actually overhaul completely, it may be even closer to $2 billion. For one plant? We have two plants in the city. Okay. Got it. And obviously, you're dealing with one of the poorest states in the country.

Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, Jackson, the people here, we're very resilient. We've always had to figure out ways to fend for ourselves because of the level of divestment that has taken place. We are the capital city of Mississippi, and we've always had to fight to remind people that this is the capital city of Mississippi. We have eight major universities here. We have the state's number one, level one trauma center here. The teaching hospitals are here. Everyone comes here for health care, you know, and they come here to learn. And we have one of the largest school districts in the state of Mississippi,

right here in the city of Jackson. And so a lot of other areas, of course, a lot of resources end up in these other areas, and we've just been basically drained dry of a lot of resources. But we continue to fight for our fair share, and we continue to make do with what we have. All right, Councilman Griselle, Jackson, Mississippi, we sure appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Mustafa, I want to start with you. I mean, this is what we're talking about when the president passed the massive infrastructure bill. Republicans fought it, although they loved the money, and then taking credit for it. And this is what happens in America. I say this all the time.

Americans, whether you're on the city level, county level, state level, federal level, we wait for stuff to break and then we go, oh, you know what? We might want to go ahead and fix that now. I mean, the idea of being ahead of the curve is just lost because everything in this country is, oh, that's going to cost too much until it completely breaks down. When it breaks, it costs us twice as much, sometimes three, four times as much. So let's be clear about what's going on in Jackson. You know, when you look at Mississippi, we know the long history of racism

and that racism actually making its way into policy and the disinvestments that have happened in a number of black towns and cities across Mississippi. Now, Mississippi is not the only place. We also know that dollars have been sitting in something called the state revolving loan fund. So the feds send money to the states and then the governor or a commission determines the areas that they are going to then invest dollars in. And we know that there have been a number of governors across the South who have refused to move forward on those water infrastructure dollars that are so critical. Now, one of the things that we should do is for the loan programs,

we got to make sure that they are, you know, at a place where those cities that are having challenges can actually, you know, utilize those dollars. But the other part of it is we also got to continue to expand out the grants so that people don't have to pay those dollars back, even when they're low interest loans. So the reality of the situation is across the South, we've had those governors that refuse to make the investments to build infrastructure or rebuild infrastructure. And then in some places, you know, deal with the crumbling infrastructure that's going on. Teresa, I'm going to go back to what I said when it came to Confederate monuments. You have these Republican legislatures, Republican governors, who want to bleed Democrat cities, black cities.

They want to force them to fend for themselves. You're absolutely right, and this is a prime example. I think, you know, when we had the American Rescue Act plan where they announced millions of dollars were going into states, I'm really looking for the governor here. I was looking for, you know, some statement, some operational plan to actually help this city out of this strategy with the funds that they received. There's no reason why we're still just putting Band-Aids on this situation when clearly there's a problem. When people and businesses and communities are flooded, that ultimately has other repercussions. And I'm not sure why on the federal side the funds aren't matriculating

and also on the state level why the funds aren't matriculating, and also on the state level, why the funds aren't being given to the states so they can actually have that forward thinking. It shouldn't take an election year in order for it to probably change, because these people need it right now. Demario, when we talk about it again, just one thing after another, and again, we can go from city to city and we see this. We see environmental racism. We see the lack of building. We see folks wait until bridges collapse and go, oh, let's fix it. Then they say, oh, well, you know, we got schools and other buildings. And it's one thing after another. This nation just doesn't give a

damn about infrastructure because everything is, oh, it's going to cost so much money, yet it's amazing how we can find money to give the military $40 and $50 billion more than they even asked for, more than in the Biden budget, how we keep spending money there. If you want to understand a country's priorities, look at where they spend their money. And then they say, well, you know, we don't have any money to fix it. But then again, when something collapses, people die. Folks can't go to work. And look, we talk about water here. Look what happened in Flint. There are people in Flint, Michigan, who lost children because of the infected water. There are individuals there whose generational lines are going to be impacted because of the lead poisoning that is in their bodies. Folks are

going to be monitored for the next 30 years. You're not talking about that's now in the DNA of folks. So people may think, okay, yeah, it's water, but something as basic and fundamental as water has generational impact when your systems get destroyed and the people are infected as a result. All right, man, good to see everybody tonight. A few things. Number one, yes, it is water, and that's the most basic element of life. You have to have water to drink, to bathe in, to sustain life. And when you're talking about even utilizing bottled water, that is not a solution. I mean, you know how many bottles of water it takes to fill up a tub? I mean, you're talking about, oh, 100 bottles of

water. So that's number one. This is a massive issue. Number two, Roland, I think you want to continue to reiterate what you said at the top. This is a systematic disinvestment into Black-owned, I mean, Black-led and or Black-majority cities. This is purposeful. They want this to happen to Jackson. They don't care that this is happening to Jackson, because although we're looking at some white people on this video, Jackson is a majority Black city, and it's ran by majority Black politicians, including their very progressive mayor.

So they want to see the systematic failure. These things do not happen in suburban America. These things do not happen in white communities. This is in Black communities. This is a direct result of Reaganomics. This is a direct result of how Republicans hate public services. They hate public services because that means that Black people may have some equitable portion of it. So instead of letting us get an equitable portion of it, they'd rather just destroy everything. And the third thing I want to say

here is this is directly tied to a court case that just happened last week where the Fifth Circuit upheld a Jim Crow- era voting law out of Mississippi. Because Mississippi, the thing they care about most is not football, is not water treatment plants. It is about oppressing white Black people and making sure Black people have the worst lives possible. So this is the outgrowth of those three things. Folks, I talked today with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, not only about gas prices, but also about improving the nation's infrastructure when it comes to energy. Here's our conversation. Today, then, a few months ago with the drop in gas prices, I filled up my Navigator last night

and it was, I think it was $3.86, which is a lot better than when it was five bucks. Right. And you got a navigator. You are paying a lot of money to fill that up. I know a lot of people, a lot of TV gear. Yeah. Well, this the good news is that really this started this has been dropping every day practically for the past 11 weeks. And it's because the president decided that he was going to release a million barrels a day from our strategic petroleum reserve, which of course, we've got millions of barrels there in case of an emergency. And in this case, the emergency was not just that prices were going up. Of course, that is an emergency for many people.

But it was due to the fact that Putin invaded Ukraine. And that because Russia is a huge exporter of oil and gasoline comes from oil and oil is treated on a global market. And all those millions of barrels that were pulled off that because of that invasion, the president said, we've got to fill up that hole that was left by not having those Russian barrels of oil. So he releases a million barrels a day, still happening, from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and called upon our oil and gas companies to also increase production as well as international ones. So we're starting to see it balance out now. And the release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve will probably will stop in October. And our our Energy and Information Administration projects that where we're at right now is probably where we're going to be through the end of the year.

How do you respond when your Republican critics say that President Biden has made it harder to produce gas in the United States? We've fallen behind other countries. Yet when I talk to environmentalists, they say there are thousands of permits that oil companies are not taking advantage of. Yeah, in fact, that is definitely true. You know, lots of acres that are not being used. But here's the thing, is that we will be at record levels of oil production next year. So the fact that the notion that the Biden administration is somehow stopping production is just not accurate. I think that was an argument they may have waged six months ago, but they know that that's not true. I haven't been hearing that lately because, in fact, we have been exporting and

extracting all manner of oil and natural gas as well. We are at record levels of exporting of natural gas. But I will say this, Roland. What's really important is that the president recognizes we're in this moment right now where supply did not meet demand. Demand was going up. Supply was not there. And that's why he wanted to increase supply. But ultimately, it demonstrates that we have to move to clean, reliable energy. And that's why he's really put a big emphasis on moving in that direction so that we can, you know, plug in electric vehicles and have solar panels and all of that, and to bring down the prices of all of those so that everyday citizens can take advantage of it. That's really what the Inflation Reduction Act is all about, is making products accessible to people so that they don't have to pay as much for fuel.

I'm glad you mentioned that. We talked about the new energy. I was looking at this tweet from conservative radio host Eric Erickson. He was complaining about how he had to drive back and forth long distances and said, we're not ready for electric electrical vehicles. And I respond to him. I said, well, Republicans will get the hell out of the way. We wouldn't have a problem. I said the solar panel industry was an American invention. They ripped President Jimmy Carter when he put solar panels on top of the White House. Now China is a leader. I say, well, if Americans had embraced solar panels, we would not be behind China. We talk about the power grid in this country. It greatly needs to be upgraded.

It's amazing to me the number of people who don't understand, well, if you block the ability to move forward with electric power vehicles, you don't put enough power stations out in the country, then you're always going to be running from behind. Right. And this is what's so great about this Inflation Reduction Act is that it incentivizes the building of solar panels in the United States. Solar, by the way, is the cheapest form of energy in most places. As you can imagine, it's just the sun beaming energy at us all the time.

We can capture it, harness it. You can plug in an electric vehicle and you have solar panels. You know, you pay the equivalent of about a dollar per gallon to drive an electric vehicle versus driving, you know, a regular gas powered vehicle. And the Inflation Reduction Act doesn't just incentivize solar panels. It incentivizes the making of electric vehicles in the United States. It incentivizes the making of wind turbines and all of the parts for wind turbines and the batteries for electric vehicles. It creates a whole clean energy industry in the U.S., which ultimately will make us more energy secure and not have to rely so much on the volatility that is coming from imported or fossil fuels. So what's really exciting to me is that the president has said, no more are we

going to stand by and let China take these manufacturing jobs. We're going to bring them back to the United States. We're going to put people to work and we're going to give people cheaper energy. And that's a really great thing. And on that point, that's what, again, I'm just terribly confused by. When I listen to critics, you're talking about, well, if we produce our own solar panels, that's jobs. If we're producing power stations, that's American jobs. If we're upgrading our grid, that's jobs. So I'm just trying to understand why it has to be either or, oh, fossil fuels, but we can't do what they call green, when in fact, it actually helps us in the long run, and it helps us economically. Absolutely. It totally helps us economically. In fact, this market for these clean energy products is going to be $23 trillion globally by 2030.

And so we can allow other countries to have it as their strategic plan to go get their corner of that market. Or we can say, no, we're going to make the stuff that makes us energy independent. We'll stamp it made in America. We can use it here. We can export it as an opportunity for businesses across the country. It's so great. And part of the Inflation Reduction Act, too, Roland, is that it incentivizes the location of these manufacturing facilities in communities that may need economic opportunity. And that's really exciting as well.

So we're the incentivizing of installing solar panels, 30 percent tax credit. If somebody wants to get some solar panels on the roof, if they live in a disadvantaged community, it's 40 percent off. If they live in subsidized housing, it's 50 percent off. There's money to weatherize and retrofit your home. If you fall under a certain income level, you can get your whole home weatherized for free, including energy-efficient appliances and new windows and insulation. And if you are above that income threshold, and in the United States, on average, it's about $55,000 income for a family of four. But if you are above that income threshold, then there's still incentives for you to be able to get rebates on electric heat pumps, for example, energy efficient appliances. So there's so much in this to love that brings down the price for everyday citizens, but also incentivize the manufacturer of it in the United States. Got to love it. Indeed. Well, look, we certainly appreciate it.

And what I hope is that that message just really gets out to the Black community, especially through Black-owned media. And so, you know, we've been one of the folks on the forefronts of pushing to ensure that Black-owned media gets those federal government advertising dollars, because our community needs to hear that consistently

because we absolutely need it when you look at environmental racism and how we are impacted by the high cost of energy. Absolutely, absolutely. And there's money in there for environmental justice communities to specifically target it. There's just so much that's really great

to create justice. And I'm super glad that you're having me on so that I could talk about it. I appreciate it. Look forward to having you back. Thanks so much. All right. See you. I'll be well. Mustafa, I want to start with you. Look, this is not a sexy topic for some people, but people have to understand, just like I was talking about with water. Electricity is a fundamental need in this country. This is a Reuters story from May 12, 2022. Creaky U.S. power grid threatens progress on renewables, EVs.

What this article lays out is that we have a fundamental problem in this country. It's going to take $2 trillion to upgrade it. Here's what is interesting here. Look at this paragraph. The decrepit power infrastructure of the world's largest economy is among the biggest obstacles to expand clean energy and combating climate change on the ambitious schedule laid out by U.S. President Joe Biden. This nation loves to talk about how advanced we are, how far ahead we are, how we are the greatest country that God has ever created and all of that. Yet folk in this country won't even do what's right to get the damn electrical grid. And people don't even understand that. We have these seven regional grids.

We lose most of the power being transmitted because the grid sucks. Yeah, exactly. Well, we saw what happened in Texas, right? And we saw when the infrastructure has been put in place and bad sets of actions. Well, first of all, in Texas, they chose not to be a part of the U.S. grid. They chose to have their own. And that was a dumbass decision by Governor Greg Abbott, which is one of the reasons why he should be thrown out of office. Yeah, exactly.

That's what I was going to highlight. But, you know, we've got an opportunity now through the Inflation Reduction Act, through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and a couple of other pieces of legislation that's out there that we can begin to rebuild this grid, which is going to be so critical. It's critical for our communities also because we have these crazy spikes, as Secretary Granholm talked about. You know, we pay three to four times more for our energy costs in many instances than white brothers and sisters do. So that, you know, exacerbates the black-white wealth gap that exists inside of our country. So as we begin to make sure that these elements are in place, we can also begin to address some of the impacts that are causing poverty in our communities and a number of other

dynamics. The other part of it is, and that's why I love coming on our show every Tuesday when we talk about black entrepreneurship. I continue to travel around the country and get people to understand that when we are talking about a trillion dollar industry, there are huge sets of opportunities for us to start our own businesses. There's nothing wrong with being an employee, but it's time for us to really understand how wealth is built. And if we've got a trillion dollar sets of opportunities in front of us, then we need to make sure that we're getting a piece of that pie, if you will. You know, it's interesting, Teresa, when you listen to folks talk about, oh, what China's doing. Perfect example.

China has built some 24,000 miles of high-speed rail. And folks go, you know, we got to compete with China. Well, first of all, they're a communist country. So ain't no such thing as rules. Go back to the Reuters article. Read this here. Actually, it is true. Read this here.

No, no, no, no. Listen, Omega, listen. It says this here. Actually, it is true. Read this here. No, no, no, no. Listen, Omega, listen. It says right here. The federal government, however, lacks the authority to push through the massive grid expansion and modernization needed to withstand wilder weather and accommodate EVs and renewable power. current regulatory regime, the needed infrastructure investments are instead controlled by a busy team web of local, state, and regional regulators who have strong political incentives to hold down spending, according to Reuters interviews with grid operators, federal and state regulators, and executives from utilities and construction firms. So when I listen to folk talk about how China is so far ahead, China doesn't have to worry about local, state, and federal regulation.

They just decide we're building it. They don't worry about it. Look, they got the ultimate eminent domain. But what we're still dealing with here, this is a perfect example where you have this push for electric vehicles, which is going to cause a demand for more power, but you got a grid that sucks. We have power outages that have greatly increased over the past decade, and you do not have the political will to do it. Now, you saw how Republicans attacked the Green New Deal, and they called this socialism and everything else in the world. They would prefer to stick with the oil and gas industry, fossil fuels, change nothing,

and we don't want to spend any money right now, and let's wait until this whole thing blows up and then go, ah, maybe we should fix the problem. Yeah, and part of it is because we have a lot of seasoned politicians who are not willing to change and look beyond the current state of the situation that they're representing. And so, you know, we have a lot of folks that's talking about the Green New Deal, that's talking about, you know, the billion-dollar investment, that we can actually invest in energy-sufficient utilities, but yet, you know, there is no forward thinking. So I think part of the solution could be is that, you know, Biden, and I think this is a really good opportunity for Kamala to really,

you know, just walk the legislation, Kamala Harris. Or the vice president. Our vice president, yes, Vice President Harris, to really, you know, guide some of the initiatives that they've already passed. I think if they do that, you know, it really would give cities and states a real opportunity to kind of, you know, start to rethink their best practices and forms so we can actually figure out, you know, what the path looks like in the next 20 years. Because in the next five years, you know, we don't know. I mean, look, one of the things that you have, you know, happening right now, look, California is going to outlaw gas vehicles. Again, though, that's great. But you have to keep up with with with electrical vehicle, electric vehicle power stations. The Wall Street Journal had an article about a month or so ago,

Mario, that was actually frightening where a journalist and a friend of hers, they took a cross-country trip from New Orleans to Illinois and they detailed the biggest problem they had. Some stations, it charged faster than others. The cars, they couldn't find stations. They said there was not a single electrical vehicle power station in the city of New Orleans. Not one.

And so if we're talking about moving to this, you're going to have to, making the cars is one thing, but having the system in place to be able to handle that. If you're driving from, you know, one state to the other, you got to be able to do it. And one of the things this article details, the long waits they had to go through just to recharge. That ain't going to do it for a lot of people. Well, I think we have to just be real honest about what this country is about. As my good friend Resema talks about, the organizing principle of America is the plantation. And the plantation was to maximize profits. And that's what this is about.

This is about maximizing the profits of the oil and gas industry. So, of course, they're going to continue to fight anything to look forward, anything for electrical vehicles, until they have the opportunity to most likely profit off of it. And that is our fundamental issue here. And we have to be clear and concise with our discussions with our people and others who want to move this country forward in a different direction. Even a secretary that was talking, when she was talking about we have the most people drilling for oil and gas at this time, that's not a good thing. We don't need to be having that. When she talked about the president, you know, bringing down oil and gas prices, well, let's be honest with people. The president does not set oil and gas prices. Oil is an international commodity. So I just, you know, we have a lot of kind of disinformation, but not full explaining of what's going on here.

In a capitalistic society, which America is, profit is the motivating factor. Until that changes, we will never have the type of changes that we need as best for people, everyday people, and for generations of people. And that is the issue we must be very clear on. Well, Mustafa, then if that's the case, now damping is going to get done. You are very much involved in the environmental arena. What has to happen in the next one year, two years, five years? We've got to get focused on the midterms that are coming up. We've got to make sure that we are electing candidates who are pro-climate, who are also pro-environmental justice and are willing to stand the line.

The reason for that is that, you know, the fossil fuel industry gets about a $20 billion a year subsidy. And then they take those dollars, they utilize some of them, but a lot of that goes back into politics. And that's the reason that you've seen many of these politicians taking these hard-line stances that they have, even when the science tells them that we have to make these moves. And even when they see, when they open up their windows or look out their doors, you know, these climate crises that are going on. So we should be very clear about how big money is playing a role in what's going on. We should also be very clear that when you talked about the EV charging stations, that there have been dollars that are inside these bills

to actually make sure that we are building out that grid of EV charging stations across the country and also taking into consideration that everybody doesn't own their home, so that we've got to make sure that if someone's living in an apartment building or something like that, that there's also these opportunities to build out the network of charging stations. And I'll just leave you with this, Roland. You just filled up the Navigator, I believe it is, this past weekend. I just charged up my ride. It was $12.57. Wow. How many miles did you get to your ride?

Probably about 275. So it cost me, I think, $110 for 513 miles. But again, if moving to that, it's going to require, you know, what happens when you run out. That's what I'm saying.

And you've got to have political leaders understand if you're moving to a new system, you got to put the infrastructure in place. And the thing that cracks me up, Teresa, with these people, they act as if we didn't, like to Mustafa's point, the subsidies they get every single year. I mean, I love it how folk go, oh, let companies, let the free marketplace do it. That shit ain't free. We pay for a lot of the free marketplace in this country. We did. And so part of that, you know, free sponsorship what taxpayers are paying for is we have to also understand where those dollars and cents are going and the effect that it has and how

long it lasts. So there are many questions that, you know, allow us to make these decisions. I know myself, you know, I thought about do I stay with gas or do I go to electric? Well, you know, I'm okay with gas right now, but I need to see a little bit more incentives for me to change over. And part of that is the grid. You know, so part of it is that is other incentives that I think that will be trickling down

on the federal level side. But it just needs to also be communicated better in the state on what they plan on doing and how many stations they plan on having. So I think if we're looking at a shorter scope is better communication for how this rollout is going to be. And then some of those dollars that's within some of those legislative bills, how are they going to particularly affect the state that we reside? Indeed. All right, folks, going to go to a quick break. that took place here at Brigham Young University between the Duke volleyball team as well as the BYU volleyball team

and racial insults being hurled at one of Duke's only black star. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. When we invest in ourselves, we're investing in what's next for all of us. Growing, creating, making moves that move us all forward. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure.

On a next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, our kids are going back to school. After two years of disruption, thanks to COVID, are we ready? How to help them to prepare and what are the warning signs that our children are showing us? Social, emotional, physical. All of these stressors and anxieties will be impacting our children. They'll be facing new challenges, anxieties, and emotions. And the adults in their lives need to figure out how to pull themselves together so that our kids will be able to do the same.

Adults need to be paying closer attention now more so than ever. This generation who feels like they're unguided, we need to provide that guidance. That's next on A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, here at Blackstar Network. When we invest in ourselves, our glow, our vision, our vibe,

we all shine. Together, we are Black beyond measure We're all impacted by the culture Whether we know it or not From politics to music and entertainment It's a huge part of our lives And we're going to talk about it every day

Right here on The Culture With me, Faraji Muhammad Only on the Black Star Network. Hey, I'm Antonique Smith. Hello, everyone. It's Kiara Sheard. Hey, I'm Taj. I'm Coco. And I'm Lili.

And we're SWV. What's up, y'all? It's Ryan Destiny. And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Alright, folks, we shared with you the story of Rachel Richardson, the lone black starter on the Duke University volleyball team, who was on the receiving end of racial slurs when Duke and BYU played in Provo, Utah on Friday. The BYU athletic director issued a statement,

spoke to the crowd, also apologized to her as well as to Duke. Now the Duke United Black Athletes Executive Board, they also released their own statement with regards to what took place. This is what they had to say. Duke United black athletes is aware of the heinous incident that took place on Friday, August 26th at the Duke vs.

BYU women's volleyball game. For those unaware, black student athletes were repeatedly called racial slurs throughout the match. As an organization, we acknowledge the role that both Duke and BYU played in allowing this to take place. While we understand universities cannot control fans, we are disappointed in the lack of immediate action from both institutions. After learning about the incident, reflecting, and discussing, we feel that it is of utmost importance to express

our support and solidarity with this student-athlete. It is disheartening to say the least that black student-ath student athletes continue to experience these traumatic events. UBA's next step is to assist athletic departments with putting policies in place that offer better guidance and solutions for how to prevent situations like this from happening and or escalating starting with Duke. Unfortunately, policies are not and will never be enough. UBA encouraged us during the work and staying educated to actively be an anti-racist

and aid in creating comfortable spaces and environments for everyone in and out of athletics, signed by the Duke United Black Athletes Executive Board. Demario, I find it interesting. Is it me? Are civil rights groups kind of quiet? Or is that just me? I haven't really seen a lot of civil rights groups kind of quiet? Or is that just me? I haven't really seen a lot of civil rights groups. I've seen civil rights leaders participate in this.

You know, the thing about this, I want to just say to people, if you find yourself in this position where you have been attacked with violence, remember, when the N-word is projected towards a black person, that is violence. And in that situation, that young lady was unprotected by her school, by her teammates, and by the opposing party. What needs to happen in this situation if you find yourself, those who are listening, all of our audience members? Number one, resist the urge to try to prove your humanity to

the ignorant white person that's heaping violence upon you. You do not have a duty to prove how nice you are. You do not have to say, hey, I want to prove to you I'm a nice person and talk to them about what would Jesus do and all that stuff. This person has proven to be a racist and a violent one at that to spew the N-word towards you. Number two, if you're in an educational setting, you need to file a Title VI complaint with the Department of Education. Number three, you should file in an educational setting, you need to file a Title VI complaint with the Department of Education. Number three, you should file a police report because at minimum, it's intentional infliction of emotional distress,

but it's also an assault. An assault is when someone puts you in imminent apprehension of fear of bodily harm. If somebody, a white person in public, is calling you the N-word, you are in bodily danger, and you should report that as a crime that it is. And then fourthly, you should seek an attorney

in your area to sue this individual or that institution. This is outrageous. We cannot stand for it in any situation. Duke, BYU, and all of those who participated need to have dire consequences. I mean, I just don't quite understand, Teresa. I'm looking, go to my iPad. I mean, I just don't quite understand, Teresa.

I'm looking, go to my iPad. I'm looking at the NAACP Twitter feed. I see a post last night about Serena's daughter watching her play. I literally don't see a single post from the NAACP regarding what took place with this student at BYU. What the hell? You know, I've been really disappointed as a member of the NAACP, the silence that has happened. You know, I think we've seen a lot from some of our civic organizations

during George Floyd, maybe a year after that. And after that, it's just been silence. When there has been crimes committed against young people in particular, but also athletes. And when we need help, it seems like, you know, it's unfortunately individuals at the contact and attorney, Benjamin Crump and some of the rest of the national individuals who can garner some of the attention to those issues in order to get support. And that's not what some of these organizations were formed are about. And so we really need to, you know, hold them accountable to make sure they're getting back to basics, to make sure they're looking into these issues and their situations, that they're putting out statements of support.

No longer, I think we can, you know, just kind of be silent, especially in the climate that we're in and the bills that are being passed. So I'm hoping that our civic organizations, you know, especially since we have Congressional Black Caucus and a few other things that's coming up this year, that we take a real strong heed to some of the actions that we're doing and actually change them. You know, I'm sitting here and I'm still looking at the reaction that took place. And, you know, Rachel Richardson, she appeared on Good Morning America

as well as on ESPN as well. And bottom line is she's a strong young lady, but folks need to protect folks like her. Look what happened when it was the, I forgot the athletic team that was pulled over. Well, they're a volleyball team too, I can't remember, in Georgia by the state troopers and on total BS charges. And so we see what happens even when our students, athletes, Mustafa, are just doing the right thing. They still are being subjected to racism in 2022. I mean, I know this all too well. So first of all, the apology from BYU seemed very, very empty to me. It seemed very hollow. It was like something that they had to do.

And I'd be curious about what their follow-up actions are. But I remember when I was an athlete in college, we had just got done participating in the Dogwood Relays in Tennessee. Everybody was excited about how, you know, we had done. We were getting on our bus. And then, of course, there were people across the street who yelled out the N-word. And, of course, a bunch of us took off running after them. And then our coach grabbed us and pulled us back. And then there was this silence that was on the bus for the long, long bus ride.

When we got back, coach didn't say anything about it. The athletic director didn't say anything about it, and we just had to carry that trauma. So in 2021 and 2022 and 2023, you know, student athletes should not have to carry this trauma. Folks should be rallying around them. Folks should also be calling for accountability. And also, I wish that when I was a student athlete that I knew somebody like Demario or Ben or a number of these other folks who could have given us counsel about the things that we could do. So it's time for us to no longer just accept these types of behaviors and actions from folks because it just continues to grow

when we don't address it both civilly and criminally. Indeed, indeed. All right, folks, going to a break. We come back, we're gonna talk with California Congressman Ro Khanna, talking about his apology tour in the Midwest. I gotta ask him, why Democrats apologizing? You're watching Roller Martin Under Pil the filter on the Black Star Network. Don't forget to download the Black Star Network app.

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This is Judge Matthews. What's going on, everybody? It's your boy, Mack Wilde. Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your boy, Jacob Lattimore, and you're now watching Roland Martin right now. Eee! You look at politics, Democrats have been losing significant support in the Midwest among white voters.

They've been holding steady when it comes to black voters. Whenever you hear the phrase, here's the working class, they ain't talking about black people. They're typically talking about white workers. When you look at what's happening in Ohio, look at what's happening in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, those places, Democrats, since Ronald Reagan, have been losing those white, blue-collar voters. But the question is, why?

Well, Congressman Roe Connum, California, is also the author of a new book. Let me give you the book here, folks. His book is called Dignity in a Digital Age, Making Tech Work for All of Us. He's been on an apology tour, hoping to save the Democratic Party. So, Congressman, glad to have you back on the show. What's the point of the apology? What's the apology tour? I wouldn't have called it an apology tour. I called it a new economic patriotism tour. I don't think we have to apologize. I think Ronald Reagan has to apologize for

offshoring a lot of our production and a lot of jobs. And by the way, that didn't just hurt the white working class. As you know, that hurt black communities. A lot of the worst consequences were the black South, were places like solar panels in America, and how the party can rebring these manufacturing jobs to places where they left. This is one of the things that, this recurring theme, we saw this at the 2016 election. Michael Moore was on MSNBC constantly talking about how we need to listen to these people who live in these towns. And I'll be honest with you, Congressman, I don't want to listen to these people who live in these towns. And I'll be honest with you, Congressman, I don't want to listen to them.

You got folks who are living in towns that are 90, 95% white that are small towns. They're still trying to hold on to 1950, 1960 America. They don't necessarily believe in diversity. They whine and complain about what's happening on the coast, yet the reality is what's happening in urban centers is paying for the folks who live in those areas. And so I dare say if you have these rural areas, these areas in the

Midwest that are lily white like they used to, they're the problem because they frankly haven't kept up with the changing America. Well, but this is not just a problem in white towns. I mean, I was in Chicago. I talked to a steelworker, African-American steelworkers, 45 years old report out. The loss of manufacturing jobs actually had the worst effect on the black community. And that's because the transition was the hardest given the racism for African-Americans. So I actually think an agenda to rebuild America, to build new generation manufacturing, can appeal to both black voters and white working class voters. It doesn't have to be one or the other. So with regards to that, in terms of, so the conversation you're having, what are those conversations looking like? Because what is interesting is when I look at a lot of these places, they're getting screwed by the other

party, but they're penalizing Democrats who are actually trying to help them. It is as if many of these people are voting against their own economic interest. Well, look, I think that obviously the neoliberalism that started with Reagan was the cause of it. But we have not done enough in this country to keep production here. I think we let too many of our jobs go offshore to China. We have this view that production didn't matter. We don't make masks in America again. We don't make baby formula in America. We don't make antibiotics in America. And I think the Democratic Party, you're right, actually has a vision of how we make things. The irony is I was saying that and they said, well, wasn't making in America a Donald Trump thing? I said, no, it was actually an FDR thing.

And then, of course, it was Lyndon Johnson who made sure that the FDR vision was inclusive to black Americans because the original New Deal, as you know, was not inclusive. So we as a party need to remind people that we're the ones that built the productive capacity of America and that we can rebuild it now which is what this president is doing. Well one of the things that we also are seeing, I'm going to ask you this question before I go to my panel, we are seeing a renewed focus on labor unions. For the longest they were being chastised, criticized, losing significant support. That was a major Supreme Court case

that many folks even in the labor industry thought was going to be their death knell. And I remember talking to Lee Sonners of AFSCME, one of the original partners of this show. And what he said to me was, he said, we got to get back to basics and explain to people exactly who we are. Folks, if you go to my iPad, this is what they put out. Gallup, it says 71% of Americans now approve of labor unions. I think what you're seeing is you saw since Reagan this attack on labor unions as being bad for America, now people realize, guess what, you got played. You've been screwed by corporations.

They're sitting on billions upon billions of dollars of cash, forcing high productivity, not paying folks fair wages. And now they are seeing the results of that. And so you're seeing Starbucks employees, Amazon employees and others, folks who are in these states who are saying we need unions to protect us. You're absolutely right. I think it's one of the most hopeful things happening in America, the unionization at Starbucks, at Amazon, at Chipotle. You know, I'm leading an effort in California to have fast food workers organized. It passed in the legislature, and now it's going to the governor's desk. It would allow the fast food workers to finally have a voice on what they're being paid. And one of the points with manufacturing jobs, the only reason they were good paying jobs is because of unions. The unions actually fought to make those good paying jobs. So I completely agree that we need to stand up for unions, strengthen unions. Our president has done that. I mean, unfortunately, the PRO Act passed the House, hasn't passed the Senate. But whatever we can do to strengthen unions and increase bargaining power will help workers across the country.

Questions from our panel. I'll start with you, Teresa. Yes, well, thank you so much for bringing the clarity to the forefront. So is there something that we could do at home to kind of, you know, make sure this doesn't happen again? Well, what we need to do, I think, is have massive investment in next generation industry and to make sure that that's happening in all different parts of the country. Yes, in the Midwest, but also in the Black South, also in Latino communities, and have next-generation technology investment with workers, and also making sure that they have access to technology. You know, one of the things that I often talk about is the racial wealth gap will not be solved if we continue to have a racial wealth generation gap. And sitting in Silicon Valley, where we've got $10 trillion of market cap,

Apple, Google, Intel, Yahoo, Cisco, and seeing, frankly, the exclusion of black entrepreneurs, black venture capitalists, black leaders, there should be outcry over that. And I've been to particularly the black south where you have the gathering spot in Atlanta, you have this ambition, you have hunger, and we're not doing enough of a job of getting those folks the opportunities. I've tried to partner with tech companies and HBCUs. It's just scratching the surface.

But I think we have to be far more intentional on giving people the opportunities for the next technology innovation and new manufacturing jobs. Mustafa. Yeah, Representative Conner, thank you for the work that you do, following lots of it, engage with you on some things. I'm curious, how do we make sure that there's real accountability and intentionality, both, you know, in the new clean economy and some of the other parts of the economy that are going to be needed moving forward? So whether we're looking at the bipartisan infrastructure bill, the CHIPS Act, or most recently the Inflation Reduction Act, we know that race was not allowed to be used as a criteria for some of the investments.

So are there some steps, ideas, strategies that you have in making sure that the places that have been disinvested in now will actually have a fair shot? Yes, I think race should be a criteria. It was in the House version of what we passed. I THINK RACE SHOULD BE A CRITERIA. IT WAS IN THE HOUSE VERSION OF WHAT WE PASSED. YOU LOOK AT MAINER JACKSON AND WHAT HE DID IN ATLANTA, AND PARTLY THAT WAS BECAUSE HE HAD PUBLIC FUNDING SUPPORTING BUSINESSES. WE IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SPEND ABOUT $80 BILLION ON TECHNOLOGY. NOT MUCH OF THAT IS GOING TO BLACK ENTREPRENEURS, BLACK VENDORS. about $80 billion on technology. Not much of that is going to black entrepreneurs, black vendors.

And so our original view with this Chips and Science Act that passed out of the House said it not only had to be geographically diverse, it also had to be diverse in terms of racial communities. I regret that the Senate version, what ultimately passed, did not have some of those criteria. I think it's for the administration and commerce to make sure that when people are applying for that funding, that the racial composition is factored in because too many communities are excluded from a lot of that funding. Demario?

Yeah, Representative, good to see you. I just want to tell you I appreciate all the work you've done on behalf of my community here in Tulsa with the Tulsa Race Massacre. I know you did a lot of work with my good mentee, Tyronis Billingsley. So I appreciate you. He's brilliant. Yeah, absolutely he is. And I just want to – a couple things I want to talk about.

One bill that is Representative Hank Johnson, which is House Bill 3466, it is to be able to people to move forward to get justice for the Tulsa Race Massacre. I hope you will get your staff to look at that bill. We would love to see you as a co-sponsor on that bill. And another issue that we're working on here based out of Oklahoma, but impacts hundreds of thousands of black people throughout this nation, are black Native Americans who have been disenfranchised from their citizenship from the Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Seminole nations. And they've been excluded for billions of dollars in federal funding and benefits because of that. Congresswoman Maxine Waters has been working really strong with us, also Congressman Danny Davis.

I guess another issue I would love to talk to you about more in depth with your committee, your staff, and hopefully you can help us on that. So as you continue to go across this nation and talk about equity and justice, Black Creeks, Black Cherokees, Black Seminoles, Black Choctaws and Chickasaws, and the Black people of Tulsa are still waiting for justice. I appreciate that. I'm happy to get on Hank Johnson's bill. I really admire what Terrence is doing because obviously what happened in Tulsa was deliberate sabotage of the black community succeeding. That's what it was, basically jealousy and envy that led to that. And he's trying to create a tech economy there and saying, look, we have to build an economy that can't be sabotaged. And I have tried to help him in making introductions into the tech

community. But I'm happy to get on Anne Johnson's bill. I also agree with, by the way, I heard your earlier comments on the horrific racist incident against the volleyball player at Duke. And as someone, you know, I actually transferred from Duke to Chicago. And I know this was 20 years ago. But for this to be still happening today, I mean, it is just appalling. And I agree with you that there should be legal action about that. There should be a police report. We had in Fremont someone who went to an Indian American and started hurling insults. And our DA actually pressed charges against that person.

And, by the way, being black is very different than being Indian in this country. It's much, much worse in terms of the racism. And so I agree with you that we have to be far more aggressive on that incident. All right. Representative Rochon, I appreciate it. Your book is called Dignity in a Digital Age, Making Tech Work for All of Us. We certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. All right, folks, when we come back, what the hell is happening at Florida A&M University? Thank you. Their star linebacker has been suspended by the NCAA for four games.

His lawyer says the university screwed up by not advising him properly on what credits to take when he transferred. Also, after last night's story, the Florida A&M band reached out to me, different members saying they're being treated worse than the football team. Wait till I explain what's happening in Tallahassee. And the university still not giving a credible enough answer to these issues. I'll break that down next in our HBCU Connect segment right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. When we invest in ourselves, our glow, our vision, our vibe, we all shine together we are black beyond measure hatred on the streets a horrific scene a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly

violence white people are losing their damn lives there's an angry pro-trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at every university calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America,

there's going to be more of this. There's all the Proud Boys guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. When we invest in ourselves, we all shine. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. Next on A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, the great resignation is upon us.

Yes, it's real. People young and old are evaluating their lives and making some determinations whether to stay or to go. But before you take the leap, you need to examine your motives and make a plan. It's not so much about doing this thing or starting this business or, you know, leaving where you are to do something different. It's about getting in touch with you. How to make change while also keeping balance here on the next Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie on Blackstar Network. Stay woke. I don't know. All right, folks. Last night we told you about Florida A&M University,

some issues that have been taking place with their football team. There were about 26 ineligible players who couldn't play in Saturday's game against the University of North Carolina. Well, the football players released a particular statement laying it out. And so the university then released a statement because the players talked about a fundamental problem they had with being cleared, the process they actually go through to actually be eligible. And so the players had some damning allegations.

The university responded with their own statement. This is what they actually published after the players' letter was released. They said, consistent with FAMU's longstanding commitment to maintaining a culture of compliance and performance with NCAA guidelines, we are justifiably proud of having achieved 13 of our 14 sports programs fully meeting the academic progress rate requirements per the NCAA's November 2021 APR report, in spite of rumors and misinformation to the contrary. Our compliance team, which includes partners from compliance, athletics, academic affairs, and student affairs, has been working diligently with athletics since fall of 2021 to implement

plans for the remaining noncompliant program to meet the required APR score and join the others so that 100% compliance is achieved. Okay? All right. After the assessments of spring and summer 2022 academic progress, the compliance team exercised its diligence to complete the certification progress on August 11th before the fall sports season began. There are, as always, tight windows, and beginning on August 13th,

waivers began to be submitted to NCAA based on feedback from our coaches. The NCAA subsequently issues its decisions on August 24th, 25th, and 26th, 2022. We are confident that our processes are effective and timely. We will continue to monitor our efforts in this regard and to pursue all avenues to provide an excellent student experience to every athlete.

FAMU is committed to upholding high standards and high rigorous adherence to NCAA guidelines. Hmm. That's interesting because the attorney for their star player, the top player in all of FCS, blasted them today. This tweet went out to the public today that laid out problems. This player, who's a star linebacker, he was suspended for four games by the NCAA. Four games by the NCAA, y'all. And so if we can pull the tweet up, please. Four games, y'all. Now, according to the lawyer, the lawyer says that he has information that the player was misadvised. Misadvised.

This is what it says. Noted attorney Tom Mars tells ESPN he has signed documentation that family star Isaiah Land, the best defensive player in the FCS last year, was advised to take the wrong number of courses this summer. That led to his ineligibility and eventual four-game NCAA suspension.

Hmm. So here you got FAMU saying, oh no, our system is great and wonderful. We're doing everything good. Well, how in the hell is your star player suspended for four games? How? It's your star player. You will think out of all the people you want to be have cleared, it's your star player.

Now, after last night's report, now the Florida A&M band has been reaching out to me saying they're being treated worse than the football team. What they've said is they've had problems with members being cleared. I heard from several band members and folks who work with the band who say they have the issue every year. One person said that the upperclassmen have figured the system out, saying they have awful advisors and they are having to teach the freshmen and sophomores what classes to take in order to graduate. Huh? Really? Not only that, here you got the Marching 100,

which is like the, let's just be honest, the band is bigger than the football team, the basketball team, and with the sports team. This is what they laid out to me. They said when they went to North Carolina, they took a 13-hour bus ride to North Carolina on Friday. Then they get there. They had 9 a.m. practice on Saturday morning.

Then the band went. No, don't show that photo, please, y'all. That's not the photo I want to see. Hold on. I'm going to set this whole thing up, okay? Then they had a 9 a.m. practice, okay? Then they had some other events to attend to. Then they go to the game, perform at the game, perform after the game. Then they said, here they are, tired, sweaty, hungry.

They don't go back to the hotel. They have to check out. They literally are changing clothes on the bus. No shower, nothing. Men and women having a change in front of each other. And then, then they said, when it came time to eat, this is what happened. They ate at a rest stop, boxed lunches, cold food. Now show it, please.

That's one of the photos they sent me. Not a hot meal, a cold meal sitting at a rest stop. Really? Now, according to band members, remember, it was ten years ago when the drum major, Robert Champion, was killed due to hazing. And a lot of things were put in place. I was told that the band used to spend two nights, Friday night, Saturday night, but after that, they put clamps on the band.

That was a decade ago. If you're a 21-year-old kid in the band now, you were 11 years old when that happened. And so why are you putting your premier institution, your face of the institution going through that? How in the world are you not giving them hot meals? How in the world are they having to perform multiple times to recruit, do all those things, and then got to get back on a bus and travel 13 hours?

This is what I was also told by folks there, that over the last couple of years, they've complained, and the president has made clear, y'all keep complaining, then we're going to shut you down. Not only that, I was told that some of the students had housing issues when they got back to North Carolina, that they were locked out of their dorms, and they had to sleep in the band room. Apparently, Florida A&M has a housing issue with mold and some other issues. Two to three hundred students have had to live in hotel rooms as a result. I'm trying to understand, really, is that how you're actually treating the individuals? Now, one of the things that's also interesting here is that I was told that President Robinson would not sit down with members of the band to address this issue or the board of trustees.

This is one of the quotes. The football team gets treated better than the band. We have to do parades before the game. Sometimes they give us an apple and a sandwich. Everybody knows what is going on. This is crazy. This is another quote. Every year we lose a lot of band members. We've learned to work the system ourselves. Our advisors are incompetent. Our advisors are incompetent. Hmm. Really? Now, this is what stood out to me. A person tells me, the best meal I've gotten since I've been in the band is a Chick-fil-A meal. That's the best meal that I've gotten. I was told the music building is in complete disrepair and the university has not done

anything to fix it, mold issues and others. Folks, seriously, Florida A&M, what in the hell are you doing with your premier face of your institution? And look, I get resources in that, but ain't no way in hell the band should be eating a box meal. No. You have to figure out how to get it done. Now, 280 members of the band, 20 support staff.

When they tell me that you have women who have monthly periods and they don't have any privacy? They can't even deal with their own issues and they got to figure it out in terms of going to bathrooms and stuff? How in the world are you running a band like this? President

Robinson and your administration and we've invited them on the show and they politely declined. We also called the Board of Trustees. They declined. We also called Congresswoman Frederica Wilson and Congressman Al Lawson's office as well. But I'm telling you right now, somebody at Florida A&M needs to step the hell up and answer to what is going on.

Are you having these fundamental problems with your football team? Are you having problems fundamental problems with your football team? Are you having problems with your band? How in the world is the lawyer for this player saying he has documentation, he was simply given the wrong advice? What the hell kind of counselors do you have where you give your star player the wrong advice? How many people do you have handling giving the advice to the players? One, I was told the band has one person who deals with them when it comes to their classes. One person dealing with 300 people on what classes to take? I'm thoroughly confused. Now, I've already got some people hitting me up saying, oh man man, you know, dirty laundry.

Guess what? If your shit wasn't dirty, it wouldn't be aired. And so what I'm sick and tired of, I'm sick and tired of black people acting as if we can't demand more of HBCUs, of black churches, of black organizations. Oh, man, we shouldn't talk about it. No, if you take care of your damn business, we would not be talking about you this way. We'll be talking about the good things that you're doing and what is happening.

We have got to stop trying to gloss over bullshit by saying, oh, but look at the great things that we do. No, take care of this. There is no way in the world the Marching 100 should be eating box lunches. There's no way in the world you should be in the band and you're performing all damn day on Saturday. And you're going here and here and here and go to the game, heavy uniforms, and you came to take a shower. Who the hell wants to be funky as hell riding a damn bus for 13 hours? Are you serious?

No. Florida A&M, you should be in a situation where they leave the band, they leave the gang, go back to the hotel, and they're in a situation where they are able to rest, to shower, and to eat hot meals. That's how you take care of the folks who you're sending out raising money all around the country. Praising them in press releases don't mean a damn thing. Praising them on social media on how great of a job they're going to be doing in the game. That means nothing.

It is how you're treating them when they are on the road. And I understand what took place. It was heinous. We covered it. The death of Robert Champion. But you today

cannot be holding that over the head of Robert Champion. But you today cannot be holding that over the head of the band today and not have the right systems in place. And his was also shameful with the player who did not get the right advice. Let me explain to y'all what's about to happen, Florida A&M. Ain't no black parent

going to allow their star athlete to leave a major program to come to your school if you can't even give them the right guidance on what classes to take. This is a star linebacker who's trying to get to the NFL. Let me explain to y'all how this works. Tomorrow he knows this when you are Florida A&M and you start you play a major game against North Carolina the scouts are measuring you based upon the competition at North Carolina

when he can't play in a game against North Carolina y'all are hurting his future in the NFL and so by doing this Y'all are hurting his future in the NFL. And so by doing this, you are hurting future stars transferring to Florida A&M. And Jackson State. And Bethune-Cookman. And to Alabama State. And the TSU.

And the Prairie View. And the Grambling. Y'all, I don't want to hear shit about white folks. These are black administrators who are not doing their job. And this is what happens when you fire the AD who balanced your budget and you still haven't explained why you fired him. But we know where he's at. He's a number two at Tulane. Now ain't that interesting?

He's a number two at Tulane, but he got fired as AD at Florida A&M. Y'all have heard me say this again, and I'ma keep saying it. I am sick and tired of black institutions talking about, oh, how we're surviving. We must be having thriving conversations. And see, oh, I heard all that bullshit. Oh, you went to the white school.

Hey, it ain't my fault I went to Jack Gates High School and Texas Southern University was right across the street and they had a school Communications and I was a number one student in my high school in school communications and they never recruited me Prayer of you 50 miles down the road never recruited me. So you damn right. I filed the money at Texas A&M But what we need to understand is I need folk to stop sitting here saying, send your kid to HBCU. You got to handle your business if you want our kids to go.

And so President Robinson, stop addressing the issue in press releases. Answer the question, is your ban being treated this way? Is your ban having to ride up on Friday and ride back on Saturday? In a 24-hour period, a 36-hour period, they're spending 26 hours on a bus? Are they eating cold food? They can't take a shower? Is that literally how you are treating the Marching 100?

Somebody needs to answer this. somebody needs to answer this somebody needs to confront and don't say oh I'll put it on top of my agenda this is going to be a part of our weekly report no leadership says

we're getting this fixed in the next 72 hours because I'm telling you right now, y'all, I can guarantee you future stars will give second thoughts to come into Florida A&M. Because if they say, y'all ain't taking care of the players now, why in the hell am I going to go? Why am I going to show up on the campus?

This is what happens when you don't take care of your business and it goes public. And trust me, I know some of y'all are going to be sitting here, you know, hitting me up. Oh, man, you had to go that hard. I can tell y'all right now, I was in the band in high school. I can't stand cold-ass food today.

You think I'm gonna sit here and march my ass around all damn day at multiple events, then play and march in the game, and all you got for me is a box lunch after the game, you done lost your damn mind. That's not how you are to treat your student body.

Florida A&M, President Thompson, do better. Bring my panel in right now. DeMar, I want to start with you. You play the Oklahoma. I'm not even going to remotely compare Power 5, the HBCUs. We know the money is totally different. But I'm sorry. Florida A&M, you can do better than a damn box lunch for your band.

DeMario? Things work with a band deal. There you go. There you go. All right. I don't know how it work with a band deal. There you go. You hear me? There you go. All right. I don't know how it works with a band. This is what I would say, because I don't know much about this outside of what you've stated.

I think it's a problem just generally for HBCUs to, and Deion Sanders talked about this, when you take a team, you have to be on a bus for 13 hours somewhere. I don't think you should take those type of trips in 2022, you know, in 1975 or 1955, maybe. But in today's world, you should be playing in places that either you can afford to fly there or you play in a facility where it could be no more than an eight hour bus driving, because that is taxing on anybody. I don't care who you are. And if it's facts that they had to spend 13 hours in a van,

not get a shower, not have hot food, that is pretty egregious and atrocious and something that should be rectified very, very quickly. Again, I don't know those facts, if that's 100% accurate, but if it is, that is something that needs to be rectified completely.

I talked to multiple sources that are with the Florida A&M band who told me the wreck. They took a 13 hour bus ride from Tallahassee to Chapel Hill on Friday, got there, had a 9 a.m.

practice on Saturday morning with the UNC band, then had a couple performances before the band, then went to the UNC band, then had a couple of performances before the band, then went to the game. And then when the game was over, they had to then board the buses, undress on the bus out of their band uniforms, into their other clothes.

And then they took a 13 hour ride back home. So what I was going to say with all of those facts, I think 4 a.m. Not only are they going to say, with all of those facts, I think 4 a.m., not only are they going to be reeling from what you stated tonight, but they may have some legal issues. So, you know, I like to talk about the legal issues. I mean, you might have some Title IX issues because you have, and these females have to be dressed in front of males and vice versa. You can have some negligent issues. People can get sick by that type of activity. And so I think they have a lot of things they need to pull together,

their full leadership team, the executive team, sit down and get this issue rectified, period, point blank. It should not be the same thing for next weekend wherever they go play. That's number one. Number two, I don't think any HBCU should be playing these games where you're going, you don't have the proper resources, you're going to go to a big power-fraud school, your team is going to get embarrassed

and slaughtered on the field, and then your support staff have to be on the buses for 12, 14, 16 hours. That's not like a bad high school scenario back when I played, and I graduated high school in 1994. So I hope this gets rectified, both from a political standpoint, a practical standpoint, and

from a legal standpoint. Look, the thing for me here, Mustafa, and again, it trips me out when people say, man, you should be bringing this stuff up. Well, don't screw it up. The reality is this is what Ida B. Wells said.

The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them. That's the whole point. This is called light. You know, my daddy used to say, don't tell me you love me, show me you love me. Show me you love me by investing in me. So when we're talking about these student athletes, you know, and the band members,

you know, are you willing to put the infrastructure and the systems in place to make sure that I stay in compliance and make sure that I have the classes that I need? Because I am your ambassador. I am the one that many community members engage with and see. So if you love me, then invest in me. You know, invest in also making sure that you see my humanity and that you're willing to make sure that I have the sustenance that's necessary for me to be able to operate on a high level.

That's both if I'm an athlete or if I'm in the band. So it sounds like, you know, the FAMU has some significant work that they need to do in making the investments to show that they truly love both the band members and their athletes. And look, you know, this is the video right here the band put up. This is the video that was on their channel. And you see this, you know, these are the buses they're riding in, and I get it.

You're riding those buses. Let me show you at the top of the video. And look, I get it, but the bottom line is this here. Man, look, you are taxing these students. Right. That's the thing that people need to understand. And see, we know, those of us who have spoken on the campuses of HBCUs, we know how much time they put in.

The students told, the folks told me in the band, they told me point blank that we have to recruit. We recruit when we go to these places. They send us, they say we might come into a city as a ballad of bands on Friday night. We get to the hotel at one o'clock in the morning. We got to be early to be dressed, to get to the events. We might have two or three events in a particular day. We may, plus the game, plus the game. And so this is the thing here. And here's a perfect example.

This right here was a Pepsi ad where the band was in the ad. I dare ask the question, how much was FAMU paid for that ad? Was it fair market value? Okay?

I saw the FAMU band in Louis Vuitton fashion show. I wonder how much that multi-billion dollar company paid for them. This is what I'm saying. And y'all have heard me say this, and I'm going to say this over and over again, and I'm going to say it loud and clear. I have seen some awful negotiation deals from HBCUs.

Why? Because they have people negotiating the deals who don't know a damn thing about negotiating, who know nothing about sports rights, who know nothing about media rights, and guess what? They're getting screwed in these bad deals. And what I'm saying is if this is supposed to be your premier institution, you take care of your premier institution. That's what you need to do.

And so President Robinson, they've told me, they've said you won't meet with them. The president of FAMU, this is what they told me. I was told point blank today that the band building is in disrepair, that there's mold, it is dirty, it's dilapidated. The president of FAMU needs to go meet with the entire band, not one or two students, not the drum majors,

the entire band and take their questions. And listen to what they have to say. And he should do the exact same thing for the football team. That, Teresa, is leadership. And if you do that, then you don't have the football team dropping a public statement. You don't have football players hiring attorneys and you don't have band members calling me saying, hey, Roland, can you please get this out because they shut our voices down.

Yeah, absolutely right. I mean, you can only get leadership when you see it. And so half the battle is, you know, the president did not, and his staff, did not communicate effectively with their students. You know, the students are part of the backbone of, you know, some of these programs, got a backbone of some of this funding. And so, you know, I don't want to say, you know, some of these,

I was a college student myself at HBCU school, so we don't want to say we're getting pimped out, but half the battle is, you know, we are being used in some way to further our college education. But that doesn't mean that we should have to go through some of the nuances. It's 2022 where they're not getting some of the basics. They're not feeling like they're wanting. Half the battle is these students are going to class full time. Some of them actually have jobs and they're on the field still promoting excellence. So if at the higher level, they're not giving us excellence in the executive and

administrative role, then they actually need to rethink what recruitment actually looks like. And they also need to actually have a conversation with these students and say, more is coming and better, especially since there has been millions of dollars given to HBCU. This right here, um, this action is just unacceptable. And let me say this right here, More is coming and better, especially since there have been millions of dollars given to HBCU. This right here, this action is just unacceptable. And let me say this right here, y'all. On no job, let me say this right here. On no job would you have band starting at 9 a.m. on a Saturday doing two or three pregame events. They're performing in the band.

They're essentially working. Let me use that word properly. Working 12 and 14 hours on a Saturday. And then you got to get on the bus to go back home. Nah. So FAMU president, FAMU board of regents, FAMU alumni, what y'all going to do? And yes, all of you

Florida politicians in the state legislature, what y'all going to do to properly fund Florida A&M properly? That's the question y'all need to answer. And let me be clear, I am not scared to do another segment. I'll do a Florida A&M segment every day until we get answers. That's a promise. And any other HBCU out there, you doing students wrong, guess what, I'm gonna hit you too. Because if I don't accept less than excellent on this show,

do you actually think I'm going to accept it in other black institutions? Hail to the no. We'll be back on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Next on A Balanced Life with me, Dr. jackie the great resignation is upon us yes it's real people young and old are evaluating their lives and making some determinations whether to stay or to go but before you take the leap you need to examine your motives and make a plan it's not so much about doing this thing or starting this business or, you know,

leaving where you are to do something different. It's about getting in touch with you, how to make change while also keeping balance. Here on A Next Balanced Life, with me, Dr. Jackie, on Blackstar Network. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene scene a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence white people are losing their damn minds there's an angry pro-trump mob storm to the u.s capital we're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting.

I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at everyory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the rise of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. Here's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes

because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. Hi, I'm Vivian Green. Hi, I'm Wendell Pierce, actor and author of The Wind in the Reeds. Ayo, peace world. What's going on?

It's the love king of R&B, Raheem Devon, and you're watching Roland Martin, Unfiltered. It's time for our Marketplace segment where we always feature various black-owned businesses on the show. And this week, we are dealing with a designer of a multi-use bag. Now, you know, when it comes to these handbags and backpacks and other sort of bags, I mean, folk are spending a whole bunch of damn money on these bags. And so folks are walking around with five, six, eight, ten different bags. But, you know, fellas, we always ask the question, ladies, can y'all just have one damn bag? Just one? I'm just saying. I mean, do we have to have like literally ten, fifteen,

twenty bags? I don't know. Teresa, how many you got? You a handbag queen, Teresa? I am. Yeah. Uh-huh. Okay, so this segment is just for you right here. So let's talk about it right here, y'all. And so here we go right here. This is the bag by our next guest we want to talk about it right here, y'all. And so here we go right here.

This is the bag by our next guest we want to talk about. And this is like a multi-use bag. It's called Minky Blue. The company is Minky Blue, M-I-N-K-E-E Blue. They solve what is called the overload bag syndrome by creating an organizational fashion bag for the ever-changing role of busy women. Okay, joining us right now is Cheryl Mose. She joins us from Philadelphia.

Cheryl, you are the owner-creator of this? I certainly am, and let's add an inventor. I have two patents on that bag. Alright, so how'd you arrive at this here? Were you tired of spending a crazy amount of money on haul them damn bags like Teresa?

All the bags, and I always was carrying two or three bags, my lunch, my shoes, and a plastic grocery bag, all kinds of bags, and I just wanted one bag where I could organize and separate my change of clothes, my shoes, my laptop, and my purse essentials in one bag, and so that's how I came up with Minky Blue. Okay, all right, and my purse essentials in one bag. And so that's how I came up with Minky Blue. Okay. All right. So as I look at this bag right here, so I'm looking back here, you got like a zipper portion that's back here for you to place some stuff in. Then we got,

you know, the front here. You can slide some stuff underneath here and then we open it up. We got another compartment that's in here. And then, all right, okay, so what? We got a clothes bag, a shoe bag in here? No, it looks like somebody didn't take the duster bag. I'm just making sure. Okay, so then we go on the inside. And so then we got all these other little compartments in here. And so, yeah, this is like combination of overnight bag and a purse.

Absolutely. It's a great travel bag, a great work bag, and a weekend bag. So that little bag in the back that you pulled out is a lunch bag. It's insulated so you can carry your lunch, your shoes, your toiletries. And then on the top of the bag, you can carry your laptop and purse essentials. Okay. It has a zipper right in the middle of the bag so you can convert the bag and change it from a two-compartment bag to just a full open tote bag.

All right, so when you say it's your lunch compartment, come back to me. So I unzip the back right here. Yep, there's the lunch bag right there. All right, so this is the lunch bag right here. Okay. Yep. And then you can carry it. When you're not carrying the lunch bag, you can put your shoes back there.

Okay. Especially when they be going to Essence, they need some flats. All right. But here's the question here. But is the bag really only for women? Actually, the bag you have is for women, but I do have a gender-neutral bag, a men's bag as well.

Okay. All right, then. And so when did you start this? I launched in 2014, so I've been doing it for a while, and we sell all around the world, and I'm really excited to say that I'm launching in Macy's the end of October, so

I'm really excited about that. How many units have you moved? We've moved about 8,000, 10,000 units. Got it. So you're launching in Macy's in October. All right. That's pretty cool. Now, the construction of the bag,

where the bag's made, and what's the materials? Is it the top leather, and then what's this bottom material? It's actually a vegan leather, and they are made overseas. They also have bags that are nylon and a canvas-type material, so a mix of materials.

Okay, all right. Let's see here. Questions. Teresa, you first. Just to solve your bag, your overload bag syndrome. Well, honestly, I think this is a bag for entrepreneurs, so thank you so much for making a bag that fits me. I know when I go on TSA, they're probably going to have additional compartments to check, but I can't wait to order. So one of my questions for you is, what was, you know, obviously, you know, day to day, and I'm just going to say women first, you know, we were just doing a lot.

So what made you in 2014 say, this is the bag, you know, that I'm going to create? Yeah, you know, it was really about, I was taking the train in the city. I had my shoes in a plastic grocery bag and I put that bag inside of my tote. I had a piece of fruit at the bottom of my bag. I had my laptop in that bag. So everything was just mixed up and I'm looking around on the train and I see other women carrying two or three bags and I just I came up with this idea because I was like I just wanted one bag where I could organize and separate everything in the bag and not struggle with two And what's your website? It's minkyblue.com. M-I-N-K-E-E blue.

Thank you. All right. Let's see here. Mustafa. Yeah. Congratulations on all the success you've had. You know, I'm curious because I always believe to lock stuff in. And you talked a little bit about getting the patent.

I believe you said two patents. Could you talk a little bit about the journey with that and how that helps to protect your intellectual capital as well? Excuse me. Yeah, I knew when I started this business, because the handbag industry is saturated, I wanted it to be different. And so I have a divider right in the middle of the bag that unzips to allow you to convert the bag from one compartment to two. So that's the patent. Alright, cool. Demario, what you got?

Yeah, same thing Mustafa was talking about. Very interested in the IP patent. And what's your background? And did you invent this yourself? Because you told Roland, hey, I'm an inventor, too. Did you invent this yourself? Yeah, I did.

I invented it. I have a degree in engineering. So it was all about problem solving, the structure of the bag. And, yeah, I invented the bag. That's what's up. I just really, you know, I like the way you check Roland, too, so I'm a big fan of yours. First of all,

she didn't check me, but you used to get checked, so you know what getting checked feels like. Don't start. Don't start. You done given all the smoke to family. Let's talk about Mickey Blue, man. Don't be easy. Don't start. Don't start. Hey, you done given all the smoke to FAMU. Let's talk about Mickey Blue, man. Don't start.

Don't start. Calm down, man. Hey, where did the name come from? I'll go in any day on an Omega. Any day. Hold on. I'm talking to the inventor here. Any day.

Where did the name come from? Any day. What is the origin of Mickey Blue? The name? Yes. So I used to run a nonprofit organization where I raised money to help low-income single moms pay for child care. And when I first started, I designed diaper bags. And I wanted the name Pinky Blue, but the domain was taken.

So really, I literally went through the alphabets. I said, Linky Blue? No. Kinky Blue? And I was like, nah, that's a whole other business. That's a whole different... Yeah, DeMario, he wouldn't mind that business. Look at him. He was like, damn, look at him. You can tell right there. He was like, oh, you should

have went with that name. Uh-huh. You would have had a whole different set of problems, I think. Yeah, yeah. And I just landed on Minky Blue. That's how I came up with the name. Uh-huh. You would have had a whole different set of problems, I think. Yeah, yeah. And I just landed on Minky Blue. That's how I came up with the name. Oh, man. Really nice to meet you. Very impressed. Thank you. You too. Thank you so much for having me

on. I appreciate it. Alright. Again, folks, the website is minkyblue.com. M-I-N-K-E-E B-L-U-E dot com. These are the social media platforms. Instagram, M-I-N-K-E-E-B-L-U-E.com. These are the social media platforms, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter as well. And so, Cheryl, we appreciate it. Good luck with launching in Macy's in October.

Thank you so much. Thank you. All right, folks, that is it for us. Teresa, Mustafa, and Omega Man, we appreciate that. My alpha man, Mustafa, you know, come on, you know you all are gonna be bookended by real, real fraternity people, Demario. That's what happens.

So glad to have y'all on the show. Thanks a bunch. Don't forget, folks, download the Black Star Network app, available on all platforms, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. And of course, please join our Bring the Funk fan club where your dollars make it possible for us to do

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