#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Faith Leaders Arrested Fighting Voter Suppression. 1,000 Marches Launch. Black Teen Sues Police

Episode Date: August 4, 2026

8.3.2026 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Faith Leaders Arrested Fighting Voter Suppression. 1,000 Marches Launch. Black Teen Sues Police It's Moral Monday. Faith leaders and activists were arrested this morning after a demonstration inside the Hart Senate Office Building. The group wanted to meet with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, but he refused to hear their opposition to voter suppression outlined in the so-called SAVE America Act. There's a rally happening right now to kick off the 100 Days of Mobilization and 1,000 Marches to the Polls in every state. We'll take you there live. A Black South Carolina teen caught in the crossfire between a suspect and a Myrtle Beach police officer during a 2025 shootout is suing for her injuries. As folks are getting ready to head back to school, we'll talk to an expert about the best option: trade school or a 4-year college. August is Black August, the commemoration dedicated to remembering Black political prisoners in the United States. And we'll talk to an OBG-YN about why Black women are waiting to have babies. Black Star Network Partner: Chapter Chapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. Chapter Advisory, LLC represents Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and PFFS organizations and stand alone prescription drug plans that have a Medicare contract. Enrollment depends on the plan’s contract renewal. While we have a database of every Medicare plan nationwide and can help you to search among all plans, we have contracts with many but not all plans. As a result, we do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 50 organizations which offer 18,160 products nationwide. We search and recommend all plans, even those we don’t directly offer. You can contact a licensed Chapter agent to find out the number of products available in your specific area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-Medicare, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options. ____ 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.

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Every week, the news gets worse. The world gets crazier, and yamini. is here to tell whoever's responsible, you're the problem. Do you know I just found out who Sidney Sweeney was? If he got a bunch of women, then I should have a bunch of men. Do better or do less so I don't have to do so much. I'm Yamanika, and I'm out. Listen to You're the Problem with Yamanika on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast,

or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, this is Hayes Davenport. And Sean Clemens. We host the podcast, Hollywood Handbook. Every episode we're trying to help our guests improve their careers by mainly focusing on how they can help us improve our careers. The show's famously super accessible so you can easily jump into any of our 650 episodes and understand what's going on. We recommend some of our recent episodes with Ben Stiller, Danny McBride, Riz Ahmed, and Mary Steenberg. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

You gave everything you could give, and now it's time to take the next step. Hey, it's Emily Tish Sussman, and this season on She Pivots, the podcast. Podcast where women share bold career moves and personal turning points. I sit down with culture-shifting women who share their pivots like Elizabeth Smart. I still feel that drive that I can still make a difference, so I'm going to keep going. And feminist legend, Gloria Steinem. All of us were trying to express women's real lives. Listen to She Pivots on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

All right, folks, it's Monday, August 3rd, 2026, and I'm Candace County sitting. and for Roland who's in California at the 13th annual Cedric, the entertainer's Celebrity Golf Classic. Here's what's coming up on Roland Martin unfiltered streaming live on the Black Star Network. It is more on Monday. Faith leaders and activists are arrested this morning after demonstration. Eating well shouldn't be complicated, but somehow it turns into recipes, prep, cleanup, and half your Sunday gone. Factors solves all that. These are fresh, ready-to-eat meals designed by dietitians delivered to your,

door and ready in just minutes. No prep, no cleanup, no excuses. And it's not just about convenience. You're getting real food, balanced nutrition, and zero artificial stuff. Meals that help you stay on track for all of your goals without the grind of doing it all yourself. Grilled chicken, roasted veggies, steak plates, postables. They taste like something you get in a restaurant, but they come out of your microwave in two minutes flat. If time costs or effort have been holding you back from eating better, Factor just took those off the table. Right now, get 11. free meals and free shipping. Hurry, this offer won't last long.

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This product may not be right for you. High in caffeine, details of McDonald's.ca. At participating Canadian restaurants, excluding Quebec. Hey, this is Hayes Davenport. And Sean Clements. We host the podcast, Hollywood Handbook. Every episode we're trying to help our guests improve their careers by mainly focusing on how they can help us improve our careers.

The show's famously super accessible so you can easily jump into any of our 650 episodes and understand what's going on. We recommend some of our recent episodes with Ben Stiller. The definition of what is a movie has kind of changed anything too, right? What do you think it is now? It's images and words being spoken, captured by some sort of technology. Danny McBride. He loves over.

Oh, that's fantastic. And you make it on, you make your own. That's great. I call him Tara Reid. It's a good name. They're all named after cast members of American Pie. Yeah. Oh, gotcha.

I call, I don't, I never looked up if she was in this, but I call him Leachie Sobiesky. Yeah. I don't think she was an American Pie, but I still like that. I haven't looked it up. She was prominent around the same time. Then Mary Steenberg. Why are you guys talking to me? I'm worried.

I'm worried. Why are you talking so down to me that you think I don't understand your little play game? I just really. I get it. I'm trying to set you up for success here. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea. Every week, the news gets worse.

The world gets crazier. And Yamanika is here to tell whoever's. responsible, you're the problem. If you come over here to play games, I'ma check you. Okay? If you do some in the news that don't sound good, I'm gonna play you. Join Yomeneika Saunders as she breaks down the week's most problematic stories on our new podcast.

You're the problem with Yamanika. Do you know I just found out who Sidney Sweeney was? New episodes weekly every Wednesday is part of my new network, the Dear Chelsea Network. If he got a bunch of women, then I should. you have a bunch of men. Do better or do less so I don't have to do so much. So join Yamanika each episode as she answers one question. Who's the problem?

I'm Yamanika and I'm out. Listen to you're the problem with Yamanika on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Inside the Hart Senate office building, the group wanted to meet with Senate majority John Thune, but he refused to hear their opposition to voter suppression outlines. in the so-called Slave America Act. There's a rally happening right now to kick off the 100 days of mobilization and 1,000 marches to the polls in every state

will take you there alive. Also, a black South Carolina teen caught in the crossfire between a suspect and a Myrtle Beach police officer during a 2025 shootout is suing for her injuries. And as folks are getting ready to head back to school, we'll talk to an expert about

what is the best option, trade school for a four-year, August is Black August, the commemoration dedicated to remembering black political prisoners in the United States. We'll get into that. And we'll talk about, we'll talk to an OBGYN about why black women are waiting to have babies. It is time to bring in the funk on Roland Martin unfiltered here on the Black Star Network. Let's go.

It is the final moral Monday organized by repairs of the breach in the nation's capital before the movement returns to the states, dozens have gathered at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church for the calling the nation to the table of democracy and vision voting rally. Earlier today, a few faith leaders and activists were arrested inside the Hart Senate office building. Senator Majority Leader John Thune refused to hear their opposition to voter suppression outlined in the so-called Save America Act. The launch of the 100 days, 1,000 marches to the polls across the United States ahead of November's election day. The goal is to mobilize 5 million low-wage voters and at least 1 million black men, particularly in the south, in the battlegrounds. In the battlegrounds.

And we're going to go live to that video right now. All right. Well, at this time, I think that we are going to go to our panel right now. I want to introduce them right now. I am joined right now by Dr. Oma Congo da Binga. He is the author and lecturer at the School of International Service at American University. I'm also joined by A. Scott Bolden. He's an attorney with News Nation and a political contributor,

and Jolanda Jones. She's a Texas state representative and lawyer. Thank you all for being with us today. We're going to get that sound going soon, and we're going to go live. Let me go to you, Dr. Dabinga, first of all, in terms of your feedback about something like this needing to happening, what is the necessity and the goal is a very large goal, but definitely something that is needed. We need to continue to push and fight for what we desire to happen in this country.

You know, I'm reading a poster right now. So I think Roland posted it and several other people have posted it, showing that the attack on voting rights and the attack on all of our equality and all of the challenges were happening is actually pushing more black voters in the South, you know, to get out and vote. It's kind of having it, you know, the opposite effect than, you know, what the Republicans were expecting. And so we have to get to a point where we're not waiting for events like, you know, the ratification of the Voting Rights Act and other things to get motivated. We have to stay motivated throughout. When I look at what's happening on Moral Mondays, the fact that Reverend Barbara has been, you know,

consistently doing this, you know, with us health challenges, you know, getting out there for us, getting arrested, we see this happening on a regular basis. And the fact that people like, you know, Senator Thune won't even take the time to meet with them, that shouldn't be something that discourages us. That should be something that encourages us to get out there and keep fighting. Because look, when we look at what our ancestors did, the civil rights movement and the like, when we, you know, Dr. King and others went to LBJ and said, you know, we need this, we need X, Y, Z. His basic, really, his response was, make me do it, right?

I don't really have the power make me do it. And we have to be able to do that. And so I commend what Reverend Barbara is doing, but we have to continue to keep up this fight. You know, not after Memorial Mondays is ending. This is the last one. We have to continue this fight going into the midterms. We cannot stop right now.

And regardless, if they don't want to meet with us this way, they're gonna meet us another way when we win the midterms. Thank you for that response. Listen, we're gonna go live. There are a few technical issues there, but let's go live to the rally right now. This committee here at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. It is my pleasure to welcome you all here tonight on behalf of our church's session and pastors.

Our head pastor, Reverend Dr. Sarah Johnson Austin, is sorry that she couldn't be here tonight. So she asked me to bring a few words of welcome on her behalf. So please hear these words of welcome from Reverend Dr. Sarah Johnson. Friends, it is my joy, even from a distance this evening, to extend a warm word of greeting to each of you gathered here at New York Avenue, Church. Though I could not be with you in person, my heart and prayers are fully present with this moral movement, calling our nation to the table of democracy and vision. To Bishop Barber, Reverend Dr. Jackson, Reverend Dr. Broome, and all gathered in our sanctuary tonight, thank you for your commitment to the sacred work of protecting the vote, defending the vulnerable, and insisting that justice

roll down like waters. Our congregation stands with you and is a good thing. is grateful that you are gathered in our sanctuary this evening for this important event. Thank you. Thank you, Morgan. We're grateful for the hospitality of New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. And let's give it up one more time for all of our partners, all of our partners, our national and local partners. We are grateful. We will now hear from the Reverend Moria Harris, from Sojourners, Ms. Phyllis Binnis, from the Institute

of Policy Studies, Pastor Doug Horner from the Cleveland, Ohio, prophetic counsel. They came all the way from Cleveland, Ohio, to be with us today. And then we will hear from the president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Ms. Renee M. Willis. Let's receive them in that order. Good evening. I am Reverend Moyah Harris, Senior Director of Programs at Sojourner. We gather here tonight because the vote is a moral testimony.

It tells the truth about who counts, who belongs, and who is recognized as fully human in this nation. The attacks on voting rights, we are witnessing draw from a long history of anti-blackness that has always feared black agency, black voice, and black power. And that same logic of fear and control targets immigrants and refugees and women and queer folk and children and elders and disabled and neurodivergent people. And now in this very week, as we just heard, the senators are, there are senators that are hell bent on pushing through the so-called save act. Legislation that would strip millions of people of their ballots, cast doubt on their citizenship, and weaponized fear to take away votes that have already been earned and protected. This isn't abstract. This is happening now, and it is aimed at shrinking the electorate and silencing our community. What we are facing is the fruit of an ideology shaped in a particular

theology, amplified by Christian nationalism that wants political power to rest in the hands in a narrow, worthy view. The Reverend William Augustus Jones taught that theology forms anthropology, What we believe about God shapes what we believe about people. And what we believe about people orders our common life, how we structure society, how we perceive difference, and what we claim as truth, and who we understand ourselves to be. So if your theology cannot see the image of God in black lives, in immigrant lives, and women's lives and disabled bodies and neurodivergent minds, if it refuses to honor people who stand at multiple margins, you will build systems that deny both. They will deny care, deny safety, and then call that denial order. So when access to the ballot is restricted, when polling places disappear, when voters are intimidated,

when communities are targeted and silenced, and when laws like the Save Act are rushed through to erase millions of votes, we are seeing that theology made visible. A theology that narrows the image of God, treats the domination as order, and lives leans on fear while balancing exclusion, by blessing exclusion. Maria Stewart stood in a nation that shouted liberty while denying it to her people. And when she refused to sit quietly and die, she stared down a country that could quote scripture

and the founders, yet would not extend those promises to black lives. Her witness is still asking us, will we allow this nation to keep performing freedom while denying at the pole. To black voters, poor voters, and immigrants, there is yet another tradition that we draw from, a tradition of grace and of love. It presses us to build a world where justice is lived and felt. So today we demand that love demands justice. Democracy at its best is an expression of our responsibility to

one another, especially to those the system would rather disappear. So today we We stand in the spirit of Maria Stewart, and today we will not be moved because our votes will be counted. Amen. This is what it takes when we talk about 2026. We are talking about text messaging, grassroots, phone baking, peer-to-peer, anything in terms of just making sure that people are digitally getting a response. But in terms of what is going on and the number of folks who have not been voting in these

past important elections, this is what it takes. It takes something like this of massive, epic proportions so that people see. that the numbers are there, and that helps people to understand the importance of it. For me? Eating well shouldn't be complicated, but somehow it turns into recipes, prep, cleanup, and half your Sunday gone. Factors solves all that. These are fresh, ready-to-eat meals designed by dietitians, delivered to your door, and ready in just minutes. No prep, no cleanup, no excuses. And it's not just about convenience. You're getting real food, balanced nutrition,

and zero artificial stuff. Meals that help you stay on track for all of your goals without the grind of doing it all yourself. Grilled chicken, roasted veggies, steak plates, postables. They taste like something you get in a restaurant, but they come out of your microwave in two minutes flat. If time, cost, or effort have been holding you back from eating better,

Factor just took those off the table. Right now, get 11 free meals and free shipping. Hurry, this offer won't last long. Go to factormeals.com. Go to factormeels.ca and use code power. That's 11 free meals. and free shipping, but only with the code power at factormeals.ca. Factor, Canada's number one ready-to-eat meal delivery service.

The new Red Bull Dragonberry and Tropicberry Energizers, now at McDonald's, made with freeze-dried fruit and an electric burst of flavor. The all-new Red Bull Energizers, now at McDonald's. This product may not be right for you. High in caffeine, details at McDonald's.cai at participating Canadian restaurants, excluding Quebec. Hey, this is Hayes Davenport. And Sean Clements. We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook.

Every episode we're trying to help our guests improve their careers by mainly focusing on how they can help us improve our careers. The show is famously super accessible so you can easily jump into any of our 650 episodes and understand what's going on. We recommend some of our recent episodes with Ben Stiller. The definition of what is a movie has kind of changed anywhere too, right? What do you think it is now? It's images and words being spoken, captured by some sort of, uh, Technology. Danny McBride.

He loves Mouthing. Oh, that's fantastic. And you make it on, you make your own. That's great. I call him Terro Reed. It's a good name. They're all named after cast members of American Pie. Yeah.

I call, I don't, I never looked up if she was in this, but I call him Leachy Sobiesky. Yeah. I don't think she was an American Pie, but I just like that. Haven't looked it up. She was prominent around the same time. Yeah. Then Mary Steenbergin. Why are you guys talking to me?

I'm worried. Why are you talking so down to me that you think I don't understand your little play game? I just really, I get it. I'm trying to set you up for success here. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea. Every week, the news gets worse. The world gets crazier.

And Yamanika is here to tell whoever's responsible, you're the problem. If you come over here to play games, I'm a check you. Okay, if you do some in the news that don't sound good, I'm gonna play you. Join Yomeneika Saunders as she breaks down the week's most problematic stories on her new podcast. You're the problem with Yamanika. Do you know I just found out who Sidney Sweeney was? New episodes weekly every Wednesday is part of my new network, the Dear Chelsea Network. If he got a bunch of women, then I should have a bunch of men.

Do better or do less, so I don't have to do so much. So join Yamanika each episode as she answers one question. Who's the problem? I'm Yamanika and I'm out. Listen to you're the problem with Yamanika on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Yeah, I'm sorry, forgive me. Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned those other aspects of those days. We clearly, our opposition has no morality.

Anyone who has faith in God or anyone who has faith in God or anyone who has faith. in humanity. Anyone that had, as my mother said, good upbringing would know that our leaders are rooted in immorality. But it's going to take more than the marching and more than the speeches to nationwide in order to solve this issue. We're in this situation, situation because of the lack of the lack of commitment to our own voting, regardless of the Voting Act, Section 2 and Section 5 that have been gutted. by the Supreme Court. We are in this position because we haven't convinced millions of black voters and brown voters and gay voters and women voters to vote for a democratic agenda for fairness and equity and justice. And so my real question, not rhetorical, is what else you got, if you

will? I understand moral Mondays. How do you measure your success the day before 2026, a voter than November. How do you measure your success in 2028 so that at the end of the voting day on both of those dates, right? You have a good sense that you have mobilized millions of voters, they have voted for a democratic agenda and democratic candidates, and how we were able to get it done. Because if you do it in 2026, you're going to have to do it in 2028. So I've always thought that it's more than marching political science is a science, right? You count your votes and then you get them to the polls. It takes money. It takes a message, and it takes a belief that we're going to be successful in this regard. I hope that we are. Representative Jones, what's your answer

to that? Because certainly you have your pedal to the medal on all of this. You are certainly close to understanding what is really going on with voters as a representative yourself. What is your answer to Scott's question in terms of, do we need more? And how do we even know if something like this is working. Yeah, yeah. We need to do more on Monday, right? Oh, I'm sorry. My mind doesn't say I'm on mute.

Okay, because mine doesn't say mute. Okay, so I absolutely agree with Scott that we need more than moral Mondays. And I respectfully submit to you that telling us, telling struggling people that you need to go vote, the Voting Rights Act is being gutted and blah, blah, blah, that's what it sounds like to them, blah, blah, blah, right? Right? What the Democrats need to do is to go and listen to people.

I literally was on a panel this weekend, and the panel was talking to some formerly incarcerated people who literally one had gotten shot like three months ago. Do you think the person who just got shot can't find a job is worried about the Bernie Rights Act? No, they're trying to figure out how they're going to get a job, stay alive, and things like that. So I think that the Democrats need to meet people where they are and stop talking to people and listening to people. And I talked about this when I spoke at the Texas Democratic Convention, when I said the Road to Blue Goes Through Black. And we heard one of the speakers talking about, you know, the anti-black discrimination.

But I just had a town hall titled The Road to Blue Goes Through Black, where black people got to literally tell the Democratic Party how they failed them. and what the Democrats need to do to inspire them. So we need to stop believing that we're inspiring people to vote by chastising them and tell them how dumb they are for not voting. And we need to listen to them, tell us what it's going to take for them to believe voting is worth it. I believe that's the key, and I think we're doing it backwards. I think we're doing it from the top to the bottom rather than the bottom to the top.

And certainly representative, as you said, more meetings where people can actually voice their concerns. That always helps. All right, folks, we're going to go to a break right now. You're watching Rolla Martin Unfiltered here on the Black Star Network. Stay with us. All right, folks, let me get Proustable for a second. My mom had questions about her Medicare, so she called Chapter, a Medicare advisory company, and she texts me right after saying it's a great benefit.

No, that was fine. That was fine. A person worked her through the whole thing, and now she understands better what's going on. But also is not just her. Woman and Yonkers rode in saying the process was so simple, the enrollment was easy, and she was so glad she called. Then there's Maryland, 90 years old, in Florida,

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All takes us 20 minutes. You talk to a real person and is completely free help. So call chapter at 724-264-8-281. 724-264-8-281. That's chapter. Let me ask you a question. Why do so many people seem to think they know black men so well? What they think we want, what they think we need.

Hell, they even tried to tell us why and how we voted. They never had a conversation with us. Never asked us how we felt. It brings us joy. What makes us angry? What makes us scared. How do we live? That's what this show is about.

No translation, because we don't need anybody speaking for us. We can speak for ourselves. This will be a show where we bring brothers on that you don't see on every other talk show. Nope. Brothers that are doing work in local communities with black men for black communities. We're going to hear each other and try to understand

so perhaps we can move forward together. No translation, because we don't need anybody speaking for us. What we need is each other. No translation. Right here on the Black Star Network. Check it out. Lawmakers return to Annapolis for a three-day special session to discuss redrawing congressional district maps

that would eliminate the state's only Republican congressional district. The session directly addresses House Bill 2100, a proposed constitutional amendment intended to change the state's governance, which would allow lawmakers to draw federal congressional district maps. During this year's regular legislative period, Governor West Moore proposed that the Republican district be redrawn, creating a Democratic 80 math. It did not pass due to possible accusations of illegal gerrymandering. Governor Moore spoke during today's session saying the only reason they are here is because of the Trump administration.

We're here, frankly, in a way that none of us want to be here. None of us want to be back here for a special session. And I want to be clear that the reason that we are here is because Donald Trump has forces back. That we're here because, as we have said for months now, we are watching this incredibly creative and cruel way that the federal government is now coming after our elections. We have seen how for months, we've watched how the Trump vans administration has tried to come up with creative ways and broad daylight. to be able to alter and curb our election process. And we in Maryland cannot and will not let that happen. We've seen how the federal government has moved to

attempt to put federal agents around ballot boxes. We've seen how the federal government has attempted to eliminate mail and validity. We have seen how the federal government has told Republican states they should admit that gave redistricting but told Democratic states to sit on our hands. We have seen how the voting rights ads has fallen, which we predicted would happen at the start of this year. And so we're back now to be able to ensure that our elections should be in the hands of the people of Maryland. They should have a final say.

Not Donald Trump, not political parties or political laws. The people of Maryland should have a final say as to what our elections are and how our elections are. Dr. Da Bingo, for those people who don't understand what a big deal this is for this evening to be happened and then perhaps on the other side maybe get to an 80, right, Democratic representative status, how would you explain it? Well, first of all, I'm very proud of, you know, to call him my governor, you know, being a Maryland resident. And, you know, originally there was some hesitancy about whether this will work.

People will talk about the legality of it. Some were saying if they do it the wrong way, they can actually, you know, help out. Republicans, you know, here in Maryland. But at the end of the day, in Maryland, the voters want to see our leaders do something. They don't want to see the rest of the country passing us by with Trump's what we consider to be illegal activities, but at the very least, they're shady, right? And so in the beginning, people weren't sure if Westmore was going to really work this way, but we don't have a choice right now because our Republicans are not going to stop.

And so every state needs to do what it can. across the country, you know, some Democratic states have shot themselves in the foot because they came up with, you know, legislation to prevent this types of redistricting. But these red states, they didn't care. They kept doing it. So, you know, if our backs against the wall in these blue states, this is something that needs to be done. And so I feel like if this can happen, when we see what's happening, I feel like the Democrats are still going to take it as relates to the midterms, but it's going to be fewer seats because of the redistricting efforts that have been happening in other places across the country. So Maryland is stepping off to see what's possible in doing his part,

and I'm with it 100%. Listen, on the other side, Republican State Senate Majority Leader Steve Hershey contradicted what Governor Moore said. He blames partisan gerrymandering. Because it's go time. Showtime. I guess extraordinary circumstances that we're all here today in this special session to take up partisan gerrymandering. Because that's why we're here right now. Governor Moore has called this special session

in order to bow to the wills of Joaquin Jeffries and Chuck Schumer and make sure that Maryland, the congressional delegation, will only have zero Republican members and eight Democrat members. A vote on this new map is not going to happen until Wednesday.

If approved, it will not take effect until the 2028 election. Scott, I want to go to you. This is a new map. is certainly something that is not surprising that. Everybody would be on opposing sides, Republicans and Democrats, and looking at this and calling this gerrymandering. But what say you about the Republicans, you know, sounding like the Democrats often and for once? No, they're not. They sounded like hypocrites. The height of hypocrisy and the depth of arrogance,

as far as I'm concerned, because look, who started the stuff? The Republicans did. They said, we're going to redistrict before the 10 years is up because we want to maintain the house that we're going to lose if we don't. If we lose the house, they're going to impeach Donald Trump and all the Republicans' policies that have hurt America across the board, immigration, the Iran war, oil and gas prices, inflation, gas prices, and food prices and what have you, the killing of Americans over immigration. And not with you. understanding how unpopular this president is, this president, right, is bearing down. He's doubling down.

And so when they started this redistricting argument, their political gangsterism bled into the Democratic gangsterism, finally, that somehow the Democrats who didn't want to have this moral authority, they wanted to go a tit for tat. Now, me personally, I think it was a race to the bottom. I don't think either side ought to be doing this gerrymandering, but Republicans started it. the Democrats have to finish it to protect their political interests. And you need political gangsterism to fight the Republican political gangsters, because that's what we're up to.

It doesn't matter who's right or wrong at this point. Morality, quite frankly, politically, doesn't really matter. It's about winning. And that's the only thing this is about, or at least giving yourself the best chance to win. And so Maryland only has one seat to flip, but every seat matters, if you will. And given where the president's numbers are as far as popular. popularity goes, and even those who believe that the country is going in the wrong direction, independents, Democrats, and even some historic Republicans who are not MAGA Republicans,

it makes all the sense in the world. We've got to get this country back. Now, what way we need to get this country back is to take it back because the Republicans stole it in so many levels. And so we'll see this play out. Other blue states need to do it. But remember who started this. The Republicans started this, right? The Democrats have to finish it.

So, Representative Jones, an amendment, no small feat to complete or change. What hurdles do you foresee coming that we just haven't discussed here tonight? So I actually think that. So first of all, I'm laughing. The first hurdle I think we got to face is those of us in the Democratic Party who want for us to play fair when they ain't. Right? That's a hurdle to protecting democracy. No ifs, no ands, no buts.

So I say when they go low, we need to go in the gutter. I didn't stutter when I said that. And I meant it. As was said before, they started, we have to finish it. And, you know, this thing about Republicans whining, about partisan gerrymandering, I'm sorry, your president literally anointed the Supremes and the Supremes have said that you actually Eating well shouldn't be complicated. somehow it turns into recipes, prep, clean up, and half your Sunday gone.

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If time costs or effort have been holding you back from eating better, Factor just took those off the table. Right now, get 11 free meals and free shipping. Hurry, this offer won't last long. Go to FactorMeals.ca and use code Power. That's 11 free meals and free shipping, but only with the code power at factormeals. Factor, Canada's number one ready-to-eat meal delivery service. The new Red Bull Dragonberry and Tropic Berry Energizers, now at McDonald's, made with freeze-dried fruit and an electric burst of flavor. The all-new Red Bull Energizers, now at McDonald's.

This product may not be right for you. High in caffeine, details of McDonald's.cai at participating Canadian restaurants excluding Quebec. Hey, this is Hayes Davenport. And Sean Clements. We host the podcast, Hollywood Handbook. Every episode we're trying to help our guests improve their careers by mainly focusing on how they can help us, improve our careers. The show is famously super accessible so you can easily jump into any of our 650 episodes and understand what's going on. We recommend some of our recent episodes with

Ben Stiller. The definition of what is a movie has kind of changed anywhere too, right? What do you think it is now? It's images and words being spoken, captured by some sort of technology. Danny McBride. He loves it. Oh, that's fantastic. And you make it on, you make your own. That's great. I call him tarot read. That's a good name. They're all named after cast members of American Pie. Yeah. Oh, gotcha.

I call, I don't, I never looked up if she was in this, but I call him Leachie Sobieski. Yeah. I don't think she was an American Pie, but I still like that. Haven't looked it up. She was prominent around the same time. Yeah. Then Mary Steenbergin. Why are you guys talking to me?

I'm worried. Did you understand the movie? Why are you talking so down to me that you think I don't understand your little play, play game? I just really. I get it. I'm trying to set you up for success here. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea.

Every week, the news gets worse. The world gets crazier. And Yamanika is here to tell whoever's responsible, you're the problem. If you come over here to play games, I'm a check you. Okay? If you do some in the news that don't sound good, I'm going to play you. Join Yomeneka Saunders as she breaks down the week's most problematic stories on her new podcast. You're the problem with Yamanika.

Do you know I just found out who Sidney Sweeney was? New episodes weekly every Wednesday as part of my new network, the Dear Chelsea Network. If he got a bunch of women, then I should have a bunch of men. Do better or do less, so I don't have to do so much. So join Yamanika each episode as she answers one question. Who's the problem? I'm Yamanika, and I'm out.

Listen to You're the Problem with Yamanika on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. It can partisan gerrymandar, which is exactly what they're doing. So Democrats need to stop playing in a world that they think the world should be, and they need to play in a world that is. And if somebody is going to put their throat on your neck, even when you're down, then you need to put them down. It's figuratively speaking, unless anybody say,

I'm trying to make anybody be violent. My point is this. I wouldn't care if there's no Republican representation in Maryland. They don't deserve any. They have a president who literally is getting rid of black representation and democratic representation across this country. And the red states are doing exactly what he says, when he says it, and even those Republicans who have little,

balls that have dropped like teenagers or like middle schoolers. The second they do that, he punishes him and they go back and they fall in line. So we need to learn how to fall in line. We need to figure out any way we can to get this stuff done because we cannot play by rules

when our opponents are not playing by rules. So why in all you want, Maryland Republicans, why in all you want President Trump? You started this, we're going to finish this. When you go low, in the gutter because literally for black people, our lives are at stake. So let me ask you a practical question. I just want to follow up because as a representative, you understand what it's like to face Republicans, you know, having to talk to them, having to

massage egos, to get people to be on the same page. What ideally is the way that people actually go about getting on the same page? And again, I'm asking that you, this because you are a state representative and understand what it's like down, on the ground, in the war zone face to face, how do you actually get that to happen? Or are we at a dead end here? So first of all, I think that you are asking me a question based and founded in a world that's fair. I speak to Republicans who actually like me can't vote for my bills because it will get them primary. So they'll be like, Joe, that's a great bill, but you know I got to vote against it. So why are we talking about being on the same page with people who are terrified to be on the

same page, even if that page is right? Because they're more fearful of the consequences that Donald Trump is going to put on them. So I believe it is unrealistic to demand that we as Democrats try to get on the same page with Republicans when the head of the snake is Donald Trump. Trump and he doesn't respect us. So we're not going to be on the same page, at least not legislatively. They may whisper in my ear and they may sneak and call me and say, Joe, I like that bill, but, you know, I can't do it. And then explain why they can't support a bill that's great for Texas.

So the one thing I've learned for these years that I've been on this earth is the only person that I can control is me. I can make myself be on the same page of somebody, but do I want to be on a lot? a page that literally wants to disappear black people and kill off our rights and in many instances, our lives. I'm never going to be on that page. And I shouldn't be forced to pander or get rid of my foundational beliefs in order to agree with Republicans who are terrified of their leader and who are trying to destroy us.

So I just don't think it's a fair question. And I will say to you, I ain't going to be on the same page with somebody just trying to destroy my constituents. And so it's not going to happen. It's unrealistic. What I am going to do is I'm going to fight for my constituents. And whatever they give me, I'm giving them back 10 times. And as a person who fled the state of Texas to stop racist redistricting and to sound an alarm across the country, I know what they do. They stick the FBI on us.

They sick the police on elected officials. and they find us almost $8,400 because we were standing up for the rights that our constituents demanded that we stand up for. And we were fined. And if we didn't pay it, then they threatened to defund our offices. So be on the same pace with them people. Why? How? That's just dumb.

All right. You are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered here on the Black Star Network. We're going to take a little break. We'll see you on the other side. Hi, folks, let me get personal for a second. My mom had questions about her Medicare, so she called Chapter, a Medicare advisory company, and she texts me right after saying it's a great benefit. It was easy, a real person walked her through the whole thing,

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She called Chapter. And they found her the same top-tier coverage for hundreds of dollars less, 90 years old, and finally, somebody in her corner. I hear stories like that again and again from our community. The Medicare system was not built to work for you. Too much fine print, too many plans. Yet Chapter's advisors are independent and honest, the only Medicare advisors that compare every plan nationwide.

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That's Chapter. Let me ask you a question. Why do so many people seem to think they know black men? men so well. What they think we want, what they think we need. Hell, they even tried to tell us why and how we voted. They never had a conversation with us. Never asked us how we felt. What brings us joy? What makes us angry? What makes us scared? How do we live? That's what this show is about. No translation, because we don't need anybody speaking for us. We can speak for ourselves. This will be a show where we bring brothers on that you don't see on every other talk show. Nope. Brothers that are doing

work in local communities with black men for black communities. We're going to hear each other and try to understand so perhaps we can move forward together. No translation, because we don't need anybody speaking to us. What we need is each other. No translation. Right here on the Black Star Network. Check it out.

Hey, this is Motown recording artist Kim. You are watching Roland Martin unfiltered. Boy, he's always unfiltered, though. I ain't never known him to be filtered. Is there another way to experience Roland Martin than to be unfil? Of course, he's unfiltered. Would you expect? Anything less?

Watch what happens next. Right, down in South Carolina on April 26, 2025, along Myrtle Beach's busiest stripped, gunfire left 11 people injured and one teen dead. At the time, they didn't know whose bullet hit whom. One of those injured was black teenager Serenity Chavis, who was caught. In the crossfire between the suspect and the officer Brandon O'Rourke, dash cam video from Myrtle Beach Police shows the moment when 18-year-old Jarius Davis pulls out a gun and fires four shots into a crowd gathered on the sidewalk. Within seconds, O'Rourke returns fire, firing five rounds and fatally striking Davis.

It was later determined that one of those bullets dropped Serenity in the leg. Now, O'Rourke did not face any charges related to the shooting, and he is back in uniform. Serenity and her mom are now suing O'Rourke and the Myrtle Beach Police Department for gross negligence saying that they failed to ensure the safety of bystanders before shooting into a crowded sidewalk.

I am now joined by Serenity's mother, Kendra Malloy, and National Civil Rights activist, John Barnett. They're here to discuss the lawsuit. Thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you very much. You know, Kendra, I wanted to just start with you. How are you doing?

I'm doing fine. And Serenity, she's doing okay. Yes, ma'am. She's doing okay. Okay, great. So let's jump into this lawsuit. Let me start with you, John. For people who don't understand what exactly you are suing for, how would you explain it?

Well, the attorney that's represented, I'm actually the activist, and I pretty much took Kendra, and two other victims to my lawyer's office. And, or connecting with my lawyer's office. From there, you know, Murdo Beach was just really trying to say that we didn't do anything wrong. So they literally saying that a young man who had a problem with two other black males, he's a black male as well, started shooting. The one guy started shooting, one team started shooting at two or three other guys. The police was behind the team that was doing the shooting. So they end up coming out of like a coffee shop and they started shooting at the team.

Well, but in front of the team is people celebrating spring break. So in the end, 11 people was hit by bullets. A left. Murdo Beach tried to promote the fact that this one team shot everybody. They knew they did. He said, there's no fault. We're not. We didn't do it.

The team did it. They shot 11 people before we shot him and killed him. And so we thought it was ludicrous from day one. I began to initiate direct civil rights in front of the police department. And then after about a year, this case is so massive that our law firm, shout out to Charles' 100 average law firm, they upgraded it and gave it to Bacari Sellers, which is in Columbus, South Carolina, with Strom law firm. And he just filed literally today about a couple hours ago.

It's been about a year. It was spring break up last year. We passed spring break again, and now we're here. And, you know, hopefully some of the time. some glimmer of hope will come out of this. I do see that they have the Murder Beach Police Department listed that they're suing and the actual officer that was doing the shooting. All right.

So they're suing both parties. Kendra, what were some of the hurdles that you face? I understand that with the webcam, you had to do a lot of due diligence, people in the community in order to get the truth and to get the webcam evidence even secured. Well, I did a lot of dig and I did a lot of research and I just apply what I thought as a mother like force. You know, I'm not going to give up so easily. Something has to be done about this, you know, like justice needs to be served. So I teamed up with Mr. Barnett and, you know, he kind of like helped me throughout this whole situation involved as far as who to talk to, how to talk to folks.

how they, you know, push my pressure to get them to release any type of evidence as far as police report, Biden-Dashcam, you know, talking to the community, you know, putting interviews out with the news, you know, so that my voice can be heard. And, John, what's your understanding about the relationship that you have with the police right now in securing evidence? Is it good? Is it, are there hurdles? Is it a little bit strained? How has that been going in terms of communicating with those people that you need to communicate with, whether it be anybody in the DA's office or police?

That's a great question. For two to three weeks, and I would have Kendra on the phone sometime, I was talking to Slade. And I was like, okay, you know, I don't think this guy shot all of these people. There was another, my other victim that's in Martinsville, Virginia, they actually promised me that they would give me a copy of the bullet that was in his leg. They were able to retrieve the bullet from his leg, and the doctor wanted to give the bullet to the mother, and then she second-guessed it.

And so Slayer drove all the way from South Carolina to Virginia to get the bullet. Now, they promised me a photo of the bullet, and they never gave it to me. I have people in place. I work with 30 lawyers in 20 states. I got investigators. I was going to try to figure out whose bullet it was, and they never gave me that bullet. And so I believe that, obviously, that must have been the bullet.

That was fired from the officer's gun. That's my interpretation. So again, relationship-wise, great question. I was on the phone with Slayette for two or three weeks, and then they went silent on me. And we haven't heard it in a whole year until now, total silence. And so that means my grandmother used to tell me, miss your rest in peace, Ms. Fannie.

She used to tell me something looks like a snake, something crawls like a snake at the end of the day. Must be a snake. So we're going to be initiated press conference next week in Moldo Beach, just to kind of give people some kind of glimmer up hope. I challenged the fact that the officers was unpaid leave. for like three weeks. I'm like, how they shoot somebody and they own leave? So after my press conference in front of the police department, they literally went back to work Monday morning. I even

asked for counselors, you know, looking at 11 people that was shot. Some didn't even come forward. They just went to the hospital, healed their wounds and left. But I'm glad Serenity's doing better. Serenity's been in a wheelchair. She was in a wheelchair for a long time. And, you know, it's embarrassing to go to school. And you're 16 years old. And, you know, the kids looking at you and you got shot, you know, so there's a lot of counseling and help that she needs. So I try to make life comfortable for as much as possible, you know, try to make it easy for her. Yeah, Kendra, what has Serenity said about that day that you can help our audience bring us to actually what happened in her own words? Is that something that you can recount?

How is she talked about that day? It took me a while to get serenity to talk about it. You know, she was in a lot of stress. afraid of crowds, you know, not wanting to talk much, but that particular night, like, now that it's been a year, serenity talks, she had not forgotten at night. She explained to me her story is still the same. I was hanging out with my friends. Like, Mom, I'm not going to forget the officer that shot me.

I can recognize his face, like, that still plays over and over in my head. um it turned from a night of having fun to now you're fearing for your life you know because you're running and an officer someone that's supposed to protect this serve the community shoots you so how do you supposed to deal with that um i got her talking to therapists um things that she talk about that i can't disclose but she still deals with this over and over and over again Yeah, and all of that talking and getting the community involved and posting, this is why you're getting the traction that you are getting. I want to bring my panel in on this. Representative Jones, a question for one of our guests.

So even though I'm a state representative, I'm also a lawyer. And I know standard operating procedures when police are shooting. and if what I heard is true, which is that the officers were behind the shooter and the spring breakers were in front of the shooter. Do you think it's common sense that if you miss the target, that you have a whole bunch of other people that could die or for that matter, if you hit the target and the bullet goes through the target, there are all these people. that the police officer could hit. Do you guys think that's like common sense? And is that a part of the law? If you know.

That's a great question. I told one of my friends a couple days ago, I said, if this was NASCAR, I don't think he'd shoot in the car. Eating well shouldn't be complicated, but somehow it turns into recipes, prep, cleanup, and half your Sunday gone. Factors solves all that. These are fresh, ready-to-eat meals designed by dieticians,

delivered to your door and ready in just minutes. No prep, no cleanup, no excuses. And it's not just about convenience. You're getting real food, balanced nutrition, and zero artificial stuff. Meals that help you stay on track for all of your goals without the grind of doing it all yourself. Grilled chicken, roasted veggies, steak plates, postables. They taste like something you get in a restaurant, but they come out of your microwave in two minutes flat. If time costs or effort have been holding you back from eating better, Factor just took those off the table. Right now, get 11 free meals and free shipping. Hurry, this offer won't last long.

Go to factormeals.ca and use code power. That's 11 free meals and free shipping, but only with the code power at factormeals.ca. Factor, Canada's number one ready-to-eat meal delivery service. The new Red Bull Dragonberry and Tropicberry Energizers, now at McDonald's, made with freeze-dried fruit and an electric burst of flavor. The all-new Red Bull

energizers. Now at McDonald's. This product may not be right for you. High in caffeine, details at McDonald's.cai at participating Canadian restaurants excluding Quebec. Hey, this is Hayes Davenport. And Sean Clements. We host the podcast, Hollywood Handbook. Every episode we're trying to help our guests improve their careers by mainly focusing on how they can help us improve our careers.

The show's famously super accessible so you can easily jump into any of our 650 episodes and understand what's going on. We recommend some of our recent episodes with Ben Stiller. The definition of what is a movie has kind of changed. anywhere too, right? What do you think it is now? It's images and words being spoken, captured by some sort of technology. Danny McBride. He loves... Oh, that's fantastic. And you make it on, you make your own. That's great. I call him Terro Reed. It's a good name. They're all named after cast members of American Pie. Yeah. Oh, gotcha. I call, I don't, I never looked up if she was in this,

but I call him Leachie Sobiesky. Yeah, I don't think she was an American Pie, but I just I haven't looked it up. I haven't looked it up. She was prominent around the same time. Then Mary Steenbergin. Why are you guys talking to me? I'm worried. I'm worried.

Why are you talking so down to me that you think I don't understand your little play game? I just really. I get it. I'm trying to set you up for success here. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Chelsea Hanelor from Dear Chelsea. Every week, the news gets worse. The world gets crazier.

And Yamanika is here to tell. whoever's responsible, you're the problem. If you come over here to play games, I'ma check you. Okay? If you do some in the news that don't sound good, I'm going to play you. Join Yomeneika Saunders as she breaks down the week's most problematic stories on her new podcast. You're the problem with Yamanika. Do you know I just found out who Sidney Sweeney was?

New episodes weekly every Wednesday is part of my new network, the Dear Chelsea Network. If he got a bunch of women, then I should have a bunch of men. Do better or do less, so I don't have to do so much. So join Yamanika each episode as she answers one question. Who's the problem? I'm Yamanika, and I'm out. Listen to You're the Problem with Yamanika on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I mean, he wouldn't suit in the crowd.

I don't think he would do that. If this was NASCAR, if you know what I'm doing it. So in saying that, ignorant. part of one of the bulletin the lawsuit is recklessness. You know, he's being reckless, endangering the lives with others. But you know what's most appalling? My sister is that they did this whole little video in the news,

like they didn't do anything wrong. They did these diagrams and all of this, showing one body cam and one dash cam when I know there was more police cars out there. This is a big thing every year. Police is heightened. Over a hundred state troopers come from a country. across the state of South Carolina, just a target, quote, unquote, us.

Let's just keep it real. They basically call in 100 state troopers for us during spring break, during bike week. So this is, you know, Murdo Beach at one time was labeled the worst beach in the country, number three, I think. So to your point, no, he just seen someone shooting, pulls out his gun, and just start shooting. Rest and peace to Walter Scott. Rest in peace to Trayvon one. Rest in peace to people that they think it's so easy just to pull out of gun.

Rest in peace to Sean Bell, shot 51 times the night before he's going to get married. Rest in peace to Jonathan Farrell and Charlotte, one of my other cases that I worked on. Got shot nine times for knocking on a white woman's door. You know, I'm still asking, that's Black Lives Mount, especially at Marilla Beach during spring breaks. Let me drop this on you. Old Wise man once told me that it takes eight seconds for you to remember something good in your life. He said, but it takes two to three seconds to remember something bad.

So if I asked you, where was you at 22 years ago on Thanksgiving Day, you probably couldn't remember. But if I asked you, if you ever been shot by the police, you've been pulled over by the police, was you touched inappropriate, it would take less than two to three seconds.

I close in saying this, Serenity won't forget these two to three seconds of getting shot in her later. And what's interesting is, I think the guy tried to flirt with her prior to. So the same guy that, I think maybe, maybe exchanged the number and Kendra can correct me, this was the same one that she was trying to help stay alive. My 13-year-old client that was shot not only in the arm but in the leg,

he won't have to get those two seconds, ever. Scott, question for one of our panelists. Yeah, Scott Bolden here. As a former state and federal prosecutor and someone who's investigated these cases and gone over video after video with Roland Martin on the show over the last seven or eight years. Let me just say this. I get what you're saying about the police and the recklessness and the negligence. And you certainly have what we call a cognizable claim. Baccarie Sellas is a good Moorhouse man. I'm a good morehouse man. But let me, my question is this, right? Because what the police are going to say is, one, they didn't do anything wrong. And two, there was a shooter. They didn't start shooting, but they were shooting for the shooter who

ran into the crowd or ran away with the crowd. Their training tells them that if there's a potential loss of life or limb and someone's usually using deadly force against another individual, they're free to fire. Now, it gets tough because there's a juxtaposition there, right? You can't be reckless about it, but you can't shoot into a crowd going after a bad actor, okay?

So I think this is a little different, if you will. And so my question is, I'll give you a chance to respond because that's what the government's argument is going to be when this case goes to trial or goes through the process that would you prefer that I not shoot because that shooter was going to potentially harm other people. And so if we shot some people in the process, I have absolute immunity or I have limited immunity as a law enforcement officer to protect the public. What's your response to their argument? Because I guarantee you that's going to be their argument. And you're exactly right.

Absolute great question. And you're exactly right. I don't have a problem with the officers trying to protect the community. I helped Michael Tensley and Charlotte, North Carolina. I assisted him in winning a million dollars when he was fired by the police. My relationship with the police is bittersweet. But I will tell you this. What I do got a problem with is them lying saying we didn't do anything wrong.

But Corey Sellers would experience. Shout out to you and all of my brothers at Morehouse. I'm sure he would not be taking this case. if he knew that it wasn't, you know, he called, he told Ms. Kendra it was a great case. So my point is, I'm not against the police. If someone tries to break in my home right now, I'm calling 911, which is the police.

But what I do have a problem with is people lying and lying enough for weeks and telling Kendra and my other client that we didn't do anything wrong. It's the lies that get me. It's the fact that you mean to tell me that the bullet that's in my client's leg in Martinville, Virginia, when you pulled it out and it was,

in a freezer bag and you drove, sled drove, from South Carolina, Colorado Beach to Virginia to pick up the bullet, and you come back and tell me, you're going to give me a picture of the bullet, and you never do, you're lying. And that's the challenges I have with the case. I'm pro getting the police to help us, but I'm against someone that lies like a snake. That's my problem. No, no, no. I agree. All right, Dr. D'binga, a question for one of our guests. Yes, my question is for you, Ms. Malloy, and it goes off of something Mr. Barnett said. He said that some people who did get shot that night went to the hospital, got, you know, stitched up and kind of went on their way. What is it about you that said, I can't stop here.

More needs to be done. And my child is just not going to be looked at as some type of throwaway. What led you to keep pushing this when some others just went up? about their business and moved on. Good question. Because of the trauma that was done to my daughter's leg. When I first arrived at the hospital, they told me they will have to amputate her leg,

me to cut it out. She's 15 years old who wants to go through that. It could have happened to anybody else's child. But with my child at 15, who was adjourned her spring break vacation and this altercation happened, my daughter sustained a 10-hour surgery where she had to reconstruct her leg back meeting she has metal you know she has all types of things and her leg to help her walk again so that's my

dramatic matter when it comes to my child the other kids that was shot is sad you know they didn't sustain the trauma that my daughter sustained my daughter sustained trauma that took a while for her to get used to walking on her living in, you know, to adapt back into being around crowds, to adapt to being back in school, something she has to deal with for the rest of her life. Even her doctor spoke and said, this is a pain that she would do with for the rest of her life. She will forever walk with the lymph. So that's why I can't stop. I won't stop at this matter. I will not stop. I'm going to push into something that's done. Most importantly, it's the lie. It's the law.

that has been told about this case from Murder Beach Police Department. John, let me jump in here and ask you, what are the next steps? You mentioned that the lawsuit was filed just today. Do you have a timeline? What are your expectations? Well, one thing I've learned historically fighting civil rights for about 17 years, is that pressure bus pipes and that we, you know, I assisted Chancruella Robinson.

And at one point, a local activist that said that her case wasn't trending anymore. So I began to send pink envelopes to Joe Biden and to Mexico. And the next week, a great attorney named Ben Crump called us. And the case was resurrected and the case was now being seen in the Department of Justice. So I think our job is to make sure, you know, just a few weeks ago we were talking about Cyrus. A young black boy who went into a store and got some water and ended up dead. Just maybe a month ago, we were talking about Carl Mello Anthony. And I learned from an otherwise activist.

You may know his name, Minister Farrakhan. He said that they killed Trayvon Martin. They give us a Trayvon Martin Foundation, put a pacify on our mouth, and we rock us back to sleep. He killed Michael Brown, put a pacify on a mouth and rock us back to sleep. Shoot Dr. King in Memphis. Give us a national holiday, put a pacify on a mouth, and rock us. back asleep. My goal in order to get justice, because when I see serenity, when I seen her in that wheelchair, I've pushed her wheelchair down the streets of Merle Beach. I've given her her favorite

drink with your Starbucks. I can't get me out of my head of her saying, I hope I'm going to be okay. I won't forget those shots that rang out. So part of my fight is, to your point, is to keep it visible. We almost numb to death. We're numb to police shootings. We're numb to us killing each other, you know, Black on Black crime is a whole lot higher than the police shooting us. And so in saying that my goal for serenity, that's my personal job, my personal commitment, one of the steps of civil rights is to make sure we keep it in the forefront and bring awareness to situations like this, that it won't happen again. I pray it don't happen again. Yeah, and speaking of awareness, Kendry, you talked about how your daughter has gone through

counseling, probably is going through it. How has that been going? because there are many people for different reasons who need to go through counseling often might turn away from it for one reason or another, but what has been your process? And what's that been like? My process has been long, very devastating. It's not easy. It's not easy at all. I deal with these challenges every day, serendity, because,

have a good day that tomorrow, Serenia might not come out of room. You know, she falls in depression. Depression leads to other things. I don't want my child to harm herself or hurt herself because she can't deal with this traumatized night. It hasn't been easy with the therapist. It takes a while to get her to open up, but most of all, she has opened up with the therapist. Things have been a lot better through sessions with serenity.

She still doesn't like loud crowds. She don't like noise. Fourth of July, Juneteen holidays come along. We can't participate because she's afraid something might happen. You know, things happen everywhere. And I talk her on the daily, like, you know, Seri. It happened to you, so we're going to continue to talk with you. We're having few technical difficulties.

I want to thank Kendra. to thank Kendra Malloy and John Barnett for sharing the story. Keep us posted and please send our regards to Serenity from the Roland Martin unfiltered. Now just a quick note, Bishop William Barber, the second president and senior lecturer of the prayers of the breach, is now speaking from New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in D.C. And we're going there right now. has already come for us to wake up. And this directly speaks to the now. It rebukes political complacency

and demands immediate, wide-awake action in a time of crisis. We won't pray our way out of this. We must pray, but we got to put some legs on our prayers. We won't wait our way out of this. Just wait and things are going to change. No, they will not. They only will change that we do the kind of waiting like a waiter in a restaurant if we serve and we move and we give.

The testimony circle of my faith tradition, the elders, the mothers, the saints way back yonder often lean back, Cheryl. They clear their throat some nights when things were rough, when the weight of history was on them. and from their bones, they would holler in the church. If we ever needed the Lord, we sure do need him now. But today I want to step into the tradition of the hip-hop artists, and I want to sample from that sacred tradition because when they said it, they didn't just mean they were going to sit down and do nothing.

In my tradition, my bring up, I want to scratch the record a little bit. And I want to scratch the record of our political. political complacency, I want to drop the beat of historic urgency. And I want to remix the testimony for this hour and suggest if we ever needed to vote, we sure do need to vote now. Particularly if you understand that voting is not something some human being gave to you. We've learned in this movement that the word vote in Hebrew is It's the same word as voice.

And in Isaiah 58, where the Bible says, lift up your voice like a trumpet. In Hebrew is call shofar, lift up your voice like a trumpet, or lift up your vote like a trumpet. And for us, the right to vote, it didn't casual, it isn't abstract. It's a right born out of deep struggle. Somebody say there's blood on it.

There's blood on this right to vote. blood on it and baptized in the blood of sacrifice. And the blood still speaks. Boating is a holy gift from the God of justice. We're not animals. We can make a decision. We can choose. We can orchestrate.

My brothers and sisters, it was 2,626 years ago when God had his prophet Micah look at the image, empire, look at every nation and every politician and say, if you really want to please God, you must do justice and love mercy and walk humbly before your God. It was 2,026 years ago when God's son, as I call it, Jesus of Nazareth from the ghetto, stood up in the ghetto, stood up and declared that the least of these, the poor, the marginalized, the sick, and the excluded can never be an afterthought if you want to be a great nation. But you don't have any right, Danielle, to sit at 1600 Street, Pennsylvania Avenue if you can't go to Jackson and taste that nasty water down there.

You don't have the right to be in the Senate if you haven't been to Cancer Alley. People are dying in Louisiana. You don't have the right. Poor and the broken must not be an afterthought, but must be at the center of public policy. And we must never forget what I call the roll call of the blood and the ballot. There's a roll call. Think for a moment about where we are on the timeline of history right now. When you look at the calendar of our struggle, you will understand why if we ever know, needed to vote. We sure do need to vote. Now look at the clock for me with you will

for a moment. It's been 407 years since the first ship landed in Jamestown, Virginia to bring 20 stolen Africans and put them in the worst kind of slavery the world has ever known, chattel slavery, because not only were you a slave, you were considered no longer human. It's been 256 years since Christmas attic, a black, white, native man, became the first casualty dying on the cold cobblestones of Boston fighting for freedom of a country that didn't even recognize him as a human. It's been 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, thing that was signed, but its truths that it recognized were already flawed. It's been 228 years, 39 years since the United States Constitution was adopted.

It's been 239 years since we, with brown skin, were fractionized by the very document. It talked about freedom, but instead codified us as three-fifths of a human being. It's been 197 years since Mexico outlawed slavery before America. And 190 years since Texas revolted against Mexico because it outlawed slavery. Texas didn't break from slavery because it wanted freedom. Texas broke from Mexico because it wanted slavery. It's been 177 years since Harriet Tubman broke her chains, escaped slavery, went back into the dark night to lead others to freedom. It's been 174 years since, since Frederick Douglass stood up in Rochester, New York,

and told this nation that its fourth of July celebrations were nothing but fraud, bombats, and hypocrisy until America did right by the sons and daughters of slavery. And sadly, we could say that again today. It's been 163 years since the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation that did not free the slave, but for the first. freed those only in states of rebellion. And the trick of the matter is, if the state just stopped rebellion, they could have kept

their slaves. It's been 161 years since the first gun was fired in the Civil War. It's been 150 years since the ratification of the 15th Amendment that declared the right the vote could not be denied or abridged. It's been 150, 132 years since the violent coup d'etat and race riots of women to North Carolina where white supremacists went in the church like this and cooked up a plan to overthrow a democratically elected fusion government to crush black and white fusion political power. Some of what you see in today is not new. It's the vomit of what was

already here in this nation's history. It's been 122 years since the riots in Spring Phil Illinois. It's been 82 years since Smith versus Allright legally opened up primary elections for black people. It's been 82 years since Promise King tried to vote in Georgia and was violently turned away by men outside of the voting place with guns. But we've seen that recently. It's been 72 years since Brown versus Board of Education declared, they declared that segregation was unconstitutional. It's been 70 years. 31 years since the brutal mangling murder of a 14-year-old Emmett Teal on August 28th, which would later become the same day as the march on Washington.

It's been 68 years since students from North Carolina A&T sat down at a lunch county in Greensboro. But they were also students from Bennett. And the women from Bennett actually came up for the idea before the brothers at A&T. It's been 62 years since Fannie Lou Hamer, stood up before a nation after she was almost beaten the death by two black men that were told, beat her, oh, you die, after she had polio, after she was sick in her body. And she said, I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. It's been 65 years since Dr. King stood before the unions of this nation and gave us a roadmap

and said that the only block, voting block, capable of fundamentally transforming America would be for blacks and organized labor and poor whites and working people and Latinos to come together and learn how to work together and stop allowing people to divide us. It's been 63 years since Mega Evers was gunned down in his own driveway in Jackson, Mississippi, the same night that the plan was for two other young black civil rights leaders to be killed. And the same night that Dr. Kennedy announced he was going to push forward the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act. It's been 63 years since the March on Washington for jobs and freedom, not for fellowship and fund. It's for jobs and freedom. They wanted to raise the minimum wage by 25 cents and index it with inflation. They wanted more money from public education.

They wanted a full civil rights bill that also would include voting rights. It was not just a march for one person to do a speech. 63 years they marched because they had a piece of legislation but we forget that at the end of that speech dr king said go back to mississippi and the speech was not have a dream anyway it was normal and never again it's been 63 years since 15 17 days after that march dynamite ripped through the 16th street baptist church and kill four little girls and dr king said and yet those four girls and dr king said and yet those four girls still have something to say to us. They have something to say

that every racist that spews their racism. They have something to say to every politician that hides behind order rather than change. They have something to say that every black minister that refuses to get involved. They have something to say to all of us.

It's been 61 years since state troopers beat peaceful marchers on a hot asphalt of the Edmund Pettys Bridge on a Sunday morning. And the blessing of it was there was such storms in the nation that day that most folk were inside, looking at the TV. All right, and that was Bishop William Barber, the second president and senior lecturer of repairs of the breach. He was speaking from the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C.

Do you want to continue to watch him? We are going live with him and continuing to be live with him on the Black Star Network. All right. We're going to be back after a break here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Stay with us. All right, folks. Let me get personal for a second. My mom had questions about her Medicare, so she called Chapter, a Medicare advisory company,

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You talk to a real person and is completely free help. So, call Chapter at 724-264-8-281. 724-264-8-8-1. That's chapter. Let me ask you a question. Why do so many people seem to think they know black men so well, what they think we want, what they think we need? Hell, they even tried to tell us why and how we voted. They never had a conversation with us.

Never asked us how we felt. It brings us joy. What makes us angry? What makes us scared? How do we live? That's what this show is about. No translation, because we don't need anybody speaking for us. We can speak for ourselves.

This will be a show where we bring us. brothers on that you don't see on every other talk show. Nope. Brothers that are doing work in local communities with black men for black communities. We're going to hear each other and try to understand so perhaps we can move forward together. No translation because we don't need anybody speaking for us. Eating well shouldn't be complicated, but somehow it turns into recipes, prep, cleanup, and half your Sunday gone.

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Every episode we're trying to help our guests improve their careers by mainly focusing on how they can help us improve our careers. The show's famously super accessible so you can easily jump into any of our 650 episodes and understand what's going on. We recommend some of our recent episodes with Ben Stiller. The definition of what is a movie has kind of changed anywhere too, right? you think it is now? It's images and words being spoken

captured by some sort of technology. Danny McBride He loves over. Oh, that's fantastic. And you make it on, you make your own. That's great. I call him Terro Reed. It's a good name. They're all named after cast members of American Pie. Yeah. Oh, gotcha. I call, I don't,

I never looked up if she was in this, but I call him Leachie Sobiesky. Yeah. I don't think she was an American Pie, but I haven't looked it up. I haven't looked it up. She was prominent around the same time. Then Mary Steenberg. Why are you guys talking to me?

I'm worried. I'm worried. Why are you talking so down to me that you think I don't understand your little play game? I just really. I get it. I'm trying to set you up for success here. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea.

Every week, the news gets worse. The world gets crazier. And Yamanika is here to tell whoever's. responsible, you're the problem. If you come over here to play games, I'ma check you. Okay? If you do some in the news that don't sound good, I'm going to play you. Join Yomeneika Saunders as she breaks down the week's most problematic stories on her new podcast.

You're the problem with Yamanika. Do you know I just found out who Sidney Sweeney was? New episodes weekly every Wednesday is part of my new network, the dear Chelsea network. If he got a bunch of women, then I should. have a bunch of men. Do better or do less so I don't have to do so much. So join Yamanika each episode as she answers one question. Who's the problem? I'm Yamanika and I'm out. Listen to you're the problem with Yamanika on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Right here on the Black Star Network. Hey Parker. I am Tommy Davidson.

I play Oscar on Proud Family, louder and proud. I am Joe Marie Payton, voice of Sugar Mama on louder and proud of Disney Plus. And I'm with Roland Martin on Unfilger. For some time now, we've been talking about the rising costs of education and cutbacks on federal financial aid. All of this student loan debt has some students thinking that colleges out of reach. Trade schools and community college certificate programs, they typically cost far less than any undergraduate degree. So the question is, is it trade school or should you go to a four-year college? Joining us now to help us answer this question is Elena Harper.

She is the executive director of One Goal New York City, NYC, a national organization that partners with high schools and low-income areas to provide college and post-secondary career advising. Elena, this is a hot topic. Thank you for being on with us tonight. I'm so glad to be here. Can you hear me? Yes, I can.

Thank you for that check-in. So listen, the general question, as we know, that people, are trying to make is should they go to a trade school or does it benefit people more to go to a four-year school? Do you have a general answer for that? It's such an interesting question because it has been debated for a long time. My general answer to that is that it really depends on what you want to do. It is true that for many careers, four-year schools are still the best way to to go, but the number of jobs and the availability of jobs for our credentialing, our certificate programs, and sort of some of the barriers to achieving those four-year degrees make it such

that for young people, if they want to do certain career pass, it actually could make more sense to go to a trade school or credentialing program or straight to work. Yeah. Or straight to work. I know that every time, you know, someone fixed my washer the other week and, you know, people need carpenters. I hear about people and the money that they pay for someone to come out and do lighting. I know at that time and those times I'm always thinking, you know what, a trade school is a good way to go because when it comes to AI, there's not a robot that's coming here fixing my washer, right? So are there certain areas, yeah, are there certain areas filled that you will tell,

students, why don't you look here because this is going to be a good way to go with AI and everything? Are there fields that you would recommend for people at this time? That's a great question. I think that I would just say two things to that. One is there are lots of jobs. You know, you're talking HVAC, you're talking construction, you're talking, you know, electrician, plumbing, all those things. Yes, for sure. A.I. is not coming for those jobs. And I would say AI also, I think we kind of have a little misnomer on that. I think AI isn't coming for all the other jobs either. Really, we're going to be doing AI to become more efficient, but we're going to be taking that kind of like human plus approach, right?

We're going to be using AI, but what is going to become even more critical for all of the other jobs, in addition to the ones you're talking about, is going to be the critical thinking, how we understand the information and can sort of synthesize that information to make it useful in the context that we're working in. So I think it's both. I think there are places in which we know there are going to be good jobs. There's like, you know, coming. In the next, we can definitely make sure students and young people are aware of that. And also we need to make sure that we are teaching those critical thinking skills such that even if AI takes on some aspects of other roles, our young people know they are still a value add and asset in any situation, even if the job

is made more efficient by AI. Yeah, that critical thinking is very important. It's often skipped when we talk about AI. What are your thoughts about, you know, when we talk about technology and computers and AI, and anything that has to do with this digital media age, I have read a lot of headlines about students who have graduated from college, and what they're studying is old, and what they feel like what they have learned is old, because while they were in college, when it comes to anything having to do with technology, it's moving at light speed, and, you know, the two were never keeping up with each other. Have you heard that, that in this world of computer science and technology that it's really difficult for the real world to not completely outpace what's

going on in a college setting. You know, I was telling one of our students the other day that cell phones didn't even exist until I was on my way to college. So when you talk about technological advancements over the last, you know, I'm going to say a few years to not age myself, you're really talking about that rapid pace. And I think this is where as institutions, as organizations, as mentors to young people, we have to help them realize it is always true. You know, we were just listening to Reverend Barber give his talk. It was always true that people, even when in college, were doing things beyond what was happening inside the walls of those classrooms.

And that is true today. And keeping up with and learning and getting exposed to some of the technological advances. and the AI advancements is one of those things that like institutions are slow to move, you know, and so young people are going to have to do some of that work on their own, regardless of if they're in, you know, a four-year school, a credentialing program or certificate program, it's always going to be that we have to do additional work beyond that. Yeah, absolutely. Now, when we talk about trade, we are often talking about somebody actually, you know, using their body more, right? They're not sitting behind a desk. When people get older,

let's say they are a carpenter or a plumber or they work in, you know, automotive, and the body gives, right? The knee starts hurting, the back starts giving out. What's your advice in terms of people who are thinking, I want to go to trade school, but what if something happens to me physically, there goes my business? Can that be transition, those skills? And two, some type of sit behind the desk managerial job because often the body will give out. I mean, a thousand percent. Every every pathway, that's what we call it at one goal, every pathway has potential for making it such that you are not doing the same type of work, you know, forever. I would say you could be sitting behind a desk and the body gives out, you know, and it is even more true. It is. It is,

is even more true in some of our trade industries. And I think there are a couple of things there. One thing that we are really focused on at one goal is understanding the financial fit and financial implications of the pathway you choose. So as you come out and you are in one of those skilled jobs, what are you doing with your money? Have you thought about saving?

Do you know what your goals are? What are you working for and towards? Do you have a purpose in mind and the type of life, a vision for what you want, you know, how you want to live and the life you want to lead? And then are you taking steps along the way to ensure that that is the case? Because often there are, and I mean, if I could talk to my parents right now, they would tell you this. I came out of college and went straight into being an educator, a teacher, public school teacher,

and they talk to me now about the choices I made with my money and what I was doing at that time. And I think those are the conversations we need to be having with young people now because the body will give out and we always need to have some sort of like plan, you know, additional plans, a contingency plan A, B, and probably C. Absolutely. Now let's talk about money specifically. What is the advice that you give? Because what we've been hearing from students because college and these stories have been hitting the headlines for many different reasons people are talking about the cost of college, you know, 60,000. Some colleges are $100,000 a year. For that student who doesn't have the money, how do you explain to them what type of financial

debt they are taking on and maybe other opportunities that they might have not to have that debt? I mean, if you work at Starbucks or Walmart, Target, I mean, they do have plans where you can work, and they pay for it? I'm just wondering what are students' options who don't want to be encumbered with loans because that interest rate is a killer. I can tell you that firsthand experience or people who just don't have the money. What do you explain to them? I think that's a great point that there are lots of ways to find opportunities to get those costs covered, or at least in part, Often, if you work in certain areas or go into certain fields, there are additional scholarships and things. But I think fundamentally, what we talk about at one goal is that you have to choose a pathway

where the financial fit of that pathway is part of making sure you are in a quality seat. You are in a program, in a pathway that's going to serve you. you have to know not just what you're academically capable of, but what your interests are, what your values are, the personal fit. You also need to understand the financial fit. And potentially, you might make different choices depending on if you have, you know, are singularly focused or you have other responsibilities that you need to be thinking about. And you want to go to those places where there are going to be additional supports once you get on a pathway. because part of the reason college is so expensive in the conversation that folks are having is because so many students don't actually persist in complete.

And so they're left with their hand in the bag about without something that is transferable and the costs have to come down, right? So it's like you have to be thinking about it for yourself from your own point of view and we as organizations and institutions need to be setting ourselves up to make it more affordable. I'm lucky to be. I know you talked about my role, but I'm lucky to be here in New York where we have one of the best state college, state university and college systems for two years and four year schools. And so, you know, like I was just with the chancellor of SUNY. And I think he was saying that a year's tuition at a SUNY school on average is like $7,000. That is still unattainable for some people. But there are a lot of people for whom understand. the quality of the schools, the programs that they have, and that financial fit might make it a better fit or better choice for them than going somewhere else. Because you really need to be like where your expertise are going to get honed the most. And that might be at the most

well-known school, but it might also be at a school that focuses on that very topic. Right. And that really makes you do better and more complete in the long run. I want to go to my panel. Dr. Dbinga, a question for Elena. Thank you so much for this incredible work that you're doing. One of the questions I have is sometimes when I'm talking to students, you know, as a professor, I'll say to them, you know, really at the end of the day, no one's really going to ask where you went to school, right? Do you feel like that makes a difference nowadays? Like, should students still be looking for the school with a prestigious name, the Harvard,

the Princeton, the Yale's, and risk, you know, going into debt and so on. more debt because they're going to come out with the big network, you know, that could possibly help them deal with that? Or does it really just make sense to go wherever your budget can take you and then build from there? Does that network still really matter in this day and age of all of the problems that you're talking about financially happening? It's such a complicated question because there's this research out there that I learned from being at a session with young people. Microsoft actually looked into this research that says 80% of people get their jobs through their network. So on the one hand, and that's like, feels reasonable to me because that is true for a lot of the people that I know that, you know, through connections, they got their roles.

But I think that it's not necessarily the name in that way. No one asks me where I go to school, where I went to school. and I also don't offer where I went to school. What I am talking about is was the training that I got, the program that I got the best one to set me up to do whatever the thing is I'm trying to accomplish. And so I think what I would say to a young person and what I would honestly tell my younger self

is that the name actually matters less than if you are sure that what that place does, what that program offers is going to give you the thing that you want. You know, like what I didn't do when I was young and I wish I had and we have our students and one goal doing is like researching, what are the jobs that the folks coming out of this, you know, major that you want to be here or this program that you want to be in? What are the jobs they are getting? How are you paying attention to that?

Because that is not the way I approached my own educational career. And I think it was a misstep in some ways. loved my schools, you know, wouldn't complain. But they probably weren't my right fit schools, all of them at that time. President of Jones, a question for Elena. It's funny, Omaha Congo sort of stole my question because I was going to say that my son said to me, Mom, does anybody ask you when you went to school? Because I was always on him about making really good grades.

or mom, does anyone care that you graduated in Magna Coulin? And I was like, come to think of it, no, no one's ever asked me that. So that was a question. But congratulations. Well done. I will say that I will, but it don't matter, right? But what I will say is this, I have a lot of young people working in my office. My summer internship program are college kids who happen to be from Houston who come in.

And literally, they have said to me, like one of the young ladies who's an intern, is in college, she wants to go to law school. She's stressing about how she's going to afford law school or how she's even going to stay in college because of how much it costs. And that's including grants and scholarships and things like that. And so I guess my question for you, Ms. Harper, is this.

Sometimes we do the best when we have to struggle and fight for it. And the example is this. A lot of people, like, I don't want to go to Third Good Marshall School of Law, which is the law school at Texas Southern. People, a lot of people don't think HBCU's education compares to PWA education. But some of the best lawyers that I've met graduate from Third Good Marshall Law School, because if you can survive Third Good Marshall and learn how to get by without a lot of resources and people that just love you and teach you how great you are, then you can compete.

in every courtroom wherever. And so do you think it's fair to say that wherever you can go that you can afford it may be the only option, but even in that, you can get greatness out of it? A thousand percent. You can get an excellent education at every single school, and you can get a crappy education

at every single school. What really matters, I think, and this is what we try to work with young people to understand is, do you know yourself? Do you know what you want? Do you know your purpose? Why you are going there? What it is that you're hoping to accomplish? And then, like, even when those kind of like roadblocks or potholes come up in your pathway, making sure that, like, you understand that foundation and you understand yourself enough to navigate through them. That's really like the most we can hope. for any young person. To the young woman in your office who is interning, I would say go where you can afford because what you need in the end is that JD and you need to be able to like practice law to do the thing that you want to do. Does it matter the name of the school if you are accomplishing your goal? It really doesn't. Well, as we depart, I want to ask you one final question. You are in New York City, how is it that people get connected with you and how do you work with them? Is it one-on-one coaching? How do they even get started?

That's a great question. One goal is a program and we actually work with high school. So we're in about 20, 25 schools across the New York City area and we've recently expanded outside of the city up into some of the suburbs and into the rural Wayne County area. And so, yes, you have to kind of, in order to be connected with one goal, you have to go through your high school. But you can reach us and we can reach out to your high school on our website, one goal.org. And also to be connected to me personally, you can find me on LinkedIn, Elena Minor Harper, Dr. Elena Minor Harper, and I will connect with you. All right. Financial aid, real quick, do you lead them to resources for that?

Because that is a big deal. it's like a whole school in and of itself to learn that process. Absolutely. FAFSA and in New York, you know, we have for our students who might be undocumented, we have the TAP program. And so there are lots of resources, but it is changes every year. And so that's a huge piece of the work that we do because the financial fit, you have to know what you are eligible for and what to go after is a lot of the work that we do.

Helping educators direct their students towards figuring. out that process. All right. Great information. Atlanta Harper, the executive director of One Goal, New York City. I am assuming and hoping

that people have watched this and they're going to reach out to you. You've been great. Thank you so much for being with us. Thank you for having me. Have a wonderful evening. All right, you too. You're watching Rolla Martin Unfiltered

here on the Black Star Network. Stay with us. We'll be back after a short break. Eating well shouldn't be complicated, but somehow it turns into recipes, prep, cleanup, and half your Sunday gone. Factor solves all that. These are fresh, ready-to-eat meals designed by dieticians, delivered to your door, and ready in just minutes. No prep, no cleanup, no excuses. And it's not just about convenience. You're getting real food, balanced

nutrition, and zero artificial stuff. Meals that help you stay on track for all of your goals, without the grind of doing it all yourself. Grilled chicken, roasted veggies, steak plates, postables, They taste like something you get in a restaurant, but they come out of your microwave in two minutes flat. If time, cost, or effort have been holding you back from eating better, Factor just took those off the table. Right now, get 11 free meals and free shipping. Hurry, this offer won't last long.

Go to FactorMeals.ca and use code power. That's 11 free meals and free shipping, but only with the code power at factormeals.ca. Factor, Canada's number one ready-to-eat meal delivery service. The new Red Bull Dragonberry and Tropic Berry Energizers, now at McDonald's, made with freeze-dried fruit and an electric burst of flavor. The all-new Red Bull Energizers, now at McDonald's. This product may not be right for you. High in caffeine, details on McDonald's.cai at participating Canadian restaurants excluding Quebec.

Hey, this is Hayes Davenport. And Sean Clements. We host the podcast, Hollywood Handbook. Every episode we're trying to help our guests improve their careers by mainly focusing on how they can help us, improve our careers. The show is famously super accessible so you can easily jump into any of our 650 episodes and understand what's going on. We recommend some of our recent episodes with Ben Stiller. The definition of what is a movie has kind of changed anywhere too, right? What do you think it is now? It's images and words being spoken, captured by some sort of

technology. Danny McBride. He loves it. Oh, that's fantastic. And you make it on, you make your own. That's great. I call him tarot read. That's a good name. They're all named after cast members of American Pie. Yeah. Oh, gotcha. I call, I don't, I never looked up if she was in this, but I call him Leachie Sobieski. Yeah.

I don't think she was an American Pie, but I still like that. Haven't looked it up. She was prominent around the same time. Yeah. Then Mary Steenbergin. Why are you guys talking to me? I'm worried. I'm worried.

Why are you talking so down to me that you think I don't understand your little play, play game? I just really. I get it. I'm trying to set you up for success here. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea. Every week, the news gets worse. The world gets crazier.

And Yamanika is here to tell whoever's responsible, you're the problem. If you come over here to play games, I'm a check you. Okay? If you do some in the news that don't sound good, I'm going to play you. Join Yomeneka Saunders as she breaks down the week's most problematic stories on her new podcast. You're the problem with Yamanika. Do you know I just found out who Sidney Sweeney was? New episodes weekly every Wednesday is part of my new network,

the Dear Chelsea Network. If he got a bunch of women, then I should have a bunch of men. Do better or do less, so I don't have to do so much. So join Yamanika each episode as she answers one question. Who's the problem? I'm Yamanika, and I'm out. Listen to You're the Problem with Yamanika on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

To get approached for a second. My mom had questions about her Medicare, so she called Chapter, a Medicare advisory company, and she texts me right after saying, it's a great benefit. It was easy. A real person walked her through the whole thing,

and now she understands better what's going on. But also it's not just her. A woman in Yonkers wrote in, saying the process was so simple, the enrollment was easy, and she was so glad she called. Then there's Maryland, 90 years old, in Florida, living on Social Security.

Her premium climbed every single year north of $400 a month for coverage she could barely afford anymore. So what does she do? She called Chapter. They found her the same top-tier coverage for hundreds of dollars less. 90 years old, and finally, somebody in

her corner. I hear stories like that again and again from our community. The Medicare system was not built to work for you. Too much fine print. Too many plans. Yet Chapter's advisors are independent and honest. The only Medicare advisors that compare every plan nationwide. They're focused on one thing, what actually works for you.

If you're already in the right plan, they'll tell you. No games. And people who switched to a chapter saved an average of $11,100 a year. All takes us 20 minutes. You talk to a real person and it's completely free help. So call chapter at 724-264-8-281. 724-264-8-281. That's chapter.

Let me ask you a question. Why do so many people seem to think they know black men so well? What they think we want, what they think we need. Hell, they even tried to tell us why and how we voted. They never had a conversation with us. Never asked us how we felt. What brings us joy? What makes us angry?

What makes us scared? How do we live? That's what this show is about. No translation. Because we don't need anybody speaking for us. We can speak for ourselves. This will be a show where we bring brothers on that you don't see on every other talk show. Nope.

Brothers that are doing work. in local communities with black men for black communities. We're going to hear each other and try to understand so perhaps we can move forward together. No translation, because we don't need anybody speaking for us. What we need is each other. No translation. Right here on the Black Star Network.

Check it out. I'm Russell L. Honorary, Lieutenant General of United States, are retired? And you're watching Rollo Martin on Filth. So the family of an unarmed black teen killed by Austin, Texas cops is not buying the claim that the 17-year-old orchestrated a, quote, suicide by police. Now, according to the police, on July 24th, Anthony Williams II called 911 and reported a young person who may be brandishing a gun in a parking lot. Three officers responded to that call, and Anthonyil was shot several times. The Austin Police Department released several videos and the 911 call in question from that early morning shooting.

Here is the call. Police fire EMS on mental health service. Police. Address? 110, Baden Lane. And what's the-Baden Lane, B-A-D-E-N? Bade and Lane. This is a house department of Duplex.

It's a parking lot. I'm looking out of my window. There seems to be a kid. It looks like he has a gun. I'm not sure, but he keeps on, I'm not sure, but he keeps on messing with his waist in. I seen something in his hands. It looked like a firearm, but I'm not sure. When you say kid, how old?

I'm not sure. He just looks very young. So like a teenager? Yes, sir. Okay. Is he, like, brandishing it, or does it just happen to have it? Brandishing it, I'd say, yeah. I'd say brandishing it.

Towards someone, or is he just by himself? By himself. Officer Jake Pitcher's body cam video was also released, and we want to warn you what you, what we're about to show you is disturbing. We're going to give you a few moments to turn away, and then we are going to take this body cam from that evening. Hey, keep your hands out. What's going on, bro?

You're right? You're doing all right? You're doing all right? Hey, keep your hands out. Watch the truck behind us. I'm reloading. So here's a part of the official statement from the Austin Police Department about the incident. Officers attempted to de-escalate the encounter by directing Mr. Williams to keep his hands up.

Mr. Williams lifted his shirt and reached for his waistband at 4.2 a.8. At 4.02am, Officer Jake Pitcher, Officer Alexis Cruz, and Officer Avery Zuki discharged their firearm striking Mr. Williams. Officer secured the scene while conducting a systematic search to ensure there were no additional suspects or threats and then began providing medical aid. Austin Travis County Emergency Medical Services later arrived on the scene and continued life-saving measures. Despite those efforts, Mr. Williams was pronounced deceased at four. 25 a.m. Now, protesters are demanding accountability and prosecution for officers involved in Anthony L's killing. Here we have another investigation statement. APD will conduct two concurrent investigations in this incident, a criminal investigation conducted by the APD Special Investigations

Unit in conjunction with the Travis County District Attorney's Office and the administrative investigation conducted by the APD Internal Affairs Unit with oversight from the Austin Police oversight, transparency, and accountability are key elements needed to serve and build relationships within this Austin community. Below is the chain of events that related to this critical incident that will help you understand what took place. As noted above, the details provided here are preliminary, as we are very early in the investigation. Williams allegedly a call police to report a young man brandishing a gun. Officers responded just after 4 a.m. Friday and fired dozens of rounds into Williams after he lifted up his shirt. Williams was unarmed, carrying only

water and a bottle. Now, the officers involved in the shooting are on administrative leave, and the incident is under investigation. All right, you know, there's a lot going on. I want to start with you, Representative Jones. I know the attorney and you is itching to figure out just what to make of all of this. There's so many contradictory things in here. I want to know what you picked up on. So first of all, I'm pissed. They murdered him. And I didn't see him raise his shirt to brandish a gun, a weapon. I didn't see that. And I was looking at what you just showed. One, Two, I don't know how many shots each one of those officers unloaded, but they unloaded a lot of shots. So he's on the ground, and then they're screaming, stay down.

Let me be clear. Your self-preservation, somebody hits you somewhere, and it hurts you, you're going to move to touch it. That's just what you're going to do. So he's a threat. He's on the ground. He hasn't shot at you. You've done all the shooting. I wonder, I'd be curious to know, are they on paid leave?

I'm certain they are. They shouldn't be. They murdered this kid. they murdered them. And it's so funny to me, as a criminal defense lawyer, officers get all this advanced training to do things in every single solitary time that people say they use excessive force. That was afraid.

You know, I was afraid. So on the one hand, you have all this advanced training and you should know how to discharge your weapon safely or what have you. But on the other hand, you act like you're a regular person. Which one is it? Do you have special training or are you scared like a regular person who has no training with guns? But what I literally saw with my eyes is that they murdered that baby.

They murdered him. They didn't take time to ask any questions. If he's trying to show them he doesn't have anything, he's raising his arms up. So he's going for a weapon. Why is that the presumption? But what I'm certain of is if he were white, it wouldn't have gone down like that.

He'd still be alive. They'd have been talking to him. They'd have called his parents or they tried to help him get home. Or they'd have called someplace that they thought that he was suicidal. He wouldn't have been dead. and he wouldn't have had all those bullets in him.

So the people in Austin are rightfully protesting. And in their little statement, they talked about, oh, in order for us to have a better relationship, there's transparency, y'all already covering up the narrative, even the way they wrote their statement to help you understand what happened. So don't believe your lying eyes, man, go on with somebody else.

You murdered him. They need to be sued. Those officers never need to be police officers. anywhere else. And I pray for the family of Mr. Williams because he was murdered by the police and we should not be getting murdered by the police. But it's 2026. I've been black on my life.

And that's why we don't trust the police. And Dr. Dabinga, they jumped in front of this narrative as quickly as possible calling this, let's see, suicide by police. First of all, how interesting that they would think that a young man would think this through and that, I mean, it's really an indictment on the police

that a young man would be able to say, allegedly, oh, suicide by police, because I know they'll kill me. Number one, that's interesting for the police to even say, yeah, count on us to kill you. And number two, they jumped in front of the narrative so quickly, like Representative Jones said, you know, don't believe what you're saying, basically was what you can infer from that

before you look at anything else, let me tell you what happened. They got in front of that narrative, and we have been seeing a lot of that before any full investigation. Well, yeah, it actually has me thinking of the Nolan Wells case, you know, in Mississippi and how, you know, the sheriff there and their department, you know, basically came out with their own conclusions, right? And some of these other guys whose names I don't want to give any platform to, you know, are interviewing these kids and having their own conclusions drawn as well before an investigation is even done. And it makes me think about it as relates to this. I want to pick up on two things that Representative Jones said. Number one, the number of shots that were fired at this young man. It was at least over 12 shots towards him.

And again, the second part of what she said, all of this training, but yet those five words, I fear for my life, seems to get these officers off every time. There needs to be a deeper investigation into this. There needs to be better type of de-escalation. But like you said, the de-escalation seems to be. work when it comes to white people. Why can't they be coming into these spaces with non-lethal weapons that can still put people down? I understand that people say this isn't like TV where you just like shoot for a kneecap or something like that, but you can come in with non-lethal

weapons. But when it comes to our community, we don't get that benefit of the doubt. So given what we know, as our representatives said, we've been black all our lives, we've seen officers get off for less than what we're about to see here. And so the fact that they're, already forming this narrative, the suicide by cop narrative, which everybody knows them, law and order and all of these things, it's really setting them up at level two. It's really setting them up with an advantage in this case. And who was speaking up for this child? Who's speaking up for what he was dealing with? Who's speaking up for maybe a mental health issue that was going on as well? He deserves that. Family deserves that. And the protesters out there calling

for justice also deserve that as well. Representative Jones, I mean, when we talk about mental health issues, we always hear this. We always hear how officers are just not equipped to deal with any mental health issues. Even some of those who've gotten training, they do not meet the mark. And that is possibly what was going on here. I'm going to say it again. I saw what I saw, and you saw what we all saw. They murdered him. But I will tell you that whenever I have these officer-in-ball shootings in my law practice, the police always... ways are terrified, and that's why they did what they did, they'll empty their entire chamber and they'll keep shooting until there's nothing there. But what I've seen, even as a city

council member, which we were over the Houston Police Department, right? And now as a state rep, we're over like state police. What I know from the police when I hear is they don't teach them to non-lethaly shoot. They teach them to hit center mass. That's what they teach them to do. So we think that they are trying to wound you. And when they shoot the gun, they are trying to kill you every single solitary time, which is exactly why. If they're going to discharge their weapons, I mean, they need to make good and damn sure that the person that they're shooting at is, I don't want to say that there's ever a time to shoot somebody just to wound them.

But if they shoot, they absolutely intend to kill them. So I think you need to think long and think hard before you discharge the weapon. And I think, Oma Congo, it was more than 12 shots because all of them were unloading. There were three officers.

And they unloaded a lot. And the first step shots, then there was a don't move, don't move after he was clearly on the ground. And then there was the other shots. So they intended to kill him. And I'm surprised it took him so long to call him as dead

because they said he wasn't called his dead until 4.20. that baby was dead before they finished shooting, period point blank. And I'm livid right now because this kind of thing never happens to white kids, ever, ever. And if, and they say that that was Antoneal who called, he was very calm on the phone, very calm on the phone. He didn't sound suicidal. He didn't sound like he was trying to agitate the police. He didn't sound like any of those things.

So, yeah, and this isn't new. The police always jump in front of these officers and involve shootings and try to make the person who got killed, who was murdered by them, the villain some kind of way. Either they show pictures of them looking, you know, their worst pictures that they ever took in their life, or in his case, because they couldn't say he was angry

because of the call he made before, now it was suicide by cop. So they find these narratives, and they cannot pee on us and tell us it's raining. They can't do it. And I'm so angry right now. I don't know what you do. I'm so angry right now.

I'm just so angry. All right. Well, as we get more details of this story, we will be covering it here on Roland Unfiltered. Let's talk and move on about Black August. A lot of people haven't heard of Black August. Have you? If you have not, you're not unlike a lot of people. Black August is an annual commemoration

dedicated to remembering black political prisoners and the struggles for black freedom in the United States. Organizations such as the Movement for Black Lives and Black August are launching Black August sessions. This month-long cultural initiative highlights Black resistance against racial, colonial, and imperialist oppression. And to tell us more, movement for Black Lives, Rukia Lumumba, of the People's Advocacy Institute joins us now. Thank you so much for being with us today. Having me. And all right, can you all hear me okay?

Yes, we can hear you okay. Listen, for people, and I just read it introduction, obviously, but I would love to hear in your own words, how you ideally want to see Black August be celebrated, recognize as people around the world and try to understand what this is about. what this is about. You know, it would be remiss of me if I did not start by just acknowledging the very important segment just around the baby, the teenager, and Anthony Williams the second.

All right. You know what? I'm going to jump in a little bit. Your audio is breaking up a little bit. So technical issues, if you give us just a moment here, as you continue to tell us about Black August, give me an indication back in the control room as to whether or not we are there or not. Okay. All right. We don't have her yet. I think it's very interesting, Dr. DeBinga, as we get her, just briefly, that we have this Black August. I'm sure you've heard of it.

A lot of people have not, but we've heard about Black History Marble. So, you know, how do you make sense of the two of those? We have different holidays, you know, throughout the year that honor much of America's heritage as relates to white people. And so I feel like it's very important that, you know, we can have a lot of diversity in what we do as well. Black History Month, MLK Day, June Teeth. I mean, these are all different types of opportunities to honor us. And I believe from what I understand about Black August started, you know, in the early 70s after, you know, two black prisoners were killed within weeks of each other. And so this is something that we have to be mindful of. There are so many

opportunities to honor what has happened in our experience that for those of us, for those out there who try to just give us, you know, those 28 days and say call it a day and rarely want to do anything about that. We're 365 as relates to our experiences here in this country that we built. And so it's extremely important. I know people talk about this within the United States, but, you know, overseas, you know, my dad was a political prisoner. And it's really important to understand how this works and how this gets honored. And with what little history we were getting in school before all of this anti-D-EI backlash, this is an opportunity for platforms like the Black Star Network, you know, with the guests we're

having, Ms. Lamumba. I mean, my dad was a teacher in Eastern Congo. So this is extremely important. Yes, yes. And thank you for that. We have her back, Ms. Lamamba. Thank you so much for being with us. You said that you would be remissed if what?

That's where we dropped you. Yeah, if I just didn't start by just acknowledging Anthony Williams the second and his heart is in the killing, his killing and also want to start by that. And this is why Black August is so important. It is a time that we acknowledge our countless organizers, activists, freedom fighters who sacrifice their freedom and their lives and the struggle for Black liberation. Something that we're still fighting for today. It is a month of remembrance of reflection of study and recommitment in our ongoing struggle

for Black liberation. As our beloved currently incarcerated elder, Mumia Jamal tells us, August is a month of meaning of repression and radical resistance, of injustice and divine justice, of repression and righteous rebellion, of individual and collective efforts to free the slaves and break the chains that bind us. Those are the words. Can I, I'm going to jump in. I want to jump in and ask how can you direct people

to celebrate and recognize these Black August sessions? What's a good way for a community to start if they have not been doing this? What are people already doing that you think is worth repeating? Yeah, one, you study. August is

about study. It's about training. It's about fasting and it's about fighting. And so we study during this month, study about our history, all of the great struggles and the great victories that we've had in August, but also all of the great hardships that we've had. It's a great time to study. And so if you go to mfobiel.org, you can see a list of resources for our Black August resources. It's about training. It's time for us.

We have to be healthy. We have to exercise. We have to be ready. at any time. What they say, we have to stay ready so we don't have to get ready. And it's also about fasting. Fasting is important. It's about discipline. The ability to discipline our minds, our bodies, our souls. So whether it's fasting from sun up to sundown or giving up something like sweets or choosing to only eat at certain times of the day, it's about that discipline, exercising that discipline. And then it's also about fighting, continuing to fight for our justice, for our people, and for liberated in a better world, right? And so that's what Black August is about.

And we've run out of time, but I just want to highlight again Black resistance against racial, colonial, and imperialist oppression. I want to thank you so much for giving us an idea. And filling in the blanks for a lot of people who don't know what Black August is all about. Thank you so much for being with us and good seeing you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Absolutely. All right.

Let's go to a commercial break. You are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered here on the Black Star Network. We have another guest for you. Stay with us. It's a good one. All right, folks. Let me get personal for a second. My mom had questions about her Medicare.

So she called Chapter, a Medicare advisory company. And she texts me right after saying it's a great benefit. It was easy. A real person walked her through the whole thing, and now she understands better what's going on. But also it's not just her. Woman and Yonkers rode in saying the process was so simple, the enrollment was easy, and she was so glad she called. Then there's Maryland, 90 years old, in Florida, living on Social Security.

Her premium climbed every single year north of $400 a month for coverage she could barely afford any more. So what does she do? She called Chapter. and they found her the same top-tier coverage for hundreds of dollars less, 90 years old, and finally somebody in her corner. I hear stories like that again and again from our community. The Medicare system was not built to work for you. Eating well shouldn't be complicated, but somehow it turns into recipes, prep, cleanup,

and half your Sunday gone. Factor solves all that. These are fresh, ready-to-eat meals designed by dietitians, delivered to your door, and ready in just minutes. No prep? no cleanup, no excuses. And it's not just about convenience. You're getting real food, balanced nutrition, and zero artificial stuff.

Meals that help you stay on track for all of your goals, without the grind of doing it all yourself. Grilled chicken, roasted veggies, steak plates, postables. They taste like something you get in a restaurant, but they come out of your microwave in two minutes flat. If time, cost, or effort have been holding you back from eating better, Factor just took those off the table. Right now, get 11 free meals and free shipping. Hurry, this offer won't last long. Go to factormeals.ca and use code power.

That's 11 free meals and free shipping, but only with the code power at factormeals. Factor, Canada's number one ready-to-eat meal delivery service. The new Red Bull Dragonberry and Tropicberry Energizers now at McDonald's, made with freeze-dried fruit and an electric burst of flavor. The all-new Red Bull Energizers, now at McDonald's. This product may not be right for you. High in caffeine, details of McDonald's.ca. At participating Canadian restaurants excluding Quebec.

Hey, this is Hayes Davenport. And Sean Clements. We host the podcast, Hollywood Handbook. Every episode we're trying to help our guests improve their careers by mainly focusing on how they can help us improve our careers. The show is famously super accessible so you can easily jump into any of our 650 episodes and understand what's going on. We recommend some of our recent episodes with Ben Stiller.

The definition of what is a movie has kind of changed anywhere too, right? What do you think it is now? It's images and words being spoken, captured by some sort of technology. Danny McBride. He loves mouth. Oh, that's fantastic. And you make it on, you make your own. That's great.

I call him Terro Reed. It's a good name. They're all named after cast members of American Pie. Yeah. I call, I don't, I never looked up if she was in this, but I call him Leachie Sobieski. Yeah. I don't think she was an American Pie, but I still like that. Haven't looked it up.

She was prominent around the same time. Yeah. Then Mary Steenbergin. Why are you guys talking to me? I'm worried. I'm worried. Why are you talking so down to me that you think I don't understand your little play game? I just really.

I get it. I'm trying to set you up for success here. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea. Every week, the news gets worse. The world gets crazier. And Yamanika is here to tell whoever's responsible. You're the problem.

If you come over here to play games, I'm a check you. Okay? If you do some in the news that don't sound good, I'm going to play you. Join Yomeneika Saunders as she breaks down the week's most problematic stories on her new podcast. You're the problem with Yamanika. Do you know I just found out who Sidney Sweeney was? New episodes weekly every Wednesday is part of my new network, the Dear Chelsea Network. If he got a bunch of women, then I should have a bunch of men.

do better or do less so I don't have to do so much. So join Yamanika each episode as she answers one question. Who's the problem? I'm Yamanika and I'm out. Listen to you're the problem with Yamanika on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Too much fine print. Too many plans. Yet chapters are independent and honest, the only Medicare advisors that compare every plan nationwide.

They're focused on one thing. what actually works for you. If you're already in the right plan, they'll tell you. No games, and people who switched to a chapter saved an average of $11,100 a year. All takes us 20 minutes. You talk to a real person and is completely free. Help.

So, call Chapter at 724-264-8-281. 7-24-264-8-1. That's Chapter. Let me ask you a question. Why do so many people seem to think they know black men so well. What they think we want, what they think we need. Hell, they even tried to tell us why and how we voted. They never had a conversation with us. Never asked us how we felt. It brings us joy. What makes us angry? What makes us scared? How do we live? That's what this show is about. No translation,

because we don't need anybody speaking for us. We can speak for ourselves. This will be a show where we bring brothers on that you don't see on every other talk show. Nope. Brothers that are doing work in local communities with black men for black communities. We're going to hear each other and try to understand so perhaps we can move forward together. No translation because we don't need anybody speaking for us. What we need is each other. No translation. Right here on the Black Star Network.

Check it out. My name is Bill Duke and you're watching. Nolan Park, unfiltered. And nationwide are increasingly delaying motherhood into their 40s to focus on career and personal goals. achieve financial stability and wait for the right partner. Now, according to the CDC's national vital statistics reports, birth rates are rising for women age 40 to 44 in the U.S. about 12.5 per 1,000 women are conceiving. Though it may not be too old to have a baby, it might be harder to

conceive, stay pregnant, and deliver without complication. And joining us now to discuss all of this is OBGYN, Dr. Roshanda Mitchell. Thank you, Dr. Mitchell, for being with us. us today. Listen, a lot of people are thinking about having children, even within my friend group, or even adopting babies, right? Because sometimes that's the option. But what are your thoughts about, you know, the right way to approach this? Because when you are in your 40s, it's very difficult to have a baby. So what are the questions that you should be asking yourself to say this is the right decision for me? Right. So thank you. First, Thank you for having me.

I really appreciate it being on here to discuss such an important topic. But I think there are some questions that we should ask ourselves if we are choosing to have children after the age of 40. And I think it should be, we should reframe it as not a delay, but we're choosing to have children after the age of 40. And some questions that you really want to ask yourself is, what is my current health status? Because your future really matters when you take a look at everything, such as, as the age, we are more prone to chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity. And so we want to make sure that we're in the best health condition that we can go into because pregnancy is not benign, okay? It is a wonderful experience. However, it does put a little extra stress on the body.

So from a medical perspective, I would definitely say you want to make sure that your health is in top, top tier shape. Second thing is to look forward to is what is your support system going to look like as you choose to have or start your family later in life? because there will be many of us at this time. You're going to cross pass of if you have parents, you're going to be taking care of aging parents, as well as taking care of your new baby and establishing your new family. So there will be that extra needed support.

And so I know a lot of us have good, great girlfriends that we talk about having as support. So I think that is a wonderful thing. And the third and final thing is making sure that you develop a wonderful team to help you bring this beautiful bundle of joy into this world because not only during the pregnancy, but in the postpartum and in the first couple of years of life, that's finding a doctor that you have a great relationship with,

you know, having a doula or a midwife or. and other healthcare professionals that will support you through the journey and make sure that you see the end of it. And both of you all are healthy at the end. You know, if this was the 1980s, 90s, people would not be talking about it in this light. What changed over the years? Was it culturally? was it, you know, health-wise, that maybe we are healthier in some ways?

What do you think has changed? A number of things that has contributed to it. One, we know that black women have delayed fertility for years now because they wanted to establish themselves professionally and make sure that they were able to take care of their family. And so, one, the ability for women to take care of themselves and their family has definitely increased. We know that black women are amongst some of the most educated of people in this nation,

as well as some of financially, some of the top earners in their household. And, too, let's not forget technology. Technology has also assisted in that reproductive assistance. now many women who are seeking their career had the ability to freeze their eggs or freeze embryos and then go back and start their family later. So technology has definitely added to that. And I do agree, there is a culture shift.

I just had the wonderful privilege of assisting in the birth of one of what I call my mature mamas, who is over the age of 45, bring her child into this world. And one of the things that she said is I grew up with that idea that I must have a two-household parent household. And with that idea, I had delayed having a child because I wasn't married then. But then she said my mind started to shift once I became a little bit more financially stable and knew that I could support the child. and also build a support system, both male and female, to support this new bundle of joy that I would be welcoming into my life.

So it is more of a choice that women are making these decisions after the age of 40, which I think is wonderful. But I do think there are some considerations that we should look at when we're doing this. Yes. One of the considerations in terms of, you know, being healthy, what do you see is there a thread that black women are from the studies that you know kind of have or something that they generally go through that overall also keeps them back in terms of just health? What health-wise makes a woman really not a good candidate or something that they need to correct before they get pregnant? So I'm a maternal fetal medicine physician. So I deal with high-risk pregnancies. This is what I do. And these are the numbers and the things that keep me up at night. And so like in 2004, the maternal death rate for black women over the age of 40 was 148 per 100,000,

where for white counterparts, that number was only 59 per 100,000. Now, you have the same biology, the same time. age, but there are other things that play into it, and we know that racism is one. We know the system as a whole, but also we have to think about our starting health at 40. Some of the things and risk factors is that we need to look at obesity. We know that obesity can contribute to things like diabetes. We know that if you come into pregnancy with these things that you are increased risk of having, having a poor perinatal outcome.

You have to worry about preeclampsia. We know that's elevated blood pressures in pregnancy, gestational diabetes from being overweight. And let's not forget that as we age, you do have an increased risk of having a child with a chromosomal abnormality. Now, that doesn't mean it's the end all be all. We have tests for that.

And the second part about that is that we know people with Trisomy 21, also known as Down syndrome, are living healthy lives and going on to, you know, have children themselves. So I think, you know, medicine overall is evolving. So things that you, I would say, really make a difference is managing your weight, managing your blood pressure because cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of maternal morbidity and mortality in the United States. So managing those things and diabetes or any other chronic conditions such as thyroid disease and things like that, making sure that our autoimmune disorders such as lupus, which is very common in our community, making sure those will control before we step into motherhood at that time. All right. Well, as we close, quick question. And that is,

this. For someone who might be watching, and let's say they're 47 years old, and they are in good health, what do they do right now to prepare? I would imagine it's a little different than someone who's 28 years old, or does it change much? Yeah, so, you know, I would say see a fertility specialist right away. Do not delay. Some of us, we delay because we don't want to accept some of the realities and some of the difficulties associated with childbirth. or becoming pregnant at such a late age. And so, you know, overall, I think, of course, society, we need to, you know, shift so that women can have their children at a younger age,

but that's a whole other topic. And then one of the things that I would say is like black women, we are having babies at 40, not because we ran out of time. It's just that, you know, we're having them because we finally have time to have them. And our job in medicine is really to make sure that the decision doesn't cost them their lives. And so right now, I would really encourage them to go see a fertility specialist, also known as a reproductive endocrinologist, go see their OBGYN and build your team. You need somebody on your team like me, like a maternal people medicine physician who understands some of the risk factors that are associated with it. and also be honest with yourself.

You may not be the candidate for the at-home birth because of some of the comorbidies associated with it. And if this is your last time at giving motherhood a chance, then you want to make sure that you optimize the outcome. And so being available for both, being having medical care available for both you and your child is important and essential in that. Making sure you have a doula, make sure you have your, whether it's your partner or whether you have your family members there to support you in this journey is really important because mental health is also plays an essential role in maternal morbidity and mortality. So the trend is to stay strong. We're going to work with you all to decrease this maternal morbidity and mortality disparity. and, you know, those would be the things that I would really encourage them, build your network,

and we are here for you in this community. Come and see us. All right. As you said, Black women choosing to have babies at a later date. Dr. Rashonda Mitchell, thank you for being with us today and catching us up on everything that we need to know for women who are going down this lane. Good to see you and good to have you. All right. Thank you for having me.

All right. I also want to thank our guest, Dr. McCongo da Bingo, A. Scott Bolden, and Representative Jolanda Jones. Thank you for being with us today. And thank you for being with us here on the Roland Martin Network here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. As always, good feeling for Roland. Good to see all the comments come in. And I will see you next time on the Roland Martin Network. This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea. Every week, the news gets worse. The world gets crazier. tell whoever's responsible, you're the problem. Do you know I just found out who Sidney Sweeney was? If he got a bunch of women, then I should have a bunch of men.

Do better or do less, so I don't have to do so much. I'm Yamanika, and I'm out. Listen to You're the Problem with Yamanika on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, this is Hayes Davenport. And Sean Clements. We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook. Every episode we're trying to help our guests improve their careers

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You gave everything you could give, and now it's time to take the next step. Hey, it's Emily Tish Sussman, and this season on She Pivots, the podcast where women share bold career moves and personal turning points. I sit down with culture-shifting women who share their pivots like Elizabeth Smart.

I still feel that drive that I can still make a difference, so I'm going to keep going. And feminist legend, Gloria Steinem. All of us were trying to express women's real lives. Listen to She Pivots on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. New school year, same beautiful mess.

Good Mom's Bad Choices is back to talk back-to-school realness. the guilt, the giggles, and the choices no other show is brave enough to admit. Mom Life is calling, and I have my last motherfucking volleyball tournament of Irie's club team volleyball, and I cannot wait for the to be over because I don't like participating and having to drive far distances. Shout out to the moms and my mom who made it happen. Listen to Good Mom's Bad Choices from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast.

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