#RolandMartinUnfiltered - GA Mostly White Jury, Voting Rights; APA Racism Apology; Rodney Reed Denied; 750,000 Covid Deaths

Episode Date: November 5, 2021

11.04.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: The white judge presiding over the murder trial of the three white men who killed Ahmaud Arbery, a black man jogging in a south Georgia neighborhood, admits there may have been potential discrimination in selecting the mostly white jury. But he's allowing it. We'll break down the jury makeup, let you hear what the judge said, and talk to Ahmaud's mother and her attorney.Jesse Jackson was released from the hospital after falling on the campus of Howard University. He'll join us to tell us how he's doing and update us on the student protest.  Black women leaders take to the steps of the U.S. Supreme court to demand congress pass laws impacting voting rights & economic justice. President & CEO, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Melanie Campbell, will join us to talk about today's rally.  The American Psychological Association issues an apology to people of color for its role in perpetuating systemic racism and discrimination in the U.S. We'll talk to the organization's president to find out why they needed to apologize. A black man on death row in Texas is denied a new trial despite evidence that could prove his innocence. #RolandMartinUnfiltered partners:Nissan | Check out the ALL NEW 2022 Nissan Frontier! As Efficient As It Is Powerful! 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3FqR7bPAmazon | Get 2-hour grocery delivery, set up you Amazon Day deliveries, watch Amazon Originals with Prime Video and save up to 80% on meds with Amazon Prime 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3ArwxEh+ Don’t miss Epic Daily Deals that rival Black Friday blockbuster sales 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3iP9zkvBuick | It's ALL about you! The 2022 Envision has more than enough style, power and technology to make every day an occasion. 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3iJ6ouPSupport #RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfilteredDownload the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com#RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. in Humboldt, Texas, just outside of Houston, also streaming on the Black Star Network. The white judge in the case of the three white men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery admits that the striking of black jurors showed intentional discrimination, but it is moving forward. We'll talk with Lee Merritt, who's an attorney for one of the Arbery family members,

about this trial and what is going on in this case. And we'll talk about the legal precedent that speaks to how you cannot strike jurors based on race. Also on today's show, Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr. He is continuing trying to mediate this battle between Howard University students and the administration. And we hope to have him on today's show to give an update on what's going on. Black women leaders, they continue their protest in the nation's capital

with regards to voting rights. Today they held an event in front of the Supreme Court. We live-streamed that event on the Black Star Network. And so we look forward to talking with Melanie Campbell, who is the president and CEO of the National Coalition of Black Civic Participation, about that particular event. Also, the American Psychological Association is apologizing

to African Americans for its role in perpetuating systemic racism. We'll talk with the organization's president about that. Also, a black man is on death row in Texas that denied a new trial despite evidence that could prove his innocence. And speaking of Texas, the Department of Justice

is suing Texas over its recently approved voting law. Plus, we'll talk about, you know, we all get up and crazy, my people said. Y'all, it's a jam-packed show. It's time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin, unfiltered, from the Black Star Network, from my hometown of Houston. Let's go.

He's got it. Whatever the piss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. Let's go. He's rollin' Yeah, yeah It's Uncle Roro, yo Yeah, yeah It's Rollin' Marten, yeah Yeah, yeah Rollin' with Rollin' now Yeah, yeah He's bulk, he's fresh, he's real the best

You know he's Rollin' Martel now Martel Intentional discrimination, that is exactly what a white judge in Georgia is saying, took place in the picking of jurors in the trial of on the trial of three white men accused of killing Amad Arbery. Let me walk through the makeup, folks, of this jury of the selected pool of 65 potential jurors. Forty eight were qualified. There were 23 white females, 13 white males, six black males and six black females. The 12 selected included 11 white people and just one black man. The prosecution requested a reverse Batson challenge, which is an objection to the validity of a preemptory challenge on grounds that the other party used it to exclude

a potential juror based on race, ethnicity or sex. Now, although Judge Timothy Walmsley acknowledged, quote, there appeared to be intentional discrimination in selecting the jurors, he rejected the prosecution's motion. In this particular case, Batson's limitations, I think, are clearly out there. In this particular case, there are these significant overtones of race to begin with and then we have numerous additional preemptory strikes we're not just limited to the ones that statutorily sit out there and then we have extensive questioning of each of the panelists which start differentiating everybody for different reasons based on answers that are given.

Because of that, it becomes very difficult for the court to start working through this problem of, are these really genuine reasons that are out there? And it gets to the point that I think was raised actually in the Batson decision. I wrote it down. Justice Marshall in his concurrence was talking about Batson decision. I wrote it down. It's Justice Marshall and his concurrence. He's talking about Batson. And he said specifically, the decision today will not end the racial discrimination that preemptories inject into the jury selection process. And the reason he said that was because his view of it was that preemptories just give the parties the opportunity to place the court and the system into this balancing of race versus legitimate purpose. And again, this case makes it difficult because race has been injected into this process, and we have a significant number of preemptories.

All that's to say, I've worked through each one of these. I've listened to the defense. Again, in the state of Georgia, all the defense needs to do is provide that legitimate, non-discriminatory, clear, reasonably specific and related reason. I have very adept counsel here and they've been able to explain to the court why separate from race those individuals were in fact struck from the panel. It does not change the fact that that initial finding was out there. It doesn't feel like that is how it worked, but it's been explained to the court under the terms of Batson why those particular strikes were made.

And the court is not going to place upon the defendants of finding that they are being disingenuous to the court or otherwise are not being truthful with the court when it comes to their reasons for striking these jurors. So because of that and because of, again, the limitations, I think that's in places upon this court's analysis. Folks, this, of course, is raising all sorts of questions. And with this trial already began, today was a hearing for last minute trial motions as opening arguments are scheduled to begin in the morning. Joining us right now, one of the family attorneys for the Arbery family, Lee Merritt from Brunswick, Georgia. Also joining us right now is Ahmaud Arbery's mother. Glad to have her on the show as well.

Wanda Cooper-Jones, thank you so very much. Folks, this is already troubling to have the judge look on up to this notion of intentional discrimination. Lee, I've been talking to other attorneys who say that Batson is, this is very interesting because Batson is normally invoked by the defense. It's normally invoked by the defense as opposed to the prosecution. It's rare to see the prosecution raising a Batson challenge. Yeah. And in this case, the court referred to it as a reverse Batson challenge or McCullough challenge, because in this case it is the prosecution saying it's the defense team that are striking out the black jurors.

But because of the limitations in Batson, in terms of what we can do about it, as long as they can offer a legitimate reason, which in a place like Glen County, where everyone expressed some sort of opinion about the case, they could just rely on all those factors to strike these jurors. Ms. Cooper-Jones, it certainly has to be troubling that this case trial hasn't even started and already racism is its ugly head. Yes, it has. But I'm still I remain hopeful that we will get the right outcome with these chairs they selected. So let me let me ask you this. And just for the folks at home, their picture is frozen. We still have their audio. So we have that, please.

So, Lee, you know, look, this this is a story that is driven by race. Race is a part of this story. And the fact that we're already having to deal with it at the outset of it, for many people, they say it's already troubling. I agree. It's going to be a problem. We're going to have to address the issue of race head on in this case. The prosecutors have had to prepare their case knowing that they're going to be going in front of a jury pool in Glynn County, who was a part of the community that said for 74 days, the men were defending themselves and showed early support, were part of the hunting club, knew the McMichaels. And so that is one of the obstacles that we're facing in this case. I guess the silver lining in all of this is, number one, the evidence is overwhelming. The defenses are ridiculous. In order to apply self-defense appropriately as a defense,

they have to prove that Ahmaud Arbery was the initial aggressor. There's no way they proved that. In order to prove that this was a citizen's arrest, they have to prove that they were witnessing Ahmaud Arbery commit a crime. Ahmaud Arbery is on film for the last moments of his life. He committed no crime that would have justified a citizen's arrest. And so those are the silver linings. And then the safety net that we have in this case is that there are both an ongoing state

prosecution from the attorney general's office and a federal prosecution from the DOJ for these men. So if somehow they avoid accountability in this case, which we don't think should happen, the feds will have another bite at the apple. It is. Unfortunately, I talk to a lot of mothers and fathers, Miss Cooper Jones, Ms. Cooper-Jones, and it's always hard to have to have these conversations when we're talking about the loss of a loved one. What is it that you want the public to do, look out for, and frankly stand with you in this moment? Because this is going to be a gut-riching thing every single day. I just put us in their prayers. I wasn't very happy about the jury selection, but I do believe with the evidence that the state has that we will get justice for Ahmaud.

Just put my family and I into your prayers, and we just hope for the best outcome. That is certainly going to be something to watch out for, Lee, as we go forward with this particular trial. It is going to be tough. But hopefully this prosecution is prepared for the onslaught that we're going to see see coming their way, because, again, they already tried to slander Ahmad's name prior to this trial starting. No, that's exactly it. And there are motions being heard today where they're going to try again to get in his mental health records,

where they're going to try to get in any previous encounters with law enforcement. The judge has been pretty assertive that none of that actually has anything to do with what happened on February 23rd of 2020, that evidence does not come in. But they're trying to both scrub racism from this case. They're trying to remove the fact that they were, they had a Confederate license plate, that they use racial slurs at the scene and that they regularly use racial slurs in plotting this murder on social media and through neighbor apps and that, that, you know, race is in, a key factor in this case. All right, then.

Certainly glad to have both of you here, Lee Merritt, as well as Wanda Cooper-Jones, the mother of Amal Arbery. Thank you so very much. And we'll be following this every single day. We're on my panel right now. Recy Colbert, Black Women Views, glad to have her on the show. Michael Imhotep and also Georgia Fort. Glad to have all three of you here. I'm sorry, my bad, Greg Carr.

I had the wrong information there. Greg Carr, thanks a lot. Glad to see you here, Georgia Fort. Recy, Greg, and Georgia. Greg, I want to start with you because you're a law background. It's very interesting when we cover these cases how people who don't understand the law begin to realize what happens when you learn, when you're seeing these trials, when you're watching the live streams, when you're when you're when you have lots of attention to have the judge have this white judge go, yeah, this is this is probably

intentional discrimination of these jurors. But then saying hands were tied, it shows you how unequal this criminal justice system is. Yeah, when people start talking about criminal justice reform, I just start laughing. The system is set up to do what it's doing. The Batson v. Kentucky case, which is the case that tried the issue of whether or not race can be dealt with when you're making a jury selection in the section of a jury, has always been weak. And in many ways, Judge Walmsley's hands were tied. However,

a great deal of this is up to the discretion of the judge. Now, no judge likes to be overturned and overruled. And had he allowed for the receding of some jurors who were exempted after rigorous questioning on a Batson challenge, then no doubt the defense would have appealed. And it's called a reverse Batson in this case, as you said, because the prosecution entered the Batson challenge. Normally it's the defense, as you said. But that having been said, his fairly honest description of the white racist criminal justice system was quickly followed by the recognition that the Batson

challenge, when you make a Batson challenge, the burden shifts to the defense to put up a reasonable explanation as to why you shouldn't allow for the reseating on race. And when you look at how some of these black jurors were questioned, I mean, you exclude somebody from the jury pool because they knew Ahmaud Arbery? Come on, bro. Let's be serious. But, see, the question then becomes the reasonableness standard. And so you get into the vagaries of judicial decision-making based on how you construct

what a reasonable person is. And of course, the reasonableness standard then just gets you in a world of trouble, because there is no such thing as a reasonable person. This is another way where race operates. And finally, I'll say this. This judge has been on the bench for about a decade. He was appointed by Governor Nathan Deal. This isn't really about his motives, but it is about how the system is stacked against black people. As he said, there are two ways to select jurors. One is the peremptory strike, where you just get rid of people and you have to give a reason.

That's one way you get rid of a lot of black people in a pool. The other way is the challenge for cause. And that's where you try to get your questions put in a way so that you can create some kind of veneer of reasonableness that will give you the excuse to get rid of black people in a jury. And notice, and I think somebody will probably mention this in a minute, the defense complained because they didn't have enough 40 and over non-college educated white men. They call it the bubble pool. And, you know, you might not need a bubble pool. You might not need a bubble pool because you only got one black person in the whole jury pool, including the alternates. They've set up a jury that's probably well disposed to,

if there's any way possible to let these guys off, do so. But as Lee Merritt said, it may be difficult even under those circumstances. Recy, this is going to be one of those cases that a lot of eyeballs are going to be on. Every move is going to be dissected. And already people are seeing how troubling it is for Black folks to get justice in this criminal justice system. Absolutely. I'm so glad that Dr. Carr broke it down in terms of the implications of the judge's ruling in a potential appeals court, because my first instinct was, ain't that about a bitch? He didn't sat up there and said how this is racist.

But then he turned around and said, oh, but, you know, racist schmaces, we're going to go with it anyway. The system is broken for justice, but it is working as designed. And I think that even, you know, they have these court precedents that they cite, but they're toothless when it comes to protecting Black victims. Because we have to remember, this is not Ahmaud Arbery who's not on trial. He is the victim of this modern-day lynching. And yet the burden is on him to prove that he's a victim. And he's being re-victimized over and over and over again. So it's very disheartening, particularly when you think about, let's just even set aside the evidence of this particular thing. Let's set aside the

predispositions of what people might be inclined to do here, as Dr. Carr pointed out. But look at the atmosphere that we're in, where white folks is rebelling. They got their big win in Virginia when Glenn Youngkin and critical race theory and education is now the number one priority. Education being a euphemism for let's make sure that racism is not, you know, challenged or discussed in our systems. And, you know, that's what concerns that there is, it's going to be difficult to get a conviction if you look strictly at the demographics, but the evidence is overwhelming. Will that make the difference? I think that'll depend on the judge's instructions. It'll depend on the prosecution. And it'll depend on how much of this crap gets put in there

about Ahmaud Arbery that makes these people look like they are the vigilantes and the slave patrols and they were doing a service to the community. I hope that isn't the case, but this is very troubling, very troubling news. The one other point I wanted to mention, though, and again, let me preface this by saying I'm not criticizing Black residents of this town, but I did want to just point out that 50 percent of the people called for jury duty did not actually report. I don't know what percentage of Black people decided not to report or anything, but I just wanted to say, even though there are these racist challenges, even though the odds are

stacked against us even being seated for a jury. If you do get the opportunity to be called upon for jury duty service, please answer the call. You can't help what the judge decides. You can't help what the attorneys decide. But you might be able to make the difference between a fair trial by a jury of your peers, of a defendant's peers. Georgia, you covered the George Floyd trial. This is going to be one of those that all eyeballs are going to be on Georgia for the duration of this trial. Yeah, absolutely. And as Dr. Carr and Recy just stated, these criminal justice systems are not really designed for us. And so it is very concerning. I know in that town, I think it's about 26% African-American. So that's part of the reason

why we didn't see a huge number of Black people even being considered for this jury. But nonetheless, while, you know, the judge is saying, hey, we're following the rules, at some point, American citizens have to step up to the plate and say here, just because it's legal does not mean that it's right. And so for decades, if not centuries, we have had this criminal justice system that allows all white juries to move forward and oftentimes produce convictions that are not in our favor. And a lot of times even producing wrongful convictions, right?

And so I think that what we've learned over the last two or three years is not just this huge need for an overhaul with policing and police accountability in this country, but we're also seeing, because there's these high-profile cases that everybody is paying attention to, we're seeing an examination of the criminal justice process. We're looking at what things are in place that are contributing to the inequities. And the jury selection process is among those things. We really need to reform

the way in which jury selection happens. We need to examine the laws surrounding the jury selection process. And we need an overhaul because that is such a critical component of the criminal justice system. And it is contributing to why we're seeing either no justice produced in cases like, I would say, Philando Castile, right, or wrongful convictions. And so, yeah, I think that we are overdue for examining those processes and coming up with new ones. All right, folks, got to go to break. We come back more on Roland Martin Unfiltered, talking about a number of things, including a case out of Texas where black man denied an opportunity to have this case. We heard even though the evidence may show he's innocent. Speaking of Texas, where I am right now in Humboldt, Texas, here at the Lighthouse Church, the Department of Justice, the Biden

Department of Justice is suing Texas over their Senate Bill 1, their voter suppression bill. We'll give you an update on that as well. Lots more to talk about on today's show. We'll be back in a moment right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. ТРЕВОЖНАЯ МУЗЫКА Betty is saving big holiday shopping at Amazon. So now, she's free to become Bear Hug Betty. Settle in, kids. You'll be there a while. Ooh, where you going? Hi, how you doing?

It's your favorite funny girl, Amanda Seals Hi, I'm Anthony Brown From Anthony Brown and Group Therapy What up, Lana Well And you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks, welcome back. We're at the Lighthouse Church here in Humboldt, Texas, just outside of Houston. You can call it Houston if you want to. So glad to be here. We are here, part of McDonald's Gospel Inspirational Tour. We'll be sharing more of those details with you later.

Let's talk about what is happening here in the state of Texas, where today the Biden Department of Justice announced that they are suing the state of Texas over their controversial voter suppression bill. The department cites the restrictions will disenfranchise eligible voters and violate federal voting rights laws. This comes as efforts continue to pressure lawmakers to do more. Today, in front of the Supreme Court, black female leaders, they were there making it known that they want action in the United States Senate. Earlier this week. Of course, you had a vote on the John Lewis Act.

It did not pass because Democrats were not in the filibuster. Joining us right now is Melanie Campbell. She, of course, is with the National Coalition of Black Civil Participation. Melanie, always glad to have you back. Before I go to you, this is what Congresswoman Terry Sewell, who held from the black belt in Alabama, a bill with the name of John Lewis on it, that it's about restoring the full protections of the Voting Rights Act, can't get a proper hearing on the floor of the Senate. These same senators who came to my hometown with him year after year to walk across the Ebb and Beddows Bridge,

they have an opportunity to do something about it. They do. To put their vote where their mouth is. Oh, they love to talk about how we honor John Lewis. Well, this is the best way to honor the legacy of John Lewis, is to pass S4 for the John Robert Lewis voting rights advancement out. We want it now. You know, Melody, a whole bunch of Republicans who love going down to Selma every year with John Lewis, taking what I call a voting rights field trip. And then it will come back to Washington, D.C., and then do nothing. What we're seeing is the exact same thing here. And so for the people who are watching who say, why do y'all keep going down? Why do y'all keep having these weekly protests,

these direct action? It doesn't make any difference. What do you tell them? There's no such thing. History is a great teacher. And there's no such thing as fighting for our rights without continuous street heat, if you will. And so it does make a difference. It's not the only tool, but it's part of the tools that have gotten us over in this country, and that's called peaceful protest. And so we're going to keep showing up. We also today, Roland, Congresswoman Sewell and Congresswoman Beatty and several others came and we met with them prior to the protests to get a better understanding of where things were and also learning what as the Midwest, from Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi, Pennsylvania today, and well, it's right around here in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, to come out today with us. It was really focused on those leaders coming to also meet and also to share

in this continuous battle. Of course, partnered with National Council of Negro Women and thanking you for your support is continuously helping us get the word out. And then really encouraging people to stay vigilant. And what we committed to doing, we attempted to do that, and that is saying that, because the Senate is where it is. The other thing that, when Congresswoman Sewell talked about those Republicans, we just coined the phrase, the shameful 49,

because you do have one Republican, Senator Murkowski from Alaska, who did vote. But 49 Republicans. We know we're pushing. We know we've got challenges with Senator Manchin and others. But also, we need to not let those 49. And for them to do what they did yesterday,

we coined the phrase for them, the shame for 49. And we need to put pressure on them, those who represent states. I'm glad you brought that up because the black folks in Florida need to be putting pressure on Rubio and Scott. The black folks in North Carolina should be putting pressure on Tillis and Byrd, the black folks in Mississippi, in Alabama, in Tennessee, in Arkansas, in Louisiana, the black folks in Missouri. The bottom line is this here, where you have significant numbers of African-Americans, they need to be demanding and these organizations in those states should be protesting in front of their state offices because guess what?

Black, these people are still constituents that's right and several of them are up for re-election in 2022 and so so that's that so that's kind of where we we left it after what if they did that with john lewis's name on it really no and so we we see what we're up against and we're going to have to just keep fighting. And I do believe we have to put more pressure and I agree with you that we have to put pressure and shine the light on, shine the light on what's happening. You know, Mitch McConnell, you know, a lot of black folks last I checked in Kentucky, you know, and I think it's time to also not not let pressure off the White House or the Democrats on changing the rules or carving out, but also put pressure on those Republicans who are playing games with our voting rights. I want to go out of my panel here. Questions from the panel. First off, Risa Colbert. Hi, Melanie. Thank you for all that you're doing.

Thank you. Thank you, girl, for all you. I was watching you. Can I stop? You were on it. Your analysis of Virginia was down on top of it. Thank you. Thank you. You know, actually, I want to put a plug in for Congresswoman Terry Civil, because you mentioned the 2022 elections. Alabama has an election down there. You know, this isn't specifically on the topic of voting rights, but has there been any kind of consideration beyond protesting in terms of mobilizing? We need to get a Black woman in the Senate. We need to, you know, increase our actual power in those halls, because with Vice President Kamala Harris out of the Senate, we have nobody representing Black women specifically there.

So I'm just curious. I'm not saying, I'm not asking you to break any news, but what are your thoughts on somebody like Congresswoman Sewell running? You also have Congresswoman Val Demings, who's already declared in Florida. On a personal level, since I'm a 501c3 organization, on a personal level, I think it would be awesome.

I think we definitely need to push for more diversity of black women in that Senate. We really need that. But also, I work really in support of Higher Heights for America that does a great job. We also sit on the chair of the board of the Sisters, Lead Sisters vote that's led by Holly Holiday and support those organizations that do that. But we do need to pay attention. And on a personal level, I know Florida, the numbers are there for there to be a shift in power in Florida. Thank you. Georgia, your question, Georgia, your question for Melanie. Melanie, I echo what Recy said. Thank you so much for your work. I am based out of Minneapolis, and of course there's been a lot of organizing around police accountability here following the murder of George Floyd. to the young people who got out and they voted, but they didn't see the turnout that they wanted? They didn't see the George Floyd Policing Act passed on a federal level, and now they're discouraged even seeing, you know, the attack on voting rights. What do you say to the young people to keep them inspired about using their ability to vote?

First, thank you. Thank you for all you do in Minnesota to make sure that folks know what's happening. I'll say, I'll flip it, because we have a lot of young people who came to D.C. to be a part of this protest who they were telling us they're not going to let their voting rights be taken away. And that gave me, honestly, motivation to keep on fighting, because we didn't have to convince them to show up, right? And that was what's important. And they've been coming not just to what we've been doing,

Black Women and Allies with NCW and others, but also showing up for all that whole summer. So I think that young people get the connection to the things that are important to them, and all of us really when it comes to the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act critical legislation that was never even voted upon, that they're connecting the dots. And so today they were really fired up at the speak out from the states that I had mentioned and really encouraging us to keep fighting and supporting their leadership as well. And they were in no ways tired.

And yes, frustration is there. Disappointment is there. But also understanding that you have to keep fighting and there's no such thing as winning and then going... Because there's always, unfortunately... I was like, can we just get a year that we don't have to fight? Well, I have not seen it. I would not say to you that I would have expected

to have to fight and do nonviolent civil disobedience in order to fight for our voting rights. But there have been several young people who have stepped up and put their bodies on the line in a lot of these protests. I think Martin Third and his wife and daughter yesterday, they were out there with Cliff and a lot of folks I think it was yesterday or a couple of days ago oh no it was yesterday things are meshing because there's so much that's being done to try to make sure that we continue to fight until we win it because we don't have a choice but to win

not saying it's going to be easy but we're going to have to keep fighting alright Melanie Campbell as always appreciate it thank you so very much thank you thank you Roland thank you all going to go to a break we come back All right. Melanie Campbell is always appreciated. Thank you so very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Going to go to break. We come back. We'll talk to Reverend Jesse Jackson, a senior, about his discussions and mediation of a dispute at Howard University. He's also in Indiana demanding federal intervention in the case of Jelani Day, the young brother, Illinois State student who was found.

His body was found. Parents, his family still believes foul play was involved. He did not kill himself. We'll discuss that and other issues next right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. On the Black Star Network, broadcasting live from the Lighthouse Church here in Humboldt, Texas, outside of Houston, back in a moment. Oh, that spin class was brutal. Well, you can try using the P.O.X. massaging seat. Oh, that spin class was brutal. Well, you can try using the Buick's massaging seat.

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Hey I'm Dion Cole from Blackist. Hey, everybody, this is your man Fred Hammond, and you're watching Roland Martin, my man, Unfiltered. Well, folks, he turned 80 years old a couple of weeks ago, but Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr. continues to be involved in the fight. This week, he was at Howard University with the students there as a part of their Blackburn takeover, raising issues with housing conditions and other issues in the university. Also, meeting with the administration and trying to mediate this dispute.

He's in Indiana today with the Jelani Day family. They are demanding federal intervention into that particular case where the young man's body was found. They say committed suicide. Family disagrees. Reverend Jackson joins us right now on the phone. Reverend Jackson, always glad to have you here. First and foremost, what is the latest with Howard University? Are we going to see a resolution of this dispute between students and the administration?

Oh, boy, it must not necessarily be the military. I was negotiating in 1989 when Puffy and Rock were there. They had the, on top of the buildings with guns. Same thing in 2018. The military came in fearing some kind of takeover, just overreaction. I told the president, don't make the mistake of calling the military on the end, trying to take the Blackburn building back. I engaged in the negotiation. I tried to deal with the plus side of both, trying to reconcile.

For example, the president is a very qualified man. The medical doctor, not only is the medical doctor, he still works actively at Howard Hospital as a physician. The reason why one of the other presidents combined is a blind spot on the protest side. But that's the point I tried to get him to deal with. First of all, he assumed the students were more outsized than insized. There's no outsized in there. I got there Saturday. There was one lady who was creating a little havoc, who did not belong there.

She was saying it's just too, just split it out. I happen to have known her in movement circles, and so I was able to get her to leave by the confrontation with students. But they're all students, and the pretty thing they're doing, Roland, is that they're not just occupying the building. They're also going to class. They go to dorm and take a shower, and they go to class and come back, and they're rotating on ships.

So they're the last men in the academic break. They're doing academic work. I mean, they're really working hard academically in protest. That's a beautiful thing, you know. And I asked him about the issue of expulsion. He said, they didn't think they'd be expelled. He said, I said, they fear that. So he agreed that they would not be expelled.

He told me about housing. He said the house was all fit. The students said, well, not. I said, well, if that's happened since you started, you'll do the five or six dormitories with me and them, and if there's any mess up, clean it up. If not, you agree with that. The other thing he agreed to was putting the students back on the board of directors. Students must operate at the highest level of government, you know.

The fourth thing I think was very critical that the agreement has to be signed memorandum of understanding. He didn't want to do that. That's the point where it involves mutual trust. Students are not going to be expelled. They're going to get done with the sling, and we're going to have the greatest chance of winning. That's pretty much the deal. Now, I would hope that we would get back on it.

I think he gives the case back to the lawyers. Lawyers go far afield from what we agreed to on that day. I went back over to talk to the students that night, and I slipped and fell, because the pockets of general education were equilibrium. So I fell. But it was not the battle for all. It was just that they wanted to be sure.

And so I was out overnight. I went back working. I went back to meet the students yesterday before coming to Chicago to go down to Blooms in Illinois tonight because we were going to blow some care about Jelani Day at Wide Open. I want to ask you about that. Again, you are returning to Illinois. Again, we had the mother of Jelani Day on a couple of weeks ago, and you were saying that there should be federal intervention in this case

to find out what happened to that Illinois state student who was found in a body of water there. It was determined that it was a suicide. The family disagrees. That's a big, big lie. We took 1,000 suicides and people last Monday, I guess it was, Tuesday. And we went to where the truck went over in behind the library. Honestly, how the truck got to the woods and stepped in over the library. We found out that the clothes were three miles from that,

about a mile and a half from that on the other side of the river. His body was decomposed. They could only identify him by his blood type. It was a horrendous, immature-type murder. But the more we press it, the more we get reactions. For example, the small-town justice is always operating against us, you know. And now we got the police chief asking the FBI to intervene. But we're putting pressure on Peru, Illinois.

Tomorrow we're going to have a meeting. Now it's a school where you attend Illinois State University. We're going to have a march tomorrow at noontime from the police headquarters in Bloomington to the to the headquarters at that's true so we got some leads you know we the two ladies he had lunch with two white girls he's friendly with they immediately got lawyers there's an internet service there he had a relationship with the internet service. They had a YouTube that the professor was upset about.

His wife had a crush on him. So as it gets kind of funky and we load up like that, he's going to lead somewhere. We don't know where. We want a full federal investigation. It's a hate crime. It's gonna lead somewhere. We don't know where. We want a full federal investigation. It's a hate crime. It's a hate crime. A planned hate crime. We want those who did it to face justice. Before I go to Greg Carr, my panel with questions, Reverend, I got to ask you this here. You turned 80 a couple of weeks ago. You've been battling Parkinson's disease.

You fell down this week. Why do you keep doing this? You could, look, you're 80. You could easily, you had a stunning and amazing life and career. Why not relax? Why stay on the go? Why still show up in Indiana and come to Howard and still travel and still protest?

You were there for the March for Democracy in Austin. Why do you keep doing it? God doesn't let me live for a wheelchair, for a reclining chair. I live to work. I work to live. I find joy in my work. I'm fulfilling my work. So when it's trying to get more vaccines for Africa,

because there's no vaccine, it's much done. I'm also stepping in gaps with nobody that is. One of the leaders on the Howard case, on the July the Day case, I'm stepping in gaps, and yet I communicate with Reverend Sharpton and other groups. I've been to the anniversary of Rainbow Bush. It'll be the first Saturday in December. Reverend Sharpton is my special guest that Saturday. We keep building coalitions.

Let me say this to you. Most of the 80s started preaching. He was 85 and he said, give me this mountain. He didn't ask for a little thing like give me a reclining chair. I said, I want the mountain of the Voting Rights Act passed, the President protected it. I said, I want the mountain of decent wage for those who work and the health care for children. So, I'm sure asking for the mountain and God keep giving me strength to climb the mountain

that I'm dealing with. I'm excited about that. Let me say something about Virginia last night. There's been no abouts announcement, but my own. I want Virginia in 84 and 88, you know? For some black and one statewide, when he's four, the while he can look to the governor 85. When he's eight, he became governor 89.

So we know the state pretty good. I asked Sarah McCullough and his people, three or four weeks left by Senator Davis to love his chair. They never called back. I think, I'm not sure what they thought. What I do know is that the black vote was not excited about that campaign. Then I think what the states were in it.

Now, let me say something else. When you tear down the Robert E. Lee statue, I mean, Lee is a religious symbol of the Confederacy. Those who tell the statue now must also work to offset the voters offended by this coming down. You know what I'm saying, Sam Rowland? So if you tell the statue now, for example, if they focus their own students in the college, the 200,000 plus in Virginia, those students who have an interest in the statue coming down,000 plus in Virginia, those students who have an interest in the statue coming down,

they were not targeted. The way they vote now, if you live in Virginia, and you're from New York, where you live, they were not really targeted. You take the other thing, is that the town water in Suffolk

was not really, really targeted. So I'm is that the Tidewater and Suffolk that were not really, really targeted. So I'm convinced that the Confederacy is underestimated in the South. But you're around Texas Confederacy territory. That's why you had more unregistered for the vaccine blacks in the South because the governments were saying

it was all right, they'd have to. And we were dying in great numbers. In the South, we're still fighting the Civil War. Greg Carr, your question is for Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr. Thank you, Roland, and thank you, Reverend Jackson. I'm glad you're doing well, brother. And I hate that you had to engage in shell diplomacy between the A building and the student center on the same campus. That should tell us something. And thank you for securing amnesty for those young people. Could you help everyone understand the difference between

a mediator and a representative? I'm asking that because the young people have made it pretty clear that they are not going to end their protest until they have an in-person town hall meeting, until full voting rights are reestablished for the students, faculty, and alumni affiliate trustees. And so I know you didn't go over there as their representative. You're trying to resolve. Could you help us understand the difference between mediating between two sides and representing one side or the other. And thank you again for everything you've done, brother. Believe me, as a member of that faculty, thank you for staying with us.

I went to the meet with the students. I met the students on Saturday. I went to the demands were that they couldn't do all this with the president. So I meet with them all together. So I took the demands to him. One concern they had was would they be expelled from school? So that was implied. He said

it wouldn't. That was one of their demands. Secondly, the idea of getting board and other students back on the board. He agrees to that. Third, the leadership housing. He said on the third room tab, Mo, he said 12 dormitories were infected. So he said he would go meet a group of students to, he said 12 Dumbatoes were infected.

So he said he would go, meet a group of students, those Dumbatoes, see if that would happen. So we were dealing with the students' agenda with him. I think that some of his misconceptions, he thought they were violent. I said, the students are not violent. They're not bringing up no garbage cans, they're not bringing up no desks. I can buy any building, as they're not violent, you see, they're bringing up no garbage cans, they're bringing up no desks. I can buy any building so that it's nonviolent. The violence would be if they were, as the Panthers have done,

there's some fires on campus. They're not academically, they're designing some help, they go in the class. They're smart enough to be rotating their ships, follow what I'm saying? And that last point is this idea of they're having the stress.

Hold on. They're going to hold out. We encourage them to hold out until the president agrees to these deals with a memorandum of understanding that they can all live with a memorandum of understanding. He must see the value in that.

And I said to them, don't picket his house. That's a mistake. Picket the president's house, Biden's house. Picket the Congress. And so the money we have, $45 billion in the budget, it's down to $3 billion now. So I think the president would respond if he would join us. He is one of the few guys in America that could ask the Black Caucus 65 members strong, or the five Latinos, to go to Congress and speak to the Congress about the needs of black and brown children. He could make such a gigantic speech.

He'd be the top educator in the world. It's a vision, but our vision leaves us buried. You must see beyond. You can't be an eagle around with the rabbit's head high. Thank you. Thank you, Reverend Jackson. it's always a pleasure. You always know that anytime you want to speak to the issues, you can come on here. The last question I have for you before we let you go, and that is a lot of people are saying Democrats had a big loss on Tuesday night.

Fact of the matter is you had people who won, black mayors who won in many different places as well. Jim Carville has come up. James Carville has come out and said that woke ism is killing Democrats all across the country. What do you say the Democratic Party should, what should they be focused on when it comes to these 2022 midterm elections after what took place on Tuesday in Virginia? What should they be doing? For example, the absence of labor in West Virginia is such, I mean, you go to West Virginia

with organized labor and the mine workers and city colleges, put 100,000 people in Charleston, West Virginia and turn that whole state around. We have organized labor, put 150,000 people in. That fight didn't take place without

organized labor on the sidelines looking to fight. It was jobs and justice and income and better wages. So that's the piece, it was jobs and justice and income and better wages. So that's the piece of it, it seems to me. I'm concerned that the reach out to blacks was a caveat period by President Obama and by Ms. Harris, Representative Harris. But that is not getting down to the blacks in Suffolk and Norfolk and Tidewater area.

So if I had gone out, I would have gone straight to where the votes came from. They elected me twice in the state. Elected Doug Waller twice in the state. For some reason, Doug Waller was not a part of the campaign. That suggests a communications problem right there. So you're not going to be able to circumvent leadership and make progress on black people. I'm going to say again, Roland.

I appreciate it, sir. Roland. Roland? Yeah. We don't necessarily have the power of the Confederacy. The Confederacy is still on down. You lost the Confederate States are still,

all the time you lost the war, you still could fly your flag. You took statues erected in the US Capitol. The Confederacy is more real than we think it is. And it's a religion. Whenever you tackle that thing, you better have your alternative posts in place. It's just on the time of Trump.

Trump is a a hero. He created both of his guys. Just by slaying loads in the last week. All right. Reverend, I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Love you, Roland. Yes, sir.

Love you as well. Thanks a lot, Reverend Jackson. Folks, got to go toola. Yes, sir. Love you as well. Thanks a lot, Reverend Jackson. Folks, got to go to break. We come back. The American Psychological Association. First of all, I'm about to blow that out there. So I'm going to take talks next with the president and CEO of the American Psychological Association. They are apologizing to people of color for their role in systemic racism.

We'll hear from her as to why this apology now. Next, I'm Roland Mark Dunn-Filch with the Black Star Network. НАПРЯЖЕННАЯ МУЗЫКА Maureen is saving big holiday shopping at Amazon. So now she's free to become Maureen the Marrier. Food is her love language. And she really loves her grandson. Like, really loves. Hey, I'm Donnie Simpson. What's up? I'm Lance Gross, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. filter. All right, folks, welcome back to the Lighthouse Church here in Humboldt, Texas.

Certainly glad to have you here as we are broadcasting here. All right, folks, the American Psychological Association announced this week an apology to people of color for the role that they played when it comes to systemic racism. We thought that was interesting. So we reached out. So joining us right now is Jennifer Kelly. She is the president of the American Psychological Association. They're based there in Atlanta. Glad to have you with us, Dr. Kelly. So why now? How did you how did you arrive at this moment to issue this apology? Why? Yes. Well, I think the apology has been long overdue. First of all, thank you for having me here. So as we started looking at systemic racism in this country, we knew that as psychologists, we could make a difference in society and improving people's lives. But I felt, and we knew that in order for us to really

make the difference that we need to make in society is that we had to start looking inward and clean our own house first. And we had to address the systemic racism and some of the things that have happened to the people of color in this country in all the different areas. And so we knew that in order to make the difference externally, we had to first start looking internally and start cleaning our house. And so what did this? Yes, go on. I'm sorry. Go ahead.

I was going to say when we're looking at, we're talking about the indigenous population, African-Americans, we're talking about the Asian-Americans, the Latinx and the the Amina population. So what are some of the things that have occurred that we've done harm? And so to make changes externally, I think that we had to really look internally first and make changes. What exactly did the organization do? So what role did they play when you talk about this systemic racism? Oh, gosh. If you want to start thinking about historical things, we can go back to 1895 when we started looking at some of the earliest examples of scientific racism, and it just went on throughout

that time. At that time, the author argued that racism was like a primitive reflex and that reaction time in people of color was a primitive reflex because they responded faster. And so that's one example. We can go to them talking about the eugenics and the movement with that. And the other thing that we have to start looking at is how psychology made it more difficult for people of color to advance in the profession in terms of admission into graduate programs as as well as licensure and how we can advance in the field so it goes back from 1895 and we just did a chronology what we did was we commissioned the cummings Center, which is, they are responsible for the history of psychology, to do a chronology for us. And that was part of the resolution is to, the apology is to, we chronicled all, it didn't capture everything, but it certainly did capture enough of the harms

that psychologists cause people of color in this country. Questions from the panel? I'll start with Recy. Thank you for being here and for explaining this apology. My question is, is there any kind of examination for the impact of systemic racism through the psychology profession and criminal justice. A lot of times, you know, it plays a role in determining who stands trial or as expert witnesses. Is there any plans to examine that aspect of how it's contributed to systemic racism? I think that one of the things that we know

is that it's been occurring over time. And so we have been looking at like publications, what are some of the challenges that we have with that? We're looking at what we can do in terms of what happens with people of color in terms of getting the grant, the funding for the grants, as opposed to our white colleagues.

So we know that these things have occurred over time and we have all the organizational units of the association really looking at some of these things. When I say organizational units, I mean education, look at area of science and research and in practice as well. All right. Next question, Georgia Fort, your question for Dr. Kelly. Yeah, I would just say, historically speaking, how diverse has the APA been? And do you think that that has contributed to the systemic racism of the outcomes it's produced? Well, I think that if you start, I can first go back to looking at

the population of people who are getting into the profession. And we know that there are not enough psychologists that are being trained to meet the needs of the people of color in the population. And part of that is getting into the graduate programs and then moving through that. And in terms of the American Psychological Association, we have been working really hard in really improving the diversity of the profession. But I think that the more people of color that we get into the field, I do think that and in APA, we're going to see more changes occurring. All right. Greg Carr, your question. Yes. Thank you, Roland. And thank you, Dr. Kelly.

It's very, very good to see you leading that organization as that old the standard book in psychology. Robert Guthrie wrote there was a time in APA that even the rat was white. So it was good. But my question is, my question is around the relationship between APA and the Association of Black Psychologists. A lot of my teachers, Wade Nobles and Asa Hilliard there in Atlanta, of course, Jules Harrell, Ed Nichols, Linda Meyer, so many, congealed around the Association of Black Psychologists in 1968, started in 1968. And we know Robert Williams just made transition. As you look forward with APA and given this renewed, well, this new really push in terms of diversity, equity, inclusion, do you see something on the horizon in partnering with what for many of us in the academy, the organization we look to as kind of speaking

for Black psychologists before we look anywhere else, and that would be the Association of Black Psychologists, and maybe even the other non-white organizations of psychologists as well. Yes, and I will start this by letting you know that I am a member of the Association of Black Psychologists. I have been a member since my graduate school years when I was trained by Dr. Naeem Akbar. And so I know that the importance of having this relationship with our Association of Black Psychologists, as well as the other psychologists of color and the other associations. One of the things that we have done is that we have reached out,

APA has done, we've reached out to all the ethnic psychological associations to meet. And we want to be able to reset and to be able to work together in a more collaborative manner, because we know that we can do more if we can work together as opposed to us working in silos. And so I'm very hopeful that we will have that renewed relationship with the Association of Black Psychologists. And it was formed in 1968, in large part for some of the challenges that they saw that happened within APA.

And we operate under the assumption and the knowledge that they are a sovereign organization, but I do think that we can work together to make a difference in society. So we're hoping that we can do a reset with them. Yes. Thank you. All right. Dr. Jennifer Kelly, president of the American Psychological Association. We appreciate you joining us here on Roland Martin Unfiltered.

Thanks a lot. Thank you. All right, folks, got to go to a break. We come back. Our Black and Missing for the day will also talk about another case out of Texas

and one in North Carolina that you might want to know about. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered here on the Black Star Network broadcasted live from the Lighthouse Church here in Humboldt, Texas, just outside of Houston.

Back in a moment. Oh, that spin class was brutal. Well, you can try using the Buick's massaging seat. Oh, yeah, that's nice. Can I use Apple CarPlay to put some music on? Sure. It's wireless. Pick something we all like. OK, hold on. What's your Buick's Wi-Fi password?

Buick Envision 2021. Oh, you should pick something stronger. That's really predictable. That's a really tight spot. Don't worry. I used to hate parallel parking. Me too. Hey.

Really outdid yourself. Yes, we did. The all-new Buick Envision. An SUV built around you. All of you. Once upon a time, there lived a princess with really long hair who was waiting for a prince to come save her. But really, who has time for that?

Let's go. I'm spilling myself. She ordered herself a ladder with Prime One Day Delivery, and she was out of there. I want some hood girls looking back at it and a good girl in my text break. Now, her hairdressing empire is killing it. And the prince, well, who cares?

Prime changes everything. I'm left, but I'm back at it. Hi, I'm Vivienne Green. Hey, everybody, who cares? Crime changes everything. Hi, I'm Vivienne Green. Hey, everybody. This is your man Fred Hammond, and you're watching Roland Martin, my man, Unfiltered. Khalil Frazier has been missing since August 21st. The 17-year-old is 6 feet tall, 140 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He has a mole under his right eye. Khalil was last seen

wearing a black shirt, dark gray jeans, and dark colored sneakers. If you have any information regarding his whereabouts, please call the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department at 202-576-6768, 202-576-6768. Let's go to Wisconsin, where a juror has been dismissed from the Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial for making a joke about the Kenosha police shooting of Jacob Blake. Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder addressed a request from prosecutors to excuse a juror who had made a joke about the Blake shooting to a courtroom deputy while being escorted to his car earlier in the week. The joke, according to prosecutors, was why did the Kenosha police shoot Jacob Blake seven times? Because they ran out of bullets. Blake, a black man, was shot in the back seven times by a white police officer outside an apartment complex on August 23, 2020, leaving him paralyzed from the wage down.

Rittenhouse is facing multiple charges, including homicide. He faces up to life in prison if convicted. This case right here is very strange to me, Greg, because already you have the actions of this judge, where he has said that they cannot refer to the individuals who were killed as victims, but they can refer to them as looters and other names as well. Also, this judge, talk about being thin-skinned, this is the same judge who actually used time in the courtroom to criticize media people criticizing him. He even took aim at CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. I'm sorry, you're the judge in this case,

and you take time to critique media folk who are critiquing you? Why is this man still on this trial? Because this is America. I mean, I hate to say it that way, Roland, but let's be clear about this. And I've been listening to and talking with some of my friends and colleagues, as Lee said, the facts are there. This man has a very strong possibility of being acquitted, this boy, in self-defense. When you look at the facts of the case and you look at the law in Wisconsin, this little boy right here could walk. He doesn't even need the help of that white nationalist judge on the bench or the lynching jury that they have

impaneled. So rather than to get our blood pressure up, we have to understand that we're going to have to break this system in order to build something different. It is set up to do what it's going to do. And this man is very comfortable in his impunity, in flying his white nationalist flag. He's on the bench because this is America, brother, until we do something about it. But let's just brace ourselves. I mean, this is one we need to watch very closely. But I'm just just a word of warning.

This isn't as open and shut as you might think it's going to be. The it's just Georgia watching this case has been real weird. To the point Greg made, we saw all of these folks coming to his defense, these white nationalists like former actor Ricky Schroeder contributing, raising $2 million for his defense. You also have had, again, how this judge is ruling. I mean, you know, what we're seeing here is a stark contrast to how he is being treated. In many ways, this to me feels like Dylann Roof being taken to Burger King to get something to eat after he killed nine black people at Mother Emanuel. That's right. I mean, we continuously see these examples that are just outright insulting to the black community and the miscarriages of justice that continuously happen. And so, you know, I just hope that there is a new generation

of Black people who are inspired to run for seats like, you know, a judgeship, because we need representation in every single aspect of the courtroom in order to really start to see the change that we need to come forward. It is weird to hear a judge make that kind of determination. But even from a media standpoint, Roland, when you think about the word victim, I mean, when you use the word victim, it automatically evokes empathy and compassion for a person. But not just in the courtroom are we seeing, you know, these white nationalists

not allow Black people to be referred to as victims. But oftentimes when you look at media coverage, there are cases like Philando Castile or George Floyd, where we are seeing the media choose to not use that kind of language. Now, in some instances, you can argue that legally, you can't use certain words like maybe murdered, right? We couldn't say that Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd until that was proven in court for legal reasons. But when you look up the definition of victim, I mean, a victim could be a victim of an accident. It doesn't necessarily have to be something that is determined in the court of law. And so there's so much nuance in language.

And I think that it's why the work you're doing, Roland, with the Black Star Network is so important, and it's why we have to continuously control our own narratives. Recy. You know, I want to remind people that the two men that Kyle Rittenhouse killed are white men. So this is white-on-white crime. But it's not their whiteness that makes them a victim.

It is the fact that they were standing with people protesting for Black Lives Matter. And that's what this defense attorney is trying to make this about. He's trying to make it an indictment on Black Lives Matter and trying to say, hey, if you're a white man and you cross state lines with a gun and shoot people, you can do it as long as you're protecting whiteness,

even if your victims are white men. It also helps in Kyle Rittenhouse's case that one of the victims, Rosenbaum, is a pretty, you know, not well-to-do. I mean, he was a homeless white guy, just got out of, just discharged from a mental hospital for a suicide attempt. And so he doesn't make for the most sympathetic victim because, you know, there is a lot of classism that happens amongst white people. And a lot of white people figure that here where these are they're in words for the sake of this trial, even though they're not actually black people. So it's interesting to see how they get treated. They're getting these victims are getting the black victim treatment in this case. So, yes, we'll call Rittenhouse get off. Most likely there is a troll in your chat and Facebook rolling that is spreading the propaganda already. Oh, he's exonerated based on the footage and things like that.

And so this is a cause now for the white nationalists. And I think that we're going to see that play out with the verdict that ultimately comes out. But I could be wrong. Well, this is, again, one of the one of the craziest things that we're seeing with this trial. Speaking of crazy, let's talk about what was happening here in Texas. A black man who has been on Texas's death row since 1998 after being convicted by an all white jury is not going to get a new trial. A district judge ruled that Rodney Reed, who maintains he is innocent of murdering a young white grocery store clerk, does not deserve a new trial. During this summer's two-week hearing, Judge J.D. Langley heard evidence presented by the Innocence Project.

Reid's team showed the murder weapon was never tested for DNA evidence and proved forensic experts admitted to errors in their testimony during his first trial. They also introduced new exculpatory witnesses as evidence pointing to the victim's fiancée, Jimmy Fennell, who was white and a former local police officer, as the perpetrator. The judge said that was not enough to grant a new

trial, saying Reed, quote, has not proven by clear and convincing evidence that no reasonable juror would have convicted him of capital murder, even if the new evidence was presented. Well, Greg, um, I'm sorry. You make the conclusion that no juror will make a decision. Well, how about we allow the juror to hear it, to make a decision. Roland, this is so important. What you, what you just read right there,

there it is again, reasonableness. Any legal scholar, any lawyer will tell you, particularly a trial lawyer dealing with a jury or dealing with a judge, is that reasonableness standard? That's where whiteness hides. People talk about CRT, CRT. Let's deal with a basic tenet of critical race theory. Critical race theory, one of the basic tenets is that the power of whiteness is often in its ability to normalize itself, to hide behind language for which there is no common understanding. In the law, reasonableness is one of the most weaponized words in interpretation. A reasonable person, would that mean a reasonable Black woman? A reasonable Black man? A reasonable

Asian man? What do you mean? Oh, well, I mean a reasonable white man, a reasonable black man, a reasonable Asian man? What do you mean? Oh, well, I mean a reasonable white man. But since I didn't say a race, we're going to imply whiteness. And in Texas, where the law is as interspersed with whiteness as anywhere in the country, when this judge says that and listen to the language, look at the legal straitjacket. You haven't proven by clear and convincing evidence, meaning overwhelming show of evidence force, that no reasonable juror, not some reasonable juror, one saying, well, you're not going to change us with public opinion. This is why, again, tying it to the Rittenhouse case, we have to be very careful, because,

as Recy said, white victims. But when you look at the definition of self-defense in Wisconsin, and when you look at the footage, Kyle Rittenhouse's defense is going to be, they charged me. I feared for my life. And that reasonableness standard seeping through the minds of those white jurors are very likely to side with him. That reasonableness piece you read, brother, that is the way that they punish black

people in this country. There is no common definition of reasonableness, but the law tries to pretend as if there is. Absolutely. Got to go to break. We come back. I want to bounce this story off of y'all. Where a cop in North Carolina planted fake drugs on a black man.

Cop no longer has a job. Now, how about the cops should be prosecuted? You're watching RoboMart Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Back in a moment. 1. Skruva avgjørelsen av styrkepuffet. 2. Skruva av styrkepuffets styrkepuff. 3. Skruva av styrkepuffets styrkepuff. 4. Skruva av styrkepuffets styrkepuff. 5. Skruva av styrkepuffets styrkepuff. 6. Skruva av styrkepuffets styrkepuff.

7. Skruva av styrkepuffets styrkepuff. 8. Skruva av styrkepuffets styrkepuff. 9. Skruva av styrkepuffets styrkepuff. Norske Klinik I'm going to go get some food. Maureen is saving big holiday shopping at Amazon. So now she's free to become Maureen the Marrier. Food is her love language. And she really loves her grandson. Like, really loves. Hi, I'm Eldie Barge.

Hey, yo, peace world. What's going on it's the love king of rb raheem devon and you're watching roller martin unfiltered coming back all right folks welcome back to roller martin unfiltered let's go to north carolina where raleigh police officer raleigh police detective is out of a job why because he planted fake heroin on a black man. Omar Abdullah was terminated on October 28th, weeks after a group of 15 black men received a $2 million settlement from the city as part of a federal civil rights lawsuit. The lawsuit accused Abdullah

of framing multiple men by falsely accusing them of selling heroin, resulting in unlawful arrests between December 2019 and May 2020. Abdullah was an 11-year veteran of the police force, a member of the department's drug unit, and the 2013 Raleigh Police Officer, Police Employee of the Year. He was placed on leave from Raleigh Police Department last year. The Wake County D.A., Lauren Freeman, has declined to prosecute him. Are you serious, Reesey? See, this is the stuff that's crazy. I'm sorry. If you are a cop and you plant fake heroin on people resulting in

them being charged, that should be against the law. Not just charged, but imprisoned. And they were in some cases in prison for months, even after the so-called drugs tested, and they were in some cases in prison for months even after the so-called drugs tested and they were actually sugar so there is no there was no rush to say oh we screwed up we need to get these men out of jail they spent a combined 2.5 years in jail and that may not seem like a lot between 15 people but all 15 were innocent and what makes it even more full of shit from the DA is that the informant that was part of this conspiracy to frame and entrap these men for these fake charges has been charged with multiple counts. So if there's evidence to charge the informant,

then there's by definition evidence to charge the police officer. This man had been on the force since 2009. Yet this settlement covers a specific group of men from 2019 to 2020, over a six-month period. How many other people have been victim to this officer and his completely just criminal and unethical ways? There needs to be a deep investigation into him, into the entire police department. I don't know if there's a patent and practices investigation that has already happened in this case, but that is something that needs to be done immediately, as well as charges being brought here. But we know that, again, this is another example of the system working as designed. It's not about guilt or innocence. It's about punishment. And it's about getting black men and women behind bars, whether they did the crime or not. It angers me, Georgia, when we see these stories and nothing happens to these cops. It's like,

oh, no big deal. So they are out of a job. No, I mean, that is just simply wrong. When they're lying on police reports, planning fake drugs, and the DA goes, yeah, no, I'm not going to charge him. Yeah, I mean, that's a common theme. It is. It absolutely is. And I feel like that's been the common theme of the show today is all of these examples of the way that the criminal justice system doesn't work for us.

It doesn't work for us when we're innocent. It doesn't work for us when we're dead. And so not only should that officer be prosecuted and be in jail for the crime that he's committed, but we should also now start looking at that prosecutor. And maybe that prosecutor needs to lose their job as well because they're not upholding the law. It reminds me of the prosecutor Jackie Johnson in the Ahmaud Arbery case where she impeded on justice and prolonged the arrest of her former employee, one of the men who's charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery. And now there's even further evidence that potentially she impeded in the case of Kelsey Rayner, who was an inmate who died in jail. And come to find out, one of the wardens in the jail is also a former employee of Jackie Johnson. And so, I mean, tonight already we've

seen instances where a judge has misused their power, instances where officers have misused their power, and even the prosecutors. And so, I mean, when they're in the streets protesting, when protesters are out there and they say the whole damn system is guilty, this is what they mean in every aspect of this system. You know, it just feels like it's all designed to work against us. And the Blue Lives Matter people are real quiet, Greg. Well, they have an ally, it seems, in Nancy Lauren Freeman, who's in her second term as DA there in Wake County. And I agree with you, Georgia. I mean, we have to start looking at these elected officials.

And Recy says this all the time, and you do as well. And we heard again, you know, earlier from Melanie. We have to be involved in the political process. It's an elected office. I saw one of her competitors, one of her ostensible challengers, and she's up for election in 2023, saying that in Wake County, there's a one-page policy for the prosecutor's office as it relates to when to turn over evidence, exculpatory evidence. In nearby Metlenburg County, that's where Charlotte is, a lot more black people in that county, the policy is 14 pages. A lot of this has to do with organizing,

with getting in the street, getting into these elected positions, pushing people. But Lauren Freeman doesn't want to piss off the police. And so she's not going to stick her neck out. Fortunately, though, these brothers have filed a federal lawsuit. And just like Kristen Clark and them have gone after the state of Texas on voting rights, this is why the federal elections matter again.

People who say voting doesn't matter understand that if these men and their families are going to get more relief, it's going to come from the federal level. And that means that all of us, whether we love each candidate or not, need to either organize and run for office or get out there and put people in office that will prevent this type of foolishness when the state has proven it can't handle its business on its own. All right, folks, I've got to pay a few more bills.

First of all, let me thank Amazon, Buick, and Nissan for being partners with us here at Roland Martin Unfiltered. Please patronize those who support black-owned media. When we come back this week after Virginia, Recy got a little spicy. She was not particularly happy with the consistent request for money from the Democrats. So we're just going to share that with y'all and talk about that on the flip side.

Next, a roll of Martin unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. Oh, that spin class was brutal. Well, you can try using the Buick's massaging seat. Ooh, yeah, that's nice. Can I use Apple CarPlay to put some music on? Sure. It's wireless. Pick something we all like. Okay, hold on.

What's your Buick's Wi-Fi password? Buick Envision 2021. Oh, you should pick something stronger. That's really predictable. That's a really tight spot. Don't worry. I used to hate parallel parking. Me too.

Hey. Really outdid yourself. Yes, we did. The all-new Buick Envision. An SUV built around you. All of you. Betty is saving big holiday shopping at Amazon. So now, she's free to become Bear Hug Betty.

Settle in, kids. You'll be there a while. Ooh, where you going? Hi, I'm Eric Nolan. What's up, y'all? I'm Will Packer. I'm Chrisette Michelle. Hi, I'm Chaley Rose, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks, so I am here at Lighthouse Church

in Humboldt, Texas, outside of Houston, and being on my best behavior. So the video that I'm about to show, thank goodness we're not playing it here in church, because I think there were at least 11 F-bombs dropped by Reese. Reese was not, you know, you get lots of emails when you're on these campaign lists, and everybody asking for money.

And let's just say Reese invoked Fan Lou Hamer. She was sick and tired of being sick and tired roll it look i know that since terry mccullough lost in virginia there's going to be tons of strategizing tons of suggestions about what democrats can do i just have one request right now just one no it's not messaging my request is stop fucking begging please i'm begging you to stop begging us at least for a week a month just give us a damn break people are motherfucking tired people trying to put gas in the car put groceries everything high shit i went to mcdonald's damn medium fries is $2.99 and the fries done got smaller and the price done gotten higher.

Motherfuckers is tired. Quit asking us for money. Quit asking us for $5, $5. Oh, I have to meet my mid-month fundraising debt. I have to meet my mid-week fundraising debt. Help us raise $100 by midnight. Leave us the fuck alone. We ain't all got it.

And we ain't trying to give it to your ass if we do have it every time i turn around so democrats spend a little bit less time begging and pleading for money all the time and if you must reach out to us tell us about what the fuck you're doing y'all still up there complaining about how the media doesn't tell people and nobody knows what's in the plan because of the media the media media but me when i get 100 motherfucking emails from democrats all day begging and pleading for some damn money. Spend some of them emails

telling us what the fuck is going on so that when it's next time to vote, people know, well, okay, the Democrats did this for me, they did that for me, this, that, and the other. Y'all raised a billion dollars. How many hundreds of millions of dollars? And you just raised money to tell us

to give you more money. Get it the fuck together because people are tired of this goddamn 365 day perpetual campaign cycle from all around the country unsolicited shit that's part of your problem i don't know ain't nobody else gonna want to say it because people get paid from campaign financing but i don't get paid from that shit. So I'm going to tell you, just leave us the fuck alone. Give us a break. Quit asking about mid-month, mid-day, mid-night, mid-everything,

campaign deadlines, and just let people be great just a little bit. Y'all give money, then you turn around and beg for it right the fuck back. Leave us alone, just if for no other time for the rest of the week. Please. So I think I counted at least eight F-bombs and four MF-bombs. And Greg,

even your brother, the pastor, had to thank Recy for that particular video. He did. Reverend Carr. My brother appreciates a good curse word, brother.

Look, I wasn't counting. I was too busy enjoying the inflection on MF. That was a unique voicing there. It was just quite, you didn't go to the fore, motherfucker, but it was like motherfucker. It was somewhere right in between and it was just so lyrical. I feel like at some point you had to go to the floor. Motherfucker. But it was like motherfucker. It was somewhere right in between. And it was just so lyrical.

I feel like at some point you had to go in the studio sis and put Nas' ether underneath. That's what the young people, you're going to need an underlead track. You could put a fire track out. Man. No, that was Chef's kiss. And I know why Jeff appreciated

it because he appreciates a good curse word. Well, and look, and Reese, I'm with you, because, I mean, I swear, the number of emails that come across. I mean, it always tripped me out how many times I would see Nancy Pelosi name in my subject line. And I got to the point, I'm like, well, when's she going to come on my show? Right. And then all these off-brand candidates,

I'm like, I don't know, y'all. How y'all get my email? Hello? I mean, this is... Georgia, I don't know about... I'm sorry, Risa, go ahead. Oh, no, you know, and it's so funny because, you know, I got so many people sharing screenshots.

Like, here's Jamie Harrison in my inbox. Somebody said they wanted you to give a donation for Joe Biden's birthday card. Like, leave us the hell alone. Like, I feel like people are burnt out. Like, we have not stopped campaigning from the 2018 midterms when Stacey Abrams was running and Andrew Gillum were running. Like the campaigning never stops. The, that now you're getting text messages. I remember when I was a text banking for,

um, in 2018, people said, I'm not going to vote if I get one more damn text message. And I was like, damn, is that serious? But now three years later, I'm like, leave people alone. Give us a break. So I'm just trying to say like, you know, we're getting bombarded. I think there's this, there's people are starting to tune out and we need to give people a break so that next year when people are getting emails and text messages and phone calls, they're, they won't be so oversaturated so that they just don't completely check out. It's getting ridiculous. I will say there was $14 billion, billion dollars spent the 2020 election cycle.

Y'all don't need my funky ass little $5. Y'all going to be all right if you don't get my $5 today and you miss your midday,, mid-week, mid-month deadline, give us a break. Jamie Harrison, if you're listening, give us a break. Put some memes in our inbox instead of begging for some money. That might get you a little bit more goodwill. Georgia? Well, I mean, I do

know a good producer, Recy, who could help produce that track and I think we should call it Campaign Dollars with a Z. Just saying. And maybe I could drop a hot 16. But outside of that, you know, you raise a good point. And I think it's the authenticity in which you said that, you know, people can resonate with because we're all getting those emails. But how many of us are getting reinvestments

into our community? How many Black-owned businesses are these politicians lobbying for and advocating for? And one thing that I discovered, I don't know how many city councilors have this, but in Minnesota, a lot of the city councilors have a discretionary fund and there's no formal way to apply for it.

It's something that's a there's a lot of secrecy around how you get it and who they allocate it to. But we need to start applying some pressure to these elected officials who do have things like discretionary funds or they're able to have influence on where certain pots of funding go to. And we need to start to hold their feet to the fire that those funds are reallocated to the Black community in order for us to be able to truly, you know, make some headway with the injustices that we're seeing economically, the disparities in the Black community, I think it's time for us to start sending them some emails about donating $5 and $10 to our businesses so that we can meet our goal tonight by midnight or midweek or midday, right? So, yeah, I mean, I agree with you, sister, and thank you so much for calling them out, man. It's needed. Well, I'm telling you, I'm with you on that one. So I appreciate that. But I did get a kick out of a yes. Reverend Carr showing his appreciation for your for your wordplay in that 16 second video.

All right, y'all, that is it for us. I'll be back tomorrow right here on Roller Mark Unfiltered here at the Lighthouse Church as we are participating with McDonald's for their Inspirational Gospel Tour. And so we got to shoot some great interviews. Cannot wait to share them with you. Some amazing interviews thus far with the Walls Group, James Fortune,

Kurt Carr. Looking forward to that. We also have, of course, tomorrow I'll be chatting with Yolanda Adams, chatting with Donald Lawrence. And so we've got some great, great stuff, folks. Brian Courtney Wilson. So some amazing interviews. Can't wait to share those with you.

If y'all want to support us, what we do, please join our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar you give goes to support this show. Of course, you can reach us, Cash App, dollar sign, R. Martin Unfiltered. PayPal is paypal.me forward slash R. Martin Unfiltered. Cash App is dollar sign, R. M. Unfiltered. Of course, Venmo is R. M. Unfiltered. And Zell is Roland at RolandSMartin.com, Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com.ell is roland at rolandsmartin.com, roland at rolandmartinunfiltered.com. Don't forget to download the Black Star Network app. Of course, we're available on all platforms. And so Apple TV, Android TV, Android phone, Apple phone, Xbox, Samsung, Amazon Fire as well.

You name it, we are there. All right, folks, that's it. I will see you tomorrow right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Thanks so much, Greg, Reesey, and Georgia. Holla! Martin! НАПРЯЖЖНАЯ МУЗЫКА It's time to be smart. Roland Martin's doing this every day. Oh, no punches!

Thank you, Roland Martin, for always giving voice to the issues. Look for Roland Martin in the whirlwind, to quote Marcus Garvey again. The video looks phenomenal, so I'm really excited to see it on my big screen. Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. I got to defer to the brilliance of Dr. Carr and to the brilliance of the Black Star Network. I am rolling with rolling all the way. I'm going to be on a show that you own.

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