#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Celebrating Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc. Founders Day | #RolandMartinUnfiltered #BlackStarNetwork

Episode Date: December 5, 2023

12.4.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Celebrating Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc. Founders Day | #BlackStarNetwork  Houston, Texas, Mayor Sylvester Turner is joining us to discuss his response to mayoral candidate John Whitmire's political dog whistle questioning diversity.  Congressmen Steven Horsford and Emanuel Cleaver will shed light on this election cycle, affordable housing, voting rights, and what is happening in the House.   Actress Juliana Margulies is back peddling her statements aligning black people and the LBGTQ+ community with Palestinian terrorists.  Another Trump co-defendant could have her bail revoked if her recent statements are found to be threatening a witness.  Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork 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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. to, yeah, banana pudding. If it's happening in business, our new podcast is on it. I'm Max Chastin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun?

Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. It really does.

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Să ne vedem la următoarea mea rețetă! Today is Monday, December 4th, 2023. It is the 117th anniversary of the coldest, the boldest fraternity in the land, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. This is an alpha show today. Coming up, folks, we've got the mayor of Houston, Brother Sylvester Turner, talking about the mayoral race this Saturday and also his response to John Whitmire who's running for mayor for his political dog whistle questioning diversity of the mayor's administration also congressman Stephen Horsford also an alpha chair of the direction of black

caucus we'll talk about how much of a joke the house republicans are not doing the chair of the direction of the Black Caucus. We'll talk about how much of a joke the House Republicans are not doing the business of the American people. Plus, we're talking to Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, another alpha, about the housing shortage in this country. Actress Julianne Margiles, ooh, she's backpedaling her statements saying that black people in the LGBT community align with Palestinian terrorists. Also, another Trump co-defendant, just crazy sister,

could have her bill revoked if her recent statements are found to be threatening to a witness. Plus, we'll have a lot of shout-outs from brothers all across the country. It's time to bring the funk Alpha Style. I'm Roland Martin on the filter on the Black Star Network. He's rolling. Yeah, yeah.

It's Uncle Roro, y'all. Yeah, yeah. It's Roland Martin. Yeah, yeah. Rolling with Roland now. Yeah, yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's fresh, he's real the best, you know he's rolling Alpha Alpha Return Incorporated.

And so, of course, you're a truly 34-year member of the frat. And so we've got a jam-packed show for you. We're kicking things off out of Houston, where Mayor Sylvester Turner took some time in last week's city council meeting to address mayor candidates, Senator John Whitmire, for saying that Turner's administration was not diverse enough.

Say what? So here's just a little of what the mayor had to say about Whitmire. Criticisms lodged by Senator John Whitmire, and I want to respond if you're going to attack this administration. And one of the criticisms was that there is no diversity with regards to, I guess, my top leaders at the city. That was a dog whistle. Because, let me just say to you, with respect to Asians who are in top positions here at this city,

as you know, I appointed Sanjay Ram as chair of Metro. First Asian. That's my appointment. I also appointed our our common as the first woman chair of Metro. That was my, Karine, that was my appointment. Priya Zachariah, Chair of the Mayor's Office of Resilience and Sustainability, Asian. First, my appointment and doing an outstanding job I may say if you all can recall Tangerie emo emo the first Asian woman to chair finance director that was Mena Patel-Davis, chairs human trafficking, okay? And has been here for at least 80 years. Respect to Hispanics, if you all can recall,

Chief Oscar Veda was the head of the police department. And Chief Pena headed the fire department. All at the same time. Okay? That was historic. My appointments. All right, folks. Joining us right now is Mayor Sylvester Turner. Mayor, glad to have you here.

Happy Founders Day. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up. So now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams,

and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution.

But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st. And episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.

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

Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. State of you, 06. So let's get right to it. We got this runoff election between State Senator John Whitmer, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. Election is taking place on Saturday. And Whitmer has been saying some pretty crazy things.

And so to say you haven't had enough diversity? That's crazy, Roland. This administration has been the most diverse in the city's history. Okay? The most diverse. And when you look at the, let's say, the last two administrations, not one Asian, not one in the white administration or in the Park administration, not one. With respect to this administration, we have representations of Asians, African-Americans, Anglos, Hispanics, LGBTQ, all in major positions. And as I indicated, what you just heard, when I came in,

I named a Hispanic head of police and a Hispanic head of the fire department both at the same time. That has never taken place in the history of this city. And then, of course, he tried to throw out corruption with regards to the contracts at the airports there because the owner of Pappas is not Martin, his company's on one of the teams that actually did win it. But wasn't that an actual process that it wasn't like it was chosen by the mayor of the city council? You're right. It went through a procurement process. They went through the interviews. They went through the scoring. Papas did not come out number one. They came out number two. And in fact, in the best and final offer, Papas lowered

their what they would be giving to the city. They didn't go up. They didn't remain the same. They lowered it. And as a consequence of that, they lost. And what he, what Whitmire supposedly is advocating, you just give it to them, you know, because of who they are, just give it to them. Well, if we end up doing that, we would have been in trouble. We would have been violating the procurement rules. The people who got it are the people who scored number one. They won it. They came forward with the best bid, and they won it. And Pappas and no one else should be entitled or feel like they have an entitlement to remain just because they've been there for the previous 20 years. You have to compete, and you have to adhere to the procurement

rules and policies and procedures. And that's what we did. And then the team that scored number one is over at the airport. You call this a political dog whistle. What's at play here? Well, it's the mayor's

race. And it can be it can go either way. It's close. And it can be it can go either way. It's close. And essentially, when you get in a debate on television and you start saying, well, look at the people who are on the mayor's the mayor's directors on his team. There are no Hispanics. There are no his no Asians. What are you implying? Implying number one, that's factually incorrect. Number two, you're making this and turning it into a racial issue. Are you saying there are too many blacks? And if you're saying that, then what is the quota? What number are you saying?

But the reality is, this is a very diverse city. My administration has one of the most, if not the most, diverse representation in the history of this city. And you will see people from all persuasions that are in key leadership positions here at the city of Houston. We're very proud of that. And quite frankly, up until him making that comment, I think most people in the city of Houston have been proud of the diversity that exists in this city and the fact that we have key people, people of color, from the highest level to the mid-level all the way down. And we're very proud of that. I saw a previous video as well.

I don't know if he was speaking at a church or was a banker. I'm not quite sure. And you said that in eight years of mayor, you've never gotten a phone call from Senator Whitmire saying, what kind of assistance do you need for the city of Houston in Austin? He has been in the state legislature for a very long time. You serve in the state legislature as well. And so I do find it peculiar that a state senator, there are only 31 in the whole state, that you never heard from a Houston state senator,

and you're the mayor of the city. And that's a factual statement. That's a factual statement. We've gone through storms. We've gone through COVID, social civil unrest. The list goes on and on. In 80 years, I have faced seven federally declared disasters. And I should say the city has faced them. And in those 80 years, the two mayoral candidates, only one has called me at least just one time and offered any support and gave any support.

And that's been Congresswoman Sheila Jackson. For whatever reason, the senator, Senator Whitmer, has never picked up the phone and offered to help this city, offered me any help or advice, not one time. I can't tell you why. I can only tell you factually what has occurred in the last eight years. It is a big election on Saturday.

You have endorsed congresswoman sheila jackson lee. And obviously a lot of eyes are on this particular race. It is a diverse city. You've got a lot of republicans in the city who are supporting senator whitmire. But you've got a lot of Republicans in the city who are supporting Senator Whitmire.

But you've got endorsements going back and forth. From your perspective, why would Congressman Sheila Jackson Lee make a better mayor for the city than John Whitmire? Well, you know, this is a diverse city and we face a lot. What I can say to you is that in the last eight years, we faced those seven federally declared disasters. The congresswoman has stood by this city and the congresswoman has stood by me. She didn't wait to get a phone call. She's utilized her position in the best for the betterment of the city of Houston. She's brought down resources. That's important. And it is important as we move forward to have someone sitting in the

mayor's seat that can establish positive relationships with the local units of government, Harris County, with the feds. That's critically important. And even know how to deal with the state as well. Her experience speaks volumes on that end. In terms of this city, we are a global city. And it's important that you're able to represent us on the national and global stage. She's certainly prepared and has proven very capable of doing that. And then at the same time, she is a doer. She gets things done. She's very result-oriented. And she's demonstrated that.

So quite frankly, there are just a lot of pluses in her favor, and I say that without having to bash anybody else or the person that's in the race with her. She has established herself since she's been a city council person, since she's been in Congress, someone who knows how to represent the best interests of everyone in the city of Houston. And therefore, you know, I'm I have given my support to her. You are in the final days of your eight years as mayor. It has been highly successful. One of the things that we talked about in June, we were there for Juneteenth,

is what you have been able to do to really grow the opportunities for Black and minority businesses by being mayor. And the record will speak for itself, Roland. Under this administration, businesses of color, Hispanics, Asian, African-Americans, have received more business from this city at a historic level, and specifically that holds true for African-American businesses. And we're talking about businesses who are fully capable of doing the work. So their representation in terms of doing business with the city speaks volumes. We've worked very hard to build a very inclusive community, not just in terms of representation and not just in terms of who is sitting in the chairs, but in terms of the economic opportunities that this city has to offer. And in each one of those categories, you can check the box. And as a result of this, communities are doing better because families are doing better, because people are doing better

economically, and they can pass that on down to their employees and everyone else. So those are good things. And I think that will speak volumes for the future of this city. What would you say is the, for you personally, the greatest accomplishment that you have been able to do? Well, this is the most diverse city in the city of Houston. And you can be diverse, separate, segregated, and apart, or you can be diverse and inclusive at the same time. We've been able to hold the city together and move forward. The second thing is that we have faced more storms, more disasters, more major events

than anyone previously sitting in this seat. But we've come through it. We've built a very resilient, stronger, sustainable city. And it's been a we thing. So I give high marks for the collaboration. It hadn't been a me thing. It's been a we thing. And so people on all levels have come together in order for us to get through these storms and at the same time be a very competitive city with other cities, not only in this state and in this country, but globally as well. And I think that speaks volumes for Houston and who we are. On a lighter note, we have brought more sporting events and conventions to this city than anyone in the history of this city sitting in this chair. And more sporting events than any other city in the history of this city sitting in this chair, and more sporting events than any other city in the country.

And that's what the Harris Houston Sports Authority just put out a few days ago. So we've done well. The Astros have won the World Series twice. They've been in the World Series three times. They've been a division champion seven consecutive times, and I've been mayor eight times. So I think we have

a pretty good track record and now even the texans are doing very very well only thing we gotta do is get the rockets uh handling their business and then we'll have a trifecta there we are we look we're on our way and then again let me let me but let me take the opportunity to thank you for what for your advocacy, for what you are doing. You certainly made Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated very, very proud. But quite frankly, you've given a voice to a whole lot of people who need to be heard in this day and time. We are we're going through some tough times. And that's why I hate to see what's happening in the city of Houston right now when you inject, even in a dog whistle, race

into the equation. That's not a good thing. That's not a good thing. So let me thank you and let me just say happy Founders Day. Absolutely. Absolutely. And of course, for me, it all started there at Jack Yates High School, Madden School of Communications.

And so that's it. Mayor Turner, I appreciate it. Again, good luck in the final days of your you being the mayor's. And I'm sure I will see you around in around Houston, of course, at the Brook, the Church Without Walls. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I'll see you soon, man. All right. Thanks a lot. Be well. Take care. Okay. Folks, going to break.

We come back, chat with my panel. Also talk about a lot of the news we got going. Congressman Stephen Horst, the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, will be joining us. Congressman Emanuel Cleaver will be talking about housing in this country. That's a whole lot we got to discuss right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network on this Alpha Founders Day. We'll be right back. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence white people are losing their damn minds

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

Here's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. Greetings. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one.

The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. With guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy

some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this Taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that Taser told them.

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

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

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

thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got Be Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them.

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Happy Founders Day to my brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. I'm Brother Mark Tillman, and I've had the honor and privilege of serving our fraternity as the 34th General President. Today, we celebrate 117 years of existence founded on the campus of Cornell University. We remember and honor our seven founders, the Jews of this fraternity. They are the architects

of Alpha's ideals, aims, and mission. Remember to support and defend our right to vote. Remember to promote academic excellence and defend our right to vote. Remember to promote academic excellence and defend the right for equal education. And remember to serve and advocate for our communities to ensure equal opportunity for all. Happy Founders Day, my brothers. Enjoy this day. All right, folks.

Introducing our all-star alpha panel, Dr. Mustafa Santayga Ali, former senior advisor for environmental justice for the EPA. He joins us from Dubai. I would assume that's why he don't have his black and gold on. So, you know, he went out there. He got this peach and cream on. We got Dr. Oh, yeah, I was going to say something. We got Dr. Larry Walker, assistant professor, University of Central Florida.

Glad to see you in the Black and Gold Doc. And, of course, Dr. Greg Carr, Department of Afro-American Studies, Howard University out of D.C. And so glad to have all three of my alpha brothers here. I want to start with you, Greg. You heard the mayor there. And here's the thing that I've consistently said to people. The reason Atlanta is the city that it is, is because they had Maynard Jackson as mayor, Alpha, followed by Andrew Young as mayor, Alpha, followed by Maynard Jackson, followed by Bill Campbell, followed by Shirley Franklin, followed by Kasim Reed, followed by Keisha Lance Bottoms, followed by, right now, it goes by Mayor Andre.

You had black mayor after black mayor. Chicago had Harold Washington, and then it was 20 plus years, more than 20 years before a black, well, actually longer than that, before a black mayor was elected in terms of Lori Lightfoot. And then now you've seen Brandon Johnson. So they've now had back to back black mayors. Lee Brown was the first black mayor of Houston. Then you had a couple of others. And then you had Sylvester Turner. And what I keep saying is we're talking about black advancement. It's critically important to have that continuation in order to continue the work. It doesn't get done just in one term.

And so that's why when we talk about voting, black voters could make the difference in Houston if they actually turn out in large numbers for Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee over state senator John Whitmer. Absolutely. Refresh my memory, Brother Roland. Harold Washington, what fraternity was he? Harold Washington, actually, I think he was a Sigma. Was he? OK, I know Eugene Sawyer was. I mean, I was trying to remember. I guess we couldn't get everybody in. Yeah, Harold Washington was a Sigma.

And then Eugene Sawyer, who came after him on a temporary basis. Eugene Sawyer, he was an Alpha. He was an Alpha, that's right. Okay, thank you, brother. And the head of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, John Stroger, alpha brother. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Well, you know, it's interesting, Roland. We know this. You've taught us this history over and over again. There are limits to political power when resources have been deprived.

People get resources deprived. We certainly see class tensions to this day in Atlanta. The Stop Cops City movement, that's on Andre's watch. The class kind of cleavages that emerged even in the Maynard Jackson administration. But that's an issue that is related but distinct. We have to have political power first to then begin to turn internally and solve these challenges. And what we're seeing here is that, yes, there's a robust black upper class and middle class in all these black cities, even as the black poor, along with the rest of the poor, are suffering. But what we have here in Houston is probably a preview to what we're going to see around

the country, what we've always seen. When black folk, after the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as you always talk about, began to elect black power, put black people into elective office, that first wave of black politicians came in with a mandate to create the type of equitable society for everyone that would, of course, benefit us. You see Harold Washington's early plans. You see Maynard Jackson's early plans. And what those white boys did. I'm not

talking about the poor whites initially, because these are in many ways multiracial coalitions, certainly in Chicago. The idea of the Rainbow Coalition, as we know, came from the Black Panthers, the white folk in Chicago, the hillbilly movement, the so-called Young Lords movement in Chicago. There was a

multiracial coalition that put Harold Washington in office. But what did the rich white boys do, the business owners and folk like that? They began to try to withdraw resources from the polity, either moving to the suburbs or trying to maintain control of the banks. We saw the same thing happen here in Washington, D.C., with our brother, another alpha brother, Marion Barry. And so black politicians find themselves hamstrung when resources are being starved. Now, this white nationalist in Houston, Harriman, his whole technique is the same technique they're following throughout Texas. We're going to starve y'all of resources. And then the dog whistles that he puts in is basically like,

if you bring me, I'm going to talk to my white friends and these business owners, and we're going to put some more money back in the city. It's an old playbook. But now that Texas finally is majority non-white, now that white people make up the largest minority group in the state of Texas, what's going on in Houston is a preview to the playbook they're going to run until they are finally wrested power of across the country. This is what Sylvester Turner, this is what Celia Jackson Lee and everyone else is facing. And we've seen it before in all these cities that you mentioned.

What Greg laid out there, Mustafa, I think is really important. And I'm just going to say what's happening here in Houston. People need to understand, Houston is the largest, Houston and Harris County, the largest city, largest county in the state.

Republicans in Austin have been doing all they can to stifle Houston because it has gone blue. Well, guess what? Democrats control the Harris County Commissioner's Court. You have a Latina who is the chair of the Harris County Commissioners. Here you have Houston, you have a black mayor. You got folks down there, white Republicans, they like, we got to take back something in this city. I saw one poll that showed 88% of Republicans in Houston were supporting State Senator John Whitmer, who's

actually a Democrat. And so when I laid out in my book, White Fear, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Mind minds. This is about, again, power and then who wields power. And what I keep saying over and over and over again, I'm going to keep saying it between now and next year's election and on to black people. If we are not properly leveraging our vote to the maximum capacity, then what we're doing is we're losing the opportunity to hold power, wield power, and drive change to our communities. Yeah, and we understand that power is correlated with making that positive change that you referenced inside of our communities, whether it is around education or housing or job opportunities. The list goes on and on.

And Republicans there have made a, you know, a decision that, you know, the other candidate is actually the person whom will probably help them to hold onto that power. But we should unpack this. You know, you need there in Houston a candidate who actually understands how the federal process works. Where are those resources in the federal system? How do you navigate that? And that's why when you have the opportunity to have someone like Sheila Jackson Lee, excuse me, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, you know, I work right down the hall from her. I've spent time inside of her office and understood the dynamics that she played out to make sure that positive

things began to happen for our community. So, you know, if we want to make sure that our communities are healthy and are thriving and have the resources that are necessary, then you have to have that individual. And, of course, that's tied to your vote to make sure that you have someone who's in office who not just sees you, but understands the dynamics that are going on inside of your communities. Larry. Roland, I think that, you know, this conversation we're having right now, you just talked to,

you know, Brother Mayor Turner is really important. And since Founders Day, a hopeless people is voteless people, right? We talk about that, you know, as our major, you know, focus, one of our programs is alpha. And so it's going to be imperative for folks to get out in a couple of days from now and vote. I think the statistics you highlight in terms of 88 percent of Republicans, you know, supporting a Democrat obviously is really concerning. But I think once again, when you talk about, you know, Brother Carr talked about the Voting Rights Act of 65 and, you know, black political power. And then you highlight it with Republicans, the steps they're taking, not only in the state of Texas,

but other states throughout the United States where there are large metropolitan areas that have gone blue and efforts to undermine the political power. And you see that Harris County was happening with the school district, among other challenges. But it's going to be critically important for Black folks to outperform

some of the other groups in the area to make sure that, you know, we elect Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-League. And as, you know, it was just highlighted, I think our federal experience, obviously she was on Judiciary Committee, and there's been a number of connections in Capitol Hill, certainly could be helpful in terms of bringing additional resources to the metropolitan area. But once again, this is all hands on deck. And as you highlighted the number of black mayors to Chicago, D.C., my hometown of Philadelphia, et cetera. If you want to continue that tradition, then once again, we have to make sure folks get out and vote and make sure you put Sheila Jackson in office. So it's going to be again, because

at the end of the day, it comes down to who actually votes. The election takes place on Saturday, December 9th. So, folks, absolutely, let's make it happen. All right, folks, got to go to break. When we come back, Congressman Stephen Horsford, chair of the Russian Black Caucus, Alfred Brother out of Nevada. We'll talk about the 2024 election, voting rights, and, of course, the recent expulsion of George Santos. We'll hear from him. Also, we'll talk to Congressman Emanuel Cleaver out of Kansas City

about housing shortage in this country. All of that next right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Don't forget to support us in what we do, folks. You can join our Marina Funk fan club. And so see your check and money orders at PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. Cash app, dollar sign, RM Unfiltered. PayPal, RM Martin Unfiltered.

Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zale, Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. We'll be right back. Bye-bye. Thank you. your own pace, complete the online certificate program on your own terms. Stand out to employers, get on a path to in-demand jobs, and connect with top employers who are currently hiring. Take one professional career certificate program or all six. Earn a Google career certificate to prepare for a job in a high-growth field like data analytics, project management, UX design, cybersecurity, and more. All professional career certificate programs must be completed by December 31st, 2024.

Scan the QR code to complete the application. There are 1,000 scholarships available. Grow with Google and J. Hood and Associates. Be job ready and qualify for in-demand jobs. Happy Founders Day to the men of Alpha Phi Alpha. Seven men came together making the commitment to embody the motto, first of all, servants of all, we shall transcend all. You know, while we've never fully lived up to our promise of our nation, we've never fully walked away from it either. Because of you and alpha men like you, like Dr. King, Justice Thurgood Marshall, my good friend, Ambassador Andy Young.

Thank you all for the history you've made and the history you continue to make. God bless you all. Keep at it, guys. Keep at it. All right, folks, welcome back. Greg, were you surprised by that video, Greg? I couldn't stop laughing, man. You know what it was, Roland. I saw Brother Wes Moore give his thing today on the frat. Joe Biden just cracks me laughing, man. You know what it was, Roland. I saw Brother Wes Moore give his thing today on the frat. But Joe Biden just cracks me up, man. No, but you know he's actually done a video for every D9 Founders Day.

No question. Hey, look, Joe Biden know what side his bread is butted on, man. It just cracks me up to hear why you would, I mean. But I'm going to tell you this here. I don't recall Obama doing greetings for every Founders Day. Well, I'm not sure. So, hey, I'd give it to Biden's staff. No, I'd definitely give it to Biden. See, that's called good staffing.

That's called, see, I love all the people sitting there called oh uh he out here this one cracks me up i i i'm gonna get to connor steven horse for a minute but but this is what cracks me up these people going oh see that's right here begging for the vote see this this is where i'm now confused so if we get ignored we Right. But then if somebody does something like this, the other folk go, oh, now you're sitting here begging. That's actually smart politics. Smart politics is that's what you do when you are, you know, again, looking out for a group. Republicans do that for evangelicals. Republicans do that for evangelicals. They do it for other groups.

It just kills me when you get people who are out there, and it's so like, damn if you do, damn if you don't. No question. The Obamas are outliers. First of all, I doubt that Barack Obama was invited to a smoker or anything else when he was an undergrad at Occidental

or even when he crossed the continent. And as far as Michelle Obama goes, is it apocryphal? Have y'all heard the same story? I heard that once it was clear that she could only join one sorority, she just turned down all the offers. Like, in other words, I did. Maybe I could be an honor member of all of them. So clearly, I don't know how this works.

We're all together. It's the divine nine. But you got to pick. So maybe the Obama's. But you're absolutely right. That's smart politics. And we know, as you know better than all of us, just how filthy the White House is with members of Alpha Phi Alpha and the divine nine. So they weren't going to let him make no mistakes. No, absolutely.

Absolutely. You know, Larry, you know, you know, you know, on that point, this is one of the reasons why you have diverse staffs. This is one of the, well, people don't realize, well, people don't realize, presidents, governors, mayors, county commissioners, state reps, state senators, when you go to awards programs, what do you open up? You will see a letter there from elected official. When you go, you'll see videos.

This happens for all groups. And so we should, we should want elected officials, especially those that depend on our votes, honoring our organizations. Absolutely. And listen,

he wouldn't get elected without the D-9. His VP's a member of the D-9. So it's, it's's it will be a fumble if the White House did. And I know the Omega Psi Phi had their founders a few weeks ago. And I saw the video. And you're right, Roland, he's done the videos for everyone. It is smart politics, because as we're well aware, we can talk about Dr. King and Brother Marshall, et cetera, in terms of alpha, the impact alpha men have had on this country, Du Bois, et cetera. But it will be unconscionable not to honor, particularly, obviously, the first, but honor all deny organizations in terms of giving my shout out on Founders Day. So it takes a few minutes to film each video.

But it's really important because, listen, in the election next year, he's going to lead every single vote of every D9 member. Not only that, we talked about all of our work for voter registration and Alpha Meta always in the front line and getting people registered to vote, undergraduate and graduate chapters. So he's going to lead every single vote next year. So it's critically important that he gave a shout out, like I said, to the first and finest, of course.

I just can't stand the folk who whine, Mustafa, who say, oh, he pandering. First of all, let me be real clear. Politics is pandering. You literally go to people begging them for their vote. It ain't no different than somebody outside the store going, you got any spare change? You got any change?

That's what politicians do. It's true. It is what they do. But, you know, we need to also view this from a different direction because I've been in the seats of prepping senior officials for the creation of videos and engagement with other organizations. So when you have, whether it's a president or vice president or an administrator of an agency, yes, you're shooting that video for a few moments, but they're also finally beginning to have some education around the creativity and actually all the amazingness that is associated with us that they may not have known. And then they will also swing back around when you're on the road with them and they'll say or ask questions about an organization and the leaders inside of that. So when he hears names like Dr. King or Thurgood Marshall or a number of others, and they're starting to make some decisions about who's going to get invited to something or where resources need to go or who has the expertise in that space, they will think

about Alpha Phi Alpha. So there's a number of benefits that come from having those individuals, both in that moment and then in additional times afterwards. Absolutely. Absolutely. Speaking of that, Mustafa, you're there in Dubai. Vice President Kamala Harris was there as well. Tell folks what is happening there that the attention of the world is on that region. Well, COP 28 is happening here in Dubai. It's an incredibly important set of conversations that are going on. Countries all across our planet are making decisions about the sets of investments and actions that they'll do to address the climate crisis. And for our folks, it's incredibly important to be a part of this and to pay

attention to what's going on because our communities get hit first and worse, whether it's from floods or hurricanes, these heat waves that actually disproportionately kill black folks at twice the rate of white folks. So when people are talking about how resources are going to be developed, where resources are going to go, and how we're going to break our addiction to fossil fuels, there is a direct public health impact that's happening. But there's also an economic impact for our folks. We know many of our folks work outdoors. So when we have these extreme weather events, it makes it difficult for us to be able to work. It makes kids more difficult for them to be able to make it to school.

But there's also literally billions upon billions of dollars for economic opportunities. And we need to be positioning ourselves to make sure that we're getting our fair share. So, one, we get to protect our communities, and we can also help to address the wealth gap by getting engaged in this new clean economy. You know, one of the things, Larry, that, like I said, as I said... A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action.

And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company

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

Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way.

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

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

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Vice President was there. I get a kick out of this. When you have folks like Chris Christie,

but y'all got some black people do. We had a vice president. We ain't never seen the vice president. Well, the reality is she was there representing the United States at this conference, spoke at this conference as well. And so, you know, matter of fact, here are just some of the photos. And, like, this thing ain't really hard. You can actually follow VP on Instagram.

And, again, this is her meeting with leaders of Egypt, the UAE, of Jordan, the Emir of Qatar. And, look, a lot of things are being talked about there, including what's happening between Israel and Gaza. And, again, this is the stuff that I'll dare say not sexy. But this is what vice presidents do. I had some dude send me an email telling me, use all of your influence to get to Kamala Harris to tell her to step down from the ticket.

I said, dude, she ain't going nowhere. I'm like, what the hell y'all talking about? I'm like, she ain't going nowhere. I mean, it amazes me the sheer insanity of people who, who go, man, we don't hear from her. We don't see her. She's the number two. You typically hear more from the number one and not the number two. And you know, an interesting thing about this conversation, Roland, we really need to focus on civics. I'm always surprised not only in social media, but this general conversation of people having their confusions about the role the president and VP play.

But I think a lot of this has to do with race and gender. And that's why you see a lot of this unnecessary criticism. Roland, you talked about the VP recently being in Dubai. She makes very, what I would describe, nuanced comments about the conflict in Israel that you hadn't heard previously from the administration. So when people are making, you know, like you said, highlighting, you know, where she is, what is she doing, they missed a very important speech that she just gave recently. But folks need to really open their eyes and really ask themselves why they are so critical of the VP. She's everywhere, right? So we talk about her being in Dubai, traveling abroad,

or whether she's talking about making sure you support the Biden-Harris administration in 2024, going to HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions throughout the United States. But listen, when you're president of the United States, you're the one who is dictating what the agenda is. The VP is only going to do but so much based on what the White House and senior leaders in the Biden administration want the VP to do. So people really need to come

off of some of the unnecessary criticism. And like I said, they really need to take a look at some of their biases based on race and gender. But she's done a great job. And for people saying she could come off the ticket, that's ridiculous. Biden wouldn't have won a couple of years ago. Let's talk about the number how black women support not only Democratic Party, but came out and supported President Biden and will also do that next year. So the idea of suggesting that somehow she won't be on the ticket next year, that would equal a Trump presidency. Greg? Yeah, I couldn't agree more with Larry. And I'm glad you're there, Brother Mustafa.

We saw those pictures as you flashed it there with the King of Jordan, also with Sisi from Egypt. You best believe one thing for sure. Set aside Anthony Blinken. Set aside Joe Biden. Kamala Harris is in the UAE, which means those conversations weren't just about climate change. We heard Lloyd Austin, secretary of defense, talk about the fact that what Israel is doing

right now is pushing it closer to having a perpetual war, creating another generation of folk that will attack Israel from the people who are losing family members as we speak. Climate change and that are related. The idea that you can drive people from one part of where they live to another part. Now Egypt's going to bomb in the southern part of Gaza. That's a precursor. And the way I understand it, Mustafa, is you've been there, you've probably been, you've been hearing this in real time, brother. You know, those of us not there monitoring the conversations. And one of the things that's been raised is the fact that climate change, you see a precursor of it with displacement. The people in the global south who are going to be flooded out,

are going to have these extreme weather events, they're going to be looking for some place to go. And those places are going to look more and more like the places where the people with the resources that they've deprived them of live. And that's going to happen here in the United States as well. And you better believe that Kamala Harris is there, not just having conversations about climate change, which is the existential threat to our existence as a species on this planet, but she's also talking foreign policy. So if you think that she ain't talking to Sisi about, look, we got to we got to get this thing under control in this region where these folks are losing their lives, then then people are being incredibly naive. So it's extremely important for the top official in the United States government

to be in that conversation in the way she's in those conversations right now, no doubt about it. All right, folks, hold tight one second. We come back. We'll hear from Dr. Congressman Stephen Horsford, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, about the drama in the House and really his message for black men who either considered voting for Trump or even sitting the election out. That is next on this special edition of Rolling Rock Unfiltered on this Alpha Founders Day right here on the Black Table with me, Greg Carr.

There's a lot of talk about the inevitability of another civil war in this country. But on our next show, we'll talk to a noted author and scholar who says we're actually in the middle of one right now. In fact, Steve Phillips says the first one that started back in 1861, well, it never ended. People carrying the Confederate flag, wearing sweatshirts saying MAGA Civil War, January 6th, 2021, stormed U.S. Capitol, hunted down the country's elected officials, built the gallows for the Vice President of the United States and to block the peaceful transfer of power within this country.

On the next Black Table, here on the Black Star Network. I'm Mark Morial. I was initiated in Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity by chapter on April 23rd, 1977. And I want to say to all the brothers, happy Founders Day. On this Founders Day, we should remember our founders, those courageous seven jewels, those pioneering young black men who on the campus of Cornell University created Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

Manly Deeds, scholarship, and love for all mankind continues to guide us. Happy birthday, Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. And may our work go on, our cause endure, and the dream continue to live. All right, folks, welcome back. Congress, it's a mess in the House where Republicans are in charge. Really no real leadership there at all. So I got a chance earlier to talk to Congressman Stephen Horsford about that. And we also talked about his message to black men who are looking to vote for Trump or sit this election out.

Here's our conversation. Congressman Stephen Horst, we're glad to have you here, Frat. Happy Founders Day. Happy Founders Day, Frat. Well, first and foremost, so much attention lately has been on George Santos. He's been expelled, Republicans, the fight over their speaker. And what the hell is even going on in the House? Any work getting done on behalf of the American people?

This has been the least productive Congress led by MAGA Republicans. You know, even since the new speaker came in, he's done nothing to advance the agenda that Americans' families really care about, lowering costs, making our communities safer, creating better-paying jobs, creating economic prosperity and wealth, particularly in Black and brown communities. So, you know, I'm proud of the leadership of Leader Jeffries and the unity of House Democrats. This week, in fact, we will be bringing forward through the Congressional Black Caucus a discharge petition on the Voting Rights Act. As you know, that this is the first time in 40 years Republicans have not worked with us to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act. And with all of the assaults on our democracy and the right to vote, we know that that is

one of the most fundamental cornerstones of our democracy and something that our founders of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity hold dear. Talk about what they have not done in the battle over the budget. They were pushing a number of different things that were going to have a negative impact on black people. They were trying to literally get rid of AIDS funding that targets black communities. They were trying to get rid of 80 percent of the funds going to women and children when it comes to food. They want to target, you know, pilgrim areas as well. I mean, my goodness,

I try to walk people through all the time to get them to understand civics one-on-one. And that is, there are fundamental things that black people are impacted by health as well that are absolutely in danger if a MAGA Republican agenda moves forward in the House, the Senate, and if they win the White House in 2024?

Well, you laid out some of the most critical issues. And look, I represent Las Vegas, Nevada's fourth congressional district. My constituents care deeply about their livelihood, their ability to make a living, the ability to afford a home, to be able to put their defund or weaken Social Security and Medicare for seniors. generation students to pursue education and deny access to education through extreme measures like eliminating access to affirmative action on our college and university campuses. But on top of that, Roland, it's even more egregious. The very people who are standing in a way of our economic opportunity are trying to take away tools that help us get that opportunity, like diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. The lawsuits against the Fearless Fund,

a venture capital fund that was started by two Black women entrepreneurs to do what? Provide funding to other Black women entrepreneurs. So these are the attacks that the other side is using against our opportunity. But we, as the Congressional Black Caucus and House Democrats largely, are working to hold the line against these attacks and, more importantly than that, cast a bolder vision for what we need to be doing in the next four years of a Biden-Harris administration and the work that Democrats in Congress need to do to make sure that that is made possible. You talk about the economic piece, and one of the things that, again, trying to connect the dots, when you talk about the Voting Rights Act, when you talk about representation that has a direct

impact on resources coming back to the black community, when you look at Republicans doing all they could to stop a congressional seat in Alabama, in Louisiana, what's happening right now in Georgia, what's happening in Florida. So they want to stop the advancement of black power. And if you then look at the affirmative action ruling by the Supreme Court, want to stop that advancement, which is, and then this is where I then say again to our audience, you can't act like the presidency of the Senate doesn't matter because that's who confirms judges. And so I think so many people are frustrated. They say that things are not as well as they should be.

But I simply argue that we have to do lots more of education so people really understand that who's in power in D.C. has a direct relationship with the type of benefit that comes back to our communities. Well, look, Roland, you know, and it's why your Black media platform and the work that you do to put out correct information, accurate information, information that is compelling and that challenges all of us, including those in elected office, to make sure that this information, the accurate information, is getting out to our constituents. Look, I am under no false pretense that we have challenges before us. As chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, we now have 60 members. Collectively, we represent 120 million Americans across the country, about 20 million Black Americans.

We understand that when we uplift the Black community, we uplift everyone. And we understand when the Black community is hurting, that is an indication that pushing to center the people, not the politics, not a person in one particular office, but to center the people in the policy and to ensure that the people understand that they have the power to force elected officials at the local, state, and, yes, at the federal level to do what's necessary to move us forward. And at this moment, that means creating better-paying jobs. It means creating wealth and opportunity in the black community like everywhere else. And in order to do that, we have to have support for small businesses, for entrepreneurs. We have to make sure that the access to capital for small businesses is real

and is made available in a consistent way, that opportunities to contracting is made more accessible. And even for black media companies like yours, that you are at the table and that you're helping to communicate this message directly to the people because there's no better resource than us to communicate that message and to put people over politics in doing that. You were talking about, again, economics and the creation

of opportunities. And one of the things that the other day, Vice President Kamala Harris, she posted something on social media talking about the administration's commitment to expanding opportunities for Black and other minority businesses. How has the CDC been monitoring that and how has that been going? So we just had the SBA administrator in to a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus within the last two weeks. During the annual legislative conference in September, I led a press conference with her. Since 2019, we have worked with the SBA to double the number of loans approved by the SBA to Black-owned businesses. And now there's still more work to be done. But the fact that we've been able to measure that

progress and doubled the amount of SBA-backed loans, which is access to capital, one of the biggest barriers that small business, Black-owned small businesses talk about. We are working now with the Minority Business Development Agency and our fraternity brother, Undersecretary Cravens, who is the first permanently authorized undersecretary to oversee the Minority Business Development Agency, which provides grants and resources to communities like mine to actually connect to small businesses in our communities, help them learn how to do contracting, put bids together, win bids,

service those contracts, and again, make sure that they are able to connect to all the resources through the federal government. We are working right now with the Black Economic Alliance and the Urban League and other organizations to put forward a more aggressive agenda on black economic mobility and wealth. As you know, Roland, today, black people

are not achieving our full parity in our population to the amount of consumer spending that we account for. And if we just closed the wealth divide in this country for Black America, we would see about a trillion, a trillion and a half dollars of increased economic activity every single year. That would help create 600,000 small businesses. It would move 30 million Black people in the middle class. It would save 3 million Black lives every year because when you improve the economic conditions of Black America, you improve their health outcomes as well. So we are very intentional about what we're doing. We cannot do this work alone. And what I do want to underscore is it's the people that will push us to advance the policies that will improve the lives of all of us. And I'm encouraging us on this Founders Day for Alpha Phi Alpha that we honor the mission

of the work, and that is to make sure that we center the people. Last question for you. What do you say to Black men out there who will say Biden is awful, Harris is awful, I'm voting for Trump? That's the best way forward for Black America. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up. So now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Business Week. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Business Week editor Brad Stone, sports reporter

Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future

where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that Taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company

dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1,

Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast.

We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.

It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this

quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouch.

What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

What do you say specifically to those black men? Look, Donald Trump asked black America in his last election, and he said, what do you have to lose black America? And then when he was running against Hillary Clinton and then he got into office, he appointed an extreme three justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. And since then, the Supreme Court has answered the question for Black America, what do we have to lose? We have to lose our very existence as Black people. Not only did they take away Black people's rights to make health care decisions about their own body, women, Black

women, not only did they remove a tool through affirmative action to help young Black people pursue education through college, they also eroded opportunities for voting and fair access. And so what I say is, look, I feel you. The reason I'm in public service and elected service is because I'm working to try to make things better. And we have more work to do. The administration that is in place now, the Biden-Harris administration, has worked with the Congressional Black Caucus based on the policies that the people told us they wanted. We passed the bipartisan infrastructure investment bill. We improved access for safer communities and have the most historic commitment on anti-violence funding, including community violence intervention. We are investing in

bringing manufacturing jobs back to America through the CHIPS and science bill. And we are investing in addressing environmental injustice through the Inflation Reduction Act and the climate provisions that are being invested. Now we have to make sure that Black America and the rest of America feels those investments through jobs, through business opportunities, and to ensure direct investment in our community. So my message to Black men is let's be counted. We have always helped to save our democracy in times past, and this will be no exception. Donald Trump asked us what we had to lose. We're not going to allow him to determine that for us.

We will determine it for ourselves. Congressman Stephen Horsford, always glad to have you. I certainly appreciate it, bro. Enjoy Founders Day. Happy Founders Day. I know we're going to have a picture on the steps of the Capitol with some of the members and staff and interns. But happy Founders Day to the men of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. Love you. Thank you for everything that you do. Not only you, Roland, but the brothers all across the country. All right. Thanks a bunch.

And the photo that he was talking about, they did take that photo. Give me one second. One second. Hopefully I can pull it up for you to actually see. This is the photo right here. Y'all have it on video playback. Go to the better photo. And so that's the photo there.

CBC members, Capitol Hill staffers and workers as well. So good to see all the brothers who are doing the work. Going to a break, we come back. Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, I chatted with him as well. We talked about housing in America. So many people really do not have an understanding of why rents have been going up. We're going to break it down for you. That is next right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network on the 117th

anniversary of the founding of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated at Cornell University. First of all, service of all, we shall transcend all. We'll be right back. Hi, I'm Dee Barnes, and next on The Frequency, have you ever heard of Pinkster? If not, you aren't alone. It's an African-American holiday that predates Juneteenth by 100 years. This week, we're talking with my special guest, the founder and CEO of Trans Art and Cultural Services, Greer Smith, to talk about Pinkster and why it's so important.

Those exhibitions really got the most play because we don't know about this. Other people have been telling our stories for so long, but we had the opportunity to find people that tell our stories. It's an easy sell. A fascinating conversation about black culture on The Frequency with me, Dee Barnes, right here on the Black Star Network. Good morning, frat.

This is Governor Wes Moore, and I want to wish you a very happy Founders Day to all of my fellow fraternity brothers of the Mid-Atlantic Association of the Great Alpha Phi Alpha, also known in this chapter as the mighty, mighty, mighty, mighty, mighty, mighty, mighty Mac. I'm proud to walk alongside brothers who represent this commitment, such as Mac President Brother Raymond Hawkins Jr., Brother Rodney Izzard, brother Brandon Tillman, and my guy, brother Lamont Riley. Alpha Alpha has long led the fight for freedom and justice in this country.

Our aims, manly deeds, scholarship, and love for all mankind have not only defined our work but have shaped some of the most influential leaders of the last century. I intend for my work to follow in the tradition of service, advocacy, and aiding humanity's downtrodden. May the principles set forth by our beloved jewels continue to guide and inspire us all. I want to personally thank you, the brothers of the Mighty Mac, for your leadership and service in honoring our jewels, our ritual, and the banner of Alpha Phi Alpha. Let us continue to hold it light high. Here's to the legacy that you have built and to the positive impact that you make in our communities. First of all, servants of all, we shall transcend all.

Happy Founders Day. A5. Oh, six? Six? Housing is one of the big issues people have said they're having a tough time with during this economy. Congressman Emanuel Cleaver sits on the Financial Services Committee, and we talked about that in our discussion a little bit earlier. Congressman Cleaver, glad to have you here. So here's what I find to be just so interesting. Republicans now control the House.

And I think more time is literally being spent on them desperately trying to find some information about Hunter Biden than literally any public policy that can impact the American people. What in the hell is going on in the House? Well, first of all, it's important for me to say that Donald Trump asked former Speaker Kevin McCarthy if he would undo his impeachment, or both of them. I'm not sure how you can undo an impeachment, but McCarthy couldn't do it even if he tried, and I don't think he even attempted to do it. And so he didn't do it, and Donald Trump had a falling out. So I believe, I don't have any evidence to go with this, but I feel very

comfortable in saying this and not fearing anybody coming up with anything different, that Donald Trump asked Speaker Johnson if he would go after Biden. And I think he's going to do that, even though there's been no evidence of him doing anything wrong. His son is not in the administration. He's not associated with anything in the administration. He was not working in the White House. And somehow there's this continuing obsession with Hunter Biden. And so I think all of this is connected. We right now, we don't have

aid for the Ukraine. We don't have aid for Israel. And we don't have any humanitarian aid for the Palestinians, nor do we have any way in which we can concentrate on doing something at the border that the Republicans say they are very much interested in. And they're always talking about impeaching Mary Arcus, the secretary of Homeland Security. So it's a messed up deal. It's really, and I hope the American people get a glimpse of this and raise the question that you just raised, which is, what are you about? I mean, what is your agenda? What do you want to do? And I don't think they can answer that question. No, I don't think they can answer that question. And I look at the child tax credit. I look at many of the safety net programs that were put in place during COVID. A lot of those are expiring.

And so when you look at what is happening, there are people who are saying that they think the economy is not doing as well as it should. A lot of that has to do with a lot of those expiring programs in Congress that was providing benefits to many needy Americans. Yeah, especially the children's tax credit, you know, that we were we were taking thousands and thousands of children and consequently families out of poverty with the child tax credit. The speaker seems to have no interest in it. I don't think anybody on the Republican side has done anything or said anything that would cause us to believe they can do it. Now, you know, we haven't passed, as I mentioned earlier, the supplemental legislation that we desperately need. But we're going to end up in a spot again where we were a few weeks ago, and that is, you know, are we going to fund the government or not? And I just think it's right now an ugly situation that the American public

ought to be furious about because they are the ones who are going to get hurt. You know, they're still over here majoring in minors, and the world is happening, and they are still living back in another era, an era gone by at the expense of the American people, let's say it. One of the areas that I'm hearing lots of people complaining about deals with affordable housing. And what we see is private equity is owning a whole lot of the housing stock in this country. We are seeing that the landlords are jacking up rent left and right because the demand is very high. And you have called on Congress to really lead a bipartisan effort to confront affordable housing in the country. Explain what it is you want to see Congress do to help Americans, especially African Americans, when it comes to housing. I'm glad you brought this up. Housing is always in the top five

of the issues facing America that they want addressed, always in the top five of the issues facing America that they want addressed, always in the top five of whatever we need, what the country needs. I can say, had we approved Build Back Better, we would have had over $400 billion, with a B, that we were going to be able to deal with some of these problems, including, you know, demolishing some of the housing that exists even in New York City and around the country. I mean, CUNY homes, for example, that you and I are both familiar with. And many of those buildings are 75 years old or more. And we lost that by two votes, Build Back Better. But we have to do the housing another way. enact city ordinances that will prevent these absentee landlords and these big corporations from coming into urban core, buying up land, and then building shanty housing on that land,

and then charging some outlandish rents. And that's happening all over the country. The gentrification has in some ways stopped so that, excuse me, so that people can buy up the land. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action.

And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, I'm Max Chafkin. inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time,

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

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

I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all

reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill.

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

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. But it's a dangerous, dangerous thing that's going on. Excuse me. I do think that we have legislation that if we could get it to the floor, we'll solve some of the problems.

And some of the problems have been solved in another way with credits that banks can use. And on a particular point there, and I've really spent a lot of time trying to walk people through what happened, and that is since the 1930s, we built the fewest number of homes between 2010 and 2020. And then now from 2020 to present day, we're still about 4 million under where we need to be. And when I explain that to people, I'm like, it's hard for people to understand. So when they say, well, Biden's to blame for this,

Biden's to blame for the housing crisis, not realizing that it was the home foreclosure crisis in 2008 that led to the lack of building. And now, 13 years later, 15 years later, it's caught up with us because we didn't build enough during those 10 years and now haven't built enough in the last three years. And so we're under about 4 million or so homes where we should be. That's why we're having this crisis. Absolutely. I'm so glad you mentioned that. I was on the committee, financial services committee, it used to be called the banking committee, when all this went down. And I found out in my own congressional district that people didn't know what happened. They just said, well, the banks went bust. Well, that's not quite what happened.

What happened was people were securitizing the mortgages that were worthless in the urban core. Right. And then they were securitizing them and selling them on the markets. And one day people woke up and they held all of these mortgages that were worthless. And so the housing industry collapsed pretty much. We were losing at one point nationally about 1,, home foreclosures a day. And then it went up to about 4,000, I think, a week was what we were doing. Ultimately, we were losing these housing. And many of them have never come back online because people were losing jobs and losing homes.

And so they have to start over. Well, if you have to start over, there's one thing that's going to start over with you, and that is your credit score. And so people who had nice paying jobs and who had a home and the credit score was high enough to purchase a home, they were locked out. I don't think people realize the devastation of the 2008 economic collapse. And we ended up, black and brown people, ended up being hurt the most. During our hearings, we would bring in leaders of the Urban League, for example. Some of the national housing programs would come in and tell us exactly what's happening we have something that was approved in 1977 called the uh uh community uh congressional uh community uh reinvestment act uh cra and and what it does

and everybody needs to know this, your viewers need to know this, Community Reinvestment Act was done in 1977 to force banks who were trying to leave the urban core, and those who had left the urban core, they didn't want to make loans to the black and brown people. So Congress, in its wisdom in 1977, passed what's called the Community Reinvestment Act, which means that banks, if they want to get, banks have to have a certain number of CRA scores, meaning that they had invested in housing, not housing, but they have to invest in something. And so when I became chair of the community,

of the housing committee, subcommittee, what we did is we started working on trying to modernize CRA so that banks who need the credit in order for them to stay in business, they need to show that they've invested in the urban core, Community Reinvestment Act. And you listen to make sure that it's happening in the urban core, Community Reinvestment Act, and you're listening to make sure that it's happening in their communities with the banks. Those banks were getting credit

that they need to stay in business. And so what we just did is we worked with the FederalCC, Office of Currency. And what we've done is expanded what these banks can get credit for, and it's in housing. And that's just been approved in the last 60 days. So we hope that in local communities, they will start raising the issue about the Community Reinvestment Act. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the FDIC, the Federal Reserve, they all participated in developing these new components that would give banks credits that they have to have.

They have to have, I don't care who they are, they have to have CRA. And now that CRA credit can be used for housing. And we're giving them a lot of flexibility to do that. Now, a lot of those banks, and this is where I think black and brown people get tricked, people, they say, the law says you have to invest in the urban core. So what they would do is buy tickets to the NAACP dinner. What they would do is spend some money on a parade. And what happens is they would use that as a CRA, which they have to have. We're saying no, no. We want this going into the greatest need in the urban core, which is housing.

That's right. And again, for people who don't get it, this is not covering for anybody. President of the United States, the United States doesn't build homes. That's right. Private developers build homes. But when you look at the tax credits that are critically important to build homes, that plays a role in it. And again, folks just have to understand that we literally are in a 13-year hole because we didn't build enough homes. And the last time,

I will show the chart on the show, the last time we built the fewest number of homes between 2010 and 2020 was in the 1930s. Jeez. Well, I wasn't familiar with that statistic, but it doesn't surprise me because everybody needs a home, everybody. And so we had a lot of people who lost those homes. And black and brown families, that's usually the greatest investment they make

in a lifetime. And it's also the way we create wealth because many of the African-Americans would pass their property onto their progeny, and so they end up with a home that they already own. And we got hurt badly because even after the COVID crisis ended, we had difficulty buying supplies to do the building. So, Congressman, here's the – so here's – this is what I – so 1920 to 1929, we built 4.16 million homes.

30 to 39, 2.67. 40 to 49, 4.79 then was 10.08 9.49 12.37 12.14 12.49 14.56 between 2000 and 2009 2010 to 2019 6.9 million homes built that was was the lowest number since 1940 to 49. So we built 8 million fewer homes from the previous decade. That's why we're in the whole wind right now. And that's why these tax credits, this bill that you're talking about, the House needs to pass it because we build more homes. That now decreases the stock, and then the demand, that's now going to cause those rents to stabilize because with so few homes, they can just keep jacking them up

and folks got no choice but to pay them. Yeah, no choice. Yep. Because we're not going to have a lot of options economically because the further you move away from downtown, the greater the cost. And we have gotten bludgeoned because the supply lines were clogged. I have a friend who's building homes in Kansas City. And what started out before COVID to have been homes that someone could buy at $200,000. We're talking about the Midwest, not like Washington, where it's a lot more expensive. But now those homes are costing $25,000 more for each one of them. Yeah, and again, for people who don't know, again, since 2006, home construction

has decreased by 55% nationwide. That is what you're talking about. Yeah, and it's, look, you know, we want to leave our children something, and a home is one of the best things we can leave them. So if you think about it right now with those numbers you just gave, which are frightening, we've got a lot of work to do. And we can't do it all here in Washington. Now, I'm going to certainly use some statistics I got from you,

but for people in local communities, they got to go out and start demanding this. You know, my committee has met probably twice in the last year. One of the top problems facing this country, housing,

and the housing subcommittee has met twice, I think. That's crazy. Congressman, first of all, thanks for joining us. Happy Founders Day. Happy Founders Day. We got brothers all throughout the show. We appreciate you joining us today. Thanks a lot. All right. Good to be with you. All right. Be well. Larry, I want to start with you. I mean, what I tried to lay out there, and again, I get it. People aren't fully understanding these type of things, but the reality is this here. To understand the housing

demand, it can't just be, oh, they're jacking up, you know, interest rates. But even with that, interest rates were actually artificially low for way too long. And I know somebody's watching by saying, oh man, you can afford these things. After the housing crisis in 2008, in order for the economy to recover, they brought those interest rates down. We literally had damn near 0% interest rates from 2009 to last year. You don't go that long with that.

And so the reality is, if you don't keep up, go back to the stat, y'all. This is the graphic I showed. Population growth has outpaced home construction for 20 years. More demand, fewer housing stock is going to mean higher prices. You know, so, Roland, it was really interesting, the conversation you had, and then the statistic

that you highlighted about essentially supply and demand. The congressman said he wasn't familiar with it, and that's news to me, but it makes a lot of sense in terms of some of the challenges, like you say, in terms of housing stock available. But, you know, I think that, you know, this is a really important issue that, first of all, people need to understand, as you highlighted here, that we didn't do enough, particularly at the federal level, and I'm certainly assuming that at state level also, didn't do enough to address this issue to make sure that individuals, that Americans have somewhere to lay their head. When you add that, you know, the other economic challenges we've had since then, including issues relating to the challenge relating to economic impact that COVID had on Black and brown communities,

as you described and was discussed, you add all that together. And while, you know, there are folks who don't have access to housing, that issue is double, triple, quadruple more problematic for folks in Black and brown communities. So the question is not only in terms, particularly in the House, obviously Republicans control the House. So when they're talking about, you know, Americans and in the House, obviously Republicans control the House. So when they're talking about, you know, Americans and making sure that, you know, the American dream, you don't hear them talking about this particular topic. And you probably won't anyway because they don't care about the average American who's sitting, you know, talk about at the dinner room table trying to figure out how what the next steps are. But I think this is a critically important issue. And I would like to hear the Biden administration articulated the way you did that this is a long-term challenge. It's not strictly, you know, an issue with bionomics. To make it clear to Americans that, you know,

the Biden administration would like to do more about that, but certainly needs cooperation from Republicans. But, you know, once again, this is a critical issue to make sure Americans have somewhere to lay their head and also speak to much larger issues, not only in terms of the role of federal government, but like you said, private businesses in terms of taking the resources they have, equity and build some of the housing. You know, Mustafa, I'm sitting here. Someone in the chat said that the houses in my local area are going for five hundred six hundred fifty thousand for a new home. Many folks can't afford that. That in my local area are going for $500,000, $650,000 for a new home. Many folks can't afford that. That's my point. My point is this here.

Y'all, this is not hard. This is real basic. Okay? Okay. I got a bottle of water. There ain't no advertising, so I'm going to cover them up. So I got a bottle of water sitting right here. All right? bottle of water sitting right here. Alright? If we are somewhere in this hot as

hell outside and I got a bottle of ice cold water I literally can sell this bottle of water for $20 that normally might be $4

and I guarantee you somebody who's thirsty as hell, they're going to give me $20 for this bottle of water. That's the housing situation that we're in. And so when you have fewer homes to buy, that means people who should be homeowners are renters. Well, that means that if they are renters and prices are being jacked up, that's squeezing out people who absolutely should be renters because prices are going up. And that's the problem that we have. And in order for us to change build, let's say, this decade, about 15 million homes. The most, by the way, we've never built 15 million homes in a decade in the last 90 years. But we would need to build 15 million homes in this decade in order to make up for what didn't happen in the previous decade.

So I'm going to say yes and yes and but. So what I mean by that is, first of all, you're talking about the basics of supply and demand, of how prices get squeezed and they go up. It's the basic economic principle, if you will. But I think we also have to be very diligent about new housing stock that's being developed. So, yes, we need these new homes in a number of different locations, but we also need to make sure that equitable development is a part of that. That's a set of principles that really take into consideration a number of dynamics that often place our communities in very dire straits. So when we talk about 15 million new homes, where are those going to be placed? Because we understand that housing often for our communities is placed in least desirable areas, and many times in those areas were placed near flood plains, we're placed near polluting facilities, so forth and so on,

that causes additional impacts inside of our community. So I want equity in the housing that is being developed, because if not, we end up having higher public health costs. We end up also being disconnected from educational opportunities or our students being able in certain locations. There are diseases. Sick housing is also a problem in many instances. So when we talk about this set of needs that's out there, we also have to think about how our communities have traditionally been disproportionately impacted by housing to make sure that we don't make the same mistakes, the same sins of the past. Well, Greg, the neighborhood in South Dallas County where I

bought a house in December of 1999, the house was around $122,000. Because of the housing market right now, I think when I last checked that house, the value is about $360,000 right now. I think when I last checked, that house, the value is about 360,000 right now. So that was really... A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up. So now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives.

But guests like Business Week editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution.

But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1,

Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.

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

Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for good plus on apple podcast starter homes if you will for a lot of people people who were leaving certain neighborhoods who were moving into homes that were ranging from 90 000 to to 130,000. The problem that we have today is you don't have that market. The problem is places where homes are, should be normally 150, 175,

right now they're literally 250, 275 because of the lack of housing. And as I said to Cosby Cleaver, presidents don't build houses. They don't. And so then I had somebody to say, well, Roland, that's not the reason for the price demand. Yes, it is. In this, where we are right now, and I know other examples. Landlords raise the rent to force some people to leave in order to bring other folks in at a higher amount. That's actually what happens. And so when you have small demand, when you got a lot of demand and you got when you got more people who want to buy and you do not have a lot to offer the price is going to go up that is just the most basic economics possible it is basic supply and

demand it is rolling um it's difficult to see a structural change and a sea change when you're in the middle of it. We do seem to be at an inflection point as a species. Again, I'm glad you're there, Mustafa, at COATS, because, you know, we may not be here to have this conversation if climate change continues at pace. But we're also talking about economics. We're talking about politics. We're at an inflection point, and everybody says, oh, this election is the most important.

Why y'all keep saying that? Well, this one might be the end of the experiment, the American experiment, certainly if Donald Trump gets back in. All you got to do is look at what the Heritage Foundation has floated as perspective what's going to happen. But what you're talking about now, and let's return to the metaphor you laid out. If you're selling water at $20 a bottle because the demand is so high, understand that water is a necessity of life. So the people that can afford it will pay you $20, and the people who need it, who can't afford it, are going to blow your brains out and take it.

See, this is where we are right now. The reason that COPS is in UAE, as Mustafa can walk us through in fine detail, is because those who are in control of the fossil fuels in the world are attempting to put. And all the companies, all the oil companies and everybody else is there trying to stop the train. Why? Because they've got a bottleneck on the oil. Now, what's the role of government? This is the question we have to ask ourselves. No, the president doesn't build any housing. But in 2008, with the economic collapse and the bubble burst, when Timothy Geithner and them boys got in the room, you read the book Confidence Men, and the Obama administration decided to bail out the banks and not have an opportunity to restructure some of this structural inequity. That's when the opportunity was missed to address the great deal of this, when the banks were basically at the mercy of the federal government. And what the banks then did was the banks held on. First of all, we bailed them out. They held onto the toxic assets. And

then when the economy recovered, they sold those toxic assets to private equity. And what happens, private equity came in and literally bought 25,000 homes at one time. And the person sitting out there who had the money to buy one of those homes could not compete with private equity. Come on, Roland. See, this, again, y'all, we say this every time. This is why the Black Star Network is so important. You got to listen very carefully to what was being discussed right now, the way you're

laying this out, Roland. You know, you're sitting not even two blocks from the White House, right there in that studio. Every day when you come in and when you leave, you see all these buildings in downtown D.C. with floors that are empty or dark because people are now working remotely. I've seen it in New York. I've seen it in Atlanta. I see it in D.C. But point is this. What we can't see because we're two up really close, we're at a structural moment of change in this country and in the world as it relates to even real estate. People who have the option to rent because they or not employed at all, then this structural inequality is going to result in people in the streets literally fighting, fighting to live.

What is the role of government in that? When Emanuel Cleaver is talking about subsidizing public housing, this was the role of housing projects. When you read Aracast Nelson's book, When Affirmative Action Was White, or his book Fear Itself, you see that in this capitalist society, racial capitalism emerged and white people were protected to build a middle class. Now we're in a situation where the whole thing may fly apart, because if you don't have a place to stay, you don't have enough to eat, and you don't have a job, you're not just going to say, well, I guess I lost in the game. Let me go sit down and die. As a brother

told me at Temple one time, 20 years ago, he said, man, I just lost my job. What you going to do, bro? Well, I'm going to take this last check and buy a pistol and a ski mask. The point is that government has to intervene to slow down some of this unregulated monopoly capitalism. And I really don't know how we approach this without dealing with it structurally, the way you kind of began to walk Brother Congressman Cleaver through that. Because other than that, reckless capitalism is going to ultimately accrue to the detriment of not just the poor, but the rich who try to hide from the poor as well. You have people spending 40 to 50 percent of their monthly intake on homes. That simply is not sustainable. So the supply has to be dramatically increased.

And the way government does that is when government offers tax credits to builders to build. And that's why that bill Congressman Cleaver is talking about has 186 co-sponsors, Republican and Democrat. They just got to move on it. But they're busy with Hunter Biden. And that's part of the problem right there. And let's be clear, Republicans are not necessarily the ones who are standing up for affordable and low income housing.

Period. All right, going to break. We're back to talk with Lamont King, who joins us from Alpha Gathering at Bowie State. Hey, boy, you still in college? Lord have mercy, Lamont. It's time for you to go. You and that 20-year plan.

That's what Omegas do. All right. We'll be right back on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the black star network on the next get wealthy with me deborahens, have you ever had a million dollar idea and wondered how to bring it to life? Well, it's all about turning problems into opportunities. On our next Get Wealthy, you'll learn of a woman who identified the overload bag syndrome. And now she's taking that money to the bank through global sales and major department stores.

And I was just struggling with two or three bags on the train, and I looked around on the train and I said, you know what, there are a lot of women that are carrying two or three bags. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. I'm Faraji Muhammad, live from LA, and this is The Culture. The Culture is a two-way conversation, you and me. We talk about the stories, politics, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern and let your voice be heard. Hey, we're all in this together, so let's talk about it and see what kind of trouble we can get into. It's the culture. Weekdays at 3,

only on the Blackstar Network. Happy Founders Day, brothers. I've been a member of Alpha Phi Alpha for over 40 years and continue to be impressed with the way that we individually and collectively deliver our best selves to our communities. Living up to our motto, first of all, servants of all, we shall transcend all. Let's continue to drive our organization forward, thrive under the light and hold it high. Happy Founders Day. Just in case y'all didn't know, that was, of course, billionaire Robert Smith, the richest African-American in the country. So that's who was in that video right there. I'm trying to show y'all something. Give me a second. Hopefully I can pull this up.

Give me a second right here. So this is, I was just sent this here, which I thought is pretty cool. So I wanted to show y'all. This is an image of New York's Freedom Tower. This is what it looks like tonight in New York City. So yeah, so that's how we roll. That's how we roll. All right, y'all.

Next guest is comedian Lamont King. He joins us. Lamont, where you at? You were talking about when the brothers us. Lamont, where you at? You were talking about when the brothers were at Bowie State. Where you at? So I'm at Prince George's County Mile. I'm at a spot in Bowie for a party HQ. We're doing a town that's wound up. There's several alumni

staff here. There's a ton of undergrad staff here. There's about 300-400 people in here. It's a big deal I can barely hear you. I'm going to go outside. I'm going to go outside. I'm going to go outside. How about that?

That's better. We can actually hear you. I just wanted you to catch the vibe and feel the energy of the festivities. Gotcha, gotcha. So are you going to do any special stepping later? There's a high possibility, as I am a former and previous world champion and there is video on YouTube of this, so it

may happen. It may happen tonight. A world champion in what? A world champion. We stepped in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1997 and we took home a four foot tall trophy with all our names on it. I'm proud of that, so I've got to

mention that every chance I get. World champion. So with that in mind, if that is true, I would need to see videos and photos and I would need to actually see your name on that trophy

to know if that's true. I got to get it out of storage. I think it's in storage somewhere. Yeah, okay, uh-huh. So I've been asking this question to a bunch of brothers, and nobody seems to answer this question to me. Where in the hell did they go from stepping to strolling?

So I put videos, I put some videos on Instagram and folks like, yo, man, you need a new stroll. I'm like, I'm sorry. When I pledged, after we pledged, we stepped, sorority stroll. Correct, correct. But here's the thing, here's the thing. I indict all old heads that never corrected the behavior of these young heads who learned everything about the frat on the Internet.

It's the curse of the Internet. Strolling was regional. They did it in the southeast. But once the Internet hit and everybody started taking their cues from the Internet, now everybody does it. I'm from an era where we party walked and we stepped. I don't know. I don't know what strolling is. I don't even know what it is. Yeah, yeah. No, no. We absolutely stepped.

Here's the other for me. When the hell this whistle come in? I mean, normally the way we did it, when our feet hit the ground and everybody heard us stepping, they knew we arrived. I'm like, well,

what's all this blowing of the whistle shit? Again, again, as a historian in my own mind, I think it came from the internet. That was a regional thing. Some of the chapters down south that had heavy marching band influence and members who were drum majors carried it over into the frat. It got on the internet. It got popular. And now they just

they ruined the whole party experience with the whistle. I, me personally, I ban it from all establishments that I have something to do with. So if I'm putting it on, you cannot bring that whistle. No, sirs. Now, one that I absolutely ain't going to ride with, and I've had some brothers try to explain to me the origins of it, but I ain't never, ever going to call myself an ape. Well, I mean, I won't refer to myself as ape. Well, I mean, I won't refer

to myself as that, but as you know, that's an identifying period of the previous process. That's the best way I can word that. But that, just let everybody, I want everybody to know, that is not anything official

of Alpha Alpha Alpha fraternity. In fact, under General President Skip Mason, they were banned from selling an ape image with alpha letters on paraphernalia or whatever. So I tell folks, I don't claim ape. You ain't going to never see me taking no picture with no damn ape. Ain't no way. No, look, we got the Sphinx. We good.

We don't need no damn mascots. Leave it up to them damn dogs. Well, I got to, I got to jump out of the car with you on that one because I'm a fan of the imagery and only simply because the ape is the, is the, uh, uh, alpha male of the jungle. No, no. It's a primal primate. No, no, no, no, no. The king, the king of the jungle is the jungle. It's the primal primate. No, no, no, no.

The king of the jungle is the lion. That's fine, and he can do him. Even the ape gonna run his ass away. So, here's my whole deal. Here's what I tell everybody. We are alpha men.

Sure. I don't need no monkey, no chimp, no ape, no... I don't know chimps or monkeys, but I do identify in some of my clothing with the ape iconography, if you will. So I'm partial

on that one. Let me bring in my panel to weigh in on this. Mustafa, Larry, and Greg, I'll start. Let's start with the eight first. We'll go to the other one. Larry, go ahead. Okay, so I was made at Cheyenne University,

built the five chapters, so one-third of the Blade Triangle. That brother there knows what I'm talking about. So let me say as an old-school brother, a couple of things you highlighted, Rowan. The whistle, I cannot get down with. They don't know what I'm talking about. So let me say as an old school brother, a couple of things you highlighted, Rowan. The whistle, I cannot get down with. I also raise the same concern about when stepping changed when we went from, like I said, we're in a party. We're stepping. You can hear it.

You can hear it. You can hear the floor to blowing a whistle. So, you know, like I said, more historians know better than I do. Also, I completely agree with you, Roland. For those brothers who are watching and on this panel, as specifically as it relates to 8, we know why we use that. And so I do have a problem with brothers with the 8 imagery doing T-shirts and et cetera, because that's not consistent with the paternity.

So I'll leave it with that. Mustafa. Yeah, Lamont, it's good to see you. We go way, way, way back. Yeah, yeah, yeah, my man. There's a lot of people here, too, that told me to tell you what's up. All right, tell them I said what's up. Yeah. Yeah, Lamont, you know, I'm more interested in what's your vision for the fraternity? You know, where do we need to go? What are the things that we need to strengthen? That's a great question.

We have these conversations all the time. I have a mantra about me that goes, it's bigger than letters, right? And I believe any vision that we need to have or can have or should have has to be a collective vision. We are too many and too powerful in all of the D9 and all of the other civic associations, fraternal organizations that we are a part of to not have a stronghold on political activism. It's just too many of us. And so my vision would be for as a collective

across the D9, we have to really come with a real game plan that everybody can buy into. Because when I got into the organization, it was to be a part of something greater than myself. So if that's something greater than myself, it's not making real moves, it's not impacting, not pushing the needle, and just serving. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding.

But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. With guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull

will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops,

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

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

Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.

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

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

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin.

And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun?

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

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

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

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

It makes it real. It really them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content,

subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. and the whistle and the ape. Oh, brother, look, it's always good to hear Brother Lamont, man. It's good to hear you, Frank. Hey, likewise, brother. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Man, on the stroll, yeah, I don't know nothing about that. I came in April 1985, man. I'm coming up on my

40th year in a couple of years, and that ain't how we did it. My man Mario Beatty, he was on faculty at Howard and the campus advisor for Beta Chapter. He was the step master at a mile. No question, not the stroll master. When it comes to the eight brother, I had to say this, you know, I'm first, my family go to college. I didn't know anything about fraternities and sororities. My best friend in Tennessee State March Band wanted to be a Sigma, so I

went with him in the summer before school started. We were at band practice. We went to the library, and they looking at the Sigma history book, and I seen the rest of them. I saw that Sphinx on the cover of the Alpha books. Let me see that one. And when I saw Martin Luther King and Paul Robeson and Duke Ellington and Jesse Owens and Charles Hamlin, Houston

Thurgood March, I said, okay, can you be in more than one of these? And they said, no, you got to be in one. I said, well, who's in y'all's book then? Because everybody I know is in this book. And that's when I wanted to be out. So the Sphinx, like Roland said, the Sphinx was the image. Now, I must confess, because, you know, I played back in, I guess, what would be considered the old days, the ancient days,

like the rest of us old heads in here. I do have a plastic banana that was around my neck. And some of you, I know, it's around there in the back. But my point is, the ape in African culture, when you talk about the baboons, that was considered a symbol of high intelligence in ancient Egypt. The ape has a significance beyond this notion of brute strength for African people is most in one of the most intelligent animals. And all that hasn't been said, you will never, ever catch me with a gorilla on my shirt. I'll end with that. And there you go.

All right, Lamar. I appreciate it. Tell all the brothers what's up. Y'all have a great time. And I got some ape shirts for all four of y'all. I'm getting them made tomorrow. I'm sending them to all four of y'all. And guess what? I'm sure it will burn very well in my fireplace. Alright,

Lamont, appreciate it. Alright, folks, we'll come back. We're going to chat with Hill Harper. Of course, his Alpha brother, he's running for the United States Senate in Michigan. We're going to chat with Hill Harper, of course, Alpha brother. He's running for the United States Senate in Michigan. We're going to catch up with him. He's at the Alpha house in Detroit. It's going to be good chatting with him.

And going to the break here, so I saw this here. This was a rap that some young bros put out. The Alphas put this out on Instagram. And so I was like, oh, we got to share this on the show. We'll play this here, Going to Break. You're watching Rolling Mark down the filter right here on the Blackstar Network. We get it hard up. Let me go on and make my way.

It's the final day of my frat A4A. If you ain't know that, yeah, we the first and the oldest. Let me correct that, bruh. We the first and the coldest. When you step on the yard, just know we own this. We built it brick by brick since 1906. Check the history facts and look at what we demonstrated. How we copy anybody?

We the ones originated. Take him to school like lean on me. And that's OCCJKMOT. And when you see them, you know we ain't free. We got MLK, WEP. I mean, look at the boy, we gonna be all right. If I named every alpha, we'd be here all night. You see the black and all gold through the neon lights.

If I ask her who she with, she say she won't ice. Only time our heads down after singing to him. Competition with who? We ain't competing again. If it's something that's stuck in, we keeping the win. Because without us, boy, it wouldn't be no them. Yeah. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated Develops Leaders Promotes Brotherhood and Academic Excellence

while providing service and advocacy for our communities. Check your facts. When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture, we're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns. This is a genuine people-powered movement. There's a lot of stuff that we're not getting. You get it. And you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us.

We cannot tell our own story if we can't pay for it. This is about covering us. Invest in Black-owned media. Your dollars matter. We don't have to keep asking them to cover our stuff. So please support us in what we do, folks. We want to hit 2,000 people $50 this month. Waits $100,000.

We're behind $100,000. So we want to hit that. Y'all money makes this possible. Checks and money orders go to P.O. Box 57196, Washington D.C. 20037-0196. The cash app is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is R. Martin Unfiltered.

Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Happy Founders Day, brothers. This is Don Scott, Speaker-elect, House of Delegates in Virginia. I am so proud to be a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Spring 1985, Pyromacron, Texas A&M University. Toronto line, number three, 06 brothers. Go Alpha. All right, y'all, welcome back.

Another brother, I hit him up, wanted to join us. It's Hill Harper. He, of course, is running for the United States Senate in Michigan. Wanted to include him in today's show, so hit him up. He's at the Alpha House in Detroit. What's up, Hill? What's up? What's up? What's up? Happy Founders Day. So you're at the

Alpha's house in Detroit? No. My house in Detroit. They told me if I went over there with you on camera, they were like, no, I was going to go over there. I'm headed there as soon as we finish to have a libation with the bros. It's going to be apple juice.

Now we know you lying right there. So we, we, we, we, we know you lying. So tell them, look, don't be scared. And listen, they can get drunk after the, after Some of the bras, listen, some of the bras asked me to bring them a very high level single malt. Some bras asked me to bring them a high level of a 100% agave. Some brothers asked me to bring them what one would call a burnt mezcal bottle. So it's, you know, like in Alpha, we have diversity. what one would call a burnt mezcal bottle. So it's, you know, like in Alpha, we have diversity. That's what people have to understand. And somebody old school said bring them some Ripple. That's true.

But remember, you know, what you're going to do since we're in Detroit, you're going to have Faygo and vodka. Well, I understand. And so, there's a bunch of folks out there. They sent us videos and whatever, so I wanted to make sure

that we include you in the show. I appreciate it. Let me say this real quick, Roland. All the bras, and this is a more serious point about how serious our fraternity is, so many of the bras, and this is a more serious point about how serious our fraternity is. So many of the bras have donated between $19.06 today to my campaign, like hundreds, as well as some did like $190.60. One did $3,190.60. The bras are coming together just like they supported Wes Moore, our governor,

just like they supported Senator Warnock. They've come through for my campaign and so anybody on there, if you're a bro out there and you want to join and join other brothers, hillharper.com. Go on, do your $19 and 6 cents. We appreciate you and we love you.

Well, Hill, we appreciate that. We're going to have you back on to have a longer, more in-depth conversation about your candidacy there. So I just wanted to get you on the show and just make sure that we had you a part of this. Yes, yes. Happy Founders Day, brothers. I wish you all the light and love and jewels to yourself. All right. Appreciate it, Higo. Thanks a lot. Appreciate you. Thanks, bro. All right, folks. Several other folks also sent us some videos. Here he is with the great saxophonist, Alpha Brother Gerald Albright. Hey, everybody. Saxophonist

Gerald Albright here, checking in to say happy Founders Day to all of my Alpha Phi Alpha brothers. I'm currently in customs, literally, in Puerto Vallarta where I'm doing a jazz festival. Big shout out to my dear friend, Roland Martin. Happy Founders Day, y'all. Take care. All right. Filmmaker, director, producer, Rob Hardy.

I want to give a quick shout out to the best that ever did it. The oldest and the coldest. The originators, the innovators, the brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. Happy Founders Day, bros. Respect. All right, y'all.

And of course, movie director Alpha brother Benny Boom just sent this to me. Roland, what's up, Fred? I want to give a big shout out, a big happy Founders Day to Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. Founded Tuesday, December 4th, 1906. My name is Brother Benny Douglas, also known as Benny Boom, 06. So one of the things I want to say this to say this here you know lamont made some comments

made some comments there in terms of mustafa when he asked him that particular question and i i've said this uh on several occasions y'all heard me uh quote this on the show on this show and uh i've given i gave the brotherhood uh speech to the alphas at our convention in Baltimore. And I stated this in my speech. I said, many of us talk about who ran the yard, but the question I have for you today is, who's running your cities? And Reverend Dr. Frederick Haynes is like,

oh, I'm going to steal that one. I'm going to steal that one. And so when I made this point, and I talk about this all the time, in Dr. King's book, Where Do We Go From Here, Chaos or Community, he said this, and y'all can go to my iPad. As y'all see, I actually read books, so this was actually highlighted. He said, there are already structured forces in the Negro community that can serve as the basis for building a powerful

united front. The Negro church, the Negro press, the Negro fraternities and sororities and Negro professional associations. We must admit that these forces have never given their full resources to the cause of Negro liberation.

There are still too many Negro churches that are so absorbed in a future good over yonder that they condition their members to adjust to the present evils over here. Too many Negro newspapers have veered away from their traditional role as protest organs agitating for social change and have turned to the sensational and the conservative in place of the substantive and the militant. Too many Negro social and professional groups have degenerated into snobbishness and a preoccupation with privalities and trivial activity. But the failures of the past must not be an excuse for the inaction of the present and the future. These groups must be mobilized and motivated. And then he goes on to say, to talk about this with unity.

Here's why I said this. And I've said this to the AKAs who I've addressed, to the Deltas who I've addressed, to Sigma Gamma Rho who I've addressed. I've said it to other D9 members. That when you look at the Divine Nine and then you add in the Lynx and you add in Prince Hall Mason, you add in Eastern Star, and then you add in other black organizations, what we have is a significant infrastructure in our community. But I fundamentally believe, just like Dr. King, that we are not properly using that black infrastructure for the advancement of black people.

We spend lots of time talking about gentrification. We spend lots of time talking about other folks owning our community. We talk about non-black people dominating the hair care industry. We talk about who's owning convenience stores and gas stations in our neighborhoods. We talk about all of those things,

but then how are we changing it? Just give you an example. Imagine if 20,000, if Alpha decided that they asked 20,000 of its members to contribute $1,000 a year to an investment fund that would amount to $20 million. So now all of a sudden, let's say the Alphas create a $20 million investment fund, and the AKAs have one, and the Deltas have one. And if you go all the way down to all the divine nine, you're talking about nine organizations.

Then you're talking about $20 million each. We're now talking about $180 million. Uh-oh. What are we talking about? How much are we talking about? How much money are we talking about collecting? We're talking now about major money. We're talking about $20 million each.

So you do the math, y'all. I want y'all to do that. $20 million times nine. Uh-oh. I'm like, oh, crap. Hold up here. That's a lot of money. So now if we're talking about who's investing in our businesses, buying up land, we've created

literally an investment fund. I've said continuously, who's showing up at school board meetings? Who's showing up at school board meetings? Who's showing up at city council meetings? So imagine if you're living in Chicago and Houston and Dallas and Charlotte and on and on and on, and you have nine, you have the divine nine, then you throw in Eastern Star, Prince Hall, Mason, Links, now you got 12 groups. Now all of a sudden, those 12 groups say, okay, in the month of January, Alphas, y'all got the school board meeting. In the month of February, Deltas, y'all got the county commissioners meeting.

In the month of March, Kappas, y'all got the school board or the city council meeting. And you literally, all of a sudden, you tell members, wear your colors. And all of a sudden, if you are a politician, and you look up, and you see 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 individuals in black and gold and crimson and cream and blue and white and blue and gold, all of a sudden, you're like, who in the hell are these people? That's called, as King said, mobilizing your people to effect change. And then that thing can extend to other groups, including Sigma Phi Phi, the Boulay, and so many other groups. See, I think the fundamental problem

as King laid out with our fraternities and sororities and our other groups is that we are preoccupied with our internal business. That we spend so much time on our internal business that we're not necessarily driving change externally. I spoke to the Alphas in Tampa a few years ago. They had a fundraiser for their youth program. About 15 young men were going through it. And I said to them, can you imagine if each member of the Divine Nine said we want to run each 50 charter schools across the country?

Now, I know a lot of people disagree with charter schools, but guess what? They exist. So imagine, again, same thing. I said across the country, y'all. So imagine you had 50 charter schools run by each member of Divine Nine. Do you know how many thousands of students, largely black, we would have control over?

Because guess what? When you control the charter school, you control the curriculum. You control the dress code. You control the teachers that get hired. You control the budget. You control the contracts. You literally are controlling the minds of our children. So what I am talking about on this Alpha Founders Day is that while we are thankful for what we have done,

there is a lot more that we can actually do. It's easy to wear paraphernalia. It's easy to sit here and throw the ice. It's easy to step. It's easy to sit here and say, oh, you know what, and recount all of these famous alphas. But let me remind you of something.

No famous alpha got on that list without actually doing something. And if we are going to truly say, first of all, service of all, we shall transcend all, then we must actually do it. And we must actually lead. The challenge I give to all black organizations is to do an actual assessment of what are you actually doing? What are you actually changing? And actually chart the change. Chart the progress.

Elections are coming up. That's one thing. We talk about what's happening in our community economically. That's another thing. I want to see black communities change. The only way our communities change is when the leadership

actually leads. It's a lot of talking. It's not a lot of doing. Now is the opportunity for us to actually do the work. And when you do the work, nobody outside of our groups, when they see black and gold, will ask, who is that? Nobody, if they see pink and green or red and white or any of the other colors, will go, who are those people?

Because when they actually see us in our neighborhoods, at our city council meetings and county commissioner meetings, at State Capitol, in Congress, when they see us on Wall Street, when they see us challenging corporate America, when it comes to advertising with black-owned media, when they see us challenging corporate America and not accepting meager checks, you know, the big old checks they hold up at football games, but it's real small amounts when it comes to black games. When they see us showing up on a regular basis, ain't nobody question who they are because they will say, there goes the men of Alpha. There goes the ladies of AKA. There goes the lady of Delta. There goes the men of Omega and Kappa and Zeta Phi Beta and Sigma Gamma Rho and Iotas. And they're the links and the guardsmen and Prince Hall Mason and Eastern Star.

We can go on and on and on. But they actually have to see us doing the work. Final comments. Mustafa. I would just remind everyone that you have power unless you give it away. So let's utilize our power in a way that's constructive for our communities, in a way that

uplifts our communities, in a way that honors our communities. Larry. As we celebrate 117 years, Roland, I think I want to highlight this for our brothers that we describe as old school to make sure we're uplifting young brothers and highlighting the history of our dear fraternity and making sure we give them the necessary support they need to be some of those future leaders you described. Greg. Thank you, Roland, and thank you for bringing us together.

Happy birthday, all of the frat. And I'll just close with the words of W.E.B. Du Bois, spoken at Hampton University in 1906. Dr. Du Bois said, the purpose of education for our people is to train us in how to acquire and use power. And that's the only reason that these fraternities and sororities exist. So we got to hew to that. Listen to our frat brother, W.B. Du Bois. Thanks again, Roland, for doing this, brother. Indeed. Indeed. All right, folks, that is it for us. Let me thank Mustafa, Larry and Greg. All the folks who sent videos are contributed as well. Y'all YouTube folks, y'all got about 120 seconds to get to us to a thousand likes.

Y'all lacking right now at about 882, so let's get this thing going. Don't forget to support us in what we do. Your dollars absolutely matter. So you're checking money, order the P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. Cash app, dollar sign RM Unfiltered, PayPal or Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Don't forget to download the Black Star Network app,

Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Be sure to follow us and watch our 24-hour streaming channel. We are on Amazon News, so go to Amazon Fire TV, go to Amazon News and check us out. Tell Alexa to play news from the Black Star Network. You can also, of course, check us out on Plex TV, Amazon Freebie, and you can also check us out on Amazon Prime Video.

So when you go to live TV, click it. You'll see us right along with the other news channels as well. And don't forget to get a copy of my book, White Fear, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds, available at bookstores nationwide. Folks, we're going to end the show with D. Alex Thomas.

He is a member of Ada Omicron Chapter, and I saw this on the fraternity Instagram channel and he put the arrange and played this version of the alpha hymn on his alto and tenor saxophone. This is what's gonna close us out on today's edition of Roland Martin Unfiltered. I will see y'all tomorrow. Holla! How? ¶¶ Bye. We'll see you next time. A lot of times, big economic forces show up in our lives in small ways.

Four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up. So now I only buy one. Small but important ways. From tech billionaires to the bond market to, yeah, banana pudding. If it's happening in business, our new podcast is on it. I'm Max Chastain. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith.

So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,ated. 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 Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This is an iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts

This is an iHeart Podcast