#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Chauvin won't testify; Ex-cop Kim Potter in court; Video of Chicago cops killing teen released

Episode Date: April 16, 2021

4.15.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Chauvin won't testify; Ex-cop Kim Potter in court; Video of Chicago cops killing teen released; Legislation to create a commission to study slavery reparations clears House; The body of Kori Gauthier has been found; Crazy a$$ Jonathan Pentland flees from his home because of protesters; We're commemorating Jackie Robinson Day; In Georgia, a school named after a KKK Grand Wizard has been renamed to honor Hank Aaron; ABC names Kimberly Godwin to be the next president of News.Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered#RolandMartinUnfiltered is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Coming up on Roller Martin Unfiltered, Jackie Robinson Day all across Major League Baseball. That's why I'm sporting his jersey with the Dodgers. Also, today in Minneapolis, Derek Chauvin chose not to take the stand, pleading the Fifth Amendment in day 14 of his murder trial of George Floyd. We'll show you the latest on what happened today in court. Also, the cop who killed Dante Knight, she's right, she shows up in jail. Her Zoom hearing, Kim Potter, she shows up the first day for the hearing, again, for the killing of Daunte Wright.

Body camera footage shows Chicago police killing a 13-year-old boy. It has been released, no shot. The cops lied about what took place. Also, HR 40 has been passed out of the House committee and now goes to the floor for a vote. We'll talk with our experts about that. Sad news out of Louisiana.

The body discovered yesterday, two days ago, in the Mississippi River, is indeed that of Corey Garthier, the 18-year-old LSU freshman, Opelousas, DC. Also, folks, remember the crazy white man we showed you yesterday, Jonathan Pentland? Well, guess what? He had to be extorted from his home because of protestor. Whatever.

Plus Georgia names a school after Henry Hank Aaron that was previously named after the Grand Wizard of the KKK. Ah, karma is something. And also, folks, Kim Godwin makes history the first African-American to ever be president of a network news division.

We'll tell you all about that history maker right here on Bulletin Mark. I'm Phil Smith. It is time to bring the funk. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the funk. Let's go. to news to politics with entertainment just for kicks he's rolling he's funky fresh he's real The best you know, he's rolling Martel

Martel Hey folks, glad to have you on today's show. Folks, in Minneapolis a lot of things happening in court today main thing, Derek Chauvin, the ex-cop who killed George Floyd, chose not to take the stand to testify in his case. He played the Fifth Amendment. Here's the video. Mr. Chauvin, you and I have had several discussions throughout the course of my representation

of you relevant to your right to testify or to choose to remain silent, correct? That's correct. And during the course of our representation, it's fair to say that you and I have had this conversation multiple times, correct? Correct. You understand that you have a Fifth Amendment privilege to remain silent. Do you understand that? Yes. You understand that if you choose to exercise that right to remain silent, neither the state nor the court can comment on your silence as a sign or an indication of your guilt? Meaning they can't say he didn't get up and defend himself, so equate your silence with guilt. Do you understand that? Yes. All right. Now, you also understand that you can waive that right and testify. Do you understand that?

Yes, I do. You understand that if you chose not to testify, or if you did in fact testify, you would be subject to cross-examination by the state of Minnesota? Yes. that if you were cross-examined by the state, we could not attempt to limit the scope of your testimony. The state would be given broad latitude to ask you questions. Do you understand that? Yes. We've had this conversation repeatedly, correct? Correct.

I have repeatedly advised you that this is your decision and your decision alone, right? Correct. I have advised you, and we have gone back and forth on the matter. It would be kind of an understatement, right? Correct. I have advised you and we have gone back and forth on the matter would be kind of an understatement, right? Yes, it is. But after a lengthy meeting last night, we had some further discussion, agreed? Correct. And have you made a decision today whether you intend to testify or whether you intend to invoke your Fifth Amendment privilege? I will invoke my Fifth Amendment privilege today. Mr. Shulman, I'm going to address you directly because the decision whether or not to testify is entirely yours. In other words, it's a personal right. Mr. Nelson

makes a lot of the decisions in trial, but one he cannot make for you is whether or not you testify. And he can give you advice and you can take that advice or reject that advice. But the decision ultimately has to be yours and not his. Is this your decision not to testify? It is, Your Honor. All right. Do you have any questions about your right to remain silent or to testify on your own behalf? Not at this time, I don't.

All right. Does anyone promise anything or threaten you in any way to keep you from testifying? No promises or threats, Your Honor. And so, in other words, as to the statement that his carboxyhemoglobin could have increased by 10 to 18 percent, in your view, that's not possible. It's simply wrong. And it was at most 2 percent. At most 2 percent. Normal. I mean, which is normal.

Alright, folks. So again, Derek Chauvin choosing not to take the stand. Let's go to my panel. Greg Carr is the chair of the Department of Afro-American Studies at Howard University. Brittany Lewis, she's a political analyst. Amisha Cross, a political analyst, Democratic strategist. First of all, I'll start with you, Brittany. Jury's going to soon get this.

Is it any shock Derek Chauvin chose not to take the stand? I mean, I'm not surprised that he didn't take the stand. I think that it's very clear that that would have been the final nail in his coffin. I think that the persecution has done a good job laying him all the way out, quite frankly. Jerry Blackwell's been great dismantling everything that's been put forth. And I think that would also, had he taken the stand, I think there would also have been an opportunity for them to talk about his previous record. And we know that this is in his first

instance of police brutality. So either way, damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. I'm not surprised whatsoever. Amisha. I agree with Brittany there because at the end of the day, I never had any expectation that Derek Chauvin would take the stand. One, he would be facing what he's faced thus far in terms of a prosecution that not only did their homework but presented a very strong case against him. But also, I think that his lawyer knew what the general public does not necessarily. In preparation for this, they've probably gone back and forth just in case he was to decide to take it. And at the end of the day, this is someone who does not come across remorseful in any way.

I think that his posturing would have caused greater trouble for him, even if he had decided to take the stand. He's not somebody who comes off remorseful. He's not someone who has any level of regret. He's also someone who, because he has so many instances of police brutality that are documented cases in terms of the folks who filed claims against him, at this point, there was no way to get away from that. And if he got on the stand and was argumentative, if he got on the stand and tried to make light of those situations, I think that it would have hurt him in the end. So to his part, I think it was actually smart for him to sit this one out because he's the one who has his back up against the wall right now. And I don't think that him testifying would have provided any bit

of help for his situation. Dr. Greg Carr, your assessment of where this trial stands. I agree. I think that I would like to know, and I expect that we will all find out whenever he does his tell-all book, since he's never told his story publicly, and I'm sure that that's the first time between him and his lawyer, between him and Nelson. Which one of them said you should testify and which one said no? Yeah. Remember, the defense theory is very basic. It's four words. Well, no, it's not even four words. What we've seen over the last couple of days is four words. The battle of the experts. This is when the eyes glaze over. Anyone watching this thinking we're tracing it through logic or strength of arguments, please understand the

defense strategy is very basic. George Floyd was not human. This human being faced a wall of savages in a jungle and had no course to resort to except his training, which was to preserve his human life and protect humanity from the threat. So it doesn't matter whether or not, as we saw Dr. Tobin eviscerate that fool David Fowler, who is currently one of the people being sued by the family of Anton Black here in Maryland, because he is known as a bag man for the police in terms of being a medical examiner. It doesn't matter whether that theory of CO2 or heart disease or drugs, it doesn't matter

whether that's factually accurate or not. The defense has a basic objective. We must get one of these jurors who will be sequestered beginning Monday, one of these jurors who are now going home to see escalating protests in Brooklyn Park, one of these jurors to look at Derek Chauvin and say, I understand. I understand, white power. You had to do what you did. And I don't give a damn what these other 11 say. You, sir, are not guilty. And that's the two words that's going to come down to reasonable doubt. Him keeping his mouth shut, as far as I'm concerned, is the best possible strategy,

because there's nothing he can say or needs to say to that one juror who's sitting over there like, I'm with you, bruh. I'm with you. Well, that was certainly the case. And, boy, Brittany, how nuts was it, this whole carbon monoxide, that's what could have killed, that's what killed George Floyd. I have to laugh because it was just so Dr. Fowler was reaching for straws and coming up with wild theories.

This man really has audacity to put every other possible scenario but Chauvin's knee on Floyd's neck as the reason that killed him. And carbon monoxide, he even admitted that they didn't test, Well, he said it on the stand that they didn't test for carbon monoxide. So how is it possible that you can even make that claim? And even if we are to entertain that foolishness, if it was death by carbon monoxide poisoning from the exhaust pipe,

who put George Floyd in the position to be forced to inhale the deadly gas in the first place? It's foolishness, Roland. I just couldn't help but laugh at that one, Amisha. And then who was the one who put George Floyd on the ground to be right next to the pipe? Derek Chauvin. You're absolutely right. Like, it came out of nowhere. It was something that wasn't presented beforehand at all because it was completely irrelevant.

It was also an instance where there is no proof to show that the that the motor was still running or that the car was on at all. So nobody actually knows. But in addition to that, from the from the autopsy and all the medical reports, there is no evidence that showcases that this was a cause of death. This was a last minute throw in the same as it was when there was an argument that apparently the same doctor found that that George Floyd was not actually in pain. So let's just believe that he was laying on the pavement chilling, according to this, according to that doctor or that expert, that there was nothing, you know, there was nothing out of the ordinary here and that this was normal protocol. There was so much going wrong with that testimony. And I think that just, you know, the fact that he was able to throw in some things that he couldn't draw a linear direction towards. And we have to be clear about this. He never actually said that carbon monoxide was the cause. What he did was go down this listing of how it could be a contributing factor, not really knowing whether it was or not, but also planting that seed

to Dr. Carr's point, planting that seed in the heads of a juror, a potential juror, somebody who already is probably thinking, well, maybe this was not Derek Chauvin's fault, trying to find a way to weasel in their head to get this man off. And I think that, you know, to that extent, that specific witness provided that leveraging point for him. All right, folks, let's, to that extent, that specific witness provided that leveraging point for him. All right, folks, let's go to Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, where, of course, Kim Potter, the woman who killed Daunte Wright, had a Zoom hearing today. We have no video of that because in Minnesota, both parties must agree to allow cameras to be present. The father of Daunte Wright was far too emotional to speak today, but his aunt had a whole lot to say about Kim Potter in this case. The last few days, everybody has asked me what we want.

What do we want to see happen? And everybody keeps saying justice. But unfortunately, there's never going to be justice for us. The justice would bring our son home to us, knocking on the door with his big smile, coming in the house, sitting down, eating dinner with us, going out to lunch, playing with his one-year-old, almost two-year-old son, giving him a kiss before he walks out the door.

So justice isn't even a word to me. I do want accountability, 100% accountability. Like my sister said, the highest accountability. But even then, when that happens, if that even happens, we're still going to be able to see our baby boy that we're never going to have again. So when people say justice, I just shake my head. Can you say something? I want everybody to sit here and imagine you having to bury your child that somebody just murdered. We all know when our children are born, we're so proud. Fathers, they want their baby boys. Us moms, we get that love from our sons.

They don't get that anymore. Justice? What is justice? Do we get to see Dante smile? We don't get to see that. Do we get to hear Dante joke again? We don't get to hear that. The highest accountability, I know the highest is going to be being judged by God. But can we get a conviction? Can we get something?

Manslaughter? Y'all see the difference? This is a taser. This is a taser. But no, my nephew was killed with this, a Glock. These two are hurting. Our family is hurting. Our blood has been spilled. And all we ask for is to please just keep getting his name out there. And please help us to go ahead and get something done, a conviction, something. And if this was Potts, I'm not even going to call her officer. Because at this point, Potter, whatever, if it was her child, if someone killed her child, we wouldn't even be having all this press conference. No, none of this. Because whoever that would be would be under the jail again.

Can we get that same thing? I don't care what's said, what my nephew may have done, whatever it is. Again, he was ours. He was a good boy. He was ours. We want the same conviction that anybody else of our race or even outside of our race what they want to call a minority would get not a pat on the back

unfortunately my nephew didn't get to get a drive to go to Burger King to get something he didn't even kill nobody well it looks like we've seen this scene before. I mean, what do y'all think about it?

I mean, I'm listening to Katie Wright, the mother, and I'm going to make this racial and just be very plain spoken about it. That white woman said what a human being should say. Justice isn't even a word to me. When I hear us talk about justice for, she spoke very plainly to the reality that there is no justice. There may be accountability. And I'm wondering what you all think, because, you know, with all due respect to Attorney Crump and everyone out there fighting on the front line, I don't ever want to hear again

these appeals for these equivalencies. These people don't look at us as human beings. You don't mistake a Glock for a gun. And even if you did, you've got it pointed, shelling taser. And the other cops, including a black cop, stand there to realize you don't have a neon yellow gun in your hand that weighs a pound lighter than the Glock. They don't see that you don't have a gun. So I'm just wondering. I don't know either of you, Misha.

I mean, you know, as you're watching that, what's going through your mind? So, Dr. Carr, there is a high level of frustration because through all of this, we have to be mindful that this was a police officer, Potter, who has a nearly 30-year career on the force. This is not a newbie. This is not someone who is just now, you know, on the streets and getting shook and trying to figure things out. This is an officer who also has a high ranking position in the union. This is an officer who actually has trained other officers on what to say, how to say it, and how to get away in police brutality instances. This is an officer who you're not going to tell me mistake a taser for a gun. This is not an officer who had that type of mistake. This is also not an officer who, in all of my years of life, I've seen video after video, I think all of us have at this point,

never have we seen an officer actually put out a taser and yell, taser, taser, taser. This is an officer who was creating her excuse. This was an officer who was creating her own way of getting out of trouble in the same process as she was designing what she was going to do to this young man. And I agree with you, Dr. Carr, in some of your previous comments. A lot of this was forceful,

and it was based on the fact that the humanity of people of color isn't seen. But I will posit this, and it actually comes from a friend of mine, Zach Stafford, who is now an MSNBC contributor and writer. He is an African-American male with a white mom. And his argument today in his piece was that this is the first time we've seen black mom after black mom cry and talk about the police brutality and losing their babies. This is the first time we saw a blue-eyed white woman stand there and make those exact same arguments and talk about her son and what it was like to lose her black son. Will white America listen to their own? Will they listen to a white woman

when she's talking about her black son losing his life? When she talks about what it's like to have to bury her son, when she talks about what it's like to witness and be, you know, to see those videos and see that the police did not even give her son a chance and decided that they were going to shoot. I think that it's going to tell a lot about America where we are in addition to the honor that is going to be given to this family that is in grief right now, but also is, and I think eloquently putting, just like what we just saw in that video, showcasing in vivid detail, not only the difference between a taser and a gun, but also the instances in which we are asked to forgive, but also to move forward from these things in short order.

We're not trying to move forward. We're not. We're trying to make them recognize our humanity, but also recognize that criminal justice reform has to start now. We're done with incremental change because these increments we keep taking are not saving our children. They're just not. That's absolutely right.

In fact, let's talk some more about that. Man, Amisha, you just laid it out. You know, I'm thinking about Mamie Till. I'm thinking about Sabrina Fulton. Thinking about, you know, Trayvon, I mean, not Trayvon, but Mike Brown's parents, Mike Brown Sr., you know, Leslie McSpadden. I mean, when we see them, particularly those sisters, but I want to make this really about gender, but I think it is there is a gender dimension, obviously.

You know, what does that do the way we even think about what we will tolerate? I'm thinking about the fact that there's a seventh grader who just got executed in Chicago, Adam Toledo. They released his video today. You know, what goes through your mind when it comes to that? I mean, in terms of, you know, not only what we expect in terms of what we demand and what we require, but what does that do to us as a community, our psyche, our collective psyche, to see these repeated executions and then these parents there? I mean, but the ways they respond, how does that impact and what do you think that does to our community collectively in terms of,

you know, damage or... Yeah, I mean... My friend, she's a PhD in psychology, and she talks about racial trauma and how we don't talk about that nearly enough, and how it is passed on from generation to generation, because we know this isn't anything new. The commonalities, you know... I don't even have the words, you know. Donald Trump should still be with us. You know, George Floyd should

still be with us. We're all tired of seeing our communities mourn. We're all tired of looking at this double standard, right? The fact that white mass murderers can be detained by police without harm, but Black traffic violations so often end up in debt is exhausting. And also the media cycle, the way in which we constantly seeing black humans, black bodies, um, kill time after time again, um, and expecting that to be enough, that, that to be enough for America to wake up and stop killing us. Um, it, it, it's exhausting. And, and the reality is, unfortunately, that's, that's not going to be enough. It makes me think about the public lynchings and how spectators used to come and watch. Um, those videos are never going to be enough.

And, you know, I can't stress this enough, but, you know, I don't think America understands that police, white America specifically, don't understand that police don't... And maybe they do understand, they just don't care, that police don't have the right to kill you for not following their instructions, or if they believe that you've broken the law, or even if you decide to run.

You know, policing is a job. These folks aren't gods amongst men. But with that being said, I always go back to the origins of that job, right? And why no amount of training, and Amisha laid this out quite succinctly, there's no amount of training that is going to fix this, because we can't get folks to view us as humans, right? And it's scary even when I think about this administration and their investment, right, in putting more money. I think Biden was talking about putting 300 million to retiring diversity officers and, you know, developing a more comprehensive training program. But we saw even in Minnesota alone, you know, with Castile, who was shot in 2016, the state put 12 million towards law enforcement training.

And then we saw George Floyd die. And now we just saw Dante Wright die. And like Amisha said, you know, Chauvin was a field training officer. Kim Powell was a 26-year veteran who was in the middle of training when Wright died. You know, training is not enough. Training won't make routine stops. And this, and training won't save us. Well, speaking of the training issue, folks, another video, and we're just warning you right now, so if you want to look away, please do so. But the video was released today in Chicago of Adam Toledo shot and killed by cops.

No shock, the cops lied about what took place. Watch this. Please stop! Stop right fucking now! Hey, show me your fucking hands! Drop it, drop it! Shots fired, shots fired, get an ambulance up here now. Look at me, look at me, look at me.

You all right? Where you shot? . 24 and Sorter in the alley, West alley. Need an ambulance. Got a gunshot victim. Shot's fired by the police. By the police, 10-4?

Where you shot, man? Where you shot? Stay with me. Stay with me. All police, 10-4? Where you shot, man? Where you shot? Stay with me. Stay with me. All right, 10-4, we'll get an ambulance rolling. Somebody bring the medical kit now. Okay, can someone send the medical kit to 24th and Sawyer, please? I'm trying to get one over there.

All right, I need a medical kit. Sucking chest wound to the upper chest. Got a sucking chest wound. I got a medical kit. Here, hurry up. Watch out, watch out. I'm here, I got a medical kit, I got a medical kit. Where'd you shot at, right here?

Yeah, top of the chest. All right, can I get a chest? Give me a chest seal, one of the chest seals. Give me some gloves, give me some gloves. Chest seal. Is this chest seal? I don't have a medical kit. Nope.

Vacuum pack. Chest seal, chest seal. Chest seal, give me a chest seal. Give me a chest seal, give me a chest seal. Give me chest seal, give me chest seal. Stay with me, hey, stay with me. Hey, stay awake, stay awake man. What's the chest feel, uh, paracetamol? I'm gonna start CPR, I'm not feeling a heartbeat.

Go ahead, I'm trying as fast as I can. I gotta get this chest seal in first. As fast as I can, I'm trying to get this chest seal open. They're coming in. Here we go. It's too sticky, this is the old one. This is the old one, it's too sticky, it's too sticky. Give me another chest seal. It's too sticky, it's too sticky.

Give me a light, give me a light, give me a light. Give me a light now. Give me a light, give me a light. Alright, put it on, put it on. Chest seal. Alright, stay with us buddy. Who has the medical kit? All right. Put it on, put it on. Just here? All right. Hey, stay with us, buddy. Hey, stay with us.

Here's the problem here. Adam was running down this alley, tosses the gun. The gun comes to rest up against a fence, Greg. Cop says, Adam turns around, hands up. Cop yells, stop it or drop it. There's no gun in his hand. It is literally a second. It is a second after Adam turns around to face the officer with his hands raised and the officer fires his weapon. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, quote, we failed Adam.

Not really. Mayor Lightfoot, you didn't fail Adam. What can you do? Clearly nothing. You know, as we were talking a minute ago, and, you know, I really appreciate, Brittany, you laying that out in terms of, you know, how we have been not regarded as human. The philosopher Sylvia Winter, she wrote a piece many years ago called No Humans Involved. There were no humans involved in that shooting. Mayor Lightfoot at the press conference talked about having a teenager of her own. She talked about, but you're not able to stop it, Mayor Lightfoot. As I watched that, I reflected on the fact many years ago that Greg Gil Scott Heron in his song Gun said, every channel that I stop on got a different kind

of cop on. Chicago PD, that's what we just saw, an episode of Chicago PD. Every television drama, really, the story will unfold, what is the torture of the cop that had to kill him? You know, we'll follow him. Shots fired at the police. Shots fired at the police. Are you all right? Where you shot at? You just shot me. Where you shot at? Because they are in the jungle shooting at savages. He had no choice but to shoot. Why? Because the savage was running. And when he turned in a split second, perhaps he could have fired a bullet out of his mouth at him. Or perhaps one of his boys, his homeboys from the gang, was on a roof and maybe would snipe him. They are on the hunt in the streets 24-7. And no mayor can stop them unless

you can. Now, here, Brittany, is what, again, while we always tell folks, watch what they put in the police report. According to a, and I'm reading a story here from USA Today, according to a police response report, Adam was armed with a semi-automatic pistol that was, quote, displayed, not used, unquote. The officer listed defense of self on the report as a reason for shooting. A separate incident report listed the victim, Adam Toledo, who was 13, listed him as being between 18 and 25 years old. The city's civilian office of police accountability.

They released 17 body cam footage, four third-party videos, as well as the audio from 9-11 with regards to this. And folks in Chicago are saying the truth is out, Brittany. The cops lied again about the circumstances around this shooting of Adam Toledo. It's disgusting, but not surprising. It's disgusting, Roland, but it's not surprising.

We see this time and time again. And what I think is really interesting is we're seeing this constant kind of proliferation of body cam footage. And what I think is really interesting is we're seeing this, um, constant kind of proliferation of, of, of body cam footage. And what's interesting is this has been happening for so long. Um, just the footage wasn't there. This isn't anything new. And again, I keep going back to this and we all know that there's no corrective to a relic of enslavement. Um, there's no, they do not view us as humans. They don't even view children as children, right?

Because that was a child. And they will do, you know, whatever they need to do to protect themselves and to protect that institution. And I'm horrified, but I am not surprised. I'm not surprised by the fabrication of information. I mean, it's the Chicago Police Department. We know the history behind that particular police department specifically. So I'm not surprised. I keep saying, Amisha, if they lie on that police report, they should be fired. I absolutely agree with you, Roland.

And this is a heart issue for me because Chicago is my hometown. I've worked with kids from Little Village. It is frustrating to not only see that this officer lied, but officers do that in Chicago and across this country quite often. Chicago also is the city that has the largest amount of settlements paid regularly in terms of these police brutality cases. It seems that they continue to allow cops to shoot people. Meanwhile, instead of actually reforming this policing system, they just count on taxpayer dollars to wash the problem away. I'm not going to say that Lori Lightfoot, the mayor of Chicago, did not have a large bit of burden here that she needs to take care of. Just last year, there were 35 recommendations that were pushed for the city of Chicago

to ensure that police brutality instances would be reduced. And this mayor decided to deny all of them, every single last one. All she did and all her administration did was change the language of certain instances in which you could classify something as police brutality or excessive force. So all skinfolk and kinfolk, we knew this a long time ago. So I'm not standing here when she talks about, you know, she has a child and she tries to, you know, emote some

type of feeling when she's standing in front of a podium. This is a mayor who has stood by, stand back and stand by is what she has done. She is also a mayor who has a long history before she was mayor of actually protecting cops in police brutality cases. So the expectation that she's going to move the city forward in terms of reforms of the policing system, a policing system that has had issues for decades, back to the Burge days, where you had an officer who literally planted drugs on African-Americans, beat them to smithereens, and licensed to kill many of them in the city, and stayed on the force for decades. So I do think that, you know, this is frustrating. My heart goes out to the Toledo family, as well as the entire community of Little Village, who was wrapping their arms around this

young man, as well as his family. But I also want to see real change in Chicago. And I am here to say that it's not going to happen under Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Well, and here's the deal. I dare say there's a prosecutor who works with Kim Fox who's going to have to have some answers as well. I'm reading from the Chicago Sun-Times here. In a court hearing Saturday, a Cook County prosecutor provided more details about the shooting, saying an officer confronted Adam at an opening in a fence. The officer asked Adam to show his hands and the teenager, who stood with his left side to the officer, lowered his right hand. When the officer ordered Adam to drop it, he turned to the officer with the gun in his right hand and the officer shot him, the prosecutor said. The Cook County

State's Attorney's Office didn't mention Saturday that Adams' hands were raised when he was shot. On Thursday, the office said the prosecutor, quote, failed to fully inform himself before speaking in court. Errors like that cannot happen, and this has been addressed with the individual involved. The video speaks for itself. Folks, this is what we're dealing with. We talk about why you have to have absolute police accountability in some of these different cases. We'll see whether or not the office of Kim Foxx, the Cook County State's attorney, if they are going to indict this officer. But we all know for a fact the cops lied and the prosecutor backed that lie up in court.

Now we know the truth. Gotta go to a break. We come back. HR 40, the reparations look at forming a commission, the study of reparations comes out of the House committee, now goes to the full floor. We're going to talk with an author about that very issue up next on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Who needs a little love today? Who needs some love sent their way?

Who needs love? Who needs love? Who needs a little love today? Who needs some love sent their way? Who needs love? Who needs love? Who needs love? Yo, what's up? This your boy Ice Cube.

What's up? I'm Lance Gross, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. A House bill passed last night in committee that would create a commission to study reparations for descendants of enslaved Americans. It is known as H.R. 40. Of course, the bill would establish a 13-member commission to examine slavery and discrimination in the United States from 1619 to present. The commission would then recommend ways to educate Americans about its findings and appropriate remedies, including how the government would offer a formal apology and what form of compensation should be awarded.

This bill was long introduced by the late Congressman John Conyers, first in 1989. Of course, the 40 part of H.R. 40 refers to the failed government effort to provide 40 acres in a mule to free slaves of African descent. Of course, joining me right now is Raymond Wimbush. He is the author, Dr. Raymond Wimbush, author of the book Should America Pay? Slavery and the Raging Debate on Reparations. He's also a member of NCOBRA. The group has been advocating for this for quite some time. Dr. Greg Carr, he is also a member. And this is the book right here, if you see it. So, Ray, welcome back to the show. Hey, man. Good to see you, Roland. So let's talk about this move last night by the House committee.

For the first time, it advanced out of committee, committee led by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. You still have critics who say, oh, this is not good enough. It should be stronger. It should be a lot better. What do you say about this decision to get out of committee and now go to the floor if the bill is called up for a vote for the full House to vote on it? is something that people in it that don't like. You heard some of that last night with the Republicans, who I, as a scholar, was just absolutely amazed at how, and the only word I can use, Roland, is ignorant, that these congressmen were of American history, let alone Black history. I think that there are people who are opposing it. There are people who are supporting it. I always say that in 1954, thousands of years ago, when I was a child and Brown v. Board came aboard, that, you know, people said, well, it's only dealing with K through 12. It's a first step in the right direction. And so a few years later, after Brown versus Board, you had the desegregation of the University of Mississippi, University of Alabama and so forth.

So this is a first step forward., you've got to have the votes. You've got to have 218 in the House, and then you've got to get the votes in the Senate. Then it goes to, of course, the president. And so now the question is, do you think the 218 are there? Democrats only have a four-vote, a very slim four-vote majority in the House. I haven't heard a single Republican who say that they're going to support H.R. 40. So it's going to be incumbent upon 218,

the 222, actually now 221 Democrats, because Alcee Hastings died. Yeah, it's going to be a struggle. We have over 170 people signed on to it right now, and we are working every day to make sure that we get those 218 votes. Bills oftentimes, as you know, Roland, take time to get through Congress anyway. This is a bill I think that is long time coming. But at the same time, I think the atmosphere around the

country, there are reparation bills all over the nation. This is something that is whose time has come. And we're seeing bills now in the entire state of California, commissions established in places as far away as Vermont, which is the whitest state in the union, down in Athens, Georgia, literally all over the place. Greg Carr, you are a longtime member of, a longtime advocate of reparations. You were on a Zoom last night, along with Ray, as well as Mark Thompson, Ron Daniels and others. Your assessment of this move by the House Judiciary Committee. I agree with my brother. I mean, we were both on there. your assessment of this move by the House Judiciary Committee?

I agree with my brother. I mean, we were both on there. And in fact, it's interesting because, as we know, House Judiciary gaveled in yesterday morning around 10 to mark up House Bill 1333. And that was a bill dealing with immigration, dealing with representation for those who are here in the country, legal representation. And what you saw is these white nationalists were very clear. They have drawn a bright line. They're going to the last dog dies. And as Ray and I were watching, you know, we went through that.

And then we didn't even get to H.R. 40 until over in the evening. So, you know, Ray, we were on after they passed out of committee, we were on until just about midnight last night. And I'm only raising that for this. And Ray, I'd be interested in hearing what you have to say about that, as we all watched and then debated and discussed later, particularly with Kenneth Henry, who is in Cobras, kind of one of our people on the Hill. Jim Jordan, who's clearly a white nationalist and can't be trusted in anything he says. I don't even know if his name's Jim Jordan.

But in a fit of exasperation, he was like, well, if you all really want to reach across the aisle, you say you want to have us do this, then, you know, where are the people who don't support reparations on the commission? You know, maybe. And so if that's a sliver of momentum, Ray, I'm wondering what you think about this. It may be completely hopeless. We might have to look to the executive. I'm going to ask you two questions.

One is, you know, might it be possible to pick off a few of those white nationalists if for no other reason than they will be maybe voting out of spite? And if they can be, a couple of them can be picked off in the House, could that free up some perhaps movement in the Senate? Because they're going to need 60. And then finally, that's the first question. And the second one is this. Do you think that the Biden administration, if this doesn't get out of the House, should act out of the executive branch and establish this commission anyway? The answer to the last question is absolutely yes. You know, commissions, you know, ordinarily come out of Congress, the ones that have lasting impact.

But commissions can also come out of the White House itself. You know, I had mixed emotions when Jim Jordan said that, you know, I'm from Ohio and this guy is a white supremacist. You have to be very strategic, you know, if you are going to get Republican votes. He could be an incredibly disruptive person on the commission. You know, I mean, he's a loud mouth, more interested in having attention to him. I think this is something we've got to huddle about, Greg, on the Encober board meeting next week. And I think we've got to be very strategic and tactical in what we do with this guy. And remember, you put Jim Jordan on that committee. Y'all ain't going to never have a meeting.

But see, that was my first feel. I mean, you know, having Jim Jordan on a committee is like having Governor Wallace on the, you know, committee of the NAACP back in 1963 at Birmingham. No, no, no. Having Jim Jordan on a committee is like having Lester Maddox in his axe. All of the above. All of the above.

And I think that, you know, this commission, we can have who we want to on this commission. I mean, you can see, you know, the three from the Senate, three from the president, three from the House and the other five, other which went, yeah, other six coming from, you know, people around the country. If the Republicans want to put somebody, Jim Jordan is a lightning rod. I don't like the dude, but that's a whole other discussion. Misha, what do you make of the committee's vote last night? It's chances going

down to the full floor. Look, I've said for a long time to folks, I said, do I believe America? Do I believe America? This Congress is going to approve reparations? Hell no. I said, do I believe America? Do I believe America? This Congress is going to approve reparations? Hell no. I said, white folks, look, I'm telling you right now, they'd rather elect 10 black presidents in a row, I believe, before they want to go here.

And I've never believed that white America is going to go there. What people don't realize is, OK, and I've been saying this, you've got to have a vote. 218 Democrats. There are a lot of Democrats who come from purple or somewhat red districts. right now the difference between what I call the far left and the progressive and the center left Democratic Party and the 30 to 45 other Democrats that are that are center center right. You're about to see that real soon. I agree with you 100 percent, Roland. That was going to be one of the points that I brought up, because at the end of the day, even when we have had majority Democratic House and Senate, you know, back in the day when that actually was a thing, you know, a few years ago, when that was a when that was a case, we still didn't see reparations passed. the geographic and the demographic issues associated with where some of these Democrats actually represent. They do not. There are very few solidly blue states in America or solidly blue districts in America.

So with that being said, they also have to appeal to a base of voters that don't support reparations, a base of white voters who, regardless of how much data, statistics, regardless of how much we show them the effects of white supremacy and the effects of systemic racism, they don't care and they are not on board with reparations because they see that as a freebie to a group that they either don't see the humanity of or, quite frankly, don't believe that reparations is necessary because they always point to at least one or two successful black people, which means that, you know, you can do it if you just have the will and the hard work. So I definitely think that it's a numbers game and it's a numbers game that ultimately we're just not at a stage to win when it comes to the reparations battle that is going to be moving forward. The reason I think it has worked differently, Brittany, if you look at the city of Evanston, when you look at what was passed in California,

you look at our conversation yesterday when it came to Manhattan Beach, is that those are examples that were much more narrower. And I think that, and I think, and then, you know, there are some who said, if you make this discussion about African-Americans who were impacted by federal housing policy there as well. Once you start talking about slavery to present day, and then that's when the major critics really start getting getting amped up. They're not going to say anything about, frankly, Jim Crow. They're going to want this conversation to go all the way back to slavery. And so that is that is is the battle that's going to exist here. And even though this is about simply creating a commission for the critics,

it's give no inch, because if you do, this might mean the whole ball of wax. That's, I think, what you're about to see happen. And now the question also is, does Speaker Nancy Pelosi attach this to another major bill? Is this a standalone? All of this, all these political calculations now are going to be raised. You're absolutely right. But, you know, I think the one thing that we've learned in Cobra, we have to make a consequential vote against reparations. You know, it's amazing that you see white people with single issue items like gun control or abortion, whatever, the environment, you know, save the will, save everything. Black folk have to start getting single issue on the issue of reparations because it's a major victory if it comes through. And we've got to start pointing this out. We have to publicly challenge Democrats. And I'm talking about Black and white Democrats, because there are some Democrats in the Senate, if the bill gets that far, who are opposed to

reparations. Like, what's this idiot in West Virginia, Joe Manchin? So we've got to make it more consequential. That's going to be difficult. This is not going to be an easy battle. But I think it can be one if we're strategic. Well, you're absolutely right about Joe Manchin. Brittany, go ahead. Yeah, you know, I share the same sentiment.

I think that there needs to be a single issue around reparations because it's so important. And I think that, you know, like was mentioned earlier, we're going to see how the breaks, how the votes fall, break apart along political ideology lines, right? And we're going to see these white Democrats who also aren't for reparations for us, whether that be because of white supremacy and anti-blackness or also just the sheer ignorance. Someone brought that up earlier, the ignorance of American history and Black history at large. I mean, these folks don't understand that we've been private property

longer than we've been able to own it. And you got to talk about that when you want to talk about translating wealth. So I hope that we continue to get behind this, but it's going to continue to be a long, hard fight. But I am excited about some of the, you know, some of the universities and some of the other smaller cities

and places that are taking the step. And we got to just continue to push the conversation forward. Ray, go ahead with the final comment. Well, you know, again, you know, people have asked me all day long in interviews and other places

about what they can do. Find out who your congressperson is. Push them. Make sure they're already on board. If you go to the NCOBR website, you can see who isn't on board. And every day, just a year ago, we had only 135

people. We gained 40 in the past year. Part of that is because of the Breonna Taylor and George Floyd murders. But we can gain on this if you get involved with it. All right, then. Ray Winbush, again, y'all, the book is called, let me hold it up, Should America Pay? Slavery and the Raging Debate on Reparations by Raymond Winbush. I certainly appreciate it, brother. Thanks a lot. Okay, brother. Take care.

Thank you very much. All right, folks, got to go to break. We come back. We're going to talk about Kim Godwin making history, the first black network news president. What does that actually mean? And is this going to also be a trend with other networks? How are black journalists changing the face of news in America? That's next. Roland Martin unfiltered. Shortly after 9-11, America and its allies went to war in Afghanistan to defeat a terrorist

stronghold. We accomplished that mission years ago. Trillions of dollars lost, over 2,000 Americans dead, countless Afghans dead. It's time to get out. Many presidents have tried to end the war in Afghanistan, but President Biden is actually going to do it. And by 9-11, over 20 years after the war was started, the last American soldier will depart and America's longest war will be over. Promise made, promise kept. I believe that it's movement time again.

In America today, the economy is not working for working people. The poor and the needy are being abused. You are the victims of power, and this is the abuse of economic power. I'm 23 years old. I work three jobs. Seven days a week, no days off. They're paying people pennies on the dollar compared to what they profit and it is time for this to end. Essential workers have been showing up to work, feeding us, caring for us, delivering goods to us throughout this entire pandemic and they've been doing it on a measly $7.25 minimum wage.

The highest check I ever got was literally $291. I can't take it no more. You know, the fight for 15 is a lot more than about $15 an hour. This is about a fight for your dignity. We have got to recognize that working people deserve livable wages. And it's long past time for this nation to go to 15, so that moms and dads don't have to choose between asthma inhalers and rent. I'm halfway homeless. The main reason that people end up in their cars is because income does not match housing

cost. If I could just only work one job, I could have more time with them. It is time for the owners of Walmart, McDonald's, Dollar General, and other large corporations to get off welfare and pay their workers a living wage. And if you really want to tackle racial equity, you have to raise the minimum wage. We're not just fighting for our families,

we're fighting for yours, too. We need this. I'm going to fight for it until we get it. I'm not going to give up. We just need all of us to stand up as one nation and just fight together. Families are relying on these salaries and they must be paid at a minimum $15 an hour. $15 a minimum. Anyone should be making this a bit of a stay out of poverty. I can't take it no more. I'm doing this for not only me, but for everybody.

We need 15 right now. Hey, what's up? This is Marlon Wayans. No, it's not Kenan. No, or as some of y'all say, Klignan. No, it's not Damien. No, or as some of y'all say, Klig-nan. No, it's not Damien. It's really, and it's not Damon, because I do not have a bald head. It's one of the Wayans.

It's not Winans, because they have been coming up to me, hey, how you doing? I love the Winanans. There's no Bebe and no Cece in this family. There's Kiki and Damon. So I am one of the Wayans brothers, or as you may want to call fraternity population. There's the Chinese and then there's the Wayans.

There's so many of us. Seven Wayans was born during this drop. So you are watching my man, Roland Martin, who really is swagged out. I want to give a big shout out to my man, Roland Martin, who really is swagged out. I wanna give a big shout out to my man, Roland Martin, cause he inspired the generation. He's the one that got Al Sharpton in the gym doing selfies. He got,

that Reverend Al was like, oh, I see Roland trying to look like he got a little two pack. I'm gonna get him one better. He's the one that got Al doing the one-headed almost push-up on the desk. So, Roland Martin is the inspiration behind that. So, be sure to tune in and watch.

Roland Martin, Unfiltered. Folks, sad news out of Baton Rouge. Two days ago, authorities found a body in the Mississippi River. They now have identified that body as Corey Gauthier, an LSU freshman from Opelousas, Louisiana. It was last week when an accident took place on I-10, where her vehicle was literally parked in the middle of the freeway. The car was running. Her cell phone and her purse were found in the vehicle. Well, police recall they impounded the vehicle, but they never called her parents, who the car is registered after, to let them know that the daughter was missing.

And it wasn't until she failed to show up for work and class the next day when they realized that something was amiss. There were a number of candlelight vigils and walks and prayers and search efforts that took place over the last several days. And then the sad news. This is the post that was made on Facebook from Corey's father. I come to you all with a very heavy heart. It was confirmed that the body that was recovered and reserved right down the street from my job was indeed my Corey Moe. God granted me the one wish I had, and that was to receive her in any way to be put to rest properly. She always said that I didn't think I didn't do anything at work, so I guess she was trying to see for herself. I would like to thank

everyone who assisted in any way. It's too many to name, but thank you. Give me time to process it all, but do know if I haven't already responded to your text or calls, I will in the near future. God bless you and rest in paradise, Corey Monet Gauthier. Police say no foul play is suspected. They simply don't know exactly what happened. Man, truly, truly a sad story for the folks there in Appaloosa, Louisiana, the hometown of my grandparents. Folks, let's go to South Carolina while the white army non-commissioned officer was caught on video assaulting a black man.

He is now out of jail. He was released on a personal recognizance bond. Jonathan Pitland, he was charged with third degree assault. He's only facing a maximum of 30 days in jail and a $500 fine. Of course, earlier this week, the video went viral of him threatening a black man who was simply walking in their neighborhood. Since the video went viral, hundreds of people have flooded the neighborhood of protests in front of it, not just in front of their home, in their yard. Last night, it got so bad that the Richland County deputies were called to the neighborhood shortly after 8 p.m. and the officers escorted the Pentland family from the home to another location.

You know what, Brittany, I don't really feel sorry for them because if you did not accost the young brother who was simply walking the neighborhood, you wouldn't have all this heat and attention on your ass now. I don't feel sorry for him at all. I mean, quite frankly, I'm like, it must be nice after you have been the perpetrator, you have done something wrong to our community that you still get to have a private escort. I don't feel bad for this man at all. And quite frankly, I think it speaks once again to the political, you know, the ideologies of the people that work for the state,

seeing as though he was an army sergeant. Yeah, um, Brad Carr, I'm good. So guess what? If you catching heat, you brought it all on yourself. You know what's funny, Roland? I'm thinking about that. You know, a lot of good friends in Columbia at the time.

You know that Columbia, South Carolina, is the original home of the Citadel, where the South Carolina legislature put that money in the legislature in the wake of the Denmark-Veazey Rebellion. And of course, Denmark-Veazey was an original member of what became Mother Emanuel AME Church, where Dylann Roof, who is safe and sound in jail instead of dead, went in there and killed black folk.

When I look at a guy like that, Jonathan Pentland, as you say, Brittany, we wouldn't get in this escort. My question is, where are they taking you? Are they going to take you on base now? You and your family can kind of relax and chill and you'll see what's going on. You should feel the terror that we feel. And so you need to sell that house. You need to never be comfortable on that block again. And all the folks who are protesting, y'all should just leave now and wait till they come back. Then come back.

Because you see how they came out the side of their mouth with the young brother was involved in other incidents, but that's not relevant to this? Well, why the hell did you say it then? No, we're going to start policing y'all in the true spirit of Denmark Vesey. Except ain't no citadel going to save you, brother. Wherever you going,

we there too. And I hope, Amisha, that the U.S. Army takes action against him as well. I agree with you 100%, Roland. My frustration here extends in multiple directions. First and foremost, this guy presented himself as a threat, as a danger to someone who was simply walking down the sidewalk.

Someone who he was outsized. He was literally at least two times the size of the guy who would have been his potential victim. He was trying to invoke fear. My issue here is that had that role been reversed, and this was a black guy, and him and the white guy could have been of the same size and stature, at the end of the day, when that black guy got locked up, his bail would have been set a lot higher. He wouldn't have been released within 24 hours. There would have been real charges. I have an issue here with how this was actually handled after reports were made as well. Not only is this guy receiving access protection, which is taxpayer funded, but he is also someone whose crimes committed aren't necessarily matching the pattern of the justice

that is supposed to be served. Again, this is not a colorblind system because the risk assessment tool, his level of risk is higher considering what he just showed that he had the capability of doing. And had there not been people to watch it, had there not been a video, who knows what he would have done. You're absolutely right. All right, folks, let's now go to this other story, which is actually, hmm, how shall I say this? Nuts! A lesson in slavery has caused three Wisconsin middle school teachers to quit. Sun Prairie Area School District, they launched an investigation after a parent complained about the assignment back in February

when Patrick Marsh Middle School teachers asked students how to punish a defiant slave using Hammurabi's Code, a set of laws in ancient Mesopotamia. The investigation also shows that the lesson plan was outside the district curriculum and was never approved by anyone at the leadership level. Okay.

I can't explain that one, Greg. I don't know what the hell these folk are thinking about. Yes, you can. Did you see? You read it. I know you did. We all are thinking about. Yes, you can. Did you see? You read. I know you did. We all read it.

The scenario, scenario number three. A slave stands before you. This slave has disrespected his master by telling him, quote, you are not my master. How will you punish this slave? That's a legitimate question. You're trying to train these young people in how to talk to these people who are going to defy your status as master. So the only question I have is, in a school district where you could even have that in

a scenario that means that it bypassed the teacher prep periods, it bypassed whatever meetings they have where they pass curriculum by each other, it bypassed all the administrators in the building, the assistant principal, the principal. It bypassed the curriculum instruction people. If that can even make it to a child's eyes, my question is not or do those three, how in the hell do you have a formation where they could even get that to a child in the first place unless you think that's a legitimate question. Amisha. I agree with Dr. Carr 100% here.

As someone who has worked in education at the K-12 level, there is nothing about these lesson plans or what's taught in them or how that's instructed that is not approved. So this is not something that is extremely shocking to the district or even to the school in and of itself. I think that it's egregious, but I also feel like this is one case where there are many of similar types of circumstance that don't necessarily get that national attention. I'm glad that there is severe pushback. I'm glad that those teachers resigned. issues where we continually see that our school systems are not necessarily, not only not beneficial when it comes to equity, but also they are part and parcel of a very destructive system of white supremacy. All right, folks, some big news and a historic first. Yesterday, ABC News announced that Kim Godwin will become their new president of the news network. Why is this

major? She becomes the first African-American in history ever to lead a network news division. In February, Rashida Jones started as the president of MSNBC, becoming the first African-American to be president of a cable news network. This also follows other historic firsts by ABC. In 1962, Mal Good became the first African-American network correspondent when hired by ABC. And in 1978, Max Robinson became the first black network evening news anchor at the network as well. Joining us right now is Paula Madison. Paula,

she has served as a news director, general manager, executive with NBC, a number of roles all throughout print and television as well, and also is a lifetime member of the National Association of Black Journalists and former board member. Paula, glad to have you on Roller Mark Unfiltered. Thank you so much for inviting me, Roland. I'm happy to be here. So we've been, those of us who've been toiling in the fields for a very long time have been waiting for this moment. And the reality is it's the culmination of black folks fighting, pushing, prodding, cussing folk out, clawing against that steel ceiling, if you will, to be able to get the top jobs, to be able to run newsrooms. It used to be editors.

Then it was news directors. Then it was general managers. And now for Kim Godwin reaching that level as president, Rashida at MSNBC News as president there. You've got other folks. Hopefully we can add more in the pipeline. What does this say about black journalists? What does it say about this moment in history, this moment in time? Well, I, you know, personally, I say hallelujah. I mean, as you know, we've been trying to make this happen for Lord knows how many years. I mean, when I first hang on, hang on.

Until finally what has happened was, I will admit, it was a massive shock to me that ABC actually did this. I was happily surprised. But as you know, I mean, I was just online checking in to see what's going on. So Kim Godwin, who you know, I used to work with at NBC4 in New York and NBC4 in Los Angeles, she takes over in short order as president of the ABC News division. And the headline in the L.A. Times says Michael Korn is out as senior executive producer of ABC's Good Morning America. The story goes on to say he has abruptly departed the network. And I just kind of sit here and chuckle because that translates to me as this dude decided, nope, nope, and hell no. He's not going to be there with an African-American woman at the top. Not just an African-American woman,

but a superb Kim Godwin at the top. So, you know, it's okay. I mean, you know, she'll find somebody else and she'll find somebody really good and outstanding who wants to be a part of her team. But I brought this part up as, you know, a little bit of a tiny drop of cold water, because while it is so exhilarating and historic that Kim is the leader of that news division,

it's not going to be an easy job. No, it's not. It's not going to be an easy job. No. It is not going to be an easy job. But you said something that, and I want to make this distinction, because it was very interesting. The Washington Post said Kim Garland, first black woman network news president. New York Post said first black

woman. And Variety got it right, and I said, no, no, no. She ain't the first black woman. She's the first black woman she's the first black period and i had certain people who say well no no no it's important for us to acknowledge she's a black woman i'm like she's a black woman i said but you i said folks if you say she's the first black woman you give the impression that was some dude some some brother who was before. I said, what? Nobody before. I said, so don't take that away from the historic appointment being the first African-American. I said, I said, that's important. I said, I'm not diminishing that she's, that she's a sister. I said, but don't take that away. Cause if you say just black woman, you make it sound like

that was somebody who came before her. That's true. I mean, however many years ago, I was the first black woman fill in the blank. I was the first black fill in the blank. And the irony of all of that is that I would say, well, if you saw me from three blocks away and I had on jeans and a sweatshirt, a hoodie. Right. And I'm not particularly curvaceous. But if you saw me from three blocks away, you would probably say, oh, there's a person two blocks away.

You'd say, oh, there's a black person. It's only when I got right up on you. If I pulled my hoodie back or whatever, then you'd say, oh, it's a it's a black woman. My point in this is that, you know, let's let's start first with the more general. Right. The more general history making moment, the first black period. And then it's the first black woman. Right. Again, as a as a black woman, I'm not taking anything away from women. I am saying, however, that it is, it first becomes a racial milestone. It's a racial milestone for us. And by the way, you know, for whatever I've known was going on behind the scenes what I find kind of funny is that um the person who I had understood was among the front runners at ABC including Kim

uh was a white woman uh what's her name Wendy Mc Mc-something? Wendy McMahon. Well, Wendy McMahon was in the TV stations division among the frontrunners at ABC. So she doesn't get that job because it went to Kim. Kim had to be released from her contract at CBS in order to take that job. Today what's announced is Wendy McMahon and an Indian guy, who I have to look up his name in order to pronounce it, coming from Hearst Newspapers, that the two of them are today named as the co-presidents of the newly configured CBS News and CBS Stations division. And I was like, man, so the door opens, the door opens. So now there's a South Asian.

That's great. And a white woman. Okay, that's great. And they get to be co-presidents. And as I understand, that co-president job was what Kim was first offered and she walked away from. Thank God. Thank God she walked away from that. Because that to me is like, if the structure is news division, then the time when the first black person gets to play, gets to have the big seat, you actually have to share it with somebody. And then it's a cold. Donald Trump asked Randall Pinkett to share being the celebrity apprentice. Yeah.

When we all knew Randall Pinkett, you know, for however it is that we were going to say that, who should have won, right? We all knew that Randall Pinkett should have gotten that, but Trump couldn't bring himself to do it. The thing that's important, and I'm going to have my panel, each one is going to ask a question in a second. And for the people out there, there are people who say, look, why are you getting excited about one black person getting the job? What we're now also talking about is that when we are in positions of power, now it's time to use the power. Now it's time not to crack open the door, but to blow that sucker off the hinges. And so now you're talking about in feeling in terms of positions, in terms of African-Americans on these various levels. Look, I remember 2019 when we met with ABC and no black executives. We were like, y'all got a problem.

They hired Marie Nelson, vice president. Now Kim comes in, Galen is there, Galen Gorton there as vice president as well. We've done the exact same thing. When we kicked Jeff Zucker's ass at CNN, they had appointed four black folks in five months. They did one, we said not good enough. They're two not good enough. They're not good enough. And so that's the other piece. This is the moment when when we get in the power.

Frankly, we got to do the exact same thing that white men have done and white women have done. Use the power in order to change the game. Absolutely. You will remember, Roland, and this is certainly not an instance of me patting myself on the back, but you remember when I became news director at NBC4 in New York, I brought in lots of black folks in executive roles, on the air, behind the scenes.

When I got to that position, when I got that seat, right, not only did it give me the ability to bring more folks in the door, what it also did was put me in a position where behind the scenes and quietly, there are all kinds of things that you can do and accomplish. Imagine that when we watch the news going forward, what we are going to be looking for is at least a presentation, a representation of us that is going to be fairer than what we have seen in the past. Now, do we have the right to expect or even demand that from people who look like us who are in those seats? Absolutely. That's absolutely right. Because what we know we've seen is that in some instances, and I'm not going to name any instances, but in some instances, folks have gotten into those jobs. And in order to try to demonstrate how a vice president who is a black woman, where we have not nearly enough CEOs who are black people, but we have some representations throughout, right, where we should at least be bold enough and honest enough and beholden enough to our people to do the right thing. And, you know, I'm praying for that. I know Rashida Jones over at MSNBC.

I certainly know Kim Godwin, who's now coming into ABC. And by the way, I want to tell you about a prediction that I made where I was completely wrong. I was completely wrong. You mentioned Galen Gordon. Galen went over to ABC as a senior vice president. ABC hired Khadija Sharif Drinkard from BET to come in as a senior vice president for business affairs. They also brought in Marie Nelson, as you just mentioned. And then there's a black Latino brother, Derek Medina, who was an SVP in business affairs at ABC, who was promoted to executive vice president of ABC News. That means in their executive ranks,

there are now three senior vice presidents who are black, one executive vice president who is black, and the president of the news division who's black. About three weeks ago, a month ago, I was saying it's never going to happen. ABC is never going to do it. And to my great surprise, they did it. So, you know, maybe the world is changing a little bit. Well, let's also be let's also remind folks that all that also happened when we at NABJ and others helped move Barbara Fadita out of there. She was fired after it was confirmed some racist comments that she made. She was a number two there, held lots of power. And so this is why advocacy is important when our organizations, external groups, use power

and leverage to affect change. Amisha Cross, you got a question for Paula Madison? Absolutely. Thanks for being here, Paula. I think that my question kind of revolves around a little bit of what Roland just said. We saw the Fedida scandal. We also know that ABC set these inclusion standards for TV shows and programming last year to showcase a more diverse and multicultural essence across all of their programs. But how much of this is reactionary to what we saw on the streets in terms of the George Floyd protests that happened and took over much of last summer and was the longest ranging civil rights protests in history. But also, you know, is this just a flashpoint in history just because racial equity and diversity is now this hot, cool term to do? Or is it something that we have an expectation that, you know, networks like ABC are really going to invest in, even after this trial is no longer in the news, even after these conversations aren't necessarily top-of-the-mind awareness for the general public? Well, I think the answer to the first question of

how much of it is due to the hashtag BLM movement, as well as the immense advocacy and gatekeeping and hounding by NABJ that has gone on. I'd say 99.9 percent of it is due to that. That is not to suggest that these folks who are being put into, being hired into these positions of immense power, that's not to say that they are, oh, I'll use that word, not qualified. That is to say, however, that if you think about it, you know, when I used to be asked years ago, well, Paula, how does it feel to be the first black blah, blah, blah, fill in the blank? And my response was, I don't know how to answer

that because I've only been black, right? So I don't know how it feels to be the first white or the first Latino or the first whatever. That's a question that I don't know how it feels to be the first white or the first Latino or the first whatever. That's a question that I don't know how to answer. What I can tell you is I know that I am not the first black person who could have ever done this job. I happen to have been the first black person in the right place, right place, the right time, right time and had the, um, what, and the people who were doing the hiring were comfortable enough. Okay. Comfortable enough with me and the persona of me to give me that job. It was up to me to keep that job and to set new standards to break records,

which is what I always strove to do and have been successful in many instances. But make no mistake about it. In order for us to remain in such jobs, right, we have to not distance ourselves from our communities, which many of us do once we get into the halls of corporate America. Maybe if I'm from Lincoln, Nebraska, and I don't see the people, and I'm from Harlem, by the way, but if I don't see the people from Lincoln, Nebraska, as I'm, you know, rising throughout, then I don't really have a community. But everywhere you go, you got to go find some black people to do your hair. You got to go, whether to do it, put extensions in it, braids, whatever, or cut it. But we always

know where to get hair stuff done. We don't always know where our community folks are and to go bond with them in order for you to be supported no matter where you go, because then you also support that community. So what I'll say to you is that, I mean, what we've seen and I think what Roland has very well advocated and demonstrated is that this is about holding feet to the fire. This is not about at any point, well, we got that done, you know, now we can chill. We are never going to be able to chill because, as I heard earlier on the show, I dare say, superiority in terms of employment and finance. Brittany, question for Paula Madison. Yeah, along those lines, you know, you said that there's a bunch of people that don't think that we belong in these roles and we know that to be true so if Kim Godwin makes it a point to push our agenda and and hire more black people and push more black programming do you believe her like what is that line when you think that her title will eventually be at risk how much do you think that she can push well I'm going to say it this way, because I think that what, knowing Kim, what I think that what Kim will push for is fairness, right?

And any way you slice it, what's going on for black folks in this country, from representation to hiring, employment, health care, interaction with the police. It's not fair. So anything that can happen to elevate or to increase the representation of is only working more towards fairness. The question really should be put to and would be put to the Disney ABC board. It's the Disney ABC board who surely signed off on this. Because we all got to look at each other and acknowledge this move was not made by two dudes in an office. This had to go before a whole lot of folks and be signed off on. And yeah,

and that's why I'm saying, you know, I hearken back to the importance and the impact of what folks in the street in the past couple of years, what this has meant. And again, you know, the folks who have been in the street, I think, are relentless because in their world, they they many of them. I'm not going to say all of them because because it's listen, many of those I can't. There's so many paths I can't just go down right now because we don't have time. But what I would say is that many of these folks who who took to the streets seeking justice and equality will not back down. Right. And thank God they won't back down, because I would say this is how we get to where we are today. But, you know, where is that line? You know what?

We won't know. We won't know where that line is if we turn our backs. We will know if we watch very closely. We have to watch very closely. We have to be engaged. We have to give feedback. We have to give kudos where due. And what we don't need to do is be any harder on Black folks than we would be on others, which, you know, some of us can sometimes be. But what I will say to you is I think, you know, I joined the 4,000 plus members of the National Association of Black Journalists, you know, applauding, applauding the 40 plus years that it took to get us here. What, Roland, was it 50 years? I can't remember. Coroner Commission report came out in 1968.

And so 53 years for that to happen. Right. I say the best for last, Dr. Greg Carr. No, thank you, Roland. No, I've been sitting here taking notes. Thank you, Roland, and thank you, Sister Madison. I'm like, I probably

suspect all the rest of us viewing, learning. This is a master class. In fact, Roland, I say it's probably something y'all need to do regularly in terms of informing us. And as you've been talking, I'm thinking about the formation of NABJ, those first jobs in white media from black folk, because they knew they couldn't send

white folk into the hood as we were, you know, doing what we needed to do. And in concert with something Amisha asked you about, you know, that role of folk who've been in the streets. I'm wondering now, because I guess CBS News is looking for a president, right? CNN is going to be looking for somebody. You know, how much of this do you think might have something to do with an intersection between those out there in the street and the fact that many of them, many of us, in fact, and this platform is an example, are turning away from broadcast media. And so, you know, is there a disruption moment as it relates to online platforms and so kind of things that might see this as a window of opportunity for them to try to get our attention back?

Particularly those folks who are out there who they bring on to do more than perhaps they would have even been able to do in these last several iterations when they realized they couldn't keep ignoring us. I'm wondering about that. And thank you. This is this has been extremely educational. Thank you. And I appreciate the question. It's a great question. So, first of all, I want to say to you that they're not seeking a president of CBS News because that announcement of Wendy McMahon and the South Asian brother, the South Asian brother, they are going to run CBS News. They are the co-presidents. So for CBS News and the television stations division, it's a it's it's a it's a it's a mashup that hasn't existed in this form before, right? And, of course, that happened because Peter Dunn, who was the president of the television stations division, got caught with all kinds of unconscionable behaviors that eventually they had to say goodbye to him. All right. So now let me let me address the notion of what's happening with broadcast television. I want to take a moment to just explain how this breaks down. So the FCC is the governmental entity that oversees the public airwaves.

That's called broadcasting. Many years ago, however, when places like Tupelo, Mississippi could not get television signals coming up from antennas, they then went to something called cable. Because it was cable and was not going over the public airwaves, the FCC had very little control over cable. So now we will refer to, right, the broadcast as terrestrial, it's earthbound. Then you have cable and then you have satellite. Remember all of that back in the day when HBO and all that stuff came about? It's like, oh my God, right? What we are seeing now is not one iota of reduction in viewing. what we are seeing is a proliferation of platforms. So whether you're watching it on your cell phone or whether you're watching it on your tablet or whether you're

watching it on your laptop or on your actual television, or if you're casting it from one of those devices to your television, you're watching it. When you see Paramount+, when you see HBO Max, name all of them, right? Many of those are in fact connected to, owned by, in affiliation with networks, right? The mouse that swallowed ABC, right? Disney, ABC. When you take a look at these companies and how they have diversified their holdings,

every time you see something like yesterday, Univision, Univision, and Televisa coming out of Mexico are now one. They used to be competitors. What have we seen in this country? Comcast, which was a cable operation, right? They did not have the means of content creation. So they bought NBC Universal. So cable bought historically broadcast. What I'm getting at here is if what we're thinking is that there has been a challenge to the numbers of people viewing, and that's why they're willing now to bring us in as in the days of, you know, whatever city is falling apart. That's that's what it's going to get a black mayor. That's not what's happening here.

No, that's not what's happening here. Thank you. This is well, the we certainly appreciate, again, the history making appointment of Kim Godwin. But as I keep saying on so many other things, Paula, that scene from Malcolm X, when they picked up, when the ambulance came for Brother Johnson, and the cop says to Denzel, all right, you got what you wanted. Now y'all can break this thing up. And he's like, no, I'm not satisfied.

At the end of this year, Jeff Zucker is out at CNN. Jason Keillor, CEO of WarnerMedia, we're looking for a black president of CNN. Say it louder for the people in the back. Let me be real clear. What's going to have to happen, Roland, as you know, for as much as NABJ is going to advocate, it's going to take National Action Network. It's going to take LDF, NAACP, National Urban League. It's going to take the Divine Nine.

It's going to take the vice president of the United States and the president of the United States. It's going to take all of us to call this out and to stay on top of it and say, you can't say we're not qualified. And you can't say you can't find us. Right. So this can't be one of those instances where you just want to leave money on the table so y'all can keep it in your hands. There are enough of us now so that we can actually make demands and make them comply. And I say again, like I started out, hallelujah hallelujah well as long as there's breath in my body we sure as hell gonna do that Paula Madison I appreciate

it thanks a lot my brother I love you I love this show thank you so much for having me on power love you as well and happy 20 is it 29th anniversary you and Roosevelt 31 sorry I was looking on Facebook 31 uh and i gotta tell i gotta

tell this real quick for all the brothers who are listening okay i need all y'all brothers who are listening and y'all egos so paula never no i'm gonna let paula tell us so paula you and roosevelt y'all sat down and he looked at your career and was like, wherever you go, I'm following you because you're going to make more money than me in the career. And I ain't afraid to follow you. My husband was Tom Brokaw's makeup artist. He's a brother from New Orleans. And he was also the lead special effects makeup artist for Saturday Night Live for 12 years. And when I got offered the

big job in Los Angeles, I looked at him, I said, okay, baby, so here's the deal. This is what it's going to pay. And I know that at heart, what you are as an artist. So let's just go to LA. You can manage our finances. You can deal with our business stuff and you, you be the artist, but I just need to not have to worry about them trying to get to me through you. Why? Because my husband was in the makeup artist union, right? And all of that IATSE and NABED stuff, I knew it could end up being a problem. So I will say to you, Roland, here's the thing. My husband had no issues, but when the time came, for example, as you remember, my name was Paula Walker from the first marriage I had. The question was, was I going to take my husband's name?

Was I going to take Roosevelt's name? And I said, sure, because none of these are my actual names. I come from Africa. So all of us are walking around with some slave owner's name. So whether it was Walker or Madison, and that's not to put down my Madison family, but if it was going to make me more of his family, sure, I'll abandon that name and take this one on. So what I want to say is we made the decision as a couple that in the best interest of our family, if I was in the, if I was in the, the, uh, profession that was going to make much more

money. And as you know, I ended up as a general electric company officer and all kinds of stuff. So, so we, we had great money coming in. If that was going to be, uh, uh, the decision, absolutely. And, and my And my husband has no ego issues whatsoever. As you know. Again, the lesson is real simple. You get paid, we get paid. We all get paid. I get paid, we get paid.

That's it. Paula, I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Love you, my brother. Love you as well. Take care. Alright, folks. Y'all know what time it is. No travel rules are allowed. I'm not a... I'm white. I got you, Carl.

I'm illegally selling water with a permit. On my property. Whoa! Hey! Give me your ID. You don't live here. I'm uncomfortable. Lord, Misha, Brittany, and Greg, I saw this video online.

And I don't know who this little white boy is. But man, I'll invite him to the cookout. Here's why. What? What? No? What? No. Why? Like, no one even knew who I was. So, you're wearing the flag?

No, it's a racist flag. It's not a racist flag. Yeah, it is. You're stupid. No, yes you are. No, I'm not. It's not a racist flag. Why don't you actually YouTube what the flag actually represents? Oh my god, but I don't know what it actually looks like.

Do your research before you actually come to me and sound like a fucking retard. Oh, I'm a fucking retard? You're the one coming to me telling me to remove a flag. It's a freedom that flag, fly that flag. It's not racist. It's a flag. It's not racist. Do your research.

Maybe you should. Okay. This is the flag the kid wanted me to remove. I see no problem with it at all. Uneducated little bastard. Well, I love that little bastard. Amisha, hey, but little man just roll up. Yo, man, that's a racist flag.

I love the courage, the strength, and the intelligence of this little boy to just roll up on his bicycle and call this man out and try to, you know, give him a history lesson. The fact that this grown man didn't, you know, refuse to acknowledge it, decided to curse out this young child and approach it from a sense of the kid was wrong. The adults in this situation, both that guy and the woman, whatever relationship she had with him, were just completely ignorant. And they were disrespectful. But kudos to this kid. Clearly, it might not be, you know,

representing his community, but he saw something that was wrong. He decided to point it out. He decided to give a lesson to a grown person and basically stuck to his guns, even though this man kept pushing back. So love the kid, love the fact that somebody is teaching him the right thing, and that he knows better than many of the adults around him.

Hey, hey, Brittany, hey, little man let him have it. I ain't mad at him. I ain't mad at him at all. You know, he schooled him. And I think, you know, it's crazy because this guy went back up to the flag, and he's like, oh, he doesn't know anything. He's ignorant. He doesn't have the history. And I'm thinking to myself, he's like, oh, it represents freedom.

Like this lost cause history person, as if it's not the freedom and the rights to own enslaved humans. I can't. You know what? Looking at that makes me have some hope for future generations. Hey, Greg, when I saw that video, I hollered laughing. Well, he like, retard? What?

You? That man gave everything back to that white racist. He did. He did. And Brittany, I want to have hope, but I'm almost like the Eastern traditions, the Zen Buddhists who would say, hope isn't real. Hope is the future and the future never comes. All we have is today.

And I would say that in this context, of course, today is the 61st anniversary of the founding of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. And to the white members of SNCC, people like Bob Dorothy Zellner and them, you know, they had a similar attitude and they've been long distance runners. Because what we see is people say, well, you know, we have the future in the young generation. The young generation gets old and they age out of common sense because we don't build the structures around them to sustain them. That little boy has to be surrounded with the type of institutional support so that he will never lose that fire and never lose that position. The only other thing I would say is this. The fact that it had a Southern gloss, we shouldn't lose that because the fact that

they're tossing around words like retard, that was a Southern conversation between two Southerners. When you start, which means you could be anti-racist and offensive at the same time. I'm looking at this little boy like, look at y'all. So to all the folk out there who know we shouldn't be saying retard, please understand it is complicated in America. But at least he's right on the race question. Oh, my goodness.

Yeah, no, yeah, yeah. Let man let him have it. So when I saw it, I said, I got to go ahead and show that in crazy-ass white people. All right, y'all. Today, all across Major League Baseball, they're honoring Jackie Robinson. Every April 15th is when every Major League Baseball player wears a number 42. He was the first one to have his number retired by an entire league, of course. Now, y'all know I rock the Houston Astros.

I have a Houston Astros number 42 jersey, but on April 15th, I always wear the Dodgers jersey, number 42, which is the number that Jackie Robinson wore, so that's why I do it. I got the Brooklyn hat upstairs. I'm going to wear it tomorrow, too.

And so, joining us right now is someone who has been extremely involved in the Jack Robinson Foundation. She's the CEO, Della Britton. Della, how you doing? Fine. How you doing, Ro? It's always good to see you. First of all, let folks know, first of all, let them know in terms of really what the foundation is doing to keep the memory but also the vision of Jackie Robinson alive in a new generation. Well, you know, 48 years ago, Rachel Robinson memorialized Jackie, his wife, by creating the Jackie Robinson Foundation. The vision was the next bastion of success has to go, has to come from college students. And her mantra was, we can't let

the smartest and the poorest fail and have no support. So she started the foundation, which provides to this day, college, very generous college scholarships, but more importantly, a whole host of services from internship placement, permanent job placement, to all kinds of, you know, practical life skills training, conflict resolutions. And you know, Roland, you and, by the way, you and Paula Madison, Paula Walker Madison, I knew her when I was at ABC in the legal department, I knew her as Paula Walker. But Paula Madison and you both have been iconic in speaking to our Jackie Robinson scholars. And they keep, you know, our alumni keep saying, when are you going to bring Roland back?

When are you going to bring Roland back? I said, well, you know, it's hard to get Roland. I got to, you know, I figure out how to get him to take the call. But it is a four year program for undergraduate school students and graduate students. And, you know, the notion is that, you know, we not only talk about success through college, we talk about success in life. So, you know, having an agenda, self-actualizing. And as you know as well, we are about to build the Jackie Robinson Museum. In fact, I think the last time I talked to you on this program, we were struggling. We were having trouble getting it done, but I'm here to say that we will start construction again. We've got our permits all lined up. So by the end of this month,

we'll start the Jackie Robinson Museum, and that will also be a place where education will be the focus. Wow. So that was four years ago. In fact, y'all should roll the video now. It was four years ago. We were there when the big news conference. The groundbreaking. The mission was there, groundbreaking. And, of course, COVID hit last year because, y'all,

it was supposed to be done in 2020? Yep, it was supposed to be done in 2020? Yep. It was supposed to be done in 2020. COVID hit. Not only could we not obviously continue construction on the museum, we couldn't go to our offices. In fact, we're not going back until the end of July, so 1st of August. But we are back in construction. I'm thrilled. We've got the money in the bank.

So we're very excited about that. I just hope I can attract the same caliber of guests on your show and you. So you're on our you're on our hit list, our very early hit list to come. And the kind of programming that we want to do there obviously is very similar to to. Well, you run the panel thing, but it's very it's going to be very, very similar to, you know, the kind of programming that not just you do, but that anybody who cares about moving the needle on civil rights, moving the needle on how we create greater economic empowerment and parity. So that's the most exciting part about it. Obviously, we'll talk about baseball. We'll talk about the Negro Leagues. But we also want to make sure that

all the facets of Jackie's life. And as you know, they were he was a prolific brother. I mean, he did everything from start a housing development company. And I want to give a shout out to LeBron James and Maverick Carter's Spring Hill Company and Uninterrupted. I mean, Uninterrupted, which is their brand, their TV production brand, they today released a tremendous tribute to Jackie. Long-sleeved t-shirts on their website. I think it's store.unfiltered.com. Un'm uninterrupted, sorry, not.com, although you can sell them too. We'll send you one. And it's a t-shirt that memorializes the Jackie Robinson

Construction Company and talks about how Jackie started a low and middle income housing company when he got disgusted by the lack of investment in, in housings back in the 1960s. So, you know, those guys have really stepped up to make the connection. Obviously, they're more than an athlete. You know, they're more than campaign. This fits in neatly when they heard about what Jackie, all the things Jackie had done.

This is apparently one of many projects that they want to do around Jackie's more than an athlete ethos. So very excited. So I got to ask, she'll be 99 in July. How is Rachel Robinson? Great. Talked to her today. She was very excited. She wanted to know why she didn't see us on the field. She's down in Florida with Sharon, her daughter, and she's watching TV. She said, well, where were you all? You're supposed to be out at the Dodgers. And I said, well, Rachel, COVID, you know, we're doing all this stuff, you know, by internet. We're doing it all virtually.

She said, well, I just want to know. They're not stopping it, are they? So she's on board, though. She said, I want you, you know, I want you to make sure that, you know, we stay in the fold and people know who Jackie is. She is as lucid as ever and waiting for this museum to get them. I know he came prepared. Greg Carr, he's got more books behind him than the New York Library. And so, Greg, I know you got some Jackie Robinson stuff to share with us right now. I know you do. Brother, I'm sitting here listening.

Now, I will say two of the books in here. One is an autographed copy of I Never Had It Naked, not by Jackie Robinson, but by our sister Rachel. No question. And another is the latest children's book at the National Book Festival. Of course, Sister Sharon Robinson was down a couple of years ago in D.C. And I made it my business to get down there and talking about civil rights activism. So, Sister Britt, and many times I've driven past those windows in Manhattan waiting on the Robinson. And as many students as I've had at Howard who are Jackie Robinson scholars who I may promise me when they come back from y'all's annual meeting, tell me about it.

Because Jack Roosevelt, I just wanted that on my plate. Bless you. Please. No, no. This is a true honor. Roland is right. And I just, you know, I'm listening to you. And I looked it up on the website.

As soon as you talk, I see this Jackie Robinson, because I got to get one of these. Jackie Robinson construction. They're not cheap, though. That's all right. That's why I say I'm at the table of coin. I am a HBCU professor, but it's okay. We'll send you one too now.

You just got yourself one. Well, I'll tell you what, you know I'll rock it with great pride. I tell you that. You know, I'm wondering, it's interesting, when I think about Jackie Robinson, and I was in Kansas City and I saw a picture of him on a horse, I don't know how I missed that he was a Buffalo soldier. I'd forgotten, I suppose. When you look at Major League Baseball today,

and look at the number of players who are of African descent, but because they speak Spanish, aren't included in the tally. I wonder, you know what I'm saying? How do we... I think about the fact, when I see Jackie Robinson and Henry Aaron, when I see him standing there with Willie Mays and them,

and then I see Mays and Aaron with Roberto Clemente, you can't pick out the Latino. How do we... Particularly since one of their sons, is he still in Africa? Yeah, David lives in Tanzania. Yep, in fact, he just left. He was here last week. He just left.

You know, you hit the nail on the head because I have been saying to, in fact, when Bob DuPay was the number two guy at Major League Baseball, and we were at some event, and they were, you know, I think it must have been the annual report that the guy down in Florida, the professor down in Florida does about diversity in sports.

And the annual report came out, you know, 8% of Major League Baseball players are black. And I turned to Bob and said, so are you all counting the black, you know, Latin players having been married to a black Cuban? You know, I said, you know, Hispanic is not a race. So, I mean, I don't know why you're not counting Big Papi and all these guys. And I remember he said, you know, that's an interesting point. We don't want to get criticized on that.

And I thought, well, you know, I'm not here to sort of carry your water, but there's some other brothers. And I think the percentages creeped up a little bit back then and that conversation you know percentages creeped up if you were to count the black Latinos but you know it's interesting because um you know what's happening now is is a dynamic that I'm I'm hopeful about um I don't know if you've heard of the players alliance they've been around now almost three years Curtis Grand Granderson is the chair. Yeah. So these are the black ballplayers kind of, you know, in response to the Kemperneck controversy, who formed an alliance, who have, you know, been weighing in on these issues. Every Jackie Robinson day, I want to plug them because these brothers are really trying. Every Jackie Robinson day, well, the last two, frankly, because they just got started. They, the players,

a good number of the black players and you can go on Google and figure out, you know, how many do or see how many do it, but they donate their day's salary to the players alliance. And, you know, that's the kind of thing, you know, reinvesting in our own communities. That's why this thing with, you know, with the Spring Hill and, you know, reinvesting in our own communities. That's why this thing with, you know, with the Spring Hill and, you know, and Uninterrupted is so powerful to me because it's LeBron and Maverick turning back and giving to the community because they said, we're doing this and we want to make sure it benefits the foundation. So the Players Alliance is something to watch

because they're also talking about doing some cultivation. You know, not every athlete comes out of college. So they're really sort of, I think, focused on trying to get the numbers up. I mean, look, it's complicated because, you know, you've got to you've got to figure out what it takes to play baseball versus, you know, basketball versus, you know, what's going to happen when black folks get into soccer, football, whatever. I mean, it's, you know, it's going to be, it's another, let me put it this way. It's another territory for, you know, for, you know, for black folks to make their mark. But you make a good point. I'm not sure why, you know, what the sort of perspective is on that. But clearly, listen, Pedro Martinez was on all day today talking about Jackie.

He's a brother from, you know, the diaspora. And to help me, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the former second baseman of the New York Yankees was named for Jackie Robinson. Was it Robinson Cano't Robin Canuto.

Robin. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Another, another, another diaspora brother who was named for, for Jackie Robinson.

Yep. Robinson can know his father knew who he was. They followed him. Listen, all the, you know, all the black Cuban players, I'll tell you,

knew every statistic. I remember going to Cuba the first time and they knew every statistic about Jackie. Well, and about of course, Roberto Clemente, but also, um, and Pittsburgh that I am, we followed Roberto. Listen, I remember being a kid in Pittsburgh and I'm going to the pirates games with my father and my five brothers. And, you know,

we just wanted to know why he, you know, why he put an O at the end of his name. And my father looked at us and said, okay, you all need a little more education here. You know what? And I know, and Roland, I'm sorry, man, because I just, but when you said it, it made me, the Pittsburgh sports writers, at least from what I've read, and they said, you know, he refused to let them call him Bobby. And I think about that every time I hear Jackie, because I hear Ms. Robinson refer to him as Jack, and I always refer to him as Jack Roosevelt Robinson.

I mean, the idea that this man, this veteran, this incredible force, you know, when we say Jackie, it's of course a term of endearment, but now that I know you're from Pittsburgh, I think about the fact that Roberto Clemente would not let them turn him into...

I mean, you know, you know, come on. You know, Roberto had a strong accent, too. Roberto had I mean, you know, you know, Roberto had a strong accent too. Roberto had a strong, you know, Puerto Rican accent. I mean, he was very, very, you know, sort of raw as, you know, his parents were both, his parents came here from Puerto Rico, you know, God rest their souls. I mean, just beautiful people. But, you know, you hit another you kind of hit another nerve because, you know, when you think about. You know, there's all of the fissures, all of the you know, all of the sort of clashing in our community. I do this value speech to our Jackie Robinson scholars every year. And one of the things that I want to impress upon them is this notion of, you know, the American blacks versus blacks from the Caribbean and Africa.

And, you know, whether or not, you know, there is this, you know, this chasm that seems to be pretty prevalent on our college campuses. You know, sort of, you know, American blacks. I don't want to get too funky here, Roland, but, you know, American blacks and, you know, versus those who are first generation, second generation from Africa and the Caribbean. It's an issue. It's an issue in our community. And it's one that, you know, I say as Jackie Robinson Foundation scholars and leaders do not fall into that. Do not try to, you know, try to, you know, make sense of that, you know, that, that, that fissure. So, so I must tell you, I remember Roberto and his wife Vera talking about this and how they were so thrilled when I came to this country. And then there was, you know, this sort of they against us and, you know, American blacks versus blacks from the Caribbean. And it

was just uncalled for. So, you know, maybe that'll be a topic on Roland's show. It may have been because Roland covers just about everything. But but, yeah, I mean, I think, you know, I think we're going to start to see something with this players alliance. They seem to want to really tackle some of these issues. And, you know, what do we have to sacrifice? I will tell you that, you know, the impact of Black Lives Matter, the impact of all of our, I will say all of our young people, all of our people getting killed on camera, because it's not new, but all of our people getting killed on camera and the impact of Black Lives Matter has wide, has a wide reach because we've seen a lot of changes this past year

as a result of the BLM. You know, we really have seen people want to talk about these issues, both on our students' college campuses. You know, we're on 110 different college campuses of all kinds, the Ivies, obviously, and all the, you know, top HBCUs. And there's a lot going on in these campuses that is getting sort of, you know, is out in the open. So stay tuned with our Players Alliance because I think they want to bring some of these issues to light.

And I love the way they're pooling. Listen, I love the way they're pooling their resources. Paula talked about economic empowerment. Thank you. All right, Stella. We appreciate it. Thank you so very much, folks. Please support the Jackie Robinson Foundation. Stella, tell everybody where to go. Thank you. All right, Della. We appreciate it. Thank you so very much, folks. Please support the Jackie Robinson Foundation.

Della, tell everybody where to go. Thank you, guys. www.jackierobinson.org. Real simple. jackierobinson.org. All right. Thank you so very much. See you soon, Roland.

Absolutely, Della. Appreciate it. Sorry, Brittany. Sorry, Brittany and Amisha. Greg was asking all y'all questions. Sorry. I'm sorry, y'all. I'm a Jack Roosevelt Robinson

stand. I'm sorry about that, y'all. I know. It's all good. I'm just messing with you. Folks, that is it. There were some other stories we were going to get to, but again, look, time just got away, but it's all good. Look, y'all, this is why this show matters, that Paula

Madison conversation, just talking with Della Britton. Everybody else is talking about Jack Robinson on this day, but we want to talk about not just what he did then, but his legacy moving forward. That's why having Della on the show was important as well. And so we want y'all to support

what we do. We have some amazing things that are coming up. I can I can go ahead and say this right now. I was going to wait. I ain't waiting. The press release is going to come out. But I can go ahead and tell y'all right now we have been working on this here. April 26, we're going to debut a six-part intergenerational conversation on Facebook. Listen to me. See, I told y'all, we're in partnership with Facebook, and this is what I did. I put Cliff Albright, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, in a conversation with Andrew Young. We've got Janetta B. Cole in a conversation with Tiffany Lofton. We've got

Chuck D. in conversation with the young rapper Chris Payne. We've got Brie Newsome in conversation with Reverend William Barber. Greg talked about today being the 61st anniversary of SNCC. We've got Charlie Cobb of SNCC in conversation with Philip Agnew.

And then we have Brittany Packnett in conversation with Alexis Herman. Y'all, ain't nobody else doing what we're doing. I'm just telling y'all that right now. I have seen the rough draft edits. Phenomenal, phenomenal dialogues. We cannot wait to show it for y'all.

I've already completed half of the 10-part series we've done. My trip to Ghana, my crew in Ghana is still editing that. We're putting that together. Just some amazing stuff we got going. Your support is invaluable, folks. Trust me. And I so want to tell you all about all I'm saying. Let me

just go say put it to you this way. See, I was about to go ahead and break it down, Brittany and Amisha and Greg. Juneteenth. Just wait for Juneteenth 2021. That's all I'm going to say. That's all I'm going to say. Y'all can support what we do. Cash out. Dollar sign RM unfiltered. PayPal.me forward slash rmartinunfiltered.

Venmo.com forward slash rmunfiltered. And of course, Zale. Roland at RolandSMartin.com or Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Our mailing address is 1625 K Street, Northwest, Suite 400, Watson, D.C., 2006. Make it out to New Vision Media. Folks, we thank you so much for joining us. Again, Brittany, Amisha, and Greg, thank you so very much.

Hey, y'all, Recy is doing great on maternity leave. I want y'all to keep saying y'all prayers. Erica Savage Wilson had a horrible accident. She is dealing with really the repercussions when it comes to a brain injury. And so keep Erica in your prayers. I text her. She's doing well. She's getting better.

But she really needs a lot of time to recuperate from the accident. Y'all, it almost took her life. So we're glad that she is still with us. And so some of y'all have been asking about her. And so that's why we're also just keeping y'all abreast. And so, again, thank y'all so much, folks. We've got – I'm telling y'all. Let me tell you something

I can't how God is moving us I keep telling y'all all these people out here who think I'm big and somebody else for a job they don't understand what we're doing we're building something phenomenal and I'm telling y'all put your calendars down

June 10th 2021 yeah it's that major Put your calendars down. June 10th, 2021. Yeah. It's that major. But y'all got to wait for it. That's it. I'll see y'all tomorrow right here on Roller Martin Unfiltered. Ha! 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 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.

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