#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Brothers' voting rights rally on The Hill; Biden town hall reactions; AG addresses Chicago gun crime

Episode Date: July 23, 2021

7.22.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Brothers rally for voting rights on Capitol Hill; Biden town hall reactions; AG Garland to visit Chicago to address gun violence; Lindsey Graham says GOP should ditch DC to block the $3.5T infrastructure bill; We'll take a look at the Environmental Justice for All Act; The bust Nathan Bedford Forrest to be removed from the Tennessee State Building; Crazy a$$ woman accused of spitting on a Black female activist at a protest won't be charged with a hate crime; Cop charged for deleting traffic stop video; Black man files a $10M civil rights lawsuit against the Detroit police department and one of its officers for being wrongfully detained Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered#RolandMartinUnfiltered is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man.

We met them at their homes. We met them at the recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to it. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

I always had to be so good, no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes, rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers

at taylorpapersilling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. Today is Thursday, July 22nd, 2021. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, Black Voters Matter and the Coalition of Black Men. We're on Capitol Hill today protesting for voting rights. We'll talk with three of them, including a couple who got arrested. President Joe Biden addressed many voting concerns last night during CNN's Town Hall event in Cincinnati. But his answer regarding the

filibuster didn't sit too well with Cliff Albright, co founder of Black Voters Matter. Can't wait to hear what he has to say. Attorney General Merrick Garland visited Chicago today to address the problem of gun violence. We'll talk to a Chicago gun violence activist about what citizens need to do to deal with the problem. Speaking violence. We'll talk to a Chicago gun violence activist about what citizens

need to do to deal with the problem. Speaking of Illinois, Senator Tammy Duckworth has reintroduced a bill to provide health, equity, and climate justice for underserved communities and communities of color. We'll talk about the issue of environmental justice. Plus, we have all of that. Plus, one, we're dealing with that,

but also, where's our money segment? I'm going to talk about Amazon's giving Van Jones and Chef Jose Andres $100 million each to do whatever they want. But I'm going to show you how Amazon could actually help the black community when it comes to their annual $20 billion marketing budget. Yeah. Folks, aid versus investment. Philanthropy to black communities versus helping black businesses. I'm going to break it down for you. It's time to bring the funk on Roller Unfiltered.

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

With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling It's on go-go-royal It's rolling, Martin He's rollin' with Uncle Roro, y'all. It's Rollin' Martin, yeah. Rollin' with Rollin' now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best, you know he's Rollin' Martin now. Rolling Martin. Last week, black women were on Capitol Hill. Civil disobedience when it comes to voting rights.

Congresswoman Joyce Beatty was among those who arrested. Today, it was the brothers, Congressman Hank Johnson, Cliff Albright, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, and others were out there today. There were 10 men who were arrested as they protested outside of the Senate Hart Office building. Roland Martin and the filter, we were there with our cameras, live streaming the entire event.

If you go to our YouTube channel, you can actually see what took place with the event, folks. Now, Capitol Police took them into custody after being warned that they were demonstrating without a permit and blocking the entrance to the building. The demonstration began in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, where Johnson, Albright, and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and others demanded Congress and reform for the filibuster reform, okay? Guys, if I could hear the audio, it'd be great.

Of course, they want them to pass, thank you, they want them to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. The goal is to have consistent pressure being applied, consistent pressure being applied to Congress for Democrats to actually move. Joining us right now is Cliff Albright, co-founder of Black Voters Matter. Also, Mawuli Mel Davis, founding partner, Davis Bozeman Law Firm, and Dr. Wes Bellamy, chair of Advocacy for the 100 Black Men of America. Glad to have all three of you here. Cliff, y'all have talked about sustained action, sustained action, which what is needed. There were Black women last week and you're mobilizing the Black men this week. That's right. Thanks for having me, Roland. Thanks for having us on. I'm so glad to be

here with these brothers that were out there with us today. And so thankful for you and your team for covering the entire action from start to finish. Yes, it's going to take sustained action. We shouldn't be in this position. We shouldn't be in a position where we have got to go out, hit in the streets, being arrested. We're thankful for the sisters last week, who I call my leader, Melanie Campbell, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, CBC chair, Representative Beatty, who led the way last week, Thursday, getting arrested. So we were following in their footsteps. And really, brothers coming out today to support sisters. And brothers wanted to make it clear that brothers

got something to say, too. And so it's going to take this level of action, unfortunately, especially after listening to the president's remarks last night on the filibuster. I'm sure you'll get to that later. But it's going to take direct action. What we expect to see, what we're hoping that we see is that we see this level of action every day. There should not be a day that goes by without somebody doing some type of nonviolent civil disobedience, because that's what it's going to take in order to get the members of the Senate and the president of the White House to understand that we are serious when we say that we are not going back to Jim Crow 2.0. We're not going to sit by silently and watch them erode our voting rights.

We certainly are not going to just treat this like we can just out-organize the voter suppression in 2021, 2022, and moving forward. We're going to be ungovernable until they pass the voting rights that we demand and pass it now. Wes, on that particular point, it is trying to get people to understand this also is not a black thing. Earlier, I tweeted this, earlier today, and I said, white progressives, a lot of y'all were out there in the streets after George Floyd. Where y'all at? I said, Latinos,

you are being impacted by these voting laws. I said, white college students, they're moving early voting locations off of college campuses. Asian Americans, y'all were all upset over hate crimes. Congress moved to pass a bill that dealt with hate crimes. Why are you silent on voting?

I said, why are black people having to carry the banner again? And this is about challenging Latino, you know, victory fund, challenging La Raza and LULAC, challenging these progressive groups, challenging Asian Americans as well. I mean, bottom line is, this is all hands on deck. The laws being passed are impacting, because in Texas, they are pissed off

that in the suburbs, Democrats have been doing so well, so they're targeting educated white voters. And so we need to have these folks on Capitol Hill as well. And they don't need us to actually plan it. They can do it themselves. Well, thank you so much for having us and shout out to our leader, my dear brother, Cliff Albright. I think you're absolutely right. This is not just a quote unquote black issue. Although, as you also alluded to, whenever we're trying to create change in this nation, and oftentimes when it does come forth, it's led by Black people. I'm personally not concerned with

what other individuals are going to do. I know what we have to do for our people, and that is, one, hold the Biden administration accountable. Joe Biden made a promise to Black folk and Black America, and he said it very clearly. He would not be in this position without the support of Black people. Well, he's written a check that he has to come in cash, and we are going to ensure that we get our money's worth. He needs to come out in support of the filibuster. And we will, as Brother Albright said, not be governable until that happens. We are calling on Vice President Harris to come in and stand up and speak up in regards to the filibuster. We're acting and calling on members of Congress to act and do their jobs. And we're not going anywhere.

This will be sustained pressure, as Brother Albright said, in support of the sisters, in support of the brothers. And we will be here. Mauli, about three minutes ago, Congressman Al Green of Texas tweeted this letter out. He was out there today as well. This is the second letter that the Democratic Texas delegation has sent to President Joe Biden, asking him to meet with the Texas Democratic state legislators. Again, this is, so this is the text of the letter on July 16th, 2021. We sent you a letter requesting a meeting between you and the Texas Democratic state legislators.

We know that you have an impossible schedule and that everything on your agenda is of paramount importance. However, we believe that the issue of free and fair elections in Texas merit our attention and ask that you have a brief virtual meeting with the Texas Democratic State legislators. Thank you in advance for all consideration that you will give this critical issue. And it was actually signed by Congressman Green. In addition to Democrats Lloyd Doggett, Henry Qualar, Vicente Gonzalez, Sheila Jackson Lee. When the black women met with the white, so last week after the sisters were at their protest,

they got a call to come meet at the White House with Vice President Kamala Harris. President Joe Biden stopped by. To me, President Biden should be meeting with these Texas Democratic House members as well. Muli? You hear me. Keep talking. Absolutely.

We believe in the position that we've taken in support of the legislators in Texas is that Joe Biden should lean in, immediately meet with these legislators who are trying their best to fight what we've experienced in Georgia, this anti-voting, fundamentally anti-Black legislation that prevents us from being full citizens in this yet-to-be United States. So that work is ongoing. I just applaud the work of the men that came together today and have been coming together across the country. Obviously, my brother Cliff Albright has been critical. And for us, those of us who come out of a Pan-African Black nationalist position, follow his leadership around voting and voting rights and our voting advocacy. And so I was just grateful.

And I would go to jail again if need be because because this is such a critical issue is so important. And it's now time that President Biden pay attention, lean in in a way that those of us who went out, hit the pavement and got out the vote in Georgia in particular to give the Democratic Party this win that they now, he now responds in a way that is reciprocal and that this is not a here we go again moment for the Democratic Party and for this establishment. So again, I'm grateful and I appreciate you for opening up the airwaves for us to have this conversation. And, Cliff, let's be real clear. When Dr. King and others were pressing President Lyndon Johnson, it didn't matter that he was a Democrat. They made it clear they expected him to act. They expected him to move.

Last night at this town hall that took place on CNN. This is what President Joe Biden had to say about the filibuster that did not sit well with you and a lot of other people. I would go back to that, where you have to maintain the floor. You have to stand there and talk and hold the floor. You can't just say what's not. I understand that. But what difference does that make?

If you hold the floor for, you know, a day or a year, what difference does it make? Here's the thing for me. You talked about people, and this is important for people who look like me. My grandmother would sit around when I was a kid, fifth grade, had a fifth grade education. I learned that she couldn't read when I was doing my homework. She would tell me stories about people asking her to count the number of jelly beans in the jar, or the soap.

So why is protecting the filibuster, is that more important than protecting voting rights? Especially for people who fought and died for that? No. It's not. I want to see the United States Congress, the United States Senate, pass S-1 and S-4, the John Lewis Act,

get them to my desk so I can sign them. But here's the deal. What I also want to do, I want to make sure we bring along not just all the Democrats, we bring along Republicans who I know know better. They know better than this. And what I don't want to do is get wrapped up right now in the argument whether or not

this is all about the filibuster or... Look, the American public, you can't stop them from voting. We tried last time. More people voted last time than any time in American history in the middle of the worst pandemic in American history. More people did. And they showed up. They're going to show up again. They're going to show up again.

They're going to do it again. But what I want to do is I'm trying to bring the country together. And I don't want the debate to only be about whether or not we have a filibuster or exceptions to the filibuster or going back to the way the filibuster had to be used before.

But isn't that the only way you're going to get it done right now? No, I don't believe that. I think we can get it done. If you... Cliff, this is what you tweeted. In this response, Biden demonstrates at least three things. One, he didn't actually believe a word he said in his passionate

speech last week about how dire the current voter suppression is. The entire speech was a lie. He expects community activists, particularly black activists, to simply recreate the Herculean effort that it took to mobilize voters in 2020 and the 2021 Georgia runoff, and to do so in spite of historic new voter suppression. He lied when he said he'd have our backs. Three, he tells Don Lemon a blatant lie when he says the GOP votes are there, mimicking Joe Manchin, who is also lying. If you couldn't get a single vote to investigate January 6th,

you're not getting 10 votes for voting rights. He's either lying or insane. My money is on lying. Yeah, Roland, and let me say this right off the top, just as a side note, I want to give some credit and acknowledgement to Don Lemon, who did what a lot of journalists don't often do, right? He pushed the question a couple of different times, even at the original question from the member of the audience, really pushing the president to elaborate on the answers. And in that elaboration, he was really exposing himself in terms of his position on the filibuster, his position on

voting rights, and his position in regards to the Black community that he said he would have our backs. And we now see in our moment of need that he doesn't have our backs. You know, there's so much that he said there, you know, even just watching the replay, it makes me upset just to hear him say, you know, oh, the Republicans that I know know better. Who? Who are those Republicans that you know?

Right, name them. Name them. Name them, right? I mean, I'd be glad to say that I was wrong to call to say that he was lying. If he can name the 10 that he has, I'll even give him an out. You don't even have to tell me the 10 that you've got confirmed votes for.

Tell me the 10 that you're targeting. Tell me the 10 that has given you some indication that they might actually vote this way on voting rights. Tell me the 10 people who refused to investigate January 6th, but that you think is somehow going to support a voting rights bill. Tell me who those 10 are, right? And then I'll believe you in the things that you say about how you believe that the votes are out there.

But until you can show me that or show me some reason on why you expect that, all I can assume, and I think all that Black voters can assume, is that you are simply not telling us the truth when you say that you're I can assume, and I think all that Black voters can assume, is that you are simply not telling us the truth when you say that you're going to have our backs, that you're not telling us the truth when you say that this is the biggest attack against voting rights that we've seen since the Civil War. You can't have it both ways. You can't, on the one hand, say that voting rights are sacred, but then, on the other hand, worship at the altar of the filibuster. You can't

serve both guys. You can't have it both ways. You've got to pick a side. That's what we were demanding with our actions today with the brothers. That's what the sisters were demanding last week. That's what we're going to continue to demand as we continue a campaign of nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience.

See, Wes, I'm just trying to understand who are these fictitious Republicans Biden is talking about. The reality is this here. The Senate that he knows when he was there, that don't exist anymore. It does not exist. So this whole idea of, oh, no, they believe in it. No, let's be clear. When it came to reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act, there was a point where Democrats and Republicans voted for it. But it was after that Shelby v. Holder decision in 2013

where the Republican Party says, we're leaving that bullshit behind and we are not supporting it again. Right. that bullshit behind and we are not supporting it again right you had a wisconsin republican who repeatedly offered a reauthorization of the voting rights act it was very weak he could not get more than 10 republican co-sponsors couldn't get it and now right now oh they ain't supporting jack so i don't know what the hell Joe Biden is talking about of these magical Republicans that seem to exist that nobody has met.

You know, I just want to say, Roland, I've been receiving text messages from someone. One, your show is definitely being watched. I just received some text messages from someone, a high-ranking official within the Biden administration. And their response was they believe in the direct action in which we're taking. But their belief is that, or excuse me, it is a belief that if we end the filibuster now, that the infrastructure bill will die and we need all of it. My position, specifically in regards to what you just alluded to and also what Brother Cliff just alluded to, if we put our faith in these Republicans and specifically these white folk who have consistently shown us that they

don't care about us, we're going to get what we always got. I'm furthermore disappointed that the president has chosen this position in which he is putting playing nice with his old friends over the Senate, over the values of people who put him in the administration. But I can't say that I'm surprised. And I think now it is important and imperative for all of us, specifically Black folk, Latino folks, Asian folk, but we know what we're going to do, to continue to hold the line and be very defiant in regards to, excuse me, defiant as well

as very bold in regards to opposition. We're not going anywhere. We know that he doesn't have 10 Republicans who will agree with this. And the fact that he's holding our position and our values, specifically when it comes to voting rights hostage, or using it as a tactic in terms of his overall strategy to try to get a multitude of things is disappointing, but I'm not gonna expect or pretend that I expected anything more from this administration, and we will continue to have direct action. I am confused.

I'm really confused on this one, Mawuly, because it was just a couple of days ago where the Republicans blocked Schumer on a vote on the infrastructure bill. Right. They ain't supporting. See, okay, so whoever the hell texts Wes since y'all watching,

let me be real clear. Mitch McConnell has already said we ain't passing none of this. Okay? They already said that. The second thing is when Biden came out and coupled reconciliation with the infrastructure bill, the so-called bipartisan bill, Republicans back to hell off. So they ain't planning on supporting that $580 billion bipartisan deal that was struck

because they're saying, oh, we're not going to support that and then y'all going to come back with reconciliation? No, we ain't supporting neither one. But here's the other deal, okay? Why in the hell we got to sit here and wait on the damn infrastructure bill? Let me be real clear to the White House who is watching this show right now. You're not going to have a Senate majority after the 2022 election. You're not going to have a House majority after the 2022 election. Republicans right now

can, as a result of the census, they can right now gerrymander a victory to take over the House solely by taking five seats in Florida and five seats in Texas. And so when Biden says, oh, they gonna come back out. No, they not. Because I'm telling you right now, the folk who came out in

a pandemic to take out Trump and the Republicans, you got these white folks on the right who are hyped about critical race theory. And if y'all cannot show you are willing to fight for something, you not going to have black people, brown people, young voters, turnout in record numbers. When we all know, Muali, we all know this, that in an off year, the party in power is more than likely not to maintain control. So, White House, y'all better swing and y'all better show some fight if y'all think folk gonna come out and fight for you in 22. Muali, go ahead. Is he still there? out and fight for UN 22. Mawuli, go ahead. Is he still there?

Cliff, Mawuli, you still there? Yes, this is Francis Johnson. I'm sitting in for Brother Davis. He's my law partner, my colleague. We were all out with Cliff today as a part of this demonstration of our outrage, one at the Republicans and what they're doing. But you're right. It is also

against the Democrats and their failure to do what they promised. At the end of the day, Black people who turn out in Georgia. We lost that, Cliff, respond to what I just said there. We'll figure out what's going on there. We lost the signal. Cliff, go ahead. Yeah, no, you're exactly right. And yeah, that was Francis Johnson, who was also arrested today, chair of the board of New Georgia Project. But no, Roland, you're exactly right. You know, it's crazy to think that Black voters, Brown voters, you know, any of those voters that risked our lives, and especially Black voters that risked our lives in this last election, again, not just to put Biden into the White House in November, but then to come back in the state of Georgia

in the midst of the pandemic, in the midst of winter, right during the holidays, to come back out risking our lives, and then to give him the Senate that he would need to push his agenda, if they don't move that agenda, particularly in terms of issues that Black folks have demonstrated that we care passionately about. We're talking about voting rights. We're talking about police violence and the George Floyd Act, right? We're talking about H.R. 40. If they don't move on these issues that Black folks are expecting them to move on after we gave them the power to get some stuff done, you're not going to see the kind

of turnout. And then add on to that, that on top of the fact that you will have Black voters that have been disillusioned, that we will also be having to do this work, Black organizations having to do this work, in spite of historic levels of voter suppression, you you can't out-organize the type of voter's oppression that we're talking about. Just recently, in the state of Kansas, right, where they passed the voter's oppression bill, organizations are already saying that they are pulling back on their voter registration operations because of the bill that was passed in Kansas. It defines and gives a criminal charge if you pretend or you act as if you're

an election official. And so that puts some of these organizations in a hard position, because if they're going out registering folks, they can... And it's worded so vaguely that just for doing something like doing a voter registration drive, you could be accused in the language of this bill as acting like you're an election official. And these organizations are saying, you know what, we can't even go out and register folks right now because of the voter suppression bills. You're seeing that in state after state after state. You can't out-organize that. You have got to have some federal legislation to deal with that. And so you will have both of these issues that we're confronting, voters that are disillusioned

because they didn't see the kind of fight that you're talking about, Roland. And then on top of that, organizations that are dealing with a new ecosystem of voter suppression, that is a deadly combination, which, as you were saying, will cause Democrats to lose both the House and the Senate. And then regardless of what the vote looks like in 2024, you won't be able to get a Democratic president confirmed because you'll be in a situation where they'll have the rules and where they can rig and they can overturn elections, even if we get the votes out in 2024. And so it's a spiral. And it has to end now. There's got to be a fierce urgency of now in order to deal with this issue, pass the voting rights, stop the voter suppression right now. Last word, the other piece about what you said, which is very important. I met with the Texas delegation the other day, two days ago. They need to hear from President

Biden. You are absolutely right, Roland. And Representative Green, who was out there with us briefly today, is right in that letter. The president has got to meet with that delegation. They are risking a lot. They are separated from their families. They're risking health and welfare. They're risking a lot in order to take this stance. The president at least deserves, owes them the dignity of meeting with them and discussing with them the situation that they're facing. See, here's the thing for me, Wes, that I need the folk at the White House, and they understand this here. They understand it. We ain't even having

no infrastructure conversation if folk didn't turn out to help you get elected. We ain't having an infrastructure conversation if folks did not turn out in Georgia to make sure Warnock and Ossoff won. That's how you got a 50-50 tie. I mean, we ain't even having a conversation. So you cannot get an infrastructure bill without Ossoff and Warnock winning. So you somehow and what was the immediate response from the Republicans to Ossoff and Warnock winning Georgia?

Georgia voter suppression bill, Florida voter suppression bill, Iowa, Arkansas, Texas. I can do a roll call. So I'm just trying to understand. You want to talk about the infrastructure bill here when if this don't happen, you ain't even in control of the U.S. Senate. Go ahead. You know, Roland, you're absolutely right.

And I think even to put it in more simpler and layman's terms, if you will, the fact in which the president is so steadfast in terms of knocking off his agenda items in a very staggered list, in a very way and manner in which he believes he has to follow this particular path that he created prior to going into the administration, and he's going to do his quote-unquote things in order. He is refusing to understand and realize that if he continues to go down this path in terms of emphasizing and valuing infrastructure

over voting rights, he is not going to have a base to be able to vote for him or his administration to get any of his items through after 22 and definitely in 24. So it really feels like a slap in the face and a lie, if you will. And I'm not going to pretend as if there aren't valuable things within the infrastructure bill, i.e. gun violence prevention and so forth. There are some items in there that I do think can have a very tangible and immediate impact in our communities. But if we do not have the ability to vote in the next election, then his platform, his strategy, his plan is going to be for naught. And again, as you alluded to, if not for us voting and turning out in Herculean numbers and incredible turnout in last year's election, he would not be in this position. So if he can't audible, then he deserves to be sacked.

And I'm just going to leave it at that. I don't quite think folk in the White House realize we also know history too. The black folks in Selma, in Albany, Georgia, and in Birmingham, and Lowndes County, Van Luhamer, Septima Clark, Stokely Carmichael, Fred Shuttlesworth, we can go Reverend Dr. James Lawson, Nashville Movement, C.T. Vivian.

Those folks were not willing to accept other stuff put forth by LBJ in front of their agenda. And so President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was almost a year since we asked her to come on this show and she hasn't responded. Well, she's responded. The answer has been no. Y'all need y'all better understand something real quick. That is we ain't going nowhere. We're going nowhere. And see, it ain't happened yet, Cliff. But I'm I'm saying to Biden and to the folks texting you, Wes, y'all gonna look up and gonna find a 5,000 people standing in front of the

White House gates, chaining themselves to the gate, getting arrested to get your attention. I'm just saying, y'all keep sitting here joking, because here's the deal, Cliff. If action is not taken in the next 90 days,

if you get down to November or December, it's too late because the federal courts are going to say not enough time to implement for the primaries in 2022. Absolutely right. You're exactly

right, Roland. Last know, we're, you know, last week's action was at the Senate office building. This today's action was at the Senate office building. You know, we're calling for ongoing direct action. But some of that direct action eventually is going to have to be pointed at the White House. You know, unless there's a change coming out of this White House, then, you know, we're really going to have to ramp up the discussions, because at the end of the day, we know the Senate isn't moving on the filibuster. But

part of what we believe is that if the Biden if President Biden would show more leadership on this, if he would give a clear statement saying, I want filibuster reform, I want a carve out for voting rights, whatever it may look like, versus what he said last night during that town hall, if he were to take a firm position to end or modify the filibuster, we believe that that could happen. And so, you know, at the end of the day, and to be clear, Roland, I know you know this and I know Wes knows this and all that. You know, none of this is to say that we excuse those people who are the ones that are the source of the problem, right? The source of the problem is those people that are attacking our voting rights, the ones that are trying to pass these voter suppression bills, the ones that are that are pushing the big lie. Right. The ones that are that are that are trying to take us back to Jim Crow.

Right. The Republicans that are pushing all this. They're the source of the problem. We know that. But we can't harp on that because at the end of the day, the folks that are supposed to be on our side. You know, it's like if you're in a fight, right, and you're going up to fight against a crew of other folks and you look around you and the folks that are supposed to be in your crew and on your team that you thought were on your side, you look to your side and they're not there and they're about 20 steps back. Then before you can really engage in that fight,

the first thing you got to do is get your crew together. You got to look to your left and be like, no, I need you by my side in this fight because you said that you had my back. That's what we're doing right now when we point out these Senate Democrats and we point out the White House. You said you had our back. We risked our lives to give you the power. Now we're asking you, we're demanding of you that you use the power that you have in order to protect our voting rights. And in turn, by protecting our voting rights, you're protecting the rest of the agenda.

All the other good stuff that you want to get done, infrastructure, living wage, all the other stuff, COVID, ongoing COVID relief, all the rest of the stuff that you want to get done. We want to see that, but what we're trying to tell is you can't have any of that until you protect our voting rights. Look, it's simply, Wes, it's not going to happen. And again, it was one of those things

where sometimes you got to let folks know who your friends, I ain't playing. It sort of reminds me, my daddy would often say, I ain't your friend. Now, y'all can talk a certain way to your friends at

school, but I ain't your friend. President Biden needs to understand. Senate Democrats need to understand. This is personal. What did Common say in the song Glory? We said freedom is like a religion to us. Voting is tied to our freedom and there are people who are sitting here watching me i see them trolls they always run their mouth saying

vote name change nothing first of all you can't change any policy in america without voting right you cannot change any policy and what they had better understand is, to Cliff's point, if it's time to swing, I'm fully expecting folk to show up ready to swing. But what I don't like are parking lot militants, the folk who talk a good game, that when it's time to swing, then all of a sudden they want to play, can we all get along? No, we ain't got time for that. McConnell has thrown down the gauntlet.

Abbott has thrown down the gauntlet. Kemp has thrown down the gauntlet. The Senate has thrown down the gauntlet. They have all sucked up to the bullshit lies of Donald Trump and the big lie. Now the question is, are we going to have some Democrats who

are going to have some guts? Because if you're going to wear an aviator glasses, damn it, have a swagger and an attitude of a fighter pilot and go fight. I got one more for you, though, Roland. As you were alluding to and as Cliff was talking about, when we look to our left and to our right, who's

in here fighting for us, and Roland, you hit this on the head earlier, voting rights implements, Excuse me. Voting rights affects everyone, all individuals of color. And the fact that we see a lack of our brothers and sisters and those who don't identify from the LGBTQAI plus community who have yet to come out

and not only be as vocal and boisterous as us... Say it. ...is a problem. Say it. It is a major problem. And I would dare say, I would dare say on the Roland Martin Unfiltered show that there are many individuals

who enjoy having Black people fight for them but would not fight for us, i.e., individuals within the Latinx community, individuals within the Asian community, individuals, although we know there's a great deal of intersectionality between those who are Black as well as LGBTQAI+,

they benefit from us protesting for them. So when it's time for us to come about, they're quiet. And I don't believe that we can move this needle alone. Black folk are going to do what we have to do. But this ain't all on us. And if we do not get voting rights reformed and we see this nation turn back another 60 years in the year 2022 and in the year 2024,

I dare not have one person look and blame black folk for what we did not do. I dare say that our allies and quote-unquote accomplices have dropped the ball. Look, Cliff, y'all partnered with a lot of folks. And first of all, you know, you've got the Poor People's Campaign. They, of course, are mobilizing, organizing. Let me go ahead and say this here.

Folks, we will be on the ground in Texas next week. Drop the lower third plea with Reverend Barbara. You see the moral resurrection, Georgetown to Austin March for Democracy, July 28th to the 31st. It's going to kick off with church services on Sunday all across the state of Texas.

They're going to have an opening rally on July 27th. We will be on the ground live in Georgetown, Texas for that. The march is going to have an opening rally on July 27th. We will be on the ground live in Georgetown, Texas for that. The march is going to begin every day at 9 a.m. Eastern. Our cameras will be there live streaming that daily march, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. And then at 11 a.m. Eastern, 10 a.m. Central on Saturday, a mass rally at the state capitol. We will be there broadcasting that as well. And so you can go to action.poorpeoplescampaign.org.

But the point that Wes just made there, Cliff, this is real simple. Y'all, it was the sisters last week, and it was the brothers this week. I'ma go ahead and say it. HRC, y' got to pick a week. Yeah. Glad y'all join them pick a week.

All the LGBT groups, y'all got to pick a week to stand with black folks and go to the Capitol House amassed as civil disobedience on voting rights. But all Latino groups, y'all got to show up. Asian groups, y'all got to show up. White progressives, Emily's List, where y'all at? The environmental groups, where y'all at?

What, the priorities pack, all y'all packs, where y'all at? Y'all sit here, wanna come to us and vote, y'all don't bring enough damn money when y'all packs, where y'all at? Y'all sit here, want to come to us and vote. Y'all don't bring enough damn money when y'all do come. But where you at? And then here's the other deal. I need to see white House members getting arrested for voting rights.

I need to see white Democratic Senators getting arrested for voting rights. I need to see Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Tim Kaine. I need to see them there having civil disobedience along with the folks. Because if y'all not, y'all really ain't about this game. That's right, Brolin. You took the words right out of my mouth.

We were in a meeting last night, LaTosha and I and others were in a meeting. Melanie was in the meeting with Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. And we made exactly that same point, right, that this should not be a burden that the CBC, the Congressional Black Caucus, has to carry on its own, right? You know, we saw Representative Beatty last week. We saw Representative Johnson. I really want to give a shout out to Hank Johnson, who really showed up and showed out today, was there for the entire event,

you know, helped us at the Senate building, was with us getting arrested. So I want to give him a shout out. But this is not a burden that the CBC should have to carry, right? Yes, they are the conscience of the Congress, but that doesn't mean that they're the only ones in the Congress that can take action. You know, when people talk about allyship, I often

talk about, you know, for me, I've got the John Brown test, right? Now, that doesn't mean that you can only be an ally if you're willing to, like, get some weapons and raid Harper's Ferry. But what it means is that you've got to be willing to put something at risk, right? That we can't just be allies, you know, by being on social media, right? Or even by writing a good op-ed. We got to be willing to put something at risk, right? Our time, our bodies, you know, our financial resources, but you got to be willing to put stuff at risk. That Texas delegation is a good mixture of people who have actually put something at risk, right? But we need to see more of that.

Like you said, we need not just somebody taking a week. We need somebody to take every day, right? We need labor to take a day for some civil disobedience. We need the women's, the white women's organizations to take a day. We need everybody that's in this coalition. And we need elected officials to join them there. Yes, their primary purpose is to vote. We get that. We need you to legislate, right? We need you to be, as Congresswoman Jackson Lee said last night, that we want you at the appropriations to cast that vote, because we need you legislating. But we also need some of these other legislators, our friends in the Progressive Caucus, our

friends in some of the other caucuses, even other senators, right, who are actually co-sponsors of HR1. We need them to be far more vocal than what they have been, including taking it to direct action if necessary. That's the kind of pressure that it's going to take in order to get the Senate and this White House to take this issue of the filibuster

and our voting rights far more seriously than what we've seen. And I will end it with this here. Absolutely. And I will end it with this. Absolutely right. I will end it with this here. And this is a message that goes to President Biden, Vice President Harris and every single person working in this administration. Don't think for a second that we were simply just happy and elated that Trump got out. And I told y'all how I've been operating when it comes to these companies, when it comes to advertising for black owned media, this is what my man Denzel said in the movie Malcolm X.

Break it up. You get what you want. You got what you want. No, I'm not satisfied. And I told y'all how I've been, I'm not satisfied. That's the deal. We ain't satisfied, Wes and Cliff.

Gentlemen, I appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Also, Mooli, for joining us as well. Thanks a lot. Thank you, brother. Thank you, Roman. Keep up the great work. So, what I need the folks watching to understand, cause see, I already know all the fools out there saying,

you sitting here saying vote for Biden. Hell yeah, because you had a punk ass thug who was sitting in the White House. So you think for a second I wanted that thug, Donald Trump, after the crap that he pulled to be back in the White House? But see, I also told y'all during the election

that the election was the end of one process and the beginning of another. I told y'all last year election, at the election was the end of one process and the beginning of another. I told y'all last year that we got to put that level of heat on them as well when it comes to doing what we need them to do. See, that's the thing. I was never under any illusion that these things were going to happen just automatically because Biden and Vice President Harris in the White House.

And y'all need to understand, they three blocks away. Y'all need to understand, we're at 16th and K. They three blocks away. I can look outside the window and see the White House. See, so this is about us flexing our power and using our muscle to put the pressure on folk to do what's right. I have said numerous times on this show, you can't show me an instance anywhere in American history where black folks have gotten anything just because. We've always had to put pressure on the system. And no, I get, fine, y'all all about the infrastructure bill. That ain't my priority. Oh, I've gotten the request from the White House. Do I want to interview this person about the infrastructure bill? Hey, I've already had Labor Secretary Walsh on. I've already had Transportation Secretary Buttigieg on. They offered today to have the Secretary of Energy on.

We still get her on. And I'd love to have her on the show. But do understand, our priority ain't got to be somebody else's priority. And what I also know is without black people in South Carolina, Biden ain't living down the street. Without black people in South Carolina, Biden not sitting in the Oval Office. See, I ain't got no problem reminding people how you got here.

It's sort of like, you know, I guess it's sort of like, you know, my nieces will sometimes think that they just magically get to do stuff. I'm like, no, I pay for it. Y'all ain't paying for a damn thing. You benefiting from what I did. And we have to be willing to walk folks through this.

What is happening right now in the Capitol, y'all, that is no different than what happened in 1957 when they filibustered the Civil Rights Act, and then Senator Lyndon B. Johnson warded it down in order to get it passed, to pass muster with the Democrats. Then what happened in 1960? President John F. Kennedy runs, promising a massive civil rights bill, Dr. Greg Carr. He promises this bill, and then he gets in, and what does President John F. Kennedy do? He then say, well, there are other things and other priorities that are on my agenda. And then once he does that, and then there are other things,

and then you have the Bay of Pigs, and then you have the Cuban Missile Crisis, all these different things that go on, and you have Dr. King and others who are saying, no, no, no, no, no, but our stuff's still here. See, for everybody who don't know Dr. Carr, people talk about the 64 Civil Rights Act, 65 Voting Rights Act, 68 Fair Housing Act. What they don't understand is that all of those bills

actually were in one bill in 1961. Kennedy gets assassinated on November 22nd, 63. LBJ says, I got to break them all up. And so it took eight years for those three bills to actually pass. It took JFK, RFK, MLK, Medgar, all getting assassinated, four little girls in Birmingham, Jimmy Lee Jackson and Selma, riots in multiple cities in the country for those three things to pass. So for the people who are watching, who are saying, I don't know why y'all sitting there making all this noise,

it's because that's how it happened before. That's true, Ro. I mean, first of all, that was a hell of an hour spent with our brothers. It was good to see my brother, Wes Bellamy, who many people may remember came to national and international attention as the vice mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia, that young brother, when the white nationalists attacked and killed Heather Heyer and did what they did down there. And I always cliff on the wall.

And my man, Mauley Davis, who was a front-line warrior, and I saw him and I watched the coverage as you were live-streaming, Roland. And when I saw Maoli out there, I said, OK, they got the best lawyer they can have. I've known that brother for a long time. And when I saw him get in line and put his fist up and matzo-melling them, I'm saying, hold on, I think Maoli is probably supposed to be there to help bail cats out. So, Maoli went to jail. But that... But you, of course, have laid it out. And I think it's important for people to understand that this is exactly like the 1950s and 60s. And it's also different. See, I think we tend to focus on domestic policy, for example, without the international context. And, again, you showed,

you streamed the memorial service out of Haiti, which is very important. Again, y'all gotta support this platform. If you weren't watching today, go back and look. But this post-World War II, the United States needed to make some concessions on the domestic front when it came to Black people, because they were fighting a propaganda war

with the Soviet Union and China. And so, you know, when you see Brown versus Board of Education, when you see the Civil Rights Act of 1957 black people, because they were fighting a propaganda war with the Soviet Union and China. And so, you know, when you see Brown v. Board of Education, when you see the Civil Rights Act of 1957 under Eisenhower, when you see the one of 64, as you say, and the Voting Rights Act of 65, and the Fair Housing Act of 68, the United States is also in Vietnam. But the difference between then and now is capitalism has reached the limits of expansion, meaning there are no more markets. And so what you're going to see now is people are trying to take markets from other people. And business is driving all of this. So, on the domestic front, they don't need Black people the way they needed them in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, when this was

still an industrial-based economy. But that's gone now. We're in the post-industrial age. So what you're basically seeing is that the elites, Democrat or Republican, being driven by the corporate base and the big money folk who are already been global, already have already been global, they are gambling that we don't have anywhere else to go. So the conversation that you all were having is very important. And it's also important, as you say, if we understand history, then this is basically where we are. We don't need a crystal ball for this. The contradictions in this settler state are being laid bare. Now, people don't like it necessarily when I say this, but I'm going to say it anyway, because I really don't care what people like it or not, because this isn't a question of opinion. It's a question of historical analysis.

This isn't a country. Please understand, when I say that, I mean there is no such thing as the American people. There are many different people in a federal state who, at their best, have worked together to advance common interests when they didn't see any alternative. That's why, as Wes said, all these quote-unquote allies, when you ask them to come out, they're not coming out. Why? You've got to make it clear that it's in their interest, too, because there is no such thing as the American people. There's a federal state. And what these and the thing that has held this state together, quite frankly, simply put, the thing you're writing the book about that's going to come out soon when you talk about white

fear, the thing holding this country together is white nationalism. And so these white boys don't have anywhere else to go. It's what rallies the base. It's what turns out votes. And so I'll end with this. In terms of priorities, there's one question that should be driving black people. It should be the same one that drove us since we got kidnapped and brought into this criminal enterprise. And that question is, how does it free us, as Sonia Sanchez would ask? Another way of asking that question is, what is the benefit to us? And who loses if certain things happen?

Now, Bernie Sanders wanted a $6 trillion plan. OK, it didn't get through. And no, he ain't out there getting arrested. But what they have queued up is a $3.5 trillion plan, which includes Medicare expansion. Y'all saw the death, the life expectancy rate went down for Black people over the last year. COVID had a lot to do with that, but it ain't never been great. There's Medicare expansion. There's the child tax credit. They want to extend that to 2025. There's free community, not free, taxpayer-subsidized community college, and HBCUs get billions of dollars, universal pre-K, subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, all

that stuff we want. Now, on the other side of the ledger, when Joe Biden tells Don Lemon, look, man, you can't stop people from voting, that's not true and true at the same time. What do I mean by that? These white nationalists have passing these laws in these state legislatures are not at the point yet where they can say, we can stop you from voting. We can fill out every line. We can cross every T, dot every I, and not to say that we still won't be stopped. But we can overwhelm that system. But here's the problem. We haven't developed our historical analysis and logic enough to understand that in a multi-strategy war, no, we don't have another option if you want to expand Medicaid and the rest of this than to ride with these people who we know are part of a two-party system that's really a one-party system, corporate state system. Alternative is when this thing falls apart, y'all ready to strap?

Y'all ready to go for the strap? Because I'm telling you right now, and I'm looking at it as a person without a stake in this, because I never believed in the United States of America. It's a fantasy. But if you're ready to strap, if you're ready to go to the strap, then go out there and bang and say, devil take the hindmost. But understand something. History shows us this is where it is

headed. When they lose the Senate and they lose the House and then lose the presidency, all you people in the military, y'all going to have a choice to make, because that's when they roll the tanks into your neighborhood. And then you say, well, damn, I had a chance when I could register to vote. But guess what? I'm going to be like, hey, you did have a chance. Now let's go out here and get the strap. Because guess what? It was headed that way all along. This is how criminal enterprise like the United States ends. You better listen to this conversation at the last hour, because that's just a stopgap measure. And I'm not sure I would get into the same debate with Joe Biden. See, look, the thing for me, Farage, is real simple.

And that is the things that we want on policy, we can't get if the people who we want to deliver can't get elected. This ain't hard for me. If the voting restrictions are put in place, I need everybody who's listening to my voice understand what I am telling you. This does not just impact presidential

and congressional and the senatorial elections. It's every election. It's school boards, county commissioners, municipal judges, DAs, state reps, state senators, governors, sheriffs, constables, water district. Any election. But it's not just that. Because those who win then get to a point they get to hire the elections official in Harris County hired by the county if Delgado and Ellis and the Democrats don't control the Harris County

commissioners court then you don't have those positions. Those who win appoints the housing leaders, the economic development people, the workforce people. They appoint all of that. And so it impacts the entire ecosystem who gets elected that's why this matters absolutely brother roland and i think that breakdown of how power works how things have operated how things will be impacted is important for us to know i think the big problem is the fact that we just don't believe it. We don't see it. It's like, what's hard for us to wrap our minds around. You know, I was reading a book from Saul Alinsky,

he said that the basic requirement for the understanding of the politics of change is to recognize the world as it is. Yes, sir. We have to see this moment as it is. And if we kind of continue to operate from a fantasy, which is what I heard from President Biden, is that there's this fantastical type of, oh, well, we're going to get these Republicans, we're going to keep these filibusters,

everybody's going to come together. That is not the current world as it is. Therefore, that politics will not be effective in creating the change that we're seeking. We need to look at this thing for as it is. This is a serious moment. And I'm happy to hear, and I agree with Dr. Carr, and I appreciate you, Brother Brolin,

for even having those brothers, Wes and Cliff, on for the first hour because it was dynamic. It was understandable. And I'm so happy that those Black men decided to come on out and support. But for us, here's the thing, and I remember what Dr. Carr said about this a couple weeks ago when we talked about this,

that we can't get wrapped up into the political theater. This is really, this is not about which 50 Black men went out there, which 20 Black women came out there. This is about us as black people and are asking a big question, is enough is enough? Have we had enough of the lies? Have we had enough with the delayed gratification?

We're talking about, I heard brother Cliff talking about the urgency of now, we said, Brother Cliff talk about the urgency of now. We say, oh, this is the urgency of now. But even in us as a people, we don't have the urgency of now. So we can't expect those that are standing before us to have the urgency of now until we have the urgency of now.

So look, I'm not looking for President Biden to magically come up and then make some decision what i'm looking at is where is that fierceness where is that urgency where is that passion from us as the people yes we can say go ahead bro yeah man go ahead keep talking about it but the reality is are we uh empowered enough as as communities as or as organizations as residents as constituents are we empowered enough to say enough is enough and to understand how power works in this country and to bring some fire to the asses of all of those who stand before us and they lie and they constantly lie and they constantly tell us things

and they say, oh, it's coming, it's coming, it's coming. Are we powerful enough, empowered enough to say enough is enough? See, Amisha, this is why I need people to quite understand. There's a reason you ain't hearing me talk about a petition to boot Kevin Samuels off a social meeting. And nothing against Kevin. But if y'all want to sit here and go listen to thatisha, why I don't give a damn about the add-on of Gisele Bryant's house,

on the Real Housewives or the Potomac or whatever the hell the show is. I don't give a shit about the ratings of Ebony Williams being on the Real Housewives of New York. I really don't. And it ain't no diss on Gisele or Ebony Williams being on The Real Housewives of New York. I really don't. And it ain't no diss on Giselle or Ebony. I don't give a damn about no who the hell screwed who on Love and Hip Hop and the reunion.

Cause here's what I, if for y'all, if y'all wanna go, people who watching this, if that's y'all escape, go and escape. But what I do know is the conversation that we're having right here, literally is life and death. Literally it's who's in charge of the FDA. Literally it's who's in charge of expanding Medicaid in the States.

Literally it's about who is in charge and then who is going to distribute the vaccine across the country. Literally, this is about who is going to be in charge of what aid goes to foreign countries and then what goes to African nations and Caribbean nations. See, this is why we created this platform. See, this is why we created this platform.

See, this is why we were down there today live streaming the event and wasn't nobody else down there. Because see, here's the other thing, Amisha, and I'm not pitting black men and black women against each other, but after they got arrested last week, the White House extended an invite to the black women leaders to come to the White House on Friday. I'm waiting to see

if an invite gets extended to the brothers who got arrested today. I'm waiting to see. This is about stuff that's literally going to impact every single one of us and our children's children, but some

folk want to play games with this. Go ahead. No, no, I think that you're absolutely right there, Roland. At the end of the day, there is a time for frivolousness and entertainment and enjoyment and things like that. But we also have to face what America is right now for black people and their basic voting rights, a basic civil right, a right that is given to us under the flag of the United States, under our democracy is being threatened and being threatened at the highest levels. And from what I saw from your earlier segment, from what I know from watching Joe Biden's town hall last night, at the end of the day, this administration is not really planning on doing much to stop this.

And it's not something we haven't seen before. One of the things that Joe Biden said during that town hall that was vastly incorrect was that this was unprecedented. This was something we hadn't seen. No, we have definitely seen this in history before, and states definitely pushed against federal, even federal legislation when it came to protecting the civil rights of African Americans. This is something that has been hyper-vigilant for quite some time. Not only do Republicans refuse the results of the 2020 presidential election, but going into this next midterm cycle and going into this next, you know, the next presidential in 2024, what we're seeing from Republicans is a downright slap in the face of majority Black voters across this country

when it comes to even having their access to the polls. That is not only disenfranchisement on, you know, on a major scale, on steroids. But what we expect is for there to be some leadership at the federal level. There is an understanding that our protesters are going to do what they need to do. Our civil rights groups are going to do what they need to do. Those activists that are out in the streets, the people who are getting arrested daily are going to do what they need to do. What they need now is an assist from the White House. What they need now is an assist from President Biden that shows that the values that we have put forward, the fact that Black Americans saved this democracy from blowing itself up just a few months ago, that Black Americans ensured that the Senate became that 50-50 split,

that Black Americans assured that he not only became president, but that he got the hell out of the primary that he was losing as well. We have to be able to not only hold this White House accountable, but also recognize as a people that, to Professor Carr's point, to Dr. Carr's point, we've kind of got played on both ends right now. It is really frustrating to watch, because it seems as though not only are we fighting this fight for ourselves, because those other groups of minorities, those other groups of people of color, the other groups of disenfranchised individuals, LGBTQIA+, they're not coming out. They're not showing up. They take advantage of, in many cases, a lot of the civil rights movements and those

agitators who have made things happen, who look like you and I. But at the end of the day, they don't join in arms when we need to get something done. And there is not anything more important right now than ensuring that voting rights and equity in those voting rights is seen across this country. And I fear very strongly that, if Joe Biden does not step up, if he does not end this filibuster, and God knows why he's trying to save it, if he does not end this filibuster, it is going to all go up in smoke. And what does that say to the millions of black people across this country who came out in the middle of a deadly pandemic that hit us harder than anybody else to vote to save this country?

What does that say to those individuals who put it all on the line to know that this administration is backburnering the issues that matter to black people the most. Folks, got to go to a break. We come back, we're going to talk about the violence in Chicago and efforts being done to try to stop that. We'll talk to one of the leaders there. Also, what's happening in this country with environmental justice. We'll talk with Mustafa Santago Ali about that. And then our Where's Our Money segment. Jeff Bezos gave $100 million to Van Jones and Chef Jose Andres. Great.

I fully, I ain't got no problem with that. But I'm going to break down to y'all how Amazon could actually drive several billion dollars a year to black America. Let's see if that challenge is accepted. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered, the blackest show out here. We'll be right back. The same forces that are trying to pass these bills across the country, but here in Texas, to suppress, to stop, to undermine the vote. The same folk that block you from having living wages are the same folk that wouldn't fix your utilities problem. In this time when our voting rights are under attack and economic justice is being denied.

We're launching a season of nonviolent moral direct action to demand four things by August the 6th, the 56th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act. Number one, end the filibuster. Number two, pass all provisions of the For the People Act. Number one. End the filibuster. Number two. Yes. Pass all provisions of the For the People Act. Fully restore the 1965 Voting Rights Act. And number four, raise the federal minimum wage to $15. Pass the For the People Act. That is the last best hope for voting rights, not just in Texas, but Georgia, Florida, and about a dozen other states.

Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Bill and the For the People Act. Let our people vote. The Latinx community is the rising electorate in Texas, and our representatives are threatened by these shifting demographics. Our pathway to citizenship, to a living wage, depend on our access to the ballot. This is not just a Black issue. That's right.

This is a moral, constitutional, and economic democracy issue. I think in Texas that it is time for a Selma-like... Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think we ought to march from Georgetown to Austin. And we ought to come to Austin, but we ain't coming to Austin just for Austin. We come to Austin to save the Washington, D.C. Which side are you on?

And don't tell us you can't do all of this. You must do all of this for the soul and the heart of this democracy. Forward together! Forward together! Forward together! People our age have lost the ability to focus the discipline on the art of organizing. The challenges, there's so many of them and they're complex and we need to be moving to address them. But I'm able to say, watch out Tiffany, I know this road. That is so freaking dope.

Yo, what's up? This your boy Ice Cube. What's up? I'm Lance Gross and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Attorney General Mary Garland was in Chicago today meeting with folks there to address the issue of violence. There's been a significant number of shootings taking place in Chicago. The issue is constantly brought up. Too many of our people have been gunned down as a result of the problem there. But the issue, frankly, in Chicago goes far beyond just guns. You're speaking about economics, you're speaking about education, you're speaking about literally a You're speaking about education. You're speaking about

literally a community that has been grossly impacted by poverty. The haves and the have-nots are real in Chicago. Now, the answer that people always have immediately is, okay, let's have a step up of police patrols. But the problem in Chicago is you also have people who don't trust the police department because, frankly, it's filled with a bunch of thugs and racists. Just last night, people, eight people, riding on a bus were shot and wounded at Chicago's third mass shooting in six hours. Six hours. The city council passed an ordinance to create a community commission for public safety and accountability. The commission serves as a layer of police oversight. It will be made up of seven members, nominated by three member councils of Chicago's police districts

and appointed by the mayor. With the help of police and community leaders, Garland and the Justice Department, like I say, are launching strike forces formed to fight the gun violence surge in major cities, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, the Bay Area, and Washington, D.C. Joining us right now is T.O.. Ceasefire Hardeman, the executive director of Violence Interrupters. He joins us. Teal, glad to have you back on Roland Martin Unfiltered, man.

It's always an honor to be on your show, brother Roland Martin, always. So here's the thing. You've got all these folks who are running around and the politicians and folks saying what needs to be said what are the community folks saying needs to be done to stop what what's what is causing the gun violence and how to stop it okay good question brother roland this is what's going on i really like your last guest he talked about the urgency of now the the elephant in the room is the gun violence that continues to take lives all the every day in chicago in the epidemic of shooting all over the place what's going on is that there is a need right now and i want people to take this the wrong way there's a need for an african-american sort of like an army of african-american men to take

to the streets of chicago and mediate these beefs and conflicts with these young brothers in the strongest possible way and i say an army because it's going to take this type of effort. We continue to look in the wrong directions for solutions. I'm not anti-police, but police cannot solve this issue. It's a cultural issue, Roland. And everybody that's listening to your show and watching your show, they have to understand it's a cultural, tribal issue that's going on. Right now, it's fashionable for people to shoot crowds of people, at gatherings, shoot when they have mass gatherings. It's also fashionable for some young men to carjack people. Right now, in Chicago, we have over 400 homicides so far to date.

Over 2,100 people have been shot, and carjackers are back on the rise again. So everybody's talking solution. We're looking in the wrong direction. The police cannot solve this issue. This is an issue that Black men must solve. It's the urgency of now, Roland. So that's your solution. That's a solid fail-proof solution. Imagine 10,000 black men and women can join as well. But initially the men have to step up and bring these brothers to the table in the strongest way and mediate their conflicts. That's what's going on, Roland. So who is doing that? When I lived in Chicago, I actually led an effort when I was on WVON radio. We put the call out, a thousand black men showed up at the House of Hope. You've had Reverend James Meeks, who's also done things in the past. You've

had Pastor Cory Brooks, who's done things in the past. So what you're laying out, who is making that call and are they responding well it's going to take a little bit more time nobody's really making the call i put information out on several occasions a lot of people are trying to connect with me now as we talk about it but this is is a bigger bigger type of uh method uh when it comes down to really reducing the gun violence the reason i say this rolling because the homicide clearance rate is a dismal, like 13, 14% in Chicago. And so to answer your question more directly,

I'm in the process of organizing a lot of brothers now, but it's gonna take a little time because everybody's busy and a lot of people have excuses why they do not want to get involved with that type of intensity of dealing with our young brothers on the streets. So it's gonna take a little time to just be direct with you, brother.

Well, so here's the deal. We were in Chicago just a bit ago doing the show from there. And what if we do this here? What if we actually call? I'd love to get Faraji, Faraji, uh, and Greg, uh, to roll with me? Uh, what if we just say, what if we say, Hey, uh, we want, uh, a brother's only town hall. Uh, what if we do it at the house of hope? It seats 10,000 a grant. We can do so we can do social distancing so we can put five thousand in there

and call that and do a massive town hall and have this conversation uh to and talk about how to make make it happen yeah i love it roland and i already have a title for it we can title it the ultimate sacrifice for peace this means that african-american men must sacrifice right now because everybody keeps talking about money economics that's important as well. But I'm here to tell you, you can drop a billion dollars in the heart of the community right now. If we do not address this issue as a cultural issue, we're still going to have high levels of shootings and killings in Chicago. There are too many people that are hurting. There's a lot of trauma going on. Kids have been shot. Women have been executed. So I'm not just trying to paint a bad picture, but I want to say on the good side, on the positive side, yes, if we organize that town hall session with 5,000 men to come together and then we strategize and basically deal with this. guys where they are and bring them brothers to the table. Make sure we enlist their family members to be a part of it with us as well,

cuz all the shooters in Chicago have family members they care about. So they may listen to some of their uncles and their fathers. And then along with the brothers backing up their family members, we can get the job done. But it's gonna take a massive effort like this, Brother Roland, a massive effort, seriously. I don't know if the, I know Illinois has been very hesitant when it came to gatherings.

So let us know what the details are about mass gatherings in the state. And then let's go from the, let's talk about it. And I have no problem at all bringing our cameras there and streaming this to the rest of the country and the world. So let's do it. And let me say this to you also, Roland, I would love, and I was thinking about you earlier today,

I would love to facilitate a peace circle with you and about 20 brothers from the streets, some of the young brothers, so we can have a restorative justice peace circle live with your film crew. I think it would be really great so we can hear from some of these young guys and some young women on what they think is really going on how what kind of solutions they're thinking about but overall the

bigger level like i said it's black men uniting sort of like an african-american army of brothers you know in a good way not to stand down on the young guys not to hurt nobody but to bring them guys together in the strongest possible way i need everybody to understand this and people my people know what i'm talking about the strongest strongest possible way, bring them together, resolve the conflict so people can live instead of die. Brother Roman. All right, let's do it. Roland, Roland, sorry, yes indeed. Okay, T.O., we appreciate it, man, thanks a lot.

Always, thank you. Faraji, at the end of the day, if we don't actually step up and have an inter-family conversation, then it ain't going to happen. It ain't going to happen at all. And I'm so happy that you put out that action item, Brother Rowland. I personally have worked with a group of Black men in Baltimore City called the We Are Us Movement. This is a group of Black men, and for over nearly three years, Brother Rowland, we have, you know, in Baltimore City, we've had a violence problem like no other city.

And our numbers are crazy right now, unfortunately. But for nearly three years, these black men walked through neighborhoods, black men from the Nation of Islam, from the local churches, from organizations, black men. Of course, the sisters have been there, but this is predominantly black men who have been walking through the streets of Baltimore, East Baltimore, West Baltimore, South Baltimore, providing resources, jobs, opportunities, but most importantly, Brother Roland, providing hope. And I have gone along with them to be a part of these walks. So there is a model. There is a model. And I'm going to tell you that this type of work like Brother Tio is looking to do can be done. It just needs to have a model. In Baltimore,

we have a model. We're still dealing with it because violence is still entrenched in the culture of Baltimore City. But there is a model. There's a group of folks that I know we can connect with. And like you said, Brother Will, we can bring people together. Let's go to Chicago. Let's try to implement or set up an infrastructure into places where the police don't respond to well, going into places to offer resources and jobs and other opportunities. But most importantly, going into places without guns, without any type of, you know, any type of weapon, but just going in there with the heart, the mind, and the spirit to create peace. And I know it. I know it. I'm a part of the Nation of Islam. I've seen this with my own eyes. This is what can be done. We can do it in Baltimore. We can certainly do it in Chicago. So I'm ready for it. I would love to be a part of that trip. Greg Carr. chicago so i'm ready for it i would love to be a part of that trip great car i agree i mean

you do what you can where you can and we've all seen these very effective local strategies and i want to say this though this is where i really i'm not at a loss i just know i think we have to think about the models if we're going to actually achieve what we ultimately want, which is a safe, secure, grounded community wherever we are. And I think, you know, I mean, it's a difficult thing because, again, I mean, Amisha, this is your hometown. And you know this better than any of us. Let's tie these two things what we just saw today i was funny i was watching the uh the live stream earlier and my man west bellamy when it came time to arrest people he backed up off the line he said something he said yeah i already went to jail and they everybody kind of laughed but i laughed because he was out there with the sister yeah yeah he got arrested last

week that's exactly right and i'm I'm saying that to make a point. I understand the gendered approach, but I also understand that African people were brought into this patriarchy, this white male patriarchy, field of violence, this settler colonial project called the United States. And many times our solutions have taken on some of the worst cultural habits of these other people. And so I absolutely get the male on male, the female on female.

But I'm thinking now about the fact that, you know, we have to ask ourselves, what is the source? What are the sources of even resolving these things? Right. The source of resolving this violence is community. And it has to be full spectrum. We all remember the Nation of Islam. Brother Faraj, you remember this, man, back in the 80s and 90s, the dope busters going into, you know, understanding. And we also understand that when we start talking about solutions, I want to be in a

circle where Amisha, who's from Chicago, we got woman, man, woman, man, woman, man, we in the community, we got intergenerational and we do do more listening to talking, like Teo said, who has a master's degree at the Center for Intercity Studies, one of my jaggers, the great Jacob Carruthers, and Conrad Whirl in them. We know that to sustain this, this is the last thing I'll say, to sustain a solution, you got to put down the gun for sure. And Farage, you right, man.

The first thing is don't kill nobody else. Stop the killing, as Farage said, right? Now, if we can get a moment on that, that's when we look at these elected officials. I don't care whether it's Danny Davis or Bobby Rush or whoever, because we know Merrick Garland. Shout out to Merrick Garland. You won't go after Wilbur Ross or any Trump bad guys. You got 4,500 tips on I love beer Kavanaugh. You ain't going to do that, but you're going to fly out to Chicago and have a conversation about more police. No, more police, no. What we need is money for jobs and economic uplift, money for an education system, money for our cultural institutions and public safety in ways that bring people into the space. Because while you talk about Real Housewives and all this other stuff,

you got people lined up watching Chicago PD, Law & Order. Come on, come on, John, come on. Do you understand? This whole world system that the West introduced is based on violence. We're not going to solve it by talking people out of violence without addressing the cultural issue, as T.O. said, but the cultural issue ain't about men and women.

The cultural issue is about community, and we got to think through that and be serious about it. Otherwise, there'll be momentary lows. That's all. Yeah, absolutely right, Misha, and the thing is, there is something else that is happening. And if you don't confront what that root cause is, then this thing sort of just goes on and on.

No, you're right. And Chicago is my hometown, so it is the blood that runs through me. At the end of the day, and as someone who has worked with T.O. Hardiman, I've known him for the past 15 years at least, when I look back on my city, the recognition has to be what it always should have been. Chicago has over 78 percent of Chicago public school students that are currently housing unstable. They are currently listed as homeless. Seventy-eight percent is the largest homeless rate of any student group in the country. With that, you also have the largest unemployment rate of Black men in the country.

You also have the high level of eviction that is about to start within the next two weeks. You have such low wages and people who have been begging for a living wage for the past three, four decades, before Fight for 15 even had a name. When I talk about Chicago, when I talk about the plight of the Black communities across Chicago, we also have to think about the divestment that those communities have seen for decades. We have to think about the movement of money from those blighted communities to enrich the downtown area, to enrich the north side, and the consistency that that has been done in. The fact that a strike force isn't going to help Chicago, I'm actually upset that it's happening. Chicago has had a strike force for generations now. It makes me think of Anna Jett Young, the young woman whose home was raided by police officers

while she's standing there naked when they were in the wrong home, and a police cover up, and a mayor cover up to ensure that those police officers in that police department wasn't held accountable. When I think of all of the lawsuits and the taxpayer dollars that have gone to the ring of billions of dollars to pay in those tax, in those lawsuits that are specifically utilized instead of actually enriching police reforms that have been pushed by a lot of people across Black communities across the city forever at this point. It is a issue that we know how to solve. Economic development, and economic development that

includes uplift, skills-based training, bringing jobs to the South and the West sides, ensuring housing safety and security, replacing the mental health institutions that were shut down over Rahm Emanuel's administration, ensuring that there are schools that are actually teaching our kids instead of just housing them there, and then them leaving without a single skill to speak of. I think that at this point, Chicago is at a crux moment where something has to change and that something is not putting more police officers on the streets. That something is investing in organizations like T.O. Hardeman's that has been doing this work for years, but has seen their funding diminished by the state,

at least for the past eight. And consistently, we see community organizations that do the work on the ground. Chicago is a city with a motto. We don't want nobody, nobody sent. Chicago has a lot of assets right in the city itself. Community organizations led by Black men and women that do the work, but have been defunded to the point of a skeleton base at this point. So I love the idea of bringing people in

and elevating the issue, but to be quite frank, the news has elevated the hell out of violence in Chicago forever. What they have not done is help to ensure that the impact is happening, help to ensure that those families that have been going through trauma actually have some level of relief, help to ensure that the illegal guns that continue to get funneled in from nearby states actually stop. What I want to see is those social services, wraparound services that our kids in the city need so much actually be invested in, that our housing and our infrastructure is taken care of in the city, and that young black kids on the south and the west sides don't have to look down the street and see dead bodies that lay every single day and consider that normal, because it's not. Well, y'all know I don't waste any time when it comes to these things. I've already talked to my man, Pastor James Meeks, who said he's willing to host this town hall.

We were just texting. And so, T.O., you'll be hearing from me right after the show. So, yeah, I told y'all, I told y'all, we don't play here. Roland Martin unfiltered. Let's go to our next story, folks. We're talking about the issue of environmental justice. we don't play here at Roland Martin Unfiltered. Let's go to our next story, folks. We'll talk about the issue of environmental justice. A bill that's going to be reintroduced that deals with climate justice for communities of color. The Environmental Justice for All Act highlights the disparities underserved communities face regarding health and other issues impacted by climate equity. The bill funds a study tracking harmful products marketed to women and girls of color.

It also establishes a Federal energy transition economic development assistance fund to support communities and workers transitioning from fossil fuel dependent industries. Joining us right now is Mustafa Santiago Ali, former senior advisor for environmental justice for the EPA. Mustafa, tell us about this bill. Is it a good one? It's moving in the right direction because it's beginning to address many of the impacts that continue to happen inside of our communities. You know, we know we got 100,000 people are dying prematurely from air pollution, 60 million people drinking unsafe water over the last decade, and of course we know what's going on with the climate crisis. So it begins to unpack some of that and it also begins to give the opportunity for folks to be more engaged with

the climate economy and make sure that black and brown folks actually have a fair shot at these sets of resources that are going to be a part of it but you know there's still a lot of work that needs to happen because you got to build real accountability into the process and you got to move from what's just going to happen on the federal level to how you're gonna have that accountability on the state and county level, especially when you got a number, but at least half the country that does not necessarily respect what's happening around environmental justice

and the impacts that continue to happen in black and brown and indigenous communities. So what do you need black folks to do on this issue? Well, one, we need to get educated on it. We need to make sure we're raising our voices. The White House has something called the WEJAC, the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. So it gives a voice to communities to engage with those front-line organizers and experts to make sure that they're placing continued pressure on the administration. The other part is to make sure that you're reaching out to the federal officials there on Capitol Hill

and letting them know the parts that you support and the parts that you feel need to be expanded to make sure that the resources and actions are actually helpful in our communities. And so when it comes to this particular bill, as we're moving forward down the path, these other priorities out there, do you think this is going to be a priority for the White House and for Democrats in the House and the Senate? I think it will be a priority for them. A lot of the resources are actually tied to, you know, the things that you all were talking about earlier. These infrastructure bills are a big driver for the resources that are going to be necessary for the implementation of these both actions and programs. So we just got to understand that. And I appreciated the conversation earlier because it all comes back down to our vote, which is the foundation for everything. So we've got to equally be pushing for, you know, for the People Act and pushing to make sure that these respective sets of climate and environmental justice acts are also being, you know, uplifted.

All right, then. Mustafa, we appreciate it, man. Thanks a lot. All right, folks, let's go to Tennessee, where the bust of former slave trader and KKK grand wizard was officially removed from the state capitol. The Tennessee State Building Commission voted 5-2 to remove the bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest with a rare vote in favor from Governor Bill Lee. Governor Lee previously avoided dealing with requests to relocate the bust, but in 2020 he asked the Capitol Commission to seek a waiver of relocation. The commission agreed to move Forrest's bus

if U.S. Admirals David Farragut and Albert Gleiber's bus were with it to the state museum to create a Hall of Heroes exhibit. A Hall of Heroes. Black lawmakers have fought for years to have the bus relocated. What we're seeing is even these white Confederate loving states, Amisha, are under that pressure realizing you can't keep these symbols of white

supremacy up and think people are going to be happy. They have had them up and been able to worship them for decades now. It's about time they come down. I think that at this point, what is being seen, and I think one of the vestiges of a lot of the policing reform movements that we saw in the wake of the George Floyd protests, was to help to get rid of some of these symbols of hatred. Anyone who knows anything about American history knows the history of Nathan Bedford Forrest. As someone who went to college in Nashville, Tennessee, his image was emerged everywhere. And at the end of the day, this is a guy who was a stone cold racist. This is a guy who was one of the grand wizards of the KKK. This is a guy who spent his life and time stealing, pilfering from people, owning slaves,

and acting a damn fool on a regular basis when it came to race and admonishing black people as even being anything anything that would be considered human and i think that it is a high time for these things to be removed and for anybody who's sitting around crying about it you can go home and basically create one yourself put them up in your backyard whatever but it doesn't need to be anywhere in the public view for the rest of us. And, of course, Greg, you did have two bigots who still said keep it. Oh, yeah. And I support them wholeheartedly. I do. I was born and raised in

Nashville, Tennessee. And as Amisha said, she lived in Nashville. I support those white nationalists because, again, I have no investment. People talking about, we got to get rid of these Confederate battle flags. Y'all better go look at damn near every flag of every state flag in the South, with the exception of South Carolina, is a variation of the Confederate battle flag, including Tennessee, which is red,

white, and blue with the three stars in the middle of it. Nathaniel Bedford Forrest, 1866, started the Klan at Pulaski, Tennessee. And for many years, I mean, you remember this, the Middle Tennessee State University's mascot was the Blue Raiders. The Blue Raiders is the name of one of his Confederate outfits. And when they used to play Tennessee State, we would wait for those ballplayers to come in, and we'd go to the game and tell the black ball, ask the black ballplayers in Middle Tennessee State, do y'all know what a Blue Raider is? Y'all playing up under the Klan. But let's understand, that bust hasn't been there for 100 years. You're right, Amisha. It's been there decades. They got that bust in 1973. It was finished

and installed in 78. That's in our lifetimes. And they're not going to destroy it. They're going to keep it. Listen, I wish I was in the land of cotton. Old times there are not forgotten. Those lyrics mean, I don't give a damn where you put it. You ain't never gonna take it out of here. It's in their hearts. So let's get it on. Y'all vote, y'all vote.

Rozzy? Let me just tell you, I don't, I think that the conversation around keeping these busts or taking it down is a point. I think that we need to keep them up because we need to show America that just because you remove a statue, does that mean that you erase history? We've got to let people know that this is a part of this country's history. And so, look, keep them up there. Let the folks see it. Let us show how America loves to admire and love to honor racists, because we can use that as teachable moments for black and brown and Native American children to show that this country never appreciated who you are. If we remove it, and if we remove the bus,

and then next thing you know, we start to erase it from the history, then guess what's going to happen? I mean, Dr. Carr, you know it like I know it, that our children are going to suffer from having a very distorted view of the history of the place they come from. And most importantly,

they're going to have a distorted view of themselves because that part of their history was not included in the big conversation so why are we moving around saying oh we need to get rid of it no because you need to know this when i was a child in school in baltimore city in maryland look we we had to learn all this we had to watch those those those eyes on the prize videos we had to learn about all of that other stuff that they put into our head but then when i became older and i started to learn more started to read more then i started to understand okay the knowledge that i gained is is it gives me a full view of what i'm dealing with again going back to my first statement, let's not create America and create

a situation where we want it to not based on reality. We got to give our children and our people need to see reality. They don't need to see a whitewashed history. The reason I want them all taken down, I want to piss off

as many people as possible. I want to piss them off. I want them mad. I want them all taken down, I want to piss off as many people as possible. I want to piss them off. I want them mad. I want them upset. I want to see their reactions when they dragging these trifling ass statues down the street and out. I want to see their tears.

I want to see their crying. I want to see all of that. That's right. Paul Mooney said, watching, he said, using the N word, he said, makes his teeth white. Well, trust me. His teeth white. There is joy that's brought to my spirit

to see them fools in pain when they symbols. That's, look, I, so look, I, every time I see one of them, I'm like, mm-hmm, we taking y'all's shit down again. Every single one. I want them to be so frustrated and pained. That's why every day it kills these fools that Donald Trump not at 1600 Pennsylvania. And I love to say, yep, your ass is lost.

You're lost, you got your ass whooped, you lost. I don't care about none of them, what they think, what they say. I'm just gonna talk about every single one of them. That's what I'm gonna do. So that's my thing. So, you know, so I hear what y'all saying, but I want every single one of them pissed.

I want them to go to bed mad. I want them to go to bed mad. I want them to sit here and eat their chicken and their meatloaf upset because their heroes have gotten snatched down. That's right. And what my man Gregory Hines said in the Cotton Club, when he said, he said, I wanna piss on his grave.

I want to tap dance. That's the whole deal. I don't care about none of them. Not now. One of them. Don't care. All right, y'all. I gotta go to a break.

We gonna come back. I'm gonna talk about Jeff Bezos, giving a hundred million dollars to Van Jones and Chef Andres. But see, y'all think y'all know what I'm going to talk about. No, I'm going to talk about how the hundred million that he's given a van and a hundred million he's given a chef Andres, how that's nice, but what would happen

if Amazon invested in black owned companies? Yeah, I'm gonna unpack that thing when we come back. Trust me, y'all don't wanna miss what I got to say when we come back. We gonna run that commercial again of Reverend Barbara and the Poor People's Campaign before they march next week in Texas, we're gonna be live streaming that. We gonna show y'all, of course, our interviews on Facebook Watch that we did.

We got next. But I'm going to unpack this thing because, see, I need y'all to stop responding to stuff just based upon what they report to you. I need us to be deeper than mustard on a hot dog. That's next on Roller Mart Unfiltered. The same forces that are trying to pass these bills across the country, but here in Texas, to suppress, to stop, to undermine the vote.

The same folk that block you from having living wages are the same folk that wouldn't fix your utilities problems. In this time when our voting rights are under attack and economic justice is being denied. We're launching a season of nonviolent moral direct action to demand four things by August the 6th, the 56th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act. Number one. End the filibuster. Number two. Yes.

Pass all provisions of the For the People Act. Fully restore the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Yes. And number four. Raise the federal minimum wage to $15. Pass the For the Rights Act. And number four, raise the federal minimum wage to $15. Pass the For the People Act. That is the last best hope for voting rights, not just in Texas, but Georgia, Florida, and about a dozen other states. Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Bill and the For the People Act.

Let our people vote. The Latinx community is the rising electorate in Texas, and our representatives are threatened by these shifting demographics. Our pathway to citizenship, to a living wage, depend on our access to the ballot. This is not just a Black issue. That's right. This is a moral, constitutional and economic democracy issue. I think in Texas that it is time for a Selma-like. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I think we ought to march from Georgetown to Austin. And we ought to come to Austin, but we ain't coming to Austin just for Austin. We come to Austin to save the Washington, D.C. Which side are you on? And don't tell us you can't do all of this. You must do all of this for the soul and the heart of this democracy. Forward together! Forward together! Forward together! Floyd's death hopefully put another nail in the coffin of racism. You talk about awakening America, it led to a historic summer of protest.

I hope our younger generation don't ever forget that nonviolence is soul force. Right. Hi, I'm Vivian Green. Hey, everybody, this is your man Fred Hammond, and you're watching Roland Martin, my man, Unfiltered. We've been frozen out. Facing an extinction level event. We don't fight this fight right now. You're not going to have Black Army.

Two days ago, after completing their space flight, Jeff Bezos and others held a news conference where he made a shocking and surprising announcement that even the recipients had no idea that he was going to make. Listen to this. I got double audio playing, so let me figure out what's going on here. I know exactly, let me see what's going on here. Let me work this out.

I think I figured out what the problem is. All right, here we go. Let me go back to it click. There we go Right then you bring this back some all right go Bridge Always do so with civility still having some double audio issues and And so I want to play this, y'all, because it's important to play it. So let me close every other window. And let's see. Make sure that we are all good.

All right. Let's see. Try a third time. We question their character or their motives. And guess what? After you do that, it's pretty damn hard to work with that person. And really what we should always be doing is questioning ideas, not the person. Ad hominem attacks have been around a long time, but they don't work, and they've been amplified by social media. We need unifiers and not vilifiers. We want people who argue hard

and act hard for what they truly believe but they do that always with civility and never at homonym attacks. unfortunately, we live in a world where this is too often not the case. But we do have role models. And this award, do you have another slide here? Go ahead. I didn't tell you what the award was yet. I thought there was a slide for that.

Here's what the award is. You see who the first recipient is. But let me tell you what the award was yet. I thought there was a slide for that. Here's what the award is. You see who the first recipient is. But let me tell you what the award is. The Courage and Civility Award is a $100 million award so that the awardee, the recipient, can give $100 million to the charities, the non-profits of their choice. And these people, these are people who have demonstrated courage. By the way, it's easy to be courageous, but also mean. Try being courageous in civil.

Try being courageous in a unifier. That's harder and way better and makes the world better. So we have two awardees today. They'll each be getting $100 million to direct to the charities of their choice as they see fit. No bureaucracy, no committees. They just do what they want. They can give it all to their own charity or they can share the wealth. It's up to them.

And the first Courage and Civility Award goes to Van Jones. Van, come on up. All right. Van was totally shocked, surprised by that. So was Chef Andres. He was very emotional. What Jeff and Jeff Bezos has gotten a lot of attention, people thought, yeah, yeah. And there are people out there who've been critical. I'm not one of them. I know Van. We've texted about it. And that's awesome. That's great. That's wonderful.

I fully support it. Van announced that he's going to use that $100 million and give it to people who are dealing with poverty and inequality and issues along those lines. Absolutely down for it. Chef Jose Andres has done some amazing work of feeding people all across the world, stepping into the gap. Absolutely awesome. Support it. So some of y'all may be saying, okay, Roland, I'm confused because this segment is called Where's Our Money? So what does that have to do with what you're laying out? I'm glad you asked. we had Amazon on this show about an initiative

that they're working on for black business. Y'all pulled up and let me know, I forgot what the amount was. And the work that they were doing to help black owned businesses get with their products on Amazon. Totally down with it, support it, great. I had him on the show.

Which y'all might remember, I asked the brother on the show what was Amazon's investment with Black-owned Media. He didn't have the information, but he said that what I had to say was correct in terms of what I was speaking about. So here we have Jeff Bezos awarding $100 million to Van Jones and $100 million to Chef Andre, and they can do whatever they want with it. That, y'all, is philanthropy. That's age. Remember what he said. They can give it to their own charity and give it to other charities. That's philanthropy. That's aid.

I'm talking about investment. Now, let me break this thing down. But my frat brother, Todd Brown, who's been who's been we've been working on this whole thing for marketing. This is what he sent me. He said, Stephanie Chevalier, research expert covering Internet and e-commerce. This is what she said. marketing spending amounted to roughly $22 billion, up from $18.9 billion. According to Amazon, the company's marketing costs primarily consisted of targeted online advertising, TV ads, and related spending on marketing staff. The online retailers. Most relevant marketing channels include third-party customer referral sponsors, search social and online advertising, the aforementioned television advertising, and other initiatives.

So let's just say it's $20 billion. If Jeff Bezos announces that Amazon will spend 10% of its annual marketing budget with black-owned media, that means that, listen to me, because I need y'all to listen to what I'm saying. That means that black-owned media would get $2 billion alone from Amazon. That's 10%. Now, just for the purpose of this conversation, if Roland Martin Unfiltered and my media company, New Vision Media, if we received just 5% of the 10%, I don't want to go too fast, but some of y'all who are not good in math,

$20 billion, if they commit 10% to black owned media, is $2 billion. That means that if we got 5 5% of the $2 billion, would receive $100 million in advertising every year. How much did he give to Van Jones and Chef Jose? $100 million each. One time, charitable donation, $100 million. $100 million in advertising alone. start seeing stuff differently and stop getting excited when companies make announcements

that are charitable announcements. Black America is not going to be changed by philanthropy. Listen to me again. Black America is not going to be changed by philanthropy. I was running I was running the numbers earlier and I was running the numbers earlier and I was I to help some people who did not quite understand what I was saying as I was trying to get them to come to the realization of what we're talking about here and how these things matter. Because I think what happens is, again, we sometimes get so fixated and caught up in just the same old, same old. Let's say we got the $100 million.

Let's just say that we created a starting salary of $100,000. That means that if we decided to hire 400 people, listen to me clearly. If we decided to hire 400 people, 400 black journalists. Take it 500, 500, 500. Right now we got 15 people. If we got 100 million for Amazon alone, and we ain't talking about General Motors, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nissan, Ford, Target, and all the rest of these companies.

We ain't talking about none of these companies. This is just Amazon alone. If we did that, that means that we would spend $50 million on salary alone, hiring 500 people. Y'all, we got 50 left. Now let me ask you this question. What do you think is more impactful? No, let me scratch that, because both are impactful.

Which means that both should be done. So if Amazon commits 10% to black-owned media, if McDonald's commits its $3 billion it spends to black-owned media, now that becomes $300 million, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Target, GM, y'all, I'm just saying black-owned media. I'm not saying, you can talk about black event companies, black limousine companies, black transportation companies, black food companies. See, what we've done is we have allowed people to play us small.

We have allowed people to drop press releases to make us excited. And remember I had a conversation with Mark Morial last week talking about the state of black America report and how the challenge to Pepsi should be. I appreciate what Pepsi was doing, the $10 million over five years, the national herbal league to help black owned restaurants, the $100 million they want to drive to black restaurants over five years. But here's the whole deal. If Pepsi submitted did the exact same thing, Pepsi would drop $750 million on black owned media in five years, which completely blows away what they're trying to drive to black

owned restaurants. Y'all, stop getting excited solely when people make philanthropic announcements. The big money, the real money is what they're already spending every year. So what we should be doing is making a different demand. We should be saying who you doing business with? How are you spending the resources? I order a hell of a whole bunch of stuff from Amazon. We've never gotten any Amazon dollars in return. Think about that. See, y'all stay right there.

This is a box of tripods. We are adding six robotic cameras in this studio. We had to buy more tripods. The box came in last night. From Amazon. So, From Amazon. So we have actually spent more money buying products from Amazon than the show has ever gotten in advertising dollars from Amazon. Now I want you to ask yourself, how much money does black America spend every year on stuff,

and what do black businesses get in return from the very same companies that black people are actually supporting. This, folks, is why we must think differently. This, Amisha, is why our view must change and our demands must change, and black organizations like the National Urban League, like the NAACP, like Reverend Al Sharpless National Action Network, like every single black organization must establish a race equity index and say, if y'all want to come in and be on our boards and participate in our conventions, if y'all want to give us money, then you must do something different in return than just provide aid.

I agree with you. At the end of the day, we know that there are so many philanthropic donations. Like you talked about earlier, there's money that is given, basically, that ends up being kind of a charity of sorts. And there's nothing wrong with supporting different causes and ensuring that money goes towards them. But like you said, I don't think the connection is often made in our community once there are so many handclaps and everything given after these donations do happen, that those things in and of themselves will never create vital economic and long-term uplift for these communities that are in peril at all.

What we need to do is make sure that there is a larger slice of the economic pie, whether that is within ancills or whether that is in circulating money back into our communities. That's not done outside of a business model mindset. Business models are not created by philanthropy, and they never have been. So I do think that it's important that these things be elevated because it's a whole lot easier for an organization, a large multi-billion dollar corporation

to give philanthropic dollars because they know that once they do that, they're going to not have the people on their back, so to speak, for a while because they're gonna be celebrating that philanthropy more so than it is for them to actually build a long-term legacy and help to rebuild communities. That requires a business model style of investment that is very different and one that actually is longstanding. So yes,

I think that you're absolutely correct when you talk about the supporting of Black businesses, the helping to revitalize communities, but also for Black media specifically in terms of driving up those ad sales, because the money is often given and it's just given to non-black entities. So ensuring that those numbers are actually seen, that they're recognized, that large share of Amazon that is actually bought from African-Americans specifically, because a lot of us get their packages on our doorsteps on a regular basis. We keep the wheels on that thing going. Make sure that we're getting something back from it, too.

See, Faraji, I'm not hating. I'm not wheels on that thing going. Make sure that we're getting something back from it, too. See, Faraji, I'm not hating. I'm not hating. I'm stating. What I'm trying to get people to understand is I am not hating on Jeff Bezos, on Van Jones, on Chef Andre. I applaud that. I was not hating

on the National Urban League and the partnership with Pepsi. All I'm saying is, while people are providing aid, there should be a conversation about investment. And even if we take it, even if it's 5%, if we said forget, if we say not to hit 5%, that still would mean annually $1 billion flowing to black owned media as a result.

That's the conversation we need to be having. I think we, as black people, we are having a too small of a conversation. Oh, no doubt. No doubt. And as long as I've known you, Brother Roland, you have been pushing this issue.

I mean, you've been pushing this issue. And I think, why not? Why not push the conversation about having these big companies? I mean, you've been pushing this issue. And I think why not push the conversation about having big companies? I mean, Amazon is a Goliath in the retail space, a Goliath. I mean, we're not just talking about Amazon in terms of buying things. You're talking about auto. You're talking about all of the different branches of services and products that they offer. So when we have this conversation,

I mean, you're talking about a very small amount of money being put into black media. Now, that is a conversation that we really should have. And this is not about hate. This is about, look, we support this company in more ways than I'm going back with folks right now on Facebook. And one of our Facebook watchers, Love Rowland, said that, you know, Amazon is not black owned. But black folks are one of the top consumers. We consume. We order. We buy. You just brought out the tripod. We should have a stake in this in the pot, especially when it comes to these big companies. We're talking about Pepsi. We're talking about Amazon. Hell, we could talk

about health care. We can talk about car insurance while I can. We can have the damn general walking up on the stage with you. But the point is that we can definitely have a conversation and we need to have a conversation black media especially now has to be supported and i'm not saying that we just buy it we're just telling these folks to buy us so that way we can sell out no no no no no you owe us you owe us because black folks in this country are the most loyal consumers of any media. You owe us. That's all it is. You owe us. And the thing I'm trying to get us to walk through, Greg Carr, and again, this is the challenge that I offer to a Jeff Bezos or any one of these corporate leaders.

Don't just stop there. Say you're going to go to your other partners in major companies and say guess what match it. Matches. Go to Facebook. Go to Apple. Jeff Bezos should go to Tim Cook at Apple and say matches. Because see here's the whole deal. See y'all y'all think I'm playing. No go to MacBook. iPad. iPad. iPad. iPhone. iPhone.

Mac mini in there, two Mac minis at home. I'm about, I watch, I'm about to buy three or four other, oh no, six computers for staff, likely MacBooks. How much money has Apple spent on advertising on this black-owned media platform? Zero. So the point here is our ask has to be different, which means we also, as black-owned media companies, when somebody offers us a crumb, we've got to have the guts to be able to say no. And Greg, the reason we have been able to say no

is because last year, our base gave us $672,000 in donations and asked for nothing in return, except that we put this show on every single night. This year alone, our base has contributed $400,000 to the show, which makes this whole thing possible. That is how we are able to do this. So we have to,

our organizational strength has to be willing to challenge corporations to say, don't just post a black photo of Black Square on your Instagram page supporting Black Lives Matter after George Floyd. No, no, no, no. How are you investing in our businesses? Final comment for you, Greg. That's right, Roland. And everybody, Roland, what you just said, that last sentence, I think that's the first sentence black self-help has been the

logic and the effort that has made our survival $400,000 is a lot of money in the same time there's no money for everybody who watches this everybody watching this needs to put some money in why see there are no morals in capitalism I wouldn't be surprised if Jeff Bezos gave that money because he was challenged by the fact that he was embarrassed because his ex-wife been given out much more than that. And so he that's the challenge. And Jeff Bezos, who came back, who struck his cowboy pose after riding his crotch rocket

to the outer limits of the atmosphere, and then came down and tried to do what every white investor in trying to control dissent has done since Andrew Carnegie and Randolph and them railroad boys put money in Booker T. Washington's account, which is control the message. Notice, he started with, we can have any conversation we want, but we just have to watch the tone. So you go out and find a cat who's all over the damn ideological map like Van Jones and a dude dishing out food who's done some important work. And then this is like wrestling. Who believes that they're going to take their money and do whatever the hell they want with it as if they didn't know right there? Come on now.

Come on. Come on. Let's be serious for a minute. Jeff Bezos, who got employees who he thanked, by the way, for paying for his ride on his crotch rocket, he thanked his employees who are pissing in bottles, who are around here risking their lives trying to get things to our doors before the damn clock-out thing comes, who are not getting paid a living wage. He thanked his employees.

Do you know, in the first quarter of this year, that Amazon's profits from ad revenue, to the point you're making, Roland, went up 76.8 percent to $6.9 billion? I'm talking about January, February, March this year. Right. And that their profits during the time we were all shut in exploded mackenzie scott has made more money than she has given away just off of the value of the stock jeff bezos with that little five dollars he gave out after coming back from his crotch rocket with his cowboy pose talking about tone and tenor what jeff bezos was doing is trying to control the message it's the same reason he bought the washington post in 2013 for a quarter billion dollars they lose money but he's trying to control the message. It's the same reason he bought the Washington Post in 2013 for a quarter billion dollars.

They lose money, but he's trying to control the message. Roland, they will give that money and give it in form of investing in black ad dollars the minute they know that you ain't buying no more iBooks or iMacs, that I'm not buying anymore, that I'm not ordering from Amazon. And the only way you can do that is for everybody listening to

this conversation to go and join the Bring the Funk Fan Club, to put the marker down, because Jeff Bezos does not have any more, there's no moral argument you can make to a capitalist. It's carrots and sticks. But what the key, the key is here, that I need everybody to

understand, is I am going to make the ask of every single one of these companies because if they want our business, we must be demanding an ROI, a return on investment. And what I need other black-owned media people to do is stop playing yourselves small by accepting a crumb that is offered. And so therefore, what did I tell General Motors directly? What did I tell McDonald's directly? I, Roland Martin, am not going to praise you for a press release that you sent out. I will withhold my praise until I see you do the work. And if you hit your goals and you hit your numbers and direct

deposits start showing up in the bank accounts of black businesses, then I will praise you. This is where I want Jeff Bezos' Amazon to lead. This is where I want Doug McMillan and Walmart folks who I spoke to last year for MLK Day, I want them to lead. This is where I want leaders to lead. Mark Zuckerberg, lead. Tim Cook at Apple, lead. Jack Dorsey at Twitter and Square.

You also own Cash App. You own Square. This is where you lead. Folks, we must be willing to make the demand. Otherwise, we will keep getting played. Amisha, Faraj, and Greg, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Folks, if y'all want to support what we do here, Roll Bar Unfiltered Faraji, and Greg, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot, folks. If y'all want to support

what we do here at Walmart Unfiltered, please join our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar you give makes all this stuff possible, allows us to be able to travel around the country,

to cover the news, to do this town hall we're going to plan in Chicago, to go to Texas next week, and we will certainly appreciate every dollar you give. We are asking 20,000 of our fans to give on average

50 bucks a year. That's $4.19 a month, 13 cents a day. All you got to do is go to Cash App. If you want to give more, that's great. You can only give less. That's fine as well. Cash App, dollar sign RM Unfiltered, paypal.me forward slash rmartinunfiltered, venmo.com forward slash rmunfiltered. Zelle is rolling at rollingsmartin.com, rolling at rolling Roland Martin unfiltered.com. Look, there's more than 3,000 of y'all watching on YouTube. It's probably about half of that watching on Facebook. Folks, again, we can't do this without you. We don't have billionaires and millionaires supporting us. We have not closed major advertising deals

that are multi-year deals with a lot of these advertisers and so the things that we're doing and trust me i'm gonna drop an announcement for y'all on september 3rd that's gonna blow you away but your support is crucial to making all happen so again cash app dollar sign rm unfiltered paypal.me forward slash r martin unfiltered venmo.com forward slash rm unfiltered z PayPal.me forward slash RM Unfiltered. Venmo.com forward slash RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Folks, I'll see you tomorrow right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered.

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

Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports.

This kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs Podcast Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple

Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more.

Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. This is an iHeart Podcast.