#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Black Women's Roundtable, Roland a 'Lap Dog'?, HBCU College Ranking Exclusions, NC EPA Office

Episode Date: September 28, 2022

9.27.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Black Women's Roundtable, Roland a 'Lap Dog'?, HBCU College Ranking Exclusions, NC EPA Office The Black Women's Roundtable will host its 14th annual policy forum Series Wednesday during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference.  Melanie Campbell, President  and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, will be here to give a preview.  Ya'll, Fox News Hosts actually called me, Tiffany Cross, and others President Joe Biden's 'Lap Dogs' for telling the truth about Trump Supporters.  We'll show you what they said and explain why they are really mad.  Roland talks to Iowa's Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Deidre Dejear, who hopes to become the state's first black woman to lead the state.  A Colorado police officer is on administrative leave for leaving a handcuffed woman in her patrol car that got hit by a train.  We'll show you the video.  If you ever wondered how colleges and universities get ranked, we'll have an author here who examined the process and will explain how HBCUs get left off. In today's Marketplace, a black-owned cookware and utensil company.   More from the grand opening of the EPA's new office in North Carolina.    Support RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered Venmo ☛https://venmo.com/rmunfiltered Zelle ☛ [e-mail] Annual or monthly recurring #BringTheFunk Fan Club membership via paypal ☛ https://rolandsmartin.com/rmu-paypal/ Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com #RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Thank you. ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത� Thank you. ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത� Thank you. ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത� Thank you. Folks, Black Star Network is here. Hold no punches! I'm real revolutionary right now. Black crowd. Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. I thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roller. Be Black.

I love y'all. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scape. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home.

You dig? Today is Tuesday, September 27, 2022. Coming up on Roland Martin, I'm filtered. Streaming live on the Black Star Network, the Black Women's Roundtable will host its 14th Annual Policy Forum Series on Wednesday during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference. We'll be joined by Melody Campbell, President and CEO of the National Coalition

on Black Civic Participation, to give us a preview of that. Also, Fox News host, Paris Faulkner and Kayleigh McEnany had something to say about me and Tiffany Cross actually calling us President Biden's lapdogs for telling the truth about MAGA Donald Trump supporters. I'll show you what they had to say,

and then I'll have something to say. Also, I'll be talking to Iowa's Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Deidre Degere, who hopes to become the state's first black woman to lead that state. Also, a Colorado police officer is on administrative leave for leaving a handcuffed woman in her patrol car that got hit by a train.

The video is shocking and stunning. If you ever wondered how colleges and universities get ranked, we'll have an author here who examined the process and explained how HBCUs keep getting screwed. In today's Marketplace segment. The Black-owned cookware and utensil company, plus we'll have part two of our commemoration

of the 40th anniversary of the environmental justice movement beginning in North Carolina. Folks, it is time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin, unfiltered, on the Blackstar Network. Let's go. Politics with entertainment just for kicks. He's rolling with Uncle Roro, y'all. It's rolling, Martin. Rolling with rolling now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best.

You know he's rolling, Martin. Now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real, the best you know. He's rolling, Martin. Martin. Martin. All right, folks, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's 51st Annual Legislative Conference begins on Wednesday. It's the first time it's going to be in person in a couple of years due to COVID. This year's theme is Advancing Our Purpose, Elevating Our Power. The Black Women's Roundtable is taking advantage of the number

of thought leaders, policy makers, advocates and legislators who are attending the forum, holding their 14th Annual Roundtable, Power of Black Women. Joining us right now is Melanie Campbell, who is the convener of the Black Women's Roundtable, joining us from D.C. Melanie, obviously this is a big political year.

Politics is what is being talked about all across the spectrum here. There are a number of people who are running. You look at some critical U.S. Senate races. There's not a black woman who's in the U.S. Senate right now. Sherri Beasley is running out of North Carolina. Congresswoman Val Demings is running out of Florida. Then, of course, you have other races involving African-American candidates.

And so your assessment of where Black women stand this year in politics who are running for office. But first of all, thank you, Roland. It's good to see you. And it's been a minute, and I know you've been on the road. You know, I follow you, and thank you for all you're doing to help us all fight this fight. It's a tough one. It's a tough year, but we were made for this

because what's happening is we're still living through the backlash of really moving this country forward in the 2020 election and bringing it back from the abyss. And you still have folks now, for black women, what we're feeling is the kind of pressure of owning our power, really, at the end of the day. And so there seems to be a rising attack on black people. As black women, we feel that threat. But part of why we're going to come together, the timing couldn't

be better, to do our gathering as we do every year, but we gather to lift each other up, but also have an opportunity to kind of huddle, especially in an election year like we're in. And we'll have some of that conversation as a part of the roundtable discussion, because we have folks here from Alabama who are going to be here all week. Letitia Daniels-Jackson is one of the plaintiffs in the Alabama redistricting case that will be in town. We've got folks from L.A. coming in to talk about how we're going to utilize the music industry and how they can help with these social justice fights. We'll have a myriad of folks from various backgrounds, as we always do, to come together to talk about it, looking at the data we had earlier this year, see where we are, what new data is saying, where we are, and then figuring out how we leverage our power in a time where we also have safety issues to even deal with. I was on a call earlier today talking about, when you talk about election protection, we got to also talk about

safety now. We are at a different time, and we have to come together even more. And that's really what I think is important. And so many people, I think, at the last minute, Roland, jumped on his planes because all of a sudden D.C. is about to be way crowded in the next few days. But we're going to party with a purpose as well. Well, you spoke of L.A. You've got Congresswoman Karen Bass, who's running for mayor of Los Angeles against a former Republican. Many people thought that it was a thought she came in second in the primary. But in fact, when all the votes were counted, she actually won it by seven or eight points. And so, it still is a tough general election campaign.

And so, just again, your thoughts as well as we look at these black women candidates. I was talking to a black female consultant last week who was saying that many of these black candidates have been complaining that they're not getting the support from the Democratic Party. What have you been hearing? I'm hearing a little bit of that, right? I was, I'm not saying, I kind of stay on that C3 side of the wall, but I do hear things. Well, but remember, the C3 is about endorsing. I'm just simply

asking, your assessment of our black female candidates getting the right support. Let me finish. My point is, I'm going to put my political analyst hat on, and I can say what I want to say. That's all I was going to say.

So I was in Georgia, where you know Stacey Abrams is running for governor. There's a lot of enthusiasm, much more than I saw a month or so ago. And you mentioned Val Demings. And so it's like the numbers are there for Stacey Abrams

to become the governor. The numbers are there for Val Demings to come to the Senate, as well as folks in North Carolina. The numbers are there. The resources need to definitely be there. People have a misnomer that folks have all the money they need. They don't.

And that's historical in the first place. But we, so, you know, I, you know, on a personal level, I'm giving. We're telling folks, you know, whatever the party does or does not do, we have to give. So I went to a fundra level, giving. We're telling folks, you know, whatever the party does or does not do, we have to give. So I went to a fundraiser in Atlanta. A lot of

old money Atlanta. They're raising that money because they want to make sure that these candidates across the gamut, because you've got people who are running for, there's a sister in Georgia who's running for Secretary of Agriculture. Big deal in Georgia. There's Atlanta and then there's the rest of the state.

You've got a lot of money that goes to the Department of Agriculture on a state level that impacts our communities on a rural level, even some urban level. So this is the time folks need to give.

We need to push the parties, of course, but we also need to give and make sure that these folks have a stressed out and so frustrated and disappointed, especially our young people. But you, but there seems to be a growth of energy that is happening. We're getting ready next week, right after we get past Black Caucus, we're going to Cleveland. We're going to be in Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania with a Get Out to Vote, Power to the Ballot comedy tour and mobilization around those five states, as well as the other states that we work in, because we want to bring some joy to people, because that's part of it.

People need to have some joy as people are dealing with it. Still, people still, we're still struggling coming off of COVID. We have not, in our community, a lot of people have still not really rebounded from COVID, whether it be the mental health stress or financial stress. And so when you start talking about the election and they're like, well, you know, I'm not really seeing that making the difference I want to see. We have to show folks what's at stake and that this deal is

unfinished business that we have. And be real with folks that we know we haven't gotten what all we wanted, but we surely know that if we keep pushing, we can get that much further. And that's what we're planning to do over the next 42 days. You mentioned lots of enthusiasm on the ground there in Georgia for Stacey Abrams. But the issue that is always one, that is turnout. That is, you know, of course, Black folks vote, but what is going to be the percentage of that particular vote? And so does that also concern you when you look at various polling data, which shows that African-Americans are concerned about how certain things,

certain bills that have not gotten passed for the People Act, John Lewis Act, for the Justice Act, and others, enthusiasm is going to be an issue. Recent polling data shows Republicans have a much higher enthusiasm than Democrats, around 78%. Democrats are about five points lower. Independents are lower than that as well. Yeah, and I will say that

one of the things that we did, you know Tommy Deutsch, he has the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame, has the Kings and Queens competition there every year. Well, we did a Black You Vote session with young people from, you know, several black colleges and universities that were there in town. And it was also there for power rising. And so that's why I say the enthusiasm may not have been there earlier, but it's picking up because the young people were real clear what was at stake for them. And not that we put it in them, they said it to us. It was a listening session as well as a panel that our young people led, and I got a chance to sneak in and listen in to it.

And they're fired up. They also shared that we have to really go where young people are. You know, don't just think that you're just going to come to the campus. We've got to get in the community, really bring folks. Everybody don't have a cell phone with access to the text messaging, all that kind of stuff, but that's what we were hearing. And the fact that they, um, they, the ones that I talked to just in that setting were really, really fired up. The women that I, that, that

over the last two months going down, I've been in Atlanta and in Georgia a lot, uh, over the last few months. And I do feel the difference than what I saw like in June and July, but you know, it's, it's, we all got to pull it in. And there's a strong coalition. So some of the people who will be with us tomorrow are from Georgia. Deborah Scott and Helen Butler and Felicia Davis and others who are on the ground. And we know that a lot of them are working together

on the C3 side, and a lot of them on the partisan side. There's a lot of coalition work going on in Georgia that may not be polling, but as far as people understanding and building around that, I think there's just enough time for there to be a surge. And then also registration numbers on women are up. You hear that. We hear that broadly, that we're not immune to those numbers as well. It's a tough role.

The biggest challenge I'm concerned about rolling is, with all we can mobilize all day, but we have those voter suppression laws on the books that when people want to try to play games, like for instance while I was down there, one of the counties they were trying to purge 36,000

people. I think it was Gwinnett County, I believe. But it was a county that had a lot of black voters in it. So, Helen was had to go to court and trying to fight that. So, those are kind of the things that are not making it out there that started and happened where people are trying to play those kind of last minute games. We don't have the strength of the Voting Rights Act enforcement behind us right now to fight back on some of these cases.

All right. Melanie, we certainly appreciate it. Look forward to the session tomorrow. Thank you. Appreciate you, Roland. Thanks a bunch. Bring my panel now. Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali, former senior advisor for environmental justice at the EPA.

Rand Bryant, diversity. Randy Bryant, I'm sorry. Diversity and inclusion strategist, Diversity and Inclusion Strategist, Speaker and Trainer, and also Dr. Larry J. Walker, Assistant Professor, University of Central Florida. Glad to have all three of you here. Larry, you're there in Florida. That's going to be one of the critical states. You've got Ron DeSantis, who's running for re-election for governor against former congressman,

former governor, Charlie Crist. You've got Congresswoman Val Deming sitting at the top facing U.S. Senator Marco Rubio. You've got his recent shenanigans when it came to sending migrants from Texas through Florida to Martha's Vineyard, costing Florida taxpayers several million dollars. Now he doesn't want to explain where in the hell the money, you know, went to actually donors to him.

And, again, you have that. We were looking at that state. We're looking at so many others as well. I mean, I just keep telling people over and over and over again, what this boils down to is who wants this bad enough. And the reality is you've got a lot of pissed off Republicans who are mad as hell. And I saw a recent poll where 69% of Republicans said it was important for other Republicans to follow the lead of Donald Trump.

I keep telling folks, the Republican Party is Trump's party, and we had better understand if we do not vote, those folks, if they get in, we know what they plan on doing. Yeah, so they're trying to take us back. We already saw this recent, the last couple of days, McCarthy, in terms of the platform, some of the things they outlined, if they take back the House. And, Roland, listen, you know, this is all hands on deck. And I think, you know, the last conversation you had in terms of particularly the conversation you talked about with young voters, that's critically important. So not only in terms of young voters, but also those individuals that

just became eligible to vote. But you're right, the importance of mobilization. And I know, Roland, we talked about on the show a lot in terms of the DNC and some of the other entities in the White House in terms of the coordination with some of these Black, some individuals who are Black who are running for public office. Additionally, look, you talked about North Carolina in terms of what's happening in North Carolina and then here in Florida with Val Demings. Listen, this is critical. I think 538 had her down about 3.8 percent when it comes to Rubio. But it's really important that we take that Senate seat. You talk about Kristen DeSantis and obviously DeSantis in the antics the last couple of weeks. We know that this is part of political play is red meat for the base.

But this kind of, you know, decisions he made in terms of sending people up to Martha's Vineyard, that works with these magnate Republicans. So listen, our counter has to be to tell folks, this is what you're going to continue to see over the next couple of years. If we don't take action, if you don't get out the vote, it's going to get a lot worse. And then, Roland, this is 2022. You and I both know in 2024, when we have the reelection, when the big chip is really up, that this could cascade if we don't stop it right now in 2022. And like I said, we don't take the necessary steps to get immobilized and give people a reason, particularly Black folks, a reason to vote that not only in 2022, but 2024, we can encounter some serious problems.

If folks really want to understand what we're dealing with here, Randy, I've done a lot of interviews lately for my book, White Fear. And the reason I've been laying out to folks why they need to read it, and I've had some conservatives really upset because of what I wrote. Well, to me, here's a perfect example. I'm going to show it in a second of what we're talking about, but also what is also driving Republicans. And I tell people this over and over and over again.

You need to understand what you're up against and the kind of people that we're dealing with. And, you know, here you have it right here. So this is a recent study. Joshua Holland posted this here. And this is what it says. A new study shows that since 2008, more white people in the United States oppose welfare programs in part because of increasing racial resentment. One of the reasons for this opposition, according to the report, is white Americans' perceptions that they might be losing their financial and social status while people of color make gains in those areas.

That's why I wrote White Fear. That literally is the basis of my book. And I have been telling folks this, that white fear is what's driving the Republican politics. And so when you have these white Republicans who are attacking migrants, who are attacking the immigration issue, what they're dealing with, they are pressing those buttons of white racial resentment. And those white folks are like, oh, we're going to vote.

So for all these black folks who I hear, man, I ain't voting. We ain't got nothing, all this sort of stuff. All you neoliberals do understand. All of y'all folk who holler in reparations, all of y'all who are talking about the George Floyd Justice Act, all of you are talking about cut the check. These white folks voting. So y'all can run around and holler all day, man, I ain't gonna sit here and vote till I get something. Oh, these white folks are voting,

and go ahead and mess around and let them turn out in huge numbers in November and see what happens. Amen. The whole make America great again, or ours again, really is what they were saying, is all about white fear, about them losing control of this country. If you just even look at the population, how the population is changing.

So people are voting not for something as much as they're voting against something. And that's against us having rights, because some people feel as if when we have rights as Black Americans, as any minority group, then they are losing control. And I will tell you that even the most liberal of Republicans have no interest in losing control. And so what we need to recognize as a people is that we are fighting, like, literally fighting for the rights that we have fought so hard to get. They are at risk right now. And so there have been some years, you know, when we think about former President Obama's election where hope, because hope is very much a currency in the Black community.

And I don't And I think we are tired. I think the point was made that we are exhausted. We have had, it's been a rough few years for us. And so I don't think hope is going to drive us, because some days I believe some of us feel somewhat hopeless. It needs to be

anger. We need to match their fear with our determination and resistance against losing the rights that we have now. Look, Mustafa, they can be tired as they want to. I'm trying to warn people. And I'm telling y'all, in 2016, at the CBC dinner Saturday night, I looked Hillary Clinton in her eye and I said, listen, there is enthusiasm on their side,

not on your side. Y'all don't get it in gear, you're going to be a bridesmaid for the second time. Roland, we're talking about colleges later and what you were talking about reminds me very much of the California school system. You know, we're talking about colleges and universities and how all of those universities used to be free. Remember, they used to be free. And what happened was too many minorities and black folks start where we're getting in. And so people voted to actually, you know, make them where they were profitable, make charged money, specifically the exact same situation. So this has happened

forever, that when people feel as if they're losing control, they will literally vote against their own interests just to shut us out. Mustafa. I mean, I agree with everything that the panel has shared. I mean, folks, we just got to realize, you know, what the game is. We know that if Democrats are no longer in control and Republicans vote at higher numbers than we do, that the courts are going to continue to change. And we know how that has such a huge impact inside of our community. So we can't afford to have more conservative judges being put in place on all levels. So whether you're voting for local, the county, the state, or the federal, it's incredibly important. We also understand that

when we were going through COVID, if it wouldn't have been for the Democrats, you know, there would not have been the same amount of resources that are out there. You know, Senator Biden has done all kinds, excuse me, President Biden has done all kinds of things, you know, from the Inflation Reduction Act to right now the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. You know, it's our responsibility to take advantage of these opportunities because they may not be here moving forward in the future. So if you're a business owner, there are opportunities for contracting and subcontracting that's going on. We wouldn't have Katonji Brown Jackson sitting on the Supreme Court if the Republicans were in control. I mean, there's a laundry list of things that have gone on. And yes, we have to continue to push

the Democratic administration to do better and be better. But we understand what's happening on the other side of the equation. And it would literally take us back decades, you know, removing the progress that we've had if they get back in power. Yeah. I mean, I just keep trying to explain to people, you know, what is happening here is no joke. And people, they can keep dancing around this. They can keep saying, oh, man, you know, like I hear these fools, oh, you just trying to sit here

and get black folks to vote Democratic. I'm trying to tell y'all, these white folks out here are pissed off that we are 21 years away from the nation becoming majority people of color. They are pissed off. They were pissed off that a black man became president. They pissed off a black woman as vice president. And I'm telling you, that's why all of this stuff with critical race theory, they hate the 1619 Project.

They can't stand diversity, equity, inclusion. They hate multiculturalism. They hate all of that. But these folks are absolutely filed to turn out. And they are even more pissed off that black folks turned out in Georgia in 2020 and put Ossoff in and put Warnock in. And remember, Ossoff won a six-year term. Warnock fulfilled the term of a retired Republican, Johnny Isakson.

Now the real issue is whether or not he can beat Hershel Walker for the full six-year term. And they absolutely do not want him to win. They do not want to see Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes become the next United States Senator in Wisconsin.

And they are supporting that liar Senator Ron Johnson. Folks, I'm telling y'all what's going on. If you're in North Carolina, Sherrod Beasley lost in 2020 to be the chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court by 400 votes. Democrats could have had a 6-1 majority

on the state Supreme Court had she won. Now they have a four to three majority. How do you think the voting laws were overturned in North Carolina? Because Democrats control the Supreme Court. How do you think they ruled against racial gerrymandering? Because Democrats control the Supreme Court. So y'all can get yourselves caught up in this bogus bullshit, oh, you sitting here supporting

Dems. And let me be real clear. I make demands of Dems. I hold them accountable. Republicans, they ain't even talking to us. They don't even care what we got to say. So y'all go ahead and play games. But I'm telling you, on November 10th, if they control the House and the Senate,

watch what they then get passed. And then go, damn. Like a lot of y'all, like a lot of people after Trump won. Oh, damn. I didn't think he was going to win. I didn't think they were actually going to do that. Hashtag, we tried to tell you.

We tried to tell you. All right, folks, going to a break. We come back. We're going to talk about a variety of issues. First of all, Fox News, y'all really tried to call me and Tiffany Cross lapdogs? When y'all are paying a woman who literally was Donald Trump's lapdog.

Yeah, y'all know I got something to say about that. Harris Faulkner, I'm about to snatch some wigs. Kayleigh McEnany, I'm about to snatch yours too. Also, we're gonna talk with a sister who's running for governor of Iowa. Why are they trying to sit here and use race against this sister? They just putting any black person in an ad who ain't from

Iowa. We see what y'all doing. We'll talk with her next. Also, we'll have the second part of our celebration of the environmental justice movement that started in 40 years ago in Warren County, North Carolina. Folks, don't forget, download the Black Star Network app, available on all platforms, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Also, you can join our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar you give goes to make it possible for us to do what we do. And of course, check some money orders.

Go to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. Cash app, dollar sign, RM Unfiltered. PayPal, RMartin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And don't forget to get your copy of my book,

White Fear, folks. How the Brownie of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds. Ben Bella Books, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, Bookshop, Chapters, Books a Million, Target. You can also download it on Audible. We'll be right back. When we invest in ourselves, our glow, our vision, our vibe, we all shine. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. You will not replace us.

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

This is the rise of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. There's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is Whitefield. You talk about blackness and what happens in black culture. You're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns.

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Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. The Cash app is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is R. Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Hi, I'm B.B. Winans. Hey, I'm Donnie Simpson. What's up? I'm Lance Gross, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Brandon James has been missing from Rosenberg, Texas since September 16th. The 15-year-old is 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighs 130 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information about Brandon James should call the Rosenberg, Texas Police Department at 832-595-3700. 832-595-3700. Folks, to see incompetence meet preposterous, you need to look no further than a Platteville, Colorado cop. The Platteville officer's parked car gets hit by a train with a female suspect handcuffed inside. Yeah, this actually happened. Here is the video. Who is that? No, that's a... Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

Move your car! Stay back! On September 17th, the Platteville police officer pulled over 20-year-old Yerini Rios Gonzalez after a road rage report that Gonzalez was tailgating and brandishing a gun. Gonzalez was handcuffed and put in the patrol car while the officers searched for the alleged firearm. Gonzalez sustained a head injury, broken arm,

a fractured sternum, nine broken ribs, broken teeth, and injuries to her back and legs. The officer is unidentified and is on administrative leave. Randy, I'm confused. I've had a driver's license since I was 18 years old. I don't know how many times I have been told

and I've seen signs that say, you don't stop on a railroad track. Why in the hell would a police officer park their car on a railroad track? You just got to call dumb dumb. I mean, it's just, she's clearly not an intelligent human being. And, you know, as a former teacher,

you want to give everybody the benefit of the doubt, but undoubtedly this person is just not bright. And it's disgusting that she is in a position where she affects so many people's lives, you know, that the suspect could have died. It's almost even hard to it's so incredibly ridiculous. It's hard to even talk about. And then that she gets to be on administrative leave, which means, as always, she gets to be paid for making such a gross judgment of error. It's just disgusting. I just don't, I mean, administrative leave, Mustafa?

I mean, you're a cop. You park on a railroad track. How hard is it to stop someone on either side of the track? Right. I mean, you know, this is just ridiculous. It's ridiculous for a number of reasons. First, a police officer, the model that they grow up with, what is infused into them is to protect and serve. Of course, we know that we don't often see that in relationship to black and brown communities.

Here's the other thing. Folks, when you watch this video, count out how much time they had to actually pull that sister out of that truck. When I called it off, it was about seven to eight seconds at least. I want you to think about all the times you've also seen police officers put their hands on somebody, slam them to the ground, drag them around. So there's no reason that, remember, there are two officers there, that they could not have reached inside of the truck and pulled that individual out. It's really that simple. Because evidently, they didn't value that person's life and they froze or freaked out in that moment. But that is unacceptable. If you are going to handcuff someone, then that means you have taken out, taken away their ability to actually, you know, defend

themselves, to actually be able to move and to navigate. So you have a responsibility. Once you place that person in those handcuffs and put them in the back of your truck, that they are now your responsibility. Their life is in your hands and you put this individual's life in danger. And she's just extremely blessed that some angels must have reached down and put their arms around her since the police officers didn't want to protect her and kept her here on this planet. Larry, again, head injury, broken arm, fractured sternum, nine broken ribs, broken teeth, injuries to her backs and legs. Damn! She is lucky she is not dead. So when you see that video, you would assume the person didn't

survive. Yeah. So Mustafa said the point to talk about angels. Yeah, she had several angels looking over her. Because when you see videos like that on television, and it actually happens, usually the person doesn't survive. But this is like a bad episode of

Keystone Cops. How could you possibly leave a patrol car on the tracks? I mean, Roland, just today I drove past, you know, it was a train that stopped, and, you know, the ladders come down, and, you know, you have to X right there. How could you possibly park right there? I mean, it's negligence. And listen, that person, those officers should be fired. You can't put someone's life in danger. Let's not forget that that train is being is an engineer or several engineers.

So not only could you kill the person who was in the police car, but you also killed the engineer, any of the individuals who were on that train. And it wouldn't even talk about the amount of cost of money that it costs in terms of the incident. So it's really not acceptable. Those officers should be fired ASAP. And it's unfortunate that you said the suspect wasn't killed, but it's pretty much it's one of the most shocking videos I've ever seen. Yeah, absolutely stunning. All right, folks, one of the sisters who is running for governor in this country, not just Stacey Abrams. In Iowa, small business owner Deidre Degere is facing off against Iowa's current governor, Republican Kim Reynolds.

Deidre joins me now from Des Moines, Iowa. Deidre, glad to have you on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Already, your opponent is trying to say you are a boogie woman. You're going to be sitting here defunding the police, trying to tag you with race. They put together a commercial that features Congresswoman Cori Bush, which I don't understand. She's in Missouri. She's a member of Congress, and you're running for statewide office in Iowa. Yeah. She's a member of Congress, and you're running for statewide office in Iowa.

Yeah. You know, one, thank you, Roland, for having me on this show. I have always been a great admirer of you when I was even a broadcast news student in the year of 2004, which was a very, very important year between 2004 and 2008. And so I'm really grateful to be on this show. But you're right. My opponent released an ad the latter part of last week. And when I initially saw the ad, you know, the ad has her sitting at a coffee table with a TV in the background with a black woman. And I originally

thought, oh, she she found a Deidre lookalike. And the closer I looked, it was actually a news story that Congresswoman Bush had been featured in talking about the subject of defund the police. And then the ad followed with scenes that were of riots that did not take place in the state of Iowa. And she went on to talk about somewhat of an imaginative story of what's happening in the state. And it's unfortunate, but I'll tell you what it is, in all honesty. You know, this is truly a figment of her imagination as it relates to this ad, because she's not focused on Iowans right now. Nothing about that ad was about Iowa. And the fact that she had to go and find B-roll from another congresswoman in the state that wasn't Iowa was just unfortunate.

But just yet another example of why we got to get rid of leadership like that. You know, it's interesting when we see how these things are playing out. The Republican Party, they are absolutely trying to push the buttons of race. And that's what that was all about. Featuring a black congresswoman from Missouri, then showing rides. What they're trying to say is, oh, vote for me, the white woman, because this black woman, she's scary. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And, you know, the fortunate part that I have is that I'm running in a state like Iowa.

And I know that we're about more than 90 percent white. But over time, this state has been able to really rise above the fray. I call us the petri dish of progress. Despite the numbers that we have as it relates to communities of color, the state has always tried to be progressive and move us forward. And I often tell people about what happened in the state of Iowa nearly 100 years before Brown v. Board of Education. Our state desegregated schools for a little 12-year-old Black girl that was in rural Muscatine County in the state of Iowa. Her father was an attorney, and he was homeschooling her and realized that she was

going to get a shot. She needed to go to public school. And it was at that point in time that Iowa made a decision that no matter your race, no matter your gender, every kid in the state should have access to a strong, quality public education system, which is true to who we are. We've been number one in the past. And what's firing Iowans up right now is that we're 18, 19 on the list. And it's because we have a governor right now who's defunding our systems. And so rather than talking about her record, she then, instead of talking about her record, she wants to talk about defunding the police. She wants to talk about Congresswoman Bush. And that's not the play right now. And Iowans aren't going to accept it. I didn't even really have to say a whole lot about it. Roland Iowans stood up

and talked about how saddened they were, how disgusted they were, that that's where she wants to take things. She's insistent on driving wedges between people, including two Black women, states apart. When it comes to, obviously, Iowa is an overwhelmingly white state. What has been the reaction to your candidacy? Here is someone also who is very conservative. You look at the state Supreme Court there as well. And, you know, Iowa used to be some considered to be a purple state where you had Democrats and Republicans, depending upon what election year. But it has gotten gotten increasingly red over the last several years. It's gotten increasingly red over over the last several years. It's gotten increasingly red over the last several years.

That's a true statement, but we're not done yet. You know, the fact that we were purple meant that we would swing from one side to the other. And, you know, we're swinging. We're kind of stuck on the other side right now with our current leadership. The Iowans are waking up to the fact that she is an extreme. The people who are receiving me across the state aren't just

Democrats. They're independents. They're Republicans. And you want to know the issues that they want to talk about. They want to talk about education and they want to talk about choice. You know, they're upset with the fact that our governor wants a six-week abortion ban in the state. They're upset that more than 90 percent of our students are enrolled in public schools. And over the last four years, she's only given our education budget on average a 1.9 percent increase. You know, she decided at the end of session last year that she wanted to take $55 million of taxpayer money to fund the private tuition of 2 percent of our students, rather than fix the whole system that is in dire need of investment. She is clearly out of touch.

And the reason why I say that is because she is in alignment with so many of these extreme measures that are coming across extremist Republicans' desks. And the common-sense Republicans in our state are standing back from that. That bill that I told you about, 28 Republicans who have been in lockstep with her the entire session said, we're not voting on that. That bill that I told you about, 28 Republicans who have been in lockstep with her the entire session said, we're not voting on that. We're not saying yes to that. And many of them were up for reelection, or many of them were up for retirement, but about half of them were up for reelection. And this governor, because they stood out and stood up for their communities, decided to get people to primary those folks who stood up for what was right,

and she helped them raise money. And those Republicans are no longer in office. So she's being divisive, not just amongst Democrats. She's being divisive amongst her own party folks. Questions from the panel, first off. Larry. Yeah, so you basically highlighted some really important points regarding Iowa and education. And I wanted to talk about, you know, you talk about the state is extremely rural. How are you getting that message out about, you talked about education and where Iowa was and where it is now. How are you getting that message out on, you know, boots on the ground? How are you in terms of travel, in terms of volunteers?

Talk about that a little bit. That's a good question. So I have a little uniqueness about me. I'm originally from Jackson, Mississippi, a city as it gets, right, in the state of Mississippi. My great-grandmother, they were sharecroppers. And I moved to the state of Oklahoma when I was about 11, 12 years old. And many people know Tulsa, the scene of Black Wall Street. That's where I went to high school. And so I made my way to Iowa and met a man from Oklahoma who came from a cattle ranching family. And so I'm able to connect with rural islands in a way that particular Democratic candidates have not on a statewide level because they have typically been urban candidates. While I live in urban Iowa, I am insistent on meeting people where they are.

And I learned that from the 2012 Obama campaign. I was the African-American vote director for the president that year. And folks thought we had turnout that was great in 2008 amongst Blacks, but we showed up in 2012. And that is not just amongst the Black community. When we know we show up to people's doors and connect with communities all over this state, we see real change happen, and we see interest in our candidates. That's what makes us purple. But the fact of the matter is we have to do the outreach to make sure that that's happening. When she won in 2018,

she only won with 50.3 percent of the vote. 37,000 votes was the difference. And that was in a year when less than 30% of communities of color showed up. That was in a year where we had less than half of our 18 to 34-year-old Democrats show up. And so our message has been very spot on since the beginning of this campaign. We have to connect with people and meet people where they are and let them know that they're not alone in this journey and that there's something we can do about it. Because the other side is spending their money to make people think that they're unbeatable. But when

you only win by 37,000 votes in a gubernatorial cycle, you're not unbeatable. We just need to work harder. Randy. I'm very curious to see how people have responded to you and what you have to do to ensure that people know that we're not monolithic. It seems as if they have tried to group you and say all people are all black women or

think this way. And so how have you ensured that they know that you think differently and that you have your own message and your own plan and your own platform? Right. So when we think about the issue of defund the police and when I talk to some of our young people on the subject matter, I ask them the why, right? That that tactic is a route to get to some sort of solution. And when I ask them the why, they want their communities to be safe.

They don't want to see the consistent cycles of recidivism happening in their communities. They want to make sure that people are economically sustainable. And so those are the topics that we talk about throughout this campaign, because we've got basics back right in our state. We have never, ever elected a black female governor in this country ever. I come from a lineage of women who have been problem solvers, who have been forced to have to bring people together to achieve the goals that they want to achieve. And these women in my life have not had the privilege to decide who they would and would not work with, who they would and would not go in front of, right, for the sake of the better

good. You know, that is what democracy looks like. And so what I'm insinuating with folks across the state, I know you're giving up. I know you're tired. I know you don't want to see these tragedies happen in your community anymore. But what I'm insisting upon is that we not give up on democracy. And if there is going to be any type of woman that is going to defend democracy any day out of the week, it's the group of women that I come from, black women, who understand what it means to work with people, who understands what it means to be inclusive in our thought. You know, we no longer have to settle for these policies that rob Peter to pay Paul. We've got to make sure Paul is good, Peter is good, and Paul is good. Because what's happened in my state is that they'll go and create policies for a very small group of people. And then they'll go to the press and they'll brag about it,

and they say, look at what we've done. We helped this group of people. Meanwhile, the rest of folks are looking like, what about us? What are you going to do for us? Well, that's because policies are not being created by people that care about all of us. As a Black woman, I am ensuring that that is going to happen because I know whether we like it or not, we need each other.

Republicans, Democrats, Blacks, whites, we need each other. And over these last 24 months through COVID, we've learned that we can come up with some good solutions collectively and sustainable solutions at that. So we might as well get back to doing what we know works versus just trying to pit people against one another because that's a sport. That is not a strategy. Mustafa. Well, all I can say is if I was living in Iowa, you would get my vote. No, I appreciate that. That's just real talk because I followed your candidacy for a little

while. I've spent quite a bit of time in Iowa, and I know that when it comes to those in rural areas who are now dealing with the flooding, and we've seen some extreme flooding that has happened there in Iowa, and then also the extreme temperatures in the summertime are impacting, you know, many of the agricultural practices. Do you see an opportunity to bring together both the rural and urban communities with a pathway forward that is one that helps all of them? Absolutely. Absolutely. And honestly, that's the work that we're doing right now. The issues that we're talking about are not Republican, Democratic issues. And unfortunately, our rural communities

are feeling it quicker than our urban communities. You know, I live in an urban community, and we have corporations and nonprofits. And when our schools aren't doing well, when people are hungry, you know, we've got the safety nets. Our rural communities, they've used most of their safety nets. They've been making do with what they have. They've been resilient. and they've been left behind by both Republicans and Democrats. And when I'm talking to them about funding their schools, it means something to them because their schools are closing. Their kids are graduating from high school, vowing never to come back. Why? Because of the lack of economic vitality that exists in those

communities. You know, our state is short 50,000 workforce units today. 50,000. And that is disproportionately impacting our urban communities, specifically communities of color. And it's also disproportionately impacting our rural communities. And so we have to do a much, much better job of showing up for those folks by making sure that our policies are inclusive. And they're receiving me. You know, my first overflow crowd was in rural Audubon County. And some of you all might have remembered Congressman Steve King. That was in his old, old district. They're hungry. They're hungry, folks. And, you know, I know that we talk

a lot about hope and things along those lines. But right now, it's really about the hard work of the everyday Iowa Democrat that's shown itself to be tested at every opportunity. And now we have another big test ahead of us. And I'm excited to see what comes of it. All right, then, Deidre DeGere. First of all, if people want to support your campaign, where do they go? They can go to DeGere4Iowa.com. I am on all of the socials as well. Something special is happening in the state. And I just want people to know about it. And I want to remind folks what happened in 2007. You know, there was this outstanding question out there about who should be the next president of the United States. And Iowa raised this little bitty hand

and said, Barack Obama. And here's the kicker of it all. The rest of the country listened to us. So we know who we are and we're going to remind the country of who we are once again with this candidacy. All right, then, Deidre, we sure appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thanks for having me. All right, folks, when we come back, a lot of things we want to talk about. First of all, Kaylee McEnany and Harris Faulkner at Fox News. Oh my goodness, they were a little upset because Tiffany Cross and I called out the cult followers of Donald Trump.

I called them evil. I didn't lie. They took exceptions, literally saying that, oh, we're lapdogs for President Joe Biden. Well, they said that yesterday. Now I'll be responding. That's next on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. When we invest in ourselves, we're investing in what's next for all of us.

Growing. Creating. Making moves. That move us all forward. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, African Americans have an average student loan balance of more than $30,000. Student loan forgiveness has been a long time coming. The Biden administration has introduced a new program that's going to allow you to have almost or up to $20,000 forgiven. I think that the Biden administration, by implementing this plan, is admitting that there have been several serious faults within the higher education financing system

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Hello, I'm Bishop T.J. What up? I'm Lonnie Wells, and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. . . . . .

. . . . .. Every year we see college universities hyping their rankings in the U.S. News and World Reports college and university, the best of the universities. I'm talking about folks go crazy.

Oh, we've gone up. We ranked this number, this number, this number. But is it real? Is it marketing? Is it to sell copies? Is it to brand U.S. News and World Report, a magazine that actually doesn't even exist anymore? It's really just a website.

Well, in many ways, it screws HBCUs in their rankings. The author of Other People's Colleges, The Origins of American Higher Education Reform, Ethan Risk, took the time to examine how the college rankings began and how historically black colleges and universities fare. He joins me now from Reno, Nevada, where he's professor of higher education administration

of the University of Nevada. So, Ethan, glad to have you on the show. First, look, you take Forbes rankings of billionaires. First of all, they throw in the dart at stuff. And they've had Donald Trump on that. We know he wasn't no damn billionaire. You look at a lot of these other lists that come out. Truth be told, these are marketing opportunities, branding opportunities for these media outlets.

And they've now become like the thing of all things as if they're really, really legitimate. Isn't that really the case with this U.S. News and World Report college ranking? Absolutely. I mean, as you just said, U.S. News, it used to be a magazine. You used to be able to get it alongside Time or Newsweek. And then they realized they put out this issue every year, starting from 1983 on the best colleges. And eventually they realized that was the only thing people were paying attention to U.S. News anymore for. So that's all they are. They don't do journalism anymore. They just do this ranking, and they make a bunch of money off of it. Absolutely.

And we talk about a bunch of money. I mean, these colleges, it's called a stamp of approval. And so when it comes out, they tout where they rank, what their number is, if they've fallen, and they go on and on and on about it. But we also saw a little controversy this year where one of the universities had to change some stuff because the data they submitted wasn't correct, right? Absolutely. So, yeah, Columbia University in New York got dinged because they were fudging some of their data. And, you know, that's on them. They shouldn't have done that.

But, you know, honestly, what's the difference? You know, they were, you know, maybe they could have been number three. Instead, they were number 10. Who cares? I mean, this list, the top 20 institutions never change on this list. They move places a little bit, except for number one. Princeton's been number one for 12 years running now. And they're just jockeying, you know, who's going to be three, who's going to be four. I don't care about that, because we know exactly what all of those institutions are like in the top 20. Guess what? Until number 20, they're all private institutions. They are all predominantly white institutions. They are all institutions that, you know, have long legacies of serving elite crowds of students. And look, I went to one of those universities. I went to two of those universities, actually. So I'm complicit in all of this. But what I'm interested in is not that top 20. I'm not even interested in the top 50. I want to see where institutions ended up that do not have that elite background. I do want to see where HBCUs ended up. I want to see where Hispanic serving institutions ended up. I want to see where Hispanic-serving institutions ended up. I want to see where

land-grant institutions ended up and religious colleges, the colleges that serve millions and millions of students, and many of which have really illustrious, important places in our nation's, you know, in our economy, in our society. And guess what? Those institutions are nowhere near the top. And the problem is, rankings like this, they're not really about who's the best. Really, they're about who's not even in the running to be considered the best. For every school that makes it is a winner, there are dozens and dozens of losers. And those losers are the ones that have been losing for a long time. So in my book, I trace this back, all the way back to 1906, which is sort of the first time anybody sat down and tried to make one of these rankings. The Carnegie Foundation did it,

and it was an incredibly exclusive list. Guess what? There were no public institutions on there. There were no black institutions on there. There were no women's colleges on there. There were no land grants on there. There were no religious colleges on there. And we should be surprised that today,

all of those institutions are still being excluded? I don't think so. So... why then do these schools participate? Is it that what U.S. News & World Report has done? You've now got these parents who are running around going, oh, I want my kid going to the 17th ranked school, the 38th

ranked school. Really? I mean, come on. How much difference does it actually make? That's a very good question. Now, you'd have to go to the institutions and talk to their leaders about that. Why do you participate? Because there

are some schools that have tried to opt out of the whole U.S. News game. A lot of schools still contribute to something called the Common Data Set, which U.S. News pulls their data from. But you can even opt out of that. So I don't really know. I mean, there must be some hope, you know, hope against hope that maybe this will be the year they're not excluded,

this will be the year that the rankers have a little bit broader understanding of what counts as quality. But it never happens. Walter Kimbrell, who's been president of two HBCUs, just left Dillard. He was at Philander Smith in Little Rock. He's now interim in position there at Morehouse. He talked about this very issue on his Twitter feed, how unfair these rankings are to HBCUs. And so speak more to that in terms of just,

so first of all, from the reports, who do they rank as the top HBCU? Is it Florida A&M? No, nowhere near the top. So the only one as the top HBCU? Is it Florida A&M? No, nowhere near the top. So the only one in the top 100 list of the top 100 universities is Howard. And it's at the bottom of the top 100. It's number 89. It is tied with the Colorado School of Mines, which I'm not trying to criticize.

Hold on, I'm sorry, hold on. The what? The Colorado School of Mines? Mines, yeah, mining. Wow. I'm sure it's an amazing institution. But when you compare sort of the importance, the recognition of Howard University in the nation's capital, the alma mater of Vice President Harris, Thurgood Marshall, Tony Morrison. I could go on and on. That's showing up as 89 on this list.

And guess what? That is the absolute best that any HBCU does by a long shot. There's no other HBCUs even on that top 100 list. For most of the ones that we, the famous ones, the elite HBCUs, you need to go over to their liberal arts colleges list. And there you need to keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. You will see Spelman fairly high up in the 50s, but then you have to go down and down to get to Morehouse, and then you have to go way down into about 150 to get to Fisk, to get to Tougaloo. These institutions are ranking alongside colleges that, look, I'm a

professor of higher education. I know almost every college. And I haven't heard of some of these colleges that they're getting ranked alongside. I wrote some down. Spelman was tied with Principia College in rural Illinois. I'm sure it's a great college. I've never heard of it. I have heard of Spelman. Morehouse College. Dr. King went there. Tied with Randolph College in Virginia. It's got about 500 students. Damn, I live in Virginia and never heard of Randolph College. What, me?

I live in Virginia and never heard of Randolph College. Fisk University. It's behind something called Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Fisk. Du Bois went there. Come on. It's Fisk University in Nashville, and it's ranking in the 150s. Something is wrong here. Something is up. That is absolutely crazy there. Let's see here. Larry, you're a professor there in Florida. You got a question for our guest? Yeah, so thank you.

I had to read your book. So we're in higher ed. We understand that this is rigged. So the institutions you talked about are our ones, research one institutions with large endowments, Harvard, Cal Berkeley, all these other institutions you highlighted. So one of the things I want to talk about

in terms of the metrics they utilize for U.S. News and World Reports in terms of PWIs and HBCUs, which is something I think is missing, is can you talk a little bit about the metric they don't use? And we talk about HBCUs, Howard, Spelman, et cetera. They still educate a large number of first-generation students who are Pell eligible, who also are more likely to come from underserved backgrounds, and then go on and contribute to the U.S. economy. So can you talk a little bit about some of the more tangible metrics that you and I know that are really important in higher education

that are not utilized by U.S. news and world reports? Absolutely. So I will give them a little bit of credit. So historically, that's not been considered at all. In the past couple of years, they have started including some metrics specifically on that socioeconomic diversity scale, looking at the number of Pell Grant recipients. But it's a tiny percentage of what goes into the overall ranking. And surprise, surprise, it hasn't changed anything about those 20 institutions at the top. They're all still there. So it's not moving the needle at all. And absolutely, you're right. You know, when you look at schools that have the ability to move students from one socioeconomic class to another and do it in significant numbers. Now, you know,

Princeton, look, Princeton can do whatever it wants. It can take a student, Pell-eligible student, student who grew up in extreme poverty, and they can throw all of their resources at that student. They have billions and billions of dollars in the bank. And sure, they can make that student excel. But guess what? That's a drop in the bucket. That's not the average Princeton student. You go to Howard, you go to, you know, FAMU, you go to Prairie View A&M, and that is the typical student there. And a lot of those students are doing incredibly well after college. They are exactly, as you say, really contributing. And that's the typical student there. And a lot of those students are doing incredibly well after college. They are exactly, as you say, really contributing. And that's the type of story that you never see represented in the rankings like this.

Your question. Randy. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't I didn't hear you say my name. Go ahead. Go ahead. As a proud graduate of Tuskegee University, and my mother was a professor at Hampton University, I'm really interested in this subject, and thank you for doing the research.

I've always said to people, pay attention to whom you've learned certain information. Why do you think or assume that something is the best? I'd like to ask you, what is a criteria that you would suggest that be added to change the results or change the idea that we're getting of all colleges that you think would give us a better picture? That wouldn't make we left out.

Yeah, I'm actually gonna flip your question around if I may, and I'm gonna talk about what I would take out. Is that okay? Okay. So one of the hugest factors here that comes in is simply money. Couple of different kinds of money. So one form of money that goes into these rankings is alumni donations. How much money do you get from your alumni? Now, they can sort of cook that

number by saying, well, we look at the percentage of alumni who donate, not just the total dollar amount. But guess what? A school like Princeton, not only does it have wealthy graduates who came in wealthy and then left wealthy, they also have full-time staff, you know, working the phones, getting all of their students, all of their alums to contribute. A small public institution is not going to have that kind of opportunity. Another kind of money, endowment. That goes into these factors as well. How big is your endowment? That affects all kinds of things.

And that's one of those things. You go back to the early 1900s when these lists were put together. Who made it on the list of the top schools? They looked at your endowment. They said back then, you know, if you didn't have an endowment of at least a million dollars or so, you couldn't get on the list. Guess what? That means you're handicapped from the beginning, your kneecap, excuse me, from the beginning, and you're never going to make it ahead because how do you rise up in the rankings? By having money. Well, I'm a professor. I like my research and grants money. I like getting that money in from external sources. But I don't think that that's a high marker of quality for this type of list. The people who buy U.S. news and who pay attention to these college lists, it's overwhelmingly students and their families, right? They're trying to make a decision about where to go, where to apply, first of all, and then where to go to college. And honestly, things like the research and grants

budget, that has no relevance on the average undergraduate student. It's meaningless for them. And the problem with that metric in particular is because it's a rich get richer story. Rich schools get more money from grants to begin with. They have the resources to begin with, and the money keeps on flowing. It takes money to make money, right? That's nowhere is that true, as true as it is in higher education. And so it just means that the cycle is going to continue. Again, these schools were kneecapped at the beginning because of racism, because of classism. Overtly, back then, now we don't talk about it as much. Of course, it's still going on. But because they were kneecapped back then, they've never been able

to get ahead. And frankly, I don't see how it's going to change. Well, Professor, first of all, thank you for your book and thank you for the research that you've been doing. I want to make a point and then ask a question. So the point is, and I guess it ties into what you were just sharing about resources and money, that a number of the reoccurring folks on the list, especially on the top part of the list, made their money off of slavery. And there should be some type of a penalty for, or maybe even an

exclusion, if that has been a part of you building, you know, a number of the different sort of financial vehicles that are utilized for the decision making. The question also is, building upon that, is around diversity. Is there a way for there to be some type of a board that maybe they already have or something else that makes sure there are diverse voices as a part of the selection of the list? Great question. So really good point up front. So absolutely. A lot of these universities profited handsomely from slavery, literally building their their campuses with the labor of enslaved people profiting off of the slave trade in some of its original big donations. Now, when I was an undergrad, Ruth Simmons, an amazing college leader, was the president. And she launched what's called the Slavery and Justice Committee that looked at that legacy and unpacked a lot of it. And then other schools have followed in that lead. Ruth, by the way,

now the president of a historically black college, Prairie View A&M. Well, she actually, she's retired. She's retired. Oh, did she finally retire? Yep, she resigned, and so they'll be getting a new president. Okay, well, she deserves a nice retirement, but she is spectacular. So absolutely. So that legacy is there. But it's not just slavery. Absolutely all of the, frankly, institutions in the South, in the segregated Jim Crow South, benefited from grossly unequal funding patterns during the Jim Crow era, many of which still continue today, of course. But the fact that per-pupil funding for predominantly white institutions, actually, PWI is not the right word, 100 percent white institutions in Southern states vastly, vastly overshadowed

the per-pupil funding for their public historically black colleges for decades and decades. That type of disparity, that's much more recent than the horrific legacy of slavery. And it's really a huge factor as well. So there is all kinds of nastiness going on in terms of that wealth in particular. Now, your question about how these things are put together, I love that idea that there should be diverse voices in the rankings. You're not going to see that happen at U.S. News, frankly. Their ranking algorithm has been tightly controlled since the very beginning. They're not going to open that up. There are other associations, other organizations that are trying to do their own rankings,

and they are bringing in diverse voices, which I think is terrific. And they're looking at other metrics. But guess what? You don't read about those on the front page of the Washington Post or the New York Times. When U.S. news comes out every year, every September, front page news. So I don't know how to deal with that. Folks, the book is by Ethan Risk. You want to check it out as Other People's Colleges, the Origins of American higher education reform. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you, Roland. Pleasure to be here. All right. We come back, folks. Got a few words for Kaylee McEnany and Harris Faulkner of Fox News.

Have the audacity to call Tiffany Cross and I lapdogs for Joe Biden. Really? The two of you who are at Fox News. You suck up to Donald Trump so much, you might as well be a pair of Depends on his ass. I'll break it down when we come back. Download the app, Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Join our Bring the Funk fan club.

Of course, check and money orders go to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. Cash App, dollar sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal's R Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. We'll be right back.

When we invest in ourselves, we all shine. Together, we are black beyond measure. I've always said this. Rather than to continue to fight for a fair piece of the pie and an equal slice of the pie, I want my hand on a knife that cuts the pie. And to that extent, who bakes the pie? And who puts it in? And that's one of the things that got me involved

in going into politics in the first instance. I'm tired of people making decisions for me. Right. And mine. I want to be a part of that decision-making process. And luckily, it has paid off in terms of seeing the progress that many people in America have made, particularly with people of color. One thing bothers me now that we seem to be losing that.

Right. Saying that we've got to be more concerned with other people than those people who were here. We built America. When we invest in ourselves, we're investing in what's next for all of us. Growing, creating, making moves that move us all forward. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence.

On that soil, you will not replace us. White people are losing their damn minds. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We've seen show. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history.

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

This is white fear. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia.

That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia.

That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife, Bia. That's his wife D.C. Believe it or not, we've seen it all before. You people in the North, you're so sympathetic to Black people, you take them. Sixty years ago, they called it the reverse freedom ride. Back then, Southern governors shipped Black people North

with the false promise of jobs and a better life. It's a part of a well-known playbook being brought back to life. So what's next? That's next on The Black Table, a conversation with Dr. Gerald Horne about this issue of the reverse freedom rise right here on the Black Star Network. Hey, everybody, it's your girl, Linnell. So what's up? This is your boy, Hi, I'm Chaley Rose, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks, there is a saying

that we're all familiar with. That is, hit dog will holler. Well, whenever you hear people start whining, complaining about something someone else says, typically that means that hit dog will holler. Two hit dogs hollered on Fox News, Kaylee McEnany and Harris Faulkner. They were discussing a segment that I did

with Tiffany Cross on MSNBC, and they decided to share some thoughts. Here is their segment. To that point, it is dangerous when you take half of a country, Harris, and say, I'm putting you in this box of, as our president said, a threat to democracy, clear and present danger, the language he has used. And then what has been interesting is it's not just him. Some lapdogs have followed the president's orders and using the same language. Let's take a listen. Obviously, Republicans, I think, are the biggest threat to democracy. We don't separate right-wing extremists and Republican Party anymore. And these days, it feels like we are not just at the brink of a civil war, but that one has already begun.

This is an outright attack on women in this country. That is how I see it. That is how more and more women and those who support our right to make decisions about our own bodies, that is how we see it. You know, this is a literally call to arms. We are at war with these people. These folks are evil. They have allowed evil into their house with Donald Trump. He has now dominated the party. This evil is spreading. And when you are in a war footing, you have to respond accordingly. You know, that kind of talk is so irresponsible.

There are things that are going on. We've had a justice on the Supreme Court with an assassination attempt in this country. We've had things that could tip us off into a situation that we don't want on September 3rd. Tiffany Cross, an anchor at that network, and then one of her guests, I guess, Roland Martin, I don't even know what he does there, talking about how we're on the brink of something. Let's talk about what we can do to take down the level of hate in the conversation. And comparing things to Hitler and to slavery, why can't things live in history where they were? They were terrible enough. Do they need to be brought back and be diminished so that we can raise something above it? Hillary Clinton saying, well, this person or this situation is like Hitler. What is she

talking about that's like Hitler in this country right now? Is she so ignorant that she doesn't know how many people died? There's nothing going on in this country right now like Hitler. All right, I'm gonna deal with Kayleigh first. First, Kayleigh says that Biden's lapdogs follow his lead. Let me help you out, Kayleigh. I've never worked for President Joe Biden. I've never worked for President Barack Obama. In fact, I ain't never worked for a politician. You, on the other hand, literally was the lapdog for Donald Trump. You literally lied to the American people on a regular basis. You right now are a fake journalist

sitting in a host chair on Fox News when you have absolutely no training for the job whatsoever. In fact, your entire network is a lapdog for Donald Trump. The suck-up that takes place by Sean Hannity, Laura Ingram, and on and on, and Tucker Carlson, on and on and on, Peter Hexeth, it's unbelievable. There's a reason your network is getting sued by Dominion

because of the lies that y'all pushed when it came to the voting election being rigged. There is no greater evidence of a network being lapdogs for Donald Trump. And you know why you're lapdogs for Donald Trump? Because your ratings went down after the election when you properly called Arizona for Joe Biden. And what did your network do? Your network fired the guy who made the call. There is no greater example, Kayleigh, of lapdogs than you

in Fox News. In fact, Fox News, your employer is such a lapdog for Donald Trump, y'all actually employed the man's daughter-in-law. How much more of a lap dog can you be when you are employing the daughter-in-law of Donald Trump? Now, let me deal with you, Harris. First of all, you called it irresponsible then Harris you tried to act like you didn't know who the hell I was and what I do I got your phone number right here and you got my phone number

I mean you do remember when I took you to the Apollo's spring gala. Do you want me to pull the photos up? When I took you down to Harlem where the black folks were? Remember the red dress you wore? Oh, you want me to pull those receipts? I don't even know what he does for the network.

It's called some basic-ass research, Harris. I don't work for MSNBC. Y'all invite guests on Fox News all the time. So maybe you should do some research and know that I was an invited guest on Tiffany Cross Show, and I don't work for MSNBC. Typically, Harris, I'm sorry, you know how this works. If someone is a Fox News contributor, you say Fox News contributor. If they're a guest, you just simply say who they are. That's what Tiffany did. So please, don't try to sit here

and be dismissive and act as if you don't know who I am, Harris, when you know exactly who I am, which is why when you co-hosted the NABJ award ceremony in Miami, you and I talked there as well. Yeah. So don't let me bring out the black receipts on you, Harris Faulkner, and don't play this game with your audience. Now, you actually said, oh, the comments were irresponsible. I'm going to show you irresponsible, Harris. And what I think is irresponsible is when you're supposed to be a so-called news anchor. First of all, Tiffany Cross is not a news anchor at MSNBC. She's a show host, not a news anchor. You should know the difference between being a news anchor. Now, you are a so-called news anchor at Fox News, Harris Faulkner. You

actually said what's irresponsible. I'm going to tell you what's irresponsible when the New York Attorney General Letitia James lays out by detail how Donald Trump has cheated when it came to his financial records. This is how you responded, Harris Faulkner, on Fox News. All right. Try it now. OK, hold on. I'm going to try it now. Okay, hold on. I'm going to reset it. Let me reset it. Here we go. Check this out, y'all.

Burke State Attorney General has just announced a rather lengthy and detailed layout of the lawsuit that she is putting against Donald Trump, former president. Some of this is really inside baseball unless it's your tax dollars in New York. And some people may even accuse it of being political because we're 48 days away from the midterm elections. And both presidents, the current and the past, are certainly being looked at to help candidates out. So we'll see how this plays out. We're certainly going to cover it and we'll bring you highlights as they happen. But the big headline in all of this is the lawsuit by the state of New York today

just announced by Letitia James. I'm sorry. Harris, can you please explain to me how in the hell that was inside baseball? I mean, you literally just said inside baseball. How was it inside baseball? And then you say, well, you know, man, it was your tax dollars.

I mean, so you're in New York. It doesn't affect you. That was actually a news story. Harris, that was a perfect example of what it means to be a lapdog when y'all broke away from the news conference and you were unwilling to show the full news conference because, you know, your boy Donald Trump wasn't going to be happy. But in fact, the real reason, Harris, y'all didn't want to show that full news conference is because your audience did not want to see it.

It's the same reason, Harris, that y'all are unwilling to even talk about the January 6th hearings. In fact, Harris, being a so-called news anchor, I would think that you would be calling out your fellow Fox News colleague, Tucker Carlson, who literally right here, this is from Media Matters website, where he was proud of the fact that Fox News is hiding the January 6th hearings from its audience. Oh, interesting. Can y'all cue up Harris's comments again, please? Cue up, cue the part of, because I really want to hear what she talked about. Oh, my goodness.

The violence and how people have been hurt in this country. Please, let's hear that again since Harris is so concerned about political violence in this country when she mentioned someone who was arrested for trying to kill a Supreme Court justice. You know, that kind of talk is so irresponsible. There are things that are going on. We've had a justice on the Supreme Court with an assassination attempt in this country. We've had things that could tip us off into a situation that we don't want on September

3rd. Tiffany Cross, an anchor at that network, and then one of her guests, I guess, Roland Martin, I don't even know what he does there, talking about how we're on the brink of something. Let's talk about what we can do to take down the level of hate in the conversation and comparing things to Hitler. You want to take down the level of hate in this country? Well, hell, Harris, why don't you call out your own network? Your own colleague is proud of the lack of coverage on January 6th. Oh, Harris, shall I remind you of what happened on January 6th? Shall I remind you of the political violence? Shall I remind you of the police officers

who were beaten on that particular day? Shall we remind you how Republican and Democratic lawmakers were terrified of the folks who were storming the US Capitol? But your colleagues at Fox News, they have labeled it a walk in the park. They've said it was just a tour. That's how they've labeled it.

That's interesting, Harris, because guess what? Go to my iPad. This is today, Harris. Kyle Young, a 38-year-old Trump fan who brought his teenage son along as he assaulted then D.C. police officer Michael Fannin and another officer at the Capitol on January 6th was just sentenced to more than seven years, 86 months in prison, do you mean that violence, Harris? Your network won't even show the hearings in prime time. Your network, Harris, is the greatest lapdog in America for Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

The folks who sign your check, Harris, sucks up to Trump and MAGA. In fact, you employ them. You celebrate them. You tout them. You praise them. You sit next to them on the couch, Harris. And so if you want to actually have a discussion, Harris, you got my cell phone number,

because I damn sure got yours. Call me. You want something? Y'all got a man who sits in that center seat there? Why don't y'all call this man if you want to have a debate, if you want to have a conversation. And then Harris, you have the audacity to say, oh, we need to

dial down the rhetoric. Hmm. Really? This here is the video page for Media Matters. Here you have Tucker Carlson praising the recently elected fascist in Italy. Yeah. Uh-huh. Right there. You've got other Fox News hosts on here who do all they can.

You you're going to love this one since you since you concerned about violence, Harris. just not good optics for DOJ to arrest suspect who allegedly assaulted an elderly man outside an abortion clinic. Wow. Harris Faulkner is concerned about the violence in America, but one of these so-called news anchors at Fox News says it's not good optics to arrest somebody who assaulted someone. Last I checked, I thought y'all were the Law and Order Network. I thought y'all actually cared about those things. You know, it's interesting when I hear Harris say, oh, how we need to dial down the rhetoric and things along those lines. That's real interesting. When on your network, Harris, on your network, this is what your dear leader said.

On Fox News, Donald Trump says immigrants are poisoning our country. Is that the rhetoric that you want to dial down, Harris? Huh. Ain't that something? Jesse Waters calls the homeless an invasive species. Dana Perino says we should involuntarily Commit the homeless Is that the type of Language you want

To dial down oh oh here we Got one Jesse Waters Calls union president A vicious woman I don't recall you Saying a damn thing About any of them In fact Harris Faulkner, Will,

you got Will Cain, who I used to destroy on CNN with his ridiculous ass arguments. This is what he said about Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. She is a real parasite on our political system. Please, Harris, can you show me the transcript where you have criticized them for the language? Oh, it probably doesn't exist, Harris. In fact, since Kayleigh, since you're a grossly unqualified self, wants to talk about lapdogs, I told y'all you got to be a lapdog when your network employs Donald Trump's daughter-in-law. This is Donald Trump's daughter-in-law on Fox News, paid by Fox News, talking about AG Letitia James, who is going after her husband. Fox contributor Laura Trump, bloodthirsty New York aging Letitia James,

caused children to die by shutting down the illegally self-dealing Trump Foundation. Y'all, the Trump Foundation was self-dealing, and she actually trying to pump it up. And then she said, oh, it caused children to die. No, the only thing that died was Donald Trump not being able to use foundation money to pay for portraits of himself. See, folks, what I need y'all to understand is there is no greater lapdog for the entire Republican Party, for the conservative movement, and for Donald Trump than Fox News. And Harris Faulkner, you are a gross disappointment for the comments that you made.

First of all, you couldn't even do basic journalism and fact check what my role is, because one doesn't exist at MSNBC. So that's one. Two, you are sitting next to somebody. You really should be mad. You really should be mad to say, how am I sitting next to a grossly unqualified person who prior to becoming press secretary was nothing more than an airhead talking head at CNN and the only reason she was hired at CNN because she was sitting here touting Donald Trump. You really should say as a journalist, a so-called journalist with credentials, it's embarrassing that I have to sit next to Kayleigh Mc want to talk about someone being a lapdog and someone

being irresponsible, I suggest you go to your nearest mirror. I'm done. Y'all can go to break. I'm done. I'm done. When we invest in ourselves, our glow, our vision,

our vibe, we all shine. Together. Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood-Martin, and I. We all shine together. Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood-Martin, and I have a question for you. Ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders? Well, let me tell you,

living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Blackstar Network for Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. We'll laugh together, cry together, pull ourselves together and cheer each other on. So join me for new shows each Tuesday on Black Star Network, A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. When we invest in ourselves, we all shine. Together, we are black beyond measure. Hi, I'm Vivian Green.

Hi, I'm Wendell Pierce, actor and author of The Wind in the Reeds. Hey, yo, peace world. What's going on? It's the love king of R&B, Raheem Devon, and you're watching Roland Martin, Unfiltered. All right, folks. We often feature black-owned businesses as we do every Tuesday in our Marketplace segment. And did you realize that African-icans also are into cookware that's right my next guest uh is a black owned cookware company uh putting their love into pots and pans you know i'm not from canada is leah boating owner of mercy cookware uh and company uh did i pronounce the last name right yes you did all right then so leah Leah, so how did this start where y'all like, you know what?

We need to have our own cookware. Were you not satisfied with some pots and pans you had? Thank you so much for having me on this show, Mr. Martin. I started this business about three years ago, but prior to starting this business, my mom was always into cookware and had retired about 20 years ago. And so this was something that we always did and kept in the family. So it only made sense that I bring it back. Wow. And so and so.

So in terms of building it again, I mean, it's just not natural for someone to go, hey, we want our own line of cookware. So what started it? Was it, again, unhappiness with different wares? So what caused them to say, you know what, we're going to do our own thing? In Canada, we don't have a lot of variety when it comes

to cookware. And when you would find cookware, it wasn't big enough or heavy enough to be able to cook the food that we're into. And so it made sense for me to bring it back because when my mom did this business, we were able to manufacture bigger sizes, heavier bottoms for cooking heavy duty meals, right? So that's most of the reason why we were not happy with what was on the market was hard to find something that was good enough or the quality like matched up to what we wanted. Well, and that's the thing that I noticed. I mean, so it's an actual, it's a, it's a fairly, like even this small one is fairly heavy in the handles as well. And, you know, as somebody who cooks occasionally, I used to cook a lot more. My brother's an executive chef. My dad is also cooks a lot as a chef. And so you can always tell a nice product, especially with pots, based upon the thickness,

whether you're talking about the handles, but also the pot itself. Yes. Yes. And, you know, we made sure that they were efficient so that when you're using them, you don't have to worry about the handles also heating up. They're very efficient and durable. So all you need is a little bit of heat when you're cooking with it. We wanted to make sure that we put something on the market that, you know, all people can also use and they can be proud of and have it forever. All right, then let's go to questions from the panelists. Randy, you first. It really sounds as if you created a product that addresses, you know,

our culture and the types of foods that we like to eat. I like, you know, is it more, it's better for like making rules and stews and is that what you're saying? Yes. So I'm from Ghana, West Africa originally. And, you know, most of our foods takes at least an hour or two to cook.

And so when you're looking for cookware, you need something that will be able to hold up without it burning. And that's exactly what, you know, our brand brings to you so that you don't have to worry about having to change pots and all of that stuff. And then we also make them bigger in sizes as well. So that way you could cook bigger meals without worrying about, you know, is it going to fit and all of that stuff. Fantastic.

Larry. Yeah, so this is really great. I'm glad you were on the show. So cooking within the Black community is really important. Obviously, you talked about, Roland talked about the quality of the container he has.

Can you talk a little bit about how you're marketing this? Right, because like I said, cooking and Black communities intertwine. So how are you marketing this? Because I'm quite sure that a lot of know, throughout North America and abroad would love to purchase your products. Yeah. So when I first started this business, I mostly just showed it to friends and family and they were able to help me spread the word, get it out.

And then eventually I got onto Instagram and Facebook. I have a website as well. And on Instagram, I've been so, honestly, I've been so lucky because I've gotten other, you know, Black organizations to also post my products, which has really given me a lot of visibility. I do my best. I put it out there every chance that I get. And even being able to get on this show is going to do a lot of wonders for my small business. Mustafa? Yeah, well, congratulations on business so far. I would ask you if it's good to cook bangku in, but I'll leave that question for later.

You know, do you do the manufacturing there in Canada or is it done someplace else in the creation of the wear that you have? No, I manufacture them in China currently. We're still looking for a manufacturing company. There's only one in Canada and we haven't been able to strike a deal with them. I'm actually

open to even manufacturing in the U.S. if there's a company out there that is willing to do it for us. So, so far, not yet. I would love to bring it here and manufacture them here. So, you earlier mentioned you talked about larger pots. First of all, how many different items do you have? Currently I have three different sets. I have the one that you have is what we call the Sika set. And that one comes in five sizes. And it comes in either rose gold or the gold.

I sent you the rose gold one. But it comes in rose gold or gold. And then I have another set called the Obapa set. And those are even bigger, the sizes. And that one also comes in a set of five. We also currently have a knife set right now. And I have a skillet as well that's nonstick. So what's your largest pot? How many pots? Okay, my largest one is 32 centimeters, and, you know, when it comes

to liters, that could fit about 17 liters of water or liquid, right? And so, like, if you were cooking with that pot, and you made, let's say, rice or any kind of dish in there, you could feed at least 50 people. No, so you don't see guys realize, rice or any kind of dish in there, you could feed at least 50 people.

No, see, you don't see guys real loud. See, my grandparents are from Louisiana, so we do gumbo, and we don't do the little... Like, I can't even imagine making gumbo in this little bitty pot right here. This little bitty-ass pot won't do it for us. So when we do gumbo, we make large pots of gumbo. So I've got at home right now a 20-quart pot. I've got two 40-quart pots of gumbo.

And my brother has a 60-quart pot. We've got to do that one outside, though. Can't use that one on the inside. So that's why I'm asking, when it comes to making gumbo, that's how we look at it. We don't even think about those mid-sized pots. We're like, yo, what a lot is one you got. No, and these ones are pretty. They're pretty large. Usually they get if you have parts you and you have about a

family of 10 you would feed them easily and have some left over so it's pretty bad. I see that you don't you don't know my family. You just actually said got some leftovers. There ain't going to be no leftovers. First of all, 10 people, that's a small get-together for my family. I come from a very large family. We were born and raised Catholic. They believed in procreation.

So I'm one of 42 grandchildren, something like 80, 90. Great. But one hundred and thirty, forty. Great. Great. So we need the largest pots to make all that rice for the gumbo. So this is awesome. Now, now, can folks where can they go if someone wants to order them online? Where can they go? You can find them order them online, where can they go? You can find them on my website at mercycookware.com. It's M-E-R-S-I cookware.com. All right, folks.

If y'all go to mercycookware.com, use the promo code ROLIN10. ROLIN10. What is that, 10% off? Yes, please. All right. So y'all use the promo code ROLLING10. And again, y'all, I'm telling y'all, look, I do cook occasionally, and this is, and I've held a lot of pots.

I hate, I cannot stand thin pots. And so it also, so tell me this here, when, with these handles here, this also drives me crazy. I hate pots when the pot is hot the handles are also hot which is the stupidest thing in the world to me because you would think you don't want the damn handles randy's shaking the head you don't want the damn handles to be hot uh and so uh so is that so the material here is that different so when the pot's hot the handles are not hot yes the the handles do not get hot, just the pot.

And even at the very top, it's not going to be hot. It's only at the bottom where it's cooking that it's going to be hot. Really? Wow. Because some other ones, when that heat goes through, it's literally the bottom, the hole all around here,

and you're afraid to even touch it. No, not these ones. So in terms of when it came to the construction of it and the pots being created, who was the brainchild behind that? My mama has given me lots of tips and ideas, you know, running this business. But again, like I said, I grew up around it. And so it takes me forever to even come up with a set to develop, like from development until I actually have the product takes me at least a year and a half. Wow. I tried

before I put it out there on the market. Wow. So you take it through all of the rigors, and then once it meets your approval, then you're like, okay, now we can manufacture it. Yes. All right. That's pretty cool there. And also, very wise, y'all can see here, she's got the Mercy branding everywhere. So you see on the handles, as well as on the lid here,

and then on the bottom. So you're not going to let anybody mistake this, your pot. No. All right. Y'all go to mercy cookware. M E R S I C O O K W A R E.com. Use the promo code rolling 10 and get that.

Look, we certainly appreciate you joining us. Good luck. And hopefully we can sell a lot. And again, it's a really well-constructed pot. So glad to have you on the show. Thank you so much for this wonderful opportunity. All right. Thanks a bunch. All right, folks, we went a little long with some of the other stories. And so I was not, I did not get to the second part of the fourth anniversary of the Equal Justice, Environmental Justice Movement.

I'm going to run that tomorrow, but Mustafa is here. I interviewed him when we were in North Carolina on Saturday, so I'm going to let him just share his thoughts again on the event that took place on Saturday, the announcement from the EPA, but also the recognition that those brothers and sisters are finally getting for creating the environmental justice movement that we know today, which began in Warren County, North Carolina in 1982. Yeah, it was a transformational moment. And Roland, thank you for being there and actually, you know, recording those amazing leaders who are still with us. You know, you had young children,

you had elders who are literally laying down in the roads in Warren County, North Carolina, 40 years ago to stop cancer-causing chemicals from coming into their community. There were seven other locations across the state of North Carolina that was better suited for those PCBs, which are cancer-causing chemicals, to be placed. But they decided to place them in a lower-wealth black community. And because of their, you know, just amazing dedication to not only stopping what was coming in that moment, but also thinking about future generations, the environmental justice movement was launched. And, of course, now environmental justice is not only a top priority for the president, but it is also now across the world, literally,

where folks of color and lower wealth communities are standing up and saying, no, you will not place these types of things in my community. No, you will not poison my community. No, you will not disinvest in my community. And even when we see the climate movement now, you know, a lot of that is built on the blood, sweat and tears of the early leaders in the environmental justice movement. So thanks to Dolly Burrell and a number of other folks who stood up against injustice and stood up for protecting lives. All right, then, before we go. So first of all, you two, while y'all tripping, we should be at 1,000 likes, so we got 98.

Y'all hit the doggone like button right now. So first of all, Larry, let's see, who are Gumbo fans here? Larry, Gumbo fan? Randy, Gumbo fan? Huge. All right. Mustafa? You know, I'm a vegetarian, so as long as it's gumbo vegetarian, which is very rare.

Dog, don't sit your ass down. You can't be a part of this conversation. We ain't having this conversation. So I got to go ahead. I got to go ahead and smack Natron Means. This fool going to sit here, y'all, and post on the YouTube channel. He goes, it's too much meat in gumbo.

First of all, Natron, I don't know what, if your ass wants some soup, go have some damn soup. Just have some tomato soup. Go have some chicken noodle soup. But here's the deal, okay? When it comes to gumbo, now I'm going to see how they like their gumbo. For me, all right, I prefer

andouille sausage, chicken, shrimp. I like to keep it simple. Some folk like okra. God bless us all. Leah Chase, when she got on me, when I told her, I said okra was too slimy. She's like, don't you say that. And so some folk like crabs. I don't like all them damn crabs. I ain't trying to break them break down part that in my deal. And so so Larry what meat you prefer your gumbo. I like the sausage you said to crab and that works for me. Yes labor to it. Okay, I I just that's just too much I ran to you.

You have to have crap. No, you don't know you don't yeah, you have to have to have crab. No, you don't. No, you don't. You have to have. No, you don't. I mean, it was funny you said about the meat. This woman said the other day, they said black folks even put meat in our vegetable soup, and we call it vegetable soup. You damn right we do.

And Mustafa, we ain't talking to you. So you can't, so you just, you going, yeah. Mustafa, we have a gumbo. You just going to have some tomato soup because we ain't talking to you. So you can't, so you just, you going, yeah. Mustafa, we have a gumbo. You just going to have some tomato soup because we ain't about to sit here and about to spend no damn time on a little vegetarian gumbo pot. That just, that ain't even, if you want a vegetarian gumbo pot, you could just, you could just, you could just eat the root. Because normally we'll use the Holy Trinity, green onions, onions, celery. That's what you can go ahead and do.

But, see, I think Natron's problem is, see, he probably cheap. See, you can always tell cheap-ass people based upon how they make gumbo. See, cheap-ass folk, okay, they short shrift you on the shrimp and they short shrift you on the shrimp and they short shrift you on the sausage uh and uh you know that's the one thing i cannot stand uh when it comes to cheap folk in gumbo so natron you gonna get you a second job do something and stop stop having that cheap ass gumbo talking about one meat in there no that ain't uh, when I make that 20 quart pot, look, it's going to be at least 10, 15 pounds of shrimp.

Because here's one thing. You ain't going to never eat my gumbo and say, oh, I only got one piece of sausage or one shrimp in my bowl. That ain't going to happen. And so Natron, get the hell off my timeline talking about one meat is enough for gumbo. Because you clearly done lost your mind and showing you broke.

All right. That's it. Larry, Randy, Mustafa, I appreciate it. Thank you so very much, folks. Thank you for joining us. Y'all hurry up. Get to 1,000 likes. Y'all take it too damn long.

Okay? Y'all making me have to say that. I shouldn't have to be saying that every single doggone day. The moment you log on on YouTube, you should hit the doggone like button. It's log on click. You should hit the like button before you start running your mouth posting something. Okay? So hurry up.

Get to 1,000 before I sign off. All right, folks. If you want to support us in what we do, please download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung, Smart TV, and

of course, we want you to join our Bring the Funk fan club. Your dollars make it possible for us to do what we do for us to be able to cover the stories that matter to you. And so, look, it's important for you to support us. Our goal is very simple. We've got to raise y'all $100,000 each month for our expenses and what we do. And so we want y'all to support us in doing that. And so please, that requires 2,000 people giving on average 50 bucks this month. And that is, we only got what,

a few days left in this month. And so please send check and money orders to P.O. Box 57196, 5-7-1-9-6. 5-7-1-9-6. Washington, D.C. 2-0-0-3-7-0-1-9-6. Cash app is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is RMartin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered. Roland at Roland Martin Unfiltered dot com.

And so that's John Brendan Funk Fan Club. Every Friday we run the names of the folks who've given. And so you want to be sure to add your name to the list. Henry, go ahead and get a shot of this. So y'all seen me have this the last couple of days. My man, Donnell Rawlings, the comedian, y'all, sent me his candle. So you know, Danelle, you know, ashy Larry. So he's got his own line of candles.

I sent him a photo from yesterday. And so here you see black ash. That's right. Hand poured scented candles made in small batches in the USA soy wax. And so, I told Danell, go ahead and send it to me. Let me turn it that way. There we go. I told him, send it

to me, and so we'll feature his candles on the show. And they actually smell good. So, I know Danell don't smell good, but the candles smell good. So, thank you. So, Danell, I mean, you know, maybe you're the baby that what y'all made the candles with. Alright, thank you also to them. I mean, you know, maybe you oughta bathe in what y'all made the candles with.

All right, that's it for us. I'll see y'all tomorrow. Y'all take care. Ho! This is an iHeart Podcast.