#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Cops in George Floyd case appear in court; Remembering 9/11; Fox Sports rebukes Skip Bayless

Episode Date: September 11, 2020

9.11.20 #RolandMartinUnfiltered:Cops in George Floyd case appear in court; Remembering 9/11; Fox Sports rebukes Skip Bayless; Miami Dolphins players will stay inside for both national anthems; New Biden ad hits Donald Trump for excessive TV watching amid COVID-19 pandemic + Everyone counts: #2020Census special Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered #RolandMartinUnfiltered Partners: 2020 Census In America, everyone counts. And the 2020 Census is how that great promise is kept. Respond today online, by phone or by mail and help inform hundreds of billions in funding for education, health programs, and more. Shape your future. Start here at www.2020census.gov. #RolandMartinUnfiltered Partner: Ceek Whether you’re a music enthusiast or an ultra-base lover. CEEK’s newly released headphones hear sound above, below and from multiple directions unlike traditional headphones where users only hear sound from left and right speakers. Be the first to own the world's first 4D, 360 Audio Headphones and mobile VR Headset. Check it out on www.ceek.com and use the promo code RMVIP2020 #RolandMartinUnfiltered is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersilling.org brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English.

I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them.

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Today is Friday, September 11, 2020. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, the four officers accused of the death of George Floyd were in court today.

We'll tell you exactly what happened and the results of the toxicology report. Today marks the 19th anniversary of the Twin Towers bombing. We'll certainly take a look back. Miami Dolphins players say they'll stay inside during both national anthems. They say they are sick and tired of the lip service.

They want to see real action when it comes to social justice. Fox Sports reviews Skip Bayless for his thoughtless comments about Dak Prescott battling depression will also show you the latest Joe Biden ad that targets Donald Trump and later our one hour 2020 census special. Also, the results are in from the Essence Magazine

internal review. We'll tell you what it said. It's time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin Unfiltered. Let's go. Whatever the piss, he's on it Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the find And when it breaks, he's right on time And it's rolling Best belief he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling

It's on go-go-go-yo It's rolling Roro, yo It's Rollin' Martin, yeah Rollin' with Rollin' now He's funky, he's fresh, he's real The best you know, he's Rollin' Martin Martin Martin! The four former police officers who killed George Floyd were in court today. Derek Chauvin, Jay Alexander, King, Thomas Lane, and Tuthow,

who are charged in connection with the death of George Floyd. They were in court for a motion hearing in Minneapolis. Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill presided over a motion hearing that lasted nearly three and a half hours as the attorneys argued over a number of key issues in the case, including whether the trial should be moved out of the county, whether the defendants should be tried in one trial or separately, and how jurors will be selected. Now, he does not yet rule on any of those motions. The family and the attorneys held a news conference after today's hearing. You demand justice for Judge Floyd Jr.

You know, we just sat through a very emotional hearing where people tried to kill George Floyd a second time. They made all kind of foolish allegations talking about he died from a drug overdose. No. Exactly. They're trying to claim the knee on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds had nothing to do with his death. They are trying to say that the knee on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds was reasonable.

Bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit! they are trying to claim some asinine theory about an overdose. I want to be clear about this. The only overdose that killed George Floyd was an overdose of excessive force and racism for the Minnesota Indianapolis Police Department. Also today, the judge has disqualified the DA and three of his attorneys from being involved in the case. This is from the Star Tribune website. What happened today was the judge decided to disqualify District Attorney Mike Freeman and three of his staffers,

calling their work sloppy because they sent prosecutors to question the medical examiner, as he said, making them witnesses in the case. Quote, those four ought to be kept out of this case, period. I think it was sloppy not to have someone present at a meeting with a primary witness in this case. Let's go to our panel today. Derek Holly, president, Reaching America and political analyst. Amisha Cross, political analyst, Democratic strategist. Joseph Williams, senior editor, U.S. News and World Report. Joseph, I want to start with you. When you look at what took place today, you heard Ben Crump there. The lawyers for the four cops suggested that George Floyd swallowed drugs, fentanyl, as he was being arrested. And they say that's what caused his

death, as opposed to the homicide ruling that came from the medical examiner? Well, this is nothing new. I mean, time and again, we've seen prosecutors and rather defense attorneys try to try the victim in this case. It's a strategy that I almost expected from day one because it wasn't the fact that a police officer had brutalized this man and put him face down. It was the fact that something else killed him other than brutality. I mean, we saw it in Eric Garner. We saw it in Trayvon Martin. He was a teenager who smoked drugs, and that was the cause of his death.

But the facts belie exactly what that defense is. The fact of the matter is that George Floyd was alive when he went face down, when cops put him face down on the pavement. The fact is, even if you're assuming that he had ingested some kind of drugs, that does not mean he deserved to die, and it does not mean he had to die. Simple and plain, the officers had no disregard for his life when they put him down in that position, and none of the three other officers stopped him. And it was clear that this was the reason why he died. But again, this is an age-old tactic. It's also designed not only to appeal to a judge, but appeal to potential jurors, because they will have the seed planted in their

mind. Even if they say they can be fair and impartial, they will have just this modicum of doubt that could be enough to get them to either hang as a jury or acquit these officers. It's something that's not new at all and quite honestly should have been expected from day one. And again, what you have here, Amisha, you have the lawyers for the cops saying that George Floyd was a danger to the community. Calling, talking about his past crimes, history of drug use, calling him an ex-con as well. And again, those attorneys said he likely died from fentanyl, not a knee on his neck, as if the knee on his neck for almost 10 minutes did no, served no purpose whatsoever.

You're right, Roland. This is a disgusting justification that, as was previously stated, isn't necessarily surprising because it has happened in case after case when we're talking about Black, Bid, and women dying at the hands of police officers. But the frustrating part here is that police officers aren't trained in many things aside from, you know, how to handle crimes, but they are trained in how to mitigate overdoses. So if the idea was, if we're following along the line of this lie that they're throwing out, that they suspected that he was going to have an overdose, even though he was walking around free and clear and not bothering anybody and didn't look sick at all, you would not have held your knee on his neck. Because if that was the case,

then you would have still exacerbated and caused it. So I am a little bit confused in this case, particularly why that's the piece that they've decided to use. But also considering that the man had been out and he had been about for hours without any case of sickness at all, this is a very interesting path to go down. But I think that to your point a moment ago about the revelation of past crimes or past things he had been accused of, the interesting part about that is anytime a white man in America gets arrested for any reason, we don't go down the litany of his past crimes. We just don't. If a white man is actually in a case of police brutality, because it happens

to white people too, just not at the rate that it does African Americans. We don't go down the litany of what may or may not have been in that person's system or when they may have encouraged the cops before. Because quite frankly, what we do know is that in this case, he encountered the police based on something that day, which to me and to anyone, any thinking individual knows that what he did two years, four years, 10, 15 years prior to that has no bearing whatsoever on his encounter with the police that particular day. And I think that juries need to start paying very close attention to the fact that one, these types of instances only happen when the, when the person lying in the ground is African-American. But on top of that, throughout history, we've seen victims of violent crimes, specifically those that have died at the hands of the police, be treated as the criminals themselves.

And it's high time that we stop that. Derek, look, the reality is this here. There are no perfect individuals. And the reality is if somebody believes that George Floyd was taking drugs, that still doesn't mean you should have someone press on your neck for almost 10 minutes. What this is all about is sowing seeds of doubt. And look, what these cops are looking for, they're looking for one person,

one person on a jury to simply say, I don't believe the prosecution. That's what they're looking for. Yeah, I agree with you. And I think we all saw the video. But I also agree with you guys that this, we shouldn't be surprised by this, because the defense, they have to mount something in order to just even walk into the courtroom and to paint this picture and use his character against him is something that they always do.

But the fact that he was on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds, I think that's going to be very, very difficult to argue in court. The second thing is I thought months ago that the autopsy report had already come out and determined that it was the result of him being on his neck that caused his death and not any type of drugs in the system. Right. And I also recall an interview that even Mayor Giuliani at the time was calling for these officers to be arrested because even he thought that this was what these guys did was a cause

of death and that it was several times where he was on his neck that you heard people say, get off his neck, get off his neck. And that was actually premeditated because you had several times that you thought about what you were doing and never at any point did this guy take his knee off of this man's neck. And so I just find they're going to have a difficult time in trying to find jurors who haven't heard about this. But I don't think they're going to have a difficult time rolling and finding that one juror who will believe the prosecutors. Because after this happened, I had some people call me, some white people.

OK, and they were asking, Derek, where's the body cam? Where's the body cam? Where's the body cam? And so they were already raising questions and doubt then. So I don't think it's going to be that difficult to find one juror who would maybe look at what the prosecutor is saying. All right, folks, let's talk about, of course, the campaign trail. It actually was silent today with the focus on the 19th anniversary of 9-11. Donald Trump and Joe Biden both paid tribute to the nearly 3,000 people killed in the deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history during separate trips to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, a battleground state in the race for president. The two men honored the 40 passengers and crew members who

died after battling hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 93. Senator Kamala Harris, she traveled to Fairfax, Virginia with her husband, Doug Inhofe, to deliver remarks at a remembrance ceremony there. So today we honor those lost in New York, Pennsylvania, and right here in Virginia. We remember the passengers and crew members, the firefighters, law enforcement, peace officers, and military personnel. We remember that they were more than victims of an unspeakable act. They were also parents and sons and daughters and neighbors and friends. And we know that they will never be defined by the story of those who stole them away.

No, they will be defined by their humanity, by their stories, by their laughter that still echoes in the homes and hearts of those who love them. What our attackers failed to understand is that the darkness they hoped would envelop us on 9-11 instead summoned our most radiant and defined human instincts, the instinct to care for one another, to transcend our divisions and see ourselves as fellow citizens, to race toward danger and risk everything to protect each other, the instinct to unite. If we learned anything watching the heroes of 9-11, it's that the strength of the human spirit knows no bounds, and that even the gravest threats against us only serve to reveal our true strength. That our capacity to act with love and courage in the face of immense challenge is what defines

us as Americans. The death toll from the attack continues to rise to this day because those who worked at Ground Zero in the aftermath are dying of a number of related illnesses, including some call it the 9-11 cancer. That's also has been happening there as well. Again, today you also saw Joe Biden. He was there in New York, did cross paths at one point with Vice President Mike Pence. They did greet one another. Thankfully, both of them were actually wearing masks as well. One of the things that Joe Biden did today was he announced that he pulled down all of his

campaign commercials and said there was going to be no campaigning today. This is what he actually had to say when he landed. I'm not sure why we're not seeing it. All right. OK, do you see it now? OK, here we go. I'm not going to make any news today. I'm not going to be making any news today. I'm not going to talk about anything other than 9-11.

We took all our advertising down. It's a solemn day, and that's how we're going to keep it. Okay? You can determine what I may do, but I'm not going to be holding a press conference. All right? It's a solemn day. We took all Cover advertising down. We'll get back to the campaign tomorrow.

Thank you. One of the things that was really interesting, that Donald Trump, when he spoke in Pennsylvania, Derek, he started talking about a couple of the terrorists who had been killed in this administration. They had nothing to do with 9-11. And that struck some people as odd that he would be sitting here I THINK THAT'S A GOOD POINT. I THINK THAT'S A GOOD POINT. I THINK THAT'S A GOOD POINT. I THINK THAT'S A GOOD POINT. I THINK THAT'S A GOOD POINT. I THINK THAT'S A GOOD POINT.

I THINK THAT'S A GOOD POINT. I THINK THAT'S A GOOD POINT. I THINK THAT'S A GOOD POINT. I THINK THAT'S A GOOD POINT. I THINK THAT'S A GOOD POINT. I THINK THAT'S A GOOD POINT. I THINK THAT'S A GOOD POINT. I THINK THAT'S A GOOD POINT. But thank goodness this is a day where you would hope there would not be any campaigning at all. I thought that was very interesting that Joe Biden, what he said coming off the plane,

took down his ads and there would be no campaigning. But at the same time, I feel like with the president, who knows, I can't get in his mind. I don't know what he's thinking. I never try to. But I guess he felt like it was an opportunity to use it as a campaign opportunity on campaign trail. But I do know that 9-11, it was a difficult time. It was a difficult time for me. I know I was at the time working as a national sales manager, Radio One, and I was home that day and living in Fort Washington. I heard the boom and explosion when it hit the Pentagon. I had friends inside of that place. So it's a day that hits me every year.

And so I appreciate people just taking time out today because it is a day that lives in infamy for a lot of people. Let me just let folks talk about the empathy, if you will, of Joe Biden. This is what took place today in New York. I want to get your thoughts on this. Shelby Barry Joseph John Barry William Reed Petkin Janina Petro Timmy T. Betterly Carolyn Mayer Butte Edward Craig Viet He is 90 you never prayed to be a you don't know that mom you're still checking

you're seeing 90. god bless you thank you george Eugene. I told you he was smart. Joshua. David. Burkow. George. John. You didn't say what's on his chest. Chris. Romeo.

Vishal. No. It's one of the things there, Misha, again, we don't, we will never expect to see Donald Trump doing anything like that with a 90-year-old mother who lost her son, showing that level of compassion and care. You're absolutely right. I mean, Joe Biden is a class act, whether he is running for office or not. What we know about him and what we have known about him historically is that Joe Biden does not have an empathy deficit.

He understands what people are going through. He is a very feeling man. He is authentic. When he speaks to people, he speaks to people as if he's known them for years. He draws in on his own emotion. And he also has a, he has a good listening ear. If you're paying attention to that clip, part of it was also he was hearing her story and he was, you know, speaking back to her. He was making her feel as though she was a friend, as though, you know, her life mattered. What she went through mattered. Obviously the sacrifice of losing a loved one mattered.

And I think that for Americans who are looking at 9-11 right now, Americans who may have sons or daughters who are serving in the armed forces today, because we know the war on terror, even though we don't technically say that in the same terms anymore, is still ongoing. There's still a lot of troops serving overseas. Those families are still praying that, you know, a lot of their loved ones return safely. And I think that having somebody like Joe Biden, who has shown time and time again that he cares, that he is capable of showing love, that he is capable of showing the fact that he understands and is a listener and isn't forceful, I think that those are things that he leans on throughout the campaign, but especially on a day like today that is solemn, that means so much to the American population.

That, you know, is a day that he not only pulled campaign ads, but a day that he has spent literally honoring not only those who died at 9-11, but also the first responders, also the people that you spoke of earlier who are still living with the devastating health effects of 9-11. And I think that that says a lot about Joe Biden's character. The thing, Joseph, is that moving forward, when you talk about this campaign, folks, different candidates bring different traits to the table. One of the reasons why Joe Biden is polling so well, especially with older voters, is because of what you saw in that video.

That's absolutely right, Roland. I mean, say what you will about Joe Biden and his policies. He is an amazing retail politician. If we're going to take it away from the individual sphere and talk about it from that aspect, it blows the doors off Donald Trump when he can meet somebody one-on-one and hear what they're having to say versus a president who was talking about his own achievements half the time and is just so remarkably tone deaf on an occasion like today that he's talking about a terrorist who had nothing to do with 9-11. And if you take that and extrapolate it even a little bit further, you see the fact that he hasn't had any empathy during the COVID-19 crisis. And some politicians have remarked, I think it was

Chuck Schumer, have talked about the fact that there has been the equivalent of a 9-11 every week since this crisis has been going on in terms of deaths. And you extrapolate that even further, and you talk about the number of African-Americans who have died from COVID-19. And the fact that we have this empathy gap between our candidates. It should make it a no-brainer. For some reason, it doesn't. Absolutely. All right, folks, let's go to our next story here, and that is last night the NFL returned, and what took place was the players met at midfield with their arms locked in a unity gesture. Fans who were in the stands booed.

The Houston Texans were not there for the national anthem as well as a playing lift every voice and sing. The Miami Dolphins, though, made it perfectly clear how they feel about the NFL putting in racism on the sidelines and things along those lines. They say enough of all this little drama. We want actual action. Folks, watch this video. Is it authentic? That's the mystery.

Or is it just another symbolic victory? Now there's two anthems. Do we kneel? Do we stand? If we could just right our wrongs, we wouldn't need two songs. We don't need another publicity parade. So we'll just stay inside.

Until it's time to play the game. Whatever happened to the funds that were promised? All of a sudden we got a collapsed pocket? The bottom line should not be the net profit. You can't open your heart when it's controlled by your wallet. Decals and patches? Fireworks and trumpets? We're not puppets.

Don't publicize false budgets. Ask the pundits and we shouldn't have a say. If you speak up for change, then I'll shut up and play. If we remain silent, that would just be selfish. Since they don't have a voice, we're speaking up for the helpless. It's not enough to act like you care for the troops. Millions for pregame patriotism. You get paid to salute. Lift every voice and sing. It's just a way to save face. Lose the mask and stop hiding the real game face. So if my dad was a soldier, but the cops killed my brother, do I stand for one anthem and then kneel for the other?

This attempt to unify only creates more divide. So we'll skip the song and dance. And as a team, we'll stay inside. We need changed hearts, not just a response to pressure. Enough, no more fluff and empty gestures. We need owners with influence and pockets bigger than ours. To call up officials. And flex political power.

When education is not determined by where we reside. And we have the means to purchase what the doctor prescribed. And you fight for prison reform and innocent lives. And you repair the communities that were tossed to the side. And you admit you gained from it, and you swallowed your pride. And when greed is not the compass, but love is the guide.

And when the courts don't punish skin color, but punish the crime. Until then, we'll just skip the long production and stay inside. For centuries, we've been trying to make you aware. Either you're in denial, or just simply don't really care. It's not a black-white thing. Or a left-right thing.

Let's clean the whole bird. And stop arguing about which wing. Before the media starts wondering and guessing, they just answered all your questions. We'll just stay inside. before the media starts wondering and guessing, they just answered all your questions. We'll just stay inside. Derek, the players were real clear in that video. Yeah, and I agree with a lot of what they said, Roland,

because I look at what's going on in the NBA right now with the Black Lives Matter on the floor and all the different signs that the coaches are wearing. And do these coaches really feel that? You know what I'm saying? And what is that really going to do? I don't think any more awareness needs to be brought to what the hell is going on because the country is burning. Cities are still burning.

So I hear them on that right there. But then when I go back to back when Colin Kaepernick first started dealing, and you were on TV One, and we started talking about, you know, Derek, can you get this back, get some stuff back to the White House? And I look at those guys because it sounded good. It was rhyming and all that kind of stuff. But at the end of the day, what kind of legislation is going to come out of all of this protest, all these cities burning, all these people being hurt and all that kind of stuff?

What legislation, what type of reform is going to come of it? Because if that doesn't happen, all of this is for nothing. And so that's the question. Come up with the plan. What is it you want? And let's take it to these elected officials. And it just can't be the Congressional Black Caucus. But they are. But the things you're talking about, they are. Their players are doing this in individual cities. The part of the problem that people have to understand here is that this is not just a federal issue. Laws have to be changed on the state level and the local level as well. But

what the what the dolphins are saying here, Joseph, they are saying to the owners who are mostly Republican, hey, step the hell up. They learned that video they said it your pockets are deeper than ours where are you on this use the power of the purse and it is all empty gesture and i have to agree with with with derek on that point that the nba has made a stand it has made it uh acceptable now to do what colin kaepernick did four years ago uh who my i might add still does not have a job in the nfl okay so that's that's reason number one why I believe that the players were very sincere and I believe they outlined a significant agenda here in a way they have not. Number two, staying inside en masse gives mass attention and saying,

listen, we're not falling for the okie-dokie here. We know that you guys can do more than you're doing right now. You are hoping that we'll accept these empty slogans and these empty gestures. What we want from you is to use that mighty pocketbook. I mean, Jerry Jones has a net worth more than many countries. So does half the owners in the NFL. And yet you still have them kind of shuffling their feet and looking down and hoping that this thing will go away if they allow the players to do these things. And if they put lift every voice and sing the Negro National Anthem before every game, that's not enough.

That's not what they're going for. And I believe that in order to get significant attention and in order to get past the gestures, it does have to be a shut it down kind of scenario. There has to be a shut it down kind of scenario. There has to be a strike like the NBA did. That strike was very powerful and it got some legislators back in office. Now, granted, they didn't do anything, but at least they flecked enough muscle to get the Wisconsin state legislature to come back in and at least recognize one of the players demands. And I think until that happens, the NFL is not going to be anywhere near on the same footing as the NBA. And I think that it's going to take much more than a rhyming video, although that's a key and significant start to giving the NFL some feedback about their gestures.

Amisha? Well, we've seen window dressing and we've seen a lot of symbolism from the NFL. And I think that historically speaking, that is what they do. They check off a box to say, okay, it's essentially patting the Negroes on the head and saying, okay, well, we did something, which is a lot to a whole lot of nothing. So I definitely think that this team speaking out and talking about things in the grander scheme, because what we see with a lot of these arguments is that the media happens to, the mainstream media happens to drill everything down to Georgeorge floyd protests what they fail to recognize is that people in the streets following george floyd's death were

there for a litany of reasons not only police brutality but also the crimes that we see in our criminal justice system also the moves for you know the lower funding for black students in black communities also housing crisis there are a lot of issues that are particular to the subjugation of african americans that were brought to the forefront and on a national stage due to those protests that occurred across the nation, but also globally in response to what we saw. I think that having these players step out and say that symbolism is not enough. These are the issues. These are the things that you need to be working on. When are we going to get to that stage? Enforcing their hand because they are extremely powerful.

And I think that players coming together and understanding that their voice matters and saying that we're not going to, this says a lot about them, that they are refusing to step out, refusing to take that moment to honor and say the pledge and do those things that are a typical song and dance for an America that has continually over and over again acted as though African Americans were not a part of it and did not honor our rights. And I think that at this point you see players who are taking hold of their power and are forcing the hand of leadership and saying that you are actually going to have to do something. Symbolism is not enough. We're beyond that point and that we're not going to stay quiet and we're not going to accept these little symbols and be quiet and sit down. And I think that that's a very smart thing for them to do,

especially considering the NFL is predominantly African-American male, and it is high time, again, that they start paying close attention to what's happening in these communities. And these players, black and the white ones in that video as well, are showing that they're not going to stop. This is something that they really want taken seriously, and that leadership is going to have to pay attention. Yesterday, folks, Skip Bayless of Fox Sports made some quite interesting comments where he criticized Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott for admitting that he suffered from depression

earlier this year. He also talked about the suicide of his brother, how all of that came tumbly down on him. Bayless said that essentially, you're the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. You don't say those things. You're a leader. Didn't sit well with Fox Sports. They issued a statement saying it has been addressed. This is their statement. They said they recognize they were proud of Dak Prescott for coming forward.

They also said we do not agree with Skip Bayless's opinion on disputed this morning. We have addressed the significance of this matter with Skip and how his insensitive comments were received by people internally at Fox Sports and our audience. This is what Skip had to say today. I want to reiterate some points I made yesterday on the show about Dak Prescott and the depression he discussed. As I strongly stated, I have great compassion for anyone suffering clinical depression, which is very real. If you are suffering from any form of depression, please seek help. And this is the final point, one I'm told was misconstrued by many. The only Dak depression I addressed on yesterday's show was from an interview he taped with Graham Benzinger. Dak said that depression happened soon after the pandemic hit, early in the quarantine.

I said yesterday that if Dak needed help for pandemic depression, he should have sought counseling then. And again, if you are suffering from any form of depression, please seek help. Amisha, that's trash. That's trash. First of all, his comments were trash. No apology. No apology to Dak. And that's just doubling down. I'm sorry. I think the folks at Fox Sports should sit his

ass down for a few days because, oh, I wasn't talking about that depression. I really meant that depression. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Oh, no, no, no, no. I wasn't talking about the depression

regarding your brother committing suicide. I was really saying that one. And he wasn't saying get treatment. He said he, as the quarterback, as a leader, he should not say anything. That's what he said. And this makes my head explode for several reasons.

So I'm a huge Dak Prescott fan. I was when he was at Mississippi State. I am now. As someone who, we have to remember about Dak's history. Dak lost his mother to colon cancer. He lost his brother to suicide. I lost my mom to colon cancer, and my younger brother died from suicide as well. So when you're talking about depression, you're taking into context that he's had major people in his family, in his direct line, pass away. And he's still able to go out. He's

still able to play. He's still able to, you know, function in society. That does not mean that you do not have depression. It does not mean that depression isn't something that you battle every single day. This is National Suicide Awareness Month. To have Skip Bayless take homage like that and say those hateful comments about him and act as though, you know, one depression matters whereas the other one doesn't and basically assume that because of how much he gets paid, because he's a quarterback, these things eradicate the pain that he is feeling inside. This is one of the reasons why people who have mental health issues stay insular and they don't talk about them.

Because there are people like Skip Bayless who will make fun of you. People like Skip Bayless who will act as though your income level eradicates the fact that you've gone through some really serious trauma. And in America where, you know, black men are always seen as the alphas of everything within our community. They are seen as not having to cry, not showing emotion, not being able to have those levels of feelings because you're always supposed to be big, strong, tough, alpha. To have that type of pressure on you as a consistent basis, as a black man in this country, and to know that you're facing some of these extreme traumas,

it just is devastating and heartbreaking to me to watch Skip Bayless make those comments. And as you pointed out earlier with that video, when given the opportunity to apologize and fall on the sword and talk about, you know, mental health awareness, this jackass decides that now is the time to pick and choose which levels of depression deserve attention and which ones do not. I'm just quite frankly really frustrated and upset and proud of the NFL that were called him out, proud that ESPN called him out. But now I'm looking forward to there being some retribution on their part. He should be made to sit down because there's no forgiving what he said.

Pure trash, pure trash, Joseph. Well, in compare and contrast, 2017, Jamel Hill said Jerry Jones was wrong to make his player stand at the national anthem. Suspended for two weeks, right? Shortly after that, she made some other comments, and she was out at ESPN. I mean, clearly, clearly, he needs to be suspended if we're talking about parity. But I think one of the things you've got to recognize, I mean, the first thought that came to mind when I saw the clip was like, eh, skip Bayless, right? I mean, seriously, we're going to listen to this guy about, you know,

Dak Prescott's mental health. But the further context of that is there are people who do listen to him. And it furthers the narrative about black indestructibility. It furthers the narrative about depression as not being a real illness. It furthers the narrative about black indestructibility. It furthers the narrative about depression as not being a real illness. It furthers the narrative about black players in the NFL not being anything more than employees and hired help for the red, white, and blue plantation. So I absolutely was not surprised to skip Bayless did this. They hired him to be controversial. I am surprised that he was not sat down or even fired for his remarks. I shouldn't be, but I am. And thirdly, I think that it just points out how unequally the system is when you have,

it's also the intersection of the Black Lives Matter thing, when you have Jemele Hill suspended for talking smack about Jerry Jones and the Black Lives Matter protest on Twitter, no less, not on air. She got suspended for two weeks, and not long after that, she was out of ESPN. And you've got this dude talking some stuff that's clearly got racial overtones to it, and he's not even made to apologize, much less suspended or given any kind of reprimand

for this kind of reprehensible remark. It's the NFL and sports in a microcosm, in my opinion. This is the nonsense that we see, Derek, where, oh, a man's man, you don't admit to depression. That's not a leader. You keep it to yourself, which is how people end up committing suicide. Sure. And, man, mental health, I wrote a piece about it a couple of years ago. It's in the Huffington Post. And it's time to address mental health in the black community because it is so taboo

to talk about mental health. And as Misha said, as you just said right there, if you're a black man, you was taught just like I was by my father, you're tough. You can't cry. You can't show no softness and that kind of thing. Well, you know, my father suffered from antidepressant schizophrenia, took his life at the age of 49, shotgun to the abdomen. So I understand the mental health issue. And I was, when Skip Bayless did that right there, I don't give a damn if you were talking about mental health a year ago, today or tomorrow,

the fact that that brother came out and was able to just speak his mind and tell people about it and not being embarrassed about it, I was so proud of him, man, because so many of us can't do that because we fear about what people are going to say about us. And so right now, one in five Americans suffer from mental health. African-Americans are 20 times more likely than our white counterparts to suffer some type of mental health disorder. And then and then suicide is one of the number one fact mental health disorders within the black men, within the black men community, black men, black men. And so if you don't talk about it, man, who knows what will happen?

So I appreciate that coming out. Skip Bayless, he needs his ass kicked and fox need to sit him down for that right there folks gotta go to break we come back we'll talk about essence magazine uh announcing the results of their internal investigation after allegations were made of a toxic workplace that is next on roland martin unfiltered hey everybody this is sherry shepherd you're watching roland martin unfiltered and while he's doing unfiltered i I'm practicing the wobble. Yes, I am. Because Roland Martin is the one, he will do it backwards, he will do it on the side. He messes everybody up when he gets into the wobble.

Because he doesn't know how to do it, so he does it backwards. And it just messes me up every single time. So, I'm working on it. I got it. You got Roland Martin. Hi, my name is Latoya Luckett, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. What's going on, everybody? It's your boy, Mack Wiles, and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. What's up, y'all? It's Ryan Destiny, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. What up, Lana Well, and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered.

As our community comes together to support the fight against racial injustice, I want to take a second to talk about one thing we can do to ensure our voices are heard. Not tomorrow, but now. Have your voices heard in terms of what kind of future we want by taking the 2020 Census today at 2020census.gov? Now, folks, let me help you out. The Census is a count of everyone living in the country. It happens once every 10 years. It is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. The thing that's important is that the census informs funding,

billions of dollars, how they are spent in our communities every single year. I grew up in Clinton Park in Houston, Texas, and we wanted new parks and roads and a senior citizen center. Well, the census helps inform all of that and where funding goes. It also determines how many seats your state will get in the U.S. House of Representatives. Young black men and young children of color

are historically undercounted, which means a potential loss of funding or services that helps our community. Folks, we have the power to change that. We have the power to help determine where hundreds of billions in federal funding go each year for the next 10 years. Funding that can impact our community, our neighborhoods, and our families and friends. Folks, responses are 100% confidential and can't be shared with your landlord, law enforcement, or any government agency.

So please take the 2020 Census today. Shape your future. Start at 2020census.gov. Hi, I'm Angela Bassett, and you've got one vote. Use it. All right, folks, Essence Magazine has released their statement regarding the independent review. You might remember back in June actually in May a group of anonymous current and former staffers released a post in medium alleging any number of things including sexual harassment alleging at the magazine had

engaged in a toxic workplace they also did all kind of different things and so this is the statement that they released. They hired a law firm, Morgan Lewis, to complete this investigation. And it said this statement serves as a second and final update regarding two comprehensive and independent reviews launched by Essence following anonymous accusations leveled in a June 28th blog post against the company, its ownership and executive leadership. Essence engaged the law firms Proskauer, Rose, and Morgan Lewis to investigate claims of sexual harassment and other workplace culture issues, respectively. Essence's interim CEO, Caroline Wanga, oversaw

the full independent process. What they said is that the allegations could not be substantiated. The sexual harassment allegations against Rishi Lou Dennis, the owner of Essence, could not be substantiated. There were no witnesses that provided anything to support the allegations. Also in here, they said that after thorough review of the documents and information collected in our interviews, there was nothing to substantiate the claims that Richelieu Dennis bought the silence of employees, appointed his wife to head HR in order to curb employee complaints or try to force employees to sign NDAs after a string of layoffs and potentially libelous business activity. It says, in fact, no witness revealed any instance of feeling silenced directly or indirectly by Mr. Dennis. Also, according to their statement, according to board member and former chief executive officer Michelle Ebanks, they do not find any evidence to support the

assertions that Ms. Ebanks bullied employees, laid off employees based on maternity leave, or overlooked qualified black candidates for promotion. Former Chief Operating Officer Joy Collins-Proffitt said we did not discover any facts to suggest that Ms. Proffitt's leadership in handling of HR functions created operational vulnerabilities, as alleged in the post. Regarding Chief Content and Creative Officer Moana Liu, our investigation did not find that Ms. Liu treated anyone differently based on any protected category or retaliated against anyone

for engaging in legal protected activities. They said that the investigation found that several witnesses reported hearing her make insensitive remarks. The investigation also found that some employees working under her feel her management style is intimidating and brash. Ms. Liu is adamant that it is not her intent to bully anyone.

Further, regarding the claim that Ms. Liu and Mr. Dennis had a personal relationship, the investigation found that there is no evidence that they had a personal relationship or that they even knew each other before Ms. Liu joined Essence. Regarding the claims of an unhealthy work culture as to pay inequity, we did not receive any concrete examples of alleged pay inequity. And for the few employees who felt they were unfairly paid,

we reviewed salary information and market data and we were not able to substantiate these claims. With respect to colorism and classism, we did not receive any reports of colorism or classism in our interviews and were unable to substantiate these claims. It says the investigation did not find any evidence of conduct that would amount to unlawful discrimination, harassment, or retaliation. However,

it substantiated, quote, a widely shared sentiment that employees feel overworked and underappreciated largely due to how they feel about work pressure, work-life balance, recognition, performance management, and transparency regarding compensation and advancement. The review acknowledged that, quote, many of the issues that employees feel contribute to the work culture existed under Time, Inc.'s ownership before Essence was acquired in 2018. So here's the question. And there were other things that are in here. And it says that Dennis Richelieu will continue in his capacity as owner and chair of Essence. And Wonga will continue in her interim CEO role. This is what this raises. Now, the group, Abisha, that submitted, that posted this claim, they also have an Instagram account. There's been no response to this. Now, granted, this was,

of course, firm hired by Essence. They laid it out. They said they want to be transparent. Right. No, no, no. Here's the question. The question is this here, though. The allegations that they made on June 28th, serious allegations. The question is, will they now come out with a statement? And if they don't come out with a statement, do we treat what they said as lies? And does it also cause pause for anybody to report these type of things in the future? Because it's very easy to make an allegation, but according to this report, nothing can be substantiated. So the people who made the allegation, they now should come forward and even reveal themselves if they have information, yes or no? No, you're absolutely correct, because this puts them in a very interesting position.

I was all in, you know, after, like many people were, after reading the initial allegations, because they were so descriptive. They were very much meaning of and attack worthy, specifically around the sexual harassment, but also around people getting fired because they were pregnant and, you know, cases of workplace brutality and these other issues. And I think that, you know, that the threats that they lodged because, you know, there was a point where they said by a certain day we're going to release names. We're going to come out with more things that these people don't resign or if you don't get rid of the CEO and a few other people down that line. And right now we're seeing from an independent investigation, yes, Essence hired an outside firm to do the work like Fox has done when they've been accused of things as well. And kind of like any network or publication does when they get these types of allegations, they take them seriously and they have to. But what we're going to see, I think, is a response from these women. Because

if there isn't, then you're right. To your point, this whole thing goes into, okay, well, a group of people decided to lie for whatever reason and try to take down the magazine. But the bigger issue would be for those who are being abused in their workplace. Because we know that several people across media channels have spoken out and several people are afraid to speak out because of the power of the executives in front of them. In this case, I think that there was a lot of attention paid to what was going on at Essence or what was alleged to have gone on at Essence. They got a lot of attention from that Medium article, and now the ball is in the court of the accusers to come forward or at least provide whatever evidence they feel that they have. And that's going to be hard to do at this point because after an independent investigation found absolutely nothing, not even a hint of what they were saying was there, it's going to be interesting to see how they respond.

And the fact that they haven't said anything already, I think, is also questionable. Because remember, when they announced these allegations, there was a very strict timeline around the time that they wanted Essence to respond. Now the ball is in their court. Did these things really happen? If they did, where's the evidence of it? Joseph, I am on the page on Instagram, the Take Back Essence page. And on this page, again, they have June 28th, BFA exposed abuses at Essence demanding removal of C-suite.. Then they have on here July 3rd, Essence C-Suite surrendered. It's still hashtag protect black women. Now, when you click this, they released a statement on July 2nd. Today's September 11th. They haven't released,

they haven't said anything in two months. If you look at what they laid out, they laid out a number of different things that they wanted. So. Do you believe that, again, folks don't want to call out that they want they want to they want to they want to believe certainly folks say we want to believe women. But you kind of also got to back up your claims when you throw some stuff out there. And for them all of a sudden to go silent after two months, after the New York Post has picked it up, after the New York Times has picked it up, if you also on their page, go back to my iPad,

you see here, well, they targeted sponsors of Essence. You see Lacia Ward there with Target. You see an executive with AT&T. You see all of this. And so how then do we in the future treat some group that comes out anonymous? And this is not just, oh, they're a black media company. But the fact is, all right, you kind of got to back up what you alleged. Well, and that's part of the problem is that not only have they promised receipts and not delivered on that, they named names and they also failed to deliver on their own timeline.

So you have two problems here as I see it. The first is the lie is always stickier than the truth, or I should say usually stickier than the truth. So people tend to remember the headlines about the scandal. They don't always necessarily pick up on the fact that the scandal investigation or the investigation of the scandal revealed a big nothing burger in there. So that's problem number one. Problem number two is, as you allege, it's going to make it that much more difficult the next time serious, real allegations come along, the next time somebody really does have a complaint and wants to use the shield of anonymity for fear of actual literal retribution. So this is a big problem for the accusers. And I, like Alicia, I think they're going to remain

undercover because they've got nothing here. And if they come out, they're going to be the subject of ridicule. If they're made to answer for these accusations, it's going to be a major problem for them. It's easier to accuse again, behind the shield of anonymity than it is to reconcile with the truth or give their version of the truth. So it's a. There were things that they said, again, they accused the CEO owner, they accused the owner of the magazine of sexual harassment, accused him of cheating with the staffer, then accused the former CEO of berating people if somebody was on maternity leave, telling the people that they could walk out of the door. I mean, when you listen to these allegations, they sort of laid out, again, this real toxic, toxic workplace.

And again, I totally understand that this was an investigation done by a group hired by Essence. The problem is this anonymous group, they've said nothing in two months. Now, Essence released a previous statement in August, okay, that dealt with the sexual harassment issue. Now this second part. And so for this group to say nothing for two months, you now then, the question is this here. If you're the CEO of Essence, who gives you an apology? If you're Michelle E. Banks, the former CEO, who apologizes to you?

If you're Joy Prophet, who apologizes to you? Who says, oh, yeah, I know we accuse you of these things, but it really wasn't true. And what this really hurts, and who this really hurts, the next time somebody else, whether it's Me Too or any other group, make allegations. Folks are going to be like, ah, well, you know, last time we reported this

and there was no fire where we thought there was smoke. Bruh, I agree with you 100% on everything you said, which is surprising. We brought it at the same time. You know, you got to wonder, was this a real group that put these things out there? Was it something to destroy Essence magazine?

And so this is why I got a problem with people, you know, who put these kind of things out, these so-called whistleblowers. You whistleblowers need to come forward. We should be able to see and view the people who are accusing us. And so everything that Misha said, everything that George said, everything you said, I agree with, man. And so it's going to make it difficult for

the next person to come through, to file something like this or to say something like this happened. But more importantly, these people's reputations have been damaged by who? And so there's no retribution for them and there's no apology for them. And so there's no retribution for them and there's no apology for them. And so they have to just walk away and say, yo, it didn't happen. We had investigators say it didn't happen, but we still don't know who accused us of it. And for all we know, it could have been just someone

who came in and just trying to, again, take down Essence Magazine. And that's just unfortunate because people should not be able to put stuff out there like that without coming forward and saying who they are anonymously. Joseph, does it also call for the folks at Medium to put stuff out there like that without coming forward and saying who they are anonymously. Joseph, does it also call for the folks at Medium to put some... This is why you have editorial restraint.

Because basically with Medium, anybody can post anything. There's no vetting. There's no nothing. Well, and if I were Essence, I might be stroking my chin and thinking about, well,

what kind of action needs to be taken against a company that will put this stuff out there without fabrication? Is there any journalistic responsibility on Medium's part? And are they liable for these fictions, apparently, that have been laid on Essence's name? I think that it's a very appropriate question.

And I think if I were advising them legally, I'd have I'd have their legal team look into it because this also could hurt the next person that comes along that can post anything they want on medium and have no retribution for it and I'm in Amisha again if the women who made these allegations if they've got something I I'm sorry. It is disrespectful and wrong to go silent for two months. It's disrespectful after Essence releases the first statement. Hey, come out and say we didn't trust the law firm and we were not going to talk to them and share it. Okay, fine.

Take it to an outside attorney. Take it somewhere else. But for two months to go by and nothing, no medium posts, nothing on Instagram, nothing. You, they brought severe damage to the personal reputation of the people involved in the magazine and sponsors. And here's the deal. You don't get to unwind that for the rest and this is the thing that people don't understand for the rest of eternity when somebody googles risha lou dennis this is gonna pop up so and and that's the damage that's caused when allegations are made that cannot be substantiated. And again, hey, if they got proof, it's time to present it. Otherwise, what they posted was a lie.

You're absolutely correct. And again, the post was so detailed in its allegations that it raised the ire of so many people. And, you know, it seemed like a Me Too hodgepodge of so many things going on at once between workplace violations and sexual harassment to, you know, a litany of abuses for pregnant women, people getting fired without cause or people not having, you know, pay equity. There was so much in there. And for them to have been so stark, I think, in their demands and telling

people that they wanted this person to resign, they want the CEO out. They wanted other C-suite executives out as well within a deadline of less than a week or they were going to release more information and all of this. And I think that, you know, it was a very strategic plan to try to push Essence and to show their hands to a certain extent. And they had to know that an independent investigation

was going to go on at some point. They had to know that they would have to provide evidence. And to your point, Roland, if it was a matter of them not necessarily trusting the firm that Essence brought in, this is the point where you suggest to have something else. This is the point where you start, you know, leaking other things. This is the point where you respond. This isn't the point where you fall dead since June and don't say anything after basically calling to question the integrity of Essence's corporate culture and also pushing so

hard against Essence at the height of the Essence Fest. Let's be mindful of the time at which this information was released. It was what, during the first couple of days of Essence Fest, they also targeted the advertisers and sponsors, and they really wanted to serve as a basically nail in the coffin of Essence, which is one of our strongest and longest running black magazines. And it's one of those situations where now there are rightful questions coming out of this, because if these allegations are true or if they have any, you know, any itch in fact, it would seem that the women who are making them would not be silent right now. They would have something to say as to why either they didn't present certain things to this independent firm

or what is next to come. Because if not, what's going to end up happening is a lot of defamation and a lot of pushback. But to your point, even with those things, once the information is out there, it's out there. There is damage done to the reputation of Essence. There is damage done to the reputation of those who were called out in that Medium article,

regardless of whether these women come forward or not. Look, I have used anonymous sources. I have done stories using anonymous sources. And the reality is when you are a journalist, you're also staking your credibility when somebody is an anonymous source. There's a vetting process. I would dare say when you talk about medium, look, you simply cannot have an outlet.

I don't care what they are, where somebody can post whatever they want and then people pick up and they run with it. And it's on social media. And all of a sudden, other mainstream outlets pick that, pick it up and treat it as serious. And again, the damage here is that the next time somebody has some allegations, folks are going to say, you know what? I'm not going to report that. I'm not going to do a story on that because frankly, all you telling me is just take your word for it. No, that standard, that standard, real standard has to be applied. And I just think I just think it is shameful. It is shameful that black female anonymous. And again, they could be watching and be pissed off with me right now. But I'm sorry. You had better say something. We got this email. We got this email. We got this email from the folks at Essence. What? On Monday. On Monday.

Four days have gone by. Nothing. Not a word. Not even a notice saying, hey, we're going to comment next week. Nothing. Derek, final comment. I was just going to say, Roland, what I said in the beginning, it just kind of makes you wonder, was this real? Who are these people? Was it a real organization? Here's the deal. You don't know. You don't know because it's anonymous. You don't even know if they're black females.

You don't know. Right. You have no... We don't know if they're actual black females. We don't know if they actually work there. We don't know who it is. And that's the deal. And again, you hurt the reputations of the individuals. You hurt the reputation. And one of their demands was for Richie reputations of the individuals. You hurt the reputation.

And one of their demands was for Richie Lou Dennis to sell the magazine. Right. That's a hostage note. That's not an expose. That's what's at it. That's a hostage. So weird demand in general. That's his best.

Yeah. No, no, no, no, no, no. No, it was by design to inflict serious damage because you were targeting the advertisers of the very festival that they were putting on. So, again, hey, take back essence on Instagram. Say something. Say something. Come out and say something. Because if you say nothing, frankly, the allegations were trash.

The allegations were trash. And your silence admits the alleg allegations were trash. The allegations were trash. And your silence admits the allegation was trash. And that is shameful and despicable. If you stand by it, stand by it. Release a statement. Say something. But you don't all of a sudden go silent because you're damn sure weren't silent in the Medium posts.

You're damn sure weren't silent on the Instagram post. But now all of a sudden, when the rubber meets the road, now you have no voice. No, that's not protecting black women. That's using black women. And again, if you got proof, put up because you clearly have shut up. Amisha, Joseph and Derek, I certainly appreciate you on the show today. Thank you so very much, folks.

Got to go to a break. We come back. Our focus on the U.S. census. Not many days left in order for you to be counted. We are going to break that thing down right here on Roller Mart Unfiltered. Back in a moment. The coronavirus is wrecking state and local budgets. If the Senate doesn't act, it will mean painful cuts to essential public services across America. Fewer teachers and nurses, longer response times, dirtier streets.

But some say our states should just go bankrupt. Text FUND to 237263 to tell Congress to fund our essential public services. AFSCME is responsible for the content of this ad. What's up? This is Aldis Hodge, and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Hey, everybody, it's your girl Sherri Shepherd, and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Hey, Roland. That's Tim Story, director of Chad.

You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. What up, y'all? This is Method Man, Mighty Rutan Clan. You're watching Uncle Roland Martin, and the show is Unfiltered. Make sure y'all tune in. Laura Ingraham, you suck! As our community comes together to support the fight against racial injustice,

I want to take a second to talk about one thing we can do to ensure our voices are heard. Not tomorrow, but now. Have your voices heard in terms of what kind of future we want by taking the 2020 census today at 2020census.gov? Now folks, let me help you out. The census is a count of everyone living in the country. It happens once every 10 years. It is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. The thing that's important is that the census informs funding, billions of dollars, how they are spent in our communities every single year. I grew up in Clinton Park in Houston, Texas and we

wanted new parks and roads and senior citizen center. Well the census helps inform all of that and where funding goes. It also determines how many seats your state will get in the U.S. House of Representatives. Young black men and young children of color are historically undercounted, which means a potential loss of funding or services that helps our community. Folks, we have the power to change that. We have the power to help determine where hundreds of billions in federal funding go each year for the next 10 years. Funding that can impact our community, our neighborhoods, and our families and friends. Folks, responses are 100% confidential and can't be shared with your landlord, law enforcement, or any government agency. So please take the 2020 census today. Shape your

future. Start at 2020census.gov. All right, folks, we've been to focus on the census for the past month because we are rapidly approaching the deadline when they're going to start compiling information. Now, we've laid out in many cases, again, why it matters, how important it is, and what it means to our community. Joining us right now is Marilyn Stevens. She is the Assistant Regional Census Manager of 2020. Certainly glad to have you here, Marilyn. How are you doing? Thank you, Roland. It's so good to see you again. You probably don't remember. We met a long time ago when you were in Chicago and you were so gracious when you were first there and we met you to talk about the census. And so you've been a champion for a very long time. Well, it's all about what is constitutionally mandated.

It also impacts us financially. I got to ask you this here in terms. So where do we stand in terms of the door knocking? I know that was a ruling earlier this week. Will the door knocking continue past the deadline? I think it was September 30th. What's the status on the count? Right now, our our mission is to complete our field operation by September 30th. So we are visiting non-responding households. We're also making telephone calls to non-responding households. And we are still encouraging people to respond online or to call our toll-free number and respond by phone.

So when you say you are going back to knock on the doors of non-responding households, how did you even arrive at those non-responding households? Well, you know, in a census, we go with self-response. So we send you information to participate in the census. We started that on March 12th. You had an online telephone and mail option for the first time in history. So the pandemic slowed us down a little bit. But by August the 11th, we took a look at all of the addresses that had not responded at all.

And so we dispatched our huge workforce to go to knock on those doors and to secure those interviews from those non-responding households. So so so you so you So you're going back. How many times do you go back to the house? So let's say they didn't respond the first time, let's say they don't respond again. I mean, do you only go back one time or do you go back three or four times?

Right, we are gonna make six attempts on that household. We're also going to see if we can get an interview from a neighbor, a building manager, homeowners association. But our first attempts are really to the primary household to get them to respond. And when we come, we're going to leave a notice of visit if no one answers the door. And that notice of visit will say the Census Bureau has been here to interview your

family for the 2020 census that is required by law. We may come back again today. However, if you respond within two days of receiving this notice online at 2020census.gov or by phone at 844-330-2020, we will not come back. Now, how many people do you have out in the field who are doing the work? Well, we have close to 300,000 enumerators knocking on doors. Also, we're also taking a look at telephone numbers. So some of you will receive a telephone call and not a personal visit. So we're securing interviews by telephone as well as personal visits. And so you have those numbers.

And again, when you say by September 30th, the court ruling, what happened? Do you simply wait to see if that gets appealed, if it goes somewhere else? Because according to the court ruling, folks were supposed to continue being counted past September 30th. Well, our instruction is to continue the work. And that's why we continue to make telephone calls to households. We continue to visit households. Our online instrument is open so that you can still respond online. Our call centers are open from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. in the morning every day.

So until we're told something differently, we will continue to secure our interviews for every household in the nation. Also, just there was another ruling in terms of that stated that folks who are undocumented must also be counted. And so when you talk about counting, are you are you required to count everyone? We all we count everyone until we told differently with my 22 years with the Census Bureau. We count all persons without distinction. People would ask, you know, what are the requirements for being in the census? I said, breathing on U.S. soil on April 1st of 2020. And so that's, and so look, that's whether you live in an apartment, live in a house, whether you're homeless, and also the hard-to-reach people, how are you also doubling back for the hard-to-reach people?

And from your numbers right now, what's the highest penetration rate do you have, and then what's the lowest? Where do you still need help in folks responding? Well, traditionally, minority communities have a strong mistrust of government so there's always a challenge in the black community but we are soliciting help from our partners we have more than 400 000 partners nationwide faith-based partners elected officials community partners and it's all hands on deck, business partners, and they're all really working hard for this last ditch efforts. They're having caravans because we're in the pandemic and we're doing so many things virtually. So they're having census caravans through low responding neighborhoods. Some cities are having raffles to get people to respond. All of the superintendents to all the school districts

nationwide are constantly sending messages home to parents to say, please be counted, do it today. So there's going to be an all out effort to get people to be counted. And again, not much time left, 19 days. And are you also, are those enumerators, are they also working seven days a week? Are they working Sunday through Saturday? Yes, we are working seven days a week. Someone called me on Monday and said, there's an enumerator that seemed to be in my neighborhood. It's Labor Day.

I said, we're working seven days a week to fulfill our constitutionally mandated mission to ensure that everyone is counted. All right, then. Marilyn Stevens, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you for always being a wonderful census partner. All right. Thank you very much. Folks, got to go to a break. We come back. We'll chat with Mark Morial, who is the president and CEO of the National Urban League. Back on Roland Martin Unfiltered. It's rough out there. People are looking for change, for answers. One answer is at your fingertips, the 2020 census. Census takers will be visiting

households to make sure we are counted because an undercounted community could miss out on billions of funding for schools, health care, and job assistance each year for the next 10 years. Too much is at stake. Respond online today. Shape your future. Start here at 2020census.gov. Folks, joining us now is Mark Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League. Mark, glad to have you back on Roland Martin.

Hey, Roland. Great to be with you. And once again, congratulations on Roland Martin Unfiltered. You're greatly admired and respected for bringing truth to the community. Thank you very much. I appreciate it, sir. Thank you so very much. Proud of becoming head of the Urban League. You, of course, were mayor of New Orleans. You saw firsthand how important the census was when people actually filled it out. So give folks an understanding again. Historically, yeah.

I've had, this is really my fourth census. 1990, I was a member of the city's complete count committee. Of course, in 2000, I was president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors while I was mayor of New Orleans and led the effort to ensure that all of our people were counted in New Orleans in 2000. In 2010, I had a chance to serve as President Obama's chairperson of the National Census Advisory Council. This year we've created the Black Census Roundtable to hold the census accountable and to encourage

our community to participate in the census accountable and to encourage our community to participate in the census. So where this is today is we, of course, are the lead plaintiff in one of the lawsuits against the Census Bureau. And we received from Judge Lucy Koh of the Federal District Court in California a temporary restraining order, which requires the census to continue counting as long as that restraining order is in effect. What happened here, Roland, is that at the advent of COVID, the Census Bureau suspended its operations and delayed its field or door knocking operations for a significant period of time. We called on them at the time to extend the door-knocking period past its original deadline,

which was August 31st. And they did that by extending it to the end of October. Then they came back and unilaterally decided to cut 30 days off of the door-knocking period. And our concern is that that act will cause many Americans, many black Americans, many brown Americans, many poor Americans to be uncounted in this census. Because what they've done is they've taken what was originally an eight-week door knocking timeframe and crunched it into just four or five weeks. So that court decision stands now. There's another hearing in the federal district court in California next week where we are requesting a permanent injunction or preliminary

injunction to prevent Census Bureau from discontinuing the count. What this is about is census should do everything possible, everything in its power, everything possible to make sure that all people are counted, particularly in a COVID environment, particularly in a situation where door knocking is difficult because people need to remain safe and healthy. And so we are going to continue to push and press. Now, in addition to that, Roland, our community, we've got to remind, encourage, cajole, and push our community to participate in this census because it's about political power and it's about money. And again, talk from that perspective of mayor. You were in that seat when you had to make budget cuts, when you had to make priorities, where spending comes from.

And the reality is when you were looking for resources, look, when you came to D.C., they pulled out those census tracts to determine exactly what New Orleans should and should not get. You're so right, Roland. The census count is used to determine how much money cities, counties, and school districts receive with respect to many programs. The SNAP or food stamps program, the community development block grant program, workforce dollars, school lunch dollars, the formula to determine how much money goes into a given county or a given city or even into a given neighborhood is determined by the count that takes place in the census.

So it's crucial that we are counted, not to mention reapportionment, not only of congressional seats, state legislative seats, councilmanic seats, county commissioner seats, in states where judges are elected by districts, the judiciary depends indeed on the census. So this is so important. We can't sleep this. We can't sleep this census, particularly in this environment, because we go into a round of reapportionment in 2021 and 2022, where right now we do not have a Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. And this would be the first time to protect us.

Now, we're going to fight hard, certainly in this election, so critical to make sure that we get a new Voting Rights Act passed, hopefully in early 2021. When you talk about representation, I mean, just the other day I saw where Texas finally stepped up and decided to spend money on a census because folks there realized, oh, damn, we actually could gain three seats in Congress based upon population shift. But if folks don't get counted, we stand to lose those three seats. That's political power, the nation's capital. That's why I was highly critical of Governor Abbott as well as Lieutenant General, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick saying, what the hell are y'all doing? Not spending money on the census hurts Texas. Hurts Texas, hurts the people of Texas. And there are many states where governors and some attorney generals have been narrow-minded,

thoughtless about this. Look, every state should fight. Every governor, every mayor, every county executive, fight to make sure all of their people are fully and completely counted. And so I want to remind people in the community that the census is a place-based, and I hope you can help us by emphasizing this, a place-based count. So you have to count everybody in that dwelling, whether they are related to you or not. It's not each family gets a census form. It's one census form

that you fill out per dwelling, per house, per apartment. So if your sister lives with you and she has two children, they've got to be counted on the very same form. If your mother, your father, or maybe an older aunt lives with you, they've got to be counted on your form. In 2010, many black children, many Latinx children were missed in the census to some extent because people were not aware to include them. And it's important to include them. And because it's confidential, people should not be concerned about, quote, whether they have restrictions in their leases and they might get in trouble. Because that information you give the census taker is going to remain confidential with the census. Your landlord is not going to get that information.

Obviously, civil rights groups have been very involved in this. Churches have been involved in this as well in terms of getting the information out. Why is it so hard to count black folks? And how do you counter it? Historic distrust. And, you know, in our community, we have many, many people who are very civically engaged, very activist oriented. We have people who don't trust the system and they have great justification, the historic legacy of exclusion, we've got to overcome that by understanding

this is a tool of empowerment. The count is not a count just to know how many people are in the country, although that's important. You need to know how many children, how many seniors. You need to understand how many men, how many women, how many people of each race in each city, every county, every state. It helps in the formulation and the shaping

of public policies and solutions and the distribution of money and the distribution of power. So it shouldn't be as hard. Now, I will say this. I don't think that the Census Bureau has historically done everything they can do in order to ensure that black and brown people are counted. I've recommended for the last two census cycles that census engage in funded partnerships with churches and unions and community-based groups so that they can go throughout the community. They've got a voluntary partnership program. Okay, that's great, but they need to do more to ensure that people are counted and they need to do more funded partnerships.

And it's not just about paid advertising. And as you know, we have been in a battle to ensure that black-owned media get a fair shake, that media that focuses on black communities and brown communities get a fair shake in the sense of spend. Well, and that point about reaching those hard-to-get people, I mean, again, it's folks who know the communities, and the people in the community that they actually trust. I mean, it's a little hard to send somebody into a community who folks have no relationship with. And they've never seen, you know, the communities are based on trust. You know, elections work that way. The census works that way. Our communities are based on trusted voices,

established leaders, grassroots leaders, community leaders, public housing resident leaders, union leaders, leaders of community clubs and community organizations, faith-based leaders, local elected officials, the whole network of people that people have chosen and that people support to be their leaders. They are the ones that can help. So I'm asking now, we're going to keep the pressure. Our lawsuit is viable. It's strong. It has great merit.

I certainly want to thank Kristen Clark and the Lawyers Committee. They are representing the National Urban League and a coalition of other organizations in this litigation. I might add, Roland, in addition to the litigation we filed against the Census Bureau, we've also filed litigation against the Postal Service to ensure that the gains and the efforts to suppress and undermine the work of the Postal Service so they can do the job they have to do to make sure that every ballot gets to the clerk, gets to the Elect commission's office on time. So we are being assertive. We're going to be aggressive. We're going to push as hard as we can to make sure that the people are protected and the people's rights are affirmed. Mark Morial, president, CEO,

National Urban League. I certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Always, Roland. Thank you. Alpha's always leading. Thanks a bunch. 8-5, brother. Yes, sir. Got to go to break. We come back. We'll talk with Janetta B. Cole, National Congress of Negro Women, next on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Hi, I'm Angela Bassett, and you've got one vote. Use it. As our community comes together to support the fight against racial injustice, I want to take a second to talk about one thing we can do

to ensure our voices are heard. Not tomorrow, but now. Have your voices heard in terms of what kind of future we want by taking the 2020 Census today at 2020census.gov? Now, folks, let me help you out. The Census is a count of everyone living in the country. It happens once every 10 years. It is mandated by the U.S. Constitution.

The thing that's important is that the census informs funding, billions of dollars, how they are spent in our communities every single year. I grew up in Clinton Park in Houston, Texas, and we wanted new parks and roads and a senior citizen center. Well, the census helps inform all of that and where funding goes. It also determines how many seats your state will get in the US House of Representatives. Young black men and young children of color are historically undercounted,

which means a potential loss of funding services that helps our community. Folks, we have the power to change that. We have the power to help determine where hundreds of billions in federal funding go each year for the next 10 years. Funding that can impact our community, our neighborhoods, and our families and friends. Folks, responses are 100% confidential and can't be shared with your landlord, law enforcement, or any government agency. So please take the 2020 Census today. Shape your future.

Start at 2020census.gov. What's up? This is Aldis Hodge, and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Hey, everybody. It's your girl, Sherri Shepherd, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Hey, Roland. That's Tim Story, director of Shad. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered.

What up, y'all? This is Method Man, Mighty Routine Clan. You're watching Uncle Roland Martin, and the show is Unfiltered. Make sure y'all tune in. Laura Ingraham, you suck. All right, black women have always been involved in issues in our community. That includes the census as well. Joining us right now is Dr. Janetta B. Cole. She's the president and chair, National Council of Negro Women.

Dr. Cole, how you doing? Oh, my brother, I am doing well. And you know, I want to thank you because you do such righteous work. You do the good Lord's work and she's got plenty of it. Well, we certainly appreciate it. We're all about doing the work and giving folks hell as much as we can. Let's talk about this. Talk about this here. Obviously, black women extremely focused on the election, but there are a number of organizations that have also been very focused

on ensuring that we are counted in this census to ensure that our community gets the money that we richly deserve. Well, I can tell you, at the National Council of Negro Women, we are unbelievably focused

on two expressions of responsibility. One is the census. You know, we as black women, along with black men, have been unseen, unappreciated, and uncounted. But the second focus is obviously on voting. We don't have a whole lot of time in order to get both of these tasks done. And I am particularly concerned, as all should be concerned, that this administration has shortened the amount of time for participation in the census. It is now the end of September. We are in a pandemic. Well, actually, we're in a

couple of pandemics. But given what time we do have, we got to make haste. Because as our brother, President Mark Morial, said so brilliantly, so convincingly, everything matters here. Our resources, our political power. The ability to be able to count folks. One of the things that Mark said that I think people really do ignore is that when you talk about the census, everybody in the household counts. So for instance, I've got two nieces who are being raised by me and my wife. They're not our biological children, but in our household, that's four people who should be counted, not just the two of us. And that's an important distinction because when we leave folks off, that's literally resources that we're leaving out or that will simply go elsewhere. And you know, my brother, this is so much at the heart of our community.

We have always taken the notion of kinship to mean far more than, in quotes, blood. And so folk live with us. Folk live with us because we care about them. Folk live with us because they don't have any other place to live. This census must count every living African American, let's use the broader term, black person, because we know that historically and historically, black folk, brown folk, indigenous folk, immigrant folk have been undercounted. Think how much we're leaving on the table.

That could go to our schools. That could give us better roads. That in this pandemic could create better health care availability for us, not to mention those programs on which, no fault of our own, we have to depend. And so at the National Council of Negro Women,

we are taking this so seriously that we are in a formal partnership with Fair Count. Now, you know our sister Stacey Abrams. So do I. After all, we were at Spelman College together. And when Stacey's road to the governorship was stolen, I mean in broad open daylight stolen, she started two organizations. She started Fair Fight to push back against voter oppression. I'm sorry, that is a good word, oppression, although it's usually called suppression. But she also founded Fair Count, an organization dedicated to making sure that underrepresented people are counted. And so we, in partnership with Fair Count, we have something called

sisters count. Sisters count. We do count. And because we understand that historically and historically, black women have often taken care not enough about themselves and a whole lot about others. And so we're urging our sisters to continue that tradition, except we need a little more self-care. But make sure that everybody in our household is counted. Talk to our neighbors. Tell everybody that you see. Make sure you're counted because so much that we need, power and resources depend on it. Last question for you, and that is, you know,

obviously folks are knocking on doors, the ability to also use online and call as well. And I think one of the things that I've been saying to people, just like we talk about tied to voting, and that is, look, all you got to do is call five people. As an individual, you call five, and look, there are more than 4,000 people who are watching right now on YouTube, people who are more than

1,000 on Facebook, right there. If just the very people who are watching us live right now, just say I'm going to call five, that's 20,000 individuals or more who they can reach, and that's just how basic this is. It is so basic.

And I've got to say this, my bro. As I listened to your explanation at the beginning of this program, it could not be clearer. And so if we could just socially reproduce you and what you do, of course, if I could clone you and spread it around the world, I know I'd have a better world. But everyone has the possibility

to do exactly what you do on the Roland Martin Show unfiltered. Well, we certainly appreciate it. Dr. Cole, it's always great to see you. Tell the best man I said, what's up, my alpha brother. And y'all keep swinging. I appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Folks, got to go to a break. We come back. The power of the census, how it impacts voting. Oh, yeah, it does. And you want to understand that. That is next

on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Hey everybody, this is Sherri Shepherd. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered, and while he's doing Unfiltered, I'm practicing the wobble. I am. Because Roland Martin's the one, he will do it backwards, he will do it on the side. He messes everybody up when he gets into the wobble

because he doesn't know how to do it, so he does it backwards. And it messes me up every single time. So I'm working on it. I got it. You got Roland Martin. Hi, my name is Latoya Luckett, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. What's going on, everybody?

It's your boy, Mack Wiles, and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. What's up, y'all? It's Bryan Destiny, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. What up, Lana Well, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. What up, Lana Well, and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Turn off your 2020 sensors

and include everyone who lived with you as of April 1st. Kids, uncles, anyone. They don't even have to be family. Now, remember, this count helps inform where billions in federal funding goes each year. So shape your future and start here at 2020census.gov. There are 109 state senators, 435 members of the House of Representatives, but those 435 House members are apportioned based upon population. Now, when you look at what's

happening in this country, more than likely the Midwest part of the country, I'm talking about Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, those states, due to the shifting population, those states are likely going to be losing representation in Congress because they are losing population. Places in the South, in the Southwest, and the West are going to be gaining congressional seats. All of that is based upon the United States Census. Jorge Vasquez Jr. joins us right now.

He is Program Director for Power and Democracy Program with the Advancement Project. Jorge, glad to have you on Roller Martin Unfiltered. It's a pleasure to be with you, my brother. When we start talking about politics, oftentimes when people talk about the census, they only talk in terms of how districts are drawn. So first let's deal with that. Are districts drawn only on the congressional level or is the census also used in states to draw the state representative and the state senators? So it's drawn both.

A lot of states depend on the federal system in deciding how they're going to draw their districts. Virginia is one of those states. New York is one of those states. Many states follow the federal system where you look to see how many people live in that place, because everyone has access to political power, right? Young people, old people, whether you're a citizen or not, it's important that we all have access to that elected official. And you want to make sure that each elected official is representing around the same amount of people. And so, again, for the person who's watching, they just see, okay,

that's my state rep, that's my state senate. But then when they think about that i used to be represented by somebody that's because likely in the last after the last census the lines were redrawn people were shifted from one district to the other depending upon how those lines were drawn gerrymandering plays a role in this as well all of that is determined where people are because they are able to look at the concentration of how many blacks how many whites how many blacks, how many whites, how many Latinos, how many Asians, how many Native Americans, how many men, how many women, you know, how many people, you know, lean this party or that party. They are extrapolating that data based upon looking at the census, how many people are upper middle class, middle class, how many people are poor. All of that data comes from this report. You're absolutely right. What you're really touching on is the importance of accurate data. The census is critical for everything. It's

critical. Businesses depend on it. Black and brown communities die by it. Think about today we live in a technologically advanced society where we have apps. People are used to using Uber, Lyft, different kind of mobile applications that know what addresses are there. Those addresses come from the Census Bureau. Information and data that businesses need to derive depends on the Census Bureau.

We both remember what it was like having cell phones, let's say, 20, 30 years ago, and we remember what drop calls were. That's because, you know, when you're on a cell phone tower, cell phone towers use census data. If they believe 10,000 people live in a community, they're going to provide services for up to 10,000 people. But when you have 20,000 people in that community using that service and everyone's trying to use, you know, a service that's built for 10,000, but you have 20,000, then you have core drops. Many of the viewers who may not be familiar with that might have been at an arena, may have been at a concert prior to COVID, and you're trying to upload something.

Maybe you're at an airport and you're trying to, you know, check an email, but it's slow. All of that has to do with census data. Now, what else involved politics? First of all, I mentioned earlier, I mentioned obviously how the lines are drawn. Now let's talk about the population shifts. As I said earlier, Texas realized, dang, we better jump on this thing because we could gain three seats. If we don't get this thing done right, we won't gain that power. And now we've got to wait 10 years. As you look at the map there, any idea on how many potential seats will be shifting away from the Midwest, which has largely been white in this country, and shifting to the South, the Southeast, and the West? Yeah, so there's certainly places where we could look at

and say we're seeing an influx of people. And if everybody in those places count, then we're going to gain more congressional seats. So I think Florida should be one of those places. I think here in the DMV area, Virginia, Maryland, especially places where there's a huge immigrant population. We know that at least about 16 million homes are mixed status families where one person may not be a U.S. citizen in that home, usually either the mother or the father. But if you have a mother who's a U.S. citizen, a father who's not, and then you have a child who is, you have a family of three. If one of those people are uncounted, then we're going to lose thousands of dollars. I mean, you touched on it earlier, but what we're talking about

is just with looking at undocumented population, we're talking about losing potentially $8.5 billion annually. Just in Virginia alone for each person that's undercounted, we lose $2,000. We know the census is for 10 years. That means we're going to lose $20,000 for each person that's undercounted in Virginia alone. Said differently, a family of five, we lose $100,000. One quick thing that we could all do is, like you said, call five people. You call five people, those five people fill out the census. You just save, on average, your state $100,000. As you're aware, Drew Verner of Woodson Tandy said it best. He said he wanted our fraternity to stand out when it comes to affairs of the nation. As black and brown people, as people who built this country, there is no more important national affairs than participating in the

decennial census. The census is critical. It's about money. It's about power. It's about respect. When we're talking about politics, we're talking about whether or not a U.S. citizen is entitled to a non-English ballot. That's going to depend on census data. When we talk about schools and we talk about civil rights, we're talking about census data. When we talk about whether or not someone is being discriminated as an attorney, when I go into court, the judge wants to see census data. They don't want to hear that my client feels that they're being discriminated against. When we think about the school-to-prison pipeline and we think about so many public schools under resource, it's because the census is for 10 years, and the largest undercount are children under five. What that's saying is that children from five to 15 are going to lose resources that they need at these public schools.

So from first grade to about a junior in high school, they're going to be underfunded. What happens when schools are underfunded? Jails become funded. And we know that political power is important because we know when our brothers and sisters are incarcerated that these prisons use prison gerrymandering and that they want those resources and they make sure our brothers and sisters who are incarcerated are counted. So we got to make sure that our communities are equally counted. All right, then. Jorge Vasquez Jr. with the Advancement Project.

We certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. And I always glad to see another Alpha brother on here. Thank you. All right. And for the rest of y'all, your makers and capitalists, I'm sorry, but, you know, these things just happen. I mean, just, you know, you know, leadership is leadership. All right, Jorge, thank you so very much. Folks, not many days left to vote. I want y'all to focus on that. Pull the

graphic up, please. It is 52 days until the election. One of the things that we have been doing is ensuring that you are registered to vote, but you can also go to vote.org. Now, remember, when it comes to the census, you can go to 2020census.gov, or if you're also looking to check your registration, you can go right to vote.org right here to check your registration. You go to the bottom. What does it say right there? 2020 Census. And all you do is simply click that particular button there. It takes you to my2020census.gov, which allows you, again, to begin to fill out the questionnaire.

This is how you start the questionnaire. And you log in, of course, with your 12-digit census ID. And so if you don't have the census ID, you can click this particular button right here. And then it begins to walk you through all of those steps. That's how simple and easy it is. And so again, my2020census.gov, you can go to that particular address to fill your census out. You can also go to 2020census.gov to do so. And remember, you also can call. You can also call until you see all the responses on here that allows for you to be able to get the information. And, you know, we've been explaining this now every single day and multiple times each week. I've got to go back up to the top here. And again, how you can respond. Remember, when you do answer, your answers are not being accepted by not being used in any way. They're not being given to any governmental agency,

anything along those lines. That's not how they're being used. And so I want you to understand that we got to make sure it's on us. Look, we know we're not being undercounted. So why don't we make sure that we get counted? And so you can do this again. You can do this online. You can do this by phone call. You can do this by mail as well. I am looking for the phone number right now that you can call to actually do the census as well. But again, go to 2020census.gov, 2-0-2-0-C-E-N-S-U-S dot G-O-V. All right, folks. 2020, C-E-N-S-U-S dot G-O-V.

All right, folks. I told you we've been celebrating the second anniversary of Roland Martin Unfiltered. We've been looking back at different things. And so I just could not help to say we had to hear about Connie again out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Lord, this is one of the best moments in our two years of Roland Martin Unfiltered. Over the weekend, a three minute video of activist Gary Chambers out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana went viral, millions of people saw him snap it on Connie. Watch this.

So I had intended to get up here and talk about how racist Robert E. Lee was, but I'm gonna talk about you, Connie. Sitting over there shopping while we talking about Robert E. Lee. This is a picture of you shopping while we talking about racism and history in this country. Only white members of this board got up while we were up here talking too, because you don't give a damn. And it's clear. But I'm going to tell you what the slaves, my ancestors said about Robert E. Lee, since you don't know history, sister. Let me tell you that they said when he got the plantation, after he got off the field where 27,000 people died at Gettysburg, Connie, Robert E. Lee was a brutal slave master. Not only did when he whooped the slaves, he said, lay it on them hard. After he said, lay it on them hard, he said, put brine on

them, sort of burn them. That's what Robert E. Lee did. And you set your arrogant self in here and sit on there shopping while the pain and the hurt of the people of this community is on display because you don't give a damn and you should resign. You should have resigned two years ago when you choked a white man in his house. You should have resigned two weeks ago when you got on TV and said foolishness. And you should walk out of here and resign and never come back because you are the example of racism in this community. You are horrible.

Not to the rest of the board. You have an obligation to the people of this community. You are horrible. Not to the rest of the board. You have an obligation to the people of this community. And 81% of them are black. And do you need a clan rally outside, Mr. Golday, before you end it? Because holding it up means that you put that building in jeopardy. You do, sir. Because all over the country, they're burning stuff down. And black folks in this city have stood with protesters. I ain't seen you elected officials out there with them, making sure that nothing goes south in Baton Rouge. It's been folks in this community who give a damn,

not just when it's comfortable, but every time. And four years ago, we came down here. Mr. Drake, they say you're a good man. Be a good man. Black folks say you're a good man. White folks say you're a good man. Your legacy say you a good man. White folks say you a good man. Your legacy is attached to tonight, brother. Your legacy. Now, let me say to the black members of the board, it's the most solidarity I've seen out of y'all in forever. Let's keep

that. Let's stand on this moving forward because we don't need to apologize for Connie, Evelyn. She showed you who she was when she was... Oh, love it. He was calling for East Baton Rouge Paris school board member Connie Bernard to apologize. She later did so, and she said, no, no, no, I wasn't shopping. There was a pop-up ad, and I was trying to figure out how to get rid of it.

She lied because she was scrolling down on the ad. Gary Chambers is the publisher and advocate for the Rouge Collection. He joins us right now. Gary, you all up in Connor's ass. Well, brother, you know, sometimes that's what it requires. Well, the thing that gets me

is she lying in her apology. She was scrolling down. She was scrolling down. She was shopping. She didn't want to hear none of that. She's sitting next to a black woman, Evelyn Ware Jackson, who serves on the school board with her. And while Evelyn is expressing her sentiments about Robert E. Lee, Connie is sitting there scrolling and shopping. And for me, it really just pissed me off. And I just could not contain just letting them have the unadulterated truth.

And what you guys saw is a reflection, in my opinion, of what we as black folks deal with when we deal with our government. That here black folks show up pleading our case about why we should do something to change something that is clearly systemic and structural. And we got a school board member who's just sitting there saying to hell with what y'all doing. I'm going to just go shopping while y'all are pleading your hearts out to us, the government. You also made a point, you said that 81% area. How many white board members are on the school board and how did that happen? So let's talk about that in a real way. So Baton Rouge was, first of all,

we had the longest standing desegregation case in the country. That's number one. And the school district encountered white flight like never before in the 50s, 60s, 70s. Whenever desegregation began to happen, Catholic schools and private schools start opening in Baton Rouge. And so white folks left the system and they never came back. And so now the system is eight. The school system is 81 percent black. The city of Baton Rouge is 56 percent black. We have parishes rather than counties. So our parish is 47 and 47. Yet our school board is a nine member board with five white Republicans and four Black Democrats. Our city council, Roland, is 12 members. It is seven white and five Black in a city that is majority

Black. And so it's extreme gerrymandering. And so it's important that we take the census as Black folks so that we can get more seats. But we have got to be pressing the gas on these people every day because this is what builds an inequitable system. Well, you're absolutely right. And again, the fact that they are holding the power and the reality is their children are not going to these school systems. And this is also we saw the same thing in Ferguson. They just got their first black mayor. This is a 67 percent black city. So this is our second black mayor, Mayor Sharon Weston Broom is our second black mayor. But we have watched in equities, whether it is DBEs, disadvantaged business enterprises. I started advocacy about five years ago as a small business owner. I was watching how white-owned companies were getting 98 and 97

percent of the contracts in the city of Baton Rouge. And the Baton Rouge area chamber was in support of Baton Rouge being a thriving and growing place, and the chamber still being silent about Connie Bernard resigning. And that breeds a culture of division. It breeds a culture of inequity and a lack of progress. And if we are not, as you say, on their ass, right, then we will continue to have a foot up ours until we demand that they do something different. And it's about the money. At the bottom line, it's about the money. I keep telling people when Maynard Jackson, when he ran for mayor of Atlanta, African-Americans were getting point zero zero one two percent of all city contracts. And then the other day I saw some of some Republican tweeted, oh, look at all of these black mayors you've had in Atlanta. I said, don't get confused. White folks in Atlanta still want to be able to control the money. And the only reason they have not been able to keep controlling the money

because those black mayors used the power of that airport and said, nope, we're going to ensure we open these doors. And that's what this boils down to is. That is, they say, look, we might lose the demographic numbers, but if we control the money,

we control the city, the school board, the state, the nation. And so, Roland, I did a video about a week ago where I was talking about I don't believe that there are black meccas. I know that folks have advocated that Atlanta is a black mecca and D.C. was a black mecca at one point because at the end of the day, those cities are municipalities that are still checked by the state government. And so a state like Louisiana, which 34 percent black, a city like Baton Rouge, which is 56 percent black. When you look at a majority black city that still has a majority white council or when you look at Atlanta, where voter suppression is still in operation because Kemp, the governor, was the secretary of state, suppressed the vote. And then

when he's governor, we've got black folks standing in line like that. As long as the checks and balances are above us and they have the power of the state legislature, we are still in a battle. And so we've got to be deliberate about all politics being local and not just voting in this presidential election where Donald Trump, Agent Orange is doing his thing. We've got to focus in on the people where that federal money and that state money comes down to the local level. Our school board in Baton Rouge is a $425 million budget. Our city of Baton Rouge is a $900 million budget. The state of Louisiana is a $27 billion budget. And when you talk about those resources and 98, 95% of those money is going to white businesses, well, that explains why black folks don't have the same level of income as white families, because the companies that we own do not get fed into by our tax dollars.

And the assault on us is that they are taxing us, right, without giving us equal representation. But this is also why, and when I did the State of Black America report in Indianapolis, it was October. And I asked, I said, if you were or are a public worker, stand up. Probably about 80% of the room stood up. And I tried to walk them through this thing. And I said, do y'all understand who actually controls Wall Street? And people looked at me like I was crazy. I said, this is'all understand who actually controls Wall Street? And people looked at me like I was crazy. I said, this is who controls Wall Street, pension funds. Yes, sir.

I said, pension funds are the ones who give billions of dollars to hedge funds. And I was on a call the other day on this. This is an exclusive app called Clubhouse and a whole bunch of venture capitalists on there. And somebody asked me the question. They said, how do we change the VC world? I said, see, you focus on the wrong thing. You can't change the VC world unless you change the pension world. I said, because see, and then I said, where does the money come from in the pension world?

It comes from the public workers. So really what has to happen, Gary? I said, because see, and then I said, where does the money come from in the pension world? It comes from the public workers. So really what has to happen, Gary, we've got to get these black folks who are public workers, who are retired teachers and police officers and firefighters and secretaries and janitors to say, you need to be mobilizing, saying, we're tired of all these white folks controlling the pension funds. We need to see black lawyers, black bondholders. I said, all of us, I said, if that level of people rise up, then you change the pension boards, then you change the Wall Street, then you change the venture capitalists. I said, it comes down to the money. Yes, sir. And it starts at the grassroots level is what you're talking about. It starts at the local level because that's where we have the rubber meets the road. And if we stand up and use our power, we can effectuate change all over this country. I think we see it happening. I think

that there is, I would say it like this, Roland, we don't all wake up at the same time in the morning and all black folks don't become woke at the same time. But I do believe that the things that are happening in this country are waking some of us up. Our young people that are showing up in the streets protesting consistently and agitating against the police. Well, the longer that a police officer stays on the clock, I know you may think he's getting paid overtime, but he can't go home to his family and sleep. And in a COVID environment where cities' budgets just stretch, you're going to stretch that city's budget even further. And so we've got to be deliberate in every area. And what your suggestion is, well, those that have retirement plans and

pension funds, you do your part at your level. Maybe your level isn't getting in the streets, but it's getting on the phone with your public officials and saying enough is enough. Absolutely, absolutely. And now, first of all, you got to be shocked at how this thing has spread. I mean, I saw entertainers and others. I mean, look, Morning Joe reached out to you,

all the rest of these people. And see, here's my whole deal. I'm glad those folks are posting those videos but the reality is i need them posting that kind of stuff every day using their influence and for the morning joes of the world to be calling folk like you on a regular basis versus having the donnie dorch's of the world saying the same bullshit he normally trickles out all the time no have real people who are on the ground speak. See, I ain't got a problem because the show is called Unfiltered.

I appreciate it, brother. You know, I quoted Pimp C this morning on Morning Joe because, you know, we out here, we out here, they rapping about it and we out here paying the price. And everyday advocates all over the country are doing their part on a local level. And so when I saw the shout-out from LeBron James, man, I had to go and check it out and find out was it real for myself.

Somebody sent me the screenshot. I was like, this can't be real, because folks like me on a local level, we don't get to have these types of conversations. We're fighting this fight every day. And so if I could, I would just say to LeBron, to Miss Ava DuVernay, to all of those people, call me and let's have a conversation about how we mobilize your resources and your

influence on a local level all over the country. Fifty five percent of black folks live in the deep south. Let's take the south over and create a new black south. I'm about that. But I think that we've got to realize that there are those of us who do this work on a grassroots level that can lean information in with those resources. And when we bring in every aspect of what we do as black folks, we already know we magical, but how are we going to be powerful with that magic? And what are we going to do? My homeboy, Ryan Thompson has a quote. He says, we treat our entertainers and rappers like scholars and our scholars like entertainers. And until we get to the point where we treat our people in our community that do this work with the honor and listen, I appreciate the love and support, brother. I am mobilizing right

now because I want to go all over the deep south and train new black leaders, because what you see is the passion of young people. And it's no disrespect to those who came before, but some of them have stayed over their due. And I'm 34, Roland. I'm not going to be 70 fighting these same battles. And I'm going to have that same tenacity. But we've got to pass this knowledge down because there are brothers like Cleve Dunn and Edmund Jordan and Baton Rouge who shared knowledge with me when I was 29 years old and said, hey, brother, you got this media platform, but you ain't doing nothing with it. Lean in for your people, right? And so I've been doing this for the last five years, but we can turn this up. The beauty of this moment is, I think, like I said, we don't all wake up at the same time, but I do think that

alarm clock is going off, brother. Well, I'll say this here. First of all, I saw Ava's tweet where she said, man, who is this brother? And then I went to your Twitter feed and I saw you were following me. And your email was on there. And I sent her your email. Wow. I appreciate that, brother. And so. So I met you at Essence a few years ago.

And I'm definitely going to drop that picture. I know you meet a lot of people. But I've been a fan for years, brother, because you've been speaking truth to power in a way that many people don't appreciate. And for folks like me on the local level who need black folks to tell our stories, black man, I appreciate you and I love you to the moon for what you do. And I know that the reason you're not on CNN is because you are unapologetically black. And we as black folk got to say, Roland Martin is important to our culture. Roland Martin is important to our people. And we got to stand up with this black man because he's putting our platform out there

where we can tell it without having to be sugarcoated. Roland, I put my Connie, go home, Connie shirt on because I was coming out here with you because she got to go, baby. She got to go. Absolutely. She got to go. Absolutely. Well, I tell you what, we talking about all the Karens of the world and trust me, I think you about to add That's Karen Mama.

You about to add the Connie's to the world. And y'all do me a favor. Just so y'all know, see I mentioned everything. This is when I knew, when I saw the video before Gary said a word, y'all know, see, I've mentioned everything. This is when I knew, when I saw the video, before Gary said a word, y'all, play the video. Look at Gary's left hand. He had the pimp hand position.

He knew he was about to smack y'all. Play the video. Look, watch the left hand. Right there. Right there. See? See? Right there.

Look, see, I need y'all to see. I need y'all to see. Come on'all to see come on back y'all didn't see y'all see what he did he put the hand he put the hand out then he extended the headlight now i'm about to smack the hell out of you right now because i got you oh yeah i got you absolutely the business clear we and roland let me say brother. We as black folk cannot continue to let these folks slide. We are voters. We are taxpayers. Every time you go to the store and spend a dollar, the government is taking some of your money.

Your check, the government is taking some of your money. Your property, the government is taking your money. Even if you are a renter, when you pay your taxes, the people who pay the property taxes take your rent money to pay those property taxes. So I'll be damned if we ought to be quiet and we ought to stand in their face and agitate them.

Rolling, there were young black protesters in Baton Rouge that took a protest to the district attorney's house because he ain't doing nothing about the injustices. And I want to talk to you at another time about the Baton Rouge three, because Trump's DOJ is attempting to overcharge three young black people who committed simple arson, and now they're being charged with, what is it called, interference with interstate commerce by Brandon Freeman, the U.S. attorney for the middle district of Louisiana. I just had to get that in there because it's important, because they are attempting to overcharge these people. Well, we'll certainly have you back on to talk about that. And one of the reasons we created this platform, because there are a lot of activists like you who don't get called on national television unless a video picks up millions of followers. And so we've had many

folks like you on for that very reason, to be able to bring light to sort of some of these issues. So we certainly will have you back, Gary Chambers. Thanks a lot. Thank you, brother. I appreciate you. Appreciate you. All right, folks, time to shout out our donors who have given 50 bucks or more. Ruth Collins, Gwendolyn Johnson,

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