#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Black women jobless woes; Dave Chappelle trans joke backlash; Cop drags disabled Black man from car

Episode Date: October 9, 2021

10.08.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Black women struggle to find jobs amid falling unemployment numbers; Critical debt ceiling vote looms; Feds won't seek criminal, civil rights charges against cop who shot Jacob Blake; Lawyers say Wisconsin hunting laws allowed Kyle Rittenhouse to carry assault weapons; Ohio cop drags paraplegic Black man out of car; Georgia State trooper stomps on suspect who is already down; Dave Chappelle trans joke backlash'; Texas abortion ban suspension; CDC says more than 140k children are now orphans due to the COVID pandemic; Bethune-Cookman University looks to reshape how business professionals transform the world economySupport #RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfilteredDownload the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox#RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap away, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's

dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to it. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Today is Friday, October 8, 2021. Roland Martin Unfiltered broadcasting live from Los Angeles on the Black Star Network.

Folks, shocking video of cops in Ohio snatching a paraplegic black man out of his car. Was he charged? No. in Ohio, snatching a paraplegic black man out of his car. Was he charged? No. Also in Georgia, a black man was stomped by a cop. He was already on the ground and subdued. Folks, when you see the shocking video, you will be, it will just, it'll blow you away.

Folks, September jobs reports out disappointing numbers. We'll talk with the black economists about what it means for black employment. Also on today's show, North Carolina State Representative Charles Graham announces his run for Congress. Boy, a really stunning video where this white candidate goes directly at the issue of the history of race and racism in North Carolina. Wait until you see this video. Also in our Education Matters segment, Bethune-Cookman University wants to reshape how business professionals transform the world economy.

Folks, we've got a great show for you. It is time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin, unfiltered, on the Black Star Network from L.A. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the piss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. Let's go. He's rollin' Yeah, yeah With Uncle Roro, yo Yeah, yeah

It's Rollin' Martell Yeah, yeah Rollin' with Rollin' now Yeah, yeah He's punk, he's fresh, he's real the best You know he's Rollin' Martell Now he's rolling. September jobs report dropped today. Not good news for black women. President Joe Biden talked to the nation about this week's this month's report.

Today, for the first time since March of 2020, the American unemployment rate is below 5 percent. In just eight months since I became president in the midst of a grave public health and economic crisis, unemployment rate is now down below 5% at 4.8%. In total, the job creation in the first eight months of my administration is nearly 5 million jobs. Jobs up, wages up, unemployment down. That's progress. And it's a tribute to the hard work and resilience of the American people who are battling through this pandemic, working to keep their businesses afloat. Now that's overall, but what about Black women?

Dr. Christian Brody joins us right now. She is the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program fellow. Dr. Brody, glad to have you on the show. Jobs report in September does not look good for Black women. Unpack it for us. Yeah, so I love what the president said, and he's absolutely right that we are seeing more increases during his presidency than under the previous person. But yeah, things do look good overall, 5.2 percent in August, down to 4.8 percent in September. But the real problem is teens, right? So if we look across Black people, we see that the rate for Black women went from 7.9 percent in August

down to 7.3. That's good. We see a decrease there for men from 9.1 to 8, for teens 17.9 down to 15.7. The rate did go up this month for Latino or Hispanic teens age 16 to 19. It went from 15 percent up to 17.4 percent. And some of the reason for that is we are seeing more people coming into the labor force as UI and other types of benefits ran out. And so people are having to put their lives at risk of getting COVID in places where maybe there's not a vaccine mandate or a mask mandate and having to go back to work, particularly Black and Latino women who are overrepresented in these essential jobs that put them at risk. So again, it looks like it's good numbers, but look, they never all talk about specifically

for African-Americans. What does the September job support look like for Black men and for Black youth? Yeah, so for Black men, again, we see the rate come down some from 9.1 down to 8%, but that's still really high compared to 4.8, right? Like it's dropping for black men, but not nearly far enough. And for teens, we're talking about 15.7% for black teens compared to 10.6% for white teens. So we're still way above the average. And if you look at the 13 month period between September 2020 and September 2021, we see that Black teens have had the highest average unemployment rate at 17.64 percent. Well, look, at the end of the day, we still see how COVID is impacting the economy. Inflation,

what about that? Because, of course, the Federal Reserve is concerned about that, the possibility of inflation continuing. Are we seeing a drop-off there or stabilization there? What are we seeing? I think we don't really need to worry about inflation right now, and I'm sure some of my fellow economists would disagree with that. But with this many people that are out of work, and I would say that these numbers understate the actual unemployment rate. When you look at the number of long-term unemployed or people who have not looked for a job within the last four weeks because they haven't been able to find anything. And we're talking about almost 6 million people that aren't even looking anymore because they've become discouraged, right? So it's like we need

to be focused on getting people back into jobs, and then we can worry about inflation. I think another thing to think about is the number of people that work. We're still seeing lots of people teleworking, and we know that Black and Latino people are underrepresented in those jobs. All right. Dr. Kristen Brody, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

Thank you. All right. Let's bring in my panel right now. Of course, we have Michael Imhotep, host of the African History Network. Glad to have you here, Michael, also on today's show. Tammy Allison, of course, she is the department attorney. And Kelly Bethea, Communications Strategist. Glad to have all three of you here.

Michael, I'll start with you. The reality is this here. We can talk about the jobs report. The wages is still a hugely important deal. And so that is something that we still have to deal with what folks are paying. You still have progressives fighting for $15 an hour on living wage. We're still talking about how do we achieve race equity and inclusion for African-Americans. And so although President Biden, Democrats might be

happy with that low unemployment number, it's always a different story for us as African-Americans. Yeah, it's definitely a different story. And even though, I mean, right now we're really dealing with a tale of two nations, so to speak, or a tale of two cities, so to speak, because at the same time that you have 10 million available jobs right now, you have 10 million available jobs. You also have people who say it's hard to find a job. They can't find a job. And you have employers begging for laborers. You have employers begging for laborers. You have employers begging for workers, and we've seen an increase in wages. So one of the disconnects is

because of COVID, there's more obstacles that people have to overcome, especially African Americans have to overcome to get to the job, okay? You may have had a car, and during COVID, you were down and at home, you let the car go. We see that 300,000 women left the workforce in the last month, and also, we also see that we see students sent home, thousands of students sent home because of coronavirus outbreaks in their schools, et cetera. So we're dealing with a number of different obstacles getting to available jobs. Okay, so there has to be, we've got to really focus on removing those obstacles

and actually connecting us with those jobs. It's different if jobs don't exist. There are 10 million open jobs right now. Kelly? No, I agree with Michael, but I also have to take into consideration the kind of jobs that are available and how people are actually applying to jobs nowadays. The pandemic brought to light just how valuable workers are. And even though there are people still looking for work, there are also people who are holding out on working, not because of employment or anything like that, but they actually realize their value right now. Finally, in that they're not going back

to the workforce if there's not going to be a component of work from home. They're not going back into the workforce if the minimum wage isn't higher, if they're not being paid their worth. There are still jobs on LinkedIn and other job search sites where they're requiring like a slew of credentials and qualifications, but the salary doesn't match. So things have to change in that regard as well when it comes to these numbers, when it comes to when people are looking for work and the rationale behind why people aren't going back to work as quickly as the administration thought they would be. Tammy. Hi, Roland. I believe that black women specifically are tired. OK, the inherent bias in the policies

and procedures, no matter what industry you're in, it exists. And black women no longer want to deal with that. And as the other panelists stated, they know their worth. Black women are also the number one rising business owners in this country. So I believe that with all of the things that have been happening to black women, when we talk about discrimination in the workplace, coupled with the pandemic and the year that we've had in the post-summer of 2020 social and racial justice unrest, I don't think that black women want to deal with the shenanigans of facing bias in the workplace. And I also think that's something that we should think about and take into consideration when we're speaking specifically about the job numbers and how Black women are not necessarily represented in being able to obtain those jobs. And in the same breath, I think it's important to look at these companies who have claimed to be diverse and to implement these new diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies, but they're still looking for workers.

And it's important to note who is sitting at the table to screen these applicants because a lot of times they don't look like this panel. Well, that is certainly the case. And so, look, every month when the report comes out, we're certainly going to talk about it and focus on the black aspect of the jobs numbers, which doesn't get the attention on a lot of the other networks. All right, folks, let's talk about this race out of North Carolina where a candidate dropped a video that has gotten lots of attention. You rarely see a white candidate running for office speak this explicitly about race and announcing his campaign.

Watch this. When I was a young boy, the KKK announced a night rally in my home county. A cross burning with hundreds of Klansmen to terrorize the blacks and Lumbee. We were a poor farming community, black, white, and Indian. My parents and grandparents were sharecroppers like many. The police chief warned the Grand Dragon, these people don't want your trouble.

The Klansmen called us mongrels, half breeds, and told him the Klan would show him how to handle people like us. That night they rolled in with their cars, their crosses, and a single light bulb hooked to a car battery. 50 Klansmen. Not a bad turnout on a cold night. Problem is, they were surrounded by 400 Lumbees. Semmy Knoxendine had been a tail gunner in a B-29 during the war. Bertie Locklear was four months pregnant. Neil Lowry was the local barber. Hundreds of normal folks deciding to stand together against ignorance and hate.

Lowry shot out the light. The Klansmen scattered. By the time the sheriff arrived to fish them out of the swamp, the press was running with the story. The Battle of Hayes Pond, where one town beat the Klan, a piece of forgotten history worth remembering, especially today. In Washington, lies turn to violence.

And the biggest lie is that America is at war with itself. That you can't trust your neighbor. That they want something that's yours. That you must live in fear of them. But the people who stood up at Hayes Pond refused to be afraid. I grew up with their story. And the lesson is, human dignity is a human right.

When I started teaching special needs children in the 80s, they had almost no rights in our schools. So I spent 30 years fighting the system to recognize their humanity. And as a legislator, I don't play politics. I study, I listen, and I vote my conscience. I'm Charles Graham, and I'm running for Congress, because sometimes we're called upon to put things right,

like Hayes Pond in 1958 and America Today. Where access to affordable health care is still out of reach to many families. Where the Sandhills face the highest unemployment rates in the country. And our veterans return from war seeking opportunities and finding none. These folks didn't set out to make history. They just answered a neighbor's call. It happened here before, and now it's our turn. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time,

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

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

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.

We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown.

We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. Be real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corps vet. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real.

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves.

A wrap-away, you've got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else. But never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. Well, joining us right now is Charles Graham. Welcome

to Roland Martin on the Black Star Network. Thank you, Roland. It's a pleasure to be on your program this evening. I don't know, Roland, how many times you've had the chance to have a sharecropper's son on your program and a grandson of sharecroppers. It's amazing to be here, and I'm honored to be a part of your program tonight. I'm a proud Lumbee, Roland. All right, then. All right. I'm the only— Go ahead.

You're the only? Go ahead. The only? In the North Carolina General Assembly. And I'm the only, go ahead, the only. In the North Carolina General Assembly. And I'm the only. Well. Excuse me, I'm sorry. Go ahead.

No, go ahead. I'm proud to say that I serve on the American Legislative Black Caucus in my seat. And I want to tell you about our rollout role and i'm very proud of and i'm very proud of our message and i believe well it's gotten a lot of attention folks have been folks have been taught it's got a lot of attention folks have been talking about it and you were just very look very direct about this um And did you have any people who say, I don't know, Charles, maybe that's not how we open up? How did you say, no, this is how we're going to launch this campaign? Well, listen, you know, my campaign is about unity. And this is what the Hayes Pond citizens citizens demonstrated in 1958. We experienced people in this video coming together to fight hatred, to fight bigotry. And Roland, we moved forward to

2021 from 1958, and what do we see? We see the same type of bigotry, hatred, trying to undermine our democracy. The one difference between 1958, Roland, and 2021 is they weren't wearing sheets. This story talks about unity and division, how people can work together. And that's my message to the citizens of House District, I'm sorry, Congressional District 9. If we stay that way, of course, Roland, you know we have to go through redistricting. But, you know, that's what we're all about. We need to unify. We need to work for the common values and have a representative in Congress who will do that. And that's what I'm about. And I would ask your viewers today, and I know you have folks who are very interested

in what I'm talking about, and that is not dividing our country, unifying. And I would ask your listeners to support my campaign. VoteCharlesGraham.com. Go to my campaign website, support Charles Graham. And I think everyone understands, Roland, that I'm running against the far-right extremists who are determined to undermine our democracy and continue to divide us. That's not what Charles Graham's about. And I want that story to be told. You talk about those far right extremists, you've been having to fight them in North Carolina. I spent an inordinate amount of time on my show in the last decade talking about the viciousness and by which the Republicans in North Carolina have been trying to lead in many ways, which

you're now seeing in Georgia and Texas and other places, really started in North Carolina after Obama won that state by 14,100 votes in 2008. You're absolutely right. Absolutely, Roland, you are right. That's when we saw the General Assembly in North Carolina after we had, obviously, during that time, redistricting. And they rolled out maps that were going to be in their favor in terms of maintaining control and running their agenda. And we still see that. I have served in the General Assembly. This is my sixth term. I have served in the minority for 11 years, and I have prepared myself, Roland, to move forward, and that's to go to Congress and support our president. Our president needs allies. We have a very small window of opportunity to maintain the control we have in Congress.

So, you know, yes, I have seen that. And it began when our president, Obama, was elected. And, you know, it's been moving that direction ever since. Questions for my panelists. First up, Kellylly your question for charles graham sure so um as a result of this campaign video going viral um you've come under scrutiny regarding your stance on lgbt plus issues i would like to know um considering how you voted back in 2016 on HB2, I believe, how has your viewpoint changed and what do you plan on doing once you get into Congress regarding those issues? Thank you for that question. You know, after HB2, and I think it may have been four or five years ago. After that vote, I realized that that vote caused a lot of pain and hurt in the transgender community. I worked very hard after that to repeal HB2,

was successful. And I want folks to understand that Charles Graham understands and has seen and experienced discrimination. When I was a young man playing baseball, playing sports, participating, I had the fellows who was participating on my team, they protected me from racism. I know what racism is. I know what discrimination is. And once I took that boat after and at this moment, you know, I'm sorry. I apologize. And you don't hear too many people or too many politicians actually apologizing. And I'm sorry. And I'm running for Congress again to unite us, not divide us. And my tenure, hopefully, in Congress will be one that the LGBTQ community will be proud of, not discriminatory, and respecting their rights to coexist in our society. Tammy.

Thank you, Roland. Mr. Graham, given the fact that your apology only came this past Tuesday after other people pointed it out, how do you reconcile your recent apology with the other Democratic candidate that is running for Congress in your district, Rahm Mohamed, I believe is his name, and the fact that he may not have the political backing like you.

Myself, I did run for Congress here in Texas District 6, so I understand the importance for raising money to put out a commercial that is as polished as yours. And it takes a lot of money. And given the fact that you have been in the state legislation for quite some time, you have that financial backing, whereas your Democratic opponent may not have had it. So how do you reconcile that, given the fact that your opponent is more grassroots than you, and the fact that you have to be called out before you apologize for that vote? Well, you know, one of the things I'm proud to talk about is my experience. I'm an experienced legislator. I have worked on behalf of minorities in the legislature.

I've also worked on bills that will support our communities, our poor communities, communities of minority. I come from a minority district. My district is 75 percent minority. I work within my Lumbee community, which I'm very proud to do. I work within the black community, which I'm very proud to do. I work within the black community, which I'm very proud to do. And the fact that I have the experience and I have the support of many individuals from the minority community, this rollout has been tremendous. And I am very excited to be able to allow people in this district and this state and this country to know who Charles Graham is.

I am a man of color. I'm not one who will stand up on the floor and do what the sitting member did in Congress, and that is defy the president of the United States and not recognize him in a very important time when we're trying to get legislation passed, infrastructure legislation passed to support our families, our children. And it is certainly a time that we need to move forward, and that's my plans. I've explained my position. I'm certainly going to work in Congress on behalf of all citizens, including the LGBTQ community, including transgender rights. That is Charles Graham. My opponent would want

you to think that he, along with his right-wing supporters, are in a position to do better things for people of color. That's not true. That's not true. And minorities, that is not true. And my intention is to work on behalf of all citizens. I hope I answered your question. Michael. All right, State Senator Charles Gramley, thanks for coming on today. Question for you. If you become a member of Congress, you're probably going to have to vote on bills like H.R. 40, which deals with a study for reparations to repair the damage of slavery and make recommendations, possibly Voting Rights Acts,

possibly George Floyd Justice and Policing Act or Pol policing acts as well. What are your stances on issues and bills like that that directly impact the African-American community? And then also, when you said 75 percent minority population in that district, like what is the ethnic or racial makeup of that minority? Because minority is a very confusing term. Yes. Well, you asked two questions there, and I'll try to answer both of those questions. My district, Robeson County, southeastern North Carolina,

is about 40% American Indian, about 23% African American, and 25% Caucasian. We do have a growing number of Hispanics in our community, hardworking folks. Everyone in our county are, you know, and here again, Robinson County in southeastern North Carolina is one of the poorest counties in the state and in the country. And I've been fortunate for the past six election cycles to have the support of my communities. I was very supportive this last election cycle.

I was the only Democrat statewide, national, presidential, governor. I was the only Democrat to win my district. And I think I have the confidence of the folks in my district who are, and as I said, approximately 75 percent minority. And your other question about supporting Black Lives Matter, any legislation coming forward to me in Congress, if I get that opportunity, I can guarantee you and just don't mind telling you, don't know what the language would be, have not seen the bills, but Charles Graham will support any legislation coming to him that's going to uplift the lives of minority people. All right, Charles Graham, we sure appreciate it. Thanks for joining us here in Roland Martin Unfiltered. I will be spending some time in your state, especially when it comes

to that U.S. Senate position, trying to get a strong progressive voice in there. So I'm sure I'll pass it on across. Well, listen, I appreciate you having me on your program. I look forward to having you come to North Carolina and maybe we can work on some things together. And I thank the panelists for their questions and look forward to moving forward in the future. And vote Charles Graham dot com. All right. Thanks a bunch. Take care. Thank you. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun?

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

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

for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. in a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne.

We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. Got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corps vet. MMA fighter Liz Karamush.

What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers. But we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-away, you've got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else.

But never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. Folks, going to a break. We come back on Roland Martin Unfiltered here in Los Angeles on the Black Star Network. Dave Chappelle getting lots of criticism for his latest Netflix special. Well, a group of black LGBT organization, they say, hey, he should apologize.

Netflix should remove that special. Cleo Monago disagrees. We'll hear both perspectives next, right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. ТРЕВОЖНАЯ МУЗЫКА Betty is saving big holiday shopping at Amazon. So now, she's free to become Bear Hug Betty. Settle in, kids. You'll be there a while. Ooh, where you going?

Hello, everyone. I'm Godfrey, and you're watching... Roland Martin Unfiltered. And while he's doing Unfiltered, I'm practicing the wobble. All right, folks, Dave Chappelle has a new Netflix special. It's called The Closer. Well, not sitting well with a number of LGBT organizations. GLAAD and others, including the National Black Justice Coalition, they are calling for Netflix to remove the special, saying Dave continues to make homophobic

and transphobic comments. Last night, he had a screening of his documentary, The Hollywood Bowl. I was in attendance. He made it perfectly clear. He said he's not concerned. He is not going to get canceled. Joining us right now is David Johns. David Lee, of course, leads, of course, the organization I was just speaking about.

That is the preeminent black LGBT organization. So, Dave, David, glad to have you back on the show. So please explain to us why should, from your perspective, Netflix remove this Dave Chappelle special? First, let me say thank you, Roland, for creating space for us to have this conversation. I want to be clear that it was the desire of the National Black Justice Coalition for us to do this, to have this conversation. And for me, it made sense to make this invitation to Brother Dave Chappelle to have versions of this conversation, including by demanding that Netflix take down the special, because Netflix has offered up resources to help us deal with many of the things that most of us who love Black people care about, which is white supremacy. So I want to be clear in stating that I celebrate Dave

Chappelle's comedic enterprise. I appreciate the ways in which so many people rest in the ability to laugh and celebrate and just take a break from the stress and trauma of being black in this country. And I continue to be astounded by what feels like a lazy attempt at this craft by someone who has demonstrated the ability to be a genius and forgetting that there are some of us who are also black and LGBTQIA+. And so, again, all of this to say that I'm very well aware of Mr. Chappelle's comments about resting in the privilege that allows him to feel no regard for the implications of his comedy. And as someone who leads an organization that cares greatly about the overlooked and neglected needs of Black, queer, trans, and non-binary people, I'd like us all to do a little bit better.

So how do you respond to folks who say, look, these are comedians. They talk about everybody. They talk about black people. They talk about gay people. They talk about trans people. They talk about women. They talk about politicians. They talk about everybody. Many comedians say that's what comedians do. You're not going to a keynote speech. You're going to a comedy show. Right.

What I would acknowledge is, okay, and the next step is to talk about then what, right? So comedy is an art form. It's a form of entertainment that, in particular, when we think about the ways that Dave Chappelle has shown up, provides entree, right? Opportunities for us to think more critically and to engage more responsibly with each other. And so for me in particular, I am very much interested in this because Brother Chappelle and I purport to care about Black people. And in particular, when the comedy could lead to Black people, in particular,

Black people who are women, who are trans, queer, non-binary, who do not have the privilege to say, I don't care what people are saying about me because they're millionaires and have deals with Netflix, right? When we're talking about everyday people who don't have those privileges, I remain concerned about the implications of the jokes or the art form. And let's just keep it above, right? We're Black people. And a part of this, what I've heard is people say, like, it's jokes. You should just be roasted. And there's two things that are important for me. One is that that's about community, right? If I am in a situation where we're playing the dozens, we should be on equal footing. The ability for Dave Chappelle to make

jokes about women and Black trans folks, which are a race where we assume that all queer, trans, and non-binary folks are white, diminishes the ability for people to actually engage in a conversation or to punch back or to otherwise respond. And ultimately what I'm continuing to try and remind people is that I care about black folks who are ignored and who are erased. It is the black lesbians who are beaten in Chelsea because of white supremacy and then made to be victims

because their accusers highlight the ways in which their blackness overcomes the discrimination they experience as a result of their sexual identity or gender orientation. I remain concerned about black trans students who are beaten in schools where people laugh at them and say that it is your fault, that if you had just shown up and been tougher, and if you had not been sensitive, then this would not have been a thing. What I am concerned about is how people respond to the jokes, what people do as a result of the jokes. And to make this point particularly clear, there is a defense, a trans panic defense, which is often offered when black trans women are murdered. I want to be clear that I've offered this in the statement that I released, that NBJC released when this became a thing, which is to say that

this matters at a point in time in which black trans women are murdered at a disproportionate rate. That has happened every year since I've had the pleasure of leading this organization. And what I remain concerned about is that the murder, the violence against black, queer, trans and non-binary folks, the violence against black women more generally is ignored when people say, oh, it's just a joke. You should laugh at it. There are some of us who don't have that privilege. And I would like for all of us to be able to have this conversation while celebrating that Dave Chappelle has the right to say what he wants to say. There are also some of us who should have the right to be critical of what it is that he says. You said something there where you said that you're playing the dozen, you have the ability

to actually punch back. But the reality is comedians are on stage all across the country, all across the world. Whether it's a Netflix special, whether it's the Laugh Factory, whether it's any comedy venue in Chicago and New York, Houston, all over the country. So is there a difference when a comedian says something and they're talking about anybody, Don Rickles, Don Rickles ripped everybody, Lisa Lampanelli. I've heard people actually put on social media, they said, if Bernie Mac was alive today, Bernie Mac would get canceled.

Richard Pryor would get canceled. So is that part of this conversation? Are we establishing a separate standard? No, are we trying to establish the same standard for comedians as we do politicians? Isn't that different being on the comedic stage? Yeah, I'm not interested in establishing standards. What I'm interested in is all black people being free. And more specifically, what I want is for black women, black, queer, trans and non-binary folks to not be forced to make the decision to be, to show up and be visible, to have public jobs that require us or invite us

to have these conversations or to be safe. What is missed is that jokes about beating up lesbian women and not liking trans women because they have Adam's apples or reducing trans people to their genitalia is often a factor in the violence that members of our community experience. And so what I'm interested in is a more meaningful conversation where Black people in particular, who purport to care about Black people, are more conscious of the ways

in which white supremacy is operationalized and we do a better job to acknowledge intersectionality. I want to be clear to the extent that I believe that it has been lost heretofore that I appreciate what I believe is Dave Chappelle saying that the dragon he is attempting to slay is white supremacy. That is why this matters to me. That is why it was important for MBJC to engage in this discussion. We care about black people, all of us being free. Now, to the extent that the jokes, one, dismiss or provide cover for or allow people to get away with violence against our community, that's a point at which we have an issue.

And again, the invitation is for us to have more meaningful conversations about the ways in which people use jokes, our humor, our comedy, to dismiss the things that actually are meaningful and show up as barriers in terms of our ability as black people to live some actualized lives, to be free. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time,

have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.

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

Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back.

In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher.

Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real.

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. or up away, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov.

Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. Questions from each one of my panelists. We lost David's audio. Let me know when we actually have it back. So questions from each one of the panelists. First off, Tammy, your question for David Johns. Mr. Johns, how do you reconcile, you know, cancel culture being so easy for someone to just get canceled at this point?

And something that I say a lot, clemency through ownership, which is literal and figurative, the figurative component meaning say sorry so you can be forgiven. So if Dave Chappelle were to apologize for his comments, would you still have the same sentiments of, you know, pushing for him to be, quote unquote, canceled, given the fact that in this. Oh, he's not he's not he's not apologizing. Just real just real quick. He ain't apologizing. Last night's show, he made it perfectly clear. No, no, no.

I was like, I was like, he made it perfectly clear. He ain't apologizing. And in fact, Stevie Wonder even came on stage and talked about what we should be canceling. He was there in support of Dave. All right, David, go ahead. I don't know that I had anything to say. I was actually cut out of the conversation because of the audio. But again, I would just simply highlight that it must be nice. Okay, hold on, hold on. David, David, what's up, David? David, hold on.

David, hold on, David, hold on. So you didn't hear a question? I did not. I heard the last part of your comment as I was able to come back in. Okay, Tammy. So Tammy, restate your question to Dave so we can answer. Okay. So, be clear.

Dave Chappelle is not apologizing. He said if this is what canceling is, he loves it, right? So, my thing is how do you reconcile, you know, informing and educating the community, right, about the importance of not, you know, being rude or belittling the LGBTQ community, but also not being so quick to cancel whenever our culture doesn't necessarily fully comprehend and understand the significance and the cultural impact of some of these statements sometimes. And I said that I always say clemency through ownership,

which is literal and figurative, say sorry to be forgiven. Got it. And we know that he's not going to apologize. David. Yeah. Yeah. I appreciate that, Tammy.

Really thoughtful question. I want to acknowledge that this is not easy at all. There's no simple answer. I don't want to suggest that there is. I do want to name that it must be nice to rest in the privilege of being a millionaire who can say whatever you want without regard for how it might impact other people who do not have access to the privilege that you have been afforded to have access to and just simply do and be and say. And again,

what's challenging for me is knowing that the reality is that so many of us, not all of us, I don't afford to speak for all of us, but so many of us do not have that privilege. We are on track to have this year be the deadliest year with regard to the murders of Black trans women. And often, NBJC issues statements, much like the statement we issued around Dave Chappelle, around the murders of Black trans women that doesn't get a modicum of the traction or energy that this has received. And so my hope is that while Mr. Chappelle continues to do whatever he will do, because he's privileged enough to do that, that we will continue to have these conversations. And that as a community of people who purport to care about black people, that we will do better, not only with regard to our language and with regard to how we have

conversations with one another, but how we protect and support one another in more meaningful and measurable ways. Michael. All right. How you doing, David? Don't necessarily have so much of a question, but a comment and an observation here. And I've been reading this about Dave Chappelle. I haven't seen the special yet. One of the criticisms that he's getting is defense of comments that DaBaby made

that people are saying were homophobic as well, and we know DaBaby got canceled and disinvited from different events. And the concern that I have is that when African Americans are dehumanized, whether it's in music, whether it's in specials called the N-word, bees and things like this, the outrage doesn't take place to talk about removing that artwork that dehumanizes African Americans. But very quickly here. So DaBaby got disinvited from different events

and festivals for making homophobic remarks on stage that was not part of a song. It wasn't recorded or anything like that. But he got invited to the festivals after making songs that dehumanize black people. And people are largely silent on that, okay? So that's the conflict that I have. Okay. So, you know, that's, that's, that's, that's my perspective on this. Okay. No, I appreciate that.

And I appreciate that. Your thoughts on that. Yeah. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. And, and for me, the problem with the jokes and the presentation of this conversation, be it this big platform is that it affirms this lie that all black people are cis, heterosexual, and they can operate in the same way, and all queer people are white. And that is a lie. And so if we step back from that, the thing that I find frustrating is that most people are now engaging in this conversation without regard for the fact that, as Dave Chappelle referenced, the baby shot somebody and shot somebody in Walmart and then rapped about it in a song where he told his child,

I would do it again. That is a problem. We talk so much about violence in the Black community. I want to offer a footnote. There are so many people who have been introduced to MBJC for the first time. Welcome to what we do. We're not new to this. We engage in similar conversations when we're talking about Tony McDade, the black trans man who was murdered the same week that George Floyd was murdered by the Tallahassee Police Department. We show up and talk about and support Jasmine Kinnick, a founder of this organization who has been in the space before, to talk about Ed Buck, a perpetrator of violence, systemic violence against black queer and same-gender loving men

in particular. We show up and talk about this with regard to Nigel Shelby and Black students who are bullied and suspended. We agree in the space of wanting to ensure that all Black people can be free. For me, it's important to highlight for folks that don't have access to the information, who would never read a book about intersectionality, who don't know anything about Kimberly Crenshaw's groundbreaking essay, Mapping the Intersections, to appreciate that as long as there have been Black people, there have been Black queer, trans, and non-binary people. We have always been beautiful to be diverse. The issue with the special, and I encourage you to watch it, which is vexing for me in this space where I'm like, we shouldn't be continuing to talk about this, but it also

provides us with opportunities to talk about this, is to simply say this. We agree. We're only having this conversation because Dave Chappelle says in the special, I care about Black people and my issue is white supremacy. What is missed so often, particularly with regard to Mr. Chappelle's comedy, is that intersectionality is a thing. And there are Black, queer, trans, and non-binary, non-conforming people. And we, it is us, not white people. It is not white queer people. He talks about LGBTQ people as if they are white and talks about the movement that they are winning. It is them, white folks, who win, not us. When these jokes happen without this critical conversation, it is black, queer, trans, and non-binary people who are victims of the kind

of violence that he jokes about, who get beaten up because their Adam's apple is too large or because their hands are too big or because they do not show up in the ways that white people and the things that we all hold to this level of being the things that we should all do. When we are not able to achieve that, we are the victims of it. And that is the things that we should all do, when we are not able to achieve that, we are the victims of it. And that is the thing that I care most about. I also want to be clear that this is not about, to the extent that we can't cancel Dave Chappelle. Roland has made this apparently clear. He's been on Instagram with all of his friends. This is about us as Black folks who purport to care about black folks doing better. Kelly.

First and foremost, thank you, David, for coming on and speaking about this. I'm a huge fan of yours. I follow you on everything. But I wanted to make clear how, and it's more of a comment than a question, but I would love your thoughts on it, how cancel culture has been just very conflated when it comes to accountability. I don't see this as being a canceling Dave Chappelle notion so much as it is the fact that all Black Lives Matter and Dave Chappelle and other people who have the privilege of having a platform as large as Netflix need to be held accountable to the notion that all black lives matter. That there are ways to be funny and to critique culture and to critique society without disparaging the most marginalized among us, especially within the Black community. And finally, well, kind of finally,

I saw a lot of comments over the past couple of days, and I want to make note that I have not seen the special, but his previous specials also touched on this, so I feel like I can say a little bit of it. But the fact that people are saying, oh, you're violating his First Amendment rights, et cetera, et cetera, people forget that the First Amendment was made to protect the most marginalized voices among the American body. So the fact that we are still silencing the most marginalized within the marginalized community that is Black people by saying that,

you know, David John... Not David John, but that Dave Chappelle is able to say whatever he wants simply because he's a Black man. That is a disservice to not only Dave Chappelle and the LGBTQ plus community, but it's also a disservice to how the First Amendment is supposed to be exercised.

So it's like, why is it that the most marginalized among us have to remain silent when the First Amendment is actually supposed to protect them? I love you. And not just because you are singing my song, but because you are thinking critically. And I want to be clear that I don't expect nor do I want people to always agree with me,

but I do want us to be able to have conversations about how we do better to ensure that all of us can get free. And the thing that I've struggled most with is the hypocrisy of so many people who have continued to say to me, it's just a joke. I found it funny. Therefore, you should say nothing about it.

If Dave Chappelle had the freedom to make jokes, as he will clearly continue to do, I and other people should have the freedom to say, I watched the special twice over. I also know that this is not new, and I didn't find it funny. And two truths can exist at the same time. Beyond that, to your point, Kelly, I will continue to say that my issue and interest is in ensuring that all of us can be free. We are now actively having a fight, a conversation that hopefully will lead to us being able to pass the Equality Act. And the issue for me is that most, not most, too many black people consider the Equality Act a gay piece of legislation,

something that will benefit white gay people or LGBTQ people generally, because again, the assumption is that all gay people are queer. And the reality is, it's a civil rights piece of legislation. It addresses fundamental gaps in legislation that exist around the pieces of legislation that most black people will name when they talk about the things that they care most about with regard to civil rights, right? This includes things like ensuring that Black women cannot be fired because of the way that they wear their hair, ensuring that all of us cannot be kicked out of a rideshare like an Uber or a Lyft because of the way that we show up in the world. I care about Black people. I really don't care as much about what George Carlin has to say or Rosie O'Donnell.

What I care about is acknowledging that in this moment, there is someone who has an extreme platform, who has an extreme amount of wealth, an extreme amount of privilege, who purports to care about Black people. And I'm simply saying that if you purport to care about Black people, I would like to know if you actually care about all of us. And for me, that's the question that is being pressed at this moment. Heretofore, it has been possible for folks to say, I care about black people. And that be code word for saying, I care about some of us. Those of us who show up in the ways that affirm me and the way that I make sense of the way that I show up in the world. The question now is, do you care about all of us? And here's the thing, we can disagree. You can say to me, I only care about

black cis straight folks. I only care about black folks from New York. And that's fine. I just need to know where you are because there is so much more work to do to ensure that we can all be free. That's my goal. Thank you. David Jones, National Black Justice Coalition. We certainly appreciate it, David. Thanks a bunch. Thank you. All right. Got to go to a break. We come back. We'll talk with Cleo Monago, who is a senior advisor for the Black Men's Exchange. He has another perspective on Dave Chappelle, Netflix and allegations of transphobia as well as homophobia. That is next on Roland Martin Unfiltered, broadcasted live from Los Angeles on the Blackstar Network.

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Really outdid yourself. Yes, we did. The all-new Buick Envision. An SUV built around you. All of you. Hey, everybody. This is your man, Fred Hammond. Hi, my name is Bresha Webb,

and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. And, well, I like a nice filter usually, but we can be unfiltered. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.

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

really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott.

And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.

It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug ban is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill.

NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new

episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I always had to be so good no one could ignore me.

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So yesterday, Dr. Cleo Monago sent me a text message asking me were we going to be weighing in on this David Chappelle issue. I said, sure. He told us right now. Cleo, how you doing? I'm doing well, Mr. Martin. How are you? Man, where are you?

Are you in the basement somewhere? I can barely see you. Yeah, can you see? I'm sorry about that. I'm in South America at a hotel because I'm presenting to the faculty of the University of San Buenavista in Cali and I didn't know I was going to be doing this so I didn't bring lights and camera with me so I'm

doing the best I can do. Can you see me at all though? All right, it's all good. Yeah, we can see you. We can see you. Let's get right. So let's get right to it, Cleo. You wanted to weigh in on this issue.

You sent me a text, a long text. I said, man, that's too much typing. Say that on TV. So just you heard the interview there with David. You've seen the stories. Folks saying drop the special. get rid of the special. Dave Chappelle is wrong. He should not be making these comments.

Your take. Okay. Well, like you said, my message was long because this is a very dimensional issue. I appreciated some of what David said, which I think was provoked by the conversation here because what he was talking about previously that I first saw was what's a part of what we're talking about as cancel culture and for Netflix to cancel David Chappelle's The Closer. And I finally saw it. I mean, when I first heard about this controversy, I hadn't seen it yet. I finally saw it this morning. And my perspective after I saw it was definitely I don't

support the show being canceled. One of the things that was said in your conversation with David is about the importance of us having conversations. And I've been saying that for a while, that we need to be having black, acculturated and informed conversations about these issues. I think the reason that David Chappelle talks about LGBTQ and queer and all that as white because white people are its foundation, white culture is how it's rolled out, and the people that lead it in this country that have the most power are particularly whites.

Black people are marginalized by that community, and one of the things that David Chappelle talked about in one of his previous stand-ups was that reality. But what I want to focus on here is that I care about everybody black. I care about black trans people and what's been happening among trans black people. That 21 that was identified as a murder, I care about the 9,013 black people who were murdered at large, 8,469 black men, 1,440 black women, and the 21 trans people that we know about who have been murdered. They all matter to me. But what's being ignored, and frankly, I think the gay paradigm encourages the ignoring of black contextual historical issues, is that David, regardless of his means, et cetera, is someone who cares about black people and black life. And one of the things that he said at the

very ending of his program was empathy should go both ways in terms of black people and the LGBTQ white-led community. And toward black people, there should be empathy both ways. And historically, there has not been. And that community has been known to be marginalizing of black issues, black concerns. And it encourages black people to go along with its agenda and its perspective instead of addressing contextual and cultural issues. And that's what comedian David Chappelle is trying to do. And I emphasize that he's a comedian because he's not a social scientist.

He's not a behavioral health scientist. He's not a history major. He doesn't know the facts about the human story here. He probably does not know the issue of gender and gender nuance from an African perspective because that's not his background. So he's an American citizen who's talking about what he sees. And what he sees, which is because he's not blind, it's an LGBTQ community that's white-led and practices racism. For example, and there's tons of them, in California, when Ed Buck did what he did, the white gay community knew about it because it had been reported, and they didn't come up in arms against the murder of black men at Ed Buckucks home. And I got tons of examples of that community not being supportive of black people. But I want to get back to some issues that David raised so they won't, people won't

get confused because David said over and over again that black people are queer, black people are trans, black people, et cetera. This is a diverse community. I have a relatively large following online as well, and there are lots of trans, same-gender loving, et cetera, people who support David Chappelle's perspective who doesn't have the perspective of the National Black Justice Coalition. Some of them look at this through the lens of being black. And what I mean, again, by that is David Chappelle is an advocate for the defense and empowerment and justice for black people. And I believe that includes black men, women and everybody else. And as a result of us not considering that and looking at this simply from a gay defensive lens, we're not even looking at the fact that if you look at his special from the whole context,

he had a very endearing and loving story about a trans friend of his. And that's not being talked about among the people who are critiquing him. And the very few times it is referenced is poo-pooed because frankly, there's a tendency in this society to poo-poo what black men say, whether they're millionaires or not, because this is an anti-black society that does attack black men. And I'll finish this tangent with this, because I hope to respond to questions. One of the things that clearly concerns David Chappelle is black manhood. And one of the things that I want to talk about at some point is the underpinning of why there's anxiety. I mean, he did a lot of bashing, if you will, around masculine traits of some trans people and made fun of it, which I found disturbing. And I understand contextually

why people who are struggling, because transgender people struggle. Transgender people are bullied. Transgender people, well, it's all kinds of other black people, frankly, at larger numbers, are murdered and killed. But focusing on this issue, there are situations that lead to the death of trans people, and there's teasing and bullying and a misunderstanding or judgment around being too male, too female. All this stuff is actually occurring. But canceling the likes of David Chappelle cancels the opportunity to have a conversation about some of the things that's really causing black people, including David Chappelle, anxiety along these lines.

We're concerned about the emasculation of black men. We're concerned about if what all black men have gone through historically has led to gender confusion. I'm not saying that is my perspective. My perspective is nuanced. And I don't want to get into that now unless it comes out of some questions. But there's some—he's known, David Chappelle is known for being one of the comedians who was given a whole lot of money to put on a dress. And he said no. And instead of engaging meaningfully from a black perspective why he said no and what he was worried about, he was simply called femophobic, homophobic, transphobic. And that's what the LGBT community does, even when black people take on that paradigm. We don't engage black anxiety and perspective around these issues to be educated about what's really going on. And if we did talk about the anxiety among black people regarding the compromise of black men, the impact of police brutality, the impact of castration, whether it was physical or social. All of these attacks on black males

are now the particularly black and male cancel culture. This is causing a rise in black people, some anxiety that is not being engaged and unpacked. Instead, folks are calling people homophobic and transphobic and canceling them. And just like with the babies, I said when I talked about that, instead of getting on DaBaby's case simply and marginalizing him or re-marginalizing him like this country tends to do to black men, we should have said, why did you say that? What inspired that perspective? What made you feel compelled at a concert that was not about homosexuality or sucking

penises in the park? How did that come to mind for you, Jonathan? That's his real name. And the answer to that question, if he could actually bear them, would be very educational about what black people are going through, what black men are going through, what the anxiety is about this emasculation issue

among black men, which is at the core of some of David Chappelle's anxieties in comedy. All right, got it. Questions now from panelists. Tammy, first. Folks, I need tight questions, tight answers. Tammy, you're first.

Thank you, Roland. And thank you, Roland, for giving us all this platform. I wanted just to ask you, how do you reconcile the fact that there have been other people that give underrepresented groups a voice and a platform who may have themselves been under the scrutiny of trying to be canceled, but people are not talking about that and the work that they've done to enhance black culture, similar to Dave Chappelle. Is your question, why is the cancellation of other people not coming up? Is that your question? Well, the attempt to cancel other people who have actually done good for the black community,

when I don't believe that anybody with a wide platform, with a large following, is intentionally trying to alienate the LGBTQ community. Well, let's put Mr. Chappelle in context. He's a comedian. People like him and Paul Mooney and others are allowed to tell some hard truths because it's going to be a punchline afterwards, and it's in the context of laughter, which is why he gets away with talking about such serious issues on a large platform. He is a comedian. We don't have people like Dr. Tommy Curry and other people who could break these issues down and could actually transform the Black community's

behavior and consciousness, including the treatment of Black people who get a large platform. Instead of even canceling them, they're not even allowed in the door. The other people that you're talking about who are being canceled, whenever something affirms black people, like the Arsenio Hall show did inadvertently, and other situations where black people are affirmed, they are indeed canceled. And people from the LGBTQ community, et cetera, don't raise that issue, including a lot of black people who have a profile. They wait till the LGBTQ issue comes up and white people give them lots of profile and support so they can actually talk about their agenda, which is the LGBTQ agenda, which is pretty much a culture that is a white agenda. But I agree with you if

I hear you saying that there's an issue of black people being canceled, period, and we should be concerned about that. But we should be more than concerned. We're relatively passive in the midst of our disrespect. The reason we're hearing so much about David Chappelle is because the force behind him is huge. It's called the white gay community. And they have a huge machine. So as someone said, I think, I think Roland said earlier, this use of the N-word. We can add the word, the B-word. We can add all kinds of words that are insulting and divisive that he says that hurts Black people in particular, like the N-word, that gets no critique. There's nobody trying to cancel over that. Well, that's white supremacy behavior. It needs to be looked at as well.

Thank you. Michael, your question. Cleo Monago is Michael M. Hotep. Yeah, that was me earlier talking about the N-word. This is my critique here, and you can comment on this. With DaBaby being canceled, disinvited from festivals for talking two minutes, homophobic rant, but has songs dehumanizing black people, he gets invited to the festivals. Deja Pale gets attacked for comments about transgender people, things like this. But no critique, no comments about him using the N-word, things like this, but no critique, no comments about him using the N-word, things like this. Talk about how is it that black people are the only ones who you can say anything you

want to about, whereas anybody else, when you talk about them, you get out of pocket their consequences and repercussions. As I mentioned earlier, black people do not have the relentless, focused, unified, funded, and resourced machine that the LGBTQ community has as a result of white people in white spaces with white privilege and white audacity creating that space. And I want to say, so I won't sound dismissive, that the white gay community exists, including with all its privilege, in response to having been profoundly oppressed once upon a time in this country, murdered and killed and harassed and locked up. So it's not that their behavior and their subjectivity is not warranted. However, it doesn't include issues that are relevant to Black

people. But the bottom line is we don't have the machine. White supremacy has created a lot of conflict, a lot of people on different sides, including the LGBTQ identify and the black side, which is a bunch of black folks who should be getting together to resolve our issues across our collective. But we jump on bandwagons that get a lot of support sometimes because it's where the action is, it's where the money is, it's where the support is, where the media attention and where you can get some press. But that's what it is. When black people unlearn internalized white supremacy and learn to value diverse black voices and create a machine that actually will take no prisoners regarding what happens to diverse black people and are

consistent and build institutions with that intent, like GLAAD and HRC does for gay people, particularly white people, we'll have the same benefits, but we don't have that. We're divided. We have people who are powerful and who are doing great things within our community, but they don't get press. Not unless white people are benefiting from what we do, the press doesn't come. Right. All right. Thanks, Cleo.

Question. Cleo. So I understand your point, but I'm failing to draw the correlation between what you've said and what David Johns brought up and what I've brought up and other people who have an issue with Dave Chappelle's remarks in that while he was, you know, making remarks against white supremacy and the like through his comedy and his commentary in this special, the problem isn't that he was just talking about the white LGBT plus community. It's the fact that in so doing, it's harming the black people within that community. So again, this is a marginalized within the marginalized community saying, hey, this actually hurts me more than my white counterpart. Can you stop? And yet and still we have people literally just saying no and screw you. So how do you reconcile the fact that it's black LGBT people saying this is hurting me? We are the ones who are actually going to be impacted by his commentary the most because he's a black man. the cis community, myself and you and others, how are we to basically take them under the wing that

is Black people and let them know that we care? All right. Well, that's a lot. And that's a very important question, though. It's a lot. But let me tell you this. Let me explain this. Let me reiterate that I care about all Black people. And my work, not abstractly, but directly affirms same-gender loving, trans, and bisexual people along with the rest of the black family. So we're not in any kind of conflict regarding the importance of affirming people who are same-gender loving, et cetera. But a word that you mentioned is key. You talked about that black people are being harmed. Now, before I get to how universal the harm is, I want to mention to you that

David is a powerful, articulate brother who came out here and raises issues. And David is one person, just like I'm one person. There's not no one perspective on this. There's lots and lots of same-gender loving, including trans people who are not bothered by Dave Chappelle, who indeed support Dave Chappelle. The white transgender person who committed suicide that he referenced, their family openly supports David Chappelle. So, and there's another well-known comedian named Flame Monroe who's transgender who supports David Chappelle. So I want to make it clear that this is not a monolithic perspective. The National Black Justice Coalition is one organization, and there's other organizations with different perspectives, including the Black Men's Exchange, which doesn't share in terms of absolute precision to perspective of National Black Justice Coalition. What we agree is that same-gender loving people, et cetera, trans, et cetera, should not be harmed.

They should be allowed to be free. We agree there. However, the platform and the container in which we get to that point, we disagree with. I want to make sure that I talk about the harm. And I almost got emotional when I said that. In short, the black, excuse me, in short, the white LGBT community and its paradigm prowess in politics has done harm to black people. If you do a study of HIV and AIDS, and there's many, many other examples of how white gays wrote out the HIV and AIDS epidemic in terms of care and resources. They marginalized black people and by that act helped to create a epidemic that could have been further resolved if we were not put out by the white gay community. I can go on and on and on

about the racism in the white gay community in terms of harm being done to black people. What David Chappelle is talking about as well is harm being done to black people. One of the powerful things that he says is, would you please stop punching down on my people? That's one of the final comments that David Chappelle says. Actually, after he had contextualized quite clearly, before he even said that throughout his hour and a half special, the harm is being done. And David Chappelle is concerned about that harm. Now, David Chappelle, to my knowledge, is not a same-gender loving or bisexual man. He made some influences, inferences, I should say,

during his interesting sexual inferences around glory holes, etc., during his stand-up, but he doesn't understand the nuances, the experience of same-gender loving people. What I think we should do, as I suggested with

DaBaby or Jonathan Kirk, is that we should use these high-profile stimulations of the conversation to finally collectively, as a people, have a rational, Black-informed, Black-acculturated, historically considerate, contextually considerate conversation about what's going on with the Black community, what's causing such a spectrum of perspectives, what is causing even perspectives that the baby articulated and that David Chappelle talked about. Instead of doing what white supremacy keeps doing,

co-signing the dismissal and recancellation of a black male voice, particularly one as powerful and as brilliant as David Chappelle has been, with the Chappelle showing all the things that he's done, has been particularly powerful for black people, which is why he had to walk away from the show. Because white folks said, no, we got to control this. We got to control you. You're not letting us control you. We'll give you 50 million dollars because y'all like money if you let us control you. And he said no. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

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That's powerful. So we need to be using him as somebody that we can go to or include in a larger conversation about Black bridge building, about Black people unlearning impulses that are anti-SGL or anti-trans or that are not considered of gender nuance. We can talk about these issues from, we can talk about gender nuance from an African perspective and do a whole lot of educating. The reason I'm here in Columbia is I'll be speaking at the University of San Buenaventura in Cali, a predominantly black city, about the epistemology of ancient African gender nuance versus contemporary gender constructs. Because they're having issues around manhood and masculinity and that anxiety which causes abuse of feminine people,

particularly of their male, that they want to help unpack and resolve. So this gender issue, which is a core underpinning of David's anxiety, we have to have a black conversation about all these issues and include our diversity in respectful ways so we can resolve the conflict, not cancel people. But and we should be able to critique. One thing that David said that I agree with is that we should have the opportunity to critique each other. All right. Not a clear monologue.

We certainly appreciate it. Thanks for your perspective. We shall see what happens. But like I said, Dave made it clear last night. He does not care about people saying cancel him. He was real clear. Thanks, Cleo. Thank you for the invitation.

Thank you all. Got to go to a break. More of Roland Martin Unfiltered with Black Star Network. We come back. ТРЕВОЖНАЯ МУЗЫКА Maureen is saving big holiday shopping at Amazon. So now she's free to become Maureen the Marrier. Food is her love language. And she really loves her grandson. Like, really loves.

Hi, I'm Kim Burrell. Hi, I'm Carl P grandson. Like, really loves. Hi, I'm Kim Burrell. Hi, I'm Carl Painting. Hey, everybody. This is Sherri Shepherd. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks, when it comes to education, black HBCU business schools have been doing a heck of a lot, producing the next generation of leaders. Of course, remember, we were down in Atlanta. We focus on North Carolina Central with their opening of their new business school. Bethune-Cookman, they have a new head of their business school there.

Dr. Lawrence Drake heads Bethune-Cookman's College of Business and Entrepreneurship. Dr. Drake, glad to have you rolling by on the filter. Good to be here. Business has changed for a lot of people. The focus has always been going into corporate America. But we are seeing more and more people choose to be entrepreneurs, starting up businesses. And so what is going to be the focus of your 10 years, Dean? Well, the focus is actually to ensure

that we're prepared for the 21st. And that's for me and faculty. We shaped the way we do. Doc, hold tight one second. Doc, hold on one second. We really have some bad audio issues. And so we're going to try to fix that. I'm going to another commercial break. Folks, folks, fix this audio. Then we'll come back and talk to the new head of the business school at Bethune-Cookman back at Roller Mountain Filter. Oh, that spin class was brutal. Well, you can try using the Buick's massaging seat.

Oh, yeah, that's nice. Can I use Apple CarPlay to put some music on? Sure. It's wireless. Pick something we all like. Okay, hold on. What's your Buick's massaging seat. Ooh, yeah, that's nice. Can I use Apple CarPlay to put some music on? Sure, it's wireless. Pick something we all like. Okay, hold on. What's your Buick's wifi password? Buick Envision 2021. Oh, you should pick something stronger.

That's really predictable. That's a really tight spot. Don't worry. I used to hate parallel parking. Me too. Hey. You really outdid yourself. Yes, we did.

The all new Buick Envision, an SUV built around you. All of you. It's time to be smart. Roland Martin's doing this every day. Oh, no punches! Thank you, Roland Martin, for always giving voice to the issues. Look for Roland Martin in the whirlwind, to quote Marcus Garvey again. The video looks phenomenal, so I'm really excited to see it on my big screen.

Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. I got to defer to the brilliance of Dr. Carr and to the brilliance of the Black Star Network. I am rolling with rolling all the way. I'm gonna be on a show that you own.

A Black man owns the show. Folks, Black Star Network is here. I'm real all the way. I'm honored to be on a show that you own. A Black man owns the show. Folks, Black Star Network is here. I'm real revolutionary right now. I'm proud. Rolling was amazing on that. Stay Black. I love y'all. I can't commend you enough about this platform

that you've created for us to be able to share who we are, what we're doing in the world, and the impact that we're having. Let's be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You can't be black on media and be scared. You dig? All right, folks, we're trying to get Doc's audio straight, but let's show you this here. This video shot of a Georgia cop on October 3rd that's got folks raging upset.

Watch this. All right, folks, that's that's Georgia. Now, watch this video out of Ohio of cops stashing a black man, a paraplegic, out of his car. Watch this. What's your name again? Clifford Owensby. Owensby? Yes, sir. Turn the car off for me, please.

Under your seatbelt for me. You're not used to the other car? Yeah, I'm not used to the other car. I can't step out the car, sir. I'm a paraplegic. I got help getting in. Well, I'll help you get out. Excuse me?

I'm going to help you get out. Well, I don't think that's going to happen, sir. Well, I do because I'm asking you, but I'm telling you. So it's not an option. Can I ask you what's the problem? The problem is is that because your history about the dog you're free around the car you have to be out of the car i can't get out of the vehicle sir sir i'm going to assist you got the vehicle as someone no you're not no you're not no you're not you're not going to touch me you're definitely not about to touch me and i'm about to go ahead and get somebody on the line because i will it will be

a lawsuit if you put your hands on me for no reason bro well the reason is that I'm asking no no no no no we ain't gonna go there we're about to get some people here just about to witness what's going on that's right you gotta step out buddy I cannot step out I'm a paraplegic I cannot I'm a paraplegic sir come on come on bro I cannot step out of the car I cannot step out of the situation last I cannot step out of the car. I cannot step out of the situation last night. You can get out of the car. You got in the car. Hey bro, can you, can you come down the street to, um, Ferguson and grand? The police just pulled me over and they're trying to make me get out the car and I'm telling them I'm a paraplegic. I can't get out the car without no help and shit. And these muscles, they also just come down

the street, bring some people with cameras, come down the street, come bring cameras and bring just bring somebody so they can witness what's going on. All right, call me. I'm gonna get out of the car. I'm not getting out. I've just told you I'm a paraplegic. I cannot get out. I do not want to have to.

I don't know. I have to call your wife sir, please. I will. If you pull me out of here, you better expect. I'm gonna pull you out and now call white shirt. You're getting out of the car. That's not just an option. You're getting out of this car white shirt. Because you're getting out of the car. That's not an option. You're getting out of this car.

So you can cooperate and get out of the car or I'll drag you out of the car. Do you see your two options here? I know I got right. I would like for you to call your white shirt. I will when I'm done. Get out of the car. Come on, bro. Get out of the car.

Come on, bro. Get out of the car. Get out of the car. Listen. Get out of the car. I don't want paraplegic, bro. You can hurt me. Get out of the car. You can hurt me, bro. Get out of the car. Get out of the car. Get out of the car. I'm a paraplegic, bro. You can hurt me. Get out of the car. Get out of the car. You can hurt me, bro.

Get out of the car. Get out of the car. What are y'all doing, bro? Dude, you're making this for us. I'm a paraplegic, bro. I'm trying to tell you that I got help getting in the car. Y'all can hurt me. They can hurt me. Get out of the car.

I'm a paraplegic. Ow! Ow! Get out of the car. Ow! Ow! Ow! Get out of the car.

Somebody help! Somebody help! There's something the car. Somebody help! Somebody help! There's something right here. Somebody help! Stop. Somebody help! Stop.

Stop. Stop. Someone help! Stop. So are y'all recording this? Stop. Stop. Somebody help!

I'm a paraplegic! Stop. They are doing the unjust thing to me! Somebody please help me! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!

Stop! You are hurting me! What are you talking about? I'm a paraplegic! Stop! Stop! I'm a paraplegic! Stop! Please help me stop. Stop stop. What are you talking about? I'm a police stop stop. I'm a pastor. I'm a parent. Stop.

You're making this worse than it needs to be. I'm a parapolicy. I gave you. That's fine. I gave you everything you asked for. Cooperate. Call the white shirt. You call whoever you want.

Can y'all call the real police, please? You're about to get tased, dude. I ain't playing with you anymore. Ow! You're making it so much harder than what it has to be. Last man there. His name is Clifford Owensby. Cops found no firearms or drugs in his car.

Let's go to my panel, Michael Imhotep, Kilimathia, Tim as well. I just, folks, this is, you talk about crazy. Michael, I'll start with you. The behavior of police officers, when you look at this particular, with the brother who was a paraplegic, oh, he's saying, well, we know who you are. We're going to be looking in your vehicle. Things along those lines. And the crazy thing to me, Michael, is that they found nothing. And guess what? He hasn't been charged. Yeah. You know, Roland, I posted this video on the African History Network last night.

I saw it on D.O. Hughley's Instagram page and I posted posted it on our fan page, and people have been commenting on it. And, you know, I had a lot of questions here because, one, I was wondering, okay, the officer said, we know your history or something like that. What he said was a little muffled, and I'm trying to figure out, okay, what's really going on here? And then I was trying to figure out why was he pulled over in the first place, okay? And then the other thing I wondered, when you deal with a paraplegic, because I know this probably isn't the first time that they dealt with a paraplegic. What's the procedure? Because depending upon, you know, why they're paralyzed from the waist down or what have you,

you could injure them trying to pull them out the car. So, you know, injure them further. Well, actually, according to Clifford, he had an injured back before, and this re-injured his back. Yeah, you know, I don't think it appears. I don't know the full story here. It appears those officers should not be on the street. It appears they should be fired because it didn't have to go down like that.

He could have called a supervisor, et cetera. He could have talked. If Clifford had been white, I don't think they would have treated him like that. Kelly? I mean, I get sick and tired of seeing videos like this regularly, and the fact that they keep happening is just all the more disgusting.

But the fact that how many times did this man need to say he's a paraplegic for you to get through your thick skull, that he is not capable of getting out the car in the fashion that you wish he should get out the car? Further, he shouldn't have been having to get out the car in the first place, whether he's a paraplegic or not. This is just the prime example, a prima facie case of gross negligence, because he did everything he was supposed to do as a citizen regarding his interaction

with the police officer, and the police officer himself and his partner, it looks like, did everything that you could possibly do to be a jackass, basically. Like, they were not doing their jobs to the fullest extent of the law at all. There was absolutely no reason to harass this man, no reason to drag him by his hair out the car. I mean, just the level of humanity that was not used in this situation is absolutely disgusting. They need to be up under the jail. Tammy Allison? Roland, I think that we're all exhausted and tired of seeing these types of videos and body cam footages. Luckily, we do have the officer's body cam footage in this instance.

But from the man explaining that he's a paraplegic over and over again, to correct my fellow panelists, as a federal attorney, the correct terminology is excessive use of force by the police officer. And my other panelists, it's not necessarily the answer just to fire them, because as we've seen in various cases, even if they attempt to fire these officers, those unions protect them. And a lot of times they get their jobs back, and they're even able to get jobs elsewhere. The issue here is that there needs to be widespread legislative changes. We saw the video of Jacob Blake, who miraculously survived the shootings that left him paralyzed, and we saw news recently this week that the Department of Justice will not be filing any charges against the officers responsible for shooting Jacob Blake, as well as state prosecutors will not be filing any charges against those officers responsible for shooting Jacob Blake. And they also did not lose their jobs. So there has to be some type of legislative change. It's easy to say to fire

these officers. It's easy to speculate. But unless there are people sitting in positions in Congress that are willing to speak up and use their voice and actually make some type of impactful change, we're going to keep seeing these very horrific instances of excessive use of force by police officers. And it's very rare that we ever see them actually serve any type of sentence. And as we see the conviction and sentence of Derek Chauvin is something that, you know, we all breathe the heavy sigh of relief for. But we all breathe that heavy sigh of relief because we all know that it's so extremely rare to actually see any type of justice in these types of situations. Folks, kind of go to break. We come back. We'll give you the update on the Kyle Rittenhouse story. Very strange defense his folks are offering that's next to roller martin filter ДИНАМИЧНАЯ МУЗЫКА Nå er vi på Norske Norske. Betty is saving big holiday shopping at Amazon. So now, she's free to become Bear Hug Betty.

Settle in, kids. You'll be there a while. Ooh, where you going? All right, folks. Time for our Black and Missing segment, which we focus on every single day on the show, bringing the attention of young folks who have come up missing all across this country. They do not get the attention that they deserve. So, therefore, that's why we have this particular segment right here. We have, of course, this young man here. Again, Christopher Blount, 5'10", 185 pounds, black

hair, brown eyes. He is from Pendleton, Indiana. Pendleton, Indiana. This has been one of those stories again that gets lost in the shuffle. You don't have the level of attention that goes there. And so if you have any information, any information about this brother who has been missing for quite some time, folks, we want you to alert authorities, please. And so let me, I just want to find the number here. Let's see here. Give me one second. I'm pulling up the script right now to give this number here. Do we have the number on the screen, please? If we do, 765-642-0221, 765-642-0221. That is the Madison County, Indiana Sheriff's Office. So please give them a call.

All right, folks, in the case of Kyle Rittenhouse, the young white man who shot and killed someone in Kenosha, Wisconsin, his attorneys are offering quite the interesting defense. They are saying that Rittenhouse should be, first of all, he was using a, if y'all want to say it's crazy, a hunting law. Let me take my time with that. They're suggesting that a hunting law. Okay? Now, shout to people, two dead. Okay? Now, shout for people, two dead.

Okay? They're saying that the Wisconsin hunting laws allowed him to carry assault weapons during the 2020 fatal shooting. What the hell, Tammy? The hunting laws? Was he hunting? He wasn't hunting animals. Are they

suggesting that the hunting laws in Wisconsin allow for him to hunt people? What the hell is that? Hunting black people that were protesting the shooting of Jacob Blake that I was just talking about and this 17-year-old crossed state lines with this hunting weapon to hunt down protesters, people that were exercising their First Amendment rights to protest. And the defense attorneys also tried to say that it was self-defense. But yeah, the protesters did nothing. And from my recollection, I think that he had initiated some type of contact with some of the protesters

and someone threw maybe like a plastic bag at him to use this hunting weapon against them. It's just ridiculous. And I know that there were some pretrial motions with the judge and the judge trying to take some matters under consideration is what the judge said. In my experience, again, this is state court. In my experience in federal district court, you don't usually see a judge, you know, take something, you know, under consideration to actually think about letting the defense bring up, you know, this hunting thing in his age. Usually you see it whenever

they're in trial and maybe the judge is taking a matter under advisement until there's additional information with a pending motion. But this is wild. Kelly, this is quite strange. I mean, you hear all kind of defenses. This is probably one of the strangest ones I've ever heard. Certainly strange, but also expected when you're talking about people who do not care about black bodies and black issues at all. I mean, we're talking about hunting black bodies, which was a thing. You know, I do not hold anything past white people, specifically racist white people in this regard. I don't have much else to say about that other than it's sadly expected. Michael?

Yeah, this is an example of a defense attorney knowing that they're desperate. So the first question that you would ask is, okay, so what was he in the middle of the street hunting? Second question, because the assistant prosecutor, assistant district attorney Thomas Binger said, okay, did he have a certificate to hunt? Did he have a hunting license? Okay, so prove that. What was he in the street of Kenosha hunting,

and did he have a legal license to hunt? Okay, and he said, if that's their argument, go ahead and make that argument. So this is an example of how you know your client is in deep sugar honey iced tea. You're just trying to make stuff up. And can we not forget that. Can we not forget that? Can we not forget that this man, they raised

$2 million for this man, Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old. And then the officer that actually donated about almost $50,000, he donated money. And then the people donated money to the officer that was filed for donating money to Kyle Rittenhouse.

This is just shenanigans, just disgusting growth. Ew. Speaking of shenanigans in Alabama, the Montgomery City Council decision to change the street name from a Confederate president to honoring a civil rights icon, Dr. Fred Gray, covered with a healthy fine. First of all, attorney Fred Gray. The city council voted to rename the street from Jeff Davis Avenue to Fred D. Gray Avenue. Well, the unanimous vote could prompt a $25,000 fine as a result of 2017 Alabama state law that says cities or counties could not make any changes to Confederate monuments without state approval. Mayor Stephen Reed said donors have already offered to pay the penalty on behalf of the city.

Fred Gray, of course, is 90 years old. He served as the attorney for Dr. King for Rosa Parks. An exclusive interview I did with him is available, y'all. I don't know why we're using photos of him. We got the B-roll. I did a whole one-hour interview with him. So if y'all go to Black Star Network, yeah. Guys, why are y'all using photos of Fred Gray when I talk to the man?

Lord have mercy. Anyway, y'all want to – I'm just saying. I mean, you know, if you've got a TV show, you use video. So if y'all want to see the actual video of Fred Gray, go to the Black Star Network exclusive. It's on the app. Download the app. Phone, Android, Roku TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire Stick, Xbox, Samsung, all of them, to y'all watch the actual video interview of Fred Gray. Don't ask me why we're showing still photos.

I don't know. I cannot think of everything, y'all. All right. That shows you right there how these people in Alabama are so stupid. Republicans love talking about local control, but they really didn't want the people to have local control, Michael, over their own city. That's how race is rolled. Well, keep in mind, Alabama is one of those former Confederate states that took up arms against the union to maintain slavery and committed treason based upon Article 3, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution. So, I mean, this is Alabama. You look at the 1901 Alabama state constitution. They changed the state constitution to institute poll taxes and literacy tests to suppress the African-American vote.

So, yeah, they should go ahead and pay the fine. Fred Gray, fantastic man. He filed the lawsuit of Brown v. Gale, February 1st, 1956, that ended the Montgomery bus boycott, because that case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and that's what ended the Montgomery bus boycott December 20th, 1956. So absolutely, he deserves it. Kelly? Yes. Kelly? I mean, the fact that people are fighting so hard to not give a living black man his flowers, I mean, again, it is sadly expected, especially coming from a jurisdiction such as Alabama.

But it won't be like that for much longer. He's going to get his flowers come hell or high water. And I look forward to the day that the name is changed and all is well. Tammy. Hey, Roland. Listen, this is why I be talking about, like, we need representatives that are not too scared to talk, okay? We got all these people that are running for office, but y'all scared.

You got to talk, okay? Because this is some law that is on the books, and this is some stuff that needed to have been addressed before, you know, this fine came up. You know, like, yes, people are going to pay the fine. As my very esteemed panelists stated, Alabama is the state that sued the Department of Justice during the Obama administration when Eric Holder was the attorney general, which resulted in that 2013 Supreme Court decision that reversed the Voting Rights Act that we're now fighting for because the Republicans found the loophole for it. But let's be very clear to all of our progressive, quote-unquote, Democrats. That happened during a Democratic administration, during a Democratic attorney general, and not until the Republicans found that little loophole is it now that we're speaking up and addressing the Supreme Court decision of 2013 that got these states discriminating against underrepresented groups.

We need to be very clear. Yes, that was the state of Alabama, so we should expect shenanigans from the state of Alabama, but we also should be trying to strategize, just like the Republicans be strategizing, and beat them at their own game. All right, folks, got to go to a real quick break. When we come back, I'll tell you what we're doing in L.A. and how you're going to see that on the Black Star Network.

That's the final item. Back in a moment. Oh, that spin class was brutal. Well, you can try using the Buick's massaging seat. Oh, yeah, that's nice. Can I use Apple CarPlay to put some music on? Sure. It's wireless.

Pick something we all like. OK, hold on. What's your Buick's Wi-Fi password? Buick Envision 2021. But you should pick something stronger. That's really predictable. That's a Buick's Wi-Fi password? Buick Envision 2021. You should pick something stronger that's really predictable. That's a really tight spot. Don't worry.

I used to hate parallel parking. Me too. Hey. Really outdid yourself. Yes, we did. The all-new Buick Envision, an SUV built around you. All of you. All right, folks.

We've had an absolutely fabulous week out here in Los Angeles. Of course, we kicked everything off with the George Lopez Golf Tournament. We've been, of course, having fun, hanging out, doing that. But while I wasn't playing golf, we were also doing some great interviews as well. And so we're going to be launching that. So one of the shows we're going to be launching is, yo, Rolling with Roland. That's right. So we've been doing these one hour interviews and we have been just, first of all, having a ball, y'all, with these, doing these interviews with a lot of different people. I want to show you some of these photos we've been doing. And so

November 1st, we're going to debut so November 1st we're gonna debut November 1st when we were in here last time we saw right here you see Damaris Lewis she of course is actress model and so you've seen her work y'all see the iPad let me know if you see it there we go yeah so she was one of the folks we sat down and talked with we've also had my man, Matty Rich. Matty Rich, y'all, y'all do not, y'all have gotten to see this interview. An emotional Matty Rich when I connected him with Spike Lee. Also here, Michael Ealy.

I had a great conversation with Michael Ealy, y'all, man. Absolute, a lot of laughs there. My man, Laz Alonzo. Laz Alonzo, we talked to him. We also talked to Sherri Shepherd, Guy Torrey, as well as Johnny Gill, as well as Dondre Whitfield. And so that was this time. Last time we were here, we talked to Glenn Turman, Richard Lawson, Jeffrey Osborne, Michael Collier, Jack A., Bill Duke. And I'm missing somebody.

Who else did we talk to? Oh, Mario Van Peebles. And so, folks, so the show is going to be called Rolling with Roland, a one-hour interview, absolutely conversational. No agenda. You have no idea where in the hell we went with it and some great conversations. And trust me, y'all are going to really love it. And I'm going to be. So that's going to be launched November 1st.mber 1st uh only on the black star network you must

download the app i'll be unveiling some other shows i'm talking to uh folks next week and so uh we'll let you know what those shows are as well so a lot of things happening uh you see what we're building that's why your support matters so please download our app the black star network all available all available platforms. Also join our Bring the Funk fan club where every dollar you give goes to support the show. Cash app,

dollar sign, RM Unfiltered, paypal.me forward slash RM Unfiltered, venmo.com forward slash RM Unfiltered.

Zelle is rolling at rollingsmartin.com, rolling at rollingmartinunfiltered.com. Tammy, Kelly, Michael, so appreciate it. Thanks a lot. We always end the show, folks.

Showing you members of our Bring the Funk fan lot. We always end the show, folks, showing you members of our Bring the Funk fan club. We appreciate all of you. Everybody who's giving them at a, no matter what the amount, you all matter to us here. So for all of us, for the Roland Martin Unfiltered, Black Star Network, West Coast crew, I'll see y'all guys on Monday from Washington, DC.

Holla! Hold up! I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-away, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. I'm Clayton English.

I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording. We met them at their

recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast

season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast.