#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Courting Young Votes, Fla. Sheriff Tweets About Black People, "Uphill: A Memoir" By Jemele Hill

Episode Date: October 28, 2022

10.27.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Courting Young Votes, Fla. Sheriff Tweets About Black People, "Uphill: A Memoir" By Jemele Hill The focus is getting voters aged 18-29 to the polls.  Several organizations are targeting that demographic with ads. We'll talk to a board member from the Andrew Goodman Foundation to find out what they are doing to secure young voter engagement.  We'll tell you why the Nevada Supreme Court stops the hand counting of one county's mail-in ballots.  Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is ordered to hand over all flight documents related to those migrants flown to Martha's Vineyard.  And a Florida sergeant allegedly said black people are America's three biggest problems.  RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered Venmo ☛https://venmo.com/rmunfiltered Zelle ☛ [e-mail] Annual or monthly recurring #BringTheFunk Fan Club membership via paypal ☛ https://rolandsmartin.com/rmu-paypal/ Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com #RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. I am the voice of Black America rolling. Be Black. I love y'all. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scape. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? We'll be right back. Today is Thursday, October 27, 2022.

Roland Martin on the filter coming live from the Pratt Library here in Baltimore. Robbie chatting with Jamel Hill about her new memoir, Up Hill, coming up on today's Black Star Network. We'll talk about the power of young voters. Young voters could very well determine this election. The question is, will they turn out? That's the issue we'll be discussing also power of young voters. Young voters, because they will determine this election. The question is, will they turn out? That's the issue we'll be discussing also on today's show. A Florida sergeant says black folks are a big problem in America. Wait till we tell you what the other two issues he says is a big problem in this country.

Also, Nevada Supreme Court stops the hand counting of ballots in a particular county. We'll explain that to you as well. In addition, Florida Governor Ron LaSanta has been ordered to turn over all information regarding those migrant flights to Martha's Vineyard. And again, early voting continues all across this country, and we're showing how there's record turnout. New polls also out showing Tim Ryan leading in Ohio. Sherry Beasley also in a tight race

with a slight edge in North Carolina. We'll cover all of that. It's time to bring the funk on Roller Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. From Baltimore, let's go. He's got it. Whatever the miss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine.

And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling. Best belief he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks. He's rolling. It's Uncle Roro, y'all. It's rolling, Martin.

Yeah. Rolling with rolling now. Yeah, yeah It's Rollin' Martin Yeah, yeah Rollin' with Rollin' now Yeah, yeah He's funky, he's fresh, he's real The best you know, he's Rollin' Martin Now Martin We'll be doing a Q&A with Jemele Hill for her new memoir, Up Hill will be chatting in about an hour.

So we'll do our first show here, first hour, like we normally do. A new study out of folks from Harvard University's Institute of Politics talks about young voters in this 2022 midterm election. The Fall 22 Harvard Youth Poll surveyed 2,123 youth voters between the ages of 18 and 29. The poll found that 40 percent of young voters plan to vote in November's midterm elections. It shows young Americans are most worried about inflation and among Democrats, abortion and the fight for democracy top the main topics of concern. The poll also found that President Biden is unpopular with young voters, but they viewed his policies favorably. Now, of course, midterms are critically important

and former President Barack Obama is going to be on the campaign trail. He'll be in Georgia on Friday with Senator Raphael Warnock. And of course, he talked about this. So here's an ad that he recently put out. And I have the best jump shot in White House history. I've heard a lot recently about how voting doesn't solve everything. And I can see why you might think that. It won't make Outer Banks or Euphoria season three or Rihanna's new album drop any faster. It won't make sending gifts any less cool. Wait, gifts aren't cool anymore? Anyway, it won't even help you understand the most complicated questions in the universe. Like, why do I know so much about Pete Davidson's dating life? But here's what voting does do.

It allows you to make your voice heard on the big issues, and it reinforces the incredible work you've done between elections, holding your leaders accountable. Two years ago, more young people voted than in any other election since the 1970s. And because you did, the direction of the country changed. Look what's happened since. Hundreds of millions of Americans received life-saving vaccines. We made the biggest investment in history to fight climate change. We've forgiven billions of dollars in student loan debt. And we finally released that huge report about aliens. Oh, sorry. I mean, unidentified aerial phenomena. I think these are some pretty good reasons to vote, but I don't need to tell you that there's a lot more that needs to be done. Here are five issues that depend on your vote. Number one,

a woman's right to choose. In five states, abortion protections are literally on the ballot. Number two, gun safety. We have a chance to put in place common sense gun safety laws, but we need your help to do it. Number three, schools. Local and state officials help determine the history our students learn and the books they're allowed to read. So do your research. We know you have the skills. Who knew there were so many secrets on the new Taylor Swift album? I think I'm onto something. Number four, immigration. A lot of politicians don't actually know how to build a better

immigration system, so instead they use refugees as props and play on fears. Look for candidates who are actually trying to solve the problem. Number five, climate. We need elected officials who think climate change is real and are willing to fight for our future. And of course, we need to do everything we can to protect our country from the folks who are willing to undermine our democracy in order to win an election and who want to deny you the right to vote.

I know a lot of you care about these issues more than this kid loves corn. Mmm, corn. So prove it. Make sure you're registered to vote at vote.org slash Obama, and then go vote. Our future depends on it. Make sure you're registered to vote at vote.org slash Obama and then go vote. Our future depends on it. The clothing company Patagonia, they also put out an ad directed towards young voters. Here's their ad. You know why they try so hard to stop your vote? You scare them because two years ago they learned you have power.

They learned that you can win races, pass laws, flip whole states. They learned that when you turn out in force, you can demand the world you want. And that terrifies them. They're betting you won't do it again, hoping you won't. So on Election Day, November 8th, show up and show them this should be scared of you. Joining us now is Evan Wayne Malbrough. He is an Andrew Goodman Foundation board member and ACLU Georgia fellow.

He joins us now from Atlanta. Evan, how you doing? I'm doing well, Roland. How about yourself? Doing great. Here's one of the issues. Since the 1970s, the group that has voted the lowest in all elections has been that group 18 to 35. And so, if you look at this Harvard poll, 40% of young voters say 18 to 29 say they're going to vote.

That is still a very low number. The reality is if young voters vote anywhere from 60 to 65 percent, they can literally flip elections all across the country. What is necessary to get that to happen? I would say youth leadership. I think that there is a lot of organizers on the ground in Georgia, in other states across the union, who really know how to get their communities out to the ballot, whether that be their schools, whether that be their friend groups, whether that be their social groups. So I think what needs to be invested in are the youth leaders that are on the ground that can speak the language and translate that into votes this coming November. Now, Evan, you said young leadership, but is it also a question of who is actually in control of the resources? Because that's also something that's important. At the end of the day, if you don't control the money, then you can't actually put those boots on the ground.

And absolutely. And that is 100 percent. And that's why we need those partnerships. Right. We need partnership with the more established entities in our political system and in understanding that in efforts that target young people and the youth vote, we will give them a voice. That doesn't only help in the upcoming elections, but that also helps in future elections as part of building coalitions is building initiatives and building leaders that are going to transcend just one election season. How do you get somebody to understand that the issues matter? I remember during the George Floyd protests, there were a number of people who said, you know what, voting doesn't make any sense to me. It serves no impact whatsoever.

But I'm going out in protest. Frankly, protesting and not voting really is like an absolute waste of time, like you're going for a walk in the park. And so how do you get those voters, 18 and 35, to understand that those two things go together? Absolutely. So the strategy I like to employ is I lead with issues that people care about. I lead with issues that people care about. So I don't just go and say, hey, you need to vote. You need to research your candidates. You need to trust the candidates. I like to talk to young people about issues that affect them, minimum wage, housing, climate change. And I push them to really dig into those issues, as well as invest their time and their resources into those issues

365 days of the year. And then I use that as a means to say, hey, part of that in the ground level of fixing those issues is voting. And on election day, you do need to go vote. But afterwards, what are you going to do to hold your elected officials accountable, to organize power in your communities, and educate yourself on the newest developments in your community. So that's the kind of things I like to employ. I really want to put young people at the front of these issues so that voting just seems like a smaller part of a broader initiative to make their communities better. Well, last point, one of the things that I'm always talking about explaining to young voters, I hear people complain about boomers. They say we're tired of boomers and Gen X making decisions

for us. And I'm like, well, the reality is people who vote the most are 65 plus. The second group are 55 plus. I'm like, if you show the hell up, then you're probably going to have a say in who gets elected or not. That's absolutely fair. But something I would add, part of what's affecting the youth vote is the large amounts of voter suppression laws that are affecting not only my home state of Georgia, but states across the country. So part of, a big part of getting the youth vote out as well is to educate young people who may be first-time voters or who don't have a lot of experience within the polls about the changes of landscapes. For example, if you voted in 2020 and you're currently voting in 2022, you're in an entirely different landscape in the importance of voting, but also educating them about the actual act of voting in itself, because young people's ballots are primed to be discarded. Young people's voter registrations are primed to be discarded because of a change in landscape that even older voters and older activists are trying to adjust to. All right, Evan Malbrough, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thanks for having me. voters and older activists are trying to adjust to.

All right, Evan Melbro. We surely appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thanks for having me. All right, folks, bringing in my Thursday pound, Dr. Greg Karch, Department of African American Studies at Howard University, Recy Colbert, Black Women Reviews, and also Erica Savage-Wilson. Erica, glad to have you here. She, of course, is with the Reframe Harvard University, Dr. Travis Wilson. Glad to have you here. She, of course, is with the reframe brain. Greg, I want to start with you.

You teach at Howard University. You're dealing with students every single day. Are you seeing folks engage in this midterm? Do they understand the implications? And are they going to actually

turn out? When you see the Harvard numbers, 40%, that's simply far too low. When you look at millennials and Gen Z's making up the largest group of people in the country, if they don't vote, then you're not going to see the numbers that are needed. Yes, they understand. Of course, many of them are away from home. And in many ways, Howard is the national, the international HBCU. We had a conversation last week about fast approaching deadlines for absentee ballots, for example. Last night, Ron Daniels, of course, and we'll all be together, he'll be moderating that panel on the 10th of November on campus. Ron Daniels stopped by my class at the law school last night, and we talked about voting rights for

about three hours with law students. And a lot of concern about the impact of the North Carolina case, the so-called independent state legislature case. And Ronald walked through finally something very important last night with my students. He talked about the fact that since the civil rights-slash-Black Power movement, we have kind of lost our way in terms of the fundamental importance of boots on the ground organizing, and that we shouldn't just be tethering our fortunes to election cycles. And so that led to a very interesting conversation around how young people are processing organizing. But all due respect to my brother Evan, I think we have to understand that the misinformation

and the disinformation, this is what Recy talks about all the time, is flooding the zone. People are worried about inflation as if the government did something about it. Record profits from oil companies. The front page of the Financial Times today said that they are exporting more oil out of the United States right now than ever before. And people are saying it's the government. It's not the government. They're price gouging. The Democrats have had an epic fail by not hitting the economy hard. I didn't hear Barack Obama mention the economy once. Come on't hear Barack Obama mention the economy

once. Come on, brother. We have to do better organizing and getting the right message and slamming these people. And that's what young people are talking about. That's what will move young people, I think. Recy, I want to go to you again. It's about the critical thing is it is about the messaging. And to Greg's point, if you're not doing that early, then it's a waste. I mean, I'll be honest with you. All of a sudden, my phone is ringing right now. Folks want me to come to Texas, want me to come to Michigan,

want me to come to North Carolina. And I'm sitting there going, where in the hell y'all been? Yeah, I mean. I was like, what, we got less than 14 days and now my phone is ringing? Yeah, absolutely. And we've talked about this so many times on the show about that credibility gap that exists with Black voters, with young voters. And that's because of the lack of engagement on a consistent basis.

You can't have just-in-time engagement with people because people will tune you out, and they'll feel like feel like, where have you been for all these years? But I also have to say, and I'll edit this a little bit because your audience grow the F up, grow the F up. Like I'm sick of y'all. It's not all about handholding and, and this being held, holding you down and this is against us and that's against us. Yes. All those things are true. And they've always been true for Black people in this country and for young people in this country. But there's never been an easier time to make a decision if your decision is based on anything remotely related to policy. The parties

are completely polarized. Their policies are polar opposite in terms of what they are trying to do with this country. If the top priorities are abortion, one party completely wants to wipe away those rights. The other one wants to protect it. It's completely it's black and white. There's no gray area now in terms of that. So it's time to grow the F up. It's time to do your part. It's time to realize you're not picking a prom

date. You're not picking a swiping left or swiping right on who you want to be, your senator, your representative, your governor. It's about picking a person who's going to vote for the priorities that you want, who's going to protect your interests, who's not going to work against your citizenship, your humanity, your autonomy. So I hope that people wake up to the fact that two weeks from now, there's going to be a dire election that doesn't feel like people feel like it's that dire, maybe because of inflation, maybe because of a number of things. Maybe people are feeling that more than what's at stake here, but it's time to grow up. Okay. 18 years old. Okay. Maybe you're distracted. But 35, what's your excuse?

Come on. Come on. Go on and go to the polls. I'm sick of all the, excuse me, yes, messaging, yes, a whole number of things. But it's time to grow up, people. But again, Erica, numbers do not lie. If you look at, again, as you go down, the reality is numbers get smaller and smaller. I read the other day in North Carolina, the first of early voting. We can't hear you, Roland.

55% of all ballots cast. Okay, now they got me. They can't hear me. Can y'all hear me now? Yeah, we can hear you now. Okay, I got it. All right, so in North Carolina, first of early voting, about 50,000 votes were cast. 65 or older, about 55% of the ballots cast.

As you go down, 18 to 40 only represented about 12% all the ballots cast. And I keep saying that is a problem. And so I don't quite understand, Erica, you know, in terms of, you know, look, you have to get those folks out, which also means you must have a targeted message, a tailored message to do so. And I think what ends up happening is, to Greg's point, if you're waiting on a party to do it, that's not going to do it. You're going to have to have third-party groups whose job is to actually reach those folks, going after those voters and not depending upon a party because, frankly, I mean, just real clear, those are white Democratic strategists who only want to go after college-educated folk who are middle-income.

They're not trying to really cultivate young voters and black voters. True. Yeah, Rowley, and along with what everyone else has said on the panel, you know, a couple of things. One thing that I will say is I think that, you know, the day of the chicken dinners and folks coming to People's church and telling them essentially who to vote for are gone. We do have within our community trusted voices. We have organizers.

We have people who folks go and talk to when they don't understand their local politics. I think one of the issues has been actually putting the money in that pocket of those folks that actually do that work year round. So those voices are there. The other part of this, not only paying those voices, but empowering them so they're able to bring more people along. And we've seen these efforts, you know, talking about my home state, Georgia, but Black Voters Matter, you know, that band has traveled across the states, really empowering and really engaging and really putting youth, putting young people, folks who are a part of college communities, not a part of college communities, but young people who have voices and they do have power within their communities. So

we've seen that being done with different groups. The other part I will say is along the point with what Recy is saying with, you know, nobody needs to continue to hold folks hand around the voting piece is, you know, all of us have traveled internationally. And every time I travel out of country, I'm always super fascinated about how engaged those folks are, not only with their politics, both local and however that country is, however that country, whatever that looks like for that country. But I'm also fascinated that they know so much more about American politics than many Americans do, which goes back to Americans, the low percentage of Americans that have passports. I'm bringing that forward to say, you know, in some states, there are elections that happen a

couple of times a year, some more frequently, some less frequently. But this is a part, this is a way in which how we continue to make sure that we are fighting for our democracy and that we are seeing things that we want to see in our community. Sometimes we don't get the grand, big changes, but that happens when a collective body is moving towards something. And so that, again, is a lot of times what you see in some countries where they know the politics of the country and ours as well. And then those that don't. So I'll say this to say there's something about us not being as engaged in politics.

I think that's kind of giving this apathy that we continue to hear about every midterm, every general election. But Reesey, it's got to go ahead and get beyond that because honestly, I'm really concerned about what we're going to see in a couple of weeks because this election cycle sets the tone for what we're going to see in 2023, how vicious that's going to look leading up to when we're actually going to hopefully vote and not install a president. Well, look, I'll make it clear to folks that you can be concerned about an election, but you can't be just complaining after the fact. And again, if you never showed up and then you want to complain after November,

my deal is shut the hell up. Simple as that. Got to go to break. We come back. We'll talk about what's happening in Nevada with the counting of mail-in ballots in a particular county there. We also show you a racist sergeant in Jacksonville, Florida. Absolutely crazy comments he made regarding African-Americans. And Governor Ron DeSantis, he has ordered to turn over all documents related to those migrant flights to Martha's Vineyard. He's been breaking the law by not doing so. Shocker. You're watching Roland Martin law by not doing so. Shocker.

You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Be sure to download the app on Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Also, you can support us by joining our Bring the Funk fan club. Check your money orders.

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How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds, available at Venbella Books. Of course, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, Chapters, Books A Million, Target. You can also order through your favorite black bookstore or download it from Audible. We'll be right back from Baltimore. When we invest in ourselves, our glow, our vision, our vibe, we all shine. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure.

This is our time. Our moment to move forward. Beyond the gun violence, the hospital closures, the unaffordable housing. Brian Kemp's Georgia for the wealthiest few. Stacey Abrams is looking out for every Georgian. She'll invest our $6 billion surplus in the fundamentals. Education, health fundamentals, education,

health care, housing, and a good living, putting more money in your pocket to build one Georgia where everyone has the freedom to thrive. When we invest in ourselves, we all shine. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. You know what's on the ballot. It's not just legislation and policies we believe in. It's democracy. Our democracy. There's a choice on the ballot between freedom and fear, between cruelty and compassion, between chaos and community,

between voting or violence. And the end of rights generations have fought for. The extremists have a plan, a roadmap for a nation where your voice is silenced and your vote is a memory, where they count their votes and cast ours aside. That's why this year, this fight, this vote is so important. Register, engage, volunteer, fight back against the disinformation and despair, and most of all, vote.

Because your vote is all that stands between our future and theirs. Libraries empower the community with education. Liberia Economic Development Initiative, LEDY, is hosting the International Life Changers Awards and Liberia's Bicentennial to celebrate LEDY building the country's first modern public library and technology center. Join event host Roland Martin, our honorees, Reverend Dr. Jamal Bryant, Zernona Clayton,

Thomas Dortch Jr., Dana Lupton, Dr. Tammy Gray-Steele, on October 29th at the CNN Center Atlanta. There are no public libraries in Liberia, but together we can change that. Get tickets at LEDINow.org. Hi, everybody. This is Jonathan Nelson. Hi, this is Cheryl Lee Ralph, and you are watching Roland Martin, unfiltered. I mean, could it be any other way? Really? It's Roland Martin. All right, folks, welcome back to Pratt Library here in Baltimore,

where in about 20 minutes I'll be leading the Q&A with Jemele Hill regarding her new memoir, Up Heeled. We continue our show, Rolander Mart Unfiltered. Nevada State Supreme Court, they've ordered Nye County to stop the unprecedented hand count of mail-in ballots today. The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada filed an emergency 20-page court request to stop vote counting. The court filing accused Nye County of violating Supreme Court rules that prevent the public release of early voting results. Onlookers witnessed the vote tallies call out mismatched voting tallies, and it took nearly three hours to count only 50 ballots. Now as the most well-known county to switch the vote counting process

in response to election fraud conspiracy theories, the change could significantly impact the election outcome as Nevada is one of the key U.S. Senate races. This right here, Reese, is a concern we've been talking about, where you've had these election deniers who have been taking over county positions and they're running for state office. These folks want to impact the election. How in the hell does it take three hours to count 50 ballots? This is the kind of freak show that we've been talking about that we should be trying to avoid come November.

And if these people are elected, if these MAGA folks are elected to various offices, it's going to get worse in 2024. Absolutely. I mean, this is basically chaos. You had several groups tally five, 50 votes in three hours and they had different answers. This is why voting machines work and hand tallies are really supposed to be used in rare circumstances because people are fallible. And so I just think it's a shame that they have really given in to the election deniers and conspiracy theorists. And be clear, this is a very heavily Republican district. And so they're really inflicting more pain on themselves than anything.

But I think that the extra unprecedented part about this is essentially releasing who has a certain amount of votes before Election Day. So basically, you're telling people how many votes to go for a particular candidate. And so this is just ridiculous. But when you have hundreds of election deniers running throughout the country, whether they're running for secretary of state, running for governor, running for Congress, this is just the beginning. And the fact that the Supreme Court is chomping at the bit to take away federal protections and federal standards for elections, this is what's at stake in 2022. Perhaps, hopefully not, if people vote the right

way and take this seriously, but perhaps one of our last free-ish, fair-ish elections we might see in this country before it all comes crumbling down, I think, as Dr. Carr would talk about. Erica, Erica, Erica, again, I don't think people understand how these crazy individuals are trying to impact these elections. I mean, we're talking about people who are running all across this country. And look, Steve Bannon and others, they've made it clear their goal is to take over the election process. He is on record as saying every vote should not be counted. They want to be able to throw out thousands of ballots. They want to ensure that Donald Trump out thousands of ballots. They want to ensure

that Donald Trump and his MAGA idiots win. Absolutely, Roland, which is why the last thing I said is, are we going to be experiencing the next president that's going to be elected or installed? Remember, Steve Bannon said right there in the state of Maryland at the CPAC convention in February of 2017, that the goal of that regime was to deconstruct the administrative state. And to Recy's point, it's all about sowing chaos. And so we know how Steve Bannon has tethered himself to folks in our communities to ensure that those disruptors, those chaos agents are spreading messages of disinformation and misinformation. So, you know, Republicans do wild things, but they know that they're actually

going to run and hold the news cycle. And because they lean more towards authoritarianism and one-think kind of mindset, that if the top person is saying that, listen, that election that took place when folks came out and voted 2020, that that election was not valid, then here we are dealing with years later folks running around saying that, yeah, 2020 wasn't valid, and we still have a bone to pick. So I think that, you know, as we talk about folks voting and engaging the vote here in the states, you know, to be very clear, you know, whatever freedoms, quote, unquote, that we are experiencing, do you still want to experience those freedoms of being able to freely log into a social media account? There's no, we have some idea of what Republicans plan to unleash because

of conversations leaked and things that we're reading throughout articles and things of that nature. But the extent of what they are willing to do, there's still yet some to be unfolded. But history has taught us who they are and what exactly they want. And they want everyone else's freedom. So I think that this is really should be another reason for people to really ensure that they are engaging this in every vote that they have within their state. Greg, it is going to be a nightmare on November 8th. We can expect election challenges. We can expect lawsuits. They want to gum up this process as much as they can, especially if they're not winning some of these critical U.S. Senate races.

Absolutely, Roland, including the one there in Nevada where you see they have carpet bombed the airwaves trying to take out Catherine Mastro. Just had some friends return from Las Vegas and they said they couldn't turn on the television without seeing that carpet bombing. This is the hillbilly horde. And you wrote a whole book about white fear, driven by white fear, driven by irrational behavior. The Harvard study you just mentioned around young people, 57 percent of the people polled said the Inflation Reduction Act benefited them. Well, if you understand that it benefited you and you understand that the people you're propping up voted against it, what's so hard to understand? See, this is very simple, Rowling. I mean, you're going to be sitting there in the studio covering this thing on the 8th of November. They're going to break it. And once they break it, it's not going to be put back together. Can we be very clear about this? The Supreme Court in Brazil, the Brazilian election is this Sunday,

the runoff between a white nationalist backed by Steve Bannon and everybody else, and Lula da Silva, who is trying to expand the safety net. The Supreme Court of Brazil just made mostly Bala Zaro's people stop running disinformation campaigns. It's against the law in Brazil

to run disinformation. In this country, it is the coin of the realm. These hillbillies actually believe that the election was realm. These hillbillies actually believe that the election was stolen. These hillbillies actually believe that Democrats eat babies and pedophiles. These hillbillies will fight you, and they will say to your face, no, it was the Republicans that gave

me the tax cuts and the benefits. You didn't even pay taxes, you hillbilly. They're going to break it. Please understand, this shouldn't be a race in Pennsylvania. Oz, Oz talking about immigration. Let's talk about immigration from Jersey, bruh. There shouldn't be an election in Wisconsin.

Ron Johnson is a cold-blooded racist. There shouldn't be an election in Georgia with a brain-dead man holding up Killer Cop Toy Story 2 badges and paying for abortions every two weeks, with Lindsey Graham standing behind him today giggling while they crack another racist sexist joke. There shouldn't be an election. When they break it, when they break it, this is what's going to happen. Out of the ashes of this broken system,

this minority rule electoral college, this Supreme Court that's been completely hijacked, that's getting ready to do everything from allow state legislatures to pick who's going to be the president of the United States, to throw out your ballot if you even show up to try to vote. When they break it out of the ashes, the human beings in this place called United States of America are going to build something different. It doesn't mean the end of the people who live here, but it does mean the end of this rotten system.

These hillbillies are going to break it. If you want it to stay the way it's in now, you better go out and vote. Because believe me, if you don't vote, that means you voted twice. That means you voted. With them hillbillies voting, that means your vote didn't neutralize them. And that meant that the people you should have been voting for didn't get your vote. So if you don't vote,

listen very carefully. If you don't vote, you voted twice. You voted twice. Get it? Or get the scrappling. Y'all think I'm playing. When they break it, they got scrapped. You sitting up here talking on wax studio gangsters rapping about it. Let's be very clear what their agenda is.

They're going to take y'all black asses out. If you don't preach. Oh, again, I mean, I mean, I did. Right, again, people need to understand what is at stake. I mean, bottom line is we've been warning them. And so I don't want to hear people go, oh, my goodness, we didn't think this was going to happen. Hashtag we tried to tell you. That's what we're trying to tell you.

All right. Got to go to break. We come back. We'll have our black and missing. We'll talk about the story out of Jacksonville. We'll also show you if y'all want a hilarious video, we're going to show you Lindsey Graham saying that Democrats are scared of Hershel Walker winning because of a Hershel Walker you. I know y'all want to get a good laugh out of that one. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered, broadcasting live from the Pratt Library here in Baltimore

where in a few moments I'll be having the Q&A with Jemele Hill regarding her new book, Uphill, a memoir. We'll be right back. When we invest in ourselves, we're investing in what's next for all of us. Growing. Creating. Making moves. The move is all forward.

Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. This is our time. Our moment to move forward beyond the gun violence, the hospital closures, the unaffordable housing. Brian Kemp's Georgia for the wealthiest few. Stacey Abrams is looking out for every Georgian.

She'll invest our $6 billion surplus in the fundamentals, education, healthcare, housing, and a good living, putting more money in your pocket to build one Georgia where everyone has the freedom to thrive. When we invest in ourselves, our glow, our vision, our vibe,

we all shine. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. It's about us. Let's go! We are in sunny South Dallas. The election is coming up. It's super important that folks know who they are voting for, but more importantly, what they are voting for.

Y'all, we got the free shirts and free lunch right over here. Freedom is our birthright. No matter what we're up against, we're sending a message in Dallas and Texas and in this country. We won't black down. That's what this bus tour is all about. The housing cost is one of the most capitalized areas that we have found. People who are marginalized, that are brown and black, we are suffering the most. And I think that we have the biggest vote and the biggest impact in this election. I'm voting for affordable housing, for sure.

We should not be paying the cost of a utility failure because our elected officials are too proud to say we need help. I know that we can bring out our people to vote. It's a part of our birthright. It's a part of our heritage. And surely, it's a part of our prison and part of our future. That's right. That's what's up. And we won't black down.

Forward that message to Five Friends, because in that message, it's got links to how to get registered, how to check your registration status. Like I said, 2.30 we'll start rendezvousing right here on this street. I am voting to let our voice be heard in the rural communities that, hey, we are people too. There are things that we need.

Free shirts, free food, and lots of power! We are in Longview, Texas, where Black Vot matter, 365. Whatever type of oppression a white supremacist throws our way, we will not black down. We are in relentless pursuit of liberation of our people. Freedom is liberation for black bodies and black communities to make economic change through political power. Freedom is choice. We won't black down.

We won't black down. We won't black down. We won't black down. We won't black down. We won't black down. We won't black down. We won't black down. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, Black women are starting businesses at the fastest rate than any other segment. However, finding the funding to build them is challenging. On our next Get Wealthy,

we're going to talk with author, Kathryn Finney, who wrote the book, Build the Damn Thing. And she's going to be sharing exactly what we need to do to achieve success in spite of the odds. As an entrepreneur of color, it's first, you know, building your personal advisory board. I think that's one of the things

that's helped me the most. The personal advisory board of the people who are in the business of you, you personally, and want to see you succeed. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. Hi, I'm Israel Houghton.

Apparently the other message I did was not fun enough. So this is fun. You are watching... Roland Martin, my man, unfiltered. All right, folks, our black and missing of the day, Mariah Valentine, has been missing from her Florissant, Missouri, home since October 11th. The 14-year-old is 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighs 110 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information about Mariah Valentine should call the St. Louis, Missouri, Police Department at 314-231-1212, 314-231-1212. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is facing new legal woes over his handling of flying migrants to Martha's Vineyard. On Tuesday, a Florida state judge ordered DeSantis to release all records related to the flights

of undocumented migrants on charter flights from Texas to Florida to Martha's Vineyard. The Florida Center for Government Accountability filed multiple records requests in September following the flights, but the Sanders' attorneys pushed back because they've already released some of the documents, but say they weren't given reasonable time to produce the remainder of the documents requested because of the Hurricane Eon. Well, the judge said not good enough, release those documents. Let's stay in Florida where black pastors in Jacksonville called a what called out a white share for racially insensitive social media

posts allegedly made by one of his sergeants, a group of pastors. Want disciplinary action against Jacksonville gang task force Sergeant Douglas Howell for racist, discriminatory social media post in 2013. A Twitter account tied to how posted America's three biggest problems. Marijuana abuse, the president's office. The president's office is looking into the allegations that he was tweeting racist comments. He tweeted that he was

tweeting racist comments. He tweeted that he was tweeting racist comments. He tweeted that he was tweeting racist comments. He tweeted that he was tweeting racist comments. He tweeted that he was

tweeting racist comments. He tweeted that he was tweeting racist comments. He tweeted that he was tweeting racist comments. He tweeted that he was tweeting racist comments. He tweeted that he was

tweeting racist comments. He tweeted that he was tweeting racist comments. He tweeted that he was tweeting racist comments. He tweeted that he was tweeting racist comments. media account has made derogatory posts about Mexican people, LGBTQ community, and anti-racism groups. Democratic Jacksonville Sheriff candidate Lakeisha Burton responded to this news. She said that she was appalled by this and she again, if confirmed behind his tweets, he faces suspension or even termination. And so you see the statement there from her. And so this is crazy, Erica, but this is what we also know.

We know there are races that are on police departments all across the country. Yeah, absolutely. And that's why, you know, wanting to have databases for employees, essentially, that commit acts like this was definitely something that's necessary. You talked about this particular law enforcement person is connected with the gang unit. So you think about how much he's abused his power, perhaps within that unit, the level of aggression that he's using. What we see out in public is just a reflection of who he is privately, personally, and within that blue wall.

So I think that, you know, shows like Roland Martin and Filter that definitely hold a standard to calling these types of actions out, making sure that these folks who are supposed to be working for the people who are paid by taxpayers, that there's a face and a name with that. But then this is why you see this is the importance of community, too. It's folks like pastors, people who are, frankly, senior and elders in the community that are still holding folks like this police officer definitely accountable as much as possible. So I think that this is another reason why, too, that it's important for people to know what's

happening in their community and folks that are on the ballot. This particular sheriff, Lakeisha Burton, she's a candidate for sheriff. And so I hope that the folks in Jacksonville, honestly, when they make a decision about what type of person that they want to not eradicate law enforcement, but at least hold officers when they're found having committed some type of active aggression accountable. These are the types of things that people should be looking for with regards to records. 30 seconds each, Recy, then Greg. Yeah, I mean, the fact that he said

that black people are the top three problems, other two being marijuana, it ain't enough of us to be the biggest problem. The biggest problem in this country is white men like this racist cop, point blank, end of period. So he needs to take a look in the mirror if he wants to see what the biggest problem is and stop looking at us.

Greg? Absolutely. Well, Maryland's getting ready to decriminalize marijuana anyway, and I've never been one to deal with marijuana a lot, but I'm just thinking about this. There are a lot of places in this country who don't allow racist hunters like this guy to prowl

the streets. That tweet's from 2013, which means that's nine years of running around there with dead food in his head. How many people have been harmed, like Erica said, get this guy out of the paint. We got to move these cats at some point. Yeah. All right, folks, I want to give you all some time to comment. So this was a video.

Lindsey Graham, I think he was on Sean Hannity's show, his white nationalist TV show and white nationalist network Fox News. And he was sitting on there with, of course, the dummy Herschel Walker. I think it was more like a ventriloquist. And so this is what Lindsey Graham actually said about black people and Herschel Walker. Play this, y'all. They're scared to death of Herschel Walker because if Herschel Walker becomes a Republican, maybe every other young child in America of color might want to be a Republican. That's what they're trying to do.

Don't let them get away with it. TeamHerschel.com. I want the biggest night for the Herschel Walker campaign to be tonight. Erica, you're from Georgia. I'm going to let you go ahead and start. But that boy on crack. You know, you know, Lenny, I just really want Lindsay to stop talking. That's what I want Lenny to stop doing.

Just stop talking, Lenny. That's all I want Lenny to stop doing. Just stop talking, Lenny. That's all I have to say. Stop talking, sis. Recy. Well, first of all, Lindsey Graham is turning beet red, frothing at the

mouth, delusional. Okay. The only thing that Hershel Walker is inspiring is hiding your abortions, your mistresses, your spread wide and low and low down and across the country. He is not an inspiration for anybody, boo-boo. Okay. And the fact that he thinks that Hershel Walker of all people will be an inspiration to black people shows how low regard he has for black people because he ain't even in the top 2,000 of people. Maybe before he ran, he was just a Heisman Trophy winner. He would have been inspiration. But as a bumbling, buffoon, idiot, incoherent senator to be

or not, hopefully not, he's no inspiration to us, boo-boo. Not even close. We don't do that over here. So move along with it. Greg. Greg, you get the last comment. No, I would just say quickly, looking at those two, it's almost as if they look like two people whose families don't care anything about them.

Little Len, I don't know what happened to you as a child, man. But that same little baby, angry baby, Benjamin Button Fangs that you're bearing right there, looks like the same rant you were on with another loveless child, Brett Kavanaugh, when he was romping through assaulting women and drinking beer. He was foaming like that same rant you were on with another loveless child, Brett Kavanaugh, when he was romping through assaulting women and drinking beer. And he was boning like that, like Reese said. So whatever hurts you as a child, whatever repression you have that causes you in these moments to just show completely out, it's so clear that whatever that thing is driving you, little fella, that thing that's eating you every night, late at night, you know, in the midnight hour, as you pick it, Mike, that thing comes

out, and then you're sitting next to a man whose family does not love him. Because see, if that was my uncle, if that was my nephew, I would get that man on television. That man is so clearly deteriorated, and he's sitting there like a half-a-lump slave while this man over here pulls the puppet

strings. Those are two human beings deeply in need of invention, and they ain't got nobody to stand with except one of them going to make our lives hell if the other one he's propping up gets in the Senate. Period. Absolutely. All right.

Erica, Reese, and Greg, I certainly appreciate it. I hate we have to shorten this, but in about three minutes, we'll be starting the Q&A with Jemele Hill for her memoir, Uphill, here from the Pratt Library in Baltimore. I thank all three of you for joining us. All right, folks, we're going to go to a break. When we come back, I'll be chatting with Jemele here with this packed audience here with regards to her new book.

Don't forget to support the Black Star Network. Download the app. All platforms, Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. And of course, you can also join our Bring the Funk fan club and get my book, White Fear, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds. We'll be right back. When we invest in ourselves, our glow, our vision, our vibe, we all shine. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. This is our time, our moment to move forward beyond the gun violence, the hospital closures, the unaffordable housing.

Brian Kemp's Georgia for the wealthiest few. Stacey Abrams is looking out for every Georgian. She'll invest our $6 billion surplus in the fundamentals, education, health care, housing, and a good living, putting more money in your pocket to build one Georgia where everyone has the freedom to thrive. When we invest in ourselves, we're investing in what's next for all of us. Growing, creating, making moves that move us

all forward. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. I am on screen and I am representing what a Black man is to the entire world that's gonna see this. And this might be the only black man, a representation of a black man that they see. Right. So I am responsible. Right. For how they see black men.

And it's my responsibility to, if I am not playing an upstanding, honorable, someone with a strong principle and moral core, to make sure that this character is so specific that it is him, not black men. And I wish that more actors would realize how important their position is as an actor, as an actor of color playing people of color on screen,

because there are people that see us all over the world in these different images that we portray. And not everyone knows black people to know. Yes. That's not all. Library's Empower the Community with Education, Liberia Economic Development Initiative, LDII, is hosting the International Life Changers Awards and Liberia's Bicentennial to celebrate LDII building the country's first modern public library and technology center. Join event host Roland Martin, our honorees, Reverend Dr. Jamal Bryant, Zernona Clayton, Thomas Dortch Jr., Dana Lupton, Dr. Tammy Gray-Steele on October 29th at the CNN Center Atlanta. There are no public libraries in Liberia, but together we can change that.

Get tickets at LEDINow.org. On a next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie. Being of service to others is one of the greatest callings in life. But being there for someone else in their time of crisis is a whole new level. And you have to bring courage, commitment, and strength. On our next show, we meet two real-life angels who were thrust in the midst of caregiving and without warning. And he was looking strange and couldn't cut his meat. And it was very odd.

And I said, well, what's wrong? And he says, I think I've had a stroke. And so, of course, it scared me. And we literally got in the car and he walked into the hospital on a Thursday. And by Saturday of that same week, he lost all control of his left side. The blessings, the challenges, and the way they maintain their balance, all next on A Balanced Life on Black Star Network. Pull up a chair, take your seat. The Black Table with me, Dr. Greg Carr, here on the Black Star Network. Every week, we'll take a deeper dive into the world we're living in.

Join the conversation only on the Black Star Network. We're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it or not. From politics to music and entertainment, it's a huge part of our lives. And we're going to talk about it every day right here on The Culture with me, Faraji Muhammad, only on the Black Star Network. You know why they try so hard to stop your vote? You scare them because two years ago, they learned you have power. They learned that you can win races, pass laws, flip whole states. They learned that when you turn out in force, you can demand the world you want.

And that terrifies them. They're betting you won't do it again, hoping you won't. So on Election Day, Novembermber 8th show up and show them this should be scared of you you know what's on the ballot it's not just legislation and policies we believe in it's democracy our democracy there's a choice on the ballot between freedom and fear, between cruelty and compassion, between chaos and community, between voting or violence. And the end of rights generations have fought for. The extremists have a plan, a roadmap for a nation where your voice is silenced and

your vote is a memory, where they count their votes and cast ours aside. That's why this year, this fight, this vote is so important. Register, engage, volunteer, fight back against the disinformation and despair. And most of all, vote. Because your vote is all that stands between our future and theirs. Thanks to Eddie and Sylvia Brown. What up, Eddie? The Eddie C. and C. Sylvia Brown Family Foundation have generously donated to establish the Brown Lecture Series here at the Enoch Pratt Free Library.

And this lecture series has been in place for several years, so we are really grateful to Eddie and Sylvia for their generosity. Events like this would not be possible without our donors. So I want to say an extra note of thanks to all the donors, especially those who are here tonight, because by having donors like yourselves, it's possible to offer these events free of charge to the public because we want everybody to be able to benefit from all of the programs and special events of the Pratt Library. So thanks to all of you for joining us here in the Central Library. Thanks to those who are joining us here in the Central Library.

Thanks to those who are joining us by virtual programming. And I just have a few coming attractions I want to tell you about. We've got a packed schedule this fall. On November 7th, we're going to welcome back April Ryan. She's going to be discussing her new book, Black Women Will Save the World, an anthem. One Book Baltimore returns on November 10th and this will be an encouragement to all of the Baltimore area seventh and eighth graders. The featured book is titled Furia by Yamile Saeed-Mendez, and she will join us for a special launch event. And then on November 17th, the Hackerman Best and Next series is back with Emmy Award-winning television host W. Kamau Bell.

So I encourage all of you to come back. Come back. We've got programs. The doors are open. Now it is my pleasure to introduce to you the mayor of our great city, Baltimore, Mr. Brandon Scott. Good evening, everybody. Okay, we've got to let Jameel know where we're at. We're in Baltimore. Good evening, everybody. Okay, we got to let Jamil know where we're at.

We're in Baltimore. Good evening, everybody. That's more like it. Thank you, Dr. Brown. And it is my honor to join us all here in welcoming the incomparable Jamil Hill to the greatest city in America, the city of Baltimore, man. My personal, yeah, let's give her a big round of applause. I just hope Roland asks you those questions like he asks me on TV sometimes. I'll be gentle.

Yes, sir. My appreciation for this woman dates back many, many years. As everyone in Baltimore knows, I'm an avid sports fan, and I did not miss an episode of his and hers, and I haven't watched SportsCenter since her and Michael left the show. But that combination of sports and hip-hop and pop culture really spoke to my spirit. That's my spirit language.

And I know that I'm not alone in saying that. And I think that's why so many people relate and respect you, man. You are someone whose innovation and talent aims to bridge what divides too many people in our world. And as I told you, I don't listen to podcasts, but I do listen to Unbothered. As a fellow Little Brother and Foreign Exchange fan, of course, Fonte and Ninth Wonder's episodes are my favorite, but most importantly, I think the carriage and your willingness to step away from a table where you were no longer served or appreciated

when it was probably easier to stay and more lucrative to stay is another reason why so many of us are in awe of your black girl magic. Lastly, I want to thank you for coming to the Pratt Library, a true jewel of Baltimore City. I'm thankful to all of our Pratt donors who helped to not only put on events like this, but for what our branches do

and neighborhoods for young people and families each and every day, donors who helped to not only put on events like this, but for what our branches do in neighborhoods for young people and families each and every day, especially through the pandemic where the Pratt was a partner in helping our young people learn. We know this week we found out that so many young people across our state fell back, but in many cases Baltimore bucked the trend, and that we know is due in part to the great partnership here at the Pratt Library and we know there will be more renovations and dare I say the new Pratt Library in my neighborhood in Park Heights to come. So thank you all for being here.

Thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Brown for always being fabulous stewards and supporters and the biggest cheerleaders of our great city of Baltimore and we look forward to a great conversation. Thank you. Thank you so much, Mayor Scott. It's now my time to introduce Ms. Jemele Hill to you, but I really am just going to piggyback on some of the things our mayor has already told us about Ms. Hill. As I understand it, her passion for writing really started at a young age, and she probably

showed her great potential and her passion for writing as early as in secondary school. Currently, Ms. Jemele Hill is a contributing writer to The Atlantic magazine, and she is, as Mr. Scott tells us, she is the host of a podcast called Jemele Hill is Unbothered. Yes. She's received multiple awards. She was selected as Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists.

And Worth Magazine had recognized her as one of the most powerful 21 women in their magazine in 2019. Her memoir, recently released, has already been getting a lot of attention and positive acclaim as an empowering and unabashedly bold book. Tonight, she's in conversation with Roland Martin, our host and managing editor of Roland Martin Unfiltered. So I'm going to turn the stage over to Roland Martin and to Ms. Jamel Hill. And again, thank you both for joining us tonight. All right. Glad to be here. Mic's on. We're on. I'm black. I need some bass. Way too much treble. All right, glad to, can y'all hear me in the back?

See, now y'all can hear me. Now they can hear me. And I still need some more bass. That's way too much treble. That's too much treble for a brother. You got to hear us coming. All right, glad to be here. Glad that Jemele here wore a dress.

Y'all give it up! I just knew it was gonna be tennis shoes, jeans, and a t-shirt. How many t-shirts you on? First of all, this is why you don't ask your friends to do events like this because then why you want to start roasting like I'm not gonna come back. I didn't start roasting, I just asked a question. Because I knew you was gonna come in here like a person from the movement. I just asked for questions. I know you was going to come in here and like impress us with a menda and like... I just asked for questions. Don't you have a line of t-shirts? I do. I have a line of t-shirts. Eddie, I'm trying to help her get paid and she mad I'm talking about t-shirts. It's true.

It ain't no about money. It's true. JamelStore.com. I have t-shirts, support black journalists, like obviously the mission of Roland and I, so yes. But no, I knew I had to, you know, dress up a little bit. I'm just trying to sell stuff. I got you, yes.

You know I believe in making money. Listen, Roland, if there's one thing about you, it's like you got at least five hustles going at all times. Oh. That's why you are my boy. That's right. Look, I done pissed off a lot of white people. I need to move to the next job.

I ain't got—you know that. I know, like— You experienced that. I know. You experienced that. Listen, one of the reasons why I was very excited that you agreed to this conversation, you're like the busiest man in show business, number one, because you're doing an incredible job with Roland Martin Unfiltered. I'm part of the Bring the Funk Crew. I donated, I'm in.

Y'all need to donate to this man. And before we get into the conversation that we'll have about this book, do understand that having a black press is essential to a democracy. It's essential to the state of the press. So please, you know, I hear us as black people, we talk about this all the time. Nobody's covering our stories. Nobody is hearing from us. Nobody cares about our perspective. Roland is on this every single day.

So please support him. So I want to start there because the thing for me, I've always understood freedom and flexibility. I've also always believed in or not believing in white validation. And there were a lot of people who thought you were absolutely out of your mind, they thought you should have, you should have just shut up, sucked it up, stated ESPN, people told you what's wrong with you, how dare you leave that good paying job. But the reality is, no matter how much they were paying you, you were actually pigeonholed and you learned through the experience what you could and could not do.

How frustrating was that to make that money but to be in a box? and hold and you learn through the experience what you could and could not do. How frustrating was that to make that money but to be in a box? Roland, you can relate to this story very well but... I can't relate to what you got paid. No, I mean... Touche, touche. Okay, I got you. But you can relate to when you're at a network that is the destination job for everybody

else. So, just to give you guys a a network that is the destination job for everybody else. So, just to give you guys a little context, and it's something I definitely write about, is that ESPN was never on my vision board of jobs. My dream job was to actually work at Sports Illustrated because I was a writer by trade, that's what I do. And so, Sports Illustrated was that job. It was the New York Times of sports. It was.

And so, that's why I wanted to work. And so when ESPN came across my path, I was like, oh, it's cool. They're big. They're spending money. They're investing in journalism. That is what led me there. Because at the time, we're talking about 2006.

And the story in newspapers, it almost feels crazy to say this now, knowing where newspapers are now. But the end and the decline of newspapers was being strongly predicted in 2006. Ad revenue was shrinking. You can't have these two things happening at once. You have your ad revenue shrinking and your readers getting older, not younger.

And so, because of that, I said, you know, once I got an opportunity to interview at ESPN for a columnist job on ESPN.com, nothing to do with television. I said, this has got to be the move to make for my future to sustain my writing career. So it wasn't like I went there with some dreams of being along the pathway of Robin Roberts or Stuart Scott. That was not what I was thinking. And eventually, you know, moving up the ranks, fighting for real estate, going through the mechanisms of ESPN, once I got to what should have been the opportunity of a century,

that's when you see all the asterisks. No question, I made generational money at ESPN for sure. But once we started having creative differences on our show, which preceded the whole Donald Trump controversy, I knew we were not. Sports Center show, because his and hers. His and hers. Y'all had a lot more creative license. Oh, totally. Look, Roland, you served as my co-host.

Rocked the last guy on ESPN. Sure did. Had to let him know. He represented all the way. And that's why his and hers was so special. As my former co-host, Michael Smith, used to say, we selling tapes out the trunk. That was our mentality. Like, we master peeing this thing like ice cream man.

That's what we doing, right? But then you get shifted to one of the flagship, and when flagship or network, that means moneymaker. It does. I mean, it's the legacy show. It's the baby of the network, and a lot of people wonder, why would y'all move twice as much viewership,

three times as much money, brand new studio that's worth $100 million, production staff that triples overnight, but then it comes at the expense of the say-so. All of a sudden, like they didn't really know how foolish we were being on His and Hers. It's like they knew, but they didn't know. It was as if they didn't watch it.

They didn't, because you know what? They liked all the cool things that we did on His and Hers, which were great. I mean, I drank a 40 on TV, a real 40, right? It's like we did a coming to America skit. We did all kinds of foolish things. Like we, we literally just broke every television rule and that's what made the show special. And that's why it was a cult, it was a cult hit among the audience. Yes, because we were doing that show for y'all. We were doing it for

us. We were just being ourselves. We were like, listen, if don't nobody else mess with us, our people gonna mess with us. And y'all did strong. And so, that's why we were able to bring in Roland Martin to co-host. Because if we tried to do it at our sports center, it'd be 2,000 emails about it,

right? So we get to sports center. Yeah, because I'm real scary. You — to them, you would have been frightening, okay? So we get in the Sports Center and it's just a lot of cooks in the kitchen and don't know — nobody know how to make a meal. And it was a tough thing creatively to balance. And one thing that Mike and I decided early on is that if we go down, we going down our way, straight up.

Like, they're not — never going to be able to tell us who we are on television. It does not happen. And so when we started having that infighting and everything was happening and then the Donald Trump thing blew up, you know, as much as this job changed my life and as big as the limelight was, I was like, I really hate doing this. Like, I'm tired of coming in every day and fighting to be myself. Like, I just, I just can't get down like that. And so when I walked away, people have to understand that I walked away knowing that

it was going to be better for me mentally, knowing that like I didn't have to engage in all that silliness all the time. I did it because I wanted to. Because trust and believe, given what my contract said, they could not have ushered me out. Right? And so I had the equivalent of a no trade clause that an athlete has. And I had to waive that to get up off a sports center.

And it was mutually beneficial because by this time, the Breitbarts, the Fox News, they were all over me and ESPN. And so it was a breakup where no one wants to be the first person to say, we don't go together no more. I was happy to say, it's over. Okay, we broke up. And the thing that when you talked about, again, that culture shift, that wasn't the first time that happened at ESPN. For all of the laudatory comments that they have today about our late dear brother Stuart

Scott, Stuart Scott caught hell. They hated his lingo. They could not stand his language. Now, the audience changed their minds, but the reality is they preferred, and I never knew what the hell Keith Olbermann was talking about, but they preferred Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick to Stuart Scott, and he had to battle that stuff and that's what people don't understand behind the scenes. The stuff that I had to deal with for six years at CNN, people don't understand the

battles that we have to deal with and you just see us on the air. You have no idea what happened off air. No, that's what I tell people, especially during those times, and it will happen when the network you're working for, they come into some crosshairs, right? They've done something egregious and people assume that black people there are not fighting and they have no idea every day it's a fight. And I'm glad you said that about Stuart Scott who was one of the biggest supporters of Mike and I.

He used to text us all the time and tell us like, don't let them change you, you know, give us really great advice. He was like big bruh to us for sure. And in a way, while it was encouragement, it was also a warning. Yup. And it was a term that we phrased about SportsCenter, like once, there was an enormous management shift while we was on there that changed how they wanted to do SportsCenter, like once there was an enormous management shift while we was on there that changed how they wanted to do SportsCenter. Well, the leader of ESPN resigned. No, before that.

So before the leader, John Skipper, who was the former president, before he resigned, there was another mini leadership change in terms of who was going to be in charge of our show. And we knew this person. He was also someone Stuart Scott dealt with as well, who was one of his main adversaries when he began to introduce Booyah and New Lingo and how we talk about sports. He was the dude standing in his way. And suddenly he's in charge of our show and I had the feeling this was not going to go well.

But I was like, okay, we'll see what happens. And ultimately it played out just like I thought. We were the mobile quarterbacks that got the coach who only wanted a drop back passer. That's what we were. And it was very clear they did not want us, we weren't their first choice. They didn't want us and And they tried to sort of make it work. And a lot of things culturally started to happen with our show. We had a personality wall behind us on SportsCenter that was supposed to be representative of

all the things that, you know, Mike and I liked, that we thought were, you know, really culture-shifting moments, that were personal moments. You know, Mike had a picture of him, his wife, his kids. We had a picture of when we were all at the White House when Obama was there, during Hennessy in the White House. That's a great, awesome story that I will always tell. We have pictures of Biggie. Always black people with a Hennessy story.

Roland, don't act like you wasn't there. I don't, but I don't drink, so I ain't got a Hennessy story. He doesn't, but you was in the White House fooling like we were. Come on now, you know I was in the ascot. So we had all these moments on the wall, the personality wall that was created for our show. And one of the first things they did was they wanted to get rid of the personality wall. Not because of the picture of Biggie, not because of the picture of Mike and his kids,

or me having the picture of the Detroit skyline where I'm from. It was the Obama picture that they wanted to get rid of. Because at this point, ESPN was in these crosshairs of being considered too political and too liberal and what is going on there. And all of those chaos agents that brought that narrative about ESPN, which is never, they've never been polarizing, but they were during this time. And it was because the faces of the network started to change. Stephen A. Smith is becoming the face of the network.

Mike and I have our own show. You have Beaumont Jones, you have Sarah Spain, you have Kate Fagan. So what y'all were experiencing, which is my new book, White Fear, how the browns- A hundred percent. And I read the book. That's what it is. Faces change. Kate Fagan. So what y'all were experiencing, which is my new book, White Fear, how the brown American people might call it the blue-fay mind. 100 percent. And I read the book. And everything.

That's what it is. Faces change. Oh my God, what's going on? The world is ending. Where did all of our people go? They couldn't handle it. No, that's. No, but it's real.

Like what you're talking about is real. It's like they couldn't handle it. And even though it was very obvious that the people who were accusing ESPN of doing this were only doing that because the faces changed. It wasn't, they acted like every night on the 6 p.m. sports center, we were talking about immigration reform. Like we, we were never doing that. It was a sports show, but you have, you know, you know how it is. It's like, if they can sell a narrative about our show, not being about sports, about black people being too political. One thing I learned, and I knew this beforehand, but I never really experienced this until I was doing the 6 p.m. Sports Center.

People consider you just being black and showing up on TV as being a political act. Oh, it is. It is to them. It's like a political act. Oh, yes. All I did is. It is to them. It's like a political act. Oh, yes. And I was just like, all I did was come to work and get in the employee lot. That's... But yet, I'm representing, you know, some statement about America because as you said,

it's the fear. They see the change and... Oh, and it ain't like you had processed hair. Yeah. See, see, see, that, that, throw that in too. So, you know, no wig, you wasn't sitting here, you know, with a flat eye, no, I mean, that all... Not only a relaxer, because it's still an integral part.

No, I'm saying, but what I'm saying is that, the reality is, this, even the idea of black women wearing natural hair or wearing braids is real new on television, like last two, three years. I mean, Mike was wearing Jordans on there. It's like he wearing Jordans. You know, we got pictures of Biggie in the back. Like, we coming in there like this is the cookout. Like, that's what we wanted our sports center to be. But this wasn't your first run-in with a clueless white boss.

Mm-mm. I've had many of them. Talk about the baby mama and how using those two words almost got you run out of Orlando. It's true. But, well, I'll give the kicker at the end. So one of the stories I tell in Orlando,

I was a columnist for the Orlando Sentinel. It was my first columnist job. I got a columnist for the Orlando Sentinel. It was my first columnist job. I got it when I was 28 years old. And Orlando is a very — First of all — What? The only black female sports columnist in the country. No. Only female, only female.

No, the only black female sports columnist — Daily sports columnist. At a daily newspaper in North America, not just America. No, but they're clapping, but you were not happy. No, no, because that's embarrassing. Like, that's a big indictment of the profession I chose to be a part of. I was one out of 405, and that's why one of the chapters is named that. So I get to the Sentinel.

I'm 28 years old. I have to figure out how to have a voice, how to, you know, structure a column, things, because I hadn't been a columnist before. But anyway, when I was there I created a series called Riding With, and in Orlando it was a different kind of sports town than I was accustomed to. When I was in Detroit, they had all the major sports. You know, you got the Pistons, Red Wings, you know, Tigers, Lions, unfortunately. I said that for my husband.

Well, I knew she was going to mention Lions last. I just said that for her. Her team is the 49ers, by the way. That's right. She rocked everything in Detroit but the Lions. Because I'm not in my mental health role. That's why. Yeah, Michigan, Michigan State, you know, it's a robust college.

And we know you're a Michigan State fan. I know. Look, A&M, you ain't got nothing to say. Oh, I'm not hating, but your season this year has been like mine. I know. We're in the same boat right now. We're in line, so we ain't going to bring a lot of football. We're a little raggedy.

It's okay. We'll commune over it. We're raggedy. We're paying more than y'all paying mail. Go ahead. I'm sorry. So, you know, being in Orlando, it was a one-sport, in terms of professionals, town. They only had their Orlando Magic. That's it.

So when the Magic were done and when college football season was over, because college football was very big there, because you had Florida, Florida State, Miami, you know, all of that. And when those seasons are done, you got to fill news hole. And so I came up with the idea to do a series called Riding With where very simple concept, me, a videographer, photographer, we just get in the car with an athlete. I ask him questions. We tape it. I write up the Q&A. We done, you know, and then do one every week in the summertime, fill in that news hole. So the first one I do is with a player named Willis McGahee, who was a star in Miami. I think Willis was a second or third round pick.

He suffered a very gruesome knee injury in that Miami-Ohio State game, international champion. Sure top 10 pick. Oh, he was before then. And then that injury happened and he slid a little bit, but still had a productive NFL career. Willis is the first person on the slate to interview. I go down there, have a good interview, and me, I'm, you know, despite the fact that people

like to perceive me as being very serious all the time, I'm silly. And so, I'm in the car with Willis, he's got a brand new BMW, and I know he's got a couple kids by a couple different women, and I ask him, jokingly, what's worse Willis, a baby mama or ex-wife? Right? Now everybody black watching the video were like, excellent question, Jemele. Exactly. I felt like I was getting to the truth of something.

Willis starts going in on his baby mamas. He's like, oh, they want too much time, money. Like, he's just going in. And it's funny. Everybody blood watching, like, God, I understand, Willis. They can relate. So, he says all this. It runs, it goes viral, what was viral for 2006. It's like all these blogs pick it up, and I'm thinking this is great traffic for the site, but there was — Then you get a call from Karen.

And then there was — There was one person who was very unhappy about this and her name was Charlotte Hall. She was executive editor of the Orlando Sentinel at the time and she could not believe that we put the word baby mama in print. Does she look — does she look like us? No, I'm just checking. I have to ask these questions.

That's true. No, she didn't look like us. Because she could be a cousin of Clarence Thomas. Go right ahead, I'm sorry. That's true. But that's a fair point, though. That's a fair point. Oh, I can be real petty.

That's a fair point. So she did not look like us. She kind of looked like her husband might have been a founder father, but that's okay. But Charlotte was, in a sense, she had never heard of the term baby mama. That is the mid-2000s. Karen? This is the mid-2000s. So it's very much in the lexicon of how we talk, and it's everywhere.

And I said, okay. And she was like, I'm going to put a letter in your file. She suspended, I think she suspended my editor for like a day, which was crazy. For baby mama? For baby mama. She wasn't having it. So one of my bosses on the sports staff told me, he was like, listen, just make this go away. Like, I know she's overreacting. Just apologize. I did not want

to apologize, but I also like to eat. So I said, I will do this. But you know, as soon as I did it, I just didn't feel good. I didn't feel right about it. And I was thinking to myself at the time, I will never again apologize for something I know I'm right about. But, and here's the kicker. The kicker is there was a black executive at ESPN who saw the story because it went viral. And that same black executive who happened to know a friend of mine set up a meeting for me. You know, he asked our mutual friend, which, you know, I didn't even know we had, he asked to set up a dinner meeting in Orlando because he was like, I want to meet the young woman who wrote that because then I was young.

And so he set up the meeting. He was like, you know, we have a sports columnist opening at ESPN.com because there's a guy named Skip Bayless who's leaving his column writing responsibilities, and he's going to be television just full time. That's it. And I'd love to bring in your voice. So what is the lesson in this? Is that one Karen's objection can lead to a come up. So, I got the job.

And baby mama is how I wound up at ESPN. So, how did you leave? So, it was funny because... I mean, I know how. Listen, Roland, you would have been... I would have been like... You probably would have been like... I would have been like, Karen, I'm going. Listen, Roland, you would have been. I would have been like. You probably would have been. I would have been like, Karen, let me holler at you.

Oh, it would have been real bad. Oh, I know. I know. I would have said, baby mama's in the hall. Oh, yeah. I was like, Roland, I know how you get. You don't understand. You would have been stepping outside this one.

I resigned a job on Juneteenth and left on July 4th. Yes, I did. I was like, freedom! Why are you like this? It lined up perfectly. It lined up perfectly. No, I didn't leave quite like that, but once — here's the funny thing, another story that I tell in there. So I go off to interview and, you know, I believe in keeping it 100. So I told my bosses, I was like, hey, just so y'all know, I'm going off to interview at ESPN. So I go off to Bristol. While I'm there, the news breaks. And this is how I knew ESPN was a totally different world than what I was accustomed to. The news breaks on a sports media blog that I'm interviewing, oh, no, that I had agreed to go to ESPN,

and I was making $200,000 a year. I was like, that's news to me. Like, what is happening? While I was interviewing, that literally happened. And my manager at the time is calling me like, what is this story? And I was like, I have no idea. I don't know, I'm still talking to her. Some op has leaked the story, but it is what it is.

But, you know, long story short, I did not make $200,000 a year, by the way, much less than that. But my bosses, they understood that ESPN was the current and the future. Nobody expected me to stay at the Sentinel. I don't even think I received a counteroffer. Because they already knew that, like, you get a chance to go to some place like that, you have to take that opportunity. Of course. Of course.

Karen had to get over it. I'm sure Karen is not sweating a day over this, but she might not. Well, actually, what I love about the book, I love you name names. You didn't use all last names. Like, what homegirl name? What's Karen's name? Charlotte. I didn't use Charlotte. You put a whole government name in the book. But some other folk, you just used first name. Correct.

Like when you told Henry to go F himself. I did. And so y'all gotta understand, okay, typically when you see these interviews, they, people literally sit there and just recite the whole book. I don't do that because you need to buy the damn book, okay? So, you ain't gonna get no freebie, give all the good stuff away that you don't buy the book.

Now that ain't gonna happen. Y'all gotta read this third one, she said that Henry can go F'em himself. First of all, I hollered laughing when I got to the line. I had to go back and read it two more times to make sure. But again, you didn't hold back on name and names. At least my next question, Walter Mosley, I interviewed him. He came into the studio when I was in Chicago. And I don't read fiction.

And I was like, Walter, I didn't read your book. He's like, what? I said, I don't read fiction, dog. And he said, well, what I love about fiction, you can actually tell the truth more with fiction than you can with nonfiction. And he said, because you can just say it's made up when you're really not—when it's really true. He did.

So when you were writing this, how did you—because you're very open about a whole bunch of stuff dealing with you, a lot of stuff with your mama and your grandmother. So how did you not self-censor? Or was there, or were there some things where you said, yeah I'll put a lot, I can't put this? I pulled a couple punches. And the reason I did is because the thing about when you write a memoir and you're naming real people, though in this case, like you mentioned Henry and then when I talked about my abortion, I purposely did not name, I just, I gave him a different name.

Because the one thing I wanted to be very careful and intentional about is like, I'm not going to tell someone else's story, especially if I don't know if they've actually told this story, right? And so, you know, Henry, just so you all know, and I don't want to give away too much as Roland said, because buy the book and read the book, but Henry was a married man that my mother was having a relationship with.

And I don't know if he's still married or whatever. You know, I'm not snitching. Like, I don't know what his situation is. All I know is... You said what she said was Henry, who owned a bunch of buildings, he was performing pressure on the football team All I know is... Except she said it was Henry who owned a bunch of buildings. He was a former professional football player. I was like, damn, man!

You unmasked him like a mother! You never know, right? It was like he out there taking credit for me. You were like, oh, hell no. Well, the one thing I did tell about how awkward it was is when one of his relatives reached out to me on Facebook and I was like, your dad clearly has not... Oh, dang, I said who it was is when one of his relatives reached out to me on Facebook and I was like,

your dad clearly has not, oh dang, I said who was, I mean anyway, your dad, they clearly have not said how they know me, but okay, anyway. It's a story for Bravo. I say this to say is that the difference with a memoir is that you're writing about real people and you have to think about what do these relationships look like after this book is done. And so the one I was most, or the two I was most sensitive to were my mother, obviously, and to my husband, right? And because I certainly wanted to make sure that there was nothing in there that he didn't know, nothing in there that he was surprised by. Because certainly you could tell about your past and stories, but you may not go into

the same detail that you would in a book. I pull a couple of punches. Well, or you just might not think about do these details matter or not. You're just giving them the gist of it. So I wanted to be very cognizant of that part. But I also know, and thinking as someone who's a reader, thinking as somebody who's a journalist, and you know how much transparency is really the foundation of our profession, what would I look like considering the type of journalist I try to be being inauthentic with the audience?

So I was just going to lay it all out there and let everybody make their own decisions and let the material do what it was supposed to do. What I wasn't going to do is cheat people out of understanding the full scope of who I was. Because how many celebrity memoirs do you read, if you want to put me in that category, where you have the sense that they're not telling you everything? I didn't want people to leave with that when they read this book. Absolutely, absolutely.

Which I think is important because you're right, authenticity, that's actually what makes, what the artist actually wants today, craves today, and unfortunately we have a lot of folks who don't actually do that. Looking at the things that you did talk about growing up, how you grew up, moving different places, what your mother experienced as well, you really deal with that trauma and that pain and how it still is present today and how a lot of folk don't take the time to really sit down and go through, okay, what did I actually go through and how that having an impact on me today.

Talk about why that is so critical to understand your past, have a better understanding of who you are in the present and how you can be a better person in the future. I mean, it's just like history, right? Is that the way you don't repeat it is if you actually know what happened and you understand why it happened. And a lot of us in this room are dealing with generational trauma. The only way it can be broken, I believe, is if you're very open about what that trauma is, about what's happened in your family or in your

relationship, those dynamics. You have to be honest about what's going on. And once you are honest about it, you can actually address it. And we know as in our community, what's one of the cardinal rules that we heard growing up, Roland? It was what happens in this house stays in this house, right? Sometimes, actually not even sometimes, a lot of times it's not good for it to stay in the house. And considering the amount of sexual abuse trauma that my mother suffered,

the issues my grandmother had and other people in my family I talk about, if they had just been able to surface this in a way that they could deal with it, it would have impacted generations in our family. They didn't do that. And because of that, there was a scar and a through line that went from my grandmother to my mother right to me because of the inability to address these horrors that happened. Like I met a woman one day and she talked, her mother was on her deathbed and her mother told her that she had dealt with depression her whole life.

And her daughter was like, why in the hell didn't you say anything? She says, here I am in my 50s and I've been dealing with this crap my entire life and you never said a word." And she said, well, I just kept it to myself. And she said, all of these years I've been trying to figure out what is wrong with me. And she was angry. Just like we've had, look, a lot of our families, folks who have had illnesses don't say anything and then it shows up later.

In fact, I was, Deion Sanders, when he had his leg surgery. Correct. Deion almost checked out because of blood clots. It was when his mama said, oh, well, you know, your uncle and so and so. He was like, how in the hell all the people in the family got blood clots and nobody said anything? I know. He said, don't y'all remember the part where they say, your family history? Your family history.

When you go to the doctor, they say, where's your family history? Correct. For many of us, we leave it empty. Oh, no, because a lot of times some of the older people that we know are elders, they have been through such pain, they don't like to speak to it. And that's why one of the things I want you all to take away from reading this book is while your people are here, ask them about their lives, even if it makes them wildly uncomfortable.

And as I was writing this, of the many thoughts that I had, one of them was that how much I really miss my grandmother. My grandmother was born in 1929. I don't think I ever asked her what it was like to grow up in segregation. I don't think I ever asked her about, she told me some stories about what it was like to grow up in Kentucky. And she went from Kentucky to West Virginia. And eventually the family moved to Detroit and settled in a city just outside of Detroit called Ecorse. But I never asked her about that pathway.

A grandmother who, by the way, you write, was brilliant. Brilliant. She was a G. She was a big mama. And so the thing was is that it was so much I didn't know. I mean, her mother, whose middle name, whose first name I have is a middle name, this made me so curious going through this journey with writing this book that, of course, I went to Ancestry. I'm looking up documents. I did not know my great-grandmother was married at 15.

I had no idea. And that made me understand why when my mother, when my grandmother lost her mother when she was a teenager, some of the emotional trauma she was carrying because she was still grieving and she didn't know it. Or she knew it, but there was just no time for it. Look, resiliency, resolve, all those things are great qualities. I know when people say, especially about black women, you're a strong black woman, they mean it as a compliment. The thing is, it's also debilitating. Yep. There are some things we are just not meant to handle.

Right. You know what I mean? It's just some things that we shouldn't have to absorb, but we're told this time and time again, we're lauded for our strength of getting through things. Sometimes we need to sit in things to actually heal from it. I say on my show a lot, I'm sick and tired of having, and I've had this conversation within the context of HBCUs, of our black organizations. I said, I'm tired of having surviving conversations.

I said, I want to be having thriving conversations. And it's just like any time you see these conversations where single mothers comes, happens, and somebody brings it up and then somebody invariably stands up and, wait a minute, my mama was a single mother and blah, blah, blah folks get defensive and like, no I don't really mean that. And it happened to me once, I was like, no, no we're going to stay right here. I said, first of all, ask your mama if she actually wanted to be a single mama. Exactly. I said, you can stay in here and talk to me all about how your mama was strong.

I said, I ain't met, there are very few people who have made a proactive decision, I want to raise a child alone. Like I can use this life. Right. I said, you can talk about how strong she was, I guarantee you there's some times when she was in that damn room crying and in pain, I said, so we gotta stop sitting here letting that become the norm and deal with the reality of that, that ain't easy. Yeah, I'm glad you said that, Roland, because I do think that for black women especially,

being resilient, fighting through, taking whatever punishment people decide to give us has become the norm. That we're not defined by what we achieve, we're defined by what we withstand. And there's a difference in that. And I just realized that, you know, with all the resiliency the women in my family have had, there was so much pain there. And I wanted to be an active part in just stopping that. Like, we've got to turn the page on this. We have to be different with how we handle these things.

So that was, you know, to go back to something you asked me a couple questions ago, that was a big driving force behind writing this. One of the things that I want to get into is the notion of fun. There are people out there who have this assumption that when you're a journalist and you're covering these major issues that, you know, you have to do this here. And I remember we were at, I guess this was NABJ, may have been in Miami, you and I were twerking on stage. Wait, time out, time out, time out, time out. This is how rumors get started rolling.

We were dancing on stage. We were dancing, we were not twerking. You know why I know? Because I can't twerk. Well, no, no, no, no. I didn't say you could twerk yourself. I didn't say were not twerking. You know why I know? Because I can't twerk. Well, no, no, no, no. I didn't say you were twerking well. I didn't say you were twerking well. I didn't say you were twerking.

I mean, there are levels to twerking. There's bad twerking, good twerking, great twerking. I didn't want to sign one. I just said two were twerking. Listen, I'm literally Whitney Houston. I'm the black girl with no rhythm. That is me, okay? So we're sitting there dancing, and folks were sitting there tripping on social media and I was like,

yo, you do understand. It's called a hashtag live life, love it. People act as if you have to be just locked in this persona that you cannot have fun. I keep telling them, y'all, you got one life. You got to live this thing. Yeah. It ain't all work. Cannot have fun. I keep telling y'all you got one life you got to live this thing. Yeah It ain't all work. No. Well, actually I thought what you're gonna say is is 2018 any BJ when I was journalist of the year by the way and award rolling one before and was he's one of the the OG's of

NABJ and so I remember us being on stage in Detroit as well You always on stage. That's what the common denominator is. Hey, look, everybody ain't got swagger. Some folk got to be on stage. Some people got to be down there. If Brolin is on the stage at NABJ, you know the party is really jumping. And so we had a blast.

But I've told people this before, is that I know people have seen me in a very serious light. They are looking at, you know, oh, the Donald Trump thing and all that other kind of stuff. But I'm like, I mean, I like to have fun. Turn up. I like to turn up. Like, I do a lot of the same things that a lot of other people do. But it's an important part of a release for a profession where we're constantly bombarded with sometimes the most terrifying information that we have

to put in the context for people. So you asked, so when I, I was just on your podcast and you asked me this question, so I want you to speak to this, and that is when, in fact it was one of the questions too that came here. When young journalists come up to you, and I want you to answer, you already know what my answer was on your podcast. I don't know when it's going to air, but I just went in. When young folks, young journalists come up to you and they say,

Jamel, I want to do what you do. How do you respond to that? Roland, you had an amazing answer. And when I say, when they ask me that, I say, well, there's already one me. You need to be the best you. You don't need, and sometimes what said, well, there's already one me. You need to be the best you. You don't need, and see, and sometimes what happens too is that young journalists, understandably so, they're impressed by the platform you have, by the spotlight you've been able to

get, and that's, you know, part of the journey. But I also tell them that, you know, I love this job now just as much as I did when I was working for the Lansing State Journal and making $30 per story. Sustained. Like, that's what it is. It's like, if you are only in journalism especially for the things it can give you, you're going to be heartbroken fast.

Yeah, you ain't going to. That's not going to work. That was a Kobe Bryant video that was posted recently. I reposted it where he talked about love. He said, it's the love of basketball. He said, when you love basketball, he said, that's the driving piece. And that's it. Say, you know, people come up to me and say, man, I see you, you packing gear?

And I'm like, yeah, because we got to get the hell out of here. If I help pack, we can move out faster. But also, I can move out faster. But also, I own it. Yeah. But the thing is, when you love your craft, you want that shot. You want that, like, you want to write that lead a certain way. That's the love.

It ain't the money that's being recognized in airports. Brolin, you know this as well as I do. When you were, think about it, when you were first getting into journalism, what did you hear about the salaries that journalists made? Oh, they said point blank, you're going to be making $12,000, $14,000. It was $19,000 when I graduated. Graduated, when you graduated? In 97.

Alright, so I grad—okay, you graduated in 97, it was $19,000. I graduated 1991, they, Austin American Statesmen offered me $20,100. I told them, no, y'all got to pay me at least two grand more. Two grand! I did. You bought for that two grand? And they were like, and in fact, the interesting thing is, so Knight Riddle, of course one of the big changes, Vice President Bill Baker was a great guy.

He said, I really think you ought to work for our paper in Brayton in Florida. And I was like, what's your circulation? And I knew the moment he said the circulation, that was right there by 14, 15. I said, say Bill, that paper, I said Bill, that paper too small. And he was like, I'm sorry? We're too small. I was like, I said yeah Bill, my skill set, that's for somebody who ain't got my skills. No, no, no, because when you know, because that's going to lead to my next question,

which is understanding your value. Correct. So, and— When I got promoted three times in the first 18 months and went from 20,000 to 34,000, I said Bill, I tried to tell you that was too damn small. But you know what—, I said, Bill, I tried to tell you that was too damn small. And he said, respect. You know what?

I had a similar story that I discuss, obviously, in the book. So the News and Observer in Raleigh was my last internship. And I went there because they had this track record of hiring interns. And it was another writer on staff who was in sports. He was like, yeah, they kept me as an intern for 11 months. I was like, 11 months? I was like, oh, hell no. I was like, I am not about to be this 11-month intern because they can keep you at an intern salary, which I believe was $4.19 a week. And I was like, I can't do that. But you said you couldn't do it because you knew what your skill set was and all the work you put in. Yes.

It wasn't like you were just saying that and you were a scrub. No. And I wasn't going to have the I'm just happy to be in the building mentality. I said, okay, what will force their hand? So they extended my internship as I expected. And when they extended it, I said, cool, I know I'm going to be here another three months. I'm going to find another job. So I started sending my clips out to everywhere else,

the Savannah Morning News, they had an opening at their paper, and it was paying more than what I was making at that point. I went down there, I interviewed really like the people there. I was like, oh yeah, I could live here, because if I'm going to go chase a job, I'm going to chase one that if it all goes to hell in negotiation, I'm going to take the job. They sent in the offer, I came back to Raleigh and I said, hey, they're offering me this,

y'all are still at this $21,000 a year range. And they're like, oh, oh, they were totally shocked that I did that. And so then they came back, then the Samaritan Morning News came back, and next thing you know, much like you, I did all that. You're like, what you got? What you got? What you got? Oh, you know, much like you, I did all that. You're like, what you got? What you got? Oh, you got.

What you got? And much like that, you, I did all that for an additional $3,500 in my salary. Hey, that $3,500 is a ton. It came in handy. But the whole point was, it was about setting a tone. Right. Right. To let them know that you just can't do me any kind of way.

I know my value. I know my worth. I have a different kind of skill set and I'm sure, you know, I thank the dude that told me that he had 11 months. I was like, man, you changed my whole perspective with that. And the other thing that happened that was very critical in that time, speaking of negotiating power, but not just knowing your worth, you also have to know your development as well. As I mentioned to y'all, Sports Illustrated was my dream job. So after I'd gotten the job and I'm a few months into this thing, Sports Illustrated

comes calling because there was a friend I'd established while I was on the road in terms of like covering women's basketball and stuff. She saw my clip packet because what happens is when it's the NCAA tournament, all the PR people for the schools in the tournament, they put out a huge clip packet because if you go to a tournament, it might be two or three teams there that you've never seen play. So they put out this enormous clip packet for journalists so they can read the stories that have been written about the team all season. Some of my stories were in there that were written about a team

that was, you know, really ascending. It was the North Carolina women's basketball team. She took that, she saw those clips, loved them, and sent them to an editor at Sports Illustrated because she worked for Sports Illustrated. She was covering women's college basketball. Sports Illustrated called me. They had an opening to be a writer-reporter in New York

working for Sports Illustrated. Now, I know this job sounds very glamorous, but here were the details of this job, is that essentially you fact-check the articles that are in Sports Illustrated. And if you are, you know, if you are motivated enough, if you are driven enough, and you pitch them stories, and they decide to run it, and, you it and you can report on it, maybe that could happen. So I'm looking, you know, I've been reading Sports Illustrated for years and I know none of those writers came from the writer-reporter track. And I'm like, hmm, okay, well, I'll go to New York.

I had never been to New York City. They put me up. It's great. And I get the job. They offer me the job at the end of the interview. And the interview, I think the job was paying $42,000 a year to live in New York City. So basically, I would have been sleeping on the subway. Unless I wanted an apartment with 12 roommates, right? I was like, what?

That math ain't mathin'. But it was Sports Illustrated. This is my dream job. And, you know, I thought about it. I said, okay, let me think about it. You know, let me figure out what I want to do. And I'm like, let me get this straight. I'm writing basically every day at the News & Observer.

I've already won the State Press Association Award for Best Sports Feature for a story I did on the Citadel's first female athlete. I am able to pretty much write what I want and whenever I want. And I have to go to Sports Illustrated. To get to Sports Illustrated, I have to fact check somebody else's stories that aren't mine. And maybe if I'm lucky, if the leprechaun is shining on me in the right way, I might get a byline in Sports Illustrated at some point. And I said, can't do it.

Right. Cannot do it. And so I told the... So you weren't all focused on, oh, but Sports Illustrated? No, because a lot of, you mentioned about younger journalists, a lot of younger journalists, and I would just say young people in period regardless of industry, you all think bigger is always better. Nope.

If they're not going to develop you, if what you want to do there, if you look and see who does those same things, and none of them are in the position they're trying to bring you in on, maybe you need to rethink something else. Because at ESPN, for example, there was a lot of production assistants that were really unhappy because they wanted to be on air. Go somewhere making $10,000 to be on air every day because guess what? Nobody on air right now was a production assistant. They all came from somebody else. Hello.

Right? They all came from someplace else. So like you're just setting yourself up to fail. So I was not going to be the person up in Sports Illustrated not writing, fact-checking, just to say I was at Sports Illustrated. So I turned him down and I told him that. And I'll never forget the editor in charge

of these positions told me, he said, I actually think that was a good decision. He said, we can afford you now. I have a feeling we will not be able to afford you later. And you say you had to bounce. And I was like, nah. So I stayed in Raleigh and then my next job at the Free Press, I got a $25,000 pay raise. It was everything. To live in Lansing, Michigan,

you know what I'm saying? I was like, that cost of living was in there. You were balling. I was balling. I do love being petty. Oh, here we go. No, no, no. Here we go. No, because I love when there's somebody in your past who said you would not accomplish certain things, you wouldn't go so many places. Uh-huh. You know, and I have no problem reminding those folks of that. I mean, I did hit a couple of people when I got into the NABJ Hall of Fame in December. And then Saturday when I go into the South Pressure Journalist Hall of Fame, I've hit some folk like uh... Remember when you said...

No, I'm being real petty. So, for you, but also it's a driving thing. If you want to understand the King of Petty, watch Michael Jordan's Hall of Fame speech. People were mad. I was like, that's the kind of speech I'm talking about giving. So for you, is there one or two folks in your life where when you look at the stuff you're doing now with your podcast and The Atlantic and producing other stuff, you're doing with LeBron, all different things, you're sitting there going, I told you, I told you. So, I mean here's the thing, there's gonna be people like that litter throughout

your career, but there is, I mean there are a couple people that, you know, I know, I mean, here's the thing. There's going to be people like that littered throughout your career. But there is, I mean, there are a couple people that, you know, I know that especially when I got my columnist job in Orlando, that they really hated on me and hated on me to my boss on top of that. They didn't even work at the Orlando Sentinel. But I'm a deeper level than petty because then the extra petty part of me can't even give you the acknowledgement that you did that. Because I know it would be oxygen to them and I can't do it. I want them breathing. You're like, I want them breathing the hate. I want them breathing.

I was like, I can't do it though, really. It's like, I, my spirit will never let me allow, my spirit will never let me platform somebody who just ain't important to me. It just, I just, they're just not important. Oh no, they're not important. Yeah. You know, I'm going to tell you, off air when I tell you off air who it is, you're going to fall out. See, see, she nice.

She nice. I named her. Sorry, I just, I can't do it. Every time I do something in my career, I want Jeff Braun watching. You're going to fall out. She's nice. She's nice. I named her. Sorry, I can't do it. Every time I do something in my career, I want Jeff Braun watching. He named her first and the last. Roland, do you know his middle name? Jeff Braun was a news director at KBTX in Bryan College Station, Texas.

And I was an intern. And they had a weekend sports anchor job open up. And remember, I went to communications high school, so I'm already far above. Straight up, one of his friends came to me and said, he is not going to hire, he will not hire black men. Came to me and told me that. I immediately, I was like, ain't no way in hell I'm staying here. And as a matter of fact, when I was on the team covering the public national convention

at the Austin American States, I was only out of college seven months, I ran into him. Like, what up Jeff? Oh, what are you doing here? Cover covering the public national convention in the Austin American States, but I was only out of college seven months. I ran into him. Like, what up, Jeff? Oh, what are you doing here? Covering the public national convention. Just graduated. So every time something happens, Jeff Braun. B-R-A-U-N.

And then get it spelling. Still working in Dallas. But do know this. You put first names. When Roland writes his memoir, I'm putting middle names, last names, daily firsts. This the address, this way you can find them. But here's the thing. You know, I'm definitely one of those keep that same energy, right?

So trust me when I tell you, if I saw this person in public, Roland, keep your location on because I might need bill money. Oh, ain't no problem. Just know that. If I see them in person, it is on. Like, I'm waiting for the confrontation. You got to text me. I'm going to text you. I'll be like, Roland, it's about to go down.

Have your follow Jamel at all times. I do a special from jail for Roland Martin. Oh, absolutely. Don't worry about it. I know enough attorney generals and DAs. You ain't going to be spending no time in jail. That's all your people got to have, your best. That's it.

Unfortunately, y'all, all they gave us was an hour. Time is up. You should get Jemele Hill's book, Up Hill. It's absolutely a fascinating book. It is an easy read, and let me say, some of y'all might say, oh my, easy read means in our business, writing is about rhythm. And when you read, you should be thinking the same way with music. So when you're reading a book, it's just flowing.

So you can just go from one page to the next, you can knock it out in two or three days, because it flows like that. So other books like Staccato, you're like, this is giving me a headache. I read a Peggy Noonan book, it took me about three years to finish that book. And by the way, I would say the same about Roland's book, Wife, here because when I had you on the podcast, I mean I probably read that in maybe two and a half days. Like it was a very good read, very to the point. And most importantly now, as we are thinking about pretty much our democracy dying right in front of us,

it's a very important and crucial. Absolutely. And so I'm just saying, you know, Pratt, y'all can call a brother back to come back. Eddie, I mean, you got a little pool. I'm just saying. Eddie, it's your lecture series. You gave him the money, Eddie. Oh, I ain't got a problem. I ain't got a problem. Just go ahead and put it out there. I think that the audience has figured this out.

Yeah, I think we figured it out there. So, all right, y'all. That is it. Put your hands together for Jemele Hill. Thank you. You a fool, brother. And of course, we will live stream this on the Black Star Network. So all the folks who are watching the network,

we appreciate it. You all get the book as well. They have all bookstores. And then if you run into Jemele, she can sign your book and hopefully she'll have that person who was tripping on her. You all can get that good video. Thanks a lot. I'll see y'all tomorrow.

Holler! This is an iHeart Podcast.