#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Brittney Griner's Guilty Plea, 17 awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, NY GOP quits Party

Episode Date: July 8, 2022

7.7.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Brittney Griner's Guilty Plea, 17 awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, NY GOP quits Party President Joe Biden handed out the nation's highest civilian award to 17 people, including civil rights attorney Fred Gray, Gymnast Simone Biles, and actor Denzel Washington. I was in the room and will share my analysis of today's ceremony. WNBA Star Brittney Griner pleads guilty to drug charges in Russia. We'll give you an update on how much time the detained basketball star is facing and a breakdown of the next steps with Legal analyst Candace Kelly. Derek Chauvin gets sentenced to 21 years for violating George Floyd's civil rights. The cop who killed Tamir Rice resigns a day after being sworn in as a Pennsylvania town's only police officer. Protestors are taking to the streets and getting arrested in Akron, Ohio, after the death of an unarmed black man, Jayland Walker. Among the arrested, Jacob Blake's father and Breonna Taylor's aunt. A New York Republican drops out of the state senate race and quits the republican party.  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. We support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. I thank you for being the voice of Black America, Rollin'. 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 Thursday, July 7th, roland martin unfiltered broadcasting live for the mainflower hotel here in washington dc with the national bar association to hold a dinner honoring attorney fred gray one of the 17 recipients the presidential medal of freedom coming up on the black side network we'll show you uh what took place at the White House today, where those honorees were given the highest nation's

highest honor. But Denzel Washington, when the honorees was not there, we'll tell you why. Also, Brittany Griner has pleaded guilty in a Russian courtroom. She said it was not her intent to bring drugs into Russia. We'll explain to you what that means with legal expert Candace Kelly.

Also on today's show, protests continue in Akron after a black man was shot at 90 times by police. 60 of those shots hitting him and killing him. Also on today's show, we'll also tell you what happened with Derek Chauvin, how he's going to spend more time in prison for the death of George Floyd. It is time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin, unfiltered, on the Black Star Network.

Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the piss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's Roland. Best belief he's right on time And it's rolling Best believe he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics

With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling It's Uncle Roro, y'all It's rolling Martin, yeah Rolling with Roland now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best, you know he's Roland Martin. Now. Martin. Hey, folks, today in a Russian court, WNBA star Brittany Griner pled guilty to drug charges.

She was led into court in handcuffs. And during her trial today, her attorneys entered that plea deal, excuse me, that guilty plea. She made it clear that she did not intend to bring drugs into the country. She told the judge she wanted to take responsibility for her actions. Afterwards, her attorney spoke to the media. And did Brittany say what made her take this decision today? Do you have any explanation for why she decided? She's a responsible person

and she admitted that it was her purse but she said that it was unintentionally brought to to Russia because she was in a in a hurry as she was packing. And it was just by accident it ended up in her luggage. Considering her personality and that she's a role model to many people, to many young people, she just thinks she should be responsible for her actions. The prosecution was reading the medical certificate. And what did the medical certificate say? That no drugs were found in your urine and your blood. Am I right?

Well, they were reading all the evidence that they have on the files. Yes, you are right. Can you give us the full answer? Well, I think we will probably comment on this during the next court session, when we will be presenting our evidence. But right now, like, nothing was found in your test examples? She was clean and she was tested. Right. And what is she going, like, what will be the next hearing? The defense will start to present their evidences

and their witnesses. Why give a guilty plea impartial today? She'll give fuller testimony to later. So why announce it today? Because the prosecution ended their part, and it was the start of the part of the defense. And later during the trial, she will have the possibility to explain herself more thoroughly. And also mitigating factors.

Is that the idea? To explain mitigating factors or why? Of course. Yes. Griners will be back in court in July 14th. Joining us right now is legal analyst Candace Kelly. Candace, glad to have you here. Here is the speculation, Candace, that she needed to plead guilty in order for there to be a prisoner swap that previously happened with another American who was being held there by Russia. And Roland, you're exactly right. She needed to plead guilty because when we come to the table and you want to make some concessions and even be in a position of

negotiating power and have that leverage, you have to say, I give a little bit of this and you give me a little bit of that. She had to plead guilty to go through the system, to go through the court system. I won't say the justice system, because as we know, the Russian court system, when you go to court in Russia and the court that she's in, it's expected that she's going to be convicted. There's no question about justice. It's just a question about how long will she be sentenced. So all of these wills had to go into motion where she had to plead guilty. And I think behind the scenes, her wife, the people who are supporting her the most, they have had it with the Biden administration. They have had it with the lack of negotiation. They've had it with the fact that Biden waited all the way till yesterday after Britney Grimes voted allegedly to say, listen, I'm terrified.

Don't forget about me. On this July 4th, my father, he served in the Vietnam War. Her wife, Cheryl, is tired of it. So they went behind the scenes and they came up with their own strategy. And this was part of the negotiation. Plead guilty. And we're going to do it our own way because the Biden administration has not satisfied us enough. And that's where we are right now, Roland. But let's be honest here. The Biden administration didn't have many options here. There's a war going on between Ukraine and the Russians. The Americans are supporting Ukraine in a significant way. This also is a huge political

tool for Vladimir Putin to hold against the United States. So really, what options did the American government actually have? Well, listen, the fact that they were negotiating behind the scenes and it seemingly, it seemed like they were telling Britney Grinder's people, listen, just hold back for a moment. We're doing what we can do. Well, here we are seven months later. They're asking, what have you done? You haven't even given us a call. A call would be good so that when Brittany gives me a letter in the mail because I haven't spoken to her on the phone, I can tell her, hey, listen, the Biden administration reached out to me. At least that's a start. That's a beginning, giving Brittany a little hope, a little faith that she's got America behind her. And when you're over there in Russia by yourself in that particular legal system, that actually does mean a lot to know that at least some wheels are turning and that everybody's working on one accord. So they didn't have many options in terms of

this is what we can do because we know that you're a political ploy, but at least have a little support. And that's what her wife and the Brittany Griner team have been saying. Can you support us? Can you give us a call? And there are plenty of families who are now coming forth and saying, hey, now that you've got your call, Cheryl Griner, we need a call too. So it's not just about Brittany Griner. It's that there's a larger picture, as you said, in terms of exchanging political prisoners, prisoners that have been exchanged before. Now we're looking at a situation as to who do we actually exchange? And that's where the Biden administration is right now,

albeit behind closed doors. But my guess is that something is going on in terms of that exchange at least trying to happen. They just can't show their cards right now, Roland. But historically, I mean, here's one of the things. I mean, I think back to Syria, when the Reagan administration couldn't do anything with that government, and it was Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., Minister Louis Farrakhan, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and others who traveled over there and brought back Captain Goodman. When I think about the same thing in Iraq, when Reverend Jackson went and rescued, brought back American citizens dealing with Saddam Hussein, the U.S. government couldn't get anywhere with Saddam. Reverend Jackson was able to do so, of course, with the encouragement of Muhammad Ali.

When I think about soldiers, I think it was in Yugoslavia, if I'm correct, where Reverend Jackson brought them back. And so this is one of those things where, again, a figure like Reverend Jackson was, you know, where we needed someone like that. Unfortunately, he's been impacted in a severe way by Parkinson's. But having a third party religious delegation, sort of legal negotiations, that's typically what has happened in the past because the government was hamstrung because another government didn't want to deal with the United States.

And, Roland, where are they? Where are those people who are coming to the forefront to say yay or nay that we support, and this is what we need to do in order for this to happen? Well, unfortunately, Ken, unfortunately, unfortunately, Ken, unfortunately, we don't have a lot of, we don't have, for one, we don't have a lot of Black leaders, frankly,

who had the stature of Reverend Jackson to be able to go do that. True, but it's interesting that you mentioned stature because when we talk about Brittany Griner, she's a rock star over there. People know her name over here, but we just have not seen kind of this continuous support and, and, and media blitz and information about her, you know, all for all these months that we would see LeBron James wouldn't have been

over there that long. Let's be real. And that's what we're talking about. We're talking about a black face. Well, first of all, let's be clear. LeBron James would not have to play over there for money. That's right. Unfortunately, WNBA does not pay as much, and that's one of the reasons why Brittany Griner

and other WNBA stars play overseas because they can't make the same amount of money. And people need to understand, some of these female players are making $250,000, $500,000 or more playing overseas money they simply will never see in the United States. Right. And it brings up a lot of questions about equity and not only the equity in terms of payment, but now that she's in this country where she was forced to play because she could get more money, how are they treating black gay women over there? Roland, how are they treating black gay women over here? We know that in Russia they do not accept gays on a whole.

By and large, they want them exiled. You can't even have propaganda kind of be pandered, as they say, to young people, because they think it might corrupt and you can get criminally in charge. So you've got all of these factors going on. And in the middle of this, she's this political pawn somehow when she was carrying hashish, which has nothing to do with politics. Now, I think that it's really interesting in terms of what her guilty plea was. She said, yes, I plead guilty, but it wasn't my intent. Roland, that's two different things. She's saying guilty in order to appease the Russians so that she can move the needle in that regard.

Yep. But in order to be guilty, you have to have the intent. On the other hand, she said, well, it wasn't my intent. I think it's very interesting that on the first day where she appeared in court, she wore a Jimi Hendrix T-shirt. Jimi Hendrix was someone who was tried. He was not convicted across state lines in Canada

for having weed. He said, hey, listen, I had so many fans around me giving me stuff, giving me gifts, somehow it got in my bag. Wasn't his intent to do it. So I think that that was good that she said, hey, it wasn't my intent because you need that. But it really does contradict her guilty verdict

because the two have to coexist. But that guilty verdict, the fact that she said it, satisfied the Russians. And in her mind, in Cheryl's mind, and all the people who came to the rally for her yesterday, in their minds, they hope that this will at least push the needle and give her a little leverage to kind of move this forward. At this point, they've said, hey, listen, we're looking to detain you for about six more months. One, that's because the legal system, they don't have day by day, back to back court systems. This is not tried in front of a jury. This is tried in front of one judge.

They meet once a week, two and a half hour drive for her. Her six foot eight self and very small, confined conditions has to go back and forth. And when she gets there, they're not going to be any Perry Mason moments. The judge just reads information into a file. So that's why we're talking about not talking about justice here. We really are just talking about what's the conviction. And she's hoping that what she's doing, what her wife's doing, what everybody's doing can kind of beat that conviction and get her over here before it even gets to that stage. Let's talk about the Derek Chauvin case.

Today, he pled guilty and was sentenced to 20 years and five months for federal hate crimes, violations, and the death of George Floyd. He previously had been sentenced to 22 and a half years in state prison. Explain what that means. Is this more jail time? Also, there was talk that he may be serving this not in state prison, but in federal prison. So what actually happened today in the Minneapolis courtroom? Well, what we had, as you said, that more years were put on, it depends upon how the system will look at it.

He can either do it alongside of what happens or sometimes they are built back to back in terms of the sentencing and the time that he serves. What we do know is that, once again, at least the courts are looking at this in a very serious way, where they're saying, this is something that you need to have accountability for. Once again, this is a precedent-making case. And so that's what we're looking at here. We're looking at Derek Chauvin and more responsibility that is going to be left on his plate. And so that's essentially what it means. We do not know yet how this is going to play out. It depends upon what the powers that be normally in this situation want it to play out in terms of if it's going to go back to back or if it's going to go coincide with the time that he was already serving. Now, he did have to admit a number of different things,

and this is what the Washington Post wrote. For the first time, the former officer admitted that he kept his knees on Floyd's neck and body, even as he heard the man saying he couldn't breathe and ultimately became unresponsive. He acknowledged he heard bystanders urging him to check Floyd's post, but did nothing and blocked others from rendering medical aid. Chauvin also said that he, quote, knew what he was doing was wrong. That was when he pled guilty in December. He did not offer any sort of apology today.

And so so that that is that is also significant because the family, they wanted him to admit what he did was wrong. Right. This is someone who we didn't hear take the stands. Unlike other cases where we hear, you know, the McMichaels take the stands and talk about what they did or did not do. He completely circumvented that whole thing. We didn't hear his voice. So as you said, to hear his voice, if anything, it was to satisfy the families. How satisfactory must that have been for the families to know that this man knew what he was doing in the moment that he was wrong? You were right. This is significant. And it really is a very strange and interesting precedent because we don't hear this from police officers. We don't hear this guilt.

And this is another way for America to once again face what's going on with the police system and the accountability that they have. We thought about it. We wrote about it. We talked about it, Roland. But to hear him say it takes it to a totally different level that this man knew while he had his knees on the back of his neck for over nine years what he was doing is wrong. And for some people who have, you have a family sore in this situation, that's more than they want to hear. Forget the money. They want to hear that this man knew what he was doing, accountability, and this was the most accountability that we have had for him

from him over these years. And again, as part of the deal, federal prosecutors allowed for the citizens to be concurrent, which means that he likely is going to be transferred to a federal prison. Remember, this is one of the things that the Ahmaud Arbery family did not want to happen in the case of the white supremacists who killed Ahmaud Arbery. They wanted them to serve their time in state prison, believing that is far more rigorous and frankly nastier or meaner than federal prison. And indeed it is. The state prison is nastier. It's meaner. You have people who you are, he's going to be alongside if he does go into a state prison who know and have faced people like him outside and they are going to get revenge. That's just what happens. They are waiting for him. His people know it. He knows it.

And he doesn't want that. Federal prison, it's a little bit nicer in terms of kind of the rewards that you get for good behavior. It's a better situated system in terms of how it looks, how it feels. Sleeping, eating, all of that is a slightly higher level than a state prison. So that would be certainly another victory for the families that he's not going to live his sentence inside something that might be a lighter sentence in terms of a federal prison that is going to go hard in a state prison. So certainly they're hoping for that. A lot of us are hoping for that because that certainly is what he deserves. All right, Candace Kelly, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. All right. Good to see you, Roland.

Likewise. Folks, going to break, we come back on my panel. We'll break down these two stories. Plus, we'll talk about today's Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony at the White House. 17 of the great Americans were honored. President Joe Biden will show you what took place and hear from folks after the ceremony, including two of the medal recipients. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network back in a moment. We're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it or not. From politics to music and entertainment, it's a huge part of our lives, and we're going to talk about it every day right here on The Culture with me,

Faraji Muhammad, only on the Black Star Network. 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 Blackstar Network, a balanced life with Dr. Jackie. Hey, I'm Amber Stephens-West. Yo, what up, y'all? This is Jay Ellis, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. We are here at the Mayflower Hotel where the National Bar Association is holding a dinner in honor of Attorney Fred Gray,

one of the 17 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients. Let's bring in our panel right now. Glad to have them on the show. Erica Savage, founder of the Reframed Brain. Glad to have you back on the show, Erica. Recy Colbert, Black Women Views. Also, Dr. Greg Carr with the Department of Vaginal American Studies at Howard University. Recy, I want to start with you.

There's a lot of attention, a lot of focus on Brittany Griner. WNBA players and others were saying the nation needs to pay more attention to this case. And now we're seeing some movement happen here. Yeah. You know, I do want to first start off respectfully to Ms. Kelly. She almost made it sound like there was no contact between the administration and Ms. Cheryl Greiner when we saw just on the show on Tuesday when I hosted that she had been in contact with the secretary of the state, Anthony Blinken, as well as the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan. These are not peons. These are not small time people in the administration. So I just want that to be clear. She hadn't spoken to the president of the United States, which most people don't get a chance to speak to.

But, you know, pressure works. And so she was granted an audience with the president and vice president, and she was satisfied with what she was told during that meeting, and she felt encouraged by it. And so I just want to put that out there because it just sounded a little, it sounded almost like they were blowing her off, which I don't believe to be the case. And they had classified her as wrongfully detained two months ago. So I, I, there are a lot of things that happened behind the scenes. This is a delicate political situation. It's not all, it doesn't always play out on social media. It doesn't always play out to where everybody can, can feel good about the movement

that's happening, but that doesn't mean nothing was happening. But anyway, on another note, another thing I just wanted to say is people shouldn't take her pleading guilty at face value. You know, we have a dims the rules kind of people. If you broke, you did a crime, got to do the time and she broke the rules and what was she doing over there and yada, yada, yada. But, you know, obviously there's a strategy here. I don't know if you guys were paying attention, but not you, y'all, but, you know, maybe the audience. But they said they didn't find any drugs in her urine or in her blood. You know, so this is not a person who's a heavy drug user. She's clearly not a drug smuggler, which is why she was facing 10 years. I tried to make it seem like she was part of an international drug ring. So I think that hopefully if this is what it takes to help move the needle forward

and help expedite the process, hopefully that helps her out because she was going to get convicted anyway. There's a 99% conviction rate in Russia. It's not the trial that even we have here, which isn't always fair either. So I mean, I can't say I'm encouraged, but I'm just really hoping that there's some really good strategy behind this. But the other thing too, I mean, I can't say I'm encouraged, but I'm just really hoping that there's some really good strategy behind this. But the other thing, too, I just I wonder where Ms. Kelly got the idea that this was somehow in defiance of the administration or taking matters into their own hands. That just seemed like kind of out of nowhere. For all we know, it could have been in consult with them. So I would just be careful. I know that it's really easy to pounce on the administration and I'm not trying to defend them and say they've been perfect.

But I think we should also make sure we're putting out accurate information. Erica, your thoughts again on this Griner case. And one of the things early on, the Biden administration did ask folks not to raise the decibel, if you will. There are a number of WNBA players who talked about that as well, because they wanted this to be in terms of, they said, look, it was delicate, private negotiations, and certainly understanding her family members wanting action to be done here. We cannot discount the reality, though, that Vladimir Putin doesn't give a damn what we say. He controls this whole process. Oh, absolutely, Roland. He is just jury and he will issue the verdict.

One thing I also want to mention is that I talked about this a couple of days ago on another program, is that I served as an emissary a couple of years ago in the effort of a freeing of a political prisoner. And I can tell you from a national standpoint, from a faith standpoint, from a local standpoint, that it really is all hands on deck. And just for people to be aware that in 2015, under the Obama administration, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs was set up. So this is something that President Biden, having been vice president at that time, is intimately aware of. And there are two leaders, in addition to the leaders that Risi membered, that are well-versed and very capable. And so I would caution additionally as well is for people to listen to the information. Trevor Reed, a spokesperson for his camp, he was detained in Russia for a period of years. Spokesperson said that, listen, you know, Trevor was detained and did not want to sign a document to his guilt until the last few days. And that's when he was released. So this is due process. It's very delicate. I can say during that time period, I said practically nothing. And so it's

just now that I'm kind of sharing a bit about that process. So to Recy's point, as we are flooded and just used to this level of as soon as something happens, it's made available on social media. When you're talking about, she was, BG was one of 70 WNBA players that was in Russia at the time, the only one that was detained. As her legal team said, that she was clean, there was nothing in her system, that she is a queer woman, Black, and a WNBA player, high profile. We know that Vladimir Putin, as a former KGB officer, keeps dossiers. He's very aware of what's happening in his country. So I think for people to really take all of the information in that we're receiving and just know that just because we're not seeing it play out as we would a movie, as we would see something frame by frame on social media, does not mean something that's happening. But I also want to go to the pressure campaign that has moved forward with the signatures of many people, myself included, that have called for her release, that this is something that

definitely has worked in favor of Bee Gees. However, the delicate balance of ensuring that Bee Gees is freed and that those conversations are happening with relationship to her freedom. Again, as Recy said, our government has said that she was wrongfully detained. And so this is something that people want to be engaged. There was just a rally in Arizona with a congressperson from out in Arizona that her coach from the Phoenix Mercury just had. And so they're issuing support. So, you know, if people want to find out if perhaps there's a caucus group within their particular congressperson's area that they're connected with, do that. Please sign the petition.

Please keep her name lifted above the fold so that we know that BG is not forgotten. But be aware that just because we don't see it does not mean that things are not, in fact, happening because they are. And look, Greg, I mean, you have the folks who are saying that, well, if this was Stephen Curry, if this is LeBron James, this would not be happening. But you also can't overlook the reality in terms of the pay inequities and the differences in these different sports. An NBA player doesn't have to go overseas. It's the players who don't make the cut in the NBA who play overseas. The fact of the matter is that women's sports, especially basketball in this country, simply is not even close to the NBA. The NBA is almost a $10 to $12 billion a year entity. The WNBA teams lose money. Those are

facts. That's why female professional players have to have to go overseas to get paid well. And that's why she was in Russia. That's true, Roland. And I'm old enough to remember the American Basketball League. Look it up. That's why David Stern and the people in the NBA started the WNBA to put the ABL out of business, which was projected to be a owner and player profit sharing proposition. Go look it up. But at any rate, the point is this. If it was Stephen Curry or LeBron James, not only would they be in jail, they would be in jail with even more press. The sexism would come in the amount of coverage, I think. Let's be very clear. Brittany

Griner, BG, would be in the United States if it were in the interest of the Russian government. Let's just zoom out and look for a minute. Most of the countries in the world have not picked a side between Russia and the Ukraine. They've remained noncommittal. India, which is the world's largest democracy, has blocked every, or at least abstained in every UN resolution condemning Russia. The United States and Europe don't have the muscle to move the world. India, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, well, most of the African countries, the Caribbean, Latin America, they're staying out of it. They're trying to see what are their economic and strategic interests. Now, you know, there was a pushback on one of the islands in the Black Sea. The Ukrainians look like they might regain control. That would open up the grain again,

because remember, the Ukraine is a breadbasket in many ways of Central Europe, and it affects Africa. People, these countries are looking at their interests. And I'm glad you mentioned Robert Goodman and Minister Farrakhan, of course, Jesse Jackson, our brother Jeremiah Wright. Saddam Hussein was trying to embarrass the United States. Understand how geopolitics works. See, this is why we have to, particularly as Black people,

stop looking at these things as domestic issues. That's soap opera stuff. I couldn't agree more, Erica, when you started talking about this. The bottom line is this. Saddam Hussein gave that brother up because it was a thumb in the eye of the United States government. Now let's get to Brittney Griner.

The name people need to Google is Victor Bout. V-I-K-T-O-U-L. Bout. Victor Bout was convicted in 2011 of selling guns to the FARC rebels in Colombia and imprisoned in the United States. Victor Bout's lawyer has said this week that if the United States engaged in a prisoner swap, Victor Bout for Brittney Griner, she'd be home right now. But the Justice Department is against all kind of prisoner swaps, meaning what? They're having a battle, as Risi says,

in the Biden administration. And guess who's going off script? All them Black people, all those people in the WNBA, all the people for social justice, the LBGTQ community who are saying free Brittany Griner, free Brittany Griner. Biden's like, hey everybody, calm down. Because behind the scenes, it's not yet in

Russia's interest to let her go. They're getting publicity. Hell, if LeBron James was locked up, they'd be getting more publicity. But the bottom line is, nobody's coming home until these countries work out how they can make a deal that's in the best interest of the Russians. Now, all you got to do to see that there's, this is very serious, but at the same time, that there are other forces at work. Look at Alexander Boykoff. Look at her lawyer. He come in there in Hawaiian shirt, dude. No, I don't want nobody today. As everybody said, she's going to be convicted. And this is about the prisoner swap. Pay careful attention to the prisoner swap again.

Yeah. Look up Victor Bout and that might make it a little clearer. Yeah. Indeed. All right, folks, going to break. We come back. We're going to talk presidential medal of freedom. The ceremony took place today at the White House honoring 17 amazing Americans. We'll show you what took place as well as cover some other news. This is Roland Martin Unfiltered broadcasting live from the Mayflower Hotel here in the nation's capital, Washington, D.C., where in less than an hour, the National Bar Association will hold a dinner in honor of one of those recipients, civil rights attorney Fred Gray, 91 years old, right here. We'll be carrying live right here on the Black Star Network.

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And unfortunately, far too many black folks haven't had access to this knowledge. And that's exactly what we're gonna talk about on our next Get Wealthy with Melinda Hightower, a banker who's doing something to share exactly what you need to do to make it into the high net worth status. They weren't just saving just to save, they were saving for a purpose. That's right here on Get Wealthy with me,

America's Wealth Coach, only on Blackstar Network. Pull up a chair, take your seat, the black table. With me, Dr. Greg Carr, here on the Blackstar Network. Every week, we take a deeper dive into the world we're living in. Join the conversation only on the Blackstar Network. Hi, everybody. This is Jonathan Nelson. Hi, this is Cheryl Lee Ralph, Join the conversation only on the Black Star Network. LaDae Arnold disappeared from St. Louis, Missouri on June 26.

The 7-year-old is 3 feet 6 inches tall. She weighs 70 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. LaDae may be in the company of an adult male. Anyone with information about Ladey Arnold should call the Bella Fontaine Neighbors Missouri Police Department at 636-529-8210, 636-529-8210. Folks, the ex cop in Cleveland, uh, who shot Tamir rice, uh, has gotten, uh, a,

um, uh, first of all, he's now, we got a new job from a police department in Pennsylvania. Now he is resigned after the news went public. Timothy Loman's attorney announced his client would quit, uh,

his new position after the hiring sparked outrage. The president of a Tioga Borough Council posted this Facebook picture of Lohman's swearing-in ceremony. The photo led to some fury on the social media platform. Remember, in 2014, Lohman responded to a call saying that someone was waving a gun around shooting 12-year-old Tamir Rice shortly after arriving on the scene. Lohman was never charged for Rice's death. What's crazy here, Erica, is that the mayor said he wasn't aware of Lohman's past. I guess they don't vet. I guess they don't use Google in this Pennsylvania town.

Yeah, I just woke up and found out I was black. When I tell you I went straight to Facebook and saw how they had lit him up and righteously lit him up, this is why we have to pay attention to these folks who are tax-paid servants of law, continue to follow them because he had a job and then he lost a job. And so he's going to continue to follow that same pattern. The person from within that particular council that posted that picture just the other day had posted something around Epstein's girlfriend around her sentencing and saying something smart around that. And so then people started going in to say, so what the hell were you doing hiring someone that killed a child? And so here we are again with a person who is swearing to uphold

some kind of law that allows Black children, Black bodies, grandparents, mothers, daughters, and the rest to be treated without incident. We're seeing how our late brother, Jalen Walker, had 90 rounds fired upon him, 60 that landed, and that he was brought to the medical examiner's office as though a bounty. And so it is incumbent upon all of us as a community to make sure that this pressure campaign continues to come. He should never have a job. He should always have to suffer to eat, to provide for himself, to hopefully use a washcloth and wash his nasty behind. He should always have to pay for that, for taking someone's child out of this world in 2014, in 2012, excuse me. I can't recall what year it was, but very glad that the pressure campaign.

It took place in 2014. 2014. And so glad that the pressure campaign, that people are staying woke and paying attention and that we have to continue to follow this type of leadership that we continue to see. Just keep his name at the top of the fold. Timothy, a little name. Greg, this is why, look, I and others believe there should be a national database.

Cops involved in these type of shootings, names should be there because, frankly, they should never, ever have a badge or a gun. Absolutely. And, Recy, I think about you since you probably say something about this. All that legislation that was stalled in the United States Senate after it passed the House that was trying to get to the President of the United States desk, this is one of those things. And again, Tim, Ms. Scott, you race

traitor, lining up to block these kind of things. You're responsible for all of these failures, including that lack of a national database. But let's be very clear. Kilter Mary Rice was probably like a letter of recommendation for a moment in that little borough.

You know, y'all look up the census count, the 2010 census. I hope for their sake that the number of people in Tiahoga and that little borough changes, because according to the 2010 census, the number of people who lived there was six, six, six. The point I'm trying to make is that this boy is coming east. Now, he's four hours from Cleveland now. He's coming

east. He's right on the New York-Pennsylvania border trying to get a job. And that photograph you showed, the white dude swearing to me, it looked like he had on an open collar version of that shirt that Brittany Griner's lawyer had on in that picture in Russia. My point is, it's easy going. Easy like Sunday morning. And as you often

say, as we often remember, of course, the old saying that Pennsylvania is Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Alabama in between. He's welcome in those boroughs. And the only thing that's going to stop that to exactly what you just said, Erica, is we got to keep the heat on. Just like BG's people and all of us who support her

banged on the government, even though the government is involved in a geopolitical game, we got to bang on people like this. You should not know a minute's rest for the rest of your natural life. And then when you die, then the problem starts because then you're going to take it up with Tamir.

Then you're going to take it up with George Floyd. Then you're going to have to deal with Breonna Taylor. See, the man's just waiting on your ass. That is if you're close enough to deal with them, because you might actually be with the other people in the 666 borough that you almost hired. You know, recently, when you think about this case, the fact that, you know, there's so many officers, they get hired by the neighboring city, the neighboring county. And this happens over and over and over again, not just in this case, but cases all around the country where these cops keep finding law enforcement jobs, keep having baddies and guns. Yeah, because as Dr. Carr said, it's a feature, not a bug, that they have these records. I mean, I think it is important to have the national database, which is what the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act will be. But

the thing that's going to be the most powerful, which is the most unfortunate part about it, is public shaming and heat as pressure and putting pressure, as Erica said and as Dr. Carr said. You know, it's unfortunate, though, the same way it is when you have cops who kill people every day, the same way you have people who are killed but not in mass shootings every day. It's almost like it's only certain cases that get the attention,

and then we keep our focus on those, rightfully so, but you have to wonder about all the people that don't make the headlines, all of the cops that, like you said, but you have to wonder about all the people that don't make the headlines, all of the cops that, like you said, jump from town to town with no repercussions. That's what's really scary because we know a name, but we don't know all the names of the cops that are doing the kinds of things that this officer did to Tamir Rice. Folks, the protests continue in Akron, Ohio, in this just shocking and sickening case. Black man, 90 shots fired, 90 shots fired, 60 of them hitting him. Jalen Walker,

the protests have been going on in Akron, Ohio since it took place. Those arrested recently were Breonna Taylor's aunt and Jacob Blake Jr.'s father. Akron police say protests were peaceful until 8 30 last night when around 50 protesters began to block and disrupt traffic near the Akron police station. Officers deployed tear gas to disperse the crowd after warning protesters. White and Blake joined more than 40 protesters who have been arrested since this weekend. Again, Jalen was shot more than 90 times by eight officers, hit by more than 60 bullets on June 27th. What should have been a routine traffic stop, President Joe Biden says the Department of Justice, they are monitoring this case.

I have one serious comment about the shooting and the death of Jalen Walker. The Justice Department and Civil Rights Division of the FBI field office in Akron, Ohio, and the local U.S. Attorney's Office are closely monitoring and reviewing what happened. The FBI continues to coordinate with state and local partners to provide resources and specialized skill. If the evidence reveals potential violations of federal criminal statutes, the Justice Department will take the appropriate action. And I just want you to know what's going to happen. The eight officers involved are on paid administrative leave.

Greg, I will start with you. Again, another example, traffic stop leads to death. Yes, sir. I mean, we've seen this too much. The president of the United States' hands are tied, but some of that rope is rope he spun himself. The front page of the New York Times today has an article about how people want somebody to punch somebody in the face. I understand the president of the United States.

I mean, this is a country he was born and raised in. He believes in it. He believes in his systems of government. And just like his Justice Department is very likely standing in the way of a prisoner swap, and maybe with legitimate concerns, he's saying, sitting there, you swap, and maybe with legitimate concerns, he's saying, sitting there, if this, if that, these four white boys got a damn paid vacation. You kill a black person in the United States, you get a paid vacation.

Then you get clean. If something happens and maybe you get convicted of something, they ding you up, and that damn white national Supreme Court is chipping away at the possibility of you being dragged into civil court. Oh, don't worry. They're going after these settlements that are being settled. They come from our tax dollars. So I kind of feel for the president of the United States.

At the same time, I was shaking my head because I'm saying when you kill a black woman or a black man, a black boy or a black girl in this country, you get a paid damn vacation. This is what we're on the verge of now. We're on the verge of black people saying, don't take them to court. Let them go back to work. Dot, dot, dot. Because as these militias ramp up and arm up, as they get ready to try to steal the 2024 election and they all

get guns, you know, more and more people are saying, you know, if we're going to get slaughtered, if we must die, then we're going to test the damn Second Amendment. Say I can get a gun? Okay, I'm going to get the strap. License and boom! I'm not wishing it on you. I'm saying you are daring people.

Because if you're just going to get killed anyway, why the hell would I get shot in the back? If I'm going to take two in the chest, I might as well. What did Jay-Z say? Threw two at me, I threw four back. Please understand. Putting these white boys on damn paid vacation for murder is an incentive to get more of them to do the damn same.

You know, and that's the thing that drives me crazy, Recy. Eight cops. When I was in Louisiana for Essence Fest, I was talking with one of the New Orleans Police Department officers, an African-American, and he said, I don't give a damn what those cops say. There is no justification for eight cops firing 90 shots at one person.

Period. And to further add injury on top of injury, they handcuffed a body that had been obliterated, shot from ankles to his cheeks with 60 gunshot wounds, and they handcuffed him, even after he was dead. Handcuffed him when they brought him in for an autopsy. That's no different than pissing on his body, spitting on him. That's how much they wanted to degrade him. That's how much vitriol and demonic energy

they had towards a person that was just on the traffic, just driving, you know, just driving. So this is a soulless demonic force that has the word police written on it. And I don't know how much we can do to solve that. I'm not

for all of us picking up arms because I don't think black people have the best aim. Not as good as white folks do all the time. So I would like a peaceful solution, but, and I'm not trying to stereotype, somebody's going to be like, I'm a marksman. Okay, you are a marksman.

But we are hitting a point where it's going to bubble over because 60 shots, seven people dead, and one person out of those two situations walks away. And it's not the person who was on a traffic stop. It's the person who killed seven people and walked away. Something has got to give. And I don't know what it's going to take for people to say, we got to figure some shit out because what we got going on right now ain't working. Yep. But this right here, Erica, is why I say it on the anniversary of the George Floyd death, the second anniversary. hope they come together and issue a national statement calling on President Joe Biden to bring

them, to bring law enforcement, to bring Senator Tim Scott, Lindsey Graham, Republicans to the White House to say, get the George Floyd Justice Act bill back on track. I said, and I told Attorney Ben Crump, I'm going to see him tonight at this dinner. I'm going to say it again. In fact, I'm probably going to say it because I'm emceeing. I'm going to say it tonight at this dinner. I'm going to say it again. In fact, I'm probably going to say it because I'm emceeing. I'm going to say it from the podium because there needs to be another attempt at it. Look, they can't say we don't have enough time to get it done. And what that will do is it will force Scott and Graham to look these black families in the eye and say why we have failed or we can't get it done.

So the pressure must continue because this kind of crap has to stop. Oh, absolutely, Roland. And I'm so glad that you use your bully pulpit appropriately to do that. If we could just have more people that would exercise that same level of care. I will say with regard to Tim Scott, yeah, that's what I'll call him, Tim Scott, that, you really breaks my heart to have seen and listened to her as she sat back and forth, crying, giving an interview, number one, grieving the death of her son. But the way in which her son was executed and executed on body cam for the world to see and executed in a way by these slave patrol agents where they were reloading magazines as though they were hunting an animal. This, when I look at that crowd, the footage that you showed just a moment ago, I'm looking at the restlessness of a crowd.

I'm seeing people that are pushing back against the police that are refusing to say, well, you're going to make me make me. I'm still going to record it. I'm looking at other black men coming to the aid of black men. People are tired as hell. And I think that if these folks think that there is not a bill that is coming due, baby, as soon as you put seed in the ground, it starts to germinate. And those seeds don't come up right away, but they do come up. And so for those eight officers that are on paid administrative leave at the expense of those taxpayers in Akron, Ohio, I hope they continue to stay in the streets. I hope they keep the pressure campaigns up. And I hope that they continue to ensure that Jalen's name is not lost as we continue to face more and more gun violence. Do not let this Black man's name fall

to the ground. All right, folks. Hold tight one second. We're going to go to another break, and we come back. We're going to show you what took place at the White House today. The Presidential Medal of Freedom, 17 honorees, and, of course, civil rights luminaries Diane Nash as well as Fred Gray. They were honored. Simone Biles became the youngest person ever awarded

the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Denzel Washington is an honoree, was not there. We'll explain why. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network back in a moment. Of course I looked up to Spike Lee. Of course, who didn't? I mean, he's a genius.

But then also, I was this kid from Brooklyn that felt like, you know... Give me my damn respect. You know, I made this, you know, this creative art, right, that people are responding to. And it would have been great if we had the opportunity to sit one-on-one. Hold on one second.

Okay. Spike! What's up, baby? So I'm in L.A. right now. I got a one-on-one series with my network, Blackstar Network. And I'm interviewing Maddie Rich. I appreciate that, bro.

That was... That's a big moment, man. That was like, man, that was good. Got me all choked up. That's good. Well, I'm all about connecting. Appreciate that. 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 Black Star 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. Hey, what's up, everybody?

It's Godfrey, the funniest dude on the planet. And you're watching... Roland Martin Unfiltered. And... All right, folks, today at the White House, President Biden, welcome 17 honorees, actually 16 of the 17 honorees to the White House who he awarded for the first time as president the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It's the highest honor given to an American citizen. They hail from all walks of life, politics, civil rights, law, sports, you name it.

They were all there. We live streamed it on the Black Star Network. And again, again, so this is the video of them all walking into the room. And so the president, he introduced each one of the honorees. This is what he first had to say about Simone Biles, the greatest gymnast ever in American history. Congresswoman Gabby Gifford. Simone Biles, the most decorated American gymnast in history, who everyone stops everything, every time she was on camera, just to watch. Just to see her. When we see her compete, we see unmatched,

unmatched power and determination, grace, and daring. A trailblazer and a role model, when she stands on the podium, she sees we see what she is. Absolute courage to turn personal pain into greater purpose, to stand up and speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. Today, she adds to her medal count of 32 —

I know you're going to find room — — 32 Olympic and World Championship medals. At age 25, the youngest person ever to receive the Medal of Freedom. The youngest ever. Here's President Biden saluting civil rights icon Diane Nash. As a 23-year-old student at Fisk University, Diane Nash received a phone call from Attorney General Robert Kennedy's top deputies, warning her about the violence at the next stop of the Freedom Ride she organized across the South. She replied, and I quote, we all signed our last will and testament before they left.

We know someone will be killed, but we cannot let violence overcome nonviolence. Think of that. With unmistakable courage and unshakable courage and leadership, Diane Nash shaped some of the most important civil rights efforts in American history. A key architect of the sit-in movement in Nashville, after four little girls were murdered at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, she called for

a nonviolent movement across Alabama that planted the seeds that became the Selma campaign two years later. Her activism echoes the call of freedom around the world today, and yet she is the first to say the medal is shared with hundreds of thousands of patriotic Americans who sacrificed so much for the cause of liberty and justice for all. And by the way, she asked me to make sure to add that because she didn't want to take all the credit herself. One of the folks she knows very well is a 91-year-old civil rights attorney, Fred Gray, also one of the honorees.

Dr. King, Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin, and John Lewis and other giants of our history needed a lawyer for their fight for freedom. You know who they call? They call a guy named Fred Gray. That's who they call him. One of the most important civil rights lawyers in our history. Fred's legal brilliance and strategy desegregated schools and secured the right to vote. He went on to be elected as one of the first African Americans to Alabama state legislature

since Reconstruction. An ordained minister, he imbued a righteous calling that touched the soul of our nation. And at 91 years young, he's still practicing law. He's still. And he's still practicing law. He's still keeping the faith in the best of America. Folks, Denzel Washington was supposed to be there, but the president had this to say about him not being there.

Okay, sorry folks, we should have had that. So he announced that Denzel Washington could not make it. Well, the fact of the matter is Denzel Washington tested positive for COVID and was unable to make it. I was texting his wife, Pauletta. Both were greatly disappointed. But the president did say in his speech that he would be awarding his medal at a later date. Also, the other individual who was honored was a nurse out of New York, a Jamaican immigrant, who was the first person to actually get the COVID vaccine outside of the clinical trials. When she was 18 years old, Sandra Lindsay immigrated to Queens, New York from Jamaica to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse. As director of nursing and critical care at a hospital in Queens

during the height of the pandemic, she poured her heart into helping patients fight for their lives and to keep their fellow nurses safe. And when the time came, she was the first person in America that fully vaccinated outside of clinical trials. Sandra, as I told you before, if there's any angels in heaven, they're all nurses, male and female. No, for real. They really are. Many of you who have spent a lot of time in the hospital, as some of us have, you know doctors

let you live. Nurses, male and female, make you want to live. Make you want to live. Sandra's vaccination card and hospital scrubs and badge are part of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History exhibit on COVID-19. Today she receives our nation's highest civilian honor. Senator Lindsey, again, they are the Jamaican ambassador.

Ambassador Marks was there to see that take place. Other people there, Senator Alan Simpson, Senator McCain accepted an award on behalf of her late husband, Senator John McCain. Lorene Powell Jobs, the widow of Steve Jobs, was there also, founder of, first of all, there were other people who were there as well, just amazing individuals. Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was there as well. A strong, strong proponent of gun laws and so many others who were receiving the awards. Now, when it was all over, there was a pianist that was playing different music. And then all of a sudden, begin to play, let every voice and sing. And of course, when that happens, black folks going to sing the song. Ring, ring with the harmony of liberty.

Let our rejoicing rise high as the lilies Sing loud as the rolling sea Well, I was there in the room shooting that video, got a chance to talk to a number of people afterwards. Talk about this important day. First up is the mayor of Montgomery, Alabama, Stephen Reed. Of course, remember, they took a $25,000 fire from the state of Alabama by taking the name of a street in Montgomery named after a Confederate general and putting up the name of Fred Gray. Here's what he had to say about today's ceremony.

All right, man, just your thoughts, especially your hometown hero, Fred Gray. You know, it is great for Attorney Gray and his family. We're honored that he called Montgomery, Tuskegee home. Nothing more fun than anything. It's great that his work is recognized. His dedication, his longevity, all the things that he wanted to do in terms of striking down segregation, he did.

And I'm a beneficiary of that, and so many of us are. So it's great to be in this moment and be the witness in person. Got it. Former US Senator Doug Jones, caught up with him as well. Just obviously there are some big names up there, but being from Alabama, just your thoughts about Fred Gray. You know, my friend Fred, my hero Fred, absolutely long overdue honor.

One of the unsung heroes of the movement. I'm not sure how far the movement would have gotten without a brilliant young friend of mine, really putting his career, his life on the line. An amazing man. And still going. I mean, still going. He doesn't age. 91 years old, still practicing law. He doesn't age. It's just phenomenal. I am so happy for him, his family, and frankly, for the state of Alabama. All right. Appreciate it. Thank you. All right. That was, again, former U.S. Senator Doug Jones of Alabama. Simone Biles, she actually stopped by the area where all the microphones were set up there, and she talked about what it meant to be the youngest recipient ever

and several other questions that we had a chance to ask her. Here is Simone Biles. Sorry. What's up, H-Town? Simone, how do you feel? Just tell us your feelings about today, especially today. Well, hearing that I was the youngest, it was a huge honor. It's kind of scary because it is the best award you could receive for your whole life.

So now it's kind of scary, like, oh, what do I do now? But it's a huge honor. I'm excited to be here, especially with my family, my agents, all the other recipients. So it was an exciting morning. What message do you think this honor, and maybe in some experience can send to young women across the country? Yeah, I think it really will teach them you can put anything, you can do anything you put your mind to and to just speak up, use your platforms, be authentic to yourself and stay true to yourself

and just go out there and have fun in whatever your adventure is. There have been folks honored in other sports, basketball and football for you, but with this to be gymnastics, how critical is that? Yeah, I think it's really exciting because it shines a good light on our sport because our sport is so fun. It's so incredible. We've had kind of a thought over it the last couple of years, so to put some sunshine feels good.

What is this accomplishment ranked among all your other accomplishments? I think it's definitely at the top. For me, obviously, going to the Olympics and winning all of those medals, I put in so many years of hard work and stuff. But to be recognized from the president and everything else is really special. Did the president share any message with you when you were speaking with him today? Yeah, he just was saying how courageous I was and how we kind of need more young people like that. So it was really exciting to hear that and to know that my hard work is paying off, especially using my platforms, because he said that's why they chose me as well. Any message to a foster child out there?

Sorry? Any message to a foster child out there who is watching this? Yes, I support you. I believe in you. Keep up the great work. You can do anything you put your mind to, and we're trying to do as much as we can for the foster community. We're going to continue to do that.

Thank you. Okay. You're so sorry. Dennis Archer, former mayor of Detroit, former president of the National Bar Association, shared his thoughts. Just your thoughts on these honorees, Diane Nash, Fred Gray,

some historic figures on that stage. I thought it was just outstanding and to see all of us here celebrating the recognition of what they contributed and what they meant to all of us. There's so many people I know would love

to bend your hand. There was a link. I think if you got on it, you could see it even though you're not here. I want you to know that I've been enjoying watching you on television. I want you to know that I've been enjoying watching you on television. I appreciate it. I've thought your interviews

have been outstanding and they show great respect for your contribution to what you've done and do for all of us. Keep up the good work. I will do. Well, you know, I got to represent Alpha. I appreciate it. Good seeing you.

Folks, Khazir Khan was one of the 17 honored. I met him a few years ago. He's a big fan of mine, and we had a good conversation outside of the White House about what it meant to be a presidential Medal of Freedom winner. Here's our conversation. First and foremost, how does it feel to be getting the nation's highest honor? I am humbled. I'm honored. I'm grateful to President Biden, and I'm grateful to his administration

for being the champions of diversity, equal dignity. And I accept this on behalf of all immigrants. I am a first-generation immigrant to this country. I am empty-handed and received amazing love and support and have built nothing to something. And then to receive this recognition, it means so very much to me.

I feel that that journey is moving forward because there is so much more that still needs to be done to uplift so many Americans that still have not shared American dream. So it's a reminder that that journey continues and we will continue to speak. We will continue to come together and together we will defend our foundational values so that the journey could complete without effort, without a struggle. Our civil rights would have not been possible. It was the valerious action and struggle that we have civil rights now.

But still, more needs to be done, more shall be done. So it is in that struggle, in that effort, that I accept this award. You were quite emotional a few times up there. Yes, it's a realization of how far I have come because I'm a testament to not having anything, to having so much. And sometimes as a human being, it could be overwhelming to come to full realization standing next to the president of the United States and realizing that

in the authoritarian dictatorships, I did not matter. I was no one. Here I am receiving receiving the this nation's highest recognition. So for that reason, and it reminded me of my son as well, that he would have been so proud today. All right. We certainly appreciate it. Congratulations. Always good seeing you. God bless you. Thank you. The Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, we caught up with him afterwards as well.

We were talking to him about the positive COVID designation of Denzel Washington, and he said we've got to stay vigilant. It's still real. In Connecticut, where we really had a great time with the family that had just vaccinated their six-month-old daughter. And that's what we want people to know, is today we've got a way to stay alive, stay safe, and stay healthy. It's the vaccine. Six months and above, you can get vaccinated.

So go get vaccinated. And do we need to wear masks on the outside, especially as this is so contagious? Because before, the thought was, we don't need to wear masks on the outside. If you are in an area where there is high level of contaminant excuse me contagion if you are in a an area where there's high level of contagion it makes sense to wear a mask you don't need to wear a mask

everywhere if you're outdoors it's a lot easier to go without it but if you're not if you're outdoors in a space where there's a large congregation of people, be smart, be safe, do what you think is going to work best. You don't get into any kind of vehicle without buckling up. You should not do anything about dealing with COVID without using all the safety precautions you can. Thank you, sir. Yeah, we did have an opportunity to ask him his thoughts about today's ceremony. And here is the secretary.

Who were you most excited to see be honored by the president? You know, I'll be honest. I've known some of them for years. Some of them have stories that are compelling, especially for someone of color. But I will say something. Given today's circumstances, Alan Simpson, Senator Simpson from Wyoming, Republican, he and I have a deep friendship.

Not because we agreed on so many things, it's because we were able to disagree and still be friends. And I have great fond memories when I served on the Simpson-Bowles or Bowles-Simpson Fiscal Commission. He was nothing but a gentleman. And I probably, of all the people, wanted to, as a friend, say something to him. But I will tell you, you had giants in that room, giants who fought for civil rights, giants who fought for the respect and dignity of others. You know what?

It's great that we do this for Americans because it shows who we are. But it was great. I got a kick out of seeing Alan Simpson. The guy's about two times my size, but it was great to see him. Denzel didn't show up because he had COVID. That's right. I think everybody in that room was there because they wanted to see Denzel Washington. So we'll have to come back again, right? But what does that send to, what message does that send to America that Denzel didn't even show up for the highest civilian award for any person? You know what?

When you're a no-show for your own event, you know, that's how powerful COVID can be. And that's how powerful the message should be. Get vaccinated, get boosted, get your children vaccinated because we don't want to be, you don't want to miss your award ceremony. And he's double boosted. I'm texting his wife, so he's double boosted i'm texting his wife so she's the double booster listen i'm

double boosted and i got coveted twice in a month same here in a month yeah yeah so i probably had every variant you can think of but and that's because i got to be around a lot of different folks but hey we know what it takes to be safe we know what it takes to stay alive. Let's do it. Appreciate it. Thanks a lot. All right. Now let's go to our panel. Let's see here. Greg, I'm going to start with you. Obviously, a number of people deserving of these honors. But I can tell you right now, the loudest applause for Attorney Fred Gray had his whole section over there. Every living president of the National Bar Association was there. A number of folks there to cheer him on,

and, of course, civil rights stalwart Diane Nash. Absolutely. I'd like to correct the secretary. It doesn't show who we are. There is no we. It shows who the people who live here are. It's a minor who we are. There is no we. It shows who the people who live here are. It's a minor thing, but actually it's very major.

You know, leave it to one of the greatest actors in the history of motion picture and theater to steal the scene because now he gets his own individual ceremony. So shout out to Denzel Washington. But that hasn't been said,

you know, Simone Biles obviously deserves that medal. I mean, of course it's the Medal of Freedom, which really doesn't mean a whole lot. I mean, it's demographics. It almost looks like the Democratic National Convention, right? They checked all the boxes. They got Megan Rapinoe for LBGTQ. They got the bipartisanship

with Simpson and John McCain, Richard Krumka, the old labor movement. He's warming up for the midterms. But setting that aside, I know Fred Gray is your friend. You've interviewed him. I suspect you might see him tonight, if I'm reading the tea leaves here. But Fred Gray just published a book, and I just got it a couple of weeks ago, Alabama

Versus King. This is his other book that follows up his memoir, Bus Ride to Justice. And we think about that number 25. Fred Gray was 25 years old when the Supreme Court affirmed the lower court in the Montgomery bus boycott case, breaking the back of segregation in Alabama, and by extension, setting that crack throughout the country. So, I mean, if this were a country where there was a we, he'd have gotten that medal along with Coretta and along with Martin and along with everybody else in Montgomery, E.D. Nixon,

Rosa Parks and them, and Joanne Robinson. They'd have got that medal in 1956. But three years later, as he opens his autobiography, Bus Ride to Justice, he went up the steps of the Supreme Court and argued with Dr. Charles Gamelion, Dr. Gamelion in Tuskegee, Gamelion versus Lightfoot, and rewrote the law on gerrymandering. That's Fred Gray. Fred Gray represented the victims of the Tuskegee syphilis experiments,

the Freedom Riders, some of the Montgomery marchers, and shout out to the Alabama State Bulldogs, because that's where he went to undergrad, and I saw my friend Crystal Gregory there singing the Black National Anthem, or the National Anthems, I call it. I don't know what the hell that is. But, you know, she's an alum of Fisk, and I know she was in that room because the great Diane Nash of Fisk Bulldog got that medal around her neck. So that was a beautiful thing to see, Roland. And if when you see Fred Gray, I suspect you will shortly, I sure wish I could get him to sign Alabama versus King

because my copy of his autobiography is autographed. Fred Gray is not only a legend and a hero, he is, that's what a black lawyer looks like. Everybody take note of what a black lawyer in America looks like. It's Fred Gray, brother. Well, Greg, if you're here in D.C., get down here. I'll make sure it gets signed. And so I have to do, I have to actually, we're at the Mayflower in D.C.

I have to do an actual fireside chat with Fred Gray. And so if you're looking for it to get signed, come on down here. I'll make sure it happens. Reese, I want to go to you. Some amazing folks obviously on that stage, beyond Fred, beyond Diane, beyond Simone Biles, the most

decorated woman in U.S. military history as well. And one of the closing lines of President Biden, he said, to the people on the stage, he said, this is America. This is America in terms of its diversity. Khazir Khan, Pakistani immigrant on that stage. Sandra, Jamaican immigrant on that stage.

I know that drives them ADOS folks crazy, but that's the reality of what happens in this country. I would say it's the promise of America. It's the America we aspire to. Right. But we ain't quite got there yet because there's the other side of America, which we've seen on the news and which we've talked about.

But, you know, ever the same, Dr. Carr, you know, I'm with you on the diversity tips, but I'm going to just set that aside and just go ahead and be happy for the people who were celebrated. In particular for me, Simone Biles being celebrated. I love that it was about, you know, I love that it was on the heels of her exercising some self-care and putting herself first in terms of the mental health episode that she had at the Olympics. And she was viciously attacked by people like Piss Morgan and others behind it. And so I like that she's getting recognized for the totality of her experiences,

you know, being an abuse survivor, her advocacy in that realm, as well as her advocacy in mental health, as well as her accomplishments. So for her to be the youngest Freedom Awardee is definitely very much warranted. And when Denzel comes back, I'm going to be at that. Because I had Clay today, so I wasn't able to make it. But I would have, you know, if I had something else to do. But please, I hope that Denzel's award ceremony, I can make it, but I would have, you know, if I had something else to do. But please, I hope that

Denzel's award ceremony, I can make it to that one. Well, trust me, I was texting Pauletta. She was in tears. They could not be there. And she said, I really hope Biden presents this in person to Denzel. And then when she when Biden announced that he would be presenting it later, she sent me the church happy dance emoji. She was certainly happy about that. And I told her, I said, I said, Pauletta, you make sure they don't do that photo only. You make sure there's video and it's live stream, and I'll be happy to come in and do it for y'all as long as it gets done. She said, you know, exactly. She said, you know, that's going to absolutely get done.

Erica, your thoughts about today's honorees? Yeah, so I definitely echo Reefy in her sentiments around Simone Biles. So do because she speaks about children in the foster care system and some of the different trappings that children do fall into. It is just amazing to see how she has flourished and really is a beacon and a voice for that community as well. So glad to see her, the nurse, who her work continues forward with mental well-being. And so definitely championing what she did. It was just a pleasure to see. And I took to great heart seeing Mr. Khan. And I put my hand over her a few times. I'm so glad that you interviewed him again, Roland, and showed him to listen to him talk, because I can remember in the not-too-distant past an orange son of a

Klansman ridiculing him. And the, you know, the level of strength that it took to address someone who defamed not only he and his wife, but his son who passed defending his country, something bone spurs and anything that he's connected to know nothing about. So that was really heartwarming to see him, to hear him, to see him be honored in that way, and just really to see all of the people that were there that were being honored in such a beautiful way. It really does kind of give us a real silah, just a moment to pause and to breathe and just to really celebrate folks. So I'm really glad to see the interviews that you got to know that you were in the house and to see some well-deserving people being lifted forward.

Indeed, indeed. So it was great. So folks, just so you understand here, I am here at the Mayflower Hotel, the National Bar Association. Ariel, let's get a shot of the room if we can. The National Bar Association, they're having an actual dinner in celebration of Fred Gray. All of the living presidents are going to be here. This is the program right here. I'll show you. This is the program right here. President's Dinner Celebrating Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Honorable Fred Gray, Sr.

Sheila Jackson Lee, Honorary Co-Chair. Terry Sewell, Honorary Co-Chair, and Alicia Hughes is the Dinner Chair. So Reverend Alex Trotman was supposed to emcee this, to my understanding. They texted me yesterday when I was in Birmingham asking me to do it. I said, well, sure, as long as we can actually do the show from here and also live stream from the actual ceremony, the dinner. Kristen Clark, of course, Civil Rights Division Head of the Department of Justice,

should be here giving us remarks as well. So we'll be carrying all of that right here on the Black Star Network. So let me say this here. And so, certainly congratulations to all of the winners. But there was one person who I really hope was going to be honored as a part of this class. And it was very interesting, Greg, to hear the president mention Diane Nash's role in the Nashville movement. And I'm going, but you got to honor the architect of the Nashville movement. Reverend Jim Lawson is still with us, 92 years old, gave that eulogy at Congressman John Lewis. He was the one who trained John Lewis.

He was the one who trained Diane Nash. He was the one who trained all of those folks, James Bevel, all of those folks who came out of, who were all SCLC workers. They came through Nashville. I really hope, remember in Selma, you had my man Jesse Williams, who played Reverend Jim Lawson. He was the one who made the call to MLK to come to Memphis. I had sent a text message last year to Susan Rice, as well as to Cedric Richmond. I said, man, y'all definitely got to honor him. And here's the other thing, and I'm going to go ahead and say it, and it's very interesting. Out of all of the major figures who have rounded out the king,

Reverend Ralph Abernathy even possibly has never been a Medal of Freedom honoree. I think he's deserving, and there's absolutely no doubt, Greg, that Ella Baker should be honored posthumously with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Your thoughts on those three civil rights figures. Brother, when you said Ella Baker, I thought about Septima Clark, and I thought about Ms. Hamer, Fannie Lou Hamer, and so many others. You know, this just goes to show you,

and again, I'm not being cynical, Reesey. My eyes are wide open. I just don't let America get off where it sends. And I think there may be one reason why Jim Lawson doesn't have one, quite frankly, because he doesn't have a champion. You know, I watched and listened to Congresswoman Sewell over the last couple of days, and she fought.

She fought for that medal to hang around Fred Gray's neck. And she'll be there tonight, and I'm sure she'll tell that story again. You know, I'm not sure that the other figures you mentioned have a champion. You know, there's a lot of this is politics. And I all do respect the entertainers and athletes, and I don't care who they are. This isn't singling out any athlete who's gotten one or entertainer who's gotten one. This is where a country, a nation, as opposed to kind of place where people have to jockey for position and you got somebody got a cape for you, then everyone you named and everybody else would have one. It wouldn't just be them.

It would be, you know, I mean, you name it. Does Constance Baker mightily have one? I mean, we could, I mean, you start talking about sisters who deserve one before just about anybody else, then you got to have her on the short list. I mean, but Ella Jo Baker, without Ella Baker, arguably you don't have the formation of SNCC in the way that it looked. And if you brought all of the ancestors back who were part of SNCC and brought all the ones who were living together and said if you could give out one medal, who would it be to? They might say Ella Jo Baker.

So, you know, we'll see going forward. But some things you just can't explain. If you don't have a champion, you know, maybe if Marcus Garvey had had the right champion, Barack Obama would have issued a partner. Maybe Joe Biden would. But, you know, you know, it's too much of this is politics. And you can give out as many of them as you want. And so maybe we need to, I think, to what you're raising, maybe we need to now just say, you know, if you're going to have the next black neck around that, that metal hangs around who's still breathing while you got a chance, need to be Jim Lawson.

That's a good point you're raising, brother. Absolutely. Absolutely. I will say this here. There is a member of Congress, Representative Rosa DeLauro, who has introduced the resolution to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Constance Baker Motley. And that actually was reported on in February.

And so, look, I'm going to be the champion for those three. That is Lawson, as well as Baker and Abernathy. And I can tell you right now, when I interviewed Juanita Abernathy before she died, I interviewed her in 2018 in preparation for MLK50. I can tell you that, and I'm telling you

it is extremely painful for the Abernathy family to see folks like Andrew Young, Reverend Jackson, C.T. Vivian, Reverend C.T. Vivian, Joseph Lowry, Reverend Congressman John Lewis, and so many others get the Medal of Freedom over these years, and Abernathy never has. fact that i mean it was i mean i mean we were in there and anthony was there shooting with me you the pain and the bitterness of that family is evident and and there are a lot of people who believe that uh that a lot of civil rights people who are still upset with him for writing in his book uh about dr king allegedly having allegedly having affairs the night before he was killed.

But there's no way, there's no way that you can honor a lot of these civil rights folks and you're not honoring the man who literally was standing right next to King. And as King said, without Ralph, it ain't possible. And so I just think, again, for history's sake, and I know somebody watching right now or saying, well, Roland, you know, somebody's passed on. Yeah, but it's important for history's sake. It's important, you know, for that acknowledgement. And that's why it's important that Ella Baker be recognized.

And in many ways, Ella Baker, folks, go read Barbara Ransby's book on Ella Baker. Ella Baker in many ways was like Reverend Jim Lawson. They were not the ones trying to be out front. They were not the ones trying to call news conferences. In fact, if y'all want to see, first of all, go to Black Star Network. You can see my interview with Fred Gray. You can also see my interview with Reverend Jim Lawson. Reverend Lawson said his last image of MLK was MLK in the pulpit at Mason Temple on April 3rd, 1968. And he said to me, and I was exactly where I was supposed to be, sitting on the end of a pew in the back.

So he's been a figure who's never sought the limelight. He's never tried to become like when Bob Moses resigned from the civil rights movement. He didn't want to become a civil rights celebrity. Has never been Reverend Jim Lawson. But folks, you talk. But if you go back and listen, folks, that eulogy that he gave at Congressman John Lewis's funeral. I know everybody praises President Obama's eulogy. No, the eulogy that was preached was by Reverend Jim Lawson. And that man still is sharp in mind at his age and still talking about a movement building and how to get done. His advice for Black Lives Matter. And I'll leave folks with this here.

And if y'all see my interview, it was an amazing piece. Reverend Jim Lawson could have gotten a deferment for World War II. I think it was World War II. World War II, the Korean War. He could have gotten deferment because he was a seminary student. This man is such, he was such a nonviolent person. Yes. is such he was such a non-violent person yes he chose not to accept the deferment and he accepted federal prison that's right to show how much he's against the war he could have said he could have

gotten deferment by saying hey i'm clergy he said i'm going to reject your deferment. Send me to prison because I will not go to war. An amazing figure, an amazing story. And again, a lot of people don't don't know about him. They don't know about the Nashville movement. But if you want to understand the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, if you want to understand SNCC, you have got to look at what the Nashville movement did. And so an amazing figure. And so I hope it happens. And trust me, White House folks will be hearing from me tomorrow about Reverend Jim Lawson and Reverend Ralph Abernathy, as well as Ella Baker and Recy. I fully expect you to drop in a little word to your homegirl. Okay, I got you.

Just making sure we're clear, Recy. We're here, okay. All right, y'all, I'm going to go to a quick break. You too. When I get back, y'all better bid 1,000 likes. I don't know why y'all got me having to ask y'all for this, but I'm going to go to a quick break. You too. When I get back, y'all better get a thousand likes. I don't know why y'all got me having to ask y'all for this, but I'm going to go to a quick break. We'll come back. Roland Martin, Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. I'm Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach. And on the next Get Wealthy,

what do the ultra wealthy know that most of us don't? Well, the truth is that there is financial exclusion. And unfortunately, far too many black folks haven't had access to this knowledge. And that's exactly what we're going to talk about on our next Get Wealthy with Melinda Hightower, a banker who's doing something to share exactly what you need to do to make it into the high network status. They weren't just saving just to save. They were saving for a purpose. That's right here on Get Wealthy with me, America's Wealth Coach, only on Blackstar Network. We're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it or not. From politics to music and entertainment, it's a huge part of our lives.

And we're going to talk about it every day right here on The Culture with me, Faraji Muhammad, only on the Black Star Network. Hello, everyone. It's Kiara Sheard. Hey, I'm Taj. I'm Coco. And I'm Lili. And we're SWB. What's up, y'all? It's Ryan Destiny. And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. We're here at the Mayflower Hotel for the National Bar Association dinner honoring Attorney Fred Gray for being one of the 17 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I have been off for the past couple of days.

Recy Colbert filled in for me on Tuesday. Larry Walker filled in on yesterday. If y'all want to pull a video up, we were, of course, I had to fly back to Alabama because Deshaun Smith, who is our driver, he was driving the Rover Mobile, our Sprinter, from New Orleans back to D.C. with our equipment when he was he was he was basically forced to swerve. So there was a white man driving a white Malibu who kept like Deshaun would change a lane. He would change a lane. Deshaun would change a lane back. He would change a lane back. This kept going back and forth.

Folks, if y'all could go ahead and play the video, if you have that. And so Deshaun said that he decided to back off, allow this guy to go forward. And what this guy did was something that was just absolutely heinous. So what he did was he actually pulled up alongside Deshaun, looked at him, smiled, jumped in front of him, and then slammed on his brakes, causing Deshaun to swerve. And the sprinter flipped over, y'all, flipped over seven times. Chad Washington, who's driving our other SUV from behind, Chad said he actually thought Deshaun did not make it. If y'all go to my YouTube channel,

or y'all can go to my Facebook page, y'all can pull a video up, y'all, not show these photos. Come on now, it's a video show. You'll see the video when we arrived on the scene yesterday to the actual, to actually see it. And so, it's significant. So you see all the damage. The Romo mobile is totaled

completely totaled now all these folks I posted something on on Instagram and the folks have been talking about all y'all were underinsured no we insured the vehicle we can only insure it up to 125,000 it cost 195,000 they would not allow us to insure it for more and so yes we looked at gap coverage and all that sort of stuff. That was a deal. So there's a black upfitter company out of Atlanta. It's the only black upfitter company in America. We are talking with them right now.

We're designing our next printer. They put a rush order in. They contacted Mercedes. Mercedes has looked at what happened here, and in fact, their engineers are studying our video saying that there are safety features, exactly what they were supposed to do, because what happened was when it was impact, all of the airbags in the driver's cabin, only Deshaun was in the Sprinter, they all came out and pretty much created a cocoon around him, and so he was able to walk out through the front window. He suffered contusions on his body. His thumb was injured, but that was it. That was it. We

got him, yes, he came out of the hospital later that day. We got him yesterday, we went down to Birmingham, we got all of our equipment out of the Sprinter. We got to be in Birmingham in a couple of weeks for the for the SWAT Media Day. So Sheila Smoot, former journalist, we left a number of our items with her. We then loaded the other SUV back. They drove that back. We didn't want Deshaun flying because of a concussion issues. And so we didn't want him flying because he had swelling in the brain.

So Deshaun is back. Chad is back. We're so glad that they are well. But y'all see the level of damage to the vehicle. It is completely destroyed. And so we are working right now to get a second one. And so I want to thank all of y'all folks in Alabama, folks in Louisiana, people all around the country. They've been calling, they've been texting. Folks were stopping me in the airport yesterday. I was at the White House today. Folks were stopping me there.

People had heard about it. And so we appreciate everybody. And like I posted on Instagram, we're going to have to, you know, look, Obama is going to cost us probably another seventy five to one hundred thousand dollars to to pay for to pay for a new one. And so that's what we have to do. You know, I have people talking about, oh, what about all the advertising money? Bottom line, y'all, nobody budgets all of a sudden have to drop another 75,000, 100,000 on a vehicle that we only got 18 months ago. So again, I just want to thank everybody for calling and texting. You'll have been commenting on all your prayers. We certainly appreciate it. Look, equipment can be replaced. We've got to replace some of our cameras, other stuff, but you can't replace somebody's life. And so we certainly are glad that Deshaun is well. And again, and Erica, look, you understand how serious this is,

the serious brain injury you suffered last year. And for him to walk out of that sprinter through the front window with just a slight concussion is indeed a miracle. And I know it's tough for you, Erica, to see that because what you went through and you gone through a more than a year of rehab rehab and when you had your accident you talked about just how painful it was and again and there was no one else luckily no one else is in the vehicle and folks this person did this on purpose unfortunately nobody captured his license or nothing but he literally he literally looked at the Sean smiled at

him and pulled in front and slammed his brakes causing deshaun to have to swerve roland i will say this with relationship to um deshaun praise god he's still with him um because march 15, the 18-wheel truck that hit me, the driver did that intentionally as well. He hit my car, which is a Mercedes, thank God, German-engineered tank twice from the back. And the doctor that I saw when I got back home said to me that, Erica, it was not only your faith, it was that car that saved your life. And so when people get into their cars, my boyfriend and partner was just talking to me around this, they get into their own world. And so that somebody would be so amped up in their car that they would literally weaponize their vehicle and cause undue harm to a person is completely, completely sinister. I am grateful that my

partner sent me a clip of what you shared on social media and I saw kind of your update, but he cropped out so that I didn't see the pictures because that's still very difficult for me to see car crashes, to be very honest with you. So I stepped away when those photographs and video was being shown, but it's important for the audience to see because they need to see not just the crash but they need to see um that that was an intentional act um and that that could have cost someone that their life um what i will say with regard to deshaun having that level of accident my prayer is that he um is granted granted all of the space that he needs for healing, and he is afforded all of the care that he needs, and that I'm so, so very glad that he's still here with us today

to still testify to his life, and may he have as much grace to heal. You know, Recy, it's real interesting. You know, I always got these haters out here, and they're like, oh, he's asking for money. By and large, it's here. You know, we travel around this country covering stories nobody else covers.

And the reality is there are going to be HBCU campuses we're going to. There are going to be places we're going. And I'm fully transparent. Somebody just posted on YouTube, Roland, I think full car insurance will cover your van. Please don't say you're raising money to get a new van. Just say you're raising money,

bro. I found that to be misleading. Viewers are smarter. No. I'm telling you exactly why we're raising money. I'm very honest. I don't sit here in front because I'm showing our viewers what their resources are going to. Yeah, and

y'all, that's what you took out of Roland's testimony, out of Deshawn's testimony, out of Erica's testimony is Roland must be just out of Deshawn's testimony, out of Erica's testimony, is rolling. It must be just trying to get some money. Go to hell, bitch.

I'm so sick of y'all. Like, take a moment and take in what's happening. Take in the lesson. Take in life that's unfolding in front of you instead of just always trying to jump in on some bullshit and on some petty shit. Come on, do better. Do better than that.

If you don't want to give, if you ain't got it to give, don't give. But you can shut the fuck up and not give. You don't have to be loud and not give. Nobody is twisting your arms. Nobody is docking your pay. If you have it in your heart, and if you have the ability to give,

then give. And see how simple that is? It's simple. But at any rate, whether you give or don't give, I just thank God for Erica, for her being here with us. I thank God for Deshaun.

And I thank God for the entire Roland Martin Unfiltered family because we are a family. This ain't CNN. This ain't Disney behind us. God for the entire Roland Martin unfiltered family because we are a family. This ain't CNN. This ain't Disney behind us. It ain't whoever Fox behind us. It's a family. And if you don't look out for family,

that's on you. That's not on Roland. That doesn't speak to Roland's character. That speaks to your character. And if you ain't got it, you ain't got it. I understand it. But don't be a belligerent asshole about it. And you know, Greg, Bob Mons is here. Erica, go ahead. Go ahead, Erica. Go ahead.

And I just want to say with regard to what Recy said, to tack on to what she said, it was Roland Martin unfiltered. It was my big brother Roland. It was my sister Recy. It was Dr. Greg Carr. It was Dr. Avis Jones-DeWeaver, it was all of RMU staff that was cash-apping me, because you don't know what the hell Deshaun

is going to have gaps for. So as Recy said, if you don't have it to give, that's cool. But the bottom line is what Roland does, he's completely transparent about every damn monitor, all pieces of equipment, what he needs, what he's desiring to present excellence to us. And as Reese said, if you ain't got it to give, don't give it. But damn, don't use your keyboard cowardice and type something when he's doing exactly what he's been doing for several years now, which is being transparent, being very honest, laying to bear what it is.

And so I'm going to make sure the same way that Reese and Roland did, that I give to make sure that I am acting on the law of recipro, the same way that Recy and Roland did, that I did, to make sure that I am acting on the law of reciprocity the same way the Roland Martin unfiltered family did for me. Greg, take us home.

No, brother, all I can do is echo what Recy and what Erica have said. In fact, right now here in Washington, D.C., there is a whole staff. You just got through transporting a dozen and a half of that staff to cover Essence Fest. And it was widely covered on CNN. It was in the New York Times. I saw it all over MSNBC.

Wait. Yeah, no, I didn't. But at any rate, that staff that you have has a graphic that they show near the end of every show with all the ways to give. And I'm sure they have it right there. They could put it up while I'm talking, I suspect, so that you don't have to ask them to do it. And I know they will because they are a crack staff. They're volunteers, of course. And they wait. Oh, you know. OK. Yeah. And so all the shows on the black star network and it doesn't cost money to get launched over over the top wait yeah and then all the producers who work for the black star network i mean you know they're obviously volunteers but uh wait no i'm trying to think of who is actually volunteering it might be the guy with the microphone who doesn't take a salary,

who does speaking engagements, and who started a whole-ass network out of his mind by working for years long before he left those other engagements, whether it be CNN, whether it be TV One, with this in his mind, that this was the vision. And here we are at a watershed moment that has unfolded over the course of the last several years, including two of which, which was a whole-ass pandemic. Now, to get to Savannah, to get to Georgia to help get the vote out, to get to Louisiana, to get all over the South, to go on location, to have to cover all the congressional hearings, to have people in front of cameras and streamed forever, permanently on over all these platforms and an archive that can be accessed at any time,

you know, it costs money. And so in a minute, Roland, I hope, you know, you'll remind us of how many people you have, whether it be Instagram, whether it be Twitter, whether it be Facebook, whether it be YouTube, combined across all those platforms. And I agree with my sisters. You know, if you don't have it, don't give. I am going to put some money on it right now as soon as we get off it, as I get on a train and head to the Mayflower Hotel. Because guess what?

I did not see. I did not see Fred Gray interviewed on CNN. I didn't see Don Lemon in that room today. I didn't see Rachel Maddow in that room. Since you want to talk about being such a feminist, why weren't you talking to Diane Nash? I'll tell you why. Because you don't give a damn about Diane Nash. Let me tell you about

Diane Nash on the worst day of her life. It's better than the best day of your life, Rachel Maddow. And I'm not saying that because you're anybody to talk about. I'm just saying it because some of y'all think that white media is somehow the gold standard. Roland Martin, you have been and

continue to be in those places where our people are. How many people wouldn't know Gary Chambers if you hadn't talked to him? How many people wouldn't know Charles Booker? You was talking to Charles Booker before he blew up. You know what I'm saying? Today, Brittany Griner, it's a big story now, but how many people would have taken it from the way that you

took it? Bottom line, if you don't have it, guess what? Everybody who does is making it possible for everybody who doesn't to share this resource. Because last I checked, YouTube is free to us, but it costs you money to put it together. That, man, that Rumble should be retired by the end of this show. Please, y'all, I know you would say it wrong, but let me ask for you, brother. Please, y'all. I know you would say it, Roman. Let me ask for you,

brother. Please, team, sitting in that beautiful, and of course, they don't charge you any rent. Wait. Oh, yeah. I guess they do. Put that graphic back up again. Do y'all see the cash app? Do y'all see the PayPal? Do you see the Venmo? Do you see the Zelle? This is not the Blackstar

YouTube show. Haters, this is the Blackstar Daily Digital Network Roland Martin unfiltered, the flagship show. And for old folks like my mom and them was, who would write a check out in that precise machine handwriting, P.O. Box

57196, Washington D.C. 20037-0196. Y'all do that. Let's retire this right now. It should be a new roller bill completely paid for by the time. And I should end with this, Roland. Did you say it's a black-owned company? Let me tell you about

Roland Martin. Why are y'all talking about this black empowerment and running out and giving your money for tennis shoes and the latest this and that and letting your master have your last dime? Roland Martin looks for black people. Go to his studio. Black art.

Black people hung the lights. Black people strained together electronics. Black people all over the walls. He done found a black company to replace it. So guess what? By the time that thing comes here, not only should it be paid for, we ought to have another reserve 200K to pay for that. Brother Deshaun, he your brother.

And you fooled and smiled and maybe even be watching this right now. Oh, your day's coming, baby. You and that damn 18-wheeler driver that tried to do something to our sister Erica, but she's protected by something much bigger than you will ever glimpse in your miserable life. So y'all put this on. Well, folks, I certainly appreciate it. Greg, Recy, and Erica, thank you so very much. I'm about to hop off.

I had to go emcee this program, and we'll be live streaming this event. Only the Black Star Network is here. Nobody else is here, and y'all make that happen. Folks, I'll see y'all tomorrow. Take care. Holla. Thank you. This award is an acknowledgment that the progress we enjoy today would not have been made possible without the sacrifices of freedom fighters like Attorney Gray.

I join the National Bar Association in congratulating Attorney Fred Gray Sr. on his receipt of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. May this award help ensure that his legacy of service and sacrifice continues to be a part of our nation's story for generations to come. Thank you all so much, and thank you, Attorney Gray, for all that you have done for our country. And as a fellow Alabamian, I am forever grateful for what you have done. Thank you. Vielen Dank. Ladies and gentlemen, while we are setting up the mic for the fireside chat, I would like to welcome to the dais past president Ben Crump. Roland Martin is going to have a fireside chat with our legend, Fred Gray, and he's getting miked, and so we will proceed with that next.

Thank you. All right. Are we on? Got us on? There we go. All right, folks, how y'all doing? Good, good. All right. It calls the five-side check. What a five. What a five. Glad to see everyone here. I literally just finished doing my show. They, you know, I don't know. They got real black. They texted me yesterday. Hey, Ro, can you do this? I'm like, all right, I guess I'll be back in town.

And we're also streaming this. And so for the folks who cannot be here, they are checking it out. But as always always glad to see all of you here at National Bar Association and of course seeing Fred Gray looking smooth. He had some funky socks on last time I interviewed him last year and so I see you got them on again so looking all good. So first and foremost just how did it feel for you sitting on that stage and seeing this moment, the President of the United States providing you the nation's highest honor? Let me first say before I answer your question, you were saying how... I'm going to do this here. He got your mic a little messed up. I want them to hear you. There we go. Okay. You were saying how

you just agreed to do this a day or so ago. Well, guess what? I found out I was going to be interviewed just a few minutes ago. I'm in a really worst state that you are. Now, one more good question. Now, y'all got to understand, last year, when I called Fred to do an interview, I left a voicemail to talk to him,

and his wife, where's your wife? His wife heard the voicemail, and Fred said he gets a lot of requests, but when she heard my voice, she said, oh, you doing that interview. So when he did it, I thanked her because she said, no, I don't care who you talk to, you going to talk to Roland Martin. So y'all always getting good with the wife or the husband. That way y'all would get the hookup.

So the question, Fred, was, again, sitting on that stage, thinking about all these years you've been a lawyer, and you're sitting there amongst these other dignitaries, and you are being presented with the nation's highest honor by the President of the United States. What was going through your mind as you sat on that stage? Well, I went back and thought, and And I used to sit there on that stage and reflected my birth on December 14, 1930. I didn't know about that, but I learned about it later. And I knew that I was the youngest of five children.

My father died when I was two and my mother only had a first or sixth grade education. And then I thought about how she worked. And I thought about the fact that they were very religious and they thought I ought to make a preacher. And in those days, basically a black boy was the only real preacher or teacher, and they did that on a segregated basis. So I thought about the fact that our preacher knew about this church, school, Nashville Christian Institute up in Nashville.

So he said, Fred needs to go up there. I didn't have any money, but somehow they got me up there. And I went up there to learn how to be a boy preacher. Marshall Siebel, who was one of the pioneer preachers in the Church of Christ, took me around and others, and I would appear, he had raised money and blind people. I thought about all of that, then I went back home to become a teacher. I realized, and this was in 1948, 1947, that everything was completely segregated. I had to use the bus system to go from the west side of Montgomery to the east side of

Montgomery. Our people were having trouble on the buses. One man had been killed, and they told me lawyers help people solve problems. And I thought about the fact that I decided I was going to become a lawyer. But first I was going to finish Alabama State, not apply to the University of Alabama because I knew they wouldn't accept me. Go to law school, accept some funds that the state of Alabama made for black boys and girls, not at the black schools, black colleges at that time. And then I went and went to Kays Western Reserve University. All of this came across my mind. And in three years I finished, stopped back in Lombos and took the bar exam. A month later, took the

Alabama bar exam, and on September 7, 1954, I was licensed to practice law. I'm now ready to do what I had planned to do, and that was to destroy everything segregated I could find. It was a long way from September 7, 1954, to July 7, 2022, that all came to my mind. And I finally concluded, and I've been through a lot of other things. I was supposed to have had a federal judgeship at that time, the longest hearing, back in, what was it, 1980. But it didn't come through. So as I sat and thought, and I knew people had been trying to get this award for me for

the last 20 years. And I said, and people have asked me, well, before we came up, what? I said, I'm not going to rejoice until it's all over. It's all over now, so I can rejoice. And that's the history of it. You just said that you wanted to tear anything down that was Jim Crow. Just speak about the power of the law. There are folks who say, man, you should be in the pulpit, you can save people, lead in the Jesus. There are people who say you can run for office, you can be an actor on television, but just talk about just the power of the law. I thought early on as a youngster,

and maybe I was too naive to realize the reality of it, that if black people were going to be able to do any of the things that needs to be done and obtain the same rights that white people have in this country is going to have to be by the law. And when you look at the Constitution and when you look at the amendments, particularly the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendment, they were supposed to give us all the rights that white folks had, but we didn't have them. But I also felt that I was not evil enough to believe, and I still believe, that ultimately the law, we're going to have to try to work to change it. And I wasn't

the first person who thought that. You'd had black people and white people who had been filing lawsuits since shortly after slavery to try to correct the things that I felt in Alabama at least I would try. And so I thought we would use the law. And as I look back now and think about it, we have basically gotten off the book all of those laws that discriminate based on race. While it's off the books, in reality, we still have it in many instances. So we must now go and finish the job of inequality and racism so that we will be able to enjoy and have the same privileges that all other

citizens of this country have. All right. What do you say to a 23-year-old lawyer today who looks at this conservative Supreme Court, who looks at the decisions they are making, who looks at Republican legislatures putting in places voter suppression laws. And I hear this from people who say, man, this thing is against us. There's nothing we can do. What do you say to that 23 year old today? I said to him,

if you go back and look for now or her or her, when you go back and look or her, when you go back and see any person who's interested in it, from slavery time, will you think from being a slave to being here where we are now? How far have we come? We've come a long way.

And how have we gotten here? We've gotten here by using the law. And in addition to the law, people have gotten involved in demonstrations and other things. We did it in Montgomery, the first real mass one, with 40,000 people staying off of the buses for 383 days and nobody thought it could be done, but we were able to do it. So then we can't afford to lose faith in the law. We can't afford to lose faith in the books. What we've got to somehow be able to do is convince enough people who will be willing to work together and use the law and vote into office of proper people so that they will properly administer the laws that's on the book and other laws that needs to be put on the books and we so we can elect people from the presidency to the Congress to the Supreme Court to our city and county legislature it's the vote is going to be the key to it and we can't lose fault in that.

Especially the fight to get that second black district in Alabama. Especially the fight to get that second black congressional district in Alabama. That's deserving. It's always interesting when I talk to people and I love it when people talk about Montgomery and the bus boycott and you hear all these different stories about what happened. You and I had a great interview last year, which you said was the best ever done with you. That wasn't me. He said, but for folk who have no idea, just share with people exactly how Montgomery happened. You and somebody else sitting at a kitchen table coming up with the idea. This is for all the folk who claim it was their idea.

You were there, so share it with us. Well, I think if there were any one person who wanted to get mass participation by black people in Montgomery to solve the problems on the buses, it was Joanne Robinson. Now Joanne Robinson was a professor of English at then Alabama State College for Negroes, now Alabama State University. And I was interested. I was not really, it wasn't my idea, and I wasn't particularly interested in the mass participation of the vans to represent them, telling them what the law says. Keep them out of jail. Telling them what the chances are. And if you violate the law, be prepared to enjoy the consequences and realize that you're going to go to jail.

And if you decide to go to jail, I'm going to have to tell you what could happen to you. And I remember later on, and I'm getting ahead of myself, that Dr. King said to me me when they were about to do something I said, well, here is what the law says. And he says, yes, Fred, but you know what? There's a higher law.

And we are going to go and if we get in jail, and I said I'm pretty sure you will. When we get ready for you and I said, I'm pretty sure you will, when we get ready for you, we'll call you, and we want you to come and get us out. And you said, I'll be by the phone. So after Joanne Robinson had had an experience in 1948 on almost an empty bus, she started

working on keeping records of events events and she was a member of the Women's Political Council, a black organization in Alabama and Montgomery that was subconcious about all these black problems. And then when Claudette Carvin was arrested on March the 2nd, 1955, a 15-year-old girl just studied Black History Month, not sitting in the front ten seats of the buses, but somewhere else, had just studied about the rights that they had. These kids got out of school early. They lived in a section in the northeast part of the city of Montgomery, and they had to ride the public transportation system downtown, then go transfer to the Black Silver. And they all knew never to sit in those seats.

However, on this particular day, they got out of school early, and the bus coming from downtown to where they live, they walked down there because it wasn't too far. More white people were on that bus than usual. But when they got on, they got on first. They weren't sitting in the first seats. As a matter of fact, Claudette was sitting in the seat right before the back door. So there was two seats, rows of seats in between. And when white people came on and the driver asked her to get up, she says, I'm not sitting in the white section, I'm not violating the law, and I'm not going to get up. They literally had to drag her off. She didn't know anything about Fred Gray.

She called her pastor. Her pastor called E.D. Nixon. E.D. Nixon, who was Mr. Civil Rights, called me, said, you need this lawyer, and I represented her. And I thought, and I raised my little objections and said that this is an honest student, Judge, and not a rabble-rouser, not trying to violate the law, wasn't sitting in the first ten seats. I said, what they were trying to do is enforce the segregation laws. Judge Heald listened to me very respectfully and before, as soon as I got to, he said, I found her to be a delinquent and put her in the custody of her parents and she doesn't have to make any kind of reports. So what did you do? She didn't have to do anything, just don't get into no more trouble. Joanne, I was sorry

about the fact that I wanted to appeal the case and did appeal it, but Joanne Robinson arranged a meeting with the bus company officials and the city officials. And they said they were sorry about what had happened, but that what they would end up doing, they wouldn't happen again. Then when Rosa Parks was arrested, and people who knew Mrs. Parks, she was a secretary of the branch of the NAZP,

she was chair of the youth committee. And when she was arrested, and they said she was charged with disorderly conduct, and her whole demeanor was not that at all. They said, just this is enough. So when I was out of town and I'd had meetings with Mrs. Parks from the time I opened my office in October until the day of her arrest. We had talked about what you ought to do and how a person should conduct themselves if they decided, and they were asked to get up and give their seats. And she went back to her work. I went out of town, and she knew I did. When I got back, I found I had phone calls from everybody, including Mrs. Parks, including my secretary, including Joanne Robinson. And when I returned the call, Ms. Parks had come over and talked with me. And I went over, I talked with her, she retained me to represent her. And this was on Thursday evening. It's getting to be pretty late now. And so I said, well, Ms. Parks, you've done your job. I'll

get back in touch with you between now and Monday. And she said the trial is set for 830 on Monday and the recorders go to the city of Montgomery and we'll talk about your case. However, you know, Ms. Robinson wants to get the community involved. So I'm going to go first and talk to Mr. Nixon, who had gotten out of jail. And I knew he was a poor Moncorp holder. He was in town three days and out of town three days. And then I'm going to talk to Joanne Robinson and see what we can do. We'll let you know, but you don't do anything else. We don't want you involved in this. You've done enough. I went to Mr. Nixon. Mr. Nixon says, lawyer, well, I understand everything. You know, I've got to get on the train tomorrow and go to Chicago, and I won't be back for three days. But you go on and talk to Professor Robinson.

Call me and tell me what you want to do. I'll get hold of these preachers because they are the ones that will see people over the weekend. And hopefully we'll be able to do something. I went to Joanne Robinson. I talked to her. And I tried to make this as short as I can. This is the conclusions we had in her living room, and only the two of us were there. One, if we're going to ever get the community involved, now is the time to do it.

Two, if we're going to do it, we need to have the two black leaders we have here. And that was, I told you about A.D. Nixon. And the other one was Rufus Lewis. Rufus Lewis was a former coach at Alabama State. And he had a nightclub, and the name of the nightclub was the Citizens Club. And in order to get in that club, you had to be a registered voter. But all he was concerned with was getting people registered to vote and to have them held accountable. He wasn't concerned about destroying segregation and all of that for a couple of reasons. Number one, his wife, Jewel, was the co-owner of the largest film home in town.

And because black film home owners had a monopoly on black business, if you end up integrating things, they might lose some business. However, there's another part of that story, and that is they have automobiles and they have drivers and if we're gonna get people to stay off of the buses we'll need it so we need him we need money we need that so I said and we concluded that those two men must be involved then we also said preachers got to be involved. So we said we got to get the preachers involved. So that was all of that.

And then there was another thing you just might need in all of this is a lawyer. Here am I, send me. So those were the plans. So we sat there, and I told, and she said, well, she was talking about staying off the bus for one day. I said, that's fine, Joanne, but suppose it's successful, and they stay off the bus that one day. How are we going to keep them off until I can file a lawsuit that decision is made by the Supreme Court. So we had to then come up with a plan so that if they stayed off of the buses we'll be able to stay longer. And what was the plan? The plan was that she was going to get some

leaflets out, tell people another black person has been arrested and we want to stay off of the bus as a protest on the day of her trial on Monday and then we'll meet at the church and decide where we go from there. So then I told Joanne I said and she says we got to get a spokesman somebody who can keep us together during this period of time that we stay off. She said, well, I tell you who that is going to be. It's going to be Martin Luther King, my pastor. One thing about him, he hasn't been involved in any civil rights work. He doesn't know anything about it.

He's new in town. He's new in town. He's new in town. Only been here a little about a year. So he doesn't have any following other than his little small group of people at Dexter. But he can move people with words. I said, Joanne, let me tell you what we need, what a good job for E. D. Nixon was easy. He knew A. Philip Randolph, who was head of his labor union in New York. And if we make him the treasurer, A. Philip Randolph will raise some money and that will help us get that done. Now what you're going to do with Rufus Lewis? His wife, Jewel, the school owner, the largest film home in town, they have the cars, they have the drivers, you make him chairman of the transportation committee and what you. And you have the driver.

We recommended that to the people. Now, Joanne worked for the state. So it couldn't be known that she was making these plans. And Fred Gray just got bought, would be unbred before we could get barred good. So it couldn't be known. So we couldn't let it be known that we were doing this planning. So we planted the seeds and other people and didn't want the credit for it. And when the official meeting was taking place at Home Street Baptist Church that night after the people had stayed off of the bus and after Ms. Parks had been convicted.

Dr. King was selected to be the spokesman. E.D. Nixon was selected to be the treasurer. Rufus Lewis was selected to be the chairman of the Transportation Committee. And a young lawyer just out of law school was elected to be the lawyer for the movement. And the rest of the district. I have one final question. They gave me the five-minute signal ten minutes ago. But deal with it.'s Fred Gray Out of all the legal things You've been involved in

And whenever I ask this question of entertainers They always tell me It's a song most people don't like And never even heard about What do you consider to be Your greatest legal accomplishment? I consider Every one of the cases that I tried and that the Supreme Court of the United States agreed with the philosophy or agreed with in all of those were involving racial discrimination. I wasn't involved in these other forms of discrimination.

They're fine. But all of those cases, from the buses to protecting rights in NAACP versus Alabama, or Alabama versus NAACP, to gerrymandering and Gourmetion v. Lightfoot, to Rice of Students and St. John Dixon v. Alabama Board of Education, to the jury discrimination cases, all of these cases, and of course all of your school desegregation cases because the file cases that prohibited discrimination from kindergarten all the way to graduate and professional school. All of those cases are cases that I think did. Hey! And I will throw this one out. What was that there was a case that you were involved in that dealt with one of the church denominations and African

Americans and their money. What was that? There was a case you were involved in that dealt with one of these church denominations and black pension funds and along those lines. Someone sent me an article. They say that you were involved in this case. I don't know if it was the Church of Christ or one of the denominations that you were involved in. Oh. They said that was a very significant, that people rarely talk about. out of the church of christ or one of the nominations the new involved in all that they said that was a very significant significant people there

rarely talk about are you talking about segregation in uh... educational institutions progress to the because i don't know how to state institutions discriminated against i thought i was a little bit of you're thinking about the one that we filed against David Luskin College in Nashville, which is a Church of Christ-related school.

And I went to NCI in Nashville for high school, which was a Church of Christ-related school. And A.M. Burden, who was a rich white man in Nashville, supported both of those schools and supported Brother Keeble, who carried me around. And they closed our school and decided to make scholarships available to black students at David Lusko. And I didn't think that they should do that, and I ended up filing a lawsuit. I lost the lawsuit, but I went in on the final analysis. They gave me an honorary degree. And that school, and David Lipscomb,

has been supporting the Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Multicultural Center, which is the history museum in Tuskegee, Alabama, that all of you need to come to and all of you need to support. And that is what the men in the Tuskegee syphilis study wanted done. So all of these things kind of come together. And I may not have answered such a question. You did. You answered it. You answered it. You answered it. That David Wilson has paid, has contributed substantially for five years, a substantial amount. And as a result of that, we've been able to keep the doors open. But then I would go around and make speeches and the money would go to the History Center,

but I haven't been able to do that now. So that museum stands a chance of having to be closed unless you and the three organizations here who are sponsoring this will help us keep the doors open. And that's one of the things I want you to do. How much? How much? How much do you want to raise? How much do you want to raise? How much do you want to raise? See, I'm a firm believer. Look, it's like church. I need a number. A million dollars. A million dollars. A million dollars would I'm a firm believer. Look, it's like church. I need a number. A million dollars. A million dollars. A million dollars would get us a good start. A good start. A million dollars. That's it. Okay. All right. Well, we can, right. That's why I'm like,

as in the words of Frank Lucas in America Gangster, I'm going to get that money. Um, good. A million dollars. And so if somebody who's watching live stream, they want to support, where do they go? Uh let me get a I'll look I'll look it up I'll get a real talk show you. We'll put it out there so the target goal is a million dollars uh and so um Ben you gonna leave that? I'm gonna leave it. You gonna leave that?

I'm leaving it for my friend right now. Okay you do that what what friend is that? The greatest one on mega size 530. Oh and the greatest now you know. I mean I mean. for my friend, brother. Okay, you do that. What friend is that? Fred was born on Vegas, South Park. Oh, and the greatest now. I mean, I mean, it's a nice youth group, but he has the website.

Fred, give me the website. I'm going to go ahead and do this here since we're here. No, Fred, do this here. You can get your phone when you stand right here. Let's do this and get your phone which is there right here uh... and so uh... let's do this here uh... list are there are their commitments in this room right now starting at ten thousand dollars for your music

uh... what yeah what what what what what to do not assume that we start at ten bro this in my first rodeo. Come on, now. Yeah, so what? What you got? What? Over two years? Huh?

What? Over five years? Well. Hold up, hold up, Fred. As long as we can get some to keep it open right away. Cool. So what we do is we say five-year commitment to raise a million dollars. That's right. Okay? Ben Crump, you in for 10? I'm to raise a million dollars. That's right. Okay.

Ben Crump, you here for $10,000? I'm here for $10,000. Okay. Write it down. All right. I don't play. All right. Where?

Right here? I want you to write that down. All right. We got $10,000 here at this table here. I see Rodney. Rodney for $10,000. That's three at $10,000. All right, anybody else?

Anybody say $10,000? All right, $5,000. Level of $5,000. Well, first of all, Fred put me down for $10,000. And this alpha, I don't need five years. All right, so we got four at $10,000. And then, okay, $5,000? $2,500?

$1,000. All right, so I see a woman in the back. Hand her a card. I see Spencer. Hand him a card. I see the woman at this table. Hand her a card. I see three hands here.

You got $5,000? All right, I uh three hands here we got you got you have five thousand all right i see two hands here uh at a thousand say it again five thousand i didn't i mean right here in the white right here in the white right here in the white right here give her the card right here give her the card all right anybody. Anybody else? At $1,000. All right. Right here. Right here. Maurice Foster at $1,000. Gotcha. That's about $10,000.

And I got about $4,000. Okay. That's fine. So we're probably at about $80,000 or $90,000. So I'm going to throw out $500. Let's get to $100,000. Who committed to $500? Just raise your hand. Now hand your card.

Got a table here. One here. Woman here. All right. Two here., one here, two here. Anybody up here? Alright. Right here. So we got about $90,000, $95,000. So Fred, we're almost at 10% of what your goal is.

Alright. Alright. Let me tell you this. Final word from... Let me stand up on this one. I learned a long time ago, never let money leave the room. Fred, final comment. Go, Fred. What I need you

to do, I think he has a pad. Let's circulate the pad so that we can have your name and your contact information. Oh, yeah. We handed them cards. They all got cards. They have cards to fill out. To put their name on it. And get back to us. Because see what you can can do if you do this

There are some major corporations over the country who will help us There are some educational institutions who will help us But I'm just so happy that we start here to show if these organizations have enough faith and confidence in me, and I've been a member of all three of them for a long time, almost ever since I've been a lawyer and one before that time, then they will know that we mean business and we will keep that open and it will also encourage these other lawyers who are now working on

phases of civil rights which is even more difficult or equally as difficult as we had and if they know that we those of us who are here who made this type of commitment we could end up raising enough money so that we could even expand that museum so that it can do, and it does three things, so I can tell you all of it. One, I told you, it's a permanent memorial for those men, and the federal government ought to help us. They helped Tuskegee University, and I'm glad they're doing it. They have a Bauer Ethics Center where they've gotten multi-million dollars from it, and I helped them to do it.

All we're saying is the federal government ought to also help the Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Multicultural Center. As I sat up there in the East Room, the last time I was there is when Mr. Shaw, a participant in the study, said to the president, we've started this, we want a permanent memorial for it, and we want you to help him. And the president said, we're going to help you. But he thought he was talking about the bioethics center at the university, and it did. I wrote him a letter, and then the Tuskegee Central study has said, I told the president, we appreciate what you're doing, we want that, but we also, the men we're talking about, they know nothing about biorethics,

but they know about a memorial and he talked about it. That's what it is and I appreciate it. Very great. Ladies and gentlemen. Let's give Fred a round of applause. Thank you so much. And thank you, Roland. For a great interview. Thank you so much. Thank you, Roland, for a great interview. Thank you, sir. We will proceed now with dinner. Dinner is served.

I know you guys are hungry. So we will have dinner and then we will have in just five minutes or so. I just want I don't want a lot of clattering of the plates while there's next speakers are up. So let's just move forward, get the get the main courses down, and then we'll have our next two speakers. Let's go. Gracias. Thank you. Các bạn nhìn thấy không? Các bạn nhìn thấy không? Các bạn nhìn thấy không? Các bạn nhìn thấy không? Các bạn nhìn thấy không? Các bạn nhìn thấy không?

Các bạn nhìn thấy không? Các bạn nhìn thấy không? Các bạn nhìn thấy không? Các bạn nhìn thấy không? Các bạn nhìn thấy không? Các bạn nhìn thấy không? Các bạn nhìn thấy không? Các bạn nhìn thấy không? I've been here my whole life. I've been here my whole life. I've been here my whole life. I've been here my whole life.

I've been here my whole life. I've been here my whole life. I've been here my whole life. I've been here my whole life. I've been here my whole life. I've been here my whole life. I've been here my whole life. I've been here my whole life.

I've been here my whole life. I've been here my whole life. Thank you. I'm sorry. Thank you. Thank you. I'm here because of my daughter. Yeah, I'm here in the living room. So, sister, I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here.

I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here.

I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here.

I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here.

I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here.

I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here.

I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here.

I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. Well, hello. How you doing? Good.

How are doing? Good. How are you? Good. Real pleasure. Real pleasure. Good to be seen. Rebel under you. I'm going to be a lawyer. Thank you. I win. I win. Yeah, I win.

I don't know if I can see it. That looks too narrow. Maybe you can... We'll use your arm. I'm going to use my arm. I'm going to use my arm. I'm going to use my arm. I'm going to use my arm.

I'm going to use my arm. I'm going to use my arm. I'm going to use my arm. I'm going to use my arm. I'm going to use my arm. I'm going to use my arm. I'm going to use my arm. Here, maybe you can... We'll use your arm. Because I've got to give this to Terry and Jim. Okay. Oh, wow. How's everything going?

Good. This is good. The kids? Talk to me about the dictionary. Thank you. I don't like the sound of it. So you spend your time, my office is meditative. So meditative is like a good life happy hour. It's because I'm there, I spend my day on a day. And then I do what you call the other day. I'm not going to run around here. I'm not going to Girl? I'm not a girl.

I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl.

I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl.

I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl.

I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl.

I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl.

I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl. Thank you. Thank you.