#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Cocktails & Convos, 2022 Midterm Elections, Sen. Cory Booker, OH Cop To pay $4.4M to Black Family

Episode Date: November 4, 2022

11.3.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Cocktails & Convos, 2022 Midterm Elections, Sen. Cory Booker, OH Cop To pay $4.4M to Black Family  LIVE from Arlington, Texas, at the Texas Rangers Golf Club for Fight for Democracy: Cocktails and Convos.   There's an effort to get black men to vote for the upcoming midterm election.  But black men say they feel ignored by politicians.  I'll talk to Nicquel Terry Ellis, a CNN Senior Writer for Race and Equality, who spoke to several black men in Georgia who say the messaging from Democrats or Republicans isn't being directed at them. Charlie Crist is running for Florida Governor again.  He's on the campaign trail trying to convince voters he's the better choice.  Senator Cory Booker will join the discussion about the midterm elections.  A former Ohio cop must pay  $4.4 million to the family of a black man he killed.  Lena Horne becomes the first black woman to have a Broadway theater named after her.   Support RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$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. He makes sure that our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roland. Be black. I love y'all. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scape. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home.

You dig? Today is Thursday, November 3rd, 2022. Roland Martin Unfiltered broadcasting live from the Texas Rangers Golf Club here in Arlington, Texas, where we will be, of course, talking to various candidates here who are running in Tarrant County here in the DFW area. On today's show, streaming live on the Black Star Network, black men say they're not getting the attention they deserve. We'll talk to someone who wrote a piece for CNN.com about that very issue. Also, Charlie Crist is running for governor of Florida. He wants to beat Rhonda Sanders, which he will join us on today's show as well. We'll also talk about new polls out showing tightening races happening in North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania as well.

Plus, on today's show, we'll be joined by Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. It's a jam-packed show, folks. It is time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the piss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time.

And it's rolling. Best belief he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics with entertainment just for kicks he's rolling he's funky fresh he's real the best you know he's rolling Yeah, yeah. Rolling with rolling now. Yeah, yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's rolling, Martel. Now.

Martel. Black voters are going to be critical all across this country, but especially here in the area of Dallas-Fort Worth. We're in Tarrant County, the Texas Rangers Golf Club, for a GOTV event taking place here. Nikkel Terry Ellis is an award-winning journalist for CNN's race and ethnic team. And she wrote a column dealing with the very issue black men say they feel ignored in this campaign.

Nikkel joins us right now. Nikkel, glad to have you on the show. Thanks, Roland. Good to be here. So first and foremost, we've been covering this issue, frankly, for the last 10 years. And one of the issues is that from a Democratic and progressive standpoint, they have not paid any attention to black men saying specifically, how are you speaking to us and your Republicans who are trying to pick them off by actually trying to target them? Yes. And that is the issue. And that is the point of the story that I wrote this week is that

the black men who I've spoken with, just regular everyday black male voters, as well as some political analysts and some activists. And the feeling is that Black men feel largely ignored by politicians. The issues that they care most about, including financial freedom, financial security, police reform, equal investment in predominantly Black schools, just assistance for them and resources for them as entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs. They don't feel supported in that lane. Mental health resources. All of these are things that Black men really care about. And they don't feel that politicians and candidates are really speaking to them. And that's part of their issue. And the fear is that some Black men simply will not vote because they don't feel that either candidate from the Democratic or Republican Party

is speaking to them in the issues that they care most about. Did any Democratic officials speak to that issue in terms of what they should be doing, what they're not doing? Well, Stacey Abrams, who is running for governor for the second time here in Georgia, she has actually made a late effort to reach Black men with some events that she's been hosting in the last several months, the last couple months, actually, that target Black men speaking to the issues that they care about. But I think that some men feel as though they that some candidates kind of pander to them just to kind of get their vote. And Abrams has

been struggling with getting the support of black men. So I think the feeling is that, you know, with them, with her kind of making these late efforts to reach them, they kind of wonder whether it's genuine and if she's actually going to get an office if she wins and actually address these issues that they do care about. So there is concern. But that's confusing to me because, first of all, she has an entire section on her Web site that specifically deals with black men. And so if folks say I'm being ignored, but she's actually paying attention to them, then it's like, oh, well, I don't know. She's actually going to do it. Well, that's sort of like an oxymoron. She's actually doing it, but they're saying she's not really doing it.

Well, I think they feel as though Democrats have made similar promises before and they haven't followed through. So I think they're saying, I mean, they're not saying that they're not going to support Stacey Abrams at all. There are some black men who I interviewed who actually do plan to vote for her. But the concern is that is she going to get in office and actually do the things that she lays out in the agenda on her website? Well, in order for her to see, this is the thing that I keep trying to explain to a bunch of people. You got to win to do those things.

So if you don't win, it's a, it's, it's a wasted conversation. And then the question is what the hell is Brian Kemp done? Yeah. And I think that that's, that, that is a valid point role. And I think that a candidate has to get an office to actually, or get a chance to be the has to get an office to actually get a chance to be the governor and get an office and actually follow through on those things to make it happen. The concern is that, in the past, the things that they have asked for, the things that

Democrats have promised them, in some cases have not happened. So that was the point of the story, that they just feel concerned that she will get an office and that it won't happen. But you're right. She has to win in order for them to see that she will keep her promises. And I think I would dare say that there's a better shot of Stacey Abrams doing those things for these black men than Brian Kemp actually doing those things. Nikhil, we appreciate it. Folks can go to CNN.com to check out your piece. Thanks, Roland. All right, thanks a lot. Folks, we're going to be joined shortly by Charlie Crist,

who's running for governor of Florida. So control room, let me know when we have Charlie on the show. Right now, what I want to do is I want to bring in my panel here to talk about these issues. Erica Savage, founder of the Reframed Brain. Recy Colbert, founder of Black Women Views. Dr. Greg Carr, Department of Afro-American Studies, Howard University. Of course, glad to have all three of you here. Greg, I want to start with you. And this is the thing that, as we wait for Charlie Chris to come on here, that I keep saying. I keep hearing all these people who yell tangibles, tangible, tangibles.

You can't get something if a person doesn't win. Then you say, well, I'm not going to vote unless I get something. Okay, let me be clear. You can't get something if they don't win. If you don't vote, they're not going to win, which means you're not going to get something. Roland, we know what this is. This isn't about policy. This is about celebrity.

This story and frankly, all commercial news entertainment media, they shouldn't be called the fourth estate anymore. There's been an estate sale. They're talking about advertising. The real story here is how in the United States of America, we continue to conflate celebrity and personalities with policy. The things in the report that Sister Lennon wrote that these brothers that she interviewed said they want, they want police reform. That's the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

They want to deal with health care and provide for their families. There's a billion dollars on the table that the white nationalists of Georgia, led by their governor and legislature, would not allow Medicaid expansion. Twelve states in this country, eight of which are the old Confederacy, will not allow. See, you know, I stopped short of saying that we are a race of children. I want to focus in on those people who keep saying the same thing and clearly opening their mouths, putting their brains on display and say what they're when they say these things, what they're really saying is I haven't paid attention. I haven't looked at that website. I haven't looked at any of those things. And when you see the word angels, that is the weaponized ignorance that Recy has been talking about. It's a misinformation

campaign. The real story is about the immaturity of the American voter. And unfortunately, black people aren't exempt from that ignorance. I'm going to hold tight one second. I'm going to continue this conversation. We've got Charlie Chris on the line. We have some technical issues, which is why we're late. I know he has a hard out, so I want to quickly go to him. You're a former governor, a former congressman. You run against Ron DeSantis. Based upon what polls look like right now,

it's not looking good. What are you and others doing to get Democrats in that state moving? I saw an item earlier where you've got, what, 800,000 plus Democrats ballots requested by Democrats that have not been returned.

What's happening to get people moving to make sure they're voting? Right, right. Well, we need to make sure that they get those ballots turned back in, those that have mail-in ballots, of course. But in addition, in recent polling we've seen in the last two days, a poll called the listening poll out of Pensacola, Florida, had us up by eight. And the real difference, Roland, was women. Because when you looked at the crosstabs after the original overall general polling was 54 to 46, you looked among men,

and DeSantis was leading 53 to 47, but then you go to women, and we were ahead. We had almost 58 percent of the women vote. So this Roe v. Wade decision is having a huge impact in Florida. I think it's going to be a difference maker, a game changer, without a doubt. And I look forward to the next five days ahead and continue to campaign with enthusiasm and energy and excitement. You also have the importance of young voters. If they turn out 35, 40, 45 percent, that could be the difference maker. You've got those Parkland students who have been out there campaigning, raising money as well. And so what are you saying to those young voters in Florida

to get them out? They're not turning out for early voting. Hopefully they're going to be showing up on election day. Well, they're very concerned about education, obviously. And, you know, I used to serve as education commissioner for the state of Florida. I'm the last elected education commissioner of Florida. And I know that education is critical to young people throughout the state. And whether you're talking about going on and getting a college education or the opportunity to get educated in a trade, both are important. And we have to emphasize both. But we have to pay our teachers more. Right now, you know, we're the third largest state in the country. We're paying our teachers 48 out of 50 states. That's embarrassing under the DeSantis administration. It needs to be changed. We need to refocus on education, and young voters care deeply about that. And young women voters care deeply about their right to choose and their individual freedom.

Well, Charlie, Chris, sorry we had the technical issues earlier coming here from Texas. Our time was short, and I know you have a hard out. Good luck. Drive those young voters as well as African-American voters there in Florida, because I keep trying to tell folks, if you don't vote, shut the hell up. That's right. That's right. But when we vote, we win. God bless you, Roland. Thank you don't vote, shut the hell up. That's right. That's right. And but when we vote, we win. God bless you, Roland. Thank you so much for having me. Charlie, Chris, thanks a lot. I appreciate it. Going to go back to my panel, Greg, Recy, and Erica. And Erica, I'll go to you. It is absolutely mind-boggling.

Like, when I hear people say these things like, oh, this hasn't been done, this hasn't been done, this hasn't been done, it drives me crazy because things have been done. Now, we had Terrence Woodbury on with his strategies yesterday, and one of the things he talked about was a lot of people said what hadn't been done, and then when they were told what actually has been passed, people kind of like oh wow that's awesome and so part of this thing also is on democratic officials in dc in these states the the infrastructure as well these parties to have messaging where you at where you're fully explaining it i know reese is

recent now we text about this all the time i mean you, you have to, as Joe Madison said, put it where the goats can get it. And unfortunately, they have not been properly messaging, telling people what they've actually accomplished. I literally had some fool tweet me today saying, because he was responding to a comment I made about HBCUs. He said, well, tell your guy Biden to throw some more money towards HBCUs like Donald Trump did. And I was like, are you stupid? Yes.

Do you even understand the six billion that's gone to HBCUs? I mean, people literally are walking around acting as if nothing has been done. But guess what? They're going to start feeling the heat. You know, we've been talking about this for now, Roland, this panel collectively for four years now. So the hashtag we tried to tell you is definitely going to be hitting a little differently here very soon. You know, I've been talking about on social media, you know, what are you going to do when you have to pay to log in? Well, guess what? On Twitter,

though this is totally separate, but you're talking about for people to keep the check that literally lets people know that, hey, this person is an authority, they're an expert, they're certified, so to speak, in their field of expertise, that that is going to come at a cost, at a premium. So if everybody or if people are paying attention to only what is highlighted on social media, to only what is catching their attention via me, you're only going to catch the junk mail. The real life stuff is happening by way of reading and being informed. There is still personal responsibility, regardless of party, regardless of officials, regardless of who's in office, to know what the hell is going on in your own damn house. And your house is your township. It is your borough. It is whatever it is that describes where you live. It is your responsibility

to learn that. Listen, for the past year and a half, I've been very, very honest and open and transparent about this recovery process I've been going through with my brain injury. Do you think if I operated by the hail the way I was feeling, I would be in the position where I'm able to communicate with this panel and with rolling into the audience again? Hell no. Simply to say this, fuck your feelings. I'm so damn glad that Fannie Lou Hamer wasn't thinking about her feelings when she told the sharecropper, hell no, I'm not going to do that anymore. And I am going to live in a more dignified way. When she asked, tell me a little bit more about this voting thing and how can I then engage the folks around me to participate

in not only voting, but also getting more people to vote as well. I'm so glad Harriet Tubman didn't get in her feelings when she was leading generations of us to a place of freedom. So honestly, at this point, at this juncture in the road, everybody has to take responsibility for what's happening in their own damn house, which is to say this. If you still have an opportunity to early vote, which a lot of people do up until this Saturday, go and take care of that. If you're going to wait until next Tuesday to do it, do it as early as possible. But after those polls close, whatever you didn't do, if you were spending your time listening to what Uncle Luke said and then reposting that and making that what you believe to be reality,

then baby, what is to come is absolutely explicitly on you, period. Because that person and that family did not participate in upholding the little bit of democracy that we have left. And Rishi, again, I laugh at these people who listen to these, of these, again, these YouTubeologists who their entire focus is to spread misinformation, disinformation. And they love talking about, oh, you're a shield for Democrats. Okay, so let's just break down what Nikhil just said. So if you're a black man out there and you say that you care about criminal justice reform, okay, this is a A and B test. A, Republicans. B, Democrats. Which party

blocked the George Floyd Justice Act? A or B? To my panel, what is it? Republicans. Republicans, A. A. Okay, so Democrats were down for it, Republicans blocked it. Okay. So Democrats were down for it. Republicans blocked it.

Okay. Big Mama got diabetes, paying a hell of a lot of money for her insulin. Which party wanted to cap insulin at $35? A, Democrats. B, Republicans. B, Democrats Okay, the Dems It was A, A, A

I'm sorry, I switched to A's and B's So Democrats A So Democrats wanted to cap this at $35 Republicans Gotcha, that's fine Okay, so Democrats wanted to cap it at $35 Yes In the wake of the

Massacre in Buffalo went to cap it at $35. Yes. In the wake of the massacre in Buffalo, you had Congressman Jamal Bowman who put forth a resolution calling out white supremacy after that shooting. Which party voted against his

resolution, Republicans or Democrats? Republicans. Gotcha. So let me go to my next question. This is my final question if I go to you, Recy. And that is, and I'm thinking back to exactly what this idea of financial freedom. When President Obama was in office. Contracts were unbundled, allowing for black owned firms to be able to actually try to lay in government contracts under Donald Trump. Contracts were bundled, freezing black folks out of getting contracts.

Under Joe Biden, they went back to unbundling the contracts. So if you are a black business owner, which presidency would you likely benefit from contracts? Would it be a Republican or Democrat? Democrat. Democrat. Okay. Now, I'm not telling somebody, Recy, you need to love all Democrats. They're not saying they hang the moon, all of that. But what I'm doing, I'm taking the very same issues these folks are complaining about,

and I'm applying in real time what's actually done and now leaving you with a choice. Republicans or Democrats? Right. Because that's who's running. Sure, Evan McMullin is running as an independent in Utah sure Angus King is is an independent but the end of the day when folks are voting they're either voting for the Republic I wouldn't voted today at Dallas County I think only in one race there was a libertarian in And every other race, which is like 200 races, it was either a D

or R. Come on. And the parties could not be more polar opposite. We're at a time where there is complete polarization in our politics. And the Republicans are radical extremists who want to strip away our

citizenship and our humanity. That's just a fact. And it's amazing to me how people are not talking as much about the fact that they are brazenly running. Mike Lee in Utah is running against Evan McMullin, who's an incumbent senator, is saying that they want to phase out Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. So if your old ass is on a fixed income, like I saw some white lady in the Wall Street Journal talking about she's on a fixed income, the Republicans are going to take your shit away. Period.

That's what they're trying to do. I'm just really not in the mood for the whining and the complaining. Let's just break down a couple of things. Right now, if we want to talk about Black men, you have Black man who is the gubernatorial candidate in Arkansas,

Dr. Chris Jones. Where's the support for him? You have Charles Booker, who is the Democratic Senate candidate in Kentucky. Where's the support for him? You have Gary Chambers in Louisiana. He tweeted the other, posted the other day that 25,000 Black people had voted early, and there are 900,000 Black voters.

Where's the support for him? You have Raphael Warnock, who is the incumbent senator in Georgia. Where's the support for him? And if you be honest, there's Hershel Walker. Maybe if you're not a Democrat, you're a Republican. You got Black men running, too, on the Republican side. They're crazy as all shit, but they're there. You have Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin

who is running for Senate. Where's the support for him? Let's go back to Pennsylvania. If you're not happy with Fetterman, where was the support for Malcolm Kenyatta in the primaries and Philadelphia didn't show up? Come on. We have in Maryland, you have Wes Moore who is running for governor.

He's probably going to win. So that's a good thing. But we have seen this is now the second cycle where we have had black men as the statewide Democratic Senate candidate in multiple states who have been the candidates for governor. So I'm just not overly sympathetic five days out from the election from here in the home. Nobody's coming to talk to me. We've been

saying that it's important to talk to Black men, but now is not the time for sob stories. Like Dr. Carr said, are you paying attention though? Check your algorithms. Is your algorithms giving you more about Kyrie Irving or more about what's happening with environmental justice

or more what's happening with climate change, more what's happening with the Inflation Reduction Act? That's your algorithm doing that. That's you doing that. That's what your clicks and your likes and your retweets, your shares and your saves are doing to you. So it's time for you to step the fuck up. Step up. I get it.

I get it. We all want people to cater to us and roll off the red carpet, but God damn it, our lives are on the line here. Do your motherfucking part. You ain't gotta like doing it. You can complain. I don't have a problem with it. But just damn do it. Because we all got to do it.

And unfortunately, we can't rely on the white women in the suburbs to care about abortion rights, to care about their citizenship. They'll be okay, kind of, but Black people, we really, really, really, really on the chopping block right now, okay? We gonna need an underground railroad to go from Atlanta to New York City. So I'm just saying, we can

always get more. I ain't going to argue with that. But show up, and if you ain't going to show up for nobody else, at least show up for the black men running. The last thing, I just have one more thing to say. I don't understand how you can be in Georgia and complain about what the Democrats haven't done for you or what Stacey Abrams hasn't done

for you when the Republicans have had a trifecta of the of the of the of the Assembly, the Senate and the governor's mansion since 2005, that 17 years of Republicans fucking shit up Brian Kemp, not expanding Medicaid. He just got rid of rental assistance. A trauma unit just closed in Atlanta. He's underfunding education. I can go on down the line. It's not even like these people are just not doing anything. They're actively hostile towards your existence and your citizenship, stripping away voting rights.

17 years of them. Ask what the fuck those people are doing for you. Because last I checked, it's nothing but harm. Don't hold the Democrats accountable for the Republican trifecta. Do something different. Stacey Abrams is something different. Can she get her plans done? TBD.

But you got to vote for her first. But we know what Brian Kemp has, nothing but more mayhem and carnage for black people, period. And that goes for all Republicans. And for anybody who actually says that you care about small businesses, African-Americans have received less than 1% of state contracts in Georgia under Bryant Kemp. Less than 1%. Just letting y'all know. Let me say this real quick here.

Christopher Frazier, unprofessional with all the cursing. Christopher, get your own show. Grow up. You're get your own show. Grow up. You're on my chat room. So when you watch Bill Maher on HBO, they cuss, same thing on Showtime. And so sometimes we do that.

So if you got a problem with it, you're more than happy to go somewhere else. So deal with it. All right, folks. Can I just say one more thing? Christopher Frazier, did you catch Republicans eliminating Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid? Did you catch them eliminating rental assistance? Did you catch them blocking Medicaid expansion?

Or all you get was the cussing? Grow up. As Dr. Carr would say, be more mature, okay? Don't miss the message because you're so busy trying to tone police people when Republicans are after our whole, like I said, goddamn citizenship and humanity.

Be more enraged about that. All right. Hold tight one second, folks. We'll come back. We'll talk more. Again, five days until the election folks. We come back. We'll talk more again, five days until election day. We are here at the Texas Rangers golf club here in Arlington, Texas, sitting right between Dallas and Fort Worth. There's an event taking place here. Get out the vote event from six to nine.

We'll be live from here. So we'll look forward to that. And so look forward to you guys all coming back. Hold tight one second. Be sure to download the Black Star Network app. And we have finally crossed the 50,000 download threshold. Congratulations. We certainly took us a while to get there, but I'm glad that we did. Download the app. Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV,

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When we invest in ourselves, our glow, our vision, our vibe, We all shine. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. It's time to know your rights. If someone is questioning your right to vote, call or text 1-866-OUR-VOTE. For more information, call or text 1-866-OUR-VOTE. We've got to stand up. Republicans are banning abortion rights, tearing down democracy, blocking progress.

But when Democrats stand together, we win. Because we voted, Democrats stood up for black lives, voting to ban police chokeholds, stood up for black women putting one on the Supreme Court, stood up for our families lowering cost of health care and prescriptions and capping insulin, and stood up for millions by slashing student debt. This November, let's stand up together and keep making progress. When we invest in ourselves, we all shine.

Together, we are black beyond measure. I'm Kim Whitley. Yo, what's up? This your boy Ice Cube. Hey, yo, peace, bro. What's going on? It's the love king of R&B, Rahe Black beyond measure. That's Kim Whitley. Yo, what's up? That's your boy Ice Cube. Hey, yo, peace, world. What's going on? It's the Love King of R&B, Raheem Devon, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. We'll be kicking off in a few moments. We'll be joined by Texas State Representative Jasmine Crockett. She, of course, is running for Congress.

Deborah Peoples is running for Tarrant County Judge. There are a number of other candidates who will be coming through here. We'll be chatting with them as well. Looking forward to that. So we'll be live. If you're in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, come on out. We'll be here from 6 to 9 local time, 6 p.m. Eastern, 6 p.m. Central to 9 p.m. Central. And so I look forward to you guys coming on out.

All right, folks, let's continue talking politics. The crucial races that are coming up, again, Senate races that are taking place all over. But also we've got to focus on secretaries of state and attorney general races. Those are equally important as well. And that right there, Recy, I think is important for people to understand. Why are these MAGA Republicans, why do they want control of those two particular areas? Because first of all, it's the secretaries of state that control the elections. That's why they want those positions. It's the attorney general who also is making those legal rulings,

who's enforcing those laws as well. And so all too often, folks have ignored sort of those down-ballot races, really thinking the sexier races, U.S. folks have ignored sort of those down ballot races, really thinking the sexier races, U.S. Senate races, U.S. House races, and gubernatorial races. But we are seeing how critically important the Secretary of State and Attorney General is. Right now, the attorneys generals for Republicans are blocking student loan debt cancellation. It's 30-something of them. And in terms of the secretaries of states, they're the ones who oversee elections, sometimes certify the elections or different rules in different states. And so there is definitely a power grab there. Republicans are desperate to hold on to power.

And they know that they're not going to be able to do that with a majority vote for much longer. In some cases they don't need it, like in Wisconsin, because it's gerrymandered to death. And so even though they never get a majority of the votes in terms of by district, they still have a near supermajority in the legislature. And so when we're going to the ballots, to the box this time, we have to pay attention to all of these races. And I mentioned earlier Black candidates in other races. In Maryland, you have Anthony Brown, who's running for attorney general there. You have Black lieutenant governors across the country who are on the ballot as well. And so this is not something that we can take for granted. We have a very right-wing extreme court right now, and anything that the Republican attorneys generals put in front of them, they're going

to try to rule for. So the best thing that we can do is get as few of them or get as many of them out of office and make sure as few of them get into office as possible. Greg, you've got these sheriffs in Minnesota. They are targeting Keith Ellison over defund the police because his son was one of the folks involved in that movement. He is in a very tight race there. But you got Aaron Ford, a brother who is attorney general in Nevada, another critical race, Kwame Raul, who's attorney general in Illinois and so there are African Americans you know who are who are in these races and so uh it it's really about again trying to get people to understand why these races matter uh and why we must be thinking about politics in a much different

way uh also people the folks who was the county judge here on BTEC with Deborah Peoples she ran for we were last year she ran for mayor of Fort Worth but she's running the county judge here on BTEC with Deborah Peoples. She ran for, last year she ran for mayor of Fort Worth, but she's running for county judge. Again, that's controlling the resources. Linda Hidalgo, the young Latina in Harris County who was elected, who's running for re-election. They've been targeting her because they don't want her. Again, controlling the purse strings in the county.

And so it's trying to get people to understand you can't keep saying you want these issues addressed, but then you don't actually vote for the very people who can address the issues that you say you care about. Absolutely. And in receipt, you brought up Gary Chambers. Not only do you not vote for the issues you care about. And by the way, brothers, in the CNN article, you said that one of the things you were concerned about was student debt. Well, guess which party is like go to hell and, and it filed a lawsuit. But at any rate, stop that. But not only do you not vote for the issues you care about, you don't vote. This is the issue. These polls,

these horse race polls that commercial news entertainment media are using to attach to a narrative of tight races, ignore all of them. Ignore all of them. If you simply go out and vote, this will take, can take, much of it can take care of itself. When we talked to Richard Kreitner at the Black Table about a month ago, the author of the book Break It Up, he reminded us that the central theme in U.S. history is secession. They never wanted this to be a country in the first place. The white nationalists are very serious about the fact that they will either wreck this federal framework or they're going to control it. That is it. And so, you know, my revolutionary friends who are like, yeah, well, you know, OK, everybody, I'm not going to say be quiet.

I must say keep talking. But I'm going to turn the volume down because you're a distraction at this point. What you're seeing at the state level, I mean, on December the 7th, there's going to be a Supreme Court case heard, Moore v. Harper, where these wild white nationalists, two white nationalist legislators in North Carolina, are arguing that the state legislators ought to be able to control time, place, and manner of elections. They can displace election officials if they win, and they probably will win, because the white nationalists have the upper hand at the Supreme Court. You're going to see a radical transformation in voting rights at the state

level. And then finally, as you talk about these secretaries of state, let's be very clear, this nut in Arizona and all these other people that will run for governor, for example, in Wisconsin, it's like, you know, if I win, the Republicans will never lose another election. These white nationalists are determined to rule from the statehouse. They're within a couple of state legislatures of being able to call a federal constitutional convention where they're going to enshrine some of this theocracy, handmaid's tale

stuff at the national level. But failing that, they are going to trap eight of the 12 states that haven't expanded Medicare are in the old confederacy. Our people are being held hostage and so are the whites, who simply, as you write in your book, White Fear, would rather have their whiteness than their lives.

And so finally, when we think about this in the context of this clear race war, clear race war, what we're talking about is a group of people so driven by their whiteness that they will take their votes and give them to the oligarchs who

have spent, and I think you tweeted something out today, Roland, upward of a billion, almost a billion dollars worth of money pumping into controlling so they can get all their profit back tenfold. We're now fighting not only for our lives, we're fighting for the possibility, against the possibility, that we won't even be able to have freedom of movement in this country. And if you think that's alarmist, as you said, Erica, just wait on it. Just wait on it. This ain't about being right. I don't give a

damn about that. I mean, I have insurance. I got my piece of job. But what about those people who you claim you love so much who won't get a leg cut off or lose a toe, or as you say, got high blood pressure and stroke. You know, who hobbling to try to make it from day to day. If you say you love

those people, you are a liar. You are a liar. Because you do not love them enough to stand in between these devils and harm's way. So all you doing is running your mouth. And I'm not gonna tell you to be quiet. I'm just gonna turn the volume down and try to get two or three more people

to add to the voters' roll, because we've got to go vote. Yeah. Yeah. Erica. Erica? Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, Reese and Greg tied a really nice bow on this. And, you know, you talked about businesses.

When you think about people making applications to do business and be recognized through their state secretaries of state, they also own that part as well. So there are lots of components. The bottom line being is that there's so much at stake that I think that this mirage of, well, I can just kind of scroll and things will just be the way that they've always been when they're severely disrupted. And so to Greg's point, really turning down the noise on people who only seem to come out around this time to dissuade. They come out, they bring all of this laundry from years of things that they say that have not been remedied while the world around us continues to crumble and fall apart. So we continue to see this story over and over again. The immediate response should be to do the thing that we don't have to do all of the time, which is vote. Go to

your Secretary of State's website so you can go and see the sample ballot, so you can see what's on the ballot, so you can see who's on the ballot. So if the language does not seem to be something that you understand, that you have time to throw it into the Google so that you can understand the language or whatever that referendum is. But be familiar enough and care enough about what is going on in your house. And as Greg said, the people around it that it will have impact on, to do that at least and go and vote. I cannot invoke enough. And Roland has this shirt around voting like your ancestors died for. I keep thinking about Fannie Lou Hamer. There is no way in hell I could sit at home and not do one thing that takes the littlest amount of my time to help make sure that there is, again,

some semblance of democracy. Really, the stakes are as high as they have ever been. And as we've been saying over and over again, they're not, you know, approaching your neck. Y'all, they are at our necks. What you going to do? You need to vote. Joining us right now is Dr. Ron Daniels. He's the president for the Institute of the Black World, 21st Century. He joined us from Elmhurst,

Queens, New York. Doc, how are you doing? I'm doing fine. And first of all, I just want to commend you, Roland, for what you're doing, man. I mean, in your panel, it's one of the few spaces where people are actually talking about the real issues and talking about voting in a way that makes sense in relationship to what's at stake. This is the most critical election arguably in the last half century, if not more. And, yeah, there are issues, there are problems. I've complained about the way in which perhaps the Democrats could message more and better and so forth and so on, but that's sort of beside the point. There is a—the difference between the Democrats and Republicans

is not like this lesser evil Tweedledee, Tweedle thing we talked about in the back. It is so vast that it ain't even close in terms of what needs to be done. And so we have got to mobilize and irrespective, we're talking about what's

best for us. And so we have to do exactly what's saying. If they take the ballot box and they put it in a desert, we don't care. We're coming. We ain't going to let nobody turn us around. In real sense, because I think what Vernon Jordan once said, when white America gets cold, black America gets pneumonia.

This is like, this is like potentially life support. And certainly I agree with the notion, Dr. John Henry Clark said, white nationalism, he said, is the enemy of black nationalism, the enemy of black people. That's what we see straight, open, and out. White nationalism, people who are parading around with Confederate flags, putting forth Nazism. So we can't afford to rest in this circumstance. We can't afford to sit back

and say, well, they ain't saying this, they ain't saying that. We got that. We got Latasha Brown and people like Barbara Arnwine and Melanie Campbell and the Divine Nine and people out there doing what we need to do for Black people and for our interests, because these folks are willing to commit suicide, you know, in terms of cutting their own throats, because the focus has been on dividing and exploiting, looking at us historically. So I just really, really, really want to commend you, Roland, for just breaking it down, making it plain, to get people to understand that this is crucial, absolutely crucial, what's been doing. And you've been on it,

brother. You've been hitting it and hitting it and hitting it. And I'm just hoping that, despite the polls, because the real deal is people keep talking about these lazy consultants, man. They keep talking about the probable voters. We're not talking about the probable voters. We're talking about those people who are improbable who are sitting at home. And our sister, I think, Arisi, I think, pointed out, and she just sort of went past it real quick. You know, we have races where thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of Black people are actually sitting at home and not voting. Thousands and thousands and thousands of Black people who are sitting at home and not voting. We got to wake them up. And hopefully we still got time between now and November 8th to get that done

because that is the secret sauce. We are the base, the rejected stones, who are the cornerstones for saving ourselves and indeed saving democracy. And we certainly need to save democracy because we all have been this. Well, and again, the point that I think you made there is the one that jumps out at me, the people who are sitting at home, the 900,000 ballots that have not been returned requested in Florida. Gary Chambers tweeting about just the lackluster numbers in Louisiana. The numbers are not great here in Tarrant County and again you've got my chat with

Deborah Peoples in a second she's running for Tarrant County judge I mean she's literally African-American and the numbers are not strong and so it's like okay so people complain that that we're not hearing from from various people now you got African-Americans who are running and folks still not running so at one point you again, this is why when I say voters shut the hell up, I just reached a point where at some point people have to stop offering excuses and then just go ahead and say they don't care. And if you don't care, I don't want to hear from you about anything because this is a way for you to participate in the process to have a voice.

Right. And nobody would say that voting is the only thing we need to do. We need to do economic boycotts. We need to do disruption. We need to do all kinds of things. Voting is one of the tools that we have in our arsenal. The one thing about this tool is it sets public policy. I don't care what anybody says. At the end of the day, it sets policy. And so when we look at, as you were pointing out earlier, point by point by point, and I have to end up doing this on my radio show, people, oh, I don't make any difference between the Democrats and the Republicans. You take any set of issues, and you go down the line, and you ask, where do these renegade, retrograde, orange MAGA mad minions sit? And where do these renegade, retrograde, orange MAGA-mad minions sit, and where do the Democrats sit?

That doesn't mean that they're perfect, but it means in terms of our interests, it ain't even close on issues like the student debt, where HBCUs are going to benefit and people who are on Pell Grants are going to benefit. The whole question of health care, as you mentioned around in terms of insulin, how do these people dare get away with voting against reducing prices for insulin? And that affects us because we're disproportionately affected by these comorbidities of high blood pressure and diabetes and various things. And beside that, I mean, they don't talk about it enough. That's my critique. We do have a black vice president. We do have the first judge, black woman supported, appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States. We have a black woman who is sitting there who is like articulating what the Biden administration's position is on issues in a way that with decency.

Decency does matter in terms of how you conduct yourself. But beyond that, we also know that when you impact the policies, the bipartisan infrastructure bill that was passed, certainly the Inflation Reduction Act, we are affected by environmental racism. The whole question of climate change and global warming will hit us, not only in this country, but around the world in a disproportionate way. The biggest amount of money ever in the history of these United States was invested and put into that bill. That will impact us. There's money in the infrastructure bill where communities who were, in fact, redlined by urban renewal of the Negro removal program of the 20th century, you said, can be repaired.

We just wish the Democrats would talk about those things more. But those of us who do know about it are saying it. We're talking about it. And because we've got to march on battle boxes. That's my thing. You talk about Fannie Lou Hamer. I look at the Epinephrine Bridge and the whole Bloody Sunday in terms of people who were beaten back. And I say something else is very simple. When white folks don't want us to do something, we better wake up. Because why is it the white folks don't want us to do something?

Because they are doing just what Professor Carr said. This is about white minority rule, a small minority people who have super red states. That's why the orange man never, ever worried about his approval ratings or about the majority. They doubled down on their white nationalist base and they're fervent. They're fanatics. They are cult-like. And I don't want a cult, but I want people to be reasonable. And our interest says that we should be marching on ballot boxes like never before. It should not even be close in Georgia. How could it possibly be close in Georgia with this

buffoon, Herschel Walker, running for vice? I mean, it's just mind-boggling. Ron, we're going to be having an event on November 10th, two days after the election, a post-breakdown of the election on the campus of Howard University. Just tell people about that before we go.

Yeah, well, that's one of the things, again, but thank you for being co-moderated with Dr. Julianne Malvo, because at the end of the day, once it's all over, we've got to do a post-mortem. We've got to find out what happened, and we're going to do that, the first major conversation on the impact of the election. And we hope it's going to be very promising in some respects. But irrespective of that, we'll be at Howard University's Crampton Auditorium on November 10th. Doors will open at 6 o'clock. It'll start at 7 o'clock. There's all kind of press interest that has developed in this. And you see the lineup, Mark Morial of the Urban

League, Hillary Shelton, NAACP, Melanie Campbell, whose name I just called out, Tamika Mallory, Pastor Mike, people may not know him, a bad brother who's talking about how to deal with violence and those issues. We have the National Council of Negro Women. We have Melford Constituency of Africa, who looks after our interests as it relates to Africa policy. Is that Greg Carr? Yeah, Professor Greg Carr will be there. Dr. Ife Williams, Chairman Emeritus of the National Congress of Black Women. And one of the people who I think people need to know more about is Maurice Mitchell. He is with the Working Families Party, looking at creating some alternatives, looking at creating a third force for black people. And then the Reverend Sheridan Targieri, who is the vice president emeritus

with the National Rainbow Coalition. So we'll be there. It'll be streamed by Howard University Television. WHUR is involved. We see other media partners, WBAI, WPFW for Washington, D.C., Black World Media Network. And I'm sure you're going to blow it up big time as well,

Roland. So we just want people to, and I'm sure you're going to blow it up big time as well, Roland. So we just want people to, as Snoop Dogg says, don't meet me there, beat me there. We want this to be a powerful conversation, and it's a serious conversation about the future of Black America and the Pan-African world. And again, I just want to commend you, Roland, man. You have done it. You're doing it.

And I say it in the spirit of Walter Fartroy, who used to talk about the arithmetic of our power, the Reverend Jesse Lewis Jackson. You know, he's slowing down now. But Jesse always talked about those rocks just laying around. Every season he would be trying to point out the margin of victory is those black voters who don't vote. And you have picked that up. That's the kind of civic education we need on these airways, unfiltered. And we appreciate you so much for doing that. And of course, we will be streaming it

on the Black Star Network. Dr. Ron Daniels, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. All right, folks, got to go to a break. When we come back, we'll be chatting with some candidates and some folks here in Tarrant County. We are here at the Texas Rangers Golf Club, folks, got to go to a break. We come back. We'll be chatting with some candidates and some folks here in Tarrant County. We are here at the Texas Rangers Golf Club. Folks, if you're in the DFW area, come on out.

We're going to be here until 9 p.m. local time. And so looking forward to that. And so the room is filling up. We'll be chatting with folks again just in a moment. We come back. Don't forget to download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Of course, you can also support us by joining our Bring the Funk fan club.

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When we invest in ourselves, we all shine. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. Exercise your right to vote. If the lines are long or you're getting turned away, call or text 1-866-OUR-VOTE. For more information, call or text 1-866-OUR-VOTE. We've got to stand up. Republicans are banning abortion rights,

tearing down democracy, blocking progress. But when Democrats stand together, we win. Because we voted, Democrats stood up for black lives, voting to ban police chokeholds, stood up for black women, putting one on the Supreme Court, stood up for our families, lowering cost of health care and prescriptions and capping insulin,

and stood up for millions by slashing student debt. This November, let's stand up together and keep making progress. When we invest in ourselves, our glow, our vision, our vibe, we all shine.

Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture, we're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns. This is a genuine people-powered movement. A lot of stuff that we're not getting, you get it. And you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us. We cannot tell our own story if we can't pay for it. This is about covering us. Invest in black-owned media. Your dollars matter. We don't have to keep asking them to cover our stuff. So please support us in what we do, folks. We want to hit 2,000 people. $50 this month. R raise $100,000. We're behind $100,000, so we want to hit that. Y'all money makes this possible. Checks and money orders go to P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. The Cash App is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is R. Martin Unfiltered.

Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle rmartin unfiltered. Venmo is rm unfiltered. Zelle is rolling at rollinsmartin.com. Hatred on the streets. A horrific scene. A white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. On that soil, you will not replace us. White people are losing their damn minds. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol.

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

There's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. Pull up a chair, take your seat at the Black Table. With me, Dr. Greg Carr, here on the Black Star Network. Every week, we'll take a deeper dive into the world we're living in. Join the conversation only on the 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.

Hi, how's it doing? It's your favorite funny girl, Amanda Seals. Hi, I'm Anthony Brown from Anthony Brown and Group Therapy. What's up, Lana Wells, and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks, welcome back to the Texas Rangers Golf Club, where we're having this GOTV event. It is, of course, five days away. Early voting is still happening here in Texas. And so folks want to encourage folks to turn out and vote here in Tarrant County,

especially in Tarrant County, but voting is happening all across Texas. Joining me now is David Marshall. He is the vice president of Local 6215 in Dallas for the Communication Workers of America. David, how you doing? Good to see you. So first and foremost, tell folks what y'all are doing, you know, on the ground, driving folks to get out and vote. You know, CWA is a labor union representing the communication workers, but y'all are really active when it comes to these campaigns. That's correct. We've been out doing voter registration drives well at the beginning of the year in a lot of the areas that's been overlooked that have been taken for granted and trying to build up our voting

roles. We've also have been doing phone banking, text banking, block walking for, you know, labor-friendly candidates and socially conscious candidates. And so for CWA, it's not been just about, OK, giving money to, you know, parties or whatever. What what what y'all have been doing is and not just here, but elsewhere, really being on the ground, you know, with your own people, touching people, people who people who say no one talks to us. Y'all been talking to them. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We I mean, even during the height of the pandemic, as people were standing in the long lines getting vaccinated, we were out there registering folks to vote. Any chance we could get to to to have a minute to ask somebody their status and and give them an opportunity, opportunity to get ready to to be prepared to vote, we were going to do. You know, especially after this last election, our voting is our power, and we saw how they came for us so hard when they saw the power of that vote, enacting all these different laws to restrict the vote, restrict access, and really make it harder to vote in America

across many states in this country. We felt it was time to step up and let's do what we can to ensure these folks have an opportunity to vote. A lot of people thought, you know, with the Janus decision that unions were going to die. But what we've actually seen has been the reversal. There's been a resurgence of unions in this country. You are seeing individuals. You are seeing folks who have been really focused on, again, joining in. And so we've actually seen that happen.

Right, right. And to be honest with you, in Texas, being a right-to-work state, it's always been that way for us. So Janice's decision really didn't affect us as much. But we've been able to be leaned on by the folks that it do affect to see how we organize how we get folks involved in the process. So we have been instrumental in in how we approach union membership and how we reach those folks that the Janice decision that are that is affecting them tremendously. All right, then.

Well, David, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. I appreciate it, sir. Thank you. Keep doing all the important work, and we appreciate it. All right, thank you. Have a good evening. Thank you so very much.

I appreciate it. Again, folks, what you're seeing, and again, I've been having conversations with CWA folks, not just here in Texas. I was in Houston a couple Sundays ago with a GOTV rally, and you're seeing it happen there. And, Greg, that particular point that I made at the end, people really thought of it. We had Lee Sonozon would ask me.

They would want to be the original partner, Roland Martin Unfiltered, and they really thought Janus was going to be a death knell for unions. But people, because of wage stagnation, people have been seeing the value of unions. And unions have really dramatically seen an increase in membership and people wanting to join unions as a result in the last several years. Absolutely. several years? Well, absolutely. I mean, you know, there's only one way to potentially counter the flood of unrestricted money that is now driving U.S. politics, and that is organizing people. And of course, the unions have always led in there, and not without problems.

Of course, there are all types of problematic issues when it comes to organized labor in this country and goes back to the 19th century. But at the end of the day, when you talk about working folk, when you're talking about people who understand where the rubber meets the road and how policy, as Dr. Daniels was saying, impacts us in our day-to-day lives, you're talking about people who will lay it all on the line. Finally, that mechanism, when you combine that with the fact that we should ignore all of the polling, ignore all of the polling, ignore all

of the polling, except perhaps if you want to use it as a galvanizing weapon, we should understand that what happens on the ground, what happens in terms of knocking on doors and registering people as they stand in lines, that will translate when you combine it with the Get Out the Vote campaign, and nobody does it better than the unions in this country to this day, that will combine to make political victories. And that's what the white NASA party is terrified of. That's why those billionaires that you tweeted out from Americans for Tax Fairness, that's why they've spent, since Citizens United in this election, $881 million and counting,

which in 2010, just before Citizens United, was $32 million. The only way you're going to beat money is with people. County, which in 2010, just before Citizens United, was $32 million. The only way you're going to beat money is with people. And the unions know how to get people. Well, absolutely. And since you said the unions know how to get people, I guess we might as well. That's a good transition to my next guest, Deborah Peoples. She is running for Tarrant County judge.

Last time we were here, you were running for mayor of Fort Worth. And Deborah, the thing that, again, that why we are here and what it comes down to is in order to win, you got to have folks who vote. And so, you know, what did you learn running for mayor that you're now employing, now running for county judge to get folks to understand, especially black folks, you can't keep saying you want something to be done, but then you don't vote for the candidates who could possibly deliver. Absolutely. And so what we learned is you have to have those face-to-face conversations. You've got to get in people's face and talk about what's at stake here.

And I will tell you, when I ran for mayor, just like now, what people talk to me about are kitchen table issues. They talk about jobs. They talk about the economy. They talk about housing and health care. Those are things that are decided here at the local level. Joe Biden's not going to make sure that you get a job here in Tarrant County. He's going to have a jobs package, but it's my job to make sure that it comes here and economic development. And I think you have to talk to people about what's at stake. And that's what we've been doing since I ran for mayor between May and June rolling. We found 13,000 new voters. I lost that race by 5,000 votes. But this time we started immediately having those conversations with people about why it's important.

I wasn't running for anything, but we were going knocking on doors saying, OK, you didn't vote. Tell me why you didn't vote. And the things that they talked about were issues like, well, it doesn't matter. You know, my vote doesn't matter. I said, do you realize how many races are won by 10 and 12 votes? Your vote absolutely matters. And it's the only time in America that you are on equal par with a millionaire. He gets one vote just like you get one vote. And so I believe we've done a good job of having those conversations. And now it's just getting people to the polls. Also, I think it's also a matter of, you know, when we talk about basic, you know, in sports they call it basic blocking and tackling. Absolutely. The reality is you can flood television with ads.

You can flood radio with ads. But a ground game is important. So what does it look like here? Of course, early voting is happening here in Texas. I've looked at some of the numbers. The numbers are not great for African-Americans here in Tarrant County. And so, you know, early voting ends, what, on Saturday? It ends tomorrow. It ends tomorrow. So what are y'all doing? Obviously, get people out for tomorrow early voting, but really getting them to come out on Tuesday.

So, Roland, unfortunately, we've done this thing. So let me tell you first about vote by mail. We have totally disenfranchised our seniors. We have. And so what? No, no, no, not we. Republicans in Texas. Absolutely. By design. You're absolutely right. So only 50 percent of our seniors applied from, there were 44,000 in 2018, only 22,000 now. Wow. They are frightened. It was cut in half. It was cut in half. So we've spent time

talking to those seniors, telling them, asking them, do they need a ride to the polls? Do they need to get there? Because we want them to vote. And believe it or not, it's been working. We've been getting seniors to the polls. And today, I was on on the phone one of the reasons I was late getting here is we run phone banks I mean I believe you meet people where they are we're talking to people I'm asking for their well my parents ran a

lot of phone banks okay then you understand yeah and you know sometimes people want to be asked they want they want to feel you know I had I talked to someone here first they want to hear from. They want to feel. I talked to somebody. They want to hear from somebody. And he said, Ms. Peoples, I already voted for you. But let me tell you, the fact that you call me makes me know doubly sure that I voted for the right person. And so we are reaching out and having those conversations. We are walking, knocking on doors.

I have on tennis shoes today. Folks can't see it because this old left knee. Hey, get a shot. Put that camera on Debra's shoes. This old left knee is tired of going up and down hills, but that's what's important, and that's what you have to do, and that's what we've been doing. You notice it got red in them. Yeah, yeah, okay.

You know why they got red in them. Okay, all right. Whatever. The important thing is people want to be heard, you've got to be willing to listen to people. And you have to be willing to take criticism, the good, the bad, the ugly. There are a lot of people who had checked out on this election. They said, you know, it's the midterms. We voted for the president. We don't feel like things have changed. And I said, you've got to put the right people in place. You have to put somebody who is willing to fight for you, who's not going to be sitting there trying to hold the status quo.

You got to be have you need a fighter. That's why you need me. All right, then. OK, I appreciate it. OK, keep getting out there, beating the path. Where are those tennis shoes? OK, I've already worn out several pairs. All right. I appreciate it. OK, thanks a bunch. Okay, I've already worn out several pairs. Alright, I appreciate it. Okay, thank you. Alright, thanks a bunch. Folks, joining us right now is the Senator from New Jersey, Cory Booker. Senator, how you doing? I'm doing really, really well, thank you very much.

Where's your pocket square, dude? Really? What's up? Seriously, I was just talking about you, man. I was just talking about you and not missing a pocket. I thought you pinned one right on that shirt, man. Come on now. How could you have... talking about you, man. I was just talking about you and not missing a pocket. I thought you pinned one right on that shirt, man. Come on now. How can you have me know that? No, no, no.

I had to rock this T-shirt because this T-shirt says it all. I don't even know why you're interviewing me. I said that to my staff already. That is the best shirt I've seen all election season. I've seen a lot of good ones. Well, look, sometimes you've got to say it, so I'll wear it through the airports so folks know what's going on. I want to pick up on that point that Deborah Peoples ended with, and that is, and I've been highly critical, highly critical of a lot of these Democratic strategists, largely white, who just keep pouring money into television ads and people don't even watch them.

You've got to put that money on the ground. You've got to touch people, the phone banking, the calling, visiting them, door knocking in order to get them out. That is what is going to make the difference between Democrats winning and losing. Hey, Roland, you and I have known each other for years. I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for grassroots on-the-ground efforts at Newark. We know what turns votes out. TV is important. It's necessary in a sense, but it's not sufficient.

Communities of color especially, we trust each other. You've got to go in there with authentic folks on the ground, knocking on doors, calling people, talking to people, and pulling folks out. And that's why a lot of the traditional organizations that work the NAACP is doing, a lot of the voter mobilization efforts, that's what we've got to be supporting in our communities. And, by the way, it's not for you and I to criticize it not happening. If you know that, then you've got to be a part of making it happen. Polls to the polls. Post it on social media, polling folks to poll. We can make a difference in a lot of these places. And Roland, I've been to about a dozen states in twice as many days, and from Milwaukee to Philly, from Detroit to right now, here I am in Vegas. And we know

that this election is going to turn not on what the pollsters say, not even what the politicians say. It's going to turn on what the people do, what the turnout's going to be. And that's why folk got to know that we got to turn folk out. We got to get people to the polls. Indeed, indeed. One of the things that is important, this closing message, President Biden last night talked about the threat to democracy. A lot of people, though, are focused on the economy.

And one of the things that we have heard from numerous conversations, Democrats just have not done the right messaging. Look, y'all have done crazy things in the Senate, in the House as well, when it comes to the economy. Things could be a heck of a lot worse. When you talk about the inflation, the reality is this here. Inflation is at its highest in 40 years, but corporate profits are at their highest in 70 years.

And the reality is, corporations, the reason we're sitting in this issue right now with inflation, not just of course in the United States, because corporations are jacking up prices and they're just making billions. Somebody has to call them out if people say, well, it's Biden's fault and Democrats' fault. No, you got to blame the corporations. But it's worse than that, man. Like, this is the thing I don't think people often understand. We're not the only country experiencing this.

Everybody's experiencing inflation. And so the question is, is when this global pain is happening, who is going to have your back? Well, I'll be very clear with you. Republicans tried to block us when we were trying to lower people's insulin costs. Republicans were trying to block us when we were trying to lower overall health care costs and protect Obamacare. Republicans tried to block us when we wanted to pass the child tax credit, which, if you don't know what that is, it's the biggest middle-class, working-class tax cut we've ever had. We were one vote shy of making it permanent. So there's going to be a recession, not because of what somebody did or didn't do. We got

global challenges. We've got a war in Ukraine. We've got a pandemic. We've got supply chain shockwaves. Every country's seeing that. Who do you want inside that's going to take care of working people, take care of unions, take care of elders? Heck, I'm hearing more and more people openly saying in their party they want to privatize Social Security, which people rely on, especially during a recession. Heck, we just increased eight by eight percent how much people are getting in their Social Security. They're saying openly now they want to cut Medicare and Medicaid, drive up costs for people. We want to make it more lucrative and more strong. So this choice is clear. This is a global recession that's going to, excuse me, global inflation that's going to be passing through. Who's going to watch your back the most? Who's going to be on the side of the corporations and the billionaires? Well, that's what they did last time they were in power,

gave tax breaks to them. And who's going to be on the side of working people, seniors, and our young people? Democrats, because we're the ones that have been putting in place expanded child tax credit and expanded earned income tax credit, fighting with prescription drug companies, letting Medicare negotiate prices and more. So as this challenge goes through the country, we've seen a global pandemic. Now we've got a global inflation. Trust me, the party that's going to have working people's back is the Democratic Party. So to that particular point, you obviously have some critical, critical races where you are. It's a 50 50 Democrats. You've got races in Wisconsin, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, you know, Nevada, New Hampshire, a number of different places. And so what would you say to that person who is watching or listening? And maybe they're undecided.

I personally think it's a lot of undecided people in terms of undecided between candidates. But I think there are people who are undecided as to whether I should vote or not. What do you say to that person? Yeah, that's the, again, Roland, you're a wise man. I, you know, besides the fact that your pocket square lacking today, you're still bringing the truth. The reality is that the challenge is not the people going to vote against us. The challenge is going to be the people who are deciding not to vote. That's going to make the decision because when Democrats vote, Democrats win. Nothing was going to stop Obama

in 2008 or 2012 because everybody was getting out there and voting and it carried in a whole bunch of great candidates and we got big stuff done like the Affordable Care Act. But this election, I'm worried. I'm worried. Not about them, but about us because the opposite of love is not hate,

it's indifference. It's inaction. So what would I say to those folks is, I was one vote shy in the United States Senate, one vote shy of getting the John Lewis Voting Rights Act to be the law of the land. We were about one vote shy of securing Roe v. Wade as the law of the land. We were exactly one vote shy in keeping the child tax credit permanent, which would have put thousands of dollars, no exaggeration, into families of four, families of five, families of six, into your pocket. I'm tired of being one vote shy. This election, we could pick up seats. We could pick up Sherry Beasley in North Carolina. We could pick up

Mandela Barnes in Milwaukee, and excuse me, Wisconsin. We could pick up John Fetterman in Pennsylvania. We could pick up a Val, my sister, your sister, in Florida. We have lots of pickup opportunities from Ohio. Don't forget my brother in Ohio, Tim Ryan. We've got a lot of opportunity here to get that extra vote in the Senate that will enable us to make a lot of change for working people. But we ain't getting those votes. We're not going to win those races if folk don't turn out to vote. This is a great thing we've already always known in America and particularly in the black community. The power is in our hands. The power is in our hands. If we use it, we win. Indeed, indeed. There are critical races there in Nevada.

Not only one of your colleagues is running for the United States Senate. You also have my frat brother, the congressman there who is running for reelection. And then, of course, he's a Kappa, but he's a Texas A&M graduate, Aaron Ford, to be the attorney general of Nevada. And I'm telling everybody, we got to focus on those races down ballot as well. Yeah, I was with Aaron Ford last night. There are such important down ballot races that are going to determine whether the 2024 race is fair or not. Secretaries of state who oversee elections. Supreme Court members who run for Supreme

Court. Every election in this race is important. From your school board when they're more interested in banning books than they are in banning the guns that are killing our kids. I mean, there are so many elections that are so important in this.

The whole ballot is really important. And so folk got to get out. I don't understand. This is such an important election. And they got to vote like their ancestors died for it. Senator Cory Booker, always a pleasure. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

You're taking my voice away, man. Thank you, brother. Cheers to you. All right. I appreciate it. Thanks so much. See you soon. voice away, man. Thank you, brother. Cheers to you. All right. I appreciate it. Thanks so much. See you soon. All right, folks.

I'm going to commercial break. We come back here to the Texas Rangers Golf Club here in Arlington, Texas. I'll be chatting with more folks here. Also, get some thoughts as well from our panel who are still with us as well, Reesey, Erica, and Greg. Folks, you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Back in a moment. When we invest in ourselves, we all shine.

Together, we are black beyond measure. Know your rights before you vote. If you have any questions or a problem voting, call or text 1-866-OUR-VOTE. For more information, call or text 1-866-OUR-VOTE. We've got to stand up. Republicans are banning abortion rights, tearing down democracy, blocking progress.

But when Democrats stand together, we win. Because we voted, Democrats stood up for black lives, voting to ban police chokeholds, stood up for black women, putting one on the Supreme Court, stood up for our families, lowering cost of health care and prescriptions and capping insulin, and stood up for millions by slashing student debt.

This November, let's stand up together and keep making progress. When we invest in ourselves, we're investing in what's next for all of us. Growing. Creating. Making moves. That move us all forward. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure.

Hi, I'm Vivian Green. Hi, I'm Wendell Pierce, actor and author of The Wind in the Reeds. Hey, yo, peace world. What's going on? It's the love king of R&B, Raheem Devon, and you're watching Roland Martin, Unfiltered. Folks, welcome back to the Texas Rangers Golf Club

here in Arlington, Texas, where we are here. There are a number of folks who are already here, gathered here at this GOTV event. You've heard us talking to several of the folks as well. Recy, Greg, and Erica. Recy, I'll start with you. Again, what Senator Cory Booker just said right there, he laid it all out. All the people out there who keep saying they ain't done this, they ain't done that. He laid out, if we had one vote,

we'd have got the earned income child tax credit. If we had one vote, we'd have passed Roe v. Wade. If we had one vote, we'd have the John Lewis Act and the For the People Act and on and on and on. And that's the thing that people also make a distinction. They say, well, Democrats ain't done this. Well, first of all, Democrats have passed a ton of stuff in the House, but it dies in the Senate because they didn't have the votes. Right. I think he's generous in saying one vote as opposed to two, but okay, maybe it's just one more vote. But I think that's a simple message. I'm sorry. And I think that, that would have been probably a pretty easy galvanizing force if they had kind of

really emphasized that throughout the election. Some of them did at some point. But I think that the reality is that they need more votes in the Senate. And the other reality is that Republicans have blocked everything. And so it's really unfortunate that the Republicans have an unearned reputation of being strong on financial issues, on economic issues, and Democrats are, you know, stronger on social issues, when the reality is all that Republicans have are the social warfare, the class warfare, the race warfare, the homophobic warfare. All they have is the social. That's the only thing keeping them alive and afloat in this country.

And so people who have this really wrongheaded notion of, well, you know, inflation's high, the economy's high, Republicans are good for business, they're not. Because Republicans are the one that handed trillions of dollars in deficit spending to rich people for tax cuts. I got screwed by the Trump tax scam. Let's just be clear about that. And now they want to talk about the deficit needing to be reduced, which, by the way, the deficit has been going down under the Biden-Harris administration. But when they say cut the deficit, they mean cut your benefits, cut your government services. They don't mean cut the tax cuts to the wealthy people. They don't mean tax the wealthy. And so, Democrats have a very

affirmative message of accomplishments to run on, but the reality is that more can be done with just a couple more votes. And I have to say one more thing that couldn't be more stark of how much we can really get done if we

get those votes in the Senate and we hold on to the House. I mean, we're talking about the whole buffet of things that haven't been able to get through the filibuster. If we get enough votes, the senators, almost all the Senate candidates that I can think of that are running to beat Democrat Republicans are forced scrapping the filibuster. So there is a whole buffet of things, real priorities that we want to see done that can get done. And on the other hand, we're looking at government shutdowns. We're looking at Republicans trying to strip away our entitlements because it's coming out

of our paychecks every two weeks, one week, one month, however often you get paid. So there's a real, real choice in this election on which direction that you want the country to go in. Sorry, I just got to squeeze one more thing. I don't understand either how people at the state level have Republican governors and say everything is all bad at the federal level, but you want to hold

on to your Republican governors. Your Republican governors ain't shit. They part of the problem. They're the ones that's blocking the egg getting to you. So come on, make it make sense. If you're going to want to throw out the whole bums, then throw out the Republicans too. You know, here's what

I find to be interesting. Here's what I find to be interesting, Erica. I got somebody who's on my YouTube channel, some Fred Farley. Democrats offer to non-immigrant Blacks in America are not specific enough. These people continue to insist that somehow they can pass very specific things only for black people.

None of these people paid any attention in government class. And I get more of these yahoos on my social media who actually believe that, well, no, it has to be specific. I even responded to somebody who said that the student loan debt relief would disproportionately impact African-American students. This fool said, but it's not specific to us. And I'm sitting there going, you know what, y'all just looking for BS. I mean, it's like literally they cannot – Congress cannot say we are going to pass this housing bill, and it is only going to go to black people. It don't work that way. But these yahoos, in their minds, oh yeah, it has to be specific.

Bye, Ashy. Bye, reading comprehension skills. Bye. This is the kind of stuff that we're talking about. These are people that only engage the internet to find something to be miserable about, to find some really silly, disinforming, misinforming talking point to parrot. These are people that take and channel all of their anger and they meet their best friend, the internet, and they go down that rabbit hole. So those are the people that you're pretty much describing. But one of the things that I really want to

warn people, and so I've seen and read where people have said, well, every election seems to be the election of our lifetime and every election seems to be the most important. Well, you're damn straight it is. It will be the most important election until weman would be assuming the White House position. issues that they had no input in because they abdicated the one thing that they could have done to actually shift things into a much more favorable position, which is having Democrats in power, both in the House and in the Senate. So I don't know what else needs to be fed to people for them to make sure that if they don't get an opportunity to early vote, that they do vote. Because everything I know for at least on this platform that has been said since 2018, we've slowly seen some of those things that have come to fruition. And so for everything that we have said on a Monday through a Friday, weekends,

you know, when it's real good, that people hopefully won't wake up and see a lot of what we said happen, which is that this country is going to be in an apartheid state. And they've made it very, very, when I'm saying they, I'm talking about Republicans, they've made it very clear in newspaper articles, folks can Google it if they want to, about what the plan is for this country. They do not want anyone else in power except for them. That's the plan, point blank and period. And they're doing it day by day, minute by minute. So people have to make sure that they engage in the vote so that, again, they're not looking at this election in the rearview mirror, finding something else to complain and cry about on the internet when it'll be too late. And that's the point right there, Greg, that I tell the people. You better

understand. You can sit here and yell, holler. I want to hear specifics. I'm telling you, you don't know how politics works. I mean, you cannot pass a bill that says this is only going to go to this group. Congress did that with the minority farmers. And what happened? White folks sued and it's been held up in the courts. Why?

Because they said it's only for them and not for white farmers as well. But again, these yahoos, these YouTube political scientists, they got all these black folks running around repeating their nonsense, and I'm sitting there going, it's like, y'all have no idea what the hell y'all talking about. None. None. Well, that's why they're being

platformed. I mean, we know that in this country, people don't start paying attention until right before the election cycle. That's why we're being inundated with all this weaponized ignorance. I don't start paying attention until right before the election cycle. That's why we're being inundated with all this weaponized ignorance. I don't even know if there is a Fred Farley, that maybe somebody coming in to try to distract. Just thinking about Dr. Daniels, something that he spent Wednesday night at Howard Law School with my race, law, and change students.

I wanted him to talk to them because, you know, Ron Daniels has been active since the late 50s. He just turned 80. And I wanted to talk to them about Gary, 1972, and the Black Political Convention. And what he stressed that night was that what he stressed here today, black issues should drive our agenda. But that doesn't mean that black issues don't also help the poor and help other people. You know, I'm saying this as a Pan-Africanist, as a black internationalist.

Race first for me. And race first means that some white person will get their teeth fixed in Georgia and call me the N-word. But guess what? My issue isn't trying to convince them of anything. My issue is getting our people out because it's going to help our people. Now, let's just look at it very basically. As I said, 8 of the 12 states that have an expanded Medicaid are in the old Confederacy. And now six states with Republican governors have expanded Medicaid. And there's an initiative in South Dakota, Amendment D, that they put on the ballot. Why?

Because the white nationalist governors don't want to expand Medicaid because the billionaires who own them and the criminals like the ghoulish Rick Scott out of Florida, which has an expanded Medicaid fee of $300 million, are going to get rich. See, the rich people are driving the white nationalists to help them become more rich. They don't give a damn about those people. But these people, even white people with Republican governors, are voting to expand Medicaid to get past their white nationalist governors. Now, how does that affect us in terms of black issues? Guess what? Go back and understand the Rainbow Coalition with Reverend Jackson. Go back and understand where he got that from, which was Fred Hampton and the young lords, the Latinos in Chicago, and the young patriots, which were the

poor whites in Chicago. You ain't got to like everybody to advance your agenda. And guess what? It's going to help a lot of other people, too. I'll end with this. As you say, this is ground warfare, and it's incremental. We can count. They didn't deliver. First of all, you haven't done any research. We've established that. But second of all, if you understand that two or three more seats in the Senate will get you all this other stuff, then stop dealing with it. They didn't do it. They didn't do it. They didn't do it.

And the other thing is, you know, listening to Cory Booker there and for this person, if it's Farley talking about native-born black Americans, okay, I'm going to wrap with this right here. There's a native-born African born in America whose parents came here from Nigeria. She clerked for, she was an intern for Senator Booker this summer. One of my best students I've ever had, Kosey Anelli. She's from Colleen, Texas. Now, she's a born Indian the United States Texan whose people came here from West Africa. And if you don't have black elected officials, you don't even have a pipeline for developing the type of policymakers that child give her a whole heart for the race.

And guess what? If you would rather have white nationalists putting their ignorant children in places to write policy against you, if you want to have them three people from Mothers for Liberty destroying the damn curriculum because they're running for school board now and state superintendent of education, then concede that. And when they come for you, don't expect me, a black nationalist, to bump for you. Guess what? Yon, yon, baby, because you have decided that you're going to put your ignorance before the interests of our people. And just because it helps other people should not be a reason

that you sit out because you're going to commit suicide and them white nazis who die with you are just going to be a whole bunch of dead human beings. Damn it. Bring in right now Lee Merritt. He's an attorney uh he also ran uh during the uh democratic primary for texas attorney general he's here uh at the event here lee glad to see you

uh one of the things that we uh have been talking about uh is again trying to get people to understand that you can't say you care about all of these issues, but then you don't vote. You can't say, oh, we want to see criminal justice reform and act as if the votes are not there to get the Georgia Florida Justice Act passed in the Senate, but then say, I'm not going to vote. I mean, again, whining about something and not voting gets you nothing. That's right. And I think the common mistake, the common argument that I hear from people who are not voters, they say, well, voting doesn't matter, it doesn't impact.

It's like, okay. But they want to see a policy change. We can agree on the common ground that you can't only vote, and you can't only vote in the national elections. But voting is a huge part of it. If you actually expect to get get anything. But the thing is, what I keep saying is you can't say I want to see a policy change, but not change the politician. That's right. The root word of both is poly. That's right. Right. And, you know, you and I have talked about some of the families that

I represent, some of the cases that we that that I've come to represent. And a lot of people say both of them or Ahmad or any of those cases, they say, well, how's voting going to change the outcome in that case? And like I said, voting has to be a key part of it, but it can't be the only thing. But then again, of course, if you want to see long-term systemic change, you have to not only vote for a politician, but then hold them accountable to the policy. Well, here's a perfect example. I mean, we are here in Tarrant County, which is where Fort Worth is. We're here in Arlington. And if you think about Crystal Mason, if you don't have the punk ass district attorney.

That's right. Who keeps prosecuting her, then she's not being threatened going to jail. That's right. That's right. If you don't have John Cruz as the DA in Dallas, well, certain things don't happen when it comes to prosecuting cops. Yeah, Bolton's killer walk. So to say, again, voting doesn't matter, that's a perfect example of what happens

when you put DAs in place who are more than likely going to be aligned with how we think and how we operate. And that's the other thing I really wanted to emphasize for people who are voting in this midterm election is that there's so many races down ballot that will change, you know, the what day to day life looks like in Tarrant County. You know, here we have two Tarrant County candidates, Deborah Peoples, who's running for Tarrant County judge. And after COVID and we saw how powerful those county judges are.

And the county judge who was the judge over the whole county. The whole county, right? Billions of dollars. Completely changed the culture. And I'm glad you mentioned the money because so many young black men specifically come to me and say, well, it's not going to impact my pockets. Yes, sir, it will. When you think about redlining, when you think about the commissioner's court and where the money,

who gets the grants, who gets those things, it all comes to these local elections, the commissioner races, the counting judges, and people are only looking, I mean, if we're lucky, they get excited about the Senate, but mostly they're only looking at the presidential race, and that's just not enough. Right, and so I think that's one of the reasons why this event is taking place. Again, trying to encourage people. It's one more day left for early voting here in Texas. And the reality is, and I saw this story the other day, and I keep saying this, here in Texas, whites are the minority in Texas. That's right. Latinos, African-Americans, and Asians represent a majority of the population of Texas, yet 60% of all the ballots cast in

Texas are by white voters. That's right. So they're the minority, but they're casting the majority of the ballots. They vote outside of their weight, and as a result, they get to run these far-right policies that don't reflect the population of Texas. Texas has changed so dramatically over the last 10 years. I got here in the last 10 years. The population has grown over 20% in that time. And it's mostly progressively minded individuals.

We need those people to show up to the polls and we need the base that exists here. This is the reason I ran for attorney general is because when I looked at the raw numbers, I said, oh, I'm not just running for fun. We can actually win this. And that race is still very important. We have a criminal, Ken Paxton, in the attorney general's office. You have Rochelle Garza running for attorney. Is he indicted? An indicted criminal. Been indicted for the last five years. What the hell is taking so long? If you've been indicted for five years, can we go to court? We start talking about local judges. So that's in Collin County, which is a conservative area of DFW. And his friends are the ones who are delaying that case indefinitely.

And so until we change those leaders, and the Collin County DA is up for reelection at this point. So, again, it goes back to what you emphasized earlier, how important it is to vote and vote in these local races. All right, Lee, we still appreciate it, man. Thanks a lot. Appreciate you, bro. All right, thanks a bunch. Folks, again, we try, and we're walking through this trying to get people to understand why these things matter. Joining us right now is Elisa Simmons.

She's also running for Tarrant County Commissioner's Court. Elisa, come on. Come on. That's right. We live. You got to move. Get a microphone right there. How are you doing?

Good. How are you? Good. Good. One of the things we were talking about, we were just discussing with Lee, I had Senator Cory Booker on earlier, and the thing we kept talking about was down ballot. And what often happens when it comes to elections, again, it's always big numbers high, but then as you go down, numbers get lower and lower and lower, when the reality is the people

who are running lower and lower and lower have a more direct impact on folks' lives than the folks at the top. That's right. It's funny. I was a little late because the polls are super crowded. The lines here are long. And so people are coming to vote for Beto or Abbott, right? And so it's easier for me at the polls to get votes. I said, hey, I'm Alisa Simmons running for Tarrant County Commissioner.

And they go, what's that do? They don't know. And so if you explain it to them. Except when they're driving on a bad road. Yes. In the county. And they're like, why is this bumpy-ass road? County roads.

That's right. Or the sand trucks hadn't quite gotten out when the ice hit. That's county. That's county. I'll have a roads and bridges crew, a whole maintenance crew of 20-something people. So they're looking for somebody to cuss out. Yes. And you're like, okay, that's kind of why you should be voting.

That's right. Because you have access to me. I've been your NAACP president here for 10 years. I've already been NAACP president here for 10 years. I've already been fighting for you. And county commissioner, county commissioner's court takes care of, they approve all the county's contracts. So when you have a commissioner's court that is equitable, balanced, then more of our businesses have the opportunity to get work with the county. So lots of things that people need to be concerned about in their own footprint.

Don't worry so much about what's happening nationally. Vote down the ballot from bed-toe to the bottom is what I like to say. I've seen the numbers, and again, the black number should be a heck of a lot better in Tarrant County. And so, sure, early voting ends tomorrow. What is your strategy between now and Tuesday to get black folks in Tarrant County to turn out? People do not understand the importance of a ground game. And so what my campaign has been doing, thank goodness we got the endorsement of TOP, Black TOP, Texas Organizing Project, United Fort Worth, the Labor Council. So those organizations have been canvassing, going door

to door for nine, ten weeks now. So canvassing, having paid poll greeters and volunteers at the door, and phone calling and texting. Phone banking and texting. Those are the things you've got to touch people. I'm not a big mail fanatic. I mean, that is, you know, texting does it for people. Not a big TV fanatic. Touching people, that does it.

So that's what we've been doing. Okay. All right. Well, look, you got a busy day tomorrow and, of course, busy next four days. We certainly appreciate it. Good luck. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. We're going to be chatting in a little moment here. State Representative Jasmine Crockett is also running for Congress. Do I have one more break? Control room, do I have one more break? I think I do. So y'all let me know.

And just send me a text and let me know. So let's do this here. I'm going to go to a quick break. I'm going to come right back. And then I'm going to get final thoughts from my panel. Then I'm going to do a couple more interviews here at the Texas Rangers Golf Club here in Arlington, Texas, where y'all can see the folks. Ivy, do this here.

Turn that camera around. You're going to see some people who are here. So they got free food, free drink. Again, this is the last night before early voting ends tomorrow. And so they brought us down here to galvanize folks. We're going to be in Houston, Texas tomorrow, broadcasting there as well. You're watching Roland Martin in Houston, Texas tomorrow, broadcasting there as well. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered

right here on the Black Star Network. When we invest in ourselves, our glow, our vision, our vibe, we all shine. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. Our vision. Our vibe. We all shine. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure.

Know your voting rights. If you are unsure where to vote or don't know if your polling location has changed, call or text 1-866-OUR-VOTE. For more information, call or text 1-866-OUR-VOTE. When we invest in ourselves, we all shine. Together, we are Black beyond measure. We've got to stand up. Republicans are banning abortion rights,

tearing down democracy, blocking progress. But when Democrats stand together, we win. Because we voted, Democrats stood up for Black lives, voting to ban police chokeholds, stood up for Black women, putting one on the Supreme Court, stood up for black lives, voting to ban police chokeholds, stood up for black women, putting one on the Supreme Court, stood up for our families, lowering cost of health care and prescriptions and capping insulin, and stood up for millions by slashing student debt. This November, let's stand up together and keep making progress.

I'm Angie Stone. Hi, I'm Teresa Griffin. Oh, Roland. Hey, Roland. Oh, God! Hey, Roland. I am so disappointed that you are not here, first of all. Where's our dance? It's like we get a dance in every time I see you.

And so now you're not here for me to dance with, sir. You and your ascot. I need it. I need that in my life right now. OK. I love you, Roland. What's up? I'm Lance Gross, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered.

We're live here in Arlington, Texas. Glad to be back. In a moment, I'll be chatting with State Representative Jasmine Crockett, who's also running for Congress to replace Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson. And so I'm looking to chat with her once she gets here. I was talking to the candidates there, and I'm going to go to our panel here because here's the thing that I'm talking about.

All right, first of all, I got to roll mic. here's the thing uh that i'm talking about all right first of all i got the wrong mic that's the that's the guest mic here's here's the thing that you just you heard from all the folks who were just talking the thing that you heard them speaking about uh and that is the folk who have a direct impact on individuals' lives. And so there are people there, people at RISI, who they lump everybody together. And, again, as I was sitting there voting today, and I asked for an actual ballot to be mailed to me, had not gotten to me when I decided to fly here, did a provisional ballot to actually do that. And so what I did there was, what I did there, I even watched that court.

So there you go. So what I did there was I went through and I'm sitting here and I'm going through and I see, you know, Beto, hell yes, I voted for Beto. I know when the hell I was voting for Greg Abbott. And then I'm looking at the Secretary of State. I'm looking at Attorney General. I'm looking at Attorney General. I'm looking at Land Commissioner, Railroad Commissioner. And then we start going down.

But the thing is, that was a bond election. It's a bond election to increase the taxes in the school district to improve the schools. That's also on the ballot. And that's the thing right there, Recy, that for the people who are sitting out there who are, you know, for whatever reason, I don't care about this here, you can't say you want better schools,

but then you don't vote for the bond election. You can't say, oh, it would be great if we could do a mass incarceration. If you're ignoring John Cruz, a Democrat running against Faith Johnson, a sister Republican who's a former DA, that impacts the cases they prosecute, that impacts bail reform. And so that's the thing here. I'm not, we're not just talking about Washington, D.C. We're literally talking about the bread and butter issues. And if you want to sit it out, again, shut the hell up. That means that you actually don't care about your community because that's where it's most impacted. And then I saw somebody say, well, if they put reparations on the ballot,

fool, you can't get reparations unless the politicians vote for it. Risha, go ahead. I mean, if you don't care, just say that. Don't waste anybody's time. Just be like, I'm not voting, I'm never voting, kiss my ass, and then we can say, well, you can kiss our ass, too, and then we can move on to a person who can actually be

reasoned with. Because the reality is that when you look at the ballot, there are constitutional amendments. Slavery is on the ballot in, I believe, 13 states. You have constitutional amendments about our even ballot initiatives about legalizing marijuana. If your concern is about criminal justice reform, there are all kind of, you know, ballot initiatives about that. In Florida, they allowed felons to get the rights to restore to vote, which Ron DeSantis essentially blocked by implementing a felon poll tax of sorts. And so every kind of facet of how you can influence your government in one sitting, just one time every couple of years, is on that ballot. And

you need to be engaged in that. There are some people that just go, like, for instance, they vote in presidential elections and they leave the rest of it blank. Don't leave your ballots blank. Pay attention to the judges. Pay attention to the sheriffs. Pay attention to the damn recorder of the wheels and shit like that on your ballot. It's all kind of stuff on your ballot. The education board.

If you pay attention to what's happening there, really, you should have been paying attention in the primaries. So then now when you go on to this time, it should be easier to vote because you didn't already voted for the attention in the primaries so then now when you go on to this time it should be easier to vote because you're not already voted for the people in the primaries but you really have to be engaged and if you're not you may more work for yourself because the reality is that these folks need to be held accountable

I've said it before on the show many times I'm married to a local elected official and there are five commissioners and they have a lot of power over how things are done in our town. And they're very much engaged. I think my husband is the best one, obviously, on the commission. But he really, truly cares. And it's a thankless job. I would never want to run for office. So I do applaud people who are doing it for the right reasons and are in there making a change. But these are the people that have their ear to the ground. And so engage yourself at the ballot

box at a minimum and then go to your school board meetings, go to your council meetings. A lot of them are on Zoom. You ain't even got to leave your house. You can do it in the car. That's what you need to do if you truly care about democracy. Recy, I certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Erica, I'm laughing at some fool named Poochie something. He put on our message board, I voted

but I'm not rocking with the boule. First of all, Poochie, let me explain something to you. You can't apply to the boule so they likely ain't rocking with you and in fact

they actually vote on you and then tell you you've been invited Poochie go ahead Erica Laura I'm excited. Poochie, go ahead, Erica. Laura, Poochie and Frank, just on the Internet having a ball today. Honestly, I think, you know, the point about going to the Secretary of State's website, entering in whatever information so that you could have a look at your sample ballot. So all the work that Recy just described to you before,

you'll have a little leg up on it. If that is available for you, you'll have it available. And when you look at it, I mean, honestly, this is not something that we have to do every day. I've said this on the show before, you know, all of us have traveled internationally and, you know, keep our eyes to international news as well. It's just as that

indictment when, because there are global, you know, political, there's global political unrest happening. But when we just look to see that there are more people that know about what's happening with the politics dealing with our particular country, and in some instances on our state legislature, they know that as well, that it really is an indictment that we cannot continue to just relax as democracy continues to be broken down. You know, Ralph Ellison said something, and I think about it very often when he talks about there are few things in the world that are really more dangerous than sleepwalkers. So, you know, the community of people that continue to parrot talking points that don't see the advantage of being engaged in local politics

are going to be losers doubly because there's going to be this almost bubble burst and if I can't believe that it happened and then having to deal with the reality of what has happened in terms of Republican control, if that's what happened. So people have to get engaged. It is a part of the responsibility of being a human. It's a part of the responsibility of being a community. And if every election is the most important election, well, just damn it, roll your sleeves up and go do that job and then go home. I want you all to pull up the control room, get that Obama clip ready. And I want to play this before I go to Greg. And Greg was going to have the final comment.

Today, there was a rally in Arizona and President Biden spoke. By the way, Kyrsten Sinema, her trifling ass, did not attend the rally. She probably would have got booed anyway. And in a minute and 31 seconds, Obama lays out clearly what's happening here. We've got more than 350 election deniers who are running for office. This is what he said today. Arizonans who are just regular folks, Republicans, ask yourself, that's the guy you want in charge of your elections? Somebody who was part of an insurrection and thinks it's okay for armed people to stand to intimidate folks next to ballot boxes?

That's how America's democracy is supposed to work? I don't—doesn't that override party labels? And Arizona, let's be honest with each other for a second. I know folks out there, including Republicans, may be thinking there's no way somebody like that's actually going to get elected. You may think that's too extreme for Arizona, but we've seen folks can win if we don't do our part. And if you've got election deniers serving as your governor, as your senator, as your secretary of state, as your attorney general, then democracy as we know it may not survive in Arizona. That's not an exaggeration. That is a fact. And that should transcend party labels.

The thing here, Greg, this is very simple. And this is to every black person who's out there BSing and listening to all these fools. These individuals, as Obama laid out, if they get into office, there ain't a damn thing black folks want or desire that they are going to support.

They will gut it all. Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, it's no surprise that Kristen Sinema, who is a wholly-owned subsidiary of her billionaire masters, wasn't there. We look at Arizona, where there's a very close race for the United States Senate. And a lot of those folks who are running Democrat are trying to run on local issues and bread-and-butter issues, and they're trying to stay out of this national conversation. But the simple fact of the matter is, the United States, which isn't a nation, but a

country full of a lot of different interests, the only national identity that this country has ever come close to having is white nationalism. And that is what the white nationalist party, the Republican Party, is running on. And you look at the state houses of the 19 governor, Republican candidates for governor, the number one issue they're running on is school choice, then parental rights and then safety, then critical race theory, then restricting trans students. All of that, in other words, they're running on fear. They're running on ginning up this white nationalist identity.

Now, in contrast, the Democratic Party candidates for governor, their number one issue is increasing public school funding, followed by raising teacher pay, followed by mental health for students, followed by addressing the teacher shortages. Now, let's just contrast those two things. Now, unfortunately, the 44th president of the United States, President Obama, is the problem. Why? He could have literally, by adopting what used to be a Republican plan out of Massachusetts called Romney Care, expanded far beyond the health care, expanded protections even wider, had it not been for the Supreme Court who 10 years ago blocked the force in the states to expand Medicaid.

But I'm sorry to say that the reason I say he's the problem is because it doesn't matter what comes out of his mouth. It could have been Franklin Roosevelt. He's black. And that is the unifying message of the white nationalist party against the blacks. And so local elections, as you've been

talking about, at the statehouse level, you've got an organized gang called the white, I call it white nationalist party who don't have to campaign door to door. The only way you're going to beat those people is to turn at your people by paying attention,

organizing, get out door-to-door, and guess what? The time for all of that is just about over. It's going to be about turnout. And as you say, Roland, I mean, if you want to see what happens next, Erica, you said it, sis, if you want to see what happens next, you wake up next Wednesday morning.

And then, you know, when we're over at Howard having this conversation, it's going to be a very different kind of conversation that we're going to have to have, because that conversation is going to have to come down to how we're going to protect ourselves from the replay of the redemption era after reconstruction in the United States. Look, folks, as Greg has laid out there, there is history here. There is history here. And see, I'm not going to go back to the 1800s. I'm not going to go back to the 1920s and 30s, 40s and 50s, 60s and 70s. I'm gonna go go back to 2010. 2008, folks were excited. Obama, 44th president of the United States. Inauguration, January 2009. What happens November 2010? The very coalition that elected Obama president doesn't show up. November 2010. Who was enthusiastic? Tea Party.

Who was excited? Who was pissed off? Who was angry? The Republicans. What ended up happening? Democrats lose significant seats. They lose the House. They lose the House. They lose the Senate. They'd already lost the Massachusetts seat of the deceased Senator Ted Kennedy. Scott Brown wins that seat.

And so what do Republicans do? Let me remind everybody who's watching me, what do Republicans do when they win state legislatures? And let me say it again, folks. They did not just win the House. They won state legislatures. They were split. Democrats control one. they control the other. They win both. They win governor's mansions.

And what do they then begin to do? They begin to say absolutely not to Medicaid expansion after the Affordable Care Act had been passed. They begin to put into place voter ID laws. They begin to cut polling locations. That led to massive lines. They begin to file lawsuits against various voting laws across the country. They then begin to target college campuses, removing early voting locations from those college campuses. Then begin to target education. Then they begin to attack multiculturalism. That later morphs into critical race theory.

And so everything that you have seen Republicans do over the past 12 years emanated from the election of Obama, his inauguration, and then them getting the keyword control in the November midterm elections. So I'm not going to go back a long way. You can think back 12 years ago to how the politics in this country changed when a black man was sitting in the Oval Office. I didn't say the politics in Washington, D.C., the politics of America, the politics in D.C., in state capitals, in counties, in cities. It all began to change and shift because of the 2010 midterm. So let me give you another hashtag we tried to tell you. If they win Tuesday, if they get control of the House and or the Senate, but especially they have the House and the Senate, they will change laws to guarantee Trump wins in 2024. And not him, DeSantis. What then happens when they now are in control in 2024? What laws are then passed? Here's what's going to happen

if they get control of the House or Senate and they win in 2024. Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas retires to be replaced by a Republican president. To guarantee the conservatives have a 6-3 majority. Remember, Alito and Thomas are both over the age of 70. They will then appoint young white conservatives who are 39, between 39 and 50, to guarantee they're going to be on the Supreme Court for the next 30 years. That means I'll be 54 in 11 days. That means they will be in control of a Supreme Court when I am into my 80s. Environmental laws, civil rights laws, affirmative action.

I can just run the down line, folks. All of those things are going to happen. So if y'all think I'm joking, if y'all saying, there only go trying to scare us, there he go fear-mongering. Oh, and let me go ahead and say, y'all can go to that little reparations rally on, say, November 5th. Y'all ain't getting nothing, not even H.R. 40, if they control the House and the Senate. Zero. You ain't getting H.R. 39, 40, 41, 42, 45. You can rewrite it all day. You can have Darity.

You can have Yvette, Antonio. They can do whatever they want. You will get nothing. Because not one Republican even remotely supports reparations. Then what y'all going to tweet about? Oh, and lastly, you ain't getting nothing black specific. But by all means, don't vote and see what happens.

If you're white, black, Latino, Asian, African-American, if you're progressive, if you actually care about the future of America for your children, you better defeat every single MAGA-loving Republican who's on the ballot. Sir. Because they don't have any love for us.

And vote like your ancestors died for it. Zoom it out. Zoom it out. Amen. I wore the shirt for a reason. That's it, Greg. I appreciate it. Erica, I appreciate it. Tomorrow, folks, we're going to be live from Houston.

He got this fool, Rob Morrow, hashtag Roland hates reparations. Now, Rob, I'm just not dumb like you. I understand politics. And you can't get nothing unless the politicians vote for it. Which means that the politicians who want to return your phone call win. You ain't getting nothing, Rob. All you're going to get is some linen out their pocket. Download the Black Star Network app,

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Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Get your copy of my book, White Fear, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds. And here I'm about to shut the show down. And Jasmine brings... Hi. Really? What you want? You decide to finally show up?

I'm literally about to end the show. Come on, get over here. I'm about to end the show, like, literally grab the microphone. Like, I'm about to shut it down. They were like, she gonna be in five minutes, then there's five more minutes, there's five minutes. Then it's five more minutes. There's five more minutes. There's five more minutes.

But y'all know the struggle of trying to raise money, right? Y'all know what it's like. Election day is on Tuesday. So I have my fundraiser. But you know, I would never miss out on my brother. How about the end of the show? And the hazing that you're going to try to deliver on me. The hazing has already started.

Y'all know how Rowling is. She was at the beauty salon. They ran along. I wasn't. She was getting her hair did. These are fresh braids. They're from yesterday. Yesterday, though. You just left the shop.

All right. Give us a sense. I've been looking at numbers. They need to be a lot better here in Tarrant County. No, overall, in the state of Texas, we're struggling. So not just Tarrant County. Our numbers are down. I was trying to figure out why our number's down.

And one of the things that I realized, Roland, was in our last midterm, Trump was in office. And it was a lot of people that said, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. We should have showed up because things went a little wrong. And so, you know, without having that face, people aren't as motivated. But to me. They ain't got the face, but the policy is still there. The policy. And now they have more faces.

You're absolutely right. And that's the thing, though. But we get motivated when I can look at somebody and say, oh, that's the villain. But let me tell you something. These policies are hurting us way worse. I mean, the fact that my predecessor, because I'm claiming it Tuesday, y'all be on the lookout. Your girl is trying to finish this race. But she swore into the Texas House 50 years ago come January. And when she swore in, she swore in with a woman by the name of Sarah Weddington.

Sarah Weddington was one of the attorneys on the Roe v. Wade case because Roe v. Wade came out of Dallas, Texas. And so here it is after serving in public service and giving her all for the last 50 years, when she went in, there was more progress being made back then than what we have right now. And so to me, that should be enough. And the people that don't understand that that's just the beginning. If you think you're safe, maybe because you don't have a uterus, I got news for you. They coming for you, too. So it's a matter of stopping this regression, and that should be the motivator.

But it's not enough. Well, what I'm looking at is, I mean, I don't understand how folks could not be voting in Texas when you got Governor Greg Abbott who let people die because of the grid with the storm. He's done nothing when it comes. Texas has had more mass shootings than any other state. We had Uvalde, El Paso. You had Santa Fe. We can go on and on. He's done nothing.

Nothing. And he can't blame anybody else. Actually, he has done a lot. He's done a lot. A lot of wrong stuff. Done nothing to fix the problem exactly Then you have that idiot Dan Patrick lieutenant governor and so and they keep trying to blame Democrats now Republicans control statewide offices a house and

And so that's been up motivation people say no get those bums out of office. Yeah. Oh and don't forget Paxton We have an attorney general that has been under felony indictment for seven years. Felony indictment. Now, I mean, I don't know about you, but most people, I don't see them sitting there and their case just pending and hanging and no conviction

after seven years. They usually try to lock us up faster rather than later, but nevertheless, you know what? I know that we're disappointed with the numbers, but let me give a few shout-outs specifically to Tarrant County. Tarrant County is the third largest county in the state of Texas. You got Harris County, where Houston is, is number one. Dallas County is number two.

Tarrant County is number three. Tarrant County is actually outvoting Dallas County right now. I've never seen that happen. So while we're not excited about the numbers, Tarrant is number three. Tarrant County is actually outvoting Dallas County right now. I've never seen that happen. So while we're not excited about the numbers, Tarrant is doing something. But let me tell you, it takes us as black folk. We're the ones that have continually had to save democracy and put every single battle on our backs. And so I need us to show up. That's what I need us to do. Because guess what? They always come for us first. We will be the first ones hurting. So I need you to show up, call your mama, call your sister, call your granny, call your auntie. Make sure you show up and you vote, because it is going

to be on us. We are the ones that have the lead in our water. We are the ones that schools are behind. We are the ones that are always getting the least. And so we need to make sure, regardless of what anybody else does, we show up and we make our voices heard. All right. I think that hurt you. They hurt you. They hurt you.

Good to see you. Jasmine, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. All right, then. All right, folks, the band is about to get struck up here. And so we're about to sign off. I appreciate everybody who participated today. I want to thank the Communication Workers for America for bringing us in.

We're going to be in Houston tomorrow. Yo, Trey, where are we at tomorrow? Well, I know that. I know we're in Houston. Oh, we'll be at Yates. Okay. Where am I doing the show from? This is It's Soul Food Cafe?

Where am I doing the show from? All right, Soul Food Cafe? Where am I doing the show from? All right, so if y'all are in H-Town tomorrow, I'll be doing the show from This Is It Soul Food Cafe, 5 to 7, during the show, of course, but we'll also be having our GOTV event. So again, everybody know we're in Houston. This Is It Cafe will be broadcasting live tomorrow from H-Town.

So I'll stay here tonight, and then we'll go on the road to Houston in the morning. Folks, that's it. I'll see y'all tomorrow right here tonight and then we'll go on the road to Houston in the morning. Folks, that's it. I'll see y'all tomorrow right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network live from Texas.

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