#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Election Day 2023, SCOTUS: Domestic Violence Offenders & Guns, Trivia For Us Card Game

Episode Date: November 8, 2023

11.7.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Election Day 2023, SCOTUS: Domestic Violence Offenders & Guns, Trivia For Us Card Game It's election day, and time is running for those who have not voted yet. ��We will be talking to folks from Texas, Virginia, and Mississippi.  We'll also be discussing races from other states.  The Supreme Court heard arguments today about the federal ban on alleged domestic abusers possessing firearms.  We'll talk to a gun violence prevention advocate about what could happen if the court decides to reverse the ban.   Five Black Kansaw women are seeking damages for alleged rapes and humiliation they say they suffered at the hands of police officers, including retired detective Roger Golubski. And in our Marketplace segment, it's a game that could get your black card revoked!  We'll talk to the creators of the Trivia For Us Card Game.  Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports.

This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Today is Tuesday, November 11th. Today is Tuesday, November 11th. Today is Tuesday, November 7th, 2023. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network, live from Dallas, Texas. It is election day all across the country. huge races in Virginia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Houston, ballot initiatives here in Texas and other places.

We're gonna talk about the ramifications of today's election. Does not get a lot of attention from national mainstream media, but we have been focusing on this because it could mean the difference between black power expanding or decreasing. And so we will talk with officials from the NAACP about what's happening in Mississippi.

We'll talk to other people all across the country, including Virginia delegate Don Scott, who if the Democrats flip three seats, he will be the first black Speaker of the House from Virginia. Also, five Kansas women have filed a lawsuit against a cop for rape. They say that police officers have been terrorizing black women all throughout the Kansas City, Kansas area. And also in our marketplace segment, folks, we will talk about a game that could get your black card revoked. There's a whole lot of y'all. It's time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin on Filchard on 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. Yeah, yeah. It's Uncle Roro, y'all. Yeah, yeah. It's rolling, Martin.

Yeah, yeah. Rolling with rolling now. It's Rollin' Martin Yeah Rollin' with Rollin' now He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best You know he's Rollin' Martin Now Martin Folks, it is Election Day all across the country. I am broadcasting live from Dallas County. I am, of course, registered here. And as you see, I have my sticker right here.

I voted in Dallas County. That's right. There are ballot initiatives for the school district here. I voted in Dallas County. That's right. There are ballot initiatives for the school district here, in addition to statewide propositions on the ballot as well. There were no candidates on the ballot, but again, those propositions are just as important. And that's something that we have to understand, that when we talk about voting, we cannot be so fixated on President of the United States, on United States senators and members of Congress. You've got gubernatorial elections taking place today. You've got state races.

You've got county races, mayoral races, propositions, you name it. And if you want to understand how important this platform is, when I went and voted, one of when I went and voted, one of the sisters there, she told me, she said, hey, Roland, good to see you. She said a number of people came in today and said they did not know there was an election until they saw your show when you were talking about check your local elections. And so we have to understand people go about their lives. They get these mailers in the mail. They say something's not important, but it absolutely is. We're going to show you a clip of Gary Chambers, the activist from Louisiana. He's actually in Atlanta today trying to help a brother elected to the school board. The clip is phenomenal.

Gary runs up on a cop, a black cop, who's like, I don't know if I'm going to vote. And Gary's like, what the hell are you talking about? You're a public servant. And so wait until we show you that clip. And so that's what people need to understand. But again, huge races going on all across the country. Major eyes are on Virginia. Republican Glenn Youngkin has made it clear if Republicans take control of the Senate, take control of the House, they're going to enact an abortion ban in Virginia. That has been the dominant conversation on advertising, television commercials, radio commercials and all the candidates. And so that is, again, on the ballot. You also, of course, have critical, critical races in Pennsylvania, statewide

races for the Supreme Court. Also, who controls the county election boards? You also have city council races in Philadelphia. You've got a mayoral race in Houston where Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is trying to keep the mayoral seat in black hands. Sylvester Turner. He, of course, is the mayor of Houston. He is term limited. And so he is, of course, he, of course, is running. And so what you have to understand, folks, it's a lot going on. I want to bring in my panel right now, Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali, former senior advisor for environmental justice at the EPA out of D.C., Mignon Guy, associate professor, Department of Afro-American Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, and also Dr. Larry J. Walker, Assistant Professor, University

of Central Florida. All three of them join us right now, and so glad to have you here. Mustafa, I want to start with you. Again, we try to explain to people why these races matter. It's amazing when you see low turnout, when you see folks are going way all these off years. In some of these places, you're seeing potentially 15, 18, 20, 25 percent turnout. And I keep saying if black people maximize our numbers, we could be sweeping these elections, but we got to actually show up. Yeah, this is a moment to make sure that folks are not falling asleep and that

they're actually taking advantage of this opportunity that we have. You know, we take a look and we see after the polling is done that in many instances, sometimes, you know, votes can come down to a hundred votes or a thousand votes, especially on the county level and the local level. So when you don't get engaged, you don't have the opportunity to make sure that the right type of zoning is happening so that you're not getting facilities placed in your community and black and brown communities that is making people sick and making them lose their lives prematurely, making sure that those education initiatives are being handled properly and that you don't have, you know, these far right wing folks who

continue to fill up the spaces on the local elections for on the education side of the equation, making sure the proper housing is happening, making sure that when we're talking about new jobs coming into an area, that you're making sure that a percentage of those that are going to be contracted are actually coming to our communities. All that is tied to you actually getting engaged and you voting and not just you voting, but grabbing somebody else's hand in your family or a friend and saying, let's go together. So we have power unless we give it away, as my grandmother says. Mignon, 2018 in Virginia, there was an actual tie where they had to have a drawing. Virginia Republican David Yancey, he won a seat in the House of Delegates that gave Republicans control of the House. They continue to have control of the House.

At that point, they had control by one vote. They now have control by three votes. That's a perfect example. That was a literal tie. And they had to have a drawing to actually determine who the winner was. And so when people say, well, a vote doesn't count, here's a pretty damn good example. Your vote does count. Yeah, it's interesting. So I am in Virginia. And ironically, you know, as a college professor, I always tell my students, I don't care who you vote for. I don't care what the platform is. I don't care what your political ideology is. You just have to vote. Right. And luckily in Virginia, I mean, I got to give it to Northam.

I believe it was under Northam that he made Election Day a holiday. So today's a holiday for us. So it's easy. I understand people that are in states that, you know, these are smaller elections and you don't have a holiday and people are busy and and get into their own sort of routines and they miss what's happening. Right. But we had a holiday today. So for us, there was no reason for anyone not to vote. But unfortunately, we have a lot of younger people in particular that are just, and older people, quite frankly, that are just disenchanted and disaffected by the political climate. And they sort of abdicate the power, one of the few sort of powers that we can exercise in this country, and don't vote. But yeah, it can come down to one, two, three votes, and that can make all the difference in the world. And this is one chance, one opportunity that we have to have our voices heard and to participate in our democracy that will not work unless we make it work, right? Democracy only works if we force it to, if we participate. And that's what people have to continue to remember. You know, Larry, here in the South Dallas County city of Cedar Hill,

that was, we don't have Larry, so let me know when we get Larry back. There was a ballot initiative called Proposition A, and the whole point there was to increase the taxes to retain teachers, provide better pay, hire armed police officers, keep schools safe, things along those lines. And that's a perfect example. Let me know when we got Larry back. That's a perfect example. Okay we got Larry back. So Larry that's a perfect example of that's not a sexy election. And so typically in this type of election, you're going to see a much lower turnout.

But it's a perfect example of why we have to vote, because on one hand, we can't keep talking about how we want better schools if we're actually not paying for those better schools. And so and there were about 14 constitutional amendments that were on the ballot. And I'm going to sit here and do this here. Mama, bring me a sample ballot. Bring a sample ballot. I took pictures of it. I took pictures of it. And I'm going to talk about this in a minute.

Because, so I'm going to read for y'all what we're talking about here. And so I know about my next guest, Don Scott, Delegate Don Scott of Virginia, knows I'm talking about because, again, he's on the ballot today. Many other folks on the ballot today. But, Don, this is a perfect example. You're from Texas as well of how these propositions ain't sexy, but they matter when it comes to governance. Absolutely. They are a big part of what happens in government, how we deal. If you look at the Ohio proposition, whether abortion will be enshrined in the Constitution. We did casino referendums here. We've done marijuana referendums here, legalizing marijuana referendums here. It's very important. And I think I was just listening to your guests.

We have to be able to have a strategy, a long term strategy beyond this one election, because the young African-American voters are not turning out anymore. They're losing faith in this system. They don't feel like they have a stake in it or they are just they just don't care. And I talked to some today and I had to get them to vote and they care about issues, but they don't think that politics makes a difference. They don't understand how impactful it is. And once I explained to them that Virginia has $170 billion biannual budget and that we're spending without them having to say, they stepped back again. And then they thought about how many minority vendors get some of those contracts that Virginia issues out. And then they stepped back again and then they thought about how many minority vendors get some of those contracts

that Virginia issues out. And then they stepped back again and I just started trying to let them understand. They listen to a lot of hip hop and in hip hop they talk about the bag a lot. I say, y'all basically saying you don't want the bag. And I'm trying to get them to understand that doing politics is what we did up the back.

And they need to understand that and get involved and get engaged. And I'm hopeful that we will continue this conversation in the African-American community here in Virginia and everywhere to make sure that we're engaging our voters. We can't take them for granted anymore. They are too valuable.

And hopefully we'll all get there. And today we have a historic election and I think we have an opportunity to take the majority and flip the house. So I'm excited about that. I was on Twitter earlier. I was on Twitter earlier and I was on Twitter. I was on Twitter earlier and I saw a number of videos from William and Mary and a number of universities across the

state that had a lot of folks in line. And the reality is we saw the exact same thing with young voters in 2022. Some of these special elections, especially in Michigan, where abortion was on the ballot. We're seeing it in Ohio. And so the thing that, as you said, Don, the people have to understand, you can't complain about policy if you don't change the politicians. Absolutely. And I think at these universities where we have this fixed audience that we can get to easy, it's a little easier than when we're dispersing the communities. And I think at these universities where we have this fixed audience that we can get to easy, it's a little easier than when we're dispersed in the communities. And I think we need to have a strategy for that. But I think that is going to make a difference. Some college students at some very important swing districts are going to come out today in Williamsburg and Blacksburg and Newport News in Virginia.

And they're going to make the day. They're going to let their voices be heard. I think abortion is on the ballot. That's a huge issue for young people, men and women. They want bodily autonomy. They look at making intimate decisions about your own body as being a fundamental freedom. And I think for the last 50 years, it had been until Roe was overturned. And I think people don't want any restrictions from Richmond politicians. And I think that is going to play a huge role in the day and whether or not we flip the house. Polls been open since 6 a.m. in Virginia. I'm sure you have been getting reports all around the state. Your polls are still open for a little bit longer, correct? 45 more minutes. That's why I'm trying to get off here so I can go out there and go back and do those things that I need to do. But I wanted to be on

your show because I know you have your finger on the pulse of our community. And we just want to thank you for all the work that you've done in just letting voters know how important these elections are and as we continue to move out. I'm going back out to some polls now and then I'm here in Portsmouth where I live and then I'm here

where we can bring in the ballot. Thank you all, and stay funky. All right. Well, hopefully we'll have you on tomorrow, and you'll be the speaker designee if you all pick up three of those seats. Delegate Don Scott, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Thank you, y'all.

Have a great night. I'm going to go to a quick break. When we come back, We're going to keep talking about, again, the power of voting. And I'm just going to show you when we come back again. You know, again, this is a this was a sample ballot of the various propositions that were on the ballot here in Texas. And again, it's one of those things. It ain't sexy, but it has a direct impact on many of our people. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. It is Election Day in America where black votes matter. Back in a moment. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence.

On that soil, you will not be free. White people are losing their damn lives. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress,

whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. There's all the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. Here's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear.

I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad.

It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and three on May 21st and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast.

We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne.

We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corps vet. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things.

Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early.

Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. I'm going J. Parker. Trudy Proud on The Proud Family.

I am Tommy Davidson. I play Oscar on Proud louder and proud. I am Jo Marie Payton, voice of Sugar Mama on Disney's louder and prouder Disney plus. And I'm with Roland Martin on unfiltered. All right, folks, it's election day all across the country. We always talk about how important black votes matter. And before we went to the break, I was talking about, again, I still am registered in Texas, still own a home here. I'm doing a show from the crib. And here's a perfect example. This is the ballot. This is a sample ballot.

And it lists all of the different ballot initiatives that were on the ballot. This is a sample ballot and lists all of the different ballot initiatives that were on the ballot. There are constitutional amendments that are on the ballot and they mean a number of different things. First and foremost, one of the ballot initiatives on here dealt with the issue of Texas' retirement system. It says right here, the constitutional amendment authorizing the state legislature to provide a cost-of-living adjustment to certain annulments of the teachers' retirement system of Texas. Well, there are a lot of African Americans who are teachers, who are retired teachers. This is a cost of living adjustment to that. And so, again, this is one of those things that people go, huh, average stuff is not really important to me, but it actually is. There also

is a proposition on here that will provide a $1 billion tax cut to property taxes in the state that would save folks somewhere in between a thousand and twelve hundred dollars a year. I can go on and on and on with several of them. But but but but this is the unsexy stuff. And when you heard Don there talk about policy, Mustafa, you heard him talk about how people say they want to see changes. Again, this is not candidates, okay? I didn't vote today on a single candidate, but I did vote to raise taxes in the school district to pay for an improved school district. And here in Cedar Hill, in South Dallas

County, this is a majority black school district. And so I hope folks actually show up. When I was there, there was a woman, a black woman who was a board member who was out there who was passing out stuff. And again, I was thankful to hear the woman say, because first of all, my parents for a long time worked the polls there, pre-seat judge and all that sort of stuff. So I know all the people who worked the polls. And a sister there said, she said, several people came in here and said,

man, they didn't know about the election until they were watching your show. And so when we were talking about, you know, how do we change our community, it's stuff like this. And when we don't participate, this right here, by us not participating, is why our community sometimes look the way they do because we have checked out of the process and that's happened all too often.

Without a doubt, you got to understand how the system works. And that's why this show, this network and others who are doing authentic work are so incredibly important. Think about these off-year elections as the opportunity to actually build infrastructure for your community. All the things that you need to have a healthy and thriving community happens on these off-year elections. Now in some states, yes,

there are the elections for individuals, but you really gotta think about what the needs are inside of your community, and that's why you gotta get engaged. But you also gotta make sure about what the needs are inside of your community. And that's why you got to get engaged. But you also got to make sure that there are those ambassadors and others who are helping people to walk through these various propositions and amendments that play out, you know, right, that we're seeing play out actually right before our eyes right now. So if you want to have the right types of housing, if you want to make sure that resources are going for education, you know, hospitals and where a hospital will or won't be built in many instances. There's so many different dynamics that are a part of building of the infrastructure inside of our community

that is tied to our vote and it's tied to these off-year elections. Min Young, here's a perfect example. State of Texas Proposition 7, all right? The constitutional amendment providing for the creation of the Texas Energy Fund to support the construction, maintenance, modernization, and operation of electric generating facility. Now, why did I vote against that? Because the folks here in Texas got off the national grid and they've had major issues in the summer and the winter with the Texas grid because of the idiots in Austin, which is Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick and all these Republicans. and create a special fund? No, I'm not voting for that. But again, for the black people who are watching, if you're from Texas and you were complaining

about the power surges, you were complaining about the lack of heat in the wintertime for the freeze that took place, policymakers impacted changing the grid. And so it's not sexy stuff, but I guarantee you, when you're freezing your ass off in the winter or you're sweating your ass off in the summer, you're sitting here going, man, somebody got to fix this.

This is how you deal with it. That's right. That's right. I think it's, I mean, you bring up a really good point, but I think, you know, these off-year elections are also oftentimes where they, the times that they sneak things into policy and, you know And we have to understand, like, how do these policies become enshrined into sort of livable spaces or living spaces or into educational practice or into outcomes or into health care outcomes, right? So we have to think about it because here pretty much abortion is on the ballot right now in Virginia, right? So this is maternal health, and this is extraordinarily important for black populations in particular,

given the maternal mortality rates that we have in this country. But these are the times that we have to make sure that they're not sort of sneaking things in under the dark of the night, right? And one of the things that we don't think about oftentimes is that when we abdicate our responsibility and our privilege, actually, the luxury and privilege that we have to vote that other people fought for and died for, then we have to think very long and hard about what it is, how we are contributing to the betterment of our country or of our own, even if we're only focusing on Black folks, right? How are we improving or how are we contributing to the advancement of Black people when we sort of

withdraw and we don't engage the way that we're supposed to? This is the things that we have to think about. Half the students that, you know, I have several students that were protesting last week the invasion of Israel into Gaza, right? And one of them I texted tonight because I was talking to him and he was sending me all of his videos of protesting and how he's down with the cause and down with the cause. And I said, did you vote? And he's like, ah, nah, nah, not yet.

I didn't vote yet. And I said, well, what are you doing out there in the streets yelling and screaming, but you're not gonna do anything at the ballot box? You gotta do both, right? We have to do both of them. And I just think that that's what our students, our young people need to understand. The other thing that, as I was listening to you, because my family has a tendency to do this funny thing where they'll just call me and they'll say, what should I vote for? And I'm like,

you need to vote for what you read and understand. You need to read and understand your ballot first and then call me and we'll talk it through. And we talk it through as a family, right? We'll say, okay, what are the pros? What are the cons? Because people don't always have time to do these things. But this is what we do in our family, right? And this is what other families can do as well. We can make it sort of a family affair

where we're all like, we're looking out for ourselves. We're gonna try to make sure that we improve our living conditions, our wellbeing, and that of our community as well. And perhaps if some people are thinking these ballots are so long, because oftentimes they really are long, oftentimes they write initiatives, you know, sort of in this reverse language, whereby you think you're voting for one thing and you're voting for something else. And it can be overwhelming. But that's when

you bring in your community. And that's when you talk it through. And then that's how we have a strategy of working forward and moving forward together. And that's how we have a strategy of working forward and moving forward together. And that's how we play the long game. Candace Matthews, she's statewide vice chair, Texas Coalition of Black Democrats, President Harris Countess Accountability, joining us from Houston. There's a mayoral race there. A lot of eyes on there. State Senator John Whitmer of Houston, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. They are the two front runners. There are no people who are running for that. And he is a perfect example. How do you continue to maintain black power? You've finally had the second black mayor in Houston, Sylvester Turner.

How to successful eight years term limit. It can't run. Whitmer said sit on a 15 million dollar war chest, been dwarfing his opponents. So there's a battle to really try to get Jackson Lee into a runoff with Whitmire. Has this gotten the attention of Black Houston? Actually, yes. Yes, yes yes it has because this race this specific race has been very brutal okay it ain't got to the point because you know i call it auntie sheila because you know that's my girl

and so auntie sheila was even targeted based on a recording that happened 13 years ago when she was going off on her staff. And so I know how a congresswoman is. She is very meticulous about how she want things done and how she is with her staff. Right. And so they try to use that against her, but it actually helped her. You know what I mean? And then you have John Whitmire, who has this huge war chest, and basically he has taken a lot of the coconuts who basically want to put him in place. But in all actuality, is that we really want Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee. And so, I mean, they know that Sheila actually. Well, actually, also let me explain this here.

So Houston has a nonpartisan mayoral race, but the reality is it has gotten partisan in the last several different races. You have mostly Republicans who are supporting Whitmire. They are angry with Democrats. Democrats control city hall. Democrats control county government. And you've got a Latina who's the county chair. You've got an African-American mayor who is the mayor there. And you've got some white folks in Houston who are like, yo, we want some of this power back. All of those dynamics are also at play in this mayoral race. Yes, and that's where the attacks are coming in,

because what has happened is that our congresswoman has suffered the attacks, like I said, of a recording that happened 13 years ago. Even her campaign chairperson was assaulted. You know, so it's like it's dirty politics that's being played at this time. So she's taking the high road. She's not throwing the mud slinging. And I think that she's going to come out on top because her track record speaks for itself. As for Whitmer, on the other hand, I mean, you know, we know you.

You know what I mean? You like to, you know, come into the black communities and try to make it like you're doing stuff for us, but maybe you still white, okay? And don't try to come over here with this decepticrack mentality because you got Republicans that's backing you and you're going to be publicized by them. So we already see the play and we're not going to go for it.

That's what we're doing at this point right now. But so we'll be watching this year again. This is likely going to go to a runoff to be watching these election results through the night. Candace Matthews, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Love you, Roland. Folks, going to break, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Love you, Roland. Folks, going to a break. We come back. We're going to talk to the folks in Mississippi,

see what's happening there. I'm looking at a tweet right here that this is at least nine precincts in Hines County, Mississippi's most populous county, and the home of 83% black capital city of Jackson. They have run out of ballots. Black folks are voting in Mississippi. We'll get a view of what's happening there next. It is election day all across the country. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network where black votes matter. When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture,

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Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr. We welcome the Black Star Network's very own Roland Martin, who joins us to talk about his new book, White Fear, how the browning of America is making white folks lose their minds. The book explains so much about what we're going through in this country right now and how, as white people head toward becoming a racial minority, it's going to get, well, let's just say even more interesting. We are going to see more violence.

We're going to see more vitriol because as each day passes, it is a nail in that coffin. The one and only Roland Martin on the next Black Table, right here on the Black Star Network. My name is Lena Charles, and I'm from Opelousas, Louisiana. Yes, that is Zydeco capital of the world. My name is Margaret Chappelle. I'm from Opelousas, Louisiana. Yes, that is Zydeco capital of the world. My name is Margaret Chappelle. I'm from Dallas, Texas, representing the Urban Trivia Games.

It's me, Sherri Shepherd, and you know what you're watching. Roland Martin on Unfiltered. Folks, major gubernatorial race happening in Mississippi, one of the most competitive we have seen in quite some time. You have Republican Governor Tate Reeves being challenged by Democrat Brandon Presley. It has been a tight race for the last several weeks. Presley has been campaigning all across the state. Unlike in 2019, he made a very concerted effort to target black voters. Charles Taylor is executive director of the Mississippi State Conference, the NAACP.

He joins us right now. Charles, what type of effort, what has been the plan for the NLACP when it comes to get out the vote in this crucial gubernatorial race? Good evening, Rowan. Thank you for having me on. You know, we're excited about our governor's race. I just got off the call with our president and CEO, Derek Johnson. He's actually in line right now to vote. He was informing me how long the line is. And so we're excited and we're asking folks to stay in line. But as we talk about this race and we talk about the importance of the black vote, you know, this morning I was reflecting on all of the work we were able to do as an organization this year. We had focus groups where we went literally to individuals to make sure that people who were what we call infrequent voters were touched, and we asked them about their attitudes toward voting. We knocked on tens of thousands of doors

for GLTV. We've done digital advertising. We sent out hundreds of thousands of pieces of mail. We have folks to make phone calls, et cetera. And so, you know, robocalls, sent out mini grants to our branches. And so we are excited about the work of the NAACP. But the work of the NAACP is just a small piece of all of the work of organizations in Mississippi has been doing for this year. I'll tell you, this election is historical. The reason why this election is so historical is because we have a scenario where the black vote has never mattered more. With the black vote in this election, we got rid of the Jim Crow era law. Basically, let me tell you what I'm talking about. Before 2023, if you were running for governor or running for a statewide office

in Mississippi, you had to get both the popular vote and a majority of the House seats. We got rid of that law on the ballot in 2019. And so now we have a scenario where this is the first time in Mississippi's history that the Black vote will mean as much as it will. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th.

Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes sir, we are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne.

We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now

isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content,

subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at tetherpapersceiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. It's the first time in Mississippi history that all you need is the popular vote in order to become governor. Again, I'm looking at all of these tweets here. Brandon Presley tweeted, we're hearing reports of long lines in the Jackson metro area. If you are in

line right now, stay in line. You have a right to have your ballot cast. If you encounter any issues today, call our voter protection hotline at 601-203-4131, 601-203-4131. Ashton Pittman, as well as some other folks, he just tweeted, some Mississippi voters were left in line for hours as election officials printed new ballots. After at least nine Hines County polling places ran out, local officials attribute the shortages in Mississippi's largest county to unexpectedly high turnout. When you start running out of ballots, that means and what happens is, again, you know, my parents have been precinct judges. They've gotten ballots. They sort of look at the polling places in the last several elections and they sort of guesstimate how many ballots they're going to need. If they are running out, that means people are turning out at a much higher rate than they have in the past. Absolutely. You know, I'm really excited about turnout. I hate that they're running out of ballots. But I love the reason why we love the turnout is high across the board in Hines County, which is our largest county.

But we want to make sure that voting is as easy as possible for the voters. So we have been on the phone with the circuit clerk's office all day. They have been diligently printing more ballots. We've had folks that have called our hotline number, which is 1-88-601-VOTE. So it's 1-88-601-VOTE. We've been talking to them, comforting them, letting them know that ballots are on the way. We've been ensured in real time that ballots will be on the way so we can inform our voters. We've had coalition of organizations, lawyers committed, legal defense fund, One Voice, Southern Poverty Law Center, ACLU, and many others that have been at the divine knot, spreading the word to let people know in Hines

County to stay in line. Ballots are on the way and to stay in line because your vote matters. And so I hate that there was a few voters in Hines County that have been inconvenienced today. But I do love the spirit of the voters of Hines County as a whole, recognizing the importance of this crucial election. Are your lawyers or any other lawyers, are they are they monitoring this? Do they plan on potentially going to court and try to get the out, get the voting hours extended as a result of running out of ballots? Yes. So we have close to two dozen lawyers, if not more, both from our national office, from other national partner organizations, as well as local lawyers in Mississippi that have

been trying to address this matter all day. And so as they've been looking at this, they've been trying to figure out, is there any legal remedy for this? But I will tell you this. Mississippi is one of the hardest states to vote in. And it's also not only one of the hardest states to vote in, it is very difficult to get these types of remedies. But they've been trying to figure out if they can get some kind of relief for voters in Hines County. All right, then. We certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much, Charles.

No, thank you. We're going to try to reach the we had, of course, the brother on who is the chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party. Carol, let's try to reach out to him, even get him on the phone line. This right here is a quote that, you know, again, it's one of those quotes that you don't mind seeing, Larry, although you do hate to see it. We were not prepared for this amazing turnout. Hines County Democratic Executive Committee member Jason McCarty said today, calling the ballot shortages unacceptable. But this also is a perfect example of what I keep talking about. When black people, when we vote in record numbers, when we maximize our numbers, it causes problems at the ballot box.

Those are what we call good problems or, as John Lewis said, get some get in some good trouble. Absolutely. I mean, you're shaking the foundations of the political system. I mean, you got to talk about, you know, the number of percentage of black folks in Mississippi. The world is over 35 percent. So, you know, as you talked about your show consistently, if Black folks come out to vote, then we can make sure you get people like Governor Reeves out who has consistently ignored the challenges, infrastructure challenges. And Jackson won't expand Medicaid amongst a number of issues that impact the Black community. Obviously, like you said, running out of ballots is problematic. But like I said, this this speaks to how black folks are excited, enthused about going out and maybe change or dramatically change in which business is conducted in the state of Mississippi. But once again, hopefully this is an example we will see, hopefully in some of the other jurisdictions throughout throughout the country where you talk about Virginia and obviously Kentucky, some of the other governors race and other places with some of these ballot issues we've been talking about all night, which have a long term impact not only on you, but the lives of your children and your grandchildren. And we often don't consider that when, you know, once again, when these elections aren't held and we have a presidential election. But you have to vote every time you can. And why do we why is it important to vote?

Why are Republicans constantly attacking the Voting Rights Act? Since its passage in 1965, it's consistently been under attack. And we know what happened in 2013. So for folks out there watching, if you haven't voted, I need you to get off your couch and hurry up and get on with the vote. We're about to get to talk to Cliff Albright, co-founder of Black Voters Matter in just a second. Mustafa, I find this to be interesting. This is October 10th of this year. This is a story from WAPT. It said Monday was the last day to register in person at circuit clerk's offices in Mississippi. For those who want to vote in November 7th, the general election, Hines County Circuit Clerk Zach Wallace said there are about 3000 new registered voters in the county this year. You're going to love this quote, but this statement. But there appears to be a lack of interest from voters in the upcoming election. A lot of people do not trust elected officials now. And then you have a lot of things going on in the community, statewide, nationwide elected

officials, things like that. It says one measure of enthusiasm is absentee voting. Close to 250 absentee ballots have been cast so far in Hines County. That number is low compared to previous similar elections, according to Wallace. Look like something changed. Something most definitely changed. First of all, you don't have to get ready because you stay ready. So those who need that message, you know who you are. You know, the other thing is that I don't know where these folks get some of this stuff from because I've done a lot of work in Mississippi. I talk to people in Mississippi constantly, and they was ready to go. They was ready to vote. So maybe folks need to actually expand who they're talking to, to understand how to be best prepared. When you have an opportunity, because folks in Mississippi are tired of the leadership that they've had, both from the governor and the state houses and a number of other

positions. so folks know they have an opportunity to make a change happen. We understand the numbers that are there, that there are more Republicans who are on the books than Democrats. But we also understand that when you excite people who have not had hope in a long time, that in many instances, they're going to take advantage of that opportunity. So you have a number of different statewide positions. But also, let's go a little bit deeper real quickly, Roland. You also have a number of different statewide positions, but also let's go a little bit deeper real quickly, Roland. You also have an opportunity to get these sheriffs out who have not been doing their job properly and who have been brutalizing folks inside of our

communities. You have an opportunity to address the district attorney positions and up and down the ballot, we got a chance to make real change happen. Cliff Albright, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, joins us right now. Cliff, I'm looking at a couple of things I find to be real interesting. This is from November 9th, 2021. And it said that in 2021, there were one hundred and sixty six thousand five hundred eighteen registered voters in the county. Only thirty three thousand thirteen voted in a special election. That was two years ago. There's another story that showed in the last time, in 2019, the last gubernatorial race, about 78,000 people voted in Hines County.

78% went for the Democrats. You have been saying for months, watch Mississippi, watch Mississippi, watch Mississippi. Something is happening in Mississippi. Y'all better pay attention to Mississippi. And we've had you on numerous times. We are seeing the results of the work of Black Voters Matter and others. What you've been on the ground there. Give us a sense of what you've been seeing and hearing in that state. Yeah, thank you, Roland. Yeah, you know, we've been in the state and to be clear, you know, we're really always in the state, right, because we don't stop doing

work in the state of Mississippi. It means that much to us all throughout the year, you know, us as well as other partners like Mississippi Votes and mississippi one voice and so um but yeah but we've been here for a bus tour uh for a few days for uh three days now i've been here for a week you know i packed up and came here for a week starting last week on wednesday and i've been to all parts i've been in the delta i've been in jackson hines county i've been over um in in the gulf coast and everywhere we went, we've seen a lot of interest, we've seen a lot of enthusiasm, we've seen everybody knowing about the election, which sounds basic, but as you probably know,

a lot of times in a lot of these odd number years and some of these elections, it's a battle just to get people to even know that the election is taking place. But there was wide scale awareness of the election, awareness of what was on the ballot, awareness of the issues, and people really excited about being able to go vote

and get some change in this state. And people feeling like change was really possible this time, even in ways that people didn't necessarily feel it back in 2018 when Mike Espy was running for Senate. People were kind of excited to be able to vote for a black man for Senate and have that possibility. But I think that there was even more of an understanding that black folks might be able to do something in the state

that the state hasn't seen in a really long time. With that said, you know, we've seen on the ground, we've seen polling places here in Hines County that started off late, didn't have the machines or didn't have working machines early in the morning. We were at one place over in the Tougaloo community where they didn't have their polling machines working for like two hours, the first two hours of the day. We're also seeing other places that right now have run out of ballots. I'm hearing that it's like nine precincts, again, in Hines County, obviously where Jackson is, overwhelmingly Black County, having run out of ballots, which again tells you that turnout is exceeding what their expectations were. Telling tells you that, but it also tells you that maybe there was some shortchanging of Hines County in terms of the

ballots that were. So there's action being taken right now. You know, some of our partners have their staff attorneys that are looking at filing motions to get hours extended at these places that either started late or that have run out of ballots. You know, as I listen to you, you know, talk about those past elections. You have a hugely unpopular governor in Republican Tate Reeves. He has flat out ignored Jackson, Mississippi. They have treated Jackson, Mississippi with great disrespect. He has even said, it's great when I don't have to spend any time in Jackson, Mississippi. And so he has fought Medicaid expansion. He all of a sudden now is trying to pay attention to the hospitals. But you also have a white Democrat in Brennan Presley who actually acted as if he cared about

black people. The guy who ran 2019 basically ignored black people and that's why he lost this is a different this is this is a guy who went to who went to hbcu homecomings who was on these campuses who actually went to uh significant places it's a perfect example that other white democrats white conservative democrats should learn from you cannot win in the South if you ignore black people. You can't have a shot if you activate black people. Yeah, you're exactly right, Roland. I mean, what we've seen here is that you've got the convergence of those two issues, right? A very unpopular governor. You know, a lot of people, when we stopped them in cars and at intersections, you know, even as we were texting people, even we were texting

on our nonprofit, you know, nonpartisan side and just reminding people to go vote. A lot of responses we were getting, yeah, I'm going and I'm bringing a lot of people because Tate got to go, right? And so you have that. But to your point, you've also had somebody who had two things going for him. One, that he was reaching out to, that he did have black folks that were speaking higher of him, that were in relationship with him for years, not like just recently. Right. That, like you said, was going to black communities, HBCUs, you know, all of all of the places that you've got to go to. And so was actively trying to communicate with the black community. But the other thing is this, because it doesn't mean a heck of a lot if you communicate with us, but you ain't got nothing to say. He actually had something to say.

He was talking about consistently, and this is really what first caught my attention six months ago when I first started warning people and telling people something's happening in Mississippi because he was talking about Medicaid expansion. He was talking about the hospital system that's falling apart. That's an issue that hurts black folks very much, right, especially in the Delta, where you have rural hospitals closing. But it doesn't just affect us. It also affects other folks, too, white folks that were like, you know what, I do want some health care, right? And so he was talking about that. He was talking about the grocery tax. Again, Mississippi, the highest grocery tax in the country, right? The most regressive of regressive taxes, not just the sales tax, but taxing food and groceries. Mississippi has the highest rate in the country in one of the poorest states.

So he was talking about issues of substance, issues of corruption, right? Brett Farr and the corruption with the TANF, giving away the TANF funding to Brett Farr to build a volleyball court for his daughter. And so talking about issues that impact our community. So you gotta try to talk to us and you also gotta have something to talk about. And that's part of what's, I believe,

is part of what's making a difference here. Indeed. I know, look, y'all are busy workers, so we don't let you go because I'm sure folks are calling y'all phones trying to get some help. Let's try to make sure that as many of our folks can vote as possible. Polls should be closing fairly soon. And so we'll be watching out for this vote count tonight. Cliff Albright, Black Voters Matter. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot. We got an hour left. If you know somebody in Mississippi, y'all call them up, call them, text them, do something, send them a photo, do something to tell them they got to go vote. We got a little bit over an hour left right here in Mississippi. Thank you, Rowland. Little, little more than a little more than an hour to vote in

Mississippi, folks. Let them know. If y'all in Mississippi, guess what? Y'all can watch this on your phone while you standing in line. So go vote. Make your look. The back of my shirt, the front says Alphas vote. The back said no vote equals no voice. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time. Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about

what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season One. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad.

Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back.

In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves.

Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote unquote drug thing. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. Got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush.

What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content,

subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry is the long game. We gotta make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up

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Thank you. Going to break. We'll be right back. Roland Martin unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network, where black votes matter. Thank you. Ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders? Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Black Star Network for Balanced Life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Blackstar Network for A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie.

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Weekdays at 3, only on the Black Star Network. I'm Dee Barnes, and next on The Frequency, we talk to award-winning screenwriter and director Chanel Dupree about her film, You Think You've Grown, the adultification of young Black girls. This is a conversation that all women can relate to. and director, Chanel Dupri, about her film, You Think You've Grown, The Adultification of Young Black Girls. This is a conversation that all women can relate to. This woman was like, oh my god.

I went through this when I was a kid. She wore something. It was a maxi dress. But the way it fit on her body, this female teacher thought that she looked too grown and spun her around in front of a male teacher and said, do you think she looks grown, right? Oh my God.

So that's next time on The Frequency on the Black Star Network. Hey, it's John Murray, the executive producer of the new Sherri Shepherd Talk Show. You're watching Roland Mark. Until then. um man y'all you're a cliff all right there talk about uh polls uh machines not working opening late uh and you also heard me earlier talk about you know for years for decades my parents have actually worked elections and this again this is one of those things that our folks need to also

pay attention to. We complain about long lines. We complain about machines not working. But guess what? Those are poll workers. And so when we have dedicated people who care about folks voting, then they're going to go test the machines. They're going to be sitting here making sure there are enough ballots. And so not only do we need to be obviously voting, we need to be working the polls. We need to be engaged in that process. Those are also paid jobs.

And so I can't employ people enough. And when you go to these polling locations, it's typically older folks who are there. They're in their 60s and 70s and 80s. But there's no age minimum where you got to be at least 60 years old to work a poll. This is another way for our people to be engaged in the political process to help our people. That's right. That's right. And it's a way of protecting our vote, right? Because we don't actually want to put that responsibility over to someone else. You know, in places like, in states like Virginia, where we have the day off, where it's a holiday, there's no reason why anyone, it's fun, it's really funny because you actually kind of called me out without knowing that you just called me out. Because I was thinking

to myself at the grocery store today, I probably should have been working the elections as well because I had the day off, right? And of course, I thought that I was too busy and I didn't. But that's a way that we can actually ensure that our protections, right, our right to vote and to ensure that we're able to do so in a free and fair election. Because you do oftentimes see older folks, you know, retired individuals. I think at my polling place today, I see the same black woman at the entry, but then all the other poll workers are white on the inside, right? But, yeah, it's a way that young people in particular should come out, should bring their friends, should bring their family. We can make these family affairs. We can make these traditions, right, so that we normalize voting where it becomes sort of this natural

thing that we do within our communities and we become involved and we become engaged. Because the fact is, is that if anyone has the most to lose in these elections, it's Black folks. And so, you know, and we know that when we have something to gain, everyone rises with us, right? And so that's the thing that we have to think about. We have to think about what do we have at stake and how are we going to protect it? And the gentleman before, I'm not surprised that Mississippi is coming out, showing out the way that they are, quite frankly. Mississippi, as he was saying, I was thinking about it and I thought, wow, they have the lowest rates of education outcomes. They have some of the worst environmental racism that you see in

the country, right? They've got the worst health outcomes during the pandemic, you know, maternal health, cardiovascular disease, you've got cancer alleys. They've got, he was talking about the grocery taxes, which I did, I was not aware of. And it's quite appalling when you think about the levels of poverty. And then you think about high grocery taxes, they're basically starving these people out. So yeah, I would yeah, I would be surprised if Black Mississippians in particular did not show out. I would be shocked because they're tired. And those people that are there, if they have an hour to go, and even if they've heard about not having ballots, get in line. Get in line and make it difficult for them to try to dissuade you

from voting. Don't make it easy for them to try to dissuade you from voting. Don't make it easy for them. Don't do the arms of white supremacy or the job of white supremacy for them. Go out there and fight and put your body in that line and just stand out there and you wait to vote. Larry, people are asking about Kentucky. First of all, nearly all the polls in Kentucky have closed. Now the voting begins to count. I did see a particular tweet.

Give me one second. Give me one second here where somebody referenced what was happening in Kentucky. And it looks like, according to one particular analysis, Daniel Cameron was running behind some of the other Republicans elected statewide. So it looks like, matter of fact, Daniel Channing and his editor-in-chief and founder of Boats Mag, they do a great job of breaking down a lot of these local elections. He tweeted 30 minutes ago, here's what we see so far in each of the roughly five Kentucky counties that have some early results. Daniel Cameron is trailing

the other GOP statewide candidates for attorney general and secretary of state by a net 30 to 35 points. That's large, though. Yes, the other Republicans are expected to win big. It's too early to compare a county's results to what happened four years ago, since the early voting situation is entirely different. And so what you have in Kentucky, Larry, is a Democratic governor in a red state. Andy Beshear is the governor. He's seeking reelection. Daniel Cameron is trying to become the governor. And so it's very interesting how in Kentucky he won by 5,000 votes last time. And it's probably going to be a squeaker this time. Reminds me of John Bill Edwards in Louisiana four years ago, winning by 30,000 votes in a runoff where the right candidate has the right message to appeal to those red voters.

And so they could very well. This is early results. But they could very well be turning back the Republican candidate, Daniel Cameron, for governor, picking Republicans in other statewide races. Yeah, and Cameron also got exposed on a debate, didn't he? You know, you know, someone who doesn't who doesn't tell the truth, who can't answer a question, I think that was a terrible moment for him in his campaign. But also, you know, this is really fitting justice in terms of, you know, there are a lot of black folks, you know, not only in the state of Kentucky, but nationally in terms of Breonna Taylor case, in terms of, you know, some of the hijinks they believe were involved in that particular case. But the thing is, you know, Cameron is a Trumper. And although it is a red state, you know, he has struggled to gain traction, Roland. And you see that you saw from some of the poll numbers prior to tonight, but also in addition to that, in which you just described that tweet, him, you know, not, you know,

falling behind some of the other members of the GOP that are running statewide speaks to the fact that he just didn't he didn't run a good campaign. And hopefully it's a bit of a bellwether in terms of some of these, you know, Trump like Republicans that are running for statewide office as an indication that maybe many of some of them will struggle not only tonight, but maybe as we move into next year. You know, I just think that, you know, when we look at these races and we talk about this over and over and over again, and I can't stress it enough, Mustafa, we've seen the examples I mentioned earlier of the race in Virginia in 2018 that came down to, frankly, a coin flip or really the name been pulling out of a hat. Sherry beat Sherry Beasley running for chief justice. The state Supreme Court in North Carolina loses by four hundred and one votes when Sabrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, ran for commissioner there in Miami-Dade. She lost in her primary by less than 500 votes. And so this is just a perfect example of, and I'm going to keep hammering this. And if y'all are watching, y'all are going to hear this for the next 12 damn months and even longer. When black people show up and show out, we can sweep elections all across the country.

Moms for Liberty, they're trying to take over more school board races. I am hopeful, Mustafa, that black people and others are pushing these people back and showing up because they could again and be taking over these school boards. And we've already seen when they take over North Carolina, South Carolina, first thing they do is fire superintendents, fire teachers, change the curriculum, get rid of books. They are imposing their ideology, but they're doing it because the people who could stop them ain't showing up. Yeah, I mean, your vote matters. Our black vote matters. We have the opportunity to actually change these dynamics. So let's be clear, and we talk about this on the show fairly consistently, that there is a plan.

There is a strategic plan to actually take over these systems, to hold on to power, to redirect resources to the places that they feel that they should be going. And if we don't get engaged, then they are going to implement that. But the beauty of the moment is that your vote literally does have power to make change happen, to stop the progress that these folks have been making, to make sure that your children or your grandchildren are going to have a better future. There's going to be a more equitable future that they're going to be able to do all the things that you work so hard to make sure that they would be able to do. But it is all tied up in our vote. If you want communities to change, if you want to make

sure that we have, you know, law enforcement that is that is more compassionate and is more connected to our communities, then you got to vote. If you want to make sure that the food insecurity issues that are going on that we talked about, you got to vote. If you want to make sure that you're addressing environmental racism, make sure that you have clean air in your communities like others do. You got to vote. So there's so much power for us to actually make sure that we are changing the dynamics that we're seeing in certain parts of our country and moving us toward that North Star, which all of us should be focused on, which is justice. Hold tight one second. I got to go to break. We come back more.

Election 2023 polls are closing in some places. They're still open for the next hour in Mississippi. We will give you some information that as we are getting it as it comes in. Also, I'm going to show you a video when we come back of activist Gary Chambers. He's in Atlanta helping a friend out get elected to the school board. I'll show you how he charged up a brother who's a cop who was iffy about voting. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Don't forget to support us in what we do, folks.

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On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, inflation is on the rise. Interest rates are high. Can you still thrive during these uncertain times? On the next Get Wealthy, you're going to meet a woman who's done just that, living proof of what you need to do to flourish during these uncertain times. These are times where you take advantage of what's going on. This is how people get rich or richer. That's right here on Get Wealthy,

only on Blackstar Network. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. White people are losing their damn lives. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls

white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. Here's all the Proud Boys guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. Me, Sherri Shepard with Sammy Roman. I'm Dr. Robin B., pharmacist and fitness coach, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks, welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. It is Election Day all across the country.

Polls are closing. It is 6 p.m. Central Time. Polls will be closing in Texas in 51 minutes. Less than an hour, polls are open in Mississippi. Polls have closed in Kentucky. Mississippi polls have closed in polls have closed in Kentucky polls have closed in Virginia now the now the counting of ballot ballots actually began if you want to talk about I love I'm looking at a lot of different videos folks have been posting photos like this here I voted with their stickers they've been posting them all across social media. Gary Chambers, an activist in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was actually in Georgia today

helping a friend out running for the school board in Atlanta. And he came across a black cop who was unsure if he was going to vote. Gary was like, what the hell? Watch this. What I got to do to get that to him. No, nothing. I'm just a black man right there teaching kids. And you get paid off tax dollars. And we need more people to do it. So what I got to do to get that kid? No, nothing. I'm just. That black man right there teaching kids. And you get paid off tax dollars.

And we need more people to do it. So what I got to do? I'll go down to that. All right. Is that a promise? I appreciate that promise. I'll go down to that. Thank you, sir.

All right. All right. I heard tracks. I heard tracks. What I find to be hilarious there, M is gary's like dude you are a public servant and you're the kind of person wendy they want to give police officers raises and stuff you want folks to vote for it he's all like man you better go out there and vote these other races that's right that's right i mean it's it's sad when you think about it, right?

But it's actually indicative of a larger problem within the broader society when the public servants that have direct implications, where these elections have direct implications for their retirement, for their raises, for all of that, and they don't engage, right? And so you have to wonder, what is it in society that's happening

that these people have become so disaffected or feeling so powerless that they decide that they just don't want to vote? But this election, I don't know how you find Twitter because I was trying to find the things you're finding on Twitter. I can't even read Twitter anymore. So I'm getting excited. You know, I'm sitting on the edge of my seat. That's not funny, man. Can you read Twitter? Because I don't even understand it anymore.

And my notification. Well, I I'm pretty good at at perusing this here. In fact, the folks at Mississippi Votes, they actually have filed an emergency petition to extend voting hours at Byram City Hall, Northside Baptist Church, United Methodist Church, and Wildwood Baptist Church until 9 p.m. And so, in fact, they are even asking folks, Blake Feldman, who is the Impact Policy Council at Justice for Mississippi. They he just tweeted, please let me know if you are at a voting location in Hines County and they are out of ballots. D.M. D.M.'s open. Larry, the lawyers. This is you know, we talk about candidates. We talk about poll workers. We talk about grassroots groups. But this is one day where you really, really, really need strong lawyers,

because it's always some shenanigans happening at voting locations all across the country. Yeah, Roland, but, you know, we find it very interesting how these ballots seem to not run out of ballots in predominantly black neighborhoods. But this is only happening for generations. Let's be clear. But your point about having the attorneys on call, ready to go is important. Because, Roland, guess what? The opposition is planning months in advance to make sure they have enough lawyers

to cause as much hijinks as possible. So you're right. Leave it up to the lawyers, the ones in the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Black Voters Matter, et cetera. Leave it up to those who understand state and federal laws to come in and make the case to a judge, et cetera, to get some of these hours extended. But once again, we have to highlight that this seems always to happen in certain communities, Black communities, let's be clear, consistently, regardless of when the election. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun?

Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated.

I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way.

In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This has kind of star-studded podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves.

Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote.

Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves.

A wrap-away, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's Dadication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov.

Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. Next year it is. So you're right, black folks need to continue to stay in line and hopefully these attorneys can get these voting hours extended because they obviously didn't print enough ballots. Eleven minutes ago, Daniel with VotesMag tweeted, polls are now closing all of Kentucky. What we know so far, roughly 200,000 votes counted, but largely dim leaning male in early ballots. But what's noteworthy is that Daniel Cameron is running far behind the other Republican candidates he is sharing the ticket with. I would love nothing better than to

see the person who didn't do a damn thing for Justice for Breonna Taylor to go down in flames and lose in his bid to become the next governor of Kentucky. Joining us right now is Melanie Campbell. She leads the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation. They have been in various parts around the country the past several weeks, including Florida and other places, canvassing, going door to door, holding various events. Melanie, what are you hearing on this election day? A lot of different places, a lot of different elections. You've got state legislature up for grabs in Virginia. You've got Supreme Court race, city council races in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia. Mayoral race in Houston. You've got ballot initiatives in other parts of Texas.

You've got gubernatorial races in Mississippi and Kentucky. You've got the abortion measures on the ballot in Ohio. So it's a whole lot that is happening across the country that doesn't get the same amount of attention from mainstream white media because this is an off-election year. They would rather spend all their time talking about some damn New York Times-Siena poll

about the presidential race a year from now or what the hell Donald Trump lied about in court today. Thanks, Roland. Thanks for inviting me tonight. You're right on target. The elections that are taking place this night will really be what will let us know, a sneak peek, if you will, on what could happen or could not happen next year.

Ohio, one of the things that we know, talking to Petey Talley, who's on the ground there, really honing in on issues that are important to black folks. And the issue of reproductive freedom is on the ballot in Ohio. So they've really been working hard.

And she was telling me, you know, that folks were turning out. Now, would it be record turnout? I doubt it, right, because I don't think there were enough resources put out here, quite frankly, for that to take place. In the state of Virginia where I live, Commonwealth of Virginia, this will determine. You know, it took 25 years for the Democrats to take the House and the Senate in the state legislature, and in one election they lost it, right? So it's going to be really interesting to see kind of how this race sets the tone. Virginia is a battleground state. Virginia is a battleground state.

Ohio is a battleground state. One of the things that I know you talked about it, and I know Tamika is on the ground, Tamika Mallory and Underhill Freedom have all been on the ground. And I think the Kentucky race is going to be really, really interesting because it's going to let us know where folks are when it comes to what happened or did not happen with Breonna Taylor. I really feel like this will set the tone about where we are when it comes to criminal justice reform in this country. So I think issues are what's on the ballot, the candidates that can match to that,

I think it's going to be important. And then when we get ready for 2024, it's really going to be about what's on that ballot and what's at stake. And if people can connect that, they'll then make a look at the candidate. So I'm really, really looking to go deep and dig in to see how this all plays out for us to be ready for 24. We have to go live right after the Andy Beshear election headquarters. So, folks, give me a live look at what's happening there. Again, the early results are coming in. And what they're showing is lots of split ticketing happening there in Kentucky. This is from, again, votes back.

For instance, in Pulaski County, Cameron is up 1,000 votes over Beshear, but in race for governor, his GOP peers, Attorney General, up 2,600 votes and 3,100 elsewhere. He says a lot of ticket splitting already going on. Some of it is expected, but scope he is. So we're going to keep watching what's happening there. Polls are open less than an hour in Mississippi. According to Simone Sanders, that petition to extend voting hours up until 9 p.m. and for several different locations has been approved by a Chancery Court judge. And so those four locations, Byram City Hall, Northside Baptist Church, United Methodist Church and Wildwood Baptist Church will be extended until 9 p.m. as a result of running out of balance, running.

You know, we always talk about, of course, Melanie, last thing we want to do is people sitting and waiting in long lines, running out of balance, having to wait any longer. But people also have to remember, if you are in line, if you are in line right now, you have a legal right to still cast your ballot. Just don't leave. That's right. And

remember that 1-866-OUR-VOTE number, election protection. If you're still in line, and I know a lot of folks are tuning in to your show, Roland, because it's news that we need in our communities, that they don't get out of that line. The other thing I think we're going to find out about this election, Roland, and I know the concern about how artificial intelligence, quote-unquote, is going to affect this upcoming election. This election will tell us some things too, because we know that when it comes to how folks target black men, how they target

black folks and brown folks with bad information and misinformation and disinformation, I would say outright lies, right? Give people bad information to make sure that they don't go vote or they'll be afraid to vote. I think we've got to really pay attention to that because I think it's going to be on steroids in 2024. Some breaking news out of Mississippi, the Mississippi Democratic Party. This is probably a good reason why we cannot reach out to the brother who is the chair of the Mississippi Democratic Party. They plan to file a lawsuit asking a Hines County judge to keep all Hines County polling precincts open until 9 p.m. We'll let you know exactly what happens with that. Questions from Melanie Campbell from our panel. Larry, I'll start with you. Yeah, you know, we just we're talking about Mississippi and some of the hijinks there.

I wonder what are your thoughts about what this says about what we expect to see next year for the election? I think, of course, turnout is going to be an issue. I think we got a rolling rolling talks about this all the time. And what kind of resources were put on the ground? As we look at it, we have to analyze where the resources are going and who's getting those resources to make sure that we have what we need. It's going to be a really tough election cycle, no doubt. And we're going to have a lot coming at us. And we have to start really, we started yesterday in Florida, right, really trying to get folks to tune in. But I think the turnout and the issues, why do people show up, I think is going

to be really, really vital. And everything that I've been getting from being on the road is that people are pissed off with parties, but they still care about the issues that are of concern to them. And I think we're going to have to really do some good analysis about what it is or what didn't happen in order to make sure that we come together. And we have to work together. One of the concerns I have about this is that we have to come together across all kinds of our organizations so we can be more powerful as a collective force, because they're coming for us. And as black women, we know our vote carries. And so that's another concern that I have. I'm optimistic, though, in some of the things that I'm hearing from folks on the ground,

you know, the organizations that I work with and some of our affiliates, even with the limited resources, people, I saw it in Florida, young people are tuned in. They may be upset about certain things that are happening, you know, on an international level. But when it came down to what I heard from young people on the ground, they are fired up. In Florida, we were all over the state for a whole month. And hearing that, and at the end of the day, it is about what's on that ballot and what

the concerns are for our community and that we know that we're under attack. And this is the moment. If ever there's a moment for us to come together, we don't have to. We don't. It's not about being monolithic. It's about being strategic. And I think we have to understand that we're in this kind of a fight now into 2024. Mustafa. Melanie, it's good to see you. Hey. Hey there. You know, we know that there's a small percentage. I want to make sure we put this in a proper context. There's a small percentage of black men who are still trying to make a decision

about who they're going to vote for, whether they are younger or older. How do we make sure that we have Black men showing up in the same numbers as we do sisters? I don't have the answer to that. What I do know is that we have to listen. What I do know is that we have to listen. What I do know is we have to provide platforms. There are a lot more men that are starting to lead organizations that are focused on black men. I think from the partisan side of the candidates, if they're not engaging black men now, like,

now, not when it's, you know, five days from the election, and hearing and listening to folks. Because one of the things that I can say, if brothers want to learn from how sisters, how we were able to organize ourselves, is when we decided that we were going to own that power and we were going to be unapologetic about it, but we also had to work, find ways to make sure that we were one voice at the most strategic times. And I think that's part of what needs to happen.

We did a couple of listening sessions with black men and black women, because what also is happening simultaneously is that there is an attempt to divide black women and black men and make us the targets of each other and not the targets of those who are trying to oppress us. And so that I think we have to be really, really careful about. One last thing on that. I was in the barbershop the other day in Virginia and talking to one of my folks. And he asked me, well, he told me, he said, you know, I don't know if I can vote for that, that vice president. I said, really? Why is that? Right? And he said, well, I don't know.

I don't know. I just think, you know, you just don't need a woman in the position. And I said, okay. So there are other countries that have had women running their country. And so then he said to me, he said, well, you know, that's a true point. I said, well, at the end of the day, you got to decide. And what is it about her besides the fact that she's a woman that makes you not want to? I say it didn't get an analogy that he said, you know, yeah, the lioness can be can take down the lion.

I say, yeah. So how will you get there? And so by the time we got through talking, he had a different perspective because I just listened. I didn't judge him. I didn't say, why would you not do that? Just listen to the brother. And I said, by the time we got through, I felt like he was thinking a little bit differently because I just sat there and listened. It takes more work

on the ground, neighborhood to neighborhood, community to community, barbershop to barbershop. But I also think men have to come together in a way that it's different for sisters than it is for brothers, and I know that, and help figure that out.

So I need you to help us figure that out. I got you covered. Mignon? So, first of all, I have to tell you, thank you for your service, because the work that you're doing is tremendously important and tremendously, it's just incredibly important. And the amount of patience that you practiced in these dialogues and conversations of listening to each other, all hats off to you, because I don't have that patience. But what I wanted to say to you, you don't have that patience. But what I wanted to say to you, you brought up something that was really important, I thought, and it's something

that came up in the last election, which was this notion of misinformation and disinformation and AI. And we know that there was all sorts of targeting of Black communities, you know, sort of telling people that there were incidents of police brutality that hadn't really happened, and therefore, you know, candidate X, Y, and Z was tied to it. So what are your thoughts about how we can better educate our communities on media literacy, right? On how to disentangle this misinformation and disinformation? Because, you know, we live in these echo chambers now and it's so difficult, right? We're just like all kind of like sitting ducks.

And America is like the easiest place to sort of leverage these racist tropes and leverage these racist ideas to get us to push further back because at some point you're like, I don't want to hear it. I don't want to engage. I don't want to be a part of this anymore because you get pounded with it every single day. How do we educate our communities in order to help them under, have everyone better have basic media literacy and learning how to navigate all of this disinformation and misinformation? One of those ways, I think, you know, we have a lot of folks who are quote unquote

influencers who have platforms because more people get information, especially younger people get information from digital, right? Online, from Roland Martin unfiltered, from places not watching the television screen. And in many cases, you know, not getting it to churches and not getting it on radio is like we used to. So I think part of it is to utilize that system. We always have major efforts over the years, and we still need to do some of the traditional things like getting the DJs and all those kind of things.

But we've got to get the influences together, I think. So that's from a grassroots perspective. The other is systemic. Tomorrow I'm actually participating in the U.S. Senate's AI forum on elections and democracy, right? And part of it is holding these companies accountable who are making the money off of AI, right? And who are not concerned about making sure that they have some element of responsibility about what gets put out here through their platforms with misinformation. And it's all about the money. And so there has to be some accountability

for those who are making the money that you have some element of social responsibility that must be done. What that looks like, obviously, there's going to have to be some federal legislation around it. You've got states like Michigan who are trying to pass laws to deal with that, deal with the fact that, because some of this stuff is just like AI makes it on steroids, but like, you know,

robocalls, that's, you know, and how that has been targeted. There's nothing new about how they would take a Black person who's running for office and make them look menacing. So imagine how that's going to be done through AI. It's so much.

Now you can take somebody's image and voice. So there's a lot. But at the end of the day, there's a company that's making money behind that. And we have to follow that money and hold people accountable as well. So I think it's grassroots, but it's also holding people accountable. I know a lot of cops and they get

asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad.

It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and three on May 21st and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th. Ad free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast.

We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne.

We have this misunderstanding of what this quote unquote drug man Benny the Butcher, Brent Smith from Shinedown, we got B-Real from Cypress Hill, NHL enforcer Riley Cote, Marine Corvette MMA fighter Liz Caramouch What we're doing now isn't working

and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real It really does. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth.

Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov brought to you by the U S department of health and human services and the ad council. I think, well, I think it's funny that you said that. One of the things that I thought about immediately was when you said legislation, right? Well, elections dictate legislation. They're connected to legislation, right?

So if we want to protect ourselves and protect our information and protect our elections, you know, especially dealing with this AI and how AI is so problematic when it comes to misidentifying black people, right? We got to make sure that we vote. We got to vote. We got to vote the right people in that are willing to push the legislation forward to protect us in this aspect as well. Yeah. And I'm hoping younger people who are much more involved in this will also get involved in helping to fight that fight.

And I think that's going to be important as well. All right, Melody Campbell, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Folks, it is 7.30 on the East Coast, 6.30 p.m. Central. Polls in Texas, especially in Houston. Mayoral race there. A close in about 30 minutes.

Voters in Dallas, Dallas got 30 minutes to still vote because, of course, there are constitutional amendments that are on the ballot. Other local races as well. Polls have closed in Virginia. They closed in Kentucky. They closed in Pennsylvania. Now we are waiting to see what the results are. We're going to continue tracking that and keep you updated. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. I'm Dee Barnes and next on The Frequency, we talk to award-winning screenwriter and director

Chanel Dupree about her film, You Think You're Grown, the adultification of young black girls. This is a conversation that all women can relate to. This woman was like, oh my God, I went through this when I was a kid. She wore something, it was a maxi dress, but the way it fit on her body, this female teacher thought that she looked too grown and spun her around in front of a male teacher

and said, do you think she looks grown, right? Oh my God. So that's next time on the Frequency on the Black Star Network. Next on the Black Table with me, Greg Carr. We welcome the Black Star Network's very own Roland Martin, who joins us to talk about his new book, White Fear, how the browning of America

is making white folks lose their minds. The book explains so much about what we're going through in this country right now and how, as white people head toward becoming a racial minority, it's going to get, well, let's just say even more interesting. We are going to see more violence. We're going to see more vitriol. Because as each day passes, it is a nail in that coffin. The one and only Roland Martin on the next Black Table, right here on the Black Star Network. Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood Martin, and I have a question for you. Ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders?

Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Blackstar Network for Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. We'll laugh together, cry together, pull ourselves together, and cheer each other on. So join me for new shows each Tuesday on Black Star Network, A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. I am Tommy Davidson. I play Oscar on Proud Family, Louder and Prouder.

Right now I'm rolling with Roland Martin, unfiltered, uncut, unplugged, and undamned believable. You hear me? Folks, it is election day all across the country. One of the places our eyes are locked in on is the gubernatorial race there in Mississippi. They have run out of ballots in several locations in Hines County. They are going to court to keep hours extended. Mississippi Democratic Party plans to file a suit to keep hours open in all locations in Hines County.

That is a Democratic stronghold. It is the home of Jackson, Mississippi, which is, of course, the blackest city in America. Joining us right now is Cassandra Wilkin, executive director of the Mississippi Black Women's Table. Cassandra, glad to have you here. What what have you been seeing and hearing today? Obviously, so much focuses on Hines County. But are you seeing black turnout in the rural parts of Mississippi? Hey, thank you for having me, Roland. Yes, turnout has just been record high across the state. It's just been so amazing to see.

And we've gotten a lot of calls working the election protection line and with NACP and One Voice of Mississippi. And there's been some intimidation strategies that have been implemented across the state. But people have been responding. Attorneys, pro bono attorneys, advocates, activists have been responding to really try to make sure that people have access to the ballot. But the turnout has been extremely high across the state. And you just mentioned about the judge. The judge actually just ruled that polls can stay open in Hinds County until 8 p.m.

Because the lines have been wrapped around the buildings at some of the precincts. So that's good news for our precincts. And the circuit clerk is still working to get ballots at these precincts. You talk about that. And look, the reality is that you're seeing this. You have a deeply unpopular Republican governor has been caught in this mess with Brett Favre, but also you have a Democratic candidate who actually went after black votes, did not just assume black people were going to cast ballots.

He actually campaigned where black people are. Absolutely. He did. He went everywhere across the state and rural communities. He went on HBCU campuses to talk to black voters. We are nonpartisan, but one of the things that we do, we talk about the issues, the issues that are important to black community. Health care is huge. Black maternal health care is huge because we have the highest black maternal mortality rate in the country, as well as infant mortality rate, the highest poverty rate. And so one of the things that he's been talking about is cutting the grocery tax. That's how we talk to our people is about those issues.

And that's what drive people to the polls. So he really talked to them about what was important to their kitchen tables and that those were those kinds of issues. And so from what we can tell, you know, those kinds of messages have been reaching the people. But as I can say, advocate organizations have had radio commercials just talking to the people about those issues. And from what we can tell, that has been working. In Kentucky, Dave Wasserman, who is with Redistrict on Twitter, Mustafa Mignon and Larry. Wow. He goes, I've seen enough. Andy Beshear wins re-election in Kentucky governor's race, defeating Daniel Cameron.

Yay. That's great news. Mignon, you had a reaction there. Go right ahead. I did. No self-respecting black man can be a Trump light. OK? He just scared me. Cameron scared me. And I've been clicking. I don't know how you can watch Twitter because I'm clicking on the news on the internet trying to see if I could catch up, hoping that Andy Beshear would be able to pull it through. I think that Cameron was dangerous.

I think he was a terribly dangerous person that could be used as a ploy to help dismantle our democracy in quite nefarious ways. So I am ecstatic if that's really true. I don't know because I can't seem to use social media the way that you do. But if it's accurate, then I'm all game. The one thing I wanted to ask you, Roland, I wanted to ask you really, can we send some pizzas out to the people in Mississippi that are waiting in line? Is that legal?

Because I was literally thinking, what if we just sent some food out to support these folks? Or is that not legal there? Well, Cassandra is right here. Cassandra? It is actually legal. We are actually at several precincts right now giving out chips, giving out water. As soon as I finish here, we're going to two precincts where we've heard that the lines along pizza is amazing. And so we can make all of that. Where can I get the addresses? Because I want to send out some

food. I want to reward these people for standing in the fight and fighting the long haul. And if they have kids in there, they can have some food too. I want to send something. I want to do something to make sure that these people are going to get them to stand out there. Sorry. Here's what we'll do. We'll actually connect you all offline so Cassandra can give you their cash app or something like that, Venmo or Zelle, so you can just send the money so they can get a handle. So we'll actually do that. Cassandra, you were talking

about, again, the issues. And the reality is this here. Tate Reeves saw he was in trouble. All of a sudden, he wants to focus on hospitals. Presley has been hammering him on his refusal to accept Medicaid expansion. Mississippi's health care system is nearing collapse. That has been a major issue in this campaign. It has been. We have had hospitals that have closed and are still on the brink of closing. If I'm not mistaken, maybe 37. And it's problematic.

People are driving to the hospitals and the emergency rooms are no longer there. People have actually, we've had women who have lost their lives going to the hospital and there's no hospital there. This is, these are real issues, real issues. And it is a bipartisan issue. And we've had leadership who pretty much, you know, Governor Reeves have basically said that he don't want to expand, you know, Medicaid. But it is a bipartisan issue. Republicans and Democrats are saying this is critical and we need it. When you have the hospital associations and physician associations standing up publicly and saying we need Medicaid expansion, it's just critical. And it makes no sense that he doesn't do it. And you're putting black bodies on the line when you don't do it. And we also know some

poor white people here in rural Mississippi, right, who do not have insurance and are also suffering. It's bad. And he is not doing what he needs to do. And people are tired of it. And because our family members and community members are dying. And so Brandon Presley, you know, he's been speaking to the people about this. And this is a critical thing because it's not a Democrat or Republican issue. It's just a moral issue to make sure that your people are healthy. And that's the workforce as well. right? You can't have a workforce that's not healthy, right? And so he says, you know, he wants a healthy Mississippi, a healthy workforce, but that also means having healthy workers, which means, you know, making sure that workers have

health insurance. Questions for Cassandra. Larry, go right ahead. I am perusing these races here. Let me give you this here. Democrats have picked up a key race in a House race in Virginia. Rosiah J.R. Henson in House District 19. So now there's a Democratic win, he becomes the first openly gay black man elected to the Virginia legislature. And so we're watching there. If Democrats pick up, if they flip three seats, they will take control of Virginia House. They're trying to hold on to this Senate.

That will stop Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin from moving forward with a statewide abortion ban. More importantly, if Democrats take control of the House, that means that they will elect the first black Virginia speaker of the House in history. Larry, your question for Cassandra. Yeah, Cassandra, first of all, thank you for your important work. And it's critically important. Let's talk a little bit about, I made the point earlier about Mississippi's black population being over 35%. It's significant, right? And so I'm wondering if the message you could send not only to those black Mississippians that are watching, but black folks throughout the country, talk to them about the importance

of donating to your organization and various other nonprofit organizations that are focused on getting Black folks active, register to vote, voting, and then supporting and addressing issues like we're seeing now in terms of extending the voting hours. What do you talk about Black folks in terms of the work you're doing and the importance of Black folks outside the state supporting the work you do? So I saw Melanie Campbell on earlier, right? And we're an affiliate of the Black Women's Roundtable. And one of the things that we say collectively is that we work to shift power at the voting booth and at the policy table. That is critical and important. Policies, you know, is the work of our democracy, but voting is the heart of our democracy. And so we speak directly to advancing

women's economic security, and we cannot do that without the vote. And so we work every day to make sure that women are educated and their voices are heard and have the right tools so that they can be at the policy table and be a part of the implementation and be a part of the formation of those policies around child care, around, you know, pushing to make sure that TANF gets to the poorest of the poorest, right, and not to the rich of the rich, like a Brett Favre or like, you know, other people who are caught up in that scandal. We talk about, you know, moms that are eight out of 10 black women in the state of Mississippi are heads of households. And so that's the work that we do is to equip them to be leaders in their communities. So people can go to our website, msbwr.org, and they can make donations to help us continue to make sure that women,

black women and girls' voices are centered in this policy debate and that we are growing a leadership pipeline for the long-term work, right? When the water crisis happened here in the city of Jackson, Black Women's Roundtable, the Mississippi Rapid Response Coalition, we were all there on the front lines making sure that our communities were taken care of. When the tornadoes happened, the same thing happened. We were there to make sure that our communities were taken care of. We speak right directly to these folks, to our people, and say, I want you to vote, but this is why you vote, because your kitchen table matters. That grocery tax, which is the highest, like we have a grocery tax that is so high. Why is that the case right now when we have a very poor, poor communities across the state that needs to be cut?

And so this is the work we're doing. So people can go to our Web site like us on Facebook, MSB, Mississippi Black Women's Roundtable, and put your investment there. That's what we're doing. We're working for our black women, our black girls, and our black community. Real quick, Mustafa. Cassandra, it's good to see you. Thank you for everything that you all continue to do. You know, the work starts on Thursday. The reason I say the work starts on Thursday is because Wednesday everybody needs a day of rest. And I know you all are not going to rest for very long, along with all the other folks. What do we start doing on Thursday?

We have billions upon billions of dollars that are moving from the federal government down to the states, the counties, and local governments. How do we make sure that the wins that are accomplished today and tonight, that we translate that into real change on the ground? So we never stop organizing. It's just a 365-day thing that we do. We organize. And so what we're going to be doing and have started to put in plan, we're actually going to be having community conversations with people just about what did this election mean to you? And are these issues still the same issues? Let's give you the tools that you need to continue to organize your community. Because we understand also that 2024 is coming up.

Our local elections are happening along with because mississippi we have elections every year every year and so not only are local elections happening next year but also we know the presidential election so we're going to be back in community talking to people about the issues asking them what what happened what didn't happen at your poll so we can make it better right at your precincts so we can make it better and continue to grow leaders and so this is this is 365 days uh throughout the year and so we're going to continue to do what we always do which is organize talk to people get on people's front porch and drink some sweet tea and eat some hot grits that's the work that we are doing. Cassandra, we appreciate it.

Thank you so very much. Keep up the work. Again, let me remind people, polls in Mississippi have been extended until 8 p.m. Folks, if you are in line, if you're in line, stay in line. Prepare for long lines in Hines County. Please prepare for... Cliff Albright just sent this tweet out. Mississippi orgs are scrambling to notify voters in Hines about extended hours and to extend line

warming for potentially long lines in some Hines County precincts. If you know someone in Hines or if you volunteered with Mississippi orgs, please help spread the word. Black voters matter. Mignon, we're going to connect you with Cassandra so we can get her information so we can get folks there. Again, some pizza in line again. I need everybody who's watching. Tell your friends and family members, send the word forth right now.

Polls in Mississippi are staying open until 8 p.m till 8 p.m and cassandra y'all are central not eastern correct eight you're central or eastern we are central got it you're central so folks until 8 pm., that's another one hour and 11 minutes. And so please push it out on all your social media platforms at the polls are in Hines County have been extended until 8 p.m., until 8 p.m., folks. So please let folks know that could be the difference. Understand Tate Reeves won in 2019 by some 45,000 votes. And so, again, every vote is going to count in this year's election.

Got to go to break. We'll be right back on Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. Thank you. I'm Faraji Muhammad, live from LA. And this is The Culture. The Culture is a two-way conversation. You and me, we talk about the stories, politics, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern about the stories, politics, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern and let your voice be heard.

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Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. And fitness coach and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Down goes Cameron. Down goes Cameron. This is a live look at the campaign party for Kentucky Governor-Democrat Andy Beshear. He has defeated black Republican Daniel Cameron for the governor's race. Daniel Cameron didn't do a damn thing in the Breonna Taylor case. Folks there campaigned against him. He apparently is running behind even other Republicans who are running statewide. Joining us right now is Tamika Mallory, co-founder of Until Freedom. They spent a lot of time, energy, money, resources there on the ground in Kentucky. I know you tired. I know you want a nap, but I know you are overjoyed. Cameron loses. Yeah, absolutely. You know, first of all, Roland, I just want to say thank you to you. You've been with us for the entire three plus

years that we've been here in Kentucky. When no one else would cover, when things would get quiet. We could always depend on you to make sure that our stories and the work of what we were doing here in Kentucky was uplifted. And I'm on all your text threads, and I know that you make sure everybody else knows what we've been doing at Until Freedom. Three and a half years ago, we came to Kentucky, and we promised Breonna Taylor's family that we would be here until the end. And for us, the end wasn't just the protest movement. And then once there was no indictment, you know, by the state of Kentucky, we could have gone home, but we stayed to ensure that there were federal indictments. And now we're in federal court, which you and I talked about last week on your show.

And so that is an ongoing process. But tonight was very important for us because we understand that protests and politics must be aligned. And in this situation, we were we knew that what Daniel Cameron did to Breonna Taylor was wrong. We knew that we had to stand up and make sure that other black folks in the state of Kentucky would not believe that just because he's a black man, he's in a fraternity. His mother is in a sorority. We wanted to make sure that they did not believe that we could drop the ball or believe somehow that Daniel Cameron was a viable candidate for governor of this state. He did wrong by Breonna Taylor, but he also disrespected and violated the rights of all the citizens of Kentucky and particularly those jurors who had every right, every single

right to make a decision about the fate of the officers for killing Breonna Taylor specifically. So we did not want him to be governor. He does not deserve to be promoted. And he needed to be washed up. We need to make sure he didn't get beat just by a small margin, but that he was beat at large numbers so that we could make a signal to him and every other Black person, particularly, who would dare to disrespect our

community and to disrespect black women, that we as the people will not be defeated, that when we rise up and when we organize, we can win. And I think going forward, what we have been able to do here in Kentucky is a model that has to be all across this nation, that we cannot just get in the streets and put boots on the ground, which is important, but we must go to the polls and use our voting power to make the final point and finish the job. You said something that's critically important. I talk about all the time. And I've heard others say, if you're out there protesting and then you're not engaged in the election, all you're doing is taking a walk, shouting and yelling. You cannot say we need to change policies if you don't change the policymakers.

And so and and look, this is the work that y'all did. It wasn't it wasn't about, Hey, go Andy Bashir. What it was, what it was about was here is a evil man supported by Donald Trump who sold black people out, who did nothing, who lied to the grand jury and who need to be penalized and not rewarded for not doing his job as the attorney general of Kentucky. Absolutely. He needed to be penalized. We had to put him in his place and let him know that the power of the people matters. And I think he felt that folks would be unengaged or disengaged, that people wouldn't be paying attention. But as organizers,

and you know, some people feel like until freedom is some new thing that just popped up. But I personally and my colleagues, we have a combined number of years in this up. But I personally and my colleagues, we have a combined number of years in this work. But I personally have 30 years in this game. And I know how it works. I know that once you protest, the next thing is you've got to get to registering voters. You need to address the social concerns of any community, even while protesting. Because even when we moved to Kentucky for four months in the middle of a pandemic to be a part of the protest community, we fed people 4,000 meals, 4,000 boxes, excuse me, of groceries were given out and distributed all across communities, impoverished communities within the Kentucky area and specifically Louisville,

Kentucky. We also made sure that we held conferences, we held events, we held parties, we did everything necessary to make sure that the community came together. And those networks worked in this election because those same people who never met one another before, but because of Breonna Taylor, because of the work happening on the ground another before, but because of Breonna Taylor, because of the work happening on the ground, because of the work of Until Freedom, they came together, they became family, and they stayed together throughout this election.

So again, when we look at, and I even have to say with the Democratic Party, there is a disrespect that happens to organizers where people feel they don't necessarily need us or they don't need to invest in us financially. They don't need to make sure that we have the resources we need to do our work. But hopefully after tonight, people will know because by the way, the Democratic Party did not weigh in heavy here in Kentucky. I've been here since Labor Day weekend, and I can tell you that there were holes, many holes, and it's always that way. You know that Black organizers and other communities always fill in the holes, but there were serious craters left unaddressed in the state of Kentucky,

and we crisscrossed this state. We went to where Black people are. We opened an office here. We raised our own money. We didn't get a dime from the Democratic Party to do anything in this election, but we did it because it was right. We worked with our resources and the people who support us. And hopefully, as we move towards 2024, the Democrats will understand, not in the presidential, not just presidential level, but all throughout this country, that without organizers and people with boots on the ground, you are in trouble in terms of being able to win contentious races. Mustafa. Tamika, it's good to see you. I know all the energy that's went into making this moment become a reality.

What's the next step as we move forward toward 2024? I'm so glad you asked. I can tell you that. Hold up. Tamika, Tamika, after you get some rest. Well, I was going to say that I want to go home and go to sleep. My mail is piling up. My family members miss me.

You know, my mom, she's just three years after having a stroke and needs my, she keeps saying, come on by when you get a chance. So I really need to return home and take care of my family. And Roland, I promise you, I said, I'm leaving Kentucky and I'm going to take a break. Then we went out to register voters and we found out that one in three Black men in the state of kentucky have a felony conviction and cannot vote uh andy basheer he uh uh what is it called y'all the word about he he uh restored there you go he restored the whole team is here rolling the other side of the camera but he restored the voting rights of over 200,000 formerly convicted felons or people with felony convictions.

Let me make sure I say that right. He restored their voting rights. And so many of them have gone to the polls in this election. However, in the last numbers, we know that only about 60,000 registered and only 10,000 of those individuals have gone to the polls. So we did some work and really were specifically focused with my son and Angelo, attorney Angelo Pinto on focusing in on that community, along with local organizers who specifically do work around formerly incarcerated folks.

However, there are still many more. As we were out registering people, too many Black men said, I can't vote. So as soon as I thought I was going home to rest, I realized that we've got to work with Representative Keturah Haran and others who are committed to restoring the rights, the voting rights of people who have felony convictions here in the state. And so, you know, even the office that we were going to close down today, there was conversations about whether or not it needs to stay open to be a hub for expungement work that will be led by our brothers at Until Freedom. Ming Yong.

So thank you again for all of the work that you're doing out there. I know you must be exhausted, but ecstatic because it's lovely to see the other side and the fruits of your labor. And the question that I have for you is those of us that are, well, not, I'm not viewing, but those that are at home viewing and watching this right now, what are some of, what, what are some ways that they can actually become involved in your work that to help lift, you know, lighten the load that you're doing there in Kentucky and in other places, but specifically in Kentucky, because it help lift, you know, lighten the load that you're doing there in Kentucky and in other places, but specifically in Kentucky, because it sounds like, it sounds like there's

still a bit of an uphill climb over there. As soon as you turn over one rock, you find something else underneath there. So what can the general public do to support you? Absolutely. And so the one conversation I'd never liked to have, but I'm always being told by Roland and others. And of course, Linda Sarsour, who's here with me, is making sure that I save money. I hate to say that's like the one thing that if I had all the money in the world, I'd fund my own movements and I would never ask for a dime. But I can tell you that our work is it's impossible for us to do what we do without money. We've been flying back and forth to Kentucky for three and a half years, but specifically since Labor Day, in and out of town, it's very expensive. If you bought a plane ticket in the last two months, you know that it is outrageous.

And we've been back and forth here maybe 10 times over two months to be in town. Death threats against my life. Even yesterday, the FBI called me saying, hey, we just want to let you know that there's more chatter out there. There've been more calls into the city with death threats on my life. And therefore security,

security is one of the most expensive bills that we have. Just trying to stay safe. How we live, how we sleep, how we eat, it costs money. But now we need to, we put out a lot of money. I already told you that we did not receive any special or big donation from any particular Democrat that's, you know, the high level fundraisers and donors. I hear people saying that all the time. I'm like, damn, that sounds so good, but that's not our situation. We raise money from everyday people. We put a lot of money into Kentucky over these last few months, over the last several years,

but certainly in this particular time, this GOTV time. Now we need to replenish so that when January starts, we can get back here, and for the next year, we can get back here and for the next year we can continue to work. So over the next 30 days, we're going to be working to raise a quarter of a million dollars to at least replenish some of the resources that we spent here and make sure that when we start in January, we're not in the deficit, but instead we have some resources to do our work. You can go to untilfreedom.com. It's the best way to give. It's untilfreedom.com. It's through our ActBlue. It's safe and it's secure. But if you don't want to do that,

you can go to untilfreedom on Cash App and Venmo. Now, by the way, you have to be sure that you are putting in just untilfreedom because there are people, imposters, who are using my picture. They're using the Until Freedom logo. They got two U's, two L's, you know, different ways that they have been able to redirect resources to them and not us. So untilfreedom.com is the easiest, best, most secure way to get us your donation. And by the way, $5, $10, $15, all of it counts. There is a woman who has been sending $50 a week to us at Until Freedom for the last two years. And we appreciate it.

When her check didn't come two times, I was worried because we need that donation. $50 feeds someone. $50 pays the cell phone bills. $50 pays the credit card bills. So please, whatever you have, please help us to continue to do what we do. You know the results are there. It's working. We're doing our job.

We haven't stopped. We've got a federal indictment that happened because the people stayed on the job. We did not allow the feds to think about Breonna Taylor. And now you also have us winning an election. We're letting you know that we're sophisticated in our organizing. We are not just, and I'm not knocking anybody that's a protester because there were protesters out there with us, and without them, we could never have been able to get to this point. But we as organizers are very sophisticated in our understanding of how

all of these things connect, but we cannot go and ask a corporation to fund us while we do this work. We've got to be free black people who are able, free black and brown people and other people who are able to get out there and speak truth to power and not have to answer to anybody for the work that we're trying to get done. That's right. That's right. Larry, real quick, Larry. Yeah, real quick. Can you talk about the importance of investing now and seeing the flowers grow two, four, six, eight, 10 years from now?

Absolutely. I mean, first of all, we've stopped something that we saw coming. We knew that Daniel Cameron wasn't just going to be the governor of Kentucky. What Daniel Cameron is trying to usher in is really adjacent to what we see happening in Florida, where Ron DeSantis is governor. I mean, by the way, yes, we talked about his issues with Breonna Taylor and the obstruction to justice in that case, but his 12-point plan, getting rid of civilian

complaint review boards where folks would not have a remedy for filing complaints against police. He wanted to give the death penalty to drug dealers. I mean, this man, he's the cousin of Ron DeSantis.

He is a Trump-endorsed candidate, or he was a Trump-endorsed candidate. This man is out of his mind, as far as we're concerned, to be a Black person who would have the type of policies that would only challenge us. When you start talking about drug dealers, OK, fine, if you feel, if you're one of these people, because I had Black folks saying, well, I kind of understand what drug dealers, we don't want them in our community. But then what are you going to do about pharmaceutical companies that are selling more drugs than any pookie or ray-ray on a street corner?

You don't have a plan to deal with those individuals at all. All you want to do is criminalize our people. And so when you talk about six to 10 years from now, we were put if he would have become governor of Kentucky, I could see him running for president as a black man with the values that he has and potentially winning. So we had to stop him in his tracks. So now he doesn't have a job as attorney general. And he also is he will have to go circle back and figure out how he tries to come back around to running for a larger office in this in this state and of course in the country folks a few months ago this was said by daniel cameron that made this win a reality and of course a big thank you to president donald j trump for his support and his endorsement of this campaign. Let me just say, let me just say the Trump culture of winning is alive and well in Kentucky. Well, the Trump culture of taking that ale is alive and well tonight.

Congratulations, Tamika Mallory, Linda Sarsour, my son, the whole Untold Freedom team. Y'all did a fantastic job. And Daniel Cameron, take your punk ass home. That's it. Love to you all. Thank you so much. God take care. Peace out. This right here, to close this out, Mignon, Mustafa, and Larry,

you heard Tamika say, and it's critically important, you can't just bitch and moan, yell and scream, tweet, post on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter. You can't do all of those different things. You must be fully engaged in this process. And I'm going to do final comments. Here's the thing that's most important. This is called the fruits of the labor.

They put the work in and you see the results. They stopped him. And now guess what? They can go to Andy Beshear and say, you're a Democrat. We made it possible for you to win. You should be restoring the voting rights to more formerly incarcerated people. Final comments, Larry, go. Yeah. So, you know, so far it's been a historic night. Let's hopefully see what we see happens in Virginia and some of the other jurisdictions. But it's really important, you know, so far it's been a historic night. Let's hopefully see what happens in Virginia and some of the other jurisdictions. But it's really important, once again, to have these grassroots organizations fund them, let them do the work, and get out of their way.

Ming-Yuan. Power of our people. That's the moral to the story tonight that we saw. These are ordinary people that are extraordinary citizens and extraordinary beings that are really invested in the well-being and the liberation of Black folks. And they have proven to us the type of power that we really have, especially Tamika, just in the last segment. They have proven to us, illustrated to us, demonstrated to us that we have the power to affect the change that we want to. We just got to get in the game. And it's just like what Barack Obama used to say,

don't boo, vote. We got to vote. Mustafa. Grab your power, use your power, and build upon your power. It's that simple. If we do that, we can make change happen in our community. Folks, we are, again, polling in Mississippi, extending until 8 p.m., 48 more minutes. If

you're in line, stay in line in Hines County. It's been extended, again, in Hines County, okay? There are long lines there, and so please, uh, uh, look, Tate Reeves can go down in Mississippi. Our votes can be, uh, the difference, um, real quick, uh, in Virginia, uh, Shuler van Valkenburg defeats Savon Dunavant in Senate District 16, the current maker of the Senate, 13 Republicans, 12 Democrats, 15 undecided. It looks like the Democrats may very well hold the Virginia Senate. They have a slight margin right now in the House. When we come on live tomorrow, you could have Democrats controlling both chambers of the Virginia legislature, stopping the agenda of Republican Glenn Youngkin and guaranteeing the first black Speaker of the House in Don Scott in Virginia. Folks, tomorrow on Roland Martin Unfiltered, we're going to have all of the election results.

Mississippi, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Houston, or race all different results. We're going to break it all down for you in the way we do it, focusing on what interests us as African-Americans. And so it's critically important for you to support black media. First and foremost, Larry, thank you. Mignon, thank you. Mustafa, thank you. Again, folks, nobody else is doing this.

I'm telling you right now, Ebony, Essence, Black Enterprise, Griot, Blavity, all these other folks, all these other black-owned media companies, Urban One, Radio One, Black Targeted Folks, Light Complex, BET, none of-called weak punk ass new black media folk. All I do is run their mouth. They're not breaking down election results and relates to us. And so when you support the Black Star Network, this is the work that you are supporting. You saw the last two hours, folks from multiple people from Mississippi, Black Voters Matter, Women's Roundtable, Melody Campbell, Don Scott. We had, of course, Candace out of Houston. Nobody does the work that we do every single night, Monday through Friday.

Plus, we don't just do Monday through Friday. We're live seven days a week with our 24-hour streaming channel. You can see us on Amazon News. Go to Amazon Fire. Check us out there. You can see Alexa Play News from the Black Star Network. You can see us on Plex TV. You can see us on Amazon Freebie.

And also, when you go to the live TV grid of Amazon Prime Video, you can see us right there with MSNBC, NBC, CBS, and the rest of them as well. Please join our Bring the Fuck fan club. Your dollars are critically important. Our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing on average 50 bucks each a year. That's $4.19 a month, $0.13 a day. You heard Tamika say they can't do the work without the resources. We can't do it either.

We are about $290,000 behind where we need to be to close out the year. Send your check and money order. PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. Cash app, dollar sign, RM Unfiltered. PayPal, RM Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And be sure to get a copy of my book, Why Fear? How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds, available at bookstores nationwide, Amazon, Barnes & Noble. You can also get the audio version on Audible.

Folks, I will see you tomorrow. I'm here in Dallas. I'll be back in our studios in Washington, D.C. I'll see you tomorrow right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered, the Black Star Network. Holler! Folks, Black Star Network is here. Hold no punches! I'm real revolutionary right now.

Black power. Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roland. Hey, Blake, I love y'all. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network

and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? Thanks for watching! We'll be right back. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early.

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And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at the recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to it. It makes it real.

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two This is an iHeart Podcast.