#RolandMartinUnfiltered - DNC's Get Out The Vote, USC's First Majorette Team, Oil Company Profits Explained, Mandeaux Shoes

Episode Date: October 21, 2022

10.20.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: DNC's Get Out The Vote, USC's First Majorette Team, Oil Company Profits Explained, Mandeaux Shoes We are 19 days away from the midterm elections.  Some states are seeing record-breaking early voter turnout.  Organizations are using every day to encourage people to get to the polls.  The DNC just launched its but tour.  I spoke to Chairman Jamie Morrison about why they are doing those battleground states where the races are just too close to predict.  A University of South California student wanted to bring some black culture on campus, so she created the Cardinal Divas of SC.  We'll meet the young woman whose all-Black majorette dance team is now a viral sensation.  An Indiana officer faces federal charges for kicking a handcuffed black man in the head.  The Los Angeles City Council has a new leader.  And the two remaining councilmembers caught on an audio recording saying some racist things are refusing to resign despite public pressure.  Texas is handing out DNA kits to students.  And in our Marketplace segment, a black-owned shoemaker uses environmentally sustainable materials.    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. Folks, Black Star Network is here. Hold no punches! A real revolutionary right now. Black crowd. Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roland. Be black. I love y'all.

All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and B-scape. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? We'll be right back. He's 18 days away from the midterm elections. And DNC Chair Jamie Harrison is on a bus tour trying to drive turnout.

We'll hear from him in my one-on-one conversation. A University of South California student wanted to bring some black culture on campus so she created the Cardinal Divas of SC. Well, you had some HBCU folks with an attitude. Well, meet the young woman whose all-black majorette dance team is now a viral sensation. An Indiana officer faces federal charges for kicking a handcuffed

black man in the head. The L.A. City Council has a new leader and the two remaining Latino council members caught on audio recording saying some racist things are still refusing to resign despite public pressure. Also, I'll tell you why Texas is handing out DNA kits to students. In our Marketplace segment, a black-owned shoemaker uses environmentally sustainable materials

for their products, plus a simulcast with Ari Melber on MSNBC in about 13 minutes. It's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling, best believe 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 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 D&C Chair Jamie Harrison is on a bus as we speak, traveling to battleground states, Florida and others by Election Day.

He says he'll visit some 23 states trying to drive turnout. Earlier, I talked with him about this bus tour. Here's our conversation. All right, Jamie, you're kicking off your bus tour. What states are you headed to to drive Democrat enthusiasm, to get those numbers up, to turn out in massive ways for your candidates? Well, we are kicking off this bus tour rolling in Florida. I'm going to be with Charlie Chris. And we'll have Val Demings and her husband here and a lot of this down ballot candidates who are running.

We're going to then go to Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia. We'll be in go through the District of Columbia. We'll hit Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. So, and then the following week after that, I'm flying to a lot of the Midwestern states and Western states. I want to do stuff so that we're helping Mandela Barnes. And again, I was in Ohio just recently with Tim Ryan and all. So, you know, we're all over the place by the time election day hits i'll probably be in 23 states um by the time of the election the um one of the issues obviously that uh we look at numbers people concerned about is enthusiasm enthusiasm enthusiasm uh numbers show republican

enthusiasm is i mean what what is needed what has to to be done to get the Democratic base, to get young voters, to African-Americans, to get Latinos, get women fully, fully engaged? Because at the end of the day, you know, look, Republicans are already saying what they will do when they take over. And that is not an agenda that Democrats are in favor of. Well, Roland, one of the things that we're seeing that is very encouraging right now is the early vote numbers. Because in the end of the day, the most important thing is not the polls. It's not about what pundits think. It's about people going to the polls. In places like Georgia, we're seeing record turnout already, particularly with African Americans in that state. And so we're going to continue. And this is why we were investing very early on, Roland, as you heard me say, you know, these are unprecedented times. And so we have to take unprecedented action. We put $70 million

building out field organizing efforts on the ground in many of these battleground states. Comparing that to 2018, the DNC spent $30 million. We've spent almost $73 million on the ground. This is not a lot of ads and all. These are people on the ground knocking doors, making phone calls, sending text messages in the battleground states. And so this is when that operation really, you know, that's when it makes the push that we need because they are on the ground making sure that people have a plan to vote and that they actually go out and vote. And so that's the important thing at this moment. You know, so much

is at stake. We know what the plans are for the Republicans. They want to gut Social Security and Medicare. They want to have a national ban on abortion. They want to end voting rights for so many efforts and groups. But we know how Democrats have delivered over these two years. When you think about what we have done in this two-year period, Roland, with a 50-50 Senate on a good day and less than a five-seat majority, it makes you, for those of us who've been in this game for a while and looked at what has been done in different administrations, I mean, you've got to give Democrats the credit for delivering for the American people. So we've got to get that message out. We've got

to continue to push, and we've got to get people to the polls. And that was one of literally last night. I was saying that I felt with all of the all of the economic things that they have done, that they frankly have to do a better job of telling that story. When you again look at polling on 18 to 20 pence, independents trust Republicans more on the economy. You look at just what happened in the UK where the prime minister resigned, shortest tenure in history, because she literally opposed an economic agenda that tanked the economy. Larry Cutlow was on television

praising how that plan that she has is the same one Kevin McCarthy and the Republicans have. Well, it tanked their economy. It tanked their economy. That's exactly right. And when you look at, you know, Republicans like to talk about inflation. Yes, we understand that prices have gone up, but we know why. We know because of COVID. We know because of what's happened in Ukraine. But when you look at other industrialized

nations across the globe, who has the lowest inflation amongst those countries? It's the United States. And it's because, you know, things could be so much worse. We can look at some of these other countries. But Democrats under this president have done everything that they can to hold costs down and to make sure that people had jobs to go to, that they could pay their bills, that they can take care of their families. We have created 10 million jobs over the course of two years, lowest unemployment that we've seen in decades. We look at many of our schools and colleges, they're open because of the billions of dollars that we have pumped into our historically black colleges and other universities. Our economy is the best in the world. And yes, inflation is temporary,

but losing your freedom, losing your right to vote, losing the right to control your own body, losing the opportunity to read what you want, those things are more permanent. And folks have to understand that that is what is on the ballot. Republicans want to take away your freedom. They want to control everything that you do in your life, who you love, how you love, who you pray to, everything. We got to focus on making sure that we secure our freedoms in this country, but also make sure that we are investing in the people who are investing in us and our communities that's what the democratic party has been doing over these two years the thing that um again as you talked about the the economic steps uh that were taken um in terms of in these last 19 days um i mean to me it has that has to be

you know pounded constantly, constantly being pounded. And I think that obviously there are a lot of Democratic candidates who are talking about Roe v. Wade. That obviously is a critical, critical issue. But again, when you start looking at what polling data suggests is that the economy and inflation is at the top. And so I think really, as Joe Maddon said, putting where the ghost can get it, explain to folks how these various economic actions actually improved the economy and put us in the current state, because it could be a hell of a lot worse. And the second part, Jamie, you know, are these candidates going to go after these major companies? Because they're the ones who are jacking up prices and reaping record profits. I mean, I get COVID, but that's really when you break it down.

Representative Katie Porter broke it down. Robert Rice has broke it down. It's these companies that are jacking up prices and reporting record profits, and they keep raising prices. That's why we're in the conundrum we're in. Well, Roland, you hit the nail on the head. It is why we're in this particular situation. And this is why you have seen this administration go after these big corporations.

And the problem that we have is that every time that we push even more, Republicans get in the way. Look at the bill that we passed in the House of Representatives to go after the big oil and gas companies because of the price gouging at the gas pumps. These companies have gotten record profit, record profit. But yet we see the prices go up in terms of the things that we utilize. We have to go after them. We have to make sure that they are paying their fair share in this economy because many of them got PPP loans to get bailed out. So it's now time for them to reinvest in the American people. And it's important for Democrats

to not be shy, not to bite their tongues about the situation that we are currently in, to make sure that folks know that we are doing everything that we can to fight for them. Look at what happened in terms of prescription drugs. The Republicans, we had an opportunity to cap insulin costs at $35 a month for everybody, not just our seniors, but for everybody. But Republicans who were in the pockets of big pharma fought against that and took that out of the American, the Inflation Reduction Act. We got to make sure that we go out on that campaign stump and let people know that in the end of the day, it's Democrats fighting for hardworking people in

this country. It's Republicans who are fighting for the big corporations who are also their big donors. That obviously is something that is critical. You mentioned early voting. Record numbers in Georgia were seeing it happen. But one of the things that Republicans have always had an advantage is what happens on the day of the election. So obviously Democrats want to drive up early voting turnout. But all y'all also, have you crafted a same-day election turnout strategy so the gap is not as wide as it normally has been? Well, that is the reason why, Roland, we poured that amount of money on the ground early on. And we didn't just start a few months ago. We started last year. Many people saw the, I'll give you a perfect example of Pennsylvania. In that state, we had a late primary, and so therefore, we knew that that was going to be

one of those battleground states. You know, Pennsylvania is always a perennial battleground, battleground states for the Senate and also control of the governance management there, making sure that none of these insurrectionists get in the office in that particular state. We started investing on the ground with a coordinated effort there. So when Shapiro and Fetterman actually won the nominations, there was already a field operation on the ground. And guess who helped to build that? It was a DNC, pouring resources there so that all they had to focus on was their message. They could focus on doing the TV ads and all that because I want people to understand this. The DNC, you know, a lot of folks tell me all the time, why aren't you running TV ads?

That's, you know, you got a lot of national committees who can do the TV ads and all those things. What we do is infrastructure on the ground because nobody else outside of the state parties do those type of things and invest in those type of things. So that that is not something that the candidates have to worry about. They can focus on their message. They can focus on their TV ads, on their radio spots, while we focus on the infrastructure and the people who will knock the doors, make the phone calls, do the text messages, have the big rallies, and get people registered, and then get them to the polls. That is what we've been focused on, and that's where the energy is. And we are right now, we're in that four quarter. We are two minutes out, and we're ready to win this game.

You have your big guns also. I saw the announcement that President Obama is going to be hitting several states. Any word on Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton hitting the campaign trail for your candidates, especially your senatorial candidates in Nevada, in Maine, in Colorado, in Pennsylvania, in Florida, North Carolina, Kentucky, Wisconsin? Well, you know, it's always good time to get the Avengers to assemble. And we're chatting with everybody to see whether we can get them on the ground, go into these areas in Arizona and Nevada

and Florida, North Carolina. You know, we're going to have a lot of talent on the ground to push the vote out. That's so, so important, so crucial right now. And so we look for some more announcements in the coming days, but I can't break anything to you right now, Roland. All right, then. Well, absolutely.

It is going to be a tight battle going down to the wire. And when I say my show all the time, it all boils down to turnout. You can sit here and you can yell, holler, scream, talk on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram, TikTok, all of that. But at the end of the day, folks either show up or they don't. Yep. And one of the things I would tell folks, go to Iwillvote.com. Iwillvote.com. Folks, check your registration status, make sure that you're all set there, know where your precinct is. If you have any problems on election day, go to iwillvote.com. There's a hotline right there. And we have lawyers who are ready right now, 24 hours a day, right now to help you deal with any election issues that you may have. That's one of the things that, and today is the vice president's birthday, but last year,

she and I went to the campus of Howard University and announced a $25 million initiative to focus on voter protection, voter education, voter registration. And so IWillVote.com is a part of that initiative. last year on the ground in many of these big battleground states, ready to help push back against any voter suppression or effort by the Republicans to keep you away from voicing who you want to represent you and your family and your communities. All right, then. Jamie Harrison, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you, Roland. See you on the trail, buddy.

All right. All right, folks. That was Jamie Harrison, chair of the Democratic National Committee again on the road trip. All right, folks. In a moment, I'm going to be on about 50 seconds. I'm going to be going live with Ari Melber on MSNBC. And so we'll be doing a simulcast. We've done this before with other networks. So this will be the first time we've done it with MSNBC. Let me do this here.

Let me go ahead, post this, let folks know that we're doing this so they can actually tune in. And so then, of course, once we were done with that, we will continue with our show. Of course, we have Reese, Greg, and we have Teresa. So we look forward to chatting with them with today's content. And we're about, I think we're probably about 30 seconds away from our show. So let me go ahead and post this real quick.

Y'all know how I do. You know I'm a multitasking brother. And so, just let me post on and post this real quick. Y'all know how I do. You know, I'm a multitasking brother. And so I'm just let me post on all the different platforms. Here we go. God, hear me. Track has complied with testing. One, two, three. Hey, Roland, can you hear me? Regarding. I'm not here. If you can hear me. Okay. Where he fled the fifth.

An embarrassment that no former president. Hey, Roland. Testing one, two, three. For all of Trump's bluster, you can decide. Do you believe him when he says words? Or do you look at the facts, which are. Hey, Roland. We're not hearing you. If you can hear me.

Subpoenas and often ends up complying. Yeah, but we cannot hear you. We're not hear you. We're not hearing you. Are you muted? No, I'm not muted. Audio, what the hell's going on? I got you.

I got you now. I got you now. Got it. Cool. You got me now. There we go. All right. Sources tell NBC the details and timing are still fluid.

And that may be because... Hey, it's audio. Can you hear me? Yep, I can hear you. Can you hear me? ...a lawyer who will properly... Yeah, thank you. Great. Thank you. ABC reported investigators are actually looking for someone. That's unusual, but so is a lot of this.

And then you have Liz Cheney saying the subpoena is on its way. We'll be issuing the subpoena shortly both for his testimony under oath as well as for documents. I can hear MSNBC programming. And we'll take whatever next steps we have to take, you know, assuming that...

Hey, Roland, it's Cory Booker. Can you hear me? Yes, can you hear me? Yes, I can hear you now. Great. Thanks so much for joining us tonight. Thank you. We had to take another segment prior just because it wasn't ready to go. Okay.

So we're going to be with you, Roland, in about five minutes, okay? Okay, cool. All right, no problem. All right, folks. All right, so MSNBC is going to be with us in about five minutes. Well, actually, now about four. About four minutes. So all the folks watching on the phone, we'll be with them in about four minutes. Trump is lawyering up, though.

There's a new law firm which represents other witnesses who cooperated with the committee, and this is the firm that apparently will be dealing with that forthcoming subpoena. Meanwhile, the grift continues. Donald Trump views the subpoena as a chance to do more fundraising from people who support him

or his legal defense or his potential campaign. The Save America PAC is now saying the January 6th committee probe is, quote, coming after our president, so you should send him more money. What comes next? As I told you, it could be somewhat unpredictable.

There's the Bannon approach. Take a big risk and see if you end up going to jail. When we invest in ourselves, our glow, our vision, our vibe, we all shine. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. Welcome to Atlanta, one of the most expensive housing markets in America. But rather than help out, Brian Kemp cashed in. He made hundreds of thousands of dollars in real estate. His net worth skyrocketed.

And while Atlantans struggled to stay in their homes, Kemp gave $10,000 tax handouts to the richest Georgians and a nearly $700 million no-bid contract. 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 road map 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. I'm Chrisette Michelle. Hi, I'm Chaley Rose, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. We'll be right back. the one-minute mark, I'm going to actually go silent. And so they're going to put me into another programming feed, so that way I can hear them, they can hear me.

And so we're basically switching from our program to theirs. And so that's what's going on. And so just letting you know that. Again, look forward to having a conversation with today's panel. Also, if y'all missed last night's deconstruction of Houston pastor Ed Young Sr., y'all may want to's deconstruction of Houston pastor Ed Young Sr., y'all may want to watch that. We are approaching about 100,000 views. I've got pastors all across the country who've been hitting me up saying, man, I was on point checking him. In fact,

one particular pastor really cracked me up. I'm just going to read for y'all what he told me. He said, I looked at the video earlier today. The caption is correct. You torched him, but I would add you then distributed the ashes across the unrepentant graves of Confederate apologists. I'm just saying. So, you know, somebody

had to say it to Pastor Ed Young and his ridiculous, how he just threw shade at Black Lives Matter 1619 Project, and woke as well. But that's what these white conservative pastors are doing. So if y'all missed it, go to our YouTube channel, go to the Black Side Network app. Trust me, you want to see my response to his created equal sermon, which was utter, utter nonsense. So I'm just, I'm just not going to let these cats get off the hook with the pimping of MLK.

It's just not going to happen. Okay? You're not going to pimp MLK and talk about how great he was, but you don't support anything that he actually supported. It ain't going to happen. Okay? Just letting you all know right now. All right?

We'll get down to one minute before we do the simulcast with our members, MSNBC. So take my program out. Let's pull up their countdown clock. We'll be live in one minute. New York, can you hear me? Good. I can hear you. All right. We're good. All right. Sounds great. Thank you very much. Got it. Thank you. Democrat Cherry Beasley looking to try to flip a Senate seat and also become the first black senator in that state's history. I mention that because our next guest has his eye on that and some other races.

Journalist, commentator, Roland Martin unfiltered host. Now, who would host Roland Martin unfiltered? Roland Martin. Sometimes the easy answer is the right answer. Good to see you. Larry King, they told him, put your name in the show so even when you have a day off, they still mention your name.

You know, there's a saying from our friends over at Showtime, if you got your name in your show, you poppin'. And you're poppin', sir, and I appreciate you coming back. Appreciate it. Let me play you a little bit of Stacey Abrams speaking out. This was to Questlove.

The issue is not that black men don't vote. It's that their power in their vote. So they fight below their weight class. If black men fought their full power, it changes things. Roland? Well, she's right, but it's not just black men. First of all, let's remember, black women, they are the number one voting constituency for the Democratic Party.

Black men are number two. So this idea that there's this huge difference is not. But the real issue is not just black men. It's African-Americans across the board. You look at Louisiana. The turnout in Louisiana, which is a third of black, is about 35%, 36%. I have been arguing on my show constantly saying to African-Americans, we could literally flip numerous states if we are voting 65%, 70%, 75%.

If you take 500,000 black people who are eligible, but only 300,000 register, of the 300,000 that register, only 150,000 that vote, that's 350,000 that didn't vote. We just mentioned Sherri Beasley. She lost the Supreme Court race in 2020 by 401 votes. Biden-Harris only wins Georgia by 11,000 votes. So the reality is, if black voters across the board maximize our numbers,

we could actually change the South, the Midwest, the Southwest, and the East. That's what I'm also arguing, not just black men. Yeah, that makes sense. Barack Obama now is out here in some ways playing a role that Joe Biden maybe can't play, particularly because Joe Biden, as we've discussed, is balancing empathy, awareness of what the country's going through, right? You can't just sort of write that off while also campaigning. Obama is hitting the Republicans for democracy while also saying, hey, it could be a lot worse. Here's what he said in what really is his first media appearance in quite some time. Given how at least Republican officials have behaved, they increasingly are willing to subvert basic Democratic procedures.

And it's a reminder that democracy is fragile, that you have to tend to it, you have to fight for it. And this midterm election, I think, is going to be a moment in which, you know, that battle has to be joined. And that means people have to turn up. Your thoughts on the message and the messenger? I agree with that, but I need more from President Obama. I need him to activate Obama for America. Look, one of the criticisms I had of the president was that he gutted the DNC and shifted many of the resources over to OFA. And so what he needs to do is to take that organized entity and create a massive ground game for Democrats. The problem here is not Obama coming out and having rallies.

The problem is you've got to have mobilization and organization 24-7, the day after the election, preparing for the next one. And not just the next national race, but the state races, the county races, the city races, the school board races. And so this is a function of mobilizing and organizing. And so that's what I need more of President Obama. I need his troops on the ground driving that, looking at the data and studying who didn't vote in the last election, going precinct by precinct. That's what we also need to see in this country. Democrats have to have that because Republicans, look, they're ticked off. They lost. You've got to counter their enthusiasm with boots on the ground.

Yeah. My last question is sometimes the case is the easiest, Roland. If this is Roland Martin unfiltered, what is Roland Martin filtered like? There's no such thing as Roland Martin filtered. And so we keep it unfiltered. We keep it honest. And look, my model has been the same my entire career. If you do good, I'll talk about you. If you do bad, I'll talk about you. At the end of the day, I'll talk about you. I've ticked the president, President Obama, his people off. I've ticked the Biden people off. They've also praised. But at the end of the day, somebody has to speak truth to power. And we do have a fundamental problem with democracy that we're facing. But the other issue is this here. I know what the right wants to do. And it's going to be ugly, especially for black folks. And I'm saying vote or shut the hell

up. Well, there you have it. Let me tell you something. That was also unfiltered, so you ain't lying. You know we like to get you on. I hadn't seen you in a minute. I hope you'll come back. Call me anytime. And again, we can do it anytime. We can chop it up. Yes, sir. Our thanks to Roland Martin joining us with that perspective and that independence. When we come back, I want to bring us to something we have not talked about. Thanks again, Roland, and thanks. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you so very much. All right, folks, we are back on Roland Martin Unfiltered.

Glad to be here. Recy, Teresa, Greg, let's go ahead and get into it. Y'all heard that conversation I just had with Ari and Recy. And again, and I'm sure Recy right now, the Obama people real pissed off at me. I do not care because I said it when it was actually happening. You can't you when it comes to I remember when he ran in 2008, he was talking about Bill Clinton. And when it was some criticism, he's like about Bill Clinton, and when he was criticizing, he was like, well, Reagan was a transformational president.

Here's the deal. Transformational presidents, it's not just about their eight years. It's also what you do after that. And I think the fundamental problem for Democrats is that they only think about these elections in terms of the election cycle, as opposed to, no, you've got to be in a constant state of mobilizing and organizing and teaching and providing information. And for the people who like, I can't trust you. Okay. What can I do to get connect with you to get you out to vote and to

understand your issues? That's what has to happen. Period. Absolutely. I mean, it's one of the fundamental mistakes I think Democrats make is they only campaign during campaign season. And what you need is you need to have a well of credibility and credibility is established cumulatively. Now with President Obama, he's the elder statesman of the party. Even though he's still young and fly, he's playing the elder statesman role. And, you know, he also has a brand to keep up as well. We can't forget that. And that's not a criticism. That's just a fact. You know what I'm saying? They're a $100 million, probably $200 million brand by now. But the reality is that Democrats have to go back to the well over and

over again. And then that way, when they're messaging what their accomplishments are, it doesn't just feel like they're being they're selling a bag of goods. It's why black men in particular have said that they don't feel like they've been cultivated enough because people only come around during campaign season. I think that there are some politicians, I will say, of course, happy birthday, Vice President Kamala Harris, who immediately upon being sworn in was going to HBCUs, was going to Black churches, was going to conventions. This hasn't been a midterm strategy for her. This has been something she's done all along. But of course, she gets no credit for that because people don't cover her in a positive way. But I think what your point is, the math is the math. And one of the strengths of Republicans is they have everybody in their mama's data. They micro-target Cambridge, they use Cambridge Analytica,

they've stolen our data, they've farmed our data. And I'm even getting Republican text messages. It's bad enough getting Democratic text messages to donate, but I'm getting hella Republican text messages to donate, but I'm getting hella Republican text messages to donate. So they're even hitting the Black folks that obviously never been damn Republican their whole life to try to get us to chip in on their cause. So Democrats need to leave no stone unturned. There needs to be flooding of their airwaves. With us being 20 days out from the elections, we should have five people lined up on this program trying to

plead their case to Black media, to Black America. So we'll see if people wake the hell up, because so far, the polls are going in the wrong way. And I don't think that we're going to win this on punditry. We're going to have to win it on really explaining what's at stake, what's been accomplished,

and what the policy differences are between the two parties. Look, the thing that I just... Greg, when I was there talking with Jamie Harrison, again, when you talk about the economy, all right? Again, if I'm sitting here having a conversation, I'm reminding folks, hey, remember that $1,500? Who sent you that? How many businesses in

your city are still here because of those PPP loans? Who took care of that? When it came to the infrastructure, and I'll be hitting harder, all these Republicans sitting here like Stefanik going, oh, $12 million is coming to my district for infrastructure

and she voted against it. You hammer them. You hammer them. And that's the deal. I just think that, and I say this all the time, Democrats like to offer up a, um, what y'all call them, PhD papers, when you put together a thesis, okay?

Thesis. Democrats want to offer up a thesis as if they're going to get their PhD. The other side, it's a bumper sticker. And I know somebody saying, well, Rolly, you make it sound easy. Actually,

it ain't that hard. Remember that scene from Jungle Fever, Greg, when Wesley Snipes quit? He went, see that? Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine. Well, that's what Trump did. Took him credit for shit that he didn't even do. My deal is,

when you the president, you take credit for stuff you do. Democrats, what they do is, they pass a bill and then bitch about what wasn't in it. Focus on what you got passed. Mm-hmm. Right. Well, it's tough, Roland,

and good to see you, Reese. Shout out to our brother, your husband, for the surprise move to get all of y'all over to Greece. That's a beautiful thing. Shout out. Thank you. Nobody gonna talk bad about Black love. That's a beautiful thing. But yeah, I mean, you laid it out and you laid it out with Jamie Harrison. You know, at the end of the day, we know and the Republicans know this, that most many people in this country don't pay much attention to much of any of this until the first last few weeks before.

You know, you could have tortured Jamie Harrison and ask, why didn't you put money into Gary Chambers in Louisiana? Why did you wait until August to go deal with Charles Booker in Kentucky? Or now you want to put $4 million in Sherry Beasley in North Carolina? But, I mean, part of it is, we're now in the end-game stage. But the Democratic Party problem with black voters goes back to the 60s and 70s, taking us for granted. We just passed the 50th anniversary of the Gary Convention in 1972. The Democratic Party went out there. Democratic operatives were sent to the Gary Convention to make sure that black people didn't form an independent black political party. And they succeeded. Two years later, the Congressional Black Caucus pulls out of the next black political organizing meeting at Little Rock. And since then, we have been fighting a rearguard action.

Jesse Jackson threatened to primary Bill Clinton in his reelection effort in 96 because Clinton was talking about getting rid of affirmative action. What does that have to do with 2022? The Democratic Party takes black voters for granted. And, Recy, you're absolutely right. When you start talking about credibility, the Democratic Party doesn't have any. We don't have anywhere else to go in a duopoly, a two-party system. So we vote. But that's not what we're talking about. We ain't talking about the people who vote every election like we do. We're talking about the people who are like, you got to show me something, because I don't see the difference. Finally, yeah, a policy sheet isn't going to do it. People now have to fight for the lowest common denominator. And when you're fighting for the lowest common denominator

in a state like Florida, people, black voters, I'm not excited about Val Demings. Val Demings slapped Marco Rubio around, and now that small margin of voters was like, what? Now they're paying attention because of the theater. Unfortunately, we are now in the theater phase of the game. Talking and logic might peel off a few, but this is about theater. You got to slap shit out of somebody. Barack Obama has never been that guy. He benefited from 50 years of black voting and participation. He rode the rocket that was launched in Gary, but he ain't never been that guy. So Jamie Harrison is not that guy. It's going to take a street fight now because what is at stake ultimately on the other side of this are some things that should scare the hell out of black people. And we need to be doing the same thing the white nationalists are

doing, which is getting our people by the lapel and saying, I know you don't like these candidates, but damn it, you're going to hate the alternative. And that's the thing there, Teresa. I mean, again, and what I'm looking at and what I'm, as I examine this thing, and as I look at it, all I'm simply saying is, is that one, there are things that Democrats

have done, have passed, that have been beneficial to black people. Now, you've got this subset of some simple Simons who sit out there and like, no, no, no, what specifically have they done? I don't walk down that path with these fools

to get them on, but they are lost cause. They really are. Okay. I know Cleo was like, well, no, we shouldn't say that. But no, you, when you try to explain somebody the 85th time, okay, look, we ain't going to be 86. All right. But the bottom line is this here.

There are things that have been done, but you have to say it. But also you got to have some fight. Demings, Rubio, that was fight. Tim Ryan was all in J.D. Vance's ass. That's how you got to do it. Because here's the deal. You can't... Look, I know Reverend Warnock's style.

And see, even on this show, folks are like, well, you know, Warnock can't go too hard because then if he go hard against Herschel, it's going to be simply for Herschel. Damn that! Right. You got to bury his ass. You got...

Look, look, every time I debated on CNN, I remember they called my agent one day, Teresa, and was like, well, you know, can you ask him to pull back? Because, you know, it's not that serious. No, I'm trying to put your ass in a rhetorical body bag. I'm trying to bury you. I don't want you.

I want you to wake up at 2 o'clock in the morning and go, damn, that still hurts. Ain't no doubt in my mind Chris Christie still is feeling both feet planted firmly in his big ass. To be quite honest, that was the fight that used to happen back in the day. Commentators,

you know, and some of the pundits used to really go at it. You know, there was a reason why Wolf Blitzer, Roland Martin, you know, at a point in time had their own shows because they were giving the fight. They were actually giving the facts that people wanted to listen to and people wanted to fight, half the battle is Republicans don't even want to have a debate with a Democrat.

If you see, we probably are getting maybe once every one debate every midterm. And again, that doesn't do anything but, again, help the candidate who may not be a good debater, who may not have that fight. And so the, for campaigns, it's probably more advisable that, you know, candidates are only utilizing the tools that they have, which is the media advertising, some of the earned media, where they're able to construct the narrative that will make people vote for them. But as soon as that candidate gets on the main stage, obviously there's a different story. As it relates to, you know, former President Barack Obama and his foundation, I absolutely agree that we need to start talking about more of what's been done.

So we have to keep that reminders the same way Republicans do when they tout about, you know, some of their accomplishments or lack thereof, right? Democrats really need to also hold some of the Republicans' feet to the fire when it comes to some of them who didn't vote on some of these bills that can actually change the quality of life for so many. But those are the talking points that I think people are missing, especially on the debate stage. It feels like they're doing

more personal and not going into their arsenal, which is the facts. And the facts, if they decide to use it and use it aggressively, I believe it will get them over the finish line. But the thing for me is, again, if I am standing in front of a voter

and I hear some black folks say, man, Democrats ain't done nothing for black people. I'm going to say, this is how it's gonna go You ready for this ass whooping I Was sitting here and say please tell me the number of african-americans who were uninsured with health care before the Affordable Care Act I Will then tell them, please show me how much money the state of North Carolina and Alabama and Florida gave to their HBCUs and I'll show you they got four times

as much from a Democratic Congress. Please by all means, please by all means, if you wanna have a conversation, let's talk about the multiple billions that Congresswoman Maxine Waters made sure it went to community development banks, which are in black neighborhoods. Y'all want to have that conversation? Let's have a conversation. But you've got to be armed with the information and you've got to present it in a way where somebody's going. And I tell you, and then I'm going to say, all right, black man, your grandmother got diabetes.

Your daddy got diabetes. Your uncle got diabetes. Go ask them how much they insulin costs. And which party tried to. My daddy got diabetes. My brother got diabetes. My maternal and paternal grandmothers had diabetes. Yes. Who tried to cap insulin at $35? Democrats. Who didn't? So I need somebody to explain to me, if black people got a higher rate of diabetes than somebody else, how in the hell trying to cap diabetes insulin at $35 does not help black people? For the person trying to say,

they ain't doing shit for black people. Black students disproportionately have higher student loan debt than anybody else. Why y'all think them white folks in Wisconsin are suing? And they literally are saying, oh, this is gonna benefit black students more than anybody else. So you trying to tell me the forgiving of the student loans,

that does not help black people? That's the bullshit. But if you're a candidate, you gotta sit here and break that down and say, they voted against this and this and this and this. They don't give a damn about you. And you got to be willing to go tell broke white people that as well. Yeah.

I'm just saying, put a little more bass in your voice. Greg, go ahead. No, I was going to say, Roland, they're worried about they're still chasing broke white people. You cannot explain why they have not been in Louisiana on the ground from day one, because that is the type of straight talk that will galvanize voters. You put it to Harrison at the end. This is about turnout. Then he want to talk about turnout.

No, bruh. We have infrastructure. That's a lie. Gary Chambers cannot even run television ads in Louisiana. You didn't come in for Mike Espy before in Mississippi. You could have won that state. We're not now talking about chasing them five white voters, although Stacey Abrams tried to tell them. There was a report that just came out in the last 24 hours that showed now white people are dying and getting sick of COVID at a higher rate than black people in this country

by the latest data, and Republicans getting sick and dying quicker than Democrats. In the state of Georgia, as they close these hospitals, part of the reason that white people are dying in the rural areas more, because they can't get to the hospital. Stacey Abrams talked logic to them. Sure, take that tactic. But then you have got to go out to these black people and say, just like these white people can hear those things and say, I would rather literally die than vote Republican or Democrat,

you gotta go to those black people and explain it to them the way you just explained it to them, and then say, these people are gonna vote R no matter what, you gotta vote D no matter what, and it's not because you're a Democrat, it's because you're black. Because I will vote Democratic not because I love the Democratic Party.

I don't give a damn about the Democratic Party. I'm black voting in my self-interest. But, see, Roland, to talk like that, you can't be a DNC, blue-dog Democrat, conservative Democrat product like a Barack Obama, and let's just call it what it is. Barack Obama had never been about black politics, and that's not a criticism of him. He is a creature of the Democratic Party. And you can't be Jamie Harrison, because they're still out there scared to talk. If you look at Charles Booker, if you look at Chris Jones, they are not scared to talk to black people. At the same time, go back to the way that Jesse Jackson did it in 84 and 88 with the rainbow, that they are saying, I am black, and out of my blackness, I'm speaking to our common humanity. That will be the only way the Democrats

can reach the poor black people and a handful of them poor white people. But until they stop chasing these poor white voters and not talking to black people, the L that is going to be taken won't be the millionaire Clintons, won't be the millionaire Obamas.

It's going to be the poor-ass black people and the poor white people, but the poor white people will die with their whiteness in their clutch, and we just going to die. And thatiteness in their clutch, and we just gonna die. And that's why, Recy, for me, and again, it trips me out when all these fools...

I love these ignorant trolls. Oh, you ain't nothing but a Democratic Party shield. First of all, I ain't never in my life self-identified as a Democrat. Come on. I am a black man. I am an educated black man. And I could sit here

and go, huh. Matter of fact, let me help these fools out. I think his last name was Thompson. I think his name was Thompson. I wasn't in Chicago at the time. But he was running for governor.

I think it was Thompson. Well, the Democrats in Illinois were fighting placing black judges in certain positions in the state. And the black folks in Chicago were like, damn this. Wait, we want to see some black judges. And so the Democrats were like, no, we ain't doing it. So there were black people in Chicago who then began to put pressure on the Republican candidate. I think it was Tommy Thompson. No, he was Wisconsin governor. I can't remember the guy's name in Chicago. But anyway,

because, and so what they did was they campaigned for the Republican governor against the Democrat. The Republican governor wins. Now, I remember when Reverend James Meeks campaigned for the Republican governor who came before Pritzker, Ronner, Bruce Ronner, on the issue of education. Meeks' most important issue was education.

And the Democrats kept giving him the runaround. He campaigned for Ronner. And cats were like, yo, man, what the hell you doing? I was like, Meeks, do what you do, my man. Because what he was saying is, education is fundamental to me. Y'all playing around, I'm about to send y'all a signal.

Ronner won. Now, did Ronner do what he said he was going to do? No. But me said, the Democrats didn't say what they were going to do. So for the people out there who are confused, my advocacy has always been about

black people. Now, if the conduit to get what we want is through this door marked blue, I'm walking through that door. But don't think for a second when I walk through that door, I ain't cussing nobody out.

For all y'all, again, you simple Simons, I got a phone call and they were like, well, we got this much in advertising, and I ain't going to name the campaigns to advertise on your platform. Recent, and I'm going to tell y'all verbatim

how Roland responded. If your kids are in the room, Verbatim, how Rowland responded. If your kids are in the room, turn the volume down. I'm about to tell you. See, so all y'all people, again, who are, oh, man, you sitting here. It is like, oh, you taking the Democratic dollars. Guess what? Guess MSNBC getting paid. They running political commercials.

CNN running political commercials. CNN running political commercials. Fox running political commercials. Every radio station in America running. iHeart Radio, Cumulus, all of them, they making millions of commercials. But the simple Simon Negroes, oh, you shouldn't be taking political money. Yo, dumbass.

But here's what happened, Reesey. They called me, and they wanted a whole media plan. They wanted me on the ground. They wanted active. And they said, we got $25,000. This is how I responded. Fuck that.

I said, I will keep my black ass at home. Good luck. And sent it to the two campaigns, to Jamie Harrison, and to eight of the top Democratic leaders. And said, don't even bother calling me.

Sent to the DSCC as well. Because what you're not going to do is you're not going to throw a crumb and then your ass think I'm that hungry. I then said, I'm not going to accept the $50,000 out of principle. I could have took it. But I'm not about to give you all this for 25 each. Black people, and again, for the simple Simons, and I know, and I'm gonna name them,

Tariq, Jason Black, Boyce, Vicky Dillard, Tim Black, and Phillip Scott, all you fools. I hope y'all play this clip. Cause I'm gonna teach you ignorant asses about black economics. Y'all love quoting Claude Anderson. If I turn down 50, and then they come back with 150,

who won? And if I get 150, and I hire black videographers, black driver, black lighting person, black PA, I'm now practicing black collective economics.

So when you fools say, oh, you taking Democratic money, but I heart taking Democratic money and Republican. Kimmel is taking Democratic money and Republican. Urban One, NBC, Comcast Disney I Got 20 20th century thought we got so how is it you simple Simon's? Everybody else every other media company every other white media company BuzzFeed

Verizon BuzzFeed Verizon name all they all getting billions but telling black people oh you shouldn't be taking that money from the party if they asses want to run ass we gonna run them cut the check

y'all negroes always how to cut the check all you B1 FBA yeah I'm naming all Y'all Negroes always hollering, cut the check! All you B1 FBA, ADOS, yeah, I'm naming all y'all. Y'all always hollering, cut the check, cut the check. You remember, I'm a free man. Cut the check, cut the check. But don't cut that check. No.

When you hold folk accountable, you tell them, you ain't playing me small. That's not shilling or selling out. That's saying you're going to respect this black man, this black-owned media company. Rishi, go ahead. I mean, you're right.

First of all, I mean, I don't give a fuck what people say in terms of shill this, that, and the other. You have white progressives who say it. You have the alphabet soup gang that says it. The reality is the facts are the facts. The policy is the policy. The substance is the substance. The receipts are the receipts.

And I go based on facts, not feelings. What you're pointing to, though, is the investment aspect of it. And that was one of the points that I wanted to make is there is a whole industry that invests in information geared towards Black people. Unfortunately for us, a lot of the investment goes to disinformation, which is why the same people that want to complain about how you're being funded are funded as well.

When Russians and Iranians and Republicans drive bot traffic to these individuals, these chaos agents, so that that drives up their revenue on YouTube, which they live on, and all these other videos, that's an investment. When bots like their stuff and it gets increased engagement and increased visibility, that's an investment. There's a whole industry invested in pushing bullshit, specifically disinformation that suppresses our vote, that suppresses our will to vote. And that is far more of an investment than what Black media gets, as you point to. And I think that is something that the Democrats have not figured out. And it's not just about Black people. It's also about just their politics in general. There's a whole, whole industry that is geared towards pushing out

disinformation that mostly harms Democrats. And Democrats have not done enough to counter it. You can't just counter it organically. They can't just rely on cultivating relationships with influencers or with pundits. You have to put your money where your mouth is. Part of that is running ads on Black media. Part of that is sending people to Black media and all that kind of stuff because Black media is the strongest way of countering what people see on social media. And Black media, the most dominant voices in Black media

should not be Killer Mike or Charlamagne the God or The Shade Room or whatever the fuck else. It should be people who actually do their research, people who do hold people accountable. Sirius XM, Urban View, and people like yourself, obviously, Roland Roland Martin, Unfiltered, and the shows that you have on here with Dr. Carr, The Black Table, et cetera, et cetera. Those should be the most prominent voices, but that doesn't have the money behind it. There's money behind Revolt. There's money behind The Breakfast Club.

And so that's what people see the most. So we have to correct the imbalance and the investments that are made towards Black people so that we can all advance with a common set of knowledge, factual knowledge that allows us to make decisions within our best self-interest. So I'm going to do this here. I know we got a guest

coming up, so hold tight one second. I know I got to go to commercial break, but I really need the people listening to understand because I don't think y'all really, some of y'all don't really understand it. It's some dude, like somebody just tweeted me, they were like,

oh, Phillip Scott dog-walking you Democrats on his channel. First of all, I don't care about no Phillip Scott. I ain't never seen that fool out cover nowhere. He's supposedly from Houston. I don't give a damn about him. I don't care what he's saying on his channel because it don't mean nothing.

He's a member of the hashtag Never Will Be's. Now, for the folk who don't mean nothing. He's a member of the hashtag Never Will Bees. Now, for the folk who don't understand business, let me just help you all out. So cameras follow me, okay? So let me help you all understand something. See, when we launched this show four years ago, we were across the street. Matter of fact, I want y'all to pull up a video

from one of those shows. I just want y'all to pull up a video from one of those shows and then let me know when y'all have it. See, I need y'all to understand why when I talk about the money, why I keep talking about the money. See, I keep telling y'all, if you ain't having no money conversation, you ain't having an American conversation. And see, this is also all for you, all of you simple Simon trolls who all y'all ever do is quote Dr. Claude Anderson. And y'all keep saying, why you, where you gonna have him on the show?

I'm actually doing what he talks about. Doing. So, let me explain some of y'all fools. And this is for the fools who don't know. Okay? Y'all, when we launched the show,

let me pull a video from my old show, y'all. We launched the show four years ago. Our show was based across the street. We sublet the space from 50 Can, an education reform group. Okay? No, that ain't it. Give me, I need a wide shot. I need a wide shot of the people who on the panel okay so it was a it was the middle of their room we had three offices so

we didn't have a whole space we got it for seven thousand dollars okay that's all we could afford when we're able give me this camera here when we're able when we're able, give me this camera here. When we're able, when we're now able to increase advertising revenue, we're able to now build. We're now able to do some things that we ordinarily would not be able to do. Now, again, I'm walking you through this because there are people who don't own businesses, ain't never run a business, and all they are are employees. They ain't never been an employer. So when you understand that, so when you're able to, and so let me tell you how the political thing works. Elections are every two years, national elections.

Teresa knows what I'm talking about. Every PR person, every political strategist, every media outlet, they forecast in January how much money they're going to make by the end of the year because of political campaigns. Radio stations, TV stations, they project our revenue is going to be up 20, 30, 40% because of political campaigns. The money they earn, they did

so many ads in 2020, some TV stations created whole new newscasts to create more ad spots. Some of y'all don't know what I'm talking about. Okay? So, that's additional money.

So, what are you able to do with it? You're not able to build. So, to take that shot, y'all, that's our old studio. Okay? We had five TV monitors. We had glass tables, chairs. We were in one room. We could not

do anything else. There was nothing else that we could do in that space. Our revenue was small. But as we built and got larger, as we then began to do more,

as we began to increase our advertising revenue, as we began to increase our advertising revenue, as we begin to be able to, again, expand what we're doing, all of a sudden we now are able to now build. So now take a shot at the control room. So now there are more people sitting in the control room right now than we had four years ago. In fact, the control room you looking at didn't even look like it looked four years ago. In fact, the control room you're looking at didn't even look

like it looked four years ago. Now, come back to me. Now you're sitting here, we're now in this space. So, y'all, the other shot, all we had was just that. We couldn't even move. It was just that space. We couldn't even take certain shots because the door behind the set would be in

the picture, so we couldn't do it. But what happens when you build? What happens when you bring in more revenue? You're able to grow. So now we are in here, and so now we have this spot, and now we have this spot to do stuff from. Now we were able to afford. See, y'all looking at these tables right here,

and these are push-down tables that we now can travel on the road with. Now you have a whole other space where we're going to have six to eight chairs around here to be able to do interviews. Now you have a whole green screen section, a green screen over here as well. So why am I walking y'all through this here? You need to understand what building is. This is what you do when you build. That's why when we're having these

discussions, we are talking about black collective economics. Building. Why are we saying voting? Because when we use the power of our vote, we're building. We're building our community. The worst thing in the world, which is why I say it is stupid when we're not maximizing our numbers, because then we're not building.

Then we're just trying to survive. I'm tired of having surviving conversations. I want thriving conversations. So I hope y'all now understand why we do what we do and the way we do it and why we don't care what Tariq says and what Jason Black says and what Vicky Dillard or Philip Scott or Boyce Watkins. I don't care what Tim Black. I don't give a damn what Sabir Bey says.

I don't care what Yvette Carnell, Antonio Moore. I literally do not care what any of them think about politics, about me or the show, because when you know who you are, and when you truly are about black people, then you're focused on that, and not the

people who are in the chirp-chirp club. Because the chirp-chirp club, that's all they do is chirp-chirp. And they can have their own shows. And they can have their own people. They can talk all day. I don't watch them, don't follow them, never will.

We are focused on building something. And that's why we're unwilling to let Democrats off the hook, Republicans off the hook. That's why we're going to make it perfectly clear. We are going to support black folks, whether you like it or not. Coming up next, I'm gonna talk with a sister, part of the dance team at the University of Southern California.

Lot of people, HBCUs, talk trash about them. They was stealing from HBCUs. That's stupid. It's dumb. And I'm glad they did what they did. We'll talk to her next on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV,

Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Join our Marina Funk fan club. Send your check and money orders to PO Box 57196, Washington D.C. 20037-0196. Also, Cash App, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered. PayPal is rmarteting Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. And Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com.

Roland at RolandMarketingUnfiltered.com. We'll be right back. When we invest in ourselves, we all shine. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. Welcome to Atlanta, one of the most expensive housing markets in America. But rather than help out, Brian Kemp cashed in.

He made hundreds of thousands of dollars in real estate. His net worth skyrocketed. And while Atlantans struggled to stay in their homes, Kemp gave $10,000 tax handouts to the richest Georgians and a nearly $700 million no-bid contract to his campaign donor. Brian kicked back Kemp, making Georgia work for him, not you. 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! Everybody out together. 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, in Texas, and in the 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 present 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 Voters 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. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, it's one thing to have a seat at a table and it's another to be an investor on the cap table of a unicorn. We're talking venture capital with Leisha Bell and how generational wealth is built through early stage investing. I know very few people who do what I do, and that's very unfortunate.

And I think Silicon Valley has been unkind to Black people. That's right here on Get We 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. This is De'Alla Riddle, and you're watching Roland Martin, Unfiltered. Stay woke. on the Black Star Network. watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. I'm Lex Scott Davis and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Hey, what's up y'all? It's your boy Jacob Lattimore and you're now watching Roland Martin right now.

Eee! We'll be right back. All right. All right, some of y'all just woke up. Here's the deal. We talked about this story when it first came out because of a lot of HBCU people who were shading the University of Southern California's Cardinal Divas like, oh, they stealing from HBCU.

This is cultural appropriation. First of all, how in the hell can you culturally appropriate something when you black? That's just the dumbest thing in the world. So folks are all upset about this all-black majorette dance team at the University of Southern California.

And they want to do what they do. So, you know, Princess Isis, second-year student at USC, Princess Isis Lane, she formed the dance team to create a space for black culture at USC. Went viral, of course, when she tweeted it. And it led to all kinds of stuff, you know, people tripping and acting a fool. And so I said, hey, let's get her on the show. I immediately sent her a DM saying, hey, I'd get her on the show. I immediately sent her a DM saying, hey, I'd love to have you on so we finally

are able to get her here. So Princess Lane, glad to have you on the show. And so it's been some time now since this came out. Were you surprised at the ridiculous reaction of HBCU folk who were like, y'all were

somehow stealing what was special to HBCU folk who were like, y'all were somehow stealing what was special to HBCUs. Yes, I was very surprised. I was surprised that we even went viral, period. I was just, you know, happy to showcase what we're doing, but to see all the negativity come in, it was pretty crazy because all of these false things that they were saying, not just about me, but about the team, it was just really disheartening to see that our own people were trying to knock us down when we're trying to build up and showcase black art. And it was pretty interesting to see everything happen the way it did.

It's a perfect example. That's somebody on our YouTube channel, Miss Tanya. She just said, I don't think USC school can appreciate these... Hold on. I don't think USC school can appreciate these sister dancing, just my take. How in the heck? You don't even know. First of all, this notion

as if they're not dance teams at PWIs is just dumb. Yeah. We're all here, so I don't really... I can't really say too much on it. I don't know what their goal is. I mean, so just be clear.

You were black before you got to USC, right? Yes. And I take it you were dancing before you got to USC, right? Yes. And I take it you were dancing before you got to USC. Yes. Before college, before high school, before middle school, been dancing, been doing major ed, so it's

been in my blood this whole time. And that was the point that I made when this first came out. I said, y'all act like dance teams somehow started at HBCUs. There have been dance teams in elementary school, middle school, high school. I said, dance teams didn't start at HBCUs. Hell, you had dance teams back in the tribes in Africa. I just... It just...

The reason it bothers me is because... And then there were people who were saying, well, if y'all want to do that, why didn't you go to HBCU? My deal is, we can bring blackness wherever we want to bring it in any space at any time.

Exactly. It wasn't in God's plan for me to go to an HBCU. And that happens for a lot of students around the world, around the country. So I made sure that wherever I ended up, I was going to be Black in that space. And I was also going to continue to create Black spaces for us and be a Black voice no matter where I was. So it doesn't matter if I'm at a PWI or an HBCU because the skin color did not change and it's not going to change and neither are my goals for my own community. So do y'all perform at, are y'all an official part of the university? Do y'all perform at games? How does

that work? Yeah, we're an official student organization at USC. So we perform in the stands at the games and we're also going to be at the basketball games as well. So really right now, I'm just trying to get us on the field to get a halftime performance. Oh, yeah, that'll be fine. That'll be fine. All right, let me take some questions from our panels. Let's see here. I'll start with Teresa. Well, thank you so much for creating the excitement and the buzz.

I'm really honestly just hoping for the next dance. So I think it's a shakeup and it also created the conversation. So again, kudos to you. But yes, I want to say something more. Absolutely. We, we have been in the studio almost every day, practicing, working and really working and practicing. So at our next performance, we're doing another dance, something new, exciting. So that's really all we can do is really just work and push ourselves. Now, I know Reese was really trying to jam to that song when we played y'all video, because Reese can be

ratchet and I'm sorry, what was your phrase, Reese? Reese was like, yeah, I can twerk and talk power. I like to twerk and vote. That's what I said. I like to twerk, I like to vote. Twerk and vote, and she likes to be ratchet and to cuss. And she can be

ratchet and just coming back from Greece. All right, Reese, go in there. Well, I have to say I'm a Bruin, so typically I wouldn't root for SC. But I do stand in solidarity with you. Well, they keep beating y'all ass, though. But I'm sorry. Go right ahead. My bad. I'm sorry.

Not in those rankings. But anyways. No, but seriously, I salute what you're doing. And, you know, can you talk just a little bit about the fact that it's a black, I mean, you guys created a black majorette team. And this isn't like something like Step Up or, I don't know, one of those white dance movies where y'all go teach all the white folks all the black moves. This is an actual, and I'm not saying that you're excluding anybody, but this is a more so black centered organization with black ladies, a part of it. And I know going to UCLA, how you have to find community there with black students because you are the minority.

And then the other thing I just want to say is black Twitter has these arguments every week. It's all every week we have the HBCU versus PWI, light skin versus dark skin, biracial is not black. These are all the same damn arguments people have every time. And so never, ever, not that you would, but never, ever let whatever people are chattering about stop you doing from what you're doing,

especially when you are being your authentic self and really leaning into what is your birthright. Thank you. To speak on everything with the team and things like that, creating this team, it was because I realized that at USC, we're having all of these conversations about diversity and inclusion, but I didn't see any action taking place behind these meetings and panels. So this was my time to step up as not just a student, but as a Black girl anywhere to be able to say, well, if I don't see the space, then I'm going to create it because I know

I'm not the only girl that feels like this. And so it really took me, what, three years to get this really finalized and out there because this was something that really meant a lot to me. So I made sure to put in the hard work, the dedication, the resources, everything that I could possibly do to make it the best thing that it could be. Can I ask one more question? How are you guys getting financial support? Do you guys have a website or do you have anything that you're doing where you're able to support yourselves as students and have this organization? Yes. Right now we have a GoFundMe and it's under the Cardinal Divas of SC

and also we are trying to fill out documents to get funding from the university. Alright. And I guess, you know Greg, a lot of folk don't realize where USC is located. It's in the hood. It is in South Central L.A. And South L.A. ain't welcome on that campus, right, sis? That's all I'm very curious about.

Just being clear. As a native Chicagoan, the question I want to ask you is really wrapped in the blackness. You know, I went to an HBCU. I've taught for 22 years at probably the most prominent HBCU, Howard. And they're all the same as far as I'm concerned. You also went to PWI. I went to two, no question. But like you said.

And I'm very much aware, having gone to Ohio State and Temple, of how blackness performs in white spaces. For me, it's not about what you all are doing or not doing. It's about them white folk behind you cheering while you're doing it. And I know as a native Chicagoan, California was a real eye-opener for you, I'm sure, in terms of not only that campus, but the state, right? So my question is about, and again, to follow up what Reesey said, and certainly I ain't got no smoke for no sister named Isis. Okay, let's just get that out of the way. But what Reesey said is so true when it comes to this question of spectacle and everything on social media. I saw a couple of remarks I didn't like, however, and this is where the question comes that I have for you. Some people, not you, were saying,

you know, this is the best of both worlds. What does that mean? That means that are you saying the white school is better academically and the black school has all the dancing and culture? And I guess my question for you, at a campus that is less than 6% black, at a campus where, you know, you don't see a whole lot

of black people there, except if they're playing the revenue sports like that football team and that basketball team. How are you all grappling with issues of race when for a lot of those white folks in the stands behind y'all cheering, it's a spectacle watching black girls dance. How do you grapple with race on that campus, which I'm sure is a very different environment than one you were brought up in? Yes, absolutely. I'm a musical theater major and I'm the only black junior I'm in a predicament of showcasing Black art, it's never going to be a...

How can I say? It's never going to be a performance for white people. It's always going to be for Black people, by Black people. And I'm just here to put it on the platform that it deserves to be on. And majorette should be known across the country, any and everywhere, because dance isn't just ballet, jazz, tap, and this jazz that they call nowadays.

Everybody deserves to see all the different types of dance. And that's all I'm here to do. And it's not to be a spectacle. And really, a lot of people after our very first performance, they came up to us asking, what were we doing? What is this? This is so exciting to see. They love to see it.

And they just wanted to know more about it. And that's honestly, that's the one thing that I wanted to do. I want people to know what major it is. And so it'll never be a spectacle to me or my teammates. Thank you. All right. First of all, how many people on the team? There's 10 girls on the team.

Okay. And since this thing went viral, have y'all gotten inquiries from other people who want to be on the team? Yes. A lot of people have been reaching out, DMing me, even talking to my mama and dad.

Are y'all taking auditions? And I'm like, whoa, relax, guys. We just started, you know? But it's really exciting to see that more people want to get involved now. And it's just all for the right reasons to just continue uplifting Black art and Black artists. Will you allow any non-Black dancers? Honestly, that's really not what I'm thinking

about right now because there's already such a small amount of Black students. I want to make sure that this space is comfortable to all Black students. And so whether that means somebody that's not Black tries to audition, they are more than welcome to try to audition, but

that's really not what I'm thinking about or the team is thinking about. We're just here to continue telling the Black stories and continue uplifting Black dance. All right, then. Well, look, we certainly appreciate you joining us. Glad to get you on the show talking about this

here. And so, Princess Lang, thanks a lot. Thank you so much. All right, then. And so, I'm sure when Recy goes to the USC-UCLA game, she'll be sitting near them trying to pick up some dance moves so she can. Nah, they still the ops. I'm still brewing through and through. I'll just twerk on the brewing side, though, okay?

Uh-huh, uh-huh, yeah. I'll be a spectacle. Yeah, oh, Lord. Yeah, that's a rare place for you. Gotcha. All right. Let me go to a break, folks. We'll be back on Roller Barton Unfiltered.

Be sure to download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Y'all watch it on YouTube. Stop freeloading. Hit the damn like button, okay? It don't make any sense. I gotta ask y'all to hit the like button every single doggone day.

We should easily be at 1.5K likes, y'all. It ain't that hard. Just go ahead and you can comment, you can hit the like button and comment. So just go ahead and hit the button, okay? So when I come back from this break, we should easily, easily eclipse a 1.5K like button. So just go ahead and hit the button, okay? So when I come back from this break, we should easily, easily eclipse 1.5K.

And so I fully expect that to happen. Also, if you're on the app, Voxel Network app, if you're on Twitch or Instagram, Facebook, be sure to share as well. Also, Bring the Funk Fan Club, seeing your checks and money orders, appeal box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196, Cash App, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered, PayPal, R. Martin Unfiltered,

Venmo is RM Unfiltered, Zelle is Roland, at RolandSMartin.com, Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com, and get my book, White Fear, How the Browning of America's Making White Folks Lose Their Minds. And y'all, it's happening every single day. Get the book everywhere. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Ben Bella Books, IndieBound, Bookshop, Chapters, Books A Million, Target.

You can download it from Audible. And, of course, order through your favorite black bookstore. We'll be right back. When we invest in ourselves, we all shine. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. Welcome to Atlanta, one of the most expensive housing markets in America. But rather than help out, Brian Kemp cashed in. He made hundreds of thousands of dollars in real estate.

His net worth skyrocketed. And while Atlantans struggled to stay in their homes, Kemp gave $10,000 tax handouts to the richest Georgians and a nearly $700 million no-bid contract to his campaign donor. Brian kicked back Kemp, making Georgia work for him, not you. 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've always said this. Rather than to continue to fight for a fair piece of the pie and an equal slice of the pie, I want my hand on a knife that cuts the pie. And to that extent, who bakes the pie? And who puts it in?

And that's one of the things that got me involved in going into politics in the first instance. I'm tired of people making decisions for me. Right. And mine. I want to be a part of that decision-making process. And luckily, it has paid off in terms of seeing the progress that many people in America have made,

particularly people of color. One thing bothers me now that we seem to be losing that. Right. Saying that we've got to be more concerned with other people than those people who were here. We built America. Libraries empower the community with education. Liberia Economic Development Initiative, LETI, is hosting the International Life Changers Awards and Liberia's Bicentennial to celebrate LERI 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. Hey, I'm Amber Stephens-West. I'm Avery Sunshine. So this is Roger Bauer. I got a message for Roland Mascot. Oh, I'm sorry, Ascot Martin.

Buddy, you're supposed to be hooking me up with some of these mascots. I'm sorry, ascots that you claim to wear. Where's mine, buddy? Where's mine? That's all I got to say to you, okay? Mascot, goodbye. Hi, this is Essence Atkins, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, so yesterday,

we were talking about the issue of racism and immigration and fascism by the far right in Europe and how what happens there eventually comes over here. Well, today the prime minister in Great Britain, Liz Truss, quit. She resigned. Shortest tenure ever. She literally was prime minister for six weeks. Now, you may say, well, okay, I don't understand. What the hell's that got to do with us? Well, the reason that's important to us is because

what she did was when she replaced Boris Johnson, she came in and she said, yo, we are, we are going to cut taxes. We are going to do all this stuff to drive business. The economy tanked. Bond market, stock market. Europe was, the UK was in disarray. Massive pressure on her. Huge blunder. She got forced out. She had to quit.

The plan that she presented is literally the exact same plan Republicans want to do here in the United States if they win the House and the Senate. Yeah. In fact, Larry Cutlow actually was on television and he was saying that it's literally the same plan. This is what, matter of fact, let me try to pull it up right here. Just so y'all understand why the election is important. Just so you understand why when we talk about these things,

we're not just sitting here just, and when y'all are hearing it, y'all are just thinking, oh, I mean, I don't understand what's going on. No, trust me, because what these folks are doing, y'all, I should be seeing the iPad in the bottom left corner. Come on. So, all right, so here's the thing. It's not showing up. Are you hearing it?

All right, I'm going to try to figure out what's going on here. In London. What do I mean by that? Okay, so listen. The U.S. midterm elections cavalry arrived early in London. What do I mean by that? Well, the new British Prime Minister, Liz Truss, has laid out a terrific supply-side economic growth plan,

which looks a lot like the basic thrust of Kevin McCarthy's commitment to America plan. Let's start with Truss. She is slashing tax rates and deregulating energy. I just love it. That's the liberal business media. This is wonderful. The liberal business media, you know who I'm talking about, is now trashing her plan. That tells me Truss has it exactly right. The U.S. midterm elections cavalry arrived early. Again, Cutlough said all that. She has it just right. That was six weeks ago.

Today, she out of a job. I'm saying that because I'm trying to get black folks to understand you got all these, and then you couple that with all these folks, Jamie Dimon, Elon Musk, all these folks saying we're going towards a recession.

Larry Sumners, Harvard president, worked in the Obama administration, White House, you know, all his, like supposedly he thinks he's the smartest person in the world. He literally said, and see, this is why I don't understand, Greg. He literally said, to avert a recession, we need higher unemployment. So all these rich folk, oh, the economy, we need to cool the economy off. The unemployment is too low. Too low? Yeah.

I hope people understand what we're trying to lay out here. Greg, go ahead. No, you're right. I mean, this is where it gets, it's really not complicated, but we don't want to hear it. So we don't really talk about it. The villain of this piece is capitalism, and capitalism doesn't have a country. It's global. The U.K., whoever in their fighting

now, is it going to be the guy who was chancellor of Exchequer before? Is he going to be? Boris Johnson has been brought up again. He may be back from the political dead. They're going to run the program the trust put out. She threw the brother under the bus, the Ghanaian cat, oh, well, people from Ghana, Kwame Korting, the ex-Checker chancellor. That didn't work, so she had to quit. But they're going to run that plan. See, the problem is that there are record profits now for these companies. The oil companies have record profits. We're going to talk a minute maybe about Biden and stock buyback. But poor people seem to think somehow they're going to

end up owning stock and be rich too. This is cosplay. This is where the duopoly comes in. The Republicans and Democrats really don't have a whole lot of difference, except when it comes to voter base. When you start talking about economic policy, there's a reason why Jamie Dimon and Lawrence Summers and all of them are in the Democratic Party, because while you can be socially liberal, their fiscal policy is hypercapitalism. J.P. Morgan's doing quite well. Now, they've had some problems recently, but they're taking their profits and they're plowing them into the stock.

There you go. So, you know, and so you've explained this many times, Roland. The other thing I would say is that this is in some ways political theater. Trust is going to be OK. I mean, trust may not be there, but the UK is probably going to run that plan. And when the white nationalist party comes in, they are going to run that plan, too. Now, finally,

the only hope that poor people have, and poor whites can't hear this, so I'm really talking to poor black people, the only hope that we have is to put pressure on that one half of the duopoly, the Democratic Party, who needs our votes to be in power.

And then you might be able to push some policy through. Now, you know, when you think about it that way, then people say, well, we're the party of the working class. No, you're the party of capital, too, but you need our votes. So therefore, you can talk about expanding the safety net. You can do all these things. See, the Republican Party don't need to talk about that because they, too, are the party of capital and they are being financed by

some of the same people. And I don't like the fact, for example, it's homecoming to Howard and the guy who's pumping out his Nike stuff on Howard's campus, Phil Knight, just pumped millions of dollars into these right-wing candidates. He wants your money and he don't give a damn about your policy. So, I mean, you know, the Democrats are going to

push for loan forgiveness and student loans, this kind of thing. I don't know. You, I mean, you know, the Democrats are going to push for loan forgiveness and student loans, this kind of thing. I don't know. You probably saw it, Roland. Amy Comey Barrett just rejected the attempt in Wisconsin to forestall the loan, you know, forgiveness, letting it go into effect. That's because people in this country know if you push people to the point where they have nothing to lose, capitalism could collapse. And that's what happened to Liz's trust in England. It wasn't a change in policy. It was just that you piss enough and poor people off, and they

may come for you. So the conservatives are trying to keep themselves in power so they can run that game plan they were going to run under trust. All I'm trying to get people to understand here, Teresa, is what you... People need to be very careful, okay? By not voting, if you look, let me say it again,

by not voting, you're talking about putting the people in power who want to bring back the massive tax cuts that exploded the deficit, did not impact low- or middle income people. It was absolutely for the top 1%. And that's what they're pushing. And people need to understand, if you say you care about the economy right now, and you care about inflation and food prices, these people want unemployment high.

They want to completely cut off unemployment benefits. They don't want to see $15 an hour. They don't want to see a livable wage. What they want is for these companies to make more money. The oil companies, Teresa, made

$75.5 billion. The top six oil companies made $75.5 billion. The top six oil companies made $75.5 billion in profit in three months. We can

go down the line, the companies. Record profits and how the increase in prices exists. They don't have to increase the prices. They're doing it because they're saying, we want to snatch more of your money. Teresa, go ahead.

You're absolutely right. And so when people are complaining at the pump, they're complaining, you know, about some of the household needs that they need from their government and they want their government to provide, they need to understand that their government is their vote. So half the battle is making sure that people understand that some of these economic issues

that are happening in your neighborhoods and in your communities are happening because of the lack thereof to vote and the lack of understanding of why you vote. So I think there has been a real critical approach that has been happening from organizations. But honestly, it's really just happening during election season. And this has to be year round understanding that not only does your voice matter, it impacts. And that impact will absolutely not only directly affect your life, but will direct your bottom line. And so I think when people start to wisen up to some of the realities of, oh my gosh, when I, you know, reported, when I voted, when I did not vote and I was silent, this individual was in, and they're

wondering why some of the legislative priorities are not in their best benefit. It's because the lack thereof, the lack of vote, and that's why you're seeing the increase of an impact. Racy? You know, the reality is that the economy messaging war has already been won. When you look at the Republicans, we look at the mainstream media, because people believe that we're in a recession, even though record unemployment is low, because people go by the textbook definition, which is not necessarily what the economic experts go by. And so what this is just doing is getting people primed for forced unemployment because of the low unemployment, people have been getting

paid more. And so this is just all really a messaging game just to get people accustomed to the idea that they're going to take measures to inflict pain on us. And they're going to make us as a society feel like that's necessary to get inflation down when the reality is there are a variety of things pushing inflation, namely, like you guys have said, price gouging, but also you have the Ukrainian conflict. What Republicans have said is they're going to eliminate aid to Ukraine, which really emboldens Russia. And so, you know, they're, I guess, making a bet that if you just throw Ukraine under the bus and that'll end the conflict, not thinking that that will further escalate and embolden Russia. And so there are a lot of things that are really at play here. But

what's crystal clear is that Republicans are running on cutting Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid. We have Republicans like Brian Kemp, and who's running for governor again, and Greg Abbott, who will, and Ron DeSantis, who will not expand Medicaid, who will not take the federal money to expand Medicaid, which is going to leave millions of people across the country without access to health care, which is directly affecting Atlanta residents who are losing a trauma center, one of the only trauma centers. And so Republicans are telling you out front, they're going to fuck us all over. They are not going to do anything that's going to improve our life.

If you don't get more rights, if you're going to lose your voting rights, you're going to lose your reproductive rights, you're going to lose your health care, your safety net, because Black folks ain't got the most robust 401ks. Let's just be clear here. And a lot of the things that have been won in the Inflation Reduction Act were specific to government-handled programs because the Republicans blocked, for instance, $35 insulin for everybody else. And so Republicans are telling you that they're going to be destructive. And for some stupid-ass reason, people are not believing them when they're being very clear on that. And if they vacillate just a little bit, like Herschel Walker said that he supports a heartbeat bill that has an exception for the life of the mother, even though he has

been running up until now saying he does not support abortion, even if it saves the life of a mother, then people say that they're moderating. No, Republicans are extreme. They're radical. They're coming for every aspect of our lives. And that is not an exaggeration to see. So if you cannot find it in your heart to be impressed by student loan forgiveness, by the child tax credit, which cut child poverty in half for Black people, the increased SNAP benefit, that increased food security for people, for the advances that have made actual drastic difference in expanding Medicaid care for mothers for up to a year, which has been an initiative

led by Vice President Kamala Harris, the investments in infrastructure, especially in water infrastructure. If you cannot be impressed by that, then God damn it, at least want to hold on to what's coming out of your paycheck every single week, because that's not discretionary. And Rick Scott, Marco Rubio, Ron Johnson in Wisconsin, Kevin McCarthy, Mitch McConnell are going to take what we've been paying in for our whole damn lives away from us

if they get the chance. Yep. Just letting y'all know. All right, y'all. Got to go to break. We come back. Marketplace segment right here on Roller Barton on the Black Star Network. Speaking of the Black Star Network, download the app. Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV,

Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Join our Bring the Funk fan club to get your check-in money orders. PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. Cash app is Dallas Sound, RM Unfiltered. PayPal is R Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. PayPal is RMartin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered.

Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Download the copy, get your copy of the book, White Fear. Available at all bookstores. And, of course, you can also download it on Audible or order through your favorite black bookstore. 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. Libraries empower the community with education. Liberia Economic Development Initiative, LEDI, is hosting the International Life Changers Awards and Liberia's Bicentennial to celebrate Leti 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. When we invest in ourselves, we all shine. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. Hi, I'm Anthony Brown from Anthony Brown and Group Therapy. Hi, I'm B.B. Winans. Hey, I'm Donnie Simpson. What's up? I'm Lance Gross, relaxing, got my, you know, my athletic outfit.

I wanted to show some love to Black Voters Matter today, but y'all normally know I dress up. Now, I know we living in a world today where cats got Timberlands and they wearing damn T-shirts everywhere, you know. In fact, the other day, when I was... Where was I going? I was... I forgot where I was speaking, and I needed my shoes polished. And, I mean, it's like, it's hard to even find a place today to get your shoes polished

because cats today are not necessarily wearing shoes that require you to get polished. But some of us still might call ourselves old school brothers. Look, I was, look, my daddy taught me and my brother how to dress, and so that's how we roll. And so my next guest, y'all, is a black shoe designer. He makes high-quality shoes. Of course, many folks use these cheap materials. He's like, no, we ain't doing that.

Aaron Sharp saw an opportunity to create Mando Laureano, an environmentally sustainable, black-owned luxury brand. Their men and women's shoes are designed with longevity because they believe in keeping their products out of landfills as long as possible and saving

clients money in the long run and preserving the planet. They also sell specialty coffee. They got it all going on. Joining us right now is Aaron Sharp. He's coming to us from Anchorage, Alaska. So are you based in Anchorage, Alaska? I am.

I live here in Anchorage. We actually have a workshop in Spain, and that's where our shoes are made. Well, for you in Anchorage, so hell, all you got is time to make some shoes. I'm just, I'll just mess with. But so first of all, so how did this even start? How did you even just say, yo, I want my own luxury shoe line? You know what? I looked around at the end of 2019 and I didn't see too many black-owned luxury shoe brands.

I saw a lot of celebrities, black celebrities, that were partnering with these large brands like Adidas and Nike, but didn't really own their brand. And I wanted to change that, so I started my own. So, when did you start it? What year? The end of 2019. The end of 2019. And so, when you started, how many different shoes did you have?

How many do you have now? We started, I think, with about seven or eight different styles, and we're up to about 29 at this point. But the best part about what we do is we can customize anything that you see. So if you like the style and you want to change the color or the material, we can also do that for you. Now, the thing that stood out at me, because you were saying, you know,

you want them to last as long as possible. I mean, that's the thing that drives me crazy. Like, I've got some shoes, and I've got to get them new soles and a lot of shoes that they just don't last long. And so what is it about your shoes? First of all, it was so funny when I'm going to do the camera. Which one?

Right here? Give me right here. Give me right here. So when Kara, my producer, brought me the box, when I first opened it, I said, this is some damn golf shoes. Looked like, did we lose them? So I said, I are some damn golf shoes. Looked like, did we lose them? So I said, I didn't see the Bob. I said, those are some golf shoes?

I thought they were golf spikes at first. So explain to folk who are watching, explain, you know, what makes these shoes so long-lasting. And obviously, they probably cost a little bit more, but there's a reason behind it. Go ahead, explain that. Right, so our sole that you see there is a Goodyear

welt construction. It's made of leather, and it has the rubber inserts there to help you get traction from day one. So a lot of people that have worn slick dress shoes in the past... Oh, I can't stand that, bro! New pair of shoes, your ass sliding all over the place.

Exactly. So those studs help control that a little bit. Okay. All right. And also, is it because of these studs, Anthony, go ahead and come up to the chat. Is it because of these studs that also gives you more longevity? Because normally when you have that sole, especially this part right here begins to wear out the ball of the feet. Right, so if you look at the heel of the shoe,

we have a rubber insert. That's where you're going to be stepping the most. So we put that rubber there to make sure that it gives you a little bit more longevity. And then the sole itself is all leather with those rubber inserts. So once that sole goes soft, you're able to get it replaced

because of the Goodyear welt construction. Wow. that sole goes soft, you're able to get it replaced because of the good earwax construction. Wow. Okay. All right, then. Now, what do your shoes run? That shoe that you have in your hand runs about $450. We have, like, sneakers like

this, like what you see there, is about $265. We go all the way up to over $1,000, depending on if you want an exotic material to use for your shoe. All right, I'm going to go to my panelists now. And I'm going to start with Greg. And Greg, you know, if there's one thing that I miss, Greg, I miss black men who used to dress up going out.

I can't... I can't tell you it pains me when I see cats walking to a club dressed like I am. I'm like, man, I can't. I just, again, I'm straight-ass old school, how I was raised. Look, if you're going to go out, you're going to go out looking clean. Yeah, that's old school, how I was raised, how, look, if you're going to go out, you're going to go out looking

clean. Yeah, that's old school, brother. I mean, I certainly don't and never have never operated or moved in those orbits, but as a Southerner of a certain age, you are absolutely right when it comes to that. And of course it begins, as my daddy would say,

my man Nate Normand down in Morehouse would say, it starts with the shoes, brother. It starts with the shoes. So I want to thank you, man, for this. And especially, and I mentioned this earlier with the young sister Isis laying out there at U.S. University of Southern California. You know, Nike has signed, Jordan has signed a 20-year deal with Howard. And I'm seeing this whole trendsetters, trendmakers, some kind of branding they got now with all the HBCUs. Could you say something about how important it is not just to have style, but to own style and support Black businesses? Because I swear I wish you would have had a

20-year deal. I don't like these companies coming in swagger jacking, making billions, brother. How important is it for us to support you? It's extremely important. I'm not a big rap fan, but one of my favorite rappers right now is Russell out of the Bay Area. And he has a line in his song. He says, it's hard to be what you never see, right? Representation is everything.

It matters, right? If, you know, even just having younger entrepreneurs that are looking to do what I'm doing now, that uplifts our entire community. Right. They see that it can be done. They see that they have a blueprint now. Right. And I think that's extremely important. Yes. All right, then. Recy. I just have to say, I think the shoes are just incredibly debonair and stylish. Are you guys looking to scale up? Because I noticed that their production time can be a little bit longer. There are certain, you know, brands or certain shoes that are a little bit quicker to get if people want to get them really quickly.

Or, you know, is that your next step, you think, in terms of having a larger stock on hand so that people can get access to your shoes in a really quick manner? Right. So we have what's called QuickShift, and we have about seven styles of shoes that are available in QuickShift. And it takes about two weeks for us to handcraft those shoes and get them to you. The issue is, is that there's so many people that want to customize our product. So having a bunch of stock in our standard lineup, that doesn't really work for us. We have to make sure that we can do stuff for you guys from scratch and be able to

accommodate those that want custom sheets. Awesome. All right, Teresa? Yes, Aaron, congratulations. I literally went straight to your women's line. As you can see, I am a business professional, so I am always looking for some high-end heels.

And I'll be ordering my pair today with the Roland Martin coat today so we can track it. So I think my question for you is, I see the investment and I see the passion. This is me with my communications hat on. So in order for some of these bigger brands, in order to become a brand, they had to invest in marketing. So that is not a part of the 2023 because even the background on the souls, which is highly important,

and I am so tired of going to some of these events and men are just slipping across the floor. I think if they knew about your branding, your product, it definitely would make a difference and also feel really proud to utilize this type of product. So, you know, if you're not, you know, expanding on the marketing in terms of social media, please do, because I think this product is really worth it. Thank you so much. All right. Well, certainly

let us know about that. Now, folks, if you want to check it out, go to Mando. Mando, is that how it's pronounced? Mando Shoes. M-A-N-D-E-A-U-X-S-H-O-E-S. Facebook, Mando as well. And the discount code is RMU10.

If you want to go to their website, Mando.com, M-A-N-D-E-A-U-X.com. It's RMU10. And we certainly appreciate it, man. Thanks so much. Good luck. I'm sure I'm going to get a text in a second from my dad, actually, and he needs to go. Don't even send me no damn text. No, you will not

be getting these shoes. I know I'm going to get a text. Trust me. Roland, did you get a chance to see the hill, the side of your hill, what's on there? Hold up. Let me see. Oh, see, that's a smart man right there.

All right, so Greg, I'm going to show you this here. So hold up. let me go into the camera. Anthony, can you zoom in? So he said they customized. So on the side of the heel, it says, and I might as well do it right next to the alpha ring. It says RSM 1906 on the heel. Oh.

RSM 1906. Oh, yeah, that's what IM 1906. Oh, yeah. That's what I'm talking about. Oh, now. There you go. There you go. See? Yeah.

That's beautiful, brother. See? So, to my dad, sorry, daddy, you can't get these. You can't get them because your initials are R-L-M. And my brother, my dad, my brother, me, we all wear the same size. So my brother, he junior, so he RLM. So, yeah, y'all can blame Aaron. I can't give y'all the shoes now because it says RSM.

Now, my brother, he is an alpha, but he RLM. He ain't RSM. So, sorry. But, brother, that's cool. So I've never seen shoes where you can put something on the heel. So, that is a good customized touch right there.

That ain't going to save you, Roland. All they're going to do is tell you to go and Aaron can make them a shoes for them too. No, but they can go to Aaron's website, Mando.com and use that promo code RMU10 and we want to get them some shoes. And I appreciate it, man.10, and we want to get you some shoes. And I appreciate it, man.

Good luck, and hopefully you'll build and grow the business. And I look forward to going to the website and checking out some of your other products. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it, brother. Thanks a lot. Folks, I told you, I just want you all to watch this show. We are about featuring black folks who are doing amazing things. What was it? Was it the sister last week doing the cookware? We had the

sister with the body product to slim you and help your butt and your breasts. We had the black drape company. We had... Who else we had? I mean, we've... Say it again?

Oh, yeah, of course. my girl, Windsor Barbie, will do the upfitter for Sprinters. By the way, our Sprinter will get back from Mercedes factory November 1st, and they'll have about 8 to 12 weeks to customize it, so I cannot wait to show y'all what that bad boy's going to look like. And so that's why this show is important, because it's not just about news information.

It's featuring these black owned businesses like Mando dot com and so many others. And so and Keenan, let me know. And somebody actually said I need you to work on this. Somebody asked me, somebody said, can we put together a Web page? That's like a marketplace of all of the marketplace segments that we've had. That way we can just feature the websites of all of them and then we have the video links to all of them just in one location. So Kenan, let's work on that

and do that. Alright, y'all. Greg, my dad, I'm talking about. Tell Greg, thanks for the plug. Hey, Roland, my papa's an ancestor, so I know that he would probably be saying the same thing, so Mr. Martin, if I got

a cape for him, you know that's my man. Then my mama gonna send me a text talking about getting him a pair for Christmas. Uh-oh, there it is. Didn't I just pay for y'all to go to Jamaica? That was then. Now, that wasn't then. That was last week. Well, Janet Jackson

said, what have you done for me lately? I'm going to the Society of Official Journalists Hall of Fame next week and I'm flying them up. Lord, y'all. Man, y'all. That's right. That trip next week is the shoe budget.

Uh-oh. That trip next week is the shoe budget. Uh-oh. Next week is the shoe budget. All right, y'all. That's it. Teresa, Reesey, Greg, I certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Folks, be sure, again, why is it important for y'all to support this show?

Why is it important for y'all to support this show? Ain't nobody doing what you're doing. Nobody. Essence ain't doing it. Ebony ain't doing it. Blavity not doing it. Byron Allen and Griot, they ain't doing it. None of these folks are. Nobody is giving you not only this show two hours a day,

but Faraj Muhammad's show two hours a day. You also, mama talking about Jamaica's for my birthday. Man, y'all Negroes are, no, that was you. He went too. See, she act like she went by herself. Uh-uh, no, that was you. He went too. See, she act like she went by herself. Uh-uh, no, mama, nice try. Nice try. Nice try, mama.

That don't fly, because he went too. So, all right, y'all. So, again, y'all, we got this show two hours a day, Roger Muhammad's show two hours a day, Deborah Owens' show, Wealthy You, Jackie Hill Martin's show, Balanced Life. Stephanie Humphries showed The Pivot. You got Greg Carr showed The Black Table. You got Rollin' with Rollin'.

Y'all, we got three shows in development. Y'all, we keep talking about we gotta have our own. We keep talking about how we gotta be independent, but we're actually walking the walk and talking the talk. And so that's why it's important for you to support us in what we do, for you to help us in every single way. And so first, y'all, we have not hit 50,000 downloads. I don't understand what the problem is.

Hit 50,000 downloads, download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. And again, your support matters. We need 2,000 of our fans giving $50 this month to hit $100,000. That averages out to y'all $4.19 a month, $0.13 a day. And it's important because, y'all, none of this stuff is free, y'all. None of this stuff is free at all. I mean, literally, our internet bill is $3,000 a month

because we've got to have fiber, high-speed internet. And so send your check and money order to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. Cash App is Dallas Sign, RM Unfiltered. PayPal is RM Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And, of course, get your book, White Fear,

How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds. Available at Ben Bella Books, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, Bookshop, Chapters, Books A Million, Target. Order it from your favorite black bookstore. Download it from Audible as well. We certainly appreciate that. And y'all know how we do. And so we just keep it going.

I'll be here tomorrow. Hey, Saturday, I'm in Buffalo speaking to the Buffalo NAACP for the Freedom Fund Dinner on Sunday. Do y'all have the graphic? The GeoTV rally is taking place in Houston. We'll have that for you tomorrow, y'all. And so, that's taking place on Sunday. So, I'll be in Houston on Sunday.

The Fight for Democracy is taking place there. Then we're back in Swainsboro, Georgia on Monday. Y'all, let me tell you something. The folk in Swainsboro, Georgia, they're gonna be there. They's taking place there. Then we're back in Swainsboro, Georgia on Monday. Y'all, let me tell you something. The folk in Swainsboro, Georgia was so hyped that they told the Warnock people,

we want Roland Martin back. And so they took out a newspaper ad and they said they gonna pack the joint out. They were not happy. They didn't pack it out last time. So they said they gonna pack the joint out. They were not happy they didn't pack it out last time. So they said they gonna have three to 400 people in Swainsboro, Georgia on Monday for our live show. So we're gonna be back in Swainsboro, Georgia on Monday.

I don't know where we're gonna be on Tuesday in Georgia, but we definitely gonna be in Swainsboro on Monday. So whole lot of things happening. I ain't got no days off, but it's all good. It's election season. We gotta do what we do to make sure our folk get elected and do what we need them to do. Alright, y'all, that's it.

I gotta now bounce. I gotta go do something with Memorial Foundation, do the live Zoom. Look, the work never ceases. But remember, we about us, about our people, about us speaking to our issues and helping our people. And so we're always glad to do it. So that's it.

I'll see y'all tomorrow. Ha! Ha! This is an iHeart Podcast.