#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Chicago Cop Accused of lying, Pam Moses Speaks, House passes CROWN Act, HBCU Transformation Project

Episode Date: March 19, 2022

3.18.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Chicago Cop Accused of lying, Pam Moses Speaks, House passes CROWN Act, HBCU Transformation Project A man black man spent 33 years in prison for double murder. Evidence that exonerated Robert Smith proves the cop who went on to serve as Chicago's police superintendent lied to jurors during his trial about taking his confession in 1987. Investigative Reporter Dan Hinkel will explain how that evidence will help Robert Smith sue the city. She was convicted and sentenced for registering to vote. Tonight, I'll talk to Pamela Brown and her attorneys, who want the charges dropped as they wait to find out if she'll be tried again. He was killed by California police officers while being restrained for a blood draw two months before George Floyd. Now the family is suing for wrongful death. His daughter and the family attorney will join us. In our Education Matters segment, a first-of-its-kind collaboration between Thurgood Marshall College Fund, United Negro College Fund, and Partnership for Education Advancement to increase health and sustainability of HBCUs.   Ed Smith Lewis, from UNCF, will drop tell us about the "HBCU Transformation Project"   #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: Nissan | Check out the ALL NEW 2022 Nissan Frontier! As Efficient As It Is Powerful! 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3FqR7bP Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered Venmo ☛https://venmo.com/rmunfiltered Zelle ☛ [e-mail] Annual or monthly recurring #BringTheFunk Fan Club membership via paypal ☛ https://rolandsmartin.com/rmu-paypal/ Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com #RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Black Star Network is here. A real revolutionary right now. Black media, he makes sure that our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roller. I love y'all. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scape.

It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? Today is Friday, March 18, 2022. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. A black man spent 33 years in prison for double murder. Evidence that exonerated Robert Smith proves the cop who went on to serve as Chicago's police superintendent lied to George during his trial about taking his confession in 1987.

Investigative reporter Dan Hinkle will explain how that evidence will help Robert Smith sue the city. She was convicted and sentenced for registering to vote. Tonight, I'll talk to Pamela Brown and her attorneys who want the charges dropped as they wait to find out if she'll

be tried again. He was killed by California police officers while being restrained for a blood drawn two months ago before George Floyd. Yeah, y'all. Two months before. Now the family is suing for wrongful death. His daughter

and the family attorney will join us. Now, Education Matters segment, a first-of-its-kind collaboration between Thurgood Marshall College Fund, United Negro College Fund, and the Partnership for Education Advancement to Increase Health and Sustainability of HBCUs. Ed Smith, Lewis from UNCF,

will drop by to tell us about the HBCU Transformation Project. Folks, it is time to bring the funk and Roland Martin unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. Let's go. about the HBCU Transformation Project. Folks, it is time to bring the funk and Roland Martin on filter, right here on the Black Star Network. Let's go. He's got it.

Whatever the biz, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's Roland. Best belief he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for gigs. He's rolling.

Yeah, yeah. It's Uncle Roro, y'all. Yeah, yeah. It's Roland Martin. Yeah, yeah. Rolling with Roland now. Yeah, yeah. with rolling now Yeah He's bulk, he's fresh, he's real the best

You know he's rolling Martek Now Martek I'm out. All right, folks. Welcome to to Roland Martin Unfiltered. A black man spent 33 years in prison based on a lie told by a Chicago police lieutenant who later become the top cop in Chicago. Robert Smith was convicted and sentenced to life

for a 1987 double homicide. He was primarily convicted on the testimony of Philip Klein, who said Smith confessed to the murders. A judge has overturned Smith's conviction and was overturned in 2020. He's now suing the city for wrongful conviction. Dan Hinkle, investigative reporter with Better Government Association, is here to tell us how all of this happened. Dan, glad to have you here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. So what happened in this case? Double murder. How did they pin it on Robert Smith?

Well, Mr. Smith arrived at the scene shortly after it was discovered because the home was on fire where these two women had lived, Edith Yeager and Willie Bell Alexander. He became upset. There were, you know, there have been a number of allegations, and there's sort of differing stories about what happened. But he ended up back at the police station at Area 2 in Chicago where... When you say he arrived on the scene, was he living there or was he just somebody saw a fire

and just showed up and said, hey, what's going on? It was his wife's mother's home. And so they arrived, yeah. And so was he related to any of the women? It's his mother-in-law. So his mother-in-law was one of the two women who was in the home?

Correct. Okay. So they took him to Area 2. Yeah. The women had had their throats slit, and he was there for several hours. The house fire had happened in the morning, and the police said that late that night that he confessed and he had, you know, pretty shortly after the, um, after they arrested him and he, um, after he allegedly made the confession, um, he started saying that he had been beaten, um, that he had been abused by the officers basically. And they had, uh, his lawyers tried

to get the confession thrown out on the basis that it was that he had, you know, he was reporting that he had been abused. And nonetheless, he was tried and convicted and sentenced to life in prison. He spent 33 years in there in prison before he prevailed upon the authorities to to throw his case out. OK, so they said he confessed to the crime. Was there any physical evidence that tied him to the crime? The physical evidence is complicated and disputed. There's, you know, there are basically the, when they threw out his conviction,

or sorry, let me back up. In Illinois, there's a torture commission that was convened specifically to hear allegations like this. And in 2013, they said, they reviewed his case and they said that the confession beyond, sorry, the evidence beyond the confession was pretty insubstantial and that it didn't mean much without the confession. The evidence didn't mean much without the confession? There was very little. Their ruling was that there was not a lot to go on

without the confession, yeah. Okay, so they don't have a lot of evidence. All you pretty much have is a confession. When did Robert say, this was beaten out of me, or I didn't confess? Early on, he said that he was beaten. Within, I think, months, he had complained to the, you know, both doctors who had seen him

and the police disciplinary authorities in Chicago. He wrote letters and said that he'd been beaten. All right, so for the people who are not familiar with Chicago, not familiar with Area 2, you mentioned the Torture Commission. Chicago has a long and sordid history of cops torturing black men, forcing confessions. And most folks are familiar

with one particular infamous sergeant. I believe you're speaking of Commander John Burge. Yeah, Commander John Burge. Yeah. Yeah, John Burge was a, he eventually rose to the rank of commander. He, throughout the 70s and 80s, there have been, of course, a lot of the facts are disputed, as they would be in cases like these, but there have been numerous investigations and reports, and he's generally understood to have been the ringleader of a group of officers who served under him who abused and tortured suspects in criminal cases. So Klein so Smith says

Klein is he saying Klein beat the confession out of him or is he saying that Klein lied about him actually confessing? No he didn't make any he's not made any... He didn't make... He's not made any allegation of physical abuse.

He has not made any allegation of physical abuse against Phil Kline. But he has... Am I still there, by the way? Yeah, yeah, you're here. Okay, good. Sorry, I had an incoming call. My bad.

He's never said that Phil Klein abused him. He says that he was abused by other detectives who had worked under Commander Burge. And his allegations against Phil Klein generally are that he lied on this. He lied in his testimony against him. So this is, I mean, again, it just goes to show you the fundamental problems that Chicago police and what people always talk about. You know, you just had the mayor, you know, talk about some $20 million for a wellness fund because the cops and their low morale. And this man spent 33 years in prison. Yeah, he did.

Yeah. It's a horrible thing. It's a horrible thing to have happen to you. It's been a problem in Chicago for a very long time. I mean, the Chicago Police Department has a pretty well-established issue with wrongful convictions. And it's not just the police department. It's the, you know, it's prosecutors' offices. It's judges. It's a holistic issue with the system. It's absolutely nonsensical and makes no sense whatsoever. And so is so Robert plans to sue the city. He is suing the city. He's suing the city. And so obviously this can make a huge difference in that case. Well, yeah, this was the his new

filing was introduced as part of that lawsuit. And basically what's new about this is that he's alleging that Klein invented his allegations against Robert about the confession at both his suppression hearing about his confession and at the trial and even in some later testimony. Just again, for folks out there, this is what we call another day for Chicago police. Dan, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. I want to pull up my panel now. Kelly Patea, Communications Strategist, Michael Imhotep, host, African History Network Show, Matt Manning, Civil Rights Attorney. Matt, again, this

happens, I mean, this is a thing over and over and over again, over and over and over again, we hear coming out of Chicago. Michael, you're not far, you're there in Detroit, and we hear these examples, and then people go, Michael, you're not far. You're there in Detroit. When we hear these examples, and then people go, oh, you know, but that's sort of

one cop. No! Okay, when it keeps happening, hello, it's called systemic problem. Right, systemic problem, especially in the Chicago Police Department. And this is not, I think the last count. I think I think there's like 16000 officers in the Chicago Police Department, something like this. So I'm not saying all of them are guilty. But when you when you when you go study John Burge and you go study the the the black ops detention site that they had in Chicago that where in Spencer Aikman for the Guardian,

I think he was the one that broke this story a few years ago. And it talked about how this was a detention center where certain suspects, overwhelmingly African-American men, were taken, they were beaten, confessions were tortured out of them, when their attorneys were trying to find where they are in the system, they couldn't find them, things like this. And at the same time, you had a few years ago, you had about a half a million, a half a billion dollars in police misconduct lawsuits that had to be paid out by the Chicago Police Department. It was about 105 police misconduct lawsuits before they had to pay to settle for the Laquan McDonald police misconduct lawsuit as well. So what's interesting in this case, I'm glad you had Dan Hinkle on from Better Government Reporting, Better Government Administration, or BGA,

bettergov.org. In the article here, it talks about how the filing that Robert Smith's attorneys filed also includes attendance logs showing that Lieutenant Klein was off the date that Robert Smith allegedly confessed, and multiple police reports were devoid of Lieutenant Klein's name as well. So, you know, hopefully Lieutenant Klein, if this is all accurate, is charged with perjury as well, and hopefully he goes to prison if the evidence proves that he lied under oath also. This thing, Matt Manning, again, I keep telling people, I mean, first of all, if you're the city and you have to set up a torture commission...

Mm-hmm. Matt, we're talking about systemic problems. Chicago's had to pay out upwards of $40 million in reparations to individuals, Black, who were beaten with phone books, who were forced confessions by the Chicago cops, who kept getting their pensions. I mean, two of those settlements came within the last four years. And I don't know if you mentioned this before, but what I found particularly troubling in this case is that the prosecutors actually moved to have Mr. Smith's conviction vacated. That's incredibly important because they would

be the ones in the best position to determine whether, in fact, Mr. Smith was guilty. So the fact that the city is doubling down and adding this to the cadre of settlements it's paid over the years is absurd, particularly in light of the persuasive evidence that not only was Lieutenant Klein not there and not involved, but that there are systemic issues and that he may have perjured himself on four separate occasions. I mean, that's the crux of their lawsuit is that they should have a default judgment, because if you lie and that lie is the underpending for a lawsuit, then the Seventh Circuit has case law that says a judge can just default you out. And that's precisely what should happen here

considering the long history of police abuse. Kelly, again, I love to hear these people who talk about back to blue, okay? How about back to black? I mean, that would be too much like right because it's the black men who are victims in this case, black people in general who are victims of this monstrosity, this tragedy that is a broken criminal justice system, specifically in Chicago. the litany of cases and millions of dollars that have been spent trying to, you know, repair the damage that these victims have incurred. I mean, that's what reparations are. It really means repair. It's to repair the person. But for anyone to deny these allegations on the Chicago,

on behalf of the Chicago Police Department. I mean, the proof is in the pudding at this point. Granted, you do have to go to court. You have to prove things, yes. But at the same time, you know, the same article that Michael was just referring to from bettergov.org, it said that the city had paid more than $27 million in fees to outside lawyers in Burge-related cases. That's one officer. Things that happened under one officer cost the city $27 million. And then taxpayers paid more than $80 million regarding settlements, reparations, and other costs tied to this one officer. So you're talking about well over $100 million regarding cases pertaining to something that happened under one officer.

So I can only imagine how much the city would have to pay if every single officer who did something, you know, atrocious, which, according to the history of Chicago, is quite a few. Like, just how broke would Chicago be should all of their dirty laundry be aired out? This thing just keeps happening, and I love the people who, all of a sudden, they complain about Black Lives Matter,

protesters, but it's amazing how quiet they get when it comes to the multimillion dollar settlements and a person like Robert Smith spending 33 years in prison. Yeah, y'all. This is what Philip Klein looks like. Show it again. This is the guy, and he became the top cop.

No, you have the guys right there in video playback. Come on. Thank you. That's the top. He was the top cop. He was the superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.

That right there is what you call shameful, shameful, shameful behavior by cops in this country. All right, folks, let's go to our next story. I just and again, you know, we go through this repeatedly when we're talking about these officers and we're talking about the conduct of police officers. And they just continue all across the country. They continue in Los Angeles. They continue in Chicago.

They continue in St. Louis. We did the story yesterday of a cop in Kansas City, and it just goes on and on and on. And at some point, at some point, we're going to see changes happen in this country. Which also begs the question, where are you at, Senator Tim Scott? What's the problem with the George Floyd Justice Act? All that talk, all that back and forth that he was running his mouth about, oh, how we're going to see it, we're going to do right by the families. Nothing. And he is the one standing in the way, trying to blame

Democrats. No, you can't blame Democrats for that one because you are standing in the way. And Republicans, again, love to tout police and support the cops and critical of defund the police. How about

you stop funding lawsuits? How about you stop funding settlements? But no, they don't want to do that. They want to continue to play these games and then get mad at us for highlighting it, get mad at us for raising the attention, get mad at us when we then begin to show people exactly what is going on. And again, we're supposed to sit here and say, oh, well, you know what? It's just a few bad apples. No, it's not. This is endemic. This is systemic. It's happening far too many places places in America. Alright, folks, got to go to a break. We come back.

We'll talk more about a variety of stories, including HBCU's banding together in a transformation project. We'll talk about that. Also, our black and missing of the day. In addition, we'll talk to

Pamela Brown, a black woman. Why do they send us into the jail for trying to vote, but you got these folks like the governor, the son of the governor of Virginia, who tried to vote in the wrong place twice and not arrested. Everything's all good.

You're watching Roller Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. I'm going to go get some food. Norske Kulturskapet ДИНАМИЧНАЯ МУЗЫКА I was in the telephone booth on 63rd and 3rd Avenue. Brought my coins in and dialed a number. Mr. Parks, this is Richard Roundtree. Oh, yes, yes. Well, you know, it looks like you got the role. I didn't know what this. I'll go blind.

Oh, really? OK, well, wait, wait, wait. You can't tell anyone. Can I tell my parents? And I'm walking around town, and my fellow actors and models are saying, Hey, you know what? Tree, I think I might have gotten that role. You hear this two or three different times.

Right. Well, wait a minute. Was I dreaming that? Then Gordon calls me up. I call Gordon and he says we're having the press announcing you are the chef I get in a limo when I pull up the saudis oh lord what we used to call I'm in high cotton yes cotton. Yes. I get out. And all the press is there, and actors. And I walk in, and Gordon announces, yes, this

is Richard Bountry, and he's going to play the character Shaft. Magic. What's up, y'all? I'm Will Packer. Hello, I'm Bishop T.D.J. What up? Lana Well, and you are watching Rolling Martin Unfiltered

all right folks zenga graham was last seen in seen in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 7th. The 17-year-old is 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighs 185 pounds, with black hair and hazel eyes. Anyone with information about Zynga Graham should call the Phoenix, Arizona, Police Department at 602-262-6151. 602-262-6151, 602-262-6151. Hundreds of Ohio University faculty members say they are ready to go on strike next week over complaints of unfair working conditions. Of course, a couple days ago, several university faculty members, students, and alumni leaders rallied in support of the school's faculty as they argued what is low pay for non-tenured,

full-time teaching faculty and eductor professors. We had two of them on the show. rally in support of the school's faculty as they argue what is low pay for non-tenured, full-time teaching faculty and edged professors. We had two of them on the show. They told us the university had until today to meet their demands or they would go on strike. We got word they are still in talks. We will keep you updated on the situation. Howard has 150 non-track, full-time, non-track full-time faculty, and more than 200 adjunct professors represented by the Service Employees International Union Local 500. Folks, creating respectful and open world for natural hair, known as the Crown Act, passed the House today.

The measure passed the Democratic-led House, 235 to 189. The bill seeks to protect against bias based on hair texture and protective styles, including locks, cornrows, twists, braids, bantu knots and afros. During the floor debate, Representative Ayanna Pressel explained how black hair has a place in society. Today on the floor of the House of Representatives, the people's house to declare that black girls girls with our braids, locs, afros, all forms of natural hairstyles, and yes, even our smooth alopecia and bald heads belong everywhere. Today, we take an important step towards codifying this fact into law by passing the Crown Act legislation I'm so proud to co-lead in partnership with Representatives Watson, Coleman, Moore, Lee, and Omar.

For too long, black girls have been discriminated against and criminalized for the hair that grows on our heads and the way we move through and show up in this world. In my home state, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, two twin sisters, Deanna and Maya, high school students, were disciplined for showing up with braids. They were given numerous detentions, kicked off the track team, banned from prom solely for their hairstyle. In their own words, these scholars and athletes were judged more for their heritage than their homework. No more. For those sisters and thousands of other students who face discrimination based on their hair, the Crown Act is for you. For recent graduates who fear they must change their hair

or cut their locks to secure a job, the Crown Act is for you. For our elders who have faced and fought this racism for generations, the Crown Act is for you. Just yesterday, the Massachusetts State Legislature made history by passing similar legislation. By passing the Crown Act today, we affirm, say it loud, black is beautiful and so is our hair.

Whether you are a student in a classroom, an employee in the workplace, or the next Supreme Court justice, or the Speaker pro tem, you deserve to show up as your full self, rocking your crown with your head held high. I urge a yes vote for every person who has been asked to shrink or to apologize simply for the beautiful way with which God made them. I yield back. The bill now heads to the Senate, where Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey has sponsored the chamber's version of the bill. The thing that's interesting here, of course, Kelly, is that when this first came up, they won due unanimous consent, did not get two-thirds of the votes, but Republicans would move on that. But the nonsensical comments that we heard from the right, oh, black folks, here are black people playing the victim again. We don't need a bill when it comes to hair.

Then you had folks like Burg uh, Burgess Owens, uh, when it first happened, uh, the Black Republican out of Utah, uh, say, oh, this... A business should have every right to tell people how to wear their hair. It's their business. And you make it sound like Black people don't have businesses. I'm like, dude, you sound like a damn idiot.

I mean, white people don't know what it's like to be discriminated against because of their hair. It's just that plain and simple. Well, they damn sure know how to discriminate based upon hair. Exactly. You know, I can't tell you the amount of

times I've had to, you know, suppress a panic attack because, you know, whether I'm, you know, getting interviewed for a job that I really like and I wasn't able to flat iron my hair that day, or, you know, if I'm going somewhere, should I have, can I wear it out? Do I have to have it in a ponytail? Do I need a wig? What have you. And white people do not understand the stress of having to modify themselves in order to be accepted in the world as they are. Black women only know how to do that, you know. So this legislation is incredibly powerful and also kind of bittersweet because at the same time, you are not your hair.

You know, I did not, my hair did not get me my college degree. My hair did not get me my job. My hair did not get me into the rooms that I have been in. However, it has kept me out of rooms because of other people's biases. So this legislation will help prevent stuff like that and actually take into account the wholeness of Black women and other women of color who have curly hair or hair that is just not, frankly, white hair. Because it's not even good or bad hair. It's either white hair or not white hair.

Check this out. And that is that's the frustration of it. Here are two white men on the floor of the House with no hair discussing the Crown Act. Listen. Just as good a human being and I'm just as good a human being and just as smart and just as effective and just as caring with or without hair. And the fact is, it's discrimination and it's ignorance. And African Americans have been discriminated against in many ways because of their hairstyle. It's a natural thing for African Americans, and they should not be penalized in their workplace, in sports, in school, or in any other ways. So I stand here for the Crown Act. It was originally introduced, I think, by Cedric Richmond.

And I joined with him on the Judiciary Committee to support it. I'd seen problems in Tennessee when I was a state senator and supported bills there to protect people who wore braids and whatever. So I hope the people will rise up, vote yes, in understanding of other people and think beyond themselves. And I'm just as good a human being and just as smart. Matt, how if people want to know Republicans don't give a damn about black people, 189 voted against 189 voted against.

I don't really know what to say beyond. They know this is an issue and they don't care. Jim Jordan saying I care about inflation and gas prices and all these other things that are important, but this is a perennial issue. We keep hearing cases around the country of kids, especially being discriminated against because of their hair. What I think is important is Steny Hoyer says, look, the military last year thought it was appropriate enough to allow people to wear these hairstyles because we don't want discrimination there. So the idea that that shouldn't be expanded to the American people at large is absurd, particularly where we continue seeing high profile cases where especially young people are being discriminated against for hair that is synonymous with their heritage. And that's the thing here. Look, this is a dog whistle, right, because white people aren't being discriminated against for their hairstyles, by and large, the way black people are. So to go along with what Al Green said, the congressman, you know, the idea that this is

not what the American people want excludes black people from the American people. And black people are unfortunately continuing to be discriminated against because of our hairstyles. So I think the Republicans don't care. They're signaling that to us. And I think that the fact that this continues happening, you know, belies why it should be addressed through legislation. So I'm glad they've done so. And if you want to see dumbasses, let's see, look at the dumbasses in the White House press corps. This literally, this literally was a question that was asked today by one of these idiots in the White House press corps. Listen to this.

And then I have like a fun Friday question. Okay. The House passed the Crown Act, which bans discrimination based on hairstyle. Is this something the administration supports? Would they sign it into law if the Senate passed it? I have seen that. I have not talked to our legislative team about it. I'm happy to do that, and we'll see if we can get you a fun Friday answer back. Go ahead. See, Roland, this is an attack on white standards of beauty. And this is why so many Republicans voted against it,

including black Republicans who think white, like Burgess Owens, former NFL player. He could have CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy. He may be somehow related to Herschel Walker. I wouldn't be surprised. Both of them dumb as hell, okay? Both of them are white supremacy through ventriloquism, as Dr. Michael Eric Dyson would say. But if you, this is also an economic issue. Okay. Because what happens is discriminating

against African-Americans, men or women, based upon the type of hairstyles, natural hairstyles, braids, things like this, this also helps to lock us out of certain jobs, certain positions, things like this. So this is also an economic issue. And if you look at what Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey said today, she said natural black hair is often deemed, quote-unquote,

unprofessional simply because it does not conform to white beauty standards, okay? In fact, hold that right there. We're going to play her comments. Go. Standing on the back of those individuals, whether my colleagues on the other side recognize it or not, are discriminated against as children in school, as adults who are trying to get jobs, as individuals who are trying to get housing, of individuals who simply want access to public accommodations

and to be beneficiaries of federally funded programs. And why are they denied these opportunities? Because there are folks in this society who get to make those decisions who think because your hair is kinky, it is braided, it is in knots, or it is not straight and blonde and light brown, that you somehow are not worthy of access to those issues. Well, that's discrimination. There is no logical reason that anyone should be discriminated against on any level because of the texture of their hair

or the style of their hair. This bill is vitally important. It is important to the young girls and the young boys who have to cut their hair in the middle of a wrestling match in front of everyone because some white referee says that your hair is inappropriate to engage in your match. That young man engaged in his match and he won it. It's inappropriate for our girls to be sent home disciplined or pushed out simply because they've got braids in their hair. And it doggone sure is discriminatory to deny someone employment, housing, or public accommodations because of the way they're

wearing their hair. That's why we're standing here today. It is unfortunate that we have to, but we do. And with that in mind, I thank the chairman of the Judiciary Committee for giving me this opportunity to speak on behalf of a bill that I think is vitally important, that represents movement and understanding in the 21st century what discrimination can look like and what it can do to people. That was Congresswoman Bonnie Coleman of New Jersey.

Bonnie Watsi Coleman. Mike, go ahead. Right. You know, she said it perfectly, brother. And I quote, you know, Grand Master Scholar Warrior Dr. Wade Nobles, power is the ability to define and shape reality and have other people accept your definition of reality as if it were their own. And these Republicans, these white Republicans and their Negro allies in the House saw their power slipping away.

And that's what this is about. This is a powerful bill, and we have to push this through the Senate as well. But this is an example of how elections have consequences also. And again, the thing here that people don't understand, and black people, we get it, but what you got is you got these white folks, Kelly, who have a clue, no clue. I remember several years ago going to the EEOC website,

and there was a black woman who had applied to be a psychiatrist at a VA hospital in Virginia. Impeccable credentials. Okay, while the committee, when she left the room, the white man on the committee, I'm not so sure about her hairstyle. She didn't get the job. She eventually sued, won, they had to pay back wages and to give her the job. So it wasn't the resume.

It wasn't the expertise. It wasn't the expertise. It wasn't the education. He did not like her hairstyle. And it cost taxpayers. And that's my thing. All of that money could have been with taxpayers and to the appropriated, you know, appropriately, as opposed to going to this woman

who, frankly, was minding her business and just trying to do her job. So all of this goes back to frankly, just minding your business and stop, you know, projecting what you think standard is, what you think appropriate is, especially when you don't have the cultural wherewithal and nuance and knowledge to really decipher exactly how important a Black woman's hair is. You know, that is a cultural thing. That is an ancestral thing. And for you to not understand that, that's okay. But just mind your business in doing so. Let me wear my hair the way that I want to. Let me express myself through my hair as I want to. Because again, like I said before,

my profession has nothing to do with my hairstyle. My hairstyle did not get me into my profession. My hairstyle is not going to help you in the work that I do. But my skillset will, you know, my networking will, everything else besides my hair, frankly, will. So again, it's a matter of minding your business and stop projecting your insecurities onto other people.

And of course, sitting in the chair, holding the gavel today was Congresswoman Gwen Moore of Wisconsin, appropriately, rocking her natural hair as she gaveled the bill. Watch this. On this vote, the yeas are 235 and the nays are 189. with no one answering present, the creating a respectful and open world for Natural Hair Act is passed. Without objection, a motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

Well, that was certainly apropos. Matt, as a civil rights attorney, when you listen to the different members stand up and they talked about different cases, you listen to Congressman Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts talk about what black girls and black boys have had to go through. We all remember that video. We all remember that video, if you will, of the brother who was a wrestler, where the referee said, oh, unless you cut his hair, he's going to lose the match. Not a damn thing to do with his physical ability. Nothing to do with physical ability,

but it was really just about his hair. That is the level of hatred that you see. And somebody posted this, if you go to my computer, they actually posted, they wanted to know all of the people who voted nay. And of course, it's Republicans, so when you go down this list, so when y'all see this right here,

when you go down this list, when you see all of these nays here, these are Republicans. You know, I see Kay Granger, the former mayor of Fort Worth, on here. I see Dan Crenshaw of Texas, Hal Rogers, Chip Roy. It goes Mo Brooks of Alabama, all these Republicans. And so I just want people that fool Louie Gohmert, Ronnie Jackson, that fool Darrell, that fool from Texas used to be Trump's doctor. You see his name on here as well.

I mean, y'all need to see, again, when all these black Republicans roll up in here and we talk about how the Republican Party don't like black people, Dara Issa's name is on here. Steve Scalise voted against. Maria Salazar voted against. Just so y'all clear, Andy Biggs of Alabama,

you saw his name voting against. 189 voted against. So when you hear us say the Republican Party don't give a damn about Black people, this bill is a perfect example, Matt. Yep. It's part and parcel with what they do in every aspect when

it comes to dealing with Black Americans, dealing with race, and dealing with historical inequities. I mean, look, after my first year of law school, I cut my locks because I was afraid I wouldn't get a job. And I've regretted it ever since. But the fact that I even had to think about that is proof positive that this is a seminal issue and an issue that continues coming up. And it's an issue that we know we've seen play out on the national scale. I mean, the fact that this young man is having to cut his hair to compete in a wrestling match that

he ultimately wins shows that the prowess is in, or rather, he has the prowess to win. It's not about his hair. So Republicans keep telling us that, and sometimes we don't listen, but this is another thing that shows that they don't care. And in fact, one of the things that I think some of the opponents were saying is that, oh, the 1964 Civil Rights Act covers this. But we know that it's not strong enough

because we need specific legislation considering how often this happens and how often we're having to discuss these issues, particularly with young people who are being discriminated against. Again, you know, when we look at, again, who votes, who doesn't, all y'all folks who say, man, this stuff don't matter.

It does matter. Because here's the other piece. If Democrats did... Listen to me, folks, clearly. If Democrats did not control the U.S. House, this bill does not get passed. Now the question is, are we going to see 10 Republicans

have the guts to support this bill? And then will Democrats actually go ahead and pass it by breaking the filibuster? That's what we'll see. Michael, go ahead. Very quickly, I wanted to say two things. I encourage everybody to go to Congress.gov, Congress.gov. Look up these bills, like the Crown Act, because at Congress.gov, you can see who voted for the bills and who voted against the bills. If your member of the House keeps voting for bills that you advocate for, you've got to rally to vote them back into office.

If your member of the House and Senate keep voting against bills that you advocate for, regardless of whether they're Democrats or Republicans, you've got to vote them out of office. And then you mentioned Chip Roy at Texas. Chip Roy also voted against, he was one of the three Republicans in the House who voted against the Emmett Till anti-lynching bill as well. Okay? And when you go read Chip Roy's statements, and BlackAmericaWeb.com has an article about this, he talked about how lynching is a metaphor for justice. He's from Texas.

He talked about how lynching is a metaphor for justice. These are some sick people that have to be dealt with and voted out of office. Absolutely. And so, and again, we were sitting here looking. If you're in North Carolina and you live in the 7th District,

this guy right here, the mayor of Congress, he voted against that. I keep telling y'all, if the Republicans out there voting against black folks, throw them out. All right, folks. Give us a call, please. If you want to weigh in on this, phone lines are open. 202-890-1199.

202-890-1199. Members of our Bring the Funk fan club are able to comment on issues of the day. Again, the number to call is 2-0-2, 8-9-0, 1-1-9-9. Your thoughts about the Crown Act. Please give us a call. All right, folks, got to go to a break. We'll be back on Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. ТРЕВОЧНАЯ МУЗЫКА On the next A Balanced Life, as we grind down to the end of another long winter, it's easy to slip out of balance and into the

foggy doldrums. On the next A Balanced Life, ways to push through the gray days until the warm days of spring arrive. Join me, Dr. Jackie, on A Balanced Life on Black Star Network. We're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it or not. From politics to music and entertainment, it's a huge part of our lives. And we're going to talk about it every day right here on The Culture with me, Faraji Muhammad, only on the Black Star Network. Hello, everyone. I'm Godfrey, and you're watching... Roland Martin Unfiltered. And while he's doing Unfiltered, I'm practicing the wobble. The FBI's renewing calls for tips surrounding the death of Jelani Day. The FBI wants to remind the public about the $10,000 reward for information related to the Illinois State University graduate student's death.

Of course, Day was reported missing on August 25th after he failed to reply to messages from his family and a professor. His car was found a day later, and his body was discovered on September 4th, floating in the Illinois River. And so the FBI, again, please give them a call if you have any information regarding Jelani Day. All right, folks. We also are going to take your phone calls. Again, if you want to give us a call, your thoughts on the Crown Act, pass in the house, 202-890-1199,

202-890-1199. Donald White calling from New Jersey. Donald, you're on Roller Martin Unfiltered. What's up? What's up? Guys, why are we going to black? Come on. Thank you.

Thank you. All right, go to the phone lines. Donald, what's on your mind? Donald, can you hear me, Donald? All right, you guys let me know. I'm going to do this BLM story. You guys let me know what's happening with the audio lines. I'll get this fixed, all right? Folks, two Boston activists are facing criminal charges

for allegedly using their nonprofit for personal gain. A federal grand jury indicted activist Monica Cannon Grant and her husband Clark Grant with wire fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy, and making false statements to a mortgage lending business. First of all, to a mortgage lending business. All right. Now, the 18-count indictment alleges that between 2017 and 2021, Cannon Grant applied for numerous public and private grants and received donations to her nonprofit, but used that money for personal expenses. The couple founded Violence in Boston

in 2017 to reduce violence and raise social awareness and racial equity in Boston. Now, we saw this story. The folks at the root say call them BLM activists. But one of the groups that actually provided them funding was the Black Lives Matter chapter there in Massachusetts. So they're not BLM activists. They have their own organization. This is what happens when the right wants to slap BLM on anything. Okay? The thing here that we're dealing with here,

we've seen this many times before, Matt, that is people have to understand when it comes to grants, especially you getting federal grants, you're dealing with federal dollars, federal crimes. And so again, these are allegations. They are innocent until proven guilty. This is why we encourage folks to be very,

when you start applying for grants, be very particular in terms of how they're used because folks are always watching, especially for black activists. We can't hear Matt. Guys, y'all got to fix the audio issues. What's going on? Matt, are you on mute or is it on our end?

There we go. I can hear you. There we go. Hear me? Okay. I would say in addition to that, Roland, what I would add is you have to be particularly fastidious if you have nonprofit status. Because when you have a nonprofit, there are a lot of rules that apply to that. So not only be very careful and make sure you have great record keeping when you have a grant that you

receive, but also if you have a nonprofit, you have to make sure you adhere to all the rules because the IRS and the feds will be watching that to make sure you're doing the right thing. So there are unfortunately a lot of people who have issues with this and get caught up behind this. And the fact that there's an 18 count indictment is is concerning because that means they believe they found some evidence. But these are just allegations and it's yet to be proven in court. So we'll see what happens with that. It's it's always something that folks, again, look, get you get your accountants, get you folks, set up your business practices, because, again, if you are activists, I remember, Michael,

during, after the Michael Brown case, there were a number of activists who I was talking to, and folks were soliciting funds on social media, and I hit them up, and I said, hey, don't do that. I said, run that through a fiscal agent. I said, be sure everything is accounted for. I said, because remember, they can hit you on tax charges

in terms of what you owe. Folks, look, activists always got to be careful. They are trying to take down activists. You got to protect yourself. Absolutely. And a lot of times you have activists, not knowing all the particulars here in this case, but a lot of times you have activists, not knowing all the particulars here in this case, but a lot of times you have activists who mean well and try to do the right thing,

but don't understand federal laws when it comes to accepting donations for organizations or may not fully understand like 501c3 regulations, things like that. And they end up getting caught up. So you have, you want to get a CPA, get a tax accountant, and really understand these laws because, I mean, this can take down an organization. So, you know, this is hopefully the charges are not true here, but, you know, this is why you have to be careful. All right, let's see if we can go back to the phone lines.

Donald White from New Jersey. Donald, are you there? Hey, Brother Roller, what's going on? I'm here. All right, let's see if we go back to the phone lines. Donald White from New Jersey. Donald, are you there? Hey, Brother Roland. What's going on? I'm here. All right, there we go. What's on your mind? Hey, look, just like we've been talking for the last 12 years,

black people are tired. We're tired of hearing the excuses. We tired of asking. And bottom line, all they know is violence. So we going to have to hit them back the only way we know how.

April 1st, I'm going gun shopping. Bottom line. Okay, you're going to go gun shopping, and what you're going to do is start shooting white folks? Come at me. I'm taking you out before you get me. Well, first of all, if somebody comes at you, that's self-defense. You going at somebody else unprovoked, that's self-defense.

We don't get no self-defense. No, no, no. We don't get no self-defense. Donald, Donald, let me be real clear. If you go after somebody unprovoked, they will get you for murder. Now, if someone comes at comes... I don't know. I ain't trying to be like the little white boy that came out with his little rifle and got off.

So what are you saying? I'm just saying, they come at and look, they gonna stop killing our kids. They gonna stop killing our black men. You have a Second Amendment right to bear arms, but what I'm saying is if someone comes

after you, that is self-defense. If someone is not coming after you, is unprovoked, yeah, they will go after you for murder. So, no, I am never going to advocate vigilante justice, but again, you do have a legal right

to self-defense, stay in your ground, but it has to be that. All right. Thank you very much. Let's go to Karen Morella. Karen Morella, she's calling from Texas. Karen, you're on Roland Martin Unfiltered. What's on your mind? Yes, Mr. Martin, it's Morant, M-I-R-A-N-T. Sorry about that. It was misspelled here, but it's all good. Go ahead. Yes, sir. I am in Angleton, Texas, 50 miles outside of your city of Houston. I have a question regarding the Crown Act that was introduced in the state of California by my childhood friend, Holly Mitchell. But regarding the FOMO Act,

would Mr. Manning, I have a question for Mr. Attorney Manning. Could Bobo or Taylor try to reverse it in their favor if they run across a D.C. hairstylist who decides, uh-uh, girlfriend, you're a rocker.

We're not going to do your hair. You know, we're not going to provide that service for you. So they try to come back on it. Okay, so your question to Maddie is, can somebody refuse to do the hair of someone who comes into their shop? Not, well, yeah, yeah. But I'm just saying, if it's like Marjorie Taylor Greene

or Lauren Bulber decide they're going to go to a sister stylist. Oh, God. And the stylist. Okay, so if Lauren Bulber or Marjorie Taylor Greene go to a stylist and you're asking, can the stylist say, I will not do your hair? Correct. Okay. Matt?

Honestly, I'm not sure of the regulations everywhere. I would say generally a proprietor has the ability to refuse service under certain circumstances. So, for instance, if they're there causing a disturbance or if they come in and say, I demand you do my hair for X, Y, Z reason, and the stylist either feels unsafe or feels there's some reason they want to put them out of the shop, I don't think they can compel them to do their hair, if that's the question. I think the crux of this is war. But also, if you don't know how to do that style of hair...

Yeah, that was my point. It's the white folks can't do Kelly hair. And they should be able to, they should say, hey, I can't do your hair. That's true. That's true. They should say that. Yeah, but in terms of a private business owner being able to refuse somebody, I mean, there are

certain circumstances under which they can do that. I don't think they're compelled to do their hair. I think this is more about discrimination and things like, for instance, kids competing in a school event who are being discriminated against because of the style of their hair. I think that's what this really seeks to prevent. I got you. Karen, I appreciate it. Thank you so very much. I got that part. I just wanted to see if someone would try to throw it back at us. Well, again, first of all, we've already seen the cases where you've had bakers refuse to bake cakes for folks who are gay.

Exactly. That's exactly what I was thinking. But that's not what the Crown Act actually deals with. So, Karen, I appreciate your phone call. Thank you so very much. Folks, we're going to take more of your phone calls in the show, so please give us a call. Show the number again, please, to call. If you want to get your phone call in to comment, not just on the Crown Act, but also any of the stories that we're talking about today.

You know, we take phone calls on Friday. Pull the number up, please. 202-890-1199. 202-890-1199. Give us a call. We've got to go to break. We come back. We're going to talk with the sister of Tennessee who went to jail for trying to vote. She was released, but are they gonna try her again?

We'll talk with Pamela Brown next on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. ДИНАМИЧНАЯ МУЗЫКА Nå er vi på Norske Norske. I was in the telephone booth on 63rd and 3rd Avenue. Brought my coins in and dialed a number. Mr. Parks, this is Richard Roundtree. Oh, yes, yes. Well, you know, it looks like you got the role. I didn't know whether I'll go blind. Oh, really?

Okay, well, wait, wait, wait. You can't tell anyone. Can I tell my parents? Yes. you can't tell anyone. Can I tell my parents? And I'm walking around town, and my fellow actors and models are saying, hey, you know what? Tree, I think I might have gotten that role.

You hear this two or three different times. Right. Well, wait a minute. Was I dreaming that? Then Gordon calls me up. Right. Like, did he come? Well, wait a minute. Was I dreaming that? Then Gordon calls me up. I call Gordon, and he says, we're having the press announcing you are the chef. I get in the limo, and I pull up and saw this. Oh, Lord.

What we used to call, I'm shitting in high cotton. Yes, in high cotton, yes. I get out, and all the press is there, and actors, and I walk in, and Gordon announces, yes, this is Richard Bountry, and he's gonna play the character Shaft. Oh. Magic.

Hi everybody, this is Jonathan Nelson. Hi, this is Cheryl Lee Ralph and you are watching Roland Martin, Unfiltered. All right, folks, you're watching on YouTube and Facebook. Hit those like buttons and the share buttons, okay? We're at 333 likes on YouTube. We should easily be at 1,000 by the end of this show. So there's more than 1,000 of y'all watching right now. So hit the like button right now, okay?

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Again, PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037. Shout out to Montre Jones, who gave during the show. And let's see here. I got a few others in here, so I'm going through, trying to give them a shout out as well. And so I'll do that in a second. So, again, if you give during the show, I'll give you a shout out before we get off the air.

All right, folks. Let's talk about this next story. A California legal team, they're pushing for Tennessee officials to drop the charges against activist Pamela Moses, who goes by P. Moses. Now, Moses was granted a new trial last month. She was sentenced to six years in prison after a jury found the activist knowingly falsified information on a voting document. Now, Moses' lawyers say with the new evidence entered into court records,

a jury would almost certainly find Moses innocent. We're now joined by Pete Moses from North Memphis, as well as her legal counsel, Rodney S. Diggs and James A. Bryant, both out of Los Angeles. Glad to have you here. And so first and foremost, so lay out the legal strategy, Rodney and James, that you have for P. Moses to get these prosecutors to back off trying to retry her. Sure. Thank you, Roland. At the moment, what we're doing is we're asking and actually demanding that the DA dismiss all charges against Pamela Moses. Should the DA not

want to do that and try to move forward with the new trial, which Ms. Moses should not sit through again, then we're asking that a special prosecution take place to review the evidence and go from there. But at this moment, the first step is to have the charges against Ms. Moses dismissed. This obviously has been very difficult for you, P. Moses, because so walk folks through people. They may have read about the story. They have heard us do before. So walk us through what happened here that got us

to this point. Well, in 2019 I was arrested at the Chicago O'Hare Airport. Didn't know what was going on. I was in customs and they told me

that I was a fugitive of justice. And I was somewhat confused because, you know, I've been in trouble before, but I had never been listed as a fugitive and they couldn't tell me why I just had to go with them. And it just felt really weird. And when the Chicago police informed me that I had charges out of Shelby County, I told them, well, I just flew out of there if, you know, two weeks prior or a week prior, if I was a fugitive. I don't think that the airport would have allowed me to do that. But they took me and they put me in the Cook County Jail. I think I was

right across the street from R. Kelly and other, you know, notorious inmates that were being housed in this historical jail. And I was kept there for a number of days. And then finally, I was taken to court and I appeared before a Black judge who somewhat wanted to know if I wanted to waive extradition or not. And he said, if I didn't, that they would get a governor's warrant to have me transported. And I was just somewhat confused because getting off of a, you know, a flight like that, you know, and being stopped is just within itself is traumatic. But to then be thrown in jail and not know what it's about or what it's for, it just really did something to me. But, you know, God got me through that situation. They picked me up in a white van, contracted employees for Arkansas, picked me up in a white van, and they rode me around 18 different states for four days, picking up different inmates, dropping them off.

And so I got a very good look of how the states do human trafficking, but they call it fugitives. And, you know, some of the people may have been fugitives, but I wasn't charged with an offense of violence. In fact, I didn't even know what I had been charged with. I just knew I had charges out of Shelby County. And when I finally got back, you know, after riding around all these states, picking up inmates, I was finally got back, you know, after riding around all these states, picking up inmates, I was able to then, you know, post bond after a couple of days of being in the

Shelby County Jail East. And it was, you know, told to me that I had all these illegal charges for surrounding voting. And, you know, I was just grateful to get out and I remained out for some time. And the lawyer that I had retained originally, he had got in some type of trouble and so he couldn't represent me. And the judge appointed me this new lawyer because I spent all my money on bail and the previous lawyer. So he appointed me this lawyer who at the time I was okay with because I thought he would, you know, could easily get this taken care of. But I later found out that, you know, he wasn't working for my best interests. He was just trying to basically get it over with the best way he could, which was to make me plead guilty to something that I did not do. And so because I

rejected their pleas, the judge put me on the bench and told me that if I didn't take a plea, I would be facing 42 years in prison. And I said, okay, well, I'm definitely, you know, going to have to go to trial on this if I'm facing that much. And then they, you know, did a series of offers trying to get me to take a plea. But when I would ask the lawyer as well as the prosecutor, because I had several conversations with the assistant attorney, assistant district attorney, and I would say, okay, what did I do? And they never could tell me. They just wanted me to take this plea. And I was like, you know, I can't do that because the same district attorney that was handling this matter had also handled the previous matter, which was filed way before this indictment,

which was to get a full restoration, to get like my gun rights, certificate of employability, you know, because as a felon, it's very difficult to get a job. But my gun rights, certificate of employability, you know, because as a felon, it's very difficult to get a job. But if you get a certificate of employability, you're able to then work. So you have to go through a legal process to do that, which I did do. And it was during that filing that triggered all this, oh, she's trying to become normal again. She wants her rights back.

She wants to run for public office. She wants to do this. Oh, we can't let that happen. And they just then decided to, April, that petition was filed, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, the six months later, this indictment came out. And so it was just very difficult even understanding what I had did. But once we finally got to the gist of it, 12 of the 14 counts were dismissed by the district attorney's office because they were basically duplicate charges.

They hit you with 14 counts? 14 counts. It was 14 counts originally on the indictment. And that was why they thought I should plead guilty. But, you know, I know you're talking about this case, but I can't talk about this case without talking about how we got to here. The case that put me in this situation, it had 10 counts. And I did plead guilty to those charges, not because I was innocent, but like most people, I plea bargained to get the situation over with because there was not necessarily guilt on my part, but it was like fighting a losing battle, trying to discredit an attorney and a judge who had made some sort of allegations. Well, at the time, I thought the judge had made them. And I later found out that the judge, whose name was Phyllis Gardner, she did not formally make these

allegations against me. She gave a statement, but she didn't give them in a criminal forum. She gave them in a quasi-civil forum. She was trying to basically stop me from talking about her on Facebook. And she was granted that order of protection, but I appealed it. And after I appealed it later, she did, you know, withdraw the order of protection voluntarily. She dismissed it, but that was after I had already pled guilty to all this other stuff. But the judge didn't ever call the police. She never called the sheriff and said, hey, I want to press charges against Ms. Moses. She basically had an ethics complaint against her. And the ethics attorney, Virginia Bozeman, she contacted the district attorney and made all these allegations against me. And so because I did,

you know, say stuff about her on Facebook, I didn't threaten her or stalk her and all the things that they said, but I did say that they were racist and, you know, that people shouldn't vote for her and that they should bring civil rights charges against her, because I did do that. You know, I just, I went ahead and pled guilty to this because at the time I didn't have any money. I was being held on a $500,000 bond. And that was the only way I could get out. And so I pled guilty to those charges. I served my time. I tried to reenter into society like anyone else who had served their time. The only thing, you know, that was left were the misdemeanor charges, which were separate from that, which have nothing to do with voting. But I went through the process. I went to the judge, asked him to say my time was

over. He said it wasn't over. But mind you, the judge that I went to to say that my time was over was not the original sentencing judge. He was a special judge that had been brought in after the Tennessee Supreme Court appointed him after every judge, I think maybe 20 judges or somewhere, every judge in the 30th District of Tennessee refused to hear my case. And the judge who sentenced me, he refused to do anything else with the case, because I think he realized that he had made a mistake. So he just didn't want anything else to do with the case.

So the judge that they appointed, Judge Acree, a very nice judge out of Dyesburg, he was basing his decision on the transcripts and the judgment sheets, which were unclear. So, you know, the defendant is never right in Memphis. The defendant is always wrong. You know, they're never going to side with the defendant. So he basically said, you're still on probation. But he never clarified what type of probation that I was on. But the Department of Correction, who is in charge of calculation, and I believe you had Dr. Anya Wu, my other attorney, who was representing me zealously in the Senate's hearing, he tried

to, you know, explain that to this new judge that Ms. Moses went to the right place. This is the keeper of the records as far as the tabulation. And they said that she was not on probation anymore. In fact, they signed off on my certificate for voter restoration. And that's how this came about. But one thing that was left out that Dr. Anyawu didn't know, and I didn't know either, and my new attorneys just found out, and it was a zealous reporter at The Guardian who located the document, the Department of Corrections had conducted their own internal investigation in

regards to this matter. Two or three days after it allegedly happened and they determined that there was no crime or any, you know, thing that I had did wrong. They they said, in fact, I had sat there for an hour waiting, you know, for them to verify the information in which I was seeking clarification on. And they described the supervisor to be negligent. And I don't agree with that, but the Department of Corrections basically did not say I did anything wrong because they have the ability to arrest people right then and there if some type of violation has occurred. And they did not do that. But somehow the district attorney indicted me for 14. So I am absolutely confused, Rodney and James. This is a whole lot to do

over trying to vote. Exactly. Trying to vote. This reminds me of the Crystal case out of Texas where these white Republicans like, yeah, we're going to make an example out of you, black woman. That's what this sounds like. That's exactly what it is.

That's exactly what it is. And I think what's important, Roland, is always always a pleasure to see you. What's important for Ms. Moses is this. She did everything right. She took all the proper steps. She went into court in July. She requested that the court give her clarity. The court actually didn't end up giving her clarity. They just said she's still on probation. They didn't decide whether it was misdemeanor probation or felony probation. And that's a very important thing, because if you are under active probation in the state

of Memphis for a felony, you can't vote. However, it was not clear whether it was a misdemeanor or whether it was a felony that she was on probation for. And what they said during this court transcript that we finally got our hands on was this. Both the judge and the prosecutor agreed that it was the Department of Corrections who actually makes the proper calculation for how long one is on probation. And because of that, and because there was no clarity in this hearing, just two months later, Ms. Moses does the right thing. She goes down to the Department of Corrections to get clarity from this supervisor,

who spent over an hour researching and trying to decide what happened and whether or not she was still on felony probation. And at the end of the day, he specifically stamped on this particular document, you have the ability to have your rights restored. And this was after going through computers, going through the data system, making phone calls to his higher-ups, and they made that conclusion. And with this one document, Ms. Moses, who only wanted her rights as an American back, she went down and she filed that document, and guess what? That document that she didn't even prepare, that she didn't stamp, Shelby County convicted her of submitting a fraudulent document,

knowingly submitting a fraudulent document. And that was absolutely the travesty here. She had nothing to do with that. And that's the only charge they can hold her with. And Rowan, six years, six years, you have people who have stormed the Capitol, beaten police, and they can't even get more than a couple weeks in jail. And they were going to take Ms. Moses and make her sit in jail for six years for something that she relied on based upon not only the judge, the prosecutor, but also the Department of Corrections. And that's what's wrong, and that's what we will fight.

Matt or Michael, any questions for the two attorneys and P. Mosley? I do have a question. Oh, go ahead. Matt, go ahead. Yeah, well, my question for you all is this. Is there not a basis for a dismissal for this case on the standpoint of prosecutorial misconduct? Because what frustrates me beyond the gross miscarriage of justice here is the fact that the state had in its possession mitigating evidence and actually

evidence that shows Ms. Moses' innocence, right? So she was prosecuted without all the evidence to show her innocence, and the state is the one that has the sole duty to prove the case against her. So it seems to me there should be a basis for that, but I don't practice in Tennessee, and I don't know the law there. Is that something that y'all have considered? And if it's not something that's applicable, why is that the case? Well, the district attorney at this point has said that they weren't aware that this document existed. They have been very clear on that. They said that it was somehow in the personnel file of this particular individual, and the was aware of it, all evidence that is within the state's file, they have a duty to turn those documents over.

And again, that's why a new motion or the motion for new trial was granted on that particular situation. However, we haven't really, because of the stance of the district attorney saying that they've tried to make it clear, we didn't know about this document. We had no clue. It's not on us. It's the Department of Corrections. We're trying to get to the bottom of that. But again, you absolutely better believe that we are looking into this Brady violation because nonetheless, you have a duty regardless to turn over any evidence that could exonerate an individual or would be supportive of a potential not guilty verdict. So yes, I mean, we're looking into that. And those are things that we're discussing amongst our team. And if I may, Roland, very quickly, it's common. It's common for prosecutors to contact witnesses in a situation

like this and say, provide all of the documents that you have. So the idea that the prosecutors are still going forward with a case where they have demonstrable evidence proving Ms. Moses' guilt, or rather innocence, pardon me, is a travesty of justice. And it just makes no sense unless it's purely a political thing where Weyrich's office does not want to have egg on its face for choosing not to go forward on this case. You know, you're absolutely correct. You know, we're demanding that Amy Weirich drop the charges and believe that, you know, this is retaliation for Ms. Moses speaking out numerous times against Ms. Weirich.

You know, in this instance, her office now has all the evidence to exonerate Ms. Moses, and we're demanding that the charges be dropped immediately. Michael. All right. Well, first of all, Ms. Moses, you know, you are a true warrior. So I want to thank you for your perseverance. But I was just trying to find out from the attorneys, I've been following this case some way, the documentation that calls Judge Mark Ward to order a new trial. Can you give us a little insight what that documentation is? And then also, are you all looking at, I know she suffered from a severe case of COVID-19 while in jail as well.

Are you all looking at a civil lawsuit once you get charges exonerated? So at the moment, what we're doing is we're just looking at all the legal options that Ms. Moses has at the moment. But what we're focused on first is actually having the cases dismissed. And so the next hearing date is April the 25th. We'll be out there. And at that time, hopefully the district attorney's office does the right thing, does not move forward with the new trial and dismisses. And at that point, you know, we will gather with the legal team out here, Mr. Bryant and myself and others, and determine if we're going to move forward with any civil

charges. Andy, to answer your question with regard to the document that you're referring to, that was an internal, I wouldn't even call it an internal document. It was an investigation conducted by the Department of Corrections shortly, and Ms. Moses talked about it briefly. It was shortly after Ms. Moses had been given this document saying that she had the right to restore her rights. And so that document, whether it was a number of communications as well as a report, those all evidenced what exactly happened. When Ms. Moses was convicted, they convicted her on knowingly, you know, submitting this document, given the fact that she was aware she had she was on felony probation and that just wasn't

accurate. The the the individual who testified, that supervisor, he also made mess, as far as I'm concerned, misrepresentations on the stand during trial where he said Ms. Moses forced him to do X, Y and Z. However, that document specifically stated otherwise. And that is why the judge looked at this and said, hey, you know what? I just don't believe that Ms. Moses was given a fair chance to present all the evidence available to her for a jury to determine what her thought process was when she submitted that document. And I will tell you, and Ms. Moses will most certainly tell you, she had no clue. She thought she was doing the right thing. And it really just, you know, you guys, it's political persecution. I'm sorry. I just, it disgusts me. It absolutely disgusts me.

Well, now go ahead, go ahead and finish your point. Oh, no, I was just saying that Ms. Moses deserves every right available to her. And really, she's a wonderful woman. And she fights so hard for all the injustices that are happening in Tennessee, and specifically Memphis, and for that. And for speaking up for Black people, this is what happened to her. And that's why we're here to fight for her. Well, I will say this here, Pete Moses is the reality is people don't people who may not realize that we've been covering the story. Tennessee has frankly been at war with activists. We saw how they tried to criminalize individuals who were trying to register people to vote.

And same thing when it came to people protesting as well. So it's no shock that we'll see the actions taken against you. And like I say, we've been covering the story of Crystal Mason, a sister who has been just put through pure hell. And they still are going after her because and they testified even in her case, her own probation officer, that she was not told that she could not register to vote. They didn't care. They still pursued it, sent her back to federal prison and now trying to put her in state prison. So it's unbelievable these actions being taken. We certainly appreciate all three of you joining us to lay out all the details of this case. I hate that you have to go through this, but this is the reality that Black people have had to face in this country in trying to keep and get the right to vote since 1619. And I just want to say this, you know, regardless of, you know, the situation,

no one is promised tomorrow. So I don't really worry about people going after me. You know, look at what's going on in Ukraine and Russia. No one would have thought that last year. But people need to understand this is an election year. And the same people who are going up after me, they are up for reelection. So the people that, you know, I see you wear the Alpha Phi Alpha shirt, your fraternity brothers and just like my attorney's fraternity brothers who do have the right to vote, they need to stand in unison and send a message to Memphis and the rest of America that if you want to go after people when we have murder all over the city, we're going to go after your position and find someone to replace you.

I agree. Oh, trust me. I have spoken extensively to the Alphas and to all members of the Divine Nine about using our collective power to speak out and show folks, ensure our colors and flex our political muscle. And so that's why when people say, oh, I'm not going to vote, it means nothing. Oh, trust me, those individuals out there, they see they know the power of black votes, which is why they're trying to do all they can to stop us from voting. We appreciate it. Thank you so very much. We'll be following your case at the end. All right. Thank you very much for having us. All right. Thank you very much. All right, folks.

We're going to be taking a few phone calls. You can weigh in on this story as well if you want to. So give us a call. I see some of y'all on the phone lines right now. And so the number to call is 202-890-1199. 202. Go ahead and pull the graphic up. Thank you. 202-890-1199. If you want to give us a phone call to share your thoughts about the Crown Act, about this story as well.

And, again, 202-890-1199. Don't forget, folks, you can also, first of all, support us in what we do. First, if you're watching on YouTube and Facebook, again, hit the like button. We should be getting a thousand likes every single show, folks. And so, I shouldn't have to be asking. It's 642. So, come on.

You all got 30 minutes to find another 358. Let me thank Kerry Morant, Tommy Williams, Faye Drain, asking is 642. So come on, y'all got 30 minutes to find another 358. Let me thank Kerry Morant, Tommy Williams, Faye Drain, Effie Coley, James Fennell, Laniece Adams, and again, Montre Jones for giving to us during the show. Y'all can support us, folks,

via Cash App. RM, dollar sign RM, unfiltered. PayPal is rmartin, unfiltered. Venmo is rm, unfiltered. Zelle is roland at roland.martin.com. Roland at rolandmartin, Unfiltered. PayPal is RMartinUnfiltered. Venmo is RMUnfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037. I'll be right back. Black Star Network is here.

Hold no punches! I'm real revolutionary right now. Black crowd. Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roller. Hey, Black, I love y'all. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going.

The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scape. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? ТРЕВОЖНАЯ МУЗЫКА Y'all know who Roland Martin is. He got the ascot on. He do the news. We'll be right back. I mean, could it be any other way? Really. It's Roland Martin. All right, folks. Alright folks, a federal judge has ordered the California Highway Patrol to release the video showing a Southern California man screaming, I can't breathe, while multiple officers restrain

him as they try to take a blood sample two years after his death. I mean, folks, this is 38-year-old Edward Bronstein was taken into custody on March 31, 2020, following a traffic stop. A nearly 18-minute video taken by a CHP sergeant was released as evidence in Bronstein's family wrongful death lawsuit. Now, we want to warn you,

the video we're about to show you is triggering and extremely hard to watch. So we're going to give you some time to turn away or get kids out of the room if you want to before we actually show you this video. We're only going to show about two minutes of this particular video. And so again, we're giving you time to step away. So let's go ahead and play the video now. You're bringing the fight to this, not us. I'm not fighting at all. Then have a seat and provide your arm. This is your last opportunity. Otherwise, you're going face down on the mat and we're going to keep on going. All right. I promise you will. I promise you will. I promise you will. I promise you will. I promise you will.

I promise you will. I promise you will. I promise you will. I promise you will. I promise you will. I promise you will. I promise you will. I promise you will.

I promise you will. I promise you will. I promise you will. I promise you will. I promise you will. I promise you will. I promise you will. I promise you will.

I promise you will. I promise you will. I promise you will. I promise you will. I promise you will. I promise you will. I promise you will. I promise you will. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I promise. I promise. No. Don't do it like this. Don't do it like this. No. No.

No. No. Help! Help! Help! Help! No! No! No! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! They're not even poking you yet. Nobody's doing anything. You're relaxed. I can't breathe! I can't breathe! I can't breathe! Just stop yelling! I can't breathe!

I can't breathe! I can't breathe! I can't! Please help! I can't breathe! I don't really... I don't really... Just relax and stop resisting.

Let me breathe. Let me breathe. Let me breathe. Let me breathe. Stop moving. The more you move, the worse it's going to be, bro. I'm pushing it right there. I'm not...

Right there. You're pushing it. Oh my god. Wait. Wait. No. Wait. No.

Stop it. You need to stop it. You need to stop it. You need to stop I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. months before George Floyd, Bronstein's daughter, Brianna Palomino, and her attorney, Michael Carrillo from Pasadena, California, join us right now. It is, we're sorry, sorry there, Brianna, that we had to show that video. It has to be very difficult for you to actually see that video.

What I'm not understanding, Michael, again, this is just a, we've done so many of these stories. What I'm not understanding is why you didn't have a cop sit there and say, hey, guys, back off. Let's get him calm before we continue. Why did they have to draw his blood at that very moment? Well, I think we're at a loss for the answers to those questions as well.

The problem here is that the person that's actually video recording the entire event was a sergeant. So he's the supervisor. He's the one that's supposed to control the situation. Wait, wait, wait, hold up. The person who should be directing the officers, he's videotaping saying that portion that we heard nothing. Was he talking at all on the 18 minute video? Well, at the beginning of the video, you'll hear him say things like, you know, you have to comply, or if you don't give it up, we're going to keep going. He says something about we're going to keep going.

That's the gentleman that's in charge of the whole scene there. That's the sergeant. So when you have someone like that leading the blood draw, then what are the other officers supposed to believe? That they can do whatever they want? What I'm trying to understand, why were they drawing his blood? It was a traffic stop. Yes. So he was pulled over for an alleged driving under the influence. And the officers at the time believed that he was driving under the influence

of a drug instead of alcohol. He did a breathalyzer on the street when they pulled him over, but it didn't come back above a.08. And so officers felt that they wanted to get a blood sample. They, in fact, did get a warrant to get his blood sample, but there are a lot better ways to get a blood sample than to essentially suffocate a man to death. And so was that, was the ruling by the medical examiner, he died based upon suffocation? The ruling by the medical examiner was restraint by law enforcement and methamphetamine intoxication. So those two factors combined. Now, they ruled it undetermined cause of death, but I think we can all see on the video that it's a homicide. It was a killing by these officers of Edward Bronstein.

Breonna, what did California law enforcement authorities say to the family? Was there any apology? Or did they just simply say, hey, if he hadn't resisted, he'd be alive? What was their reaction? Up until now, they still have not said anything due to pending litigation. How many children did your father have? Five. Five children. He was, what did he do? He was training to be an airplane mechanic. He had actually just finished passing all his tests. So he was pretty much set and ready to go when this happened. That is just shocking and astounding. I'm going to go to my panel. They have some questions for both of you. Matt, you're first. My first question for you is, what is the law as it relates to the time frame that they can execute a warrant in California?

I know, obviously, in driving under the intoxication crimes, generally the time is important. But what I've seen in my career is that if they have a subject that they don't believe they can get a blood draw from safely, they wait until they can do so. So is there any reason that it had to be executed right then? That seems to me to be the problem, because that creates, obviously, the Fourth Amendment issue we see here with the seizure being unreasonable. What is the law in that respect in California? Well, the law in California, as I understand it, is that once the warrant is obtained, then they have to take reasonable measures to obtain that blood sample. What I think is important to remember here is that when Edward is turned over onto his

front side, he says, I'll do it willingly. I'll do it willingly. And you hear that on the video countless times. And yet there is no regard whatsoever for his life, just saving his life. And what you don't see in those two minutes that was played is even after they flip him over, he's lifeless. He's blue in the face. He's dead. They don't call CPR. They don't administer first aid. They literally try to slap him to wake him up, as if that's going to do anything to a man that doesn't have a pulse and is dead.

Kelly. First, I want to say to the family my condolences on your loss. To humanize Mr. Bronstein a bit, could you just talk about who he was to you as a father, just as someone important in your life, and the impact that this tragedy has had on you? Yes, of course. He was very passionate about helping others. He was always there for me. I'm his oldest daughter, so he would always come over to eat my home-cooked meals.

You know, he was there to provide comfort as a father, And that is just something that you can't replace. And I believe every daughter needs their dad. He was an outdoors kind of guy. He loved hiking, swimming, gymnastics, biking. You know, he was happy doing that. And I miss the warmth of his hugs. I miss his voice. It's really hard on me to continuously watch this video of him and to see the opinions that others have of him.

Michael? Well, first, my condolences to Brianna and the family. I mean, this is horrific. To the attorney, so Mr. Bronstein died March 31, 2020. That's almost two years ago. What caused the federal judge to release the video that you just showed? What caused the federal judge to release the video now when Mr. Bronstein died almost two years ago? And then they talked about the medical examiner said the death was acute methamphetamine intoxication during restraint by law enforcement. So why haven't charges also been brought against these officers? It's been two years. Can you shed some light on that?

Sure. You're asking a lot of great questions. The second question you have is the same question that we keep asking. Why haven't any of these officers been charged with a crime, anything related to his death? They have not. The district attorney's office, George Gascon in particular, their office is not commenting. We've tried for the last year and a half to see if there's going to be any movement, if there's going to be any charges. We don't know that information. We hope that they take action and get justice for the family in some form.

Now, I do want to say the attorney general's office of the state of California, Rob Bonta, you know, he can file charges as well. But what I find interesting is that he, as the Attorney General, talks a lot about transparency in law enforcement, supports bills that deal with transparency in law enforcement. But his office is the one that prevented us from releasing this video for about a year and a half. I just want to say that when Edward Bronstein passed away, his family did not know the circumstances for his death. That was kept hush-hush. We tried for, as soon as we got the autopsy report, thankfully the coroner's report came out with a very detailed description about what they saw in the video.

At that point, we figured out that there was a video. We tried to get a Public Records Act request to get the video out. They denied our request. They said, we'll see you at trial. Through the case, they wouldn't turn it over unless we agreed not to produce it to media. Only recently did the judge, but because we had requested it, only recently did the judge say, you can release it as of March 15, 2022. If it wasn't for us taking those steps, who knows how long the attorney general's office would have kept this hush-hush. Because of how disgusting and vile it is, they even applied to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to try and overturn this judge's decision. They did everything in their power power not to release this video.

So it took extraordinary measures and this amount of time. Wow. Thank you. Well, again, it's just, you know, we've done so many of these different stories and the family that you want answers to what happened and why your loved one is not with you today as a result of these actions. Thank you so very much for joining us, sharing your story.

Brigada Palomino, thank you so very much, as well as let me thank your attorney, Michael Carrillo, as well. Can I just say one thing, Roland? I apologize. We're organizing protests this Thursday to support the charges being brought against these officers. We will get the information out on social media. If you can spread that to your viewers, that would be fantastic. Yep. Just simply be sure to tag us at Roland S. Martin on Instagram and Twitter, and we'll be sure to share that as well. Thank you so much.

All right. Thank you very much. All right, folks, got to go to break. When we come back, we'll talk HBCU transformation in our Education Matters segment. Also, we take more of your phone calls weighing in on some of the stories here. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Blackstar Network. ТРЕВОЖНАЯ МУЗЫКА Don't you think it's time to get wealthy? I'm Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach,

and my new show on the Black Star Network focuses on the things your financial advisor or bank isn't telling you. So watch Get Wealthy on the Black Star Network. Hi, everybody. This is Jonathan Nelson. Hi, everybody. This is Jonathan Nelson. Hi, this is Cheryl Lee Ralph, and you are watching

Roland Martin, Unfiltered. Thank you. Să ne urmăm. All right, let's go to the phone line. Sharon. Sharon from North Carolina. Sharon, you're on Roller Mart. What's up? Hi. My name is Sharon. I went to St. Augustine when it was a college.

Now it's the university. When I was working as an extra job at a cafeteria, I had got my hair braided. And one of the managers came to me and said that I had offended customers because of my hair. They were used to you having your curly natural hair, not those braids. And he said that, I just want you to go home today to take him out. But I did not take him out. I stood firm on him and I told him, you know, I don't have to work here. My hair doesn't justify who I am. And I could be offended by how they wear their hair also. Because you want to see the curly hair of my South Asian, African American descent. You wanted to see that, but you didn't want to see my Blackness. And you wanted me to do what you said.

So I quit and walked out because they don't justify it. And I hope this Crown Act goes through. And look, what you described is exactly what, you know, why this law was absolutely passed. And excuse me, in the House, now it goes to the Senate. Karen, we certainly appreciate it. So I'm sorry, Sharon, thanks a lot. I appreciate it. Thanks for calling. Let's go to Texas.

Demetrius Spencer. Demetrius, you're on Roland Martin Unfiltered, the Black Star Network. What's up? Yes, sir. Good evening. It's a pleasure to be speaking with you. Yes, sir. So I'm also from North Carolina, born and raised. I'm a graduate of Winston-Salem State University. And in regards to the Crown Act, when I was 15, working at a supermarket chain named Winn-Dixie, I was told I had to cut my throat

in order to continue to working at the store. So, you know, at the time, I told the money. I went ahead and cut my throat, kept my job, and kept on working. But, you know, kind of like deep down inside, I felt that it was wrong. But, you know, being in rural North Carolina, I really didn't have a resource

such as yourself to, like, empower me or to empower my parents to speak out against things like that. Okay. All right, then. We certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Roger Roy,

New Jersey. Roger Roy, you're rolling back down the filter. What's up? Hello, hello. Yes, sir. What's on your mind? Hello. You're on the air.

Go ahead. Can you hear me, sir? Yes, you're on the air. Go ahead. Yes. This here is a reminder of Dr. Ibram K. Kendi of Boston University, his book, Stamped from the Beginning. Over 600 years ago, Europeans stamped us as all type of negative images. And it reminds me also of Dr. Michael Dyson entertaining race.

We got to entertain white folks for substance, which is just nonsense. And at the same time, right now going on in Florida, there's a young student about to graduate from a high school in Florida, and they say he can't attend graduation if he don't cut his dreadnoughts off. So this is ridiculous

that we have to keep on proving ourselves to white society. It's just, we come in so many variations. We have so many styles, but at the same time, they say they don't like us, but they copy us so much. They want to entertain like us. They want to wish they could play sports like us, and they'll go to the beach and spend $1,000

and go somewhere and get a suntan that look like us. Now, we don't have to put up with it. I don't think we got to prove ourselves to anybody, anybody at all. Okay. All right. And I appreciate you bringing this subject up. Okay. I appreciate it.

Thank you so very much. All right, folks. Let's now go to our Education Matters segment. HBCU folks are going to be getting some assistance with health and sustainability by improving student outcomes in retention and graduation rates, expanding enrollment, and increasing capacity building with faculty and staff. Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the United Negro College Fund, and the Partnership for Education have joined forces to launch the HBCU Transformation Project. Joining us is Ed Smith-Lewis, Vice President of the UNCF Strategic Partnerships

and Institutional Programs. All right, so glad to have you on the show, Ed. So exactly what is this? All right, transformational project, what are you transforming? Well, first, Roland, thank you for having me, and I appreciate the Black Star Network for running this story. We are transforming outcomes for institutions. Ultimately, our goal is to increase the number of students that attend HBCUs, the number that are retained and persist and ultimately graduate. And our ultimate aspiration is that once we get those institutions functioning high with the students that they have, that we expand their enrollment to really ultimately disrupt poverty

in low-income communities. And so this project, first of all, how long is it? What does it actually entail? It entails multiple different pieces. At present, Blue Meridian Partners, the funder behind this work, has provided an initial, and I say initial, investment of $60 million over the next four years to support six primary activities. Number one is that institutional improvement, really partnering with a set of HBCUs, both public and private, to improve their capacity to deliver against those aspirations of student success and career outcomes. Number two, that it's going to work closely with UNCF, Thurgood Marshall, as well as Partnership for Educational Advancement to build our capability to support these

institutions for the long term to continue what is likely to be a long generational journey to get to that ultimate aspiration. The second piece is we're going to work aggressively, leveraging organizations like UNCF's Public Policy Unit, as well as Thurgood Marshalls, to amplify the need at the federal and state level for more public resources to HBCUs. Part four, we're going to look to private philanthropy, private corporations, to support these institutions in a fundamentally different way. On average, HBCUs receive 100 times less in annual funding from the federal government in the form of contracts, as well as corporations, et cetera. We want to close some of that gap. The fifth piece is we're trying to work with institutions to really partner with their

local community-based organizations and other economic development partners to galvanize a networked approach within the local space and place that these institutions occupy to transform outcomes. And then finally, we really want to reorient the narrative around what learning is and to push higher education to think about learning as an inclusive activity, as opposed to what it is today, mostly an exclusionary one. I want to bring in my panel right now for them to ask you some questions. Michael Imhotep, you're first. Well, thanks for coming on and sharing this information with us.

And looking at your six interdependent sub-initiatives, I just wanted you to flesh out more and give more information about the sixth one, reorienting the narrative surrounding HBCUs toward their outsized impact on social and economic mobility outcomes. Can you give us some examples of what that sixth initiative is going to do? Absolutely. If you know HBCUs or you've had a fortunate opportunity to attend one like myself, I'm a first generation high school graduate that was fortunate enough to attend Morehouse College. And I have to say the experience was transformative and life changing. At the end of the day, HBCUs represent just 3% of all higher ed institutions, enroll slightly less than 10% of all Black students in college, but produce nearly

20% of bachelor degrees in the Black community and 24% of bachelor degrees in the STEM field. More importantly, HBCUs also produce 40% of Black engineers, 40% of Black Congress members, 50% of lawyers and doctors, and 80% of Black judges. At the end of the day, we believe and we know that HBCUs punch above their weight. And what makes those outcomes even more fascinating is they do that with a 75% low-income student population and enroll about 60% first-generation students. UNCF released a report earlier this year on social mobility, and it showed that HBCUs are twice as likely to improve outcomes for low-income, first-generation Black students than their counterparts. And we're trying to decide,

how can we change the narrative around this sort of less-than moniker that HBCUs have been trying to shake since their founding, given those outcomes. Exactly. Thank you. Thank you. Kelly. Hi. So I have, it's kind of like a three-pronged question. Number one, how many HBCUs will be impacted by this initiative? Meaning, are these just going to be the HBCUs that are under UNCF or Thurgood Marshall College Fund? Secondly, I read here that there's been a $60 million investment or commitment, rather, already for this project. How much more money do you need and or have? And finally, in the same vein as how much money you already have, how long do you plan on keeping this initiative going? Is this a five-year plan, 10-year plan in perpetuity, et cetera?

I appreciate the question. I'll first start with who we're trying to serve. We are starting with the two membership associations, Thurgood Marshall College Fund, which represents about 47 public HBCUs, as well as United Negro College Fund, which represents 37 private HBCUs. So at our core, we're looking at just over 80 HBCUs that we plan to directly support through this work, not only through direct grants, but shared services, as well as knowledge sharing and community as a practice that we think are critical to including HBCUs in this student success higher ed transformation conversation, where for the most part, HBCUs have been excluded from. So part one, we are starting with our membership associations, but our goal is to build

models to expand. Within UNCF, we launched a team that I have the fortunate opportunity to lead today called the Institute for Capacity Building. The Institute for Capacity Building was founded by our current president and CEO, Dr. Michael Lomax, and its focus is on broadly HBCU and PBI, or predominantly Black institutions, improvement and transformation. So although we're starting with our core membership, our ideal goal is to develop a model that can scale to many other HBCUs, predominantly Black institutions, and other institutions enrolling high numbers of low-income first-generation students. So the aspiration is to disrupt all of higher ed back

to that idea that we have to figure out how to be more inclusive in our learning environment as opposed to exclusive. To get to your second question on the resources, the short story is HBCUs have been historically and presently underfunded. When you add up the endowments of all HBCUs, it pales in comparison. Actually, it's 10 times less than Harvard University. I want to say that again. All HBCUs endowments combined are 10 times less than Harvard University. And when you start to talk about resources that are needed and you look at the rising cost in higher education, the rising cost in higher education is a product of the commoditization of the industry. And we are trying to figure out how do we reverse that trend? HBCUs have

historically charged left of tuition or much less than their near peers. But at the end of the day, our first generation low income students have been saddled with debt. And so we know that in order to reverse that, we have to flood HBCUs with the capital that they've historically not had and with the capital they need to catalyze that change. We believe that at present there's at least a $6 billion gap on endowments, a half-billion-dollar gap in capacity. And once you start to unpack some of that, we think it's much, much more. So while this $60 million is an important catalyzing piece, the third and fourth point, really getting the federal government to move behind these institutions to amplify their impact and getting the private philanthropy as well as corporations to pitch in will be a necessary because we're not closing just present day

financial gaps. We're closing those historic ones as well. On the last piece, our North Star goal is that HBCUs become a sustainable system of institutions that are operating together, while Thurgood Marshall, UNCF, and our newest partner, Partnership for Educational Advancement, have a lot of the knowledge, resources, et cetera, to convene, galvanize, and provide new awareness, new capabilities into that system. Our North Star is that these are thriving institutions working collectively together. And while we would love to be a partner for the long term, I think our job is to work ourselves out of business. All right. Then Matt Manning, the question. Very quick. Thank you for being here. I'm a Howard man. And I tell you that one, because anybody who went to Howard has to tell you they

went to Howard. Yeah, no kidding. And number two, number two, because when this conversation comes up, I see it often on social media that there are often complaints about the disparity even among the HBCU contingent, meaning that some of your larger HBCUs have larger endowments and have fewer issues with sustainability. So my question is, for all our HBCU brother and sister in that, don't go to Howard, go to some other school. How are you going to ensure sustainability relative to their particular needs? What are the metrics internally to determine what Tougaloo needs or some other school as opposed to a school that may have a larger endowment? Well, I appreciate

Tougaloo. And as a Morehouse man, I support all HBCUs. I also had a fortunate opportunity to work at Howard University. So I appreciate you, brother. The reality is if you're not Morehouse, Spelman, Clark, Atlanta, FAMU, North Carolina, A&T, Howard Hampton, you're sometimes not recognized for the value you add to your community. And that really gets to that number five piece on developing community and regional partnerships. We know that HBCUs like Russ College at Holly Springs, Mississippi, Voorhees College in Denmark, South Carolina, they are critical drivers of economic impact within their local communities. UNCF has released now two landmark reports showing the economic power of our institutions within their local communities, as well as their collective impact.

We have made it a focus since the beginning of this grant to serve every single member of our two associations. That's 84 HBCUs. I dare most people to go past 10 to 12 HBCUs that they could rattle off because our job is to get to those institutions that typically may not have the brand recognition or the awareness by the field. And that's where we think Thurgood Marshall, as well as UNCF, become critical intermediaries. We fundamentally understand the diversity of our institutional set, the disparity within our institutional set, and we are working actively to galvanize that community. When I say a system of HBCUs, we know fundamentally that while one HBCU is strong, all HBCUs are stronger. And so we have metrics both

on how many dollars we're providing in those spaces and places, how many institutions we're touching, and then we're ultimately looking at impact across the HBCU space as a measure of our success, which means we can't just do it with a select few. All right, then. It was really appreciated. Thank you so very much. Good luck with the initiative, and as I will keep telling our people, let's keep going after that money. Appreciate you, sir. All right. Thanks a lot.

We're going to take a couple more phone calls before we get out of here, folks. Felicia Dobson from Atlanta. Felicia, what's on your mind? Hi, Roland. Can you hear me? Yep. You're on the air. Go ahead. Okay. Can you hear me? Yep, you're on the air. Go ahead. Okay, thank you so much for your show and educating us on a lot of things.

My question for you all is regarding the Crown Act. Now, how are we going to educate our own black community about the Crown Act? Because I work for a black company, and the young lady had natural hair, beautiful hair, and she got promoted. And then all of them asked her, the HR people, human resources myself, they asked her, they said, well, what are you going to do about your hair? So my question is, how are we going to educate our own people? Well, look, I mean, folks are going to understand,. This gets passed. It's going to be called the law.

Right, Matt? Right. And it's going to be enforced the same way the Civil Rights Act is. So the enforcement will be for things like public accommodation, employment, other places where people are discriminated. So I think we could go as far as making a white paper or even the signs that you see in the workplace that apprise you of your rights, that tell you if this happened, then these are your rights. So that's how I think we need to educate people not only in the workplace, but among our own people.

We need to let them know the basics of the law, when the law is being violated, and how they can protect themselves and vindicate themselves if the law has been violated in their how they can protect themselves and vindicate themselves if the law has been violated in their case. Yep, that's exactly it. So yeah, trust me, you're going to be seeing those signs

in the workplace. We certainly appreciate your phone call. Also, YouTube, y'all, y'all got 132 likes to get to 1,000. Y'all taking too doggone long. Hit that Like button. Y'all should... Thank you. It's like a preaching church.

I shouldn't have to be asking y'all to give money. Hit that damn Like button. All right, let's Thank you. It's like a preaching church. I shouldn't have to be asking y'all to give money. Hit that damn like button. All right. Let's go to a Josh Johnson, Jacksonville, Florida. Josh, what's on your mind? Y'all rolling back on the filter. Josh. All right.

Y'all got Josh up. Josh, are you there? All right. Josh, you're not talking. Going once, going twice. Holla, Josh. Hello, can I watch? Yes, hello. Hello.

Yes, you're on the air. Who's this? Okay, this is Joyce Johnson. Joyce, all right. We've been waiting on you, Joyce. Come on. Okay, I actually called to share about the Crown Act, and it went back as far as...

Hello? Yes, you're on the air. Go ahead. Joyce, do this here. Joyce? Joyce, do this here. Turn your TV down. You're listening to that.

Okay, I called to share about me back in 1968. Go ahead. Share your story. Joyce. Joyce, Joyce, Joyce, Joyce, Joyce, do this here. Turn your TV down or turn your app down or your computer and listen to me because you're hearing the delay. That's why you have a delay. So turn that.

So now go ahead and talk. You're live. Go. you're hearing the delay. That's why you have a delay. So turn that. So now, go ahead and talk. You're live. Go. You're live. Go. Is it much better? You're live. Go ahead.

Tell your story. Is it much better now? Yes. Go ahead. Tell your story. Great. Great. I graduated from FAMU in 68, and I had an Afro at that time.

My African-American school here in Jacksonville would not hire me because I had an Afro. I was a certified English teacher ready to begin teaching English, and the African-American principal and dean of girls informed me that they could not hire me because unless I changed my hair and I wouldn't change my hair so of course I stopped teaching and work for the state so this thing has been going on about our hair for a lifetime it's just so sad that it's still continuing today well it's no shock because the first of all Joyce thanks for your phone call look here's what we have to understand. And this is a reality, Kelly. Black people have had to make adjustments to who we are to accommodate white folks for our entire lives. Okay?

So part of this thing, Kelly, is that, look, I remember back in the Butch, I remember Earl Graves when he was, of course, the late founder of Black Enterprise, where he wrote an editorial saying, you're going to have to get rid of your locks or your braids to come intern for Black Enterprise because this is what Wall Street requires. And so, I mean, he said that. He had no problem saying it because his whole point is this is what Wall Street requires. This is what black people have had to do. We've always had to change and accommodate white folks in everything. Kelly, go ahead, your thoughts.

I absolutely agree with you. It is a conditioning that Black people have as a mode of survival, which is why we feel like we have to straighten our hair, which is why we feel like we have to straighten our hair, which is why we feel like we have to keep, um, our cuts low and faded and neat, so to speak. Um, it is because we were not able to survive otherwise. So, for generations, we have been conditioned

to assimilate to white culture as best as we can just so that we can survive. What the Crown Act does is basically dismantle that conditioning so that we can actually be ourselves without having to assimilate to a culture that's not really ours in the first place. We can just come to the table as authentically as possible, which, by the way, is better for your work environment anyway, so that you can be as comfortable in your work environment as you can, so you can be as comfortable in your skin wherever you are. I think it's an absolutely fantastic bill. I've been seeing it, you know,

get passed state by state for the past couple years now. So I'm just very thankful and excited for it to be passed on a federal level. No, it hasn't been passed on a federal level. It's been passed in the House. I'm speaking it into existence that it'll get passed on the federal level. Yeah, well, we still got these crazy-ass Republicans, so we got to put pressure on them.

So I don't care what your state is, you got two U.S. senators, make that phone call, tell them to vote for it. Last caller, Robert Johnson from Charlotte, North Carolina. Robert, what's state is, you got two U.S. senators. Make that phone call. Tell them to vote for it. Last caller, Robert Johnson from Charlotte, North Carolina. Robert, what's on your mind? How you doing, Mr. Rowland? I'm just calling because I'm happy to hear about the Crown Act. I just remember when I was serving in the military

and they would come up with all these hair rules and regulations every two years. And I would get so frustrated because I'm like, who are they asking about these hair rules and regulations where I had to have my hair faded zero if I had an afro, it couldn't be no more than one inch in thickness, so on and so forth. So I'm just calling to say I'm happy about this act. I just hope it can be passed through the Senate. And just thank you for everything that you do on your show and the information. It's just making all of us better. I appreciate it, Robert. Thank you so very, very much for giving us a call. All right, folks, that is it for us. Actually,. I appreciate it, Robert. Thank you so very much for giving us a call.

All right, folks, that is it for us. Actually, we got actually one more story. In memoriam, folks, three-time Grammy-nominated jazz and blues singer Barbara Morrison has passed away. Morrison, known as the sole mother of L.A.'s historic Leimert Park Village, became one of the top jazz vocalists in Los Angeles. She spent most of her life recording, touring, and performing at Southern California jazz festivals and venues. Morrison's albums include the 1996

release of I Know How to Do It and 1999's Visit Me. Legendary jazz and blues singer Barbara Morrison has passed away at the age of 72. Let me thank Kelly, Matt, and Michael for being with us today. Thank you very much for being on the panel. YouTube, y'all tripping. Now look, come on now. We are about 40 away from getting 1,000 likes. Y'all know this

impacts the algorithm. So we at 962. Come on. It's 38. It's more than 1,000 of y'all sitting there right now. So click the damn like button. I should have to be asking this many times. So let me do this here. I'm going to give the app.

Then I'm going to go ahead and tell you how to give. And then I want to see y'all. I want to hit 1,000. So let's go. So again, y'all, download the Black Star Network app. We need to get to 50,000 downloads. Then we're going to make our way to 100,000. Folks, Blackstar Network app,

again, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Xbox, and Samsung Smart TV. If y'all want to support us, what we do, again, your dollars make it possible for us to cover the stories that matter to our community. And so please support us. A check or money order, PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037. Cash app is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is R Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com.

Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And so please support us in all that we do. RollinSMartin.com, Rollin at RollinMartinUnfiltered.com. And so please support us in all that we do. I'm looking here right now. We had, I gotta give this one shout out, because she gave during the show, but I'm trying to find it. And so hopefully I can go, here we go.

Let me thank Annette Anderson for that Zelle payment. Annette, I certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Let me also thank Janet Hill with PayPal. Janet, so Carrie Morant. I said Tommy Williams. Thanks a bunch as well. And so I appreciate that.

And as you see, folks, we always scroll the names of all the people who have given to us. And glad to see we hit 1,000 likes. Man, y'all, look, y'all should not have made me working all this time trying to get y'all to hit 1,000 likes. We can put like 2,000 of y'all on. All you got to do is hit the like button, okay? So we appreciate it. That's it.

Hey, folks, don't forget the Supreme Court confirmation hearing of Judge Katonji Brown-Jackson begins at 11 a.m. Monday. We'll be broadcasting it live on the Blackstar Network app, so please don't forget that. Also, folks, this weekend, check out the Richard Roundtree 101 on Rolling with Roland.

Trust me, it's a fantastic conversation. You will certainly enjoy that. And that is it for us. Folks, I will see you guys on Monday. Enjoy the weekend. Have a good one. Holla! Thank you.