#RolandMartinUnfiltered - GOP attacks Gupta, Clarke; 43 states push voter suppression; $70M initiative for Black/Latino women

Episode Date: March 18, 2021

3.17.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered​: Republicans ramp up their attacks on DOJ nominees Gupta and Clarke; 43 states push voter suppression laws; Cleveland Avenue launches $70M investment initiative for Black/Latino womenSupport #RolandMartinUnfiltered​ via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered​ or via PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered​#RolandMartinUnfiltered​ 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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Here's what's coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Republicans continue to attack the Department of Justice and Joe Biden's nominees, Medina Gupta and Kristen Clark, will break it down with a special panel. Three of 43 states are trying to create legislation to make it more difficult to vote. A report from the Center for American Progress says the United States Senate can stop that from happening. We'll discuss. Cleveland Avenue has an initiative that will invest $70 million into black and brown community businesses of minority people. We will get the details on the Cleveland Avenue CEO, Don Thompson.

Clearance Reform is on the ballot, and we're going to talk about the six cities where it will make or break the mayoral elections. One of them is Atlanta, where I'm currently located. We will also be talking about whether or not embedding social workers into police departments will help to reduce police violence and police brutality. Our panel will weigh in on that. And we're also going to discuss your digital footprint and how that can point you in 2021 going forward.

Don't let your digital footprint kick you in the butt. We'll be talking to the author of that new book. And I think we'll see many people be brought down by that right now. I also will have another segment of Crazy A White. You can't wait to see this guy in action. It's going to be quite an experience as it always is.

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It's rolling. It's rolling. It's rolling. Good afternoon. I'm attorney Robert Patel sitting in for Roland Martin. Tell the top of the hour. The GOP is continually attacks on Biden nominees, Vanita Gupta and also Christian Clark, former of the Lawyers Committee on Civil Rights. At the status of the president's nominees for assistant attorney general loom, Republicans claim that Christian Clark is not suited for the job as they grow louder. I'd like to mention that at one point, Donald Trump appointed as attorney general a man who was a toilet salesman and that he saw on cable news. He also had Bill Barr as attorney general, who he saw on Tucker Carlson and then just made him attorney general. But yet

and still, Republicans are complaining about the qualifications of Vanita Gupta and of Christian Clark. The GOP's lambasting is based on controversial letters Clark wrote while she was a student at Harvard and her choice to invite a professor to speak on campus who had written an anti-Semitic book. Attorney General Merrick Garland was grilled on both Kristen Clark and Associate Attorney General nominee Vadita Gupta's past remarks during his hearing today. Let's take a look. The Department of Justice has a long history of being apolitical, of exercising fidelity to law, of not being used as a partisan weapon to target the enemies of whichever administration

is in power. The Obama-Biden administration corrupted that process and we are still dealing with the consequences. I believe appointees to the Department of Justice should have a demonstrated record of fidelity to law and impartiality and ability to defend the rule of law. Ms. Gupta, as I look at your record, your record is one of an extreme partisan advocate. Your record is an ideologue.

Now, there's a role in our democratic and political process for ideologues, for people that are extreme, radical advocates. That role I believe is not being the number three lawyer at the Department of Justice in charge of the impartial and fair administration of justice. As I look at your record on every single issue, the positions you've advocated for are on the extreme left and you've demonstrated an intolerance if they require more than that you can say yes with this or that minor caveat but I prefer a yes or no if you can provide one of these do you believe that individuals who advocate for the rights

of unborn human beings are rendered unfit for public office by virtue of having engaged in such advocacy? No. Do you believe that efforts to purge voter rolls of individuals who have either died or have left the state in question or to require voter identification are racially discriminatory and an assault on voting rights? MR. This one is one I can't answer, yes or no, because you're asking about motivations of individuals, some of whom may have discriminatory purpose and some of whom have no discriminatory purpose. Okay, okay, I think that answers my

question there because I guess what I'm asking is does an individual, without knowing more than that, is there anything about those comments or support for those positions that in and of themselves would make that person a racist or an assault on voting rights? Again, there's nothing about the comment itself, but there's such a thing as circumstantial evidence, obviously, and if there's enormously disparate impact of things that somebody continues to propose, it's not unreasonable to draw conclusions from that. But the mere fact of the statement, no.

Do you believe that Republicans in the United States, and by Republicans I mean as a whole, are determined to, quote, leave our communities to the mercy of people and institutions driven by hate, bigotry, and fear of any threat to the status quo, close quote? I don't make generalizations about members of political parties. I would never do that. I appreciate that and wouldn't expect otherwise. I don't make generalizations about members of political parties. I would never do that. I appreciate that and wouldn't expect otherwise.

The reason I raise these ones is that these are questions that have been drawn from comments made by Vanita Gupta, who's been nominated to be the associate attorney general, has advocated for each of these positions. Well, Senator, I know Vanita Gupta now quite well. I didn't know her before, but since the nomination, I've gotten a chance to talk with her and speak with her. I have to tell you, I regard her as a person of great integrity and a person who is dedicated to the mission of the department and particularly equal justice under law. Understand, I'm not asking you to weigh in on her, on her as a person.

I'm just talking about the comments. Let's move on. Would an individual's past statements, statements in the past as an adult declaring that one racial group is superior to another, would statements like that be relevant to an evaluation of whether such a person should be put in charge of running the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division? So, Senator, I've read in the last few days these allegations about Kristen Clark, who I also have gotten to know, who I also trust, who I believe is a person of integrity, whose views about the Civil Rights Division I have discussed with her, and they are in line with my own. I have every reason to want her.

She is an experienced former blind prosecutor of hate crimes, and we need somebody like that to be running the... I'm asking about the statement. I'm not asking about her as a person. I'm asking about the statement. In the abstract, would someone who has made that comment, would that comment itself be relevant to the question whether that person, having made that statement, should be put in charge of running the Civil Rights Division? All I can tell you is I've had many conversations with her about her views about the Civil Rights Division, about what kind of matters she would investigate. What about anti-Semitic comments? Would those be relevant to someone wanting to run for the Senate?

You know my views about anti-Semitism. No one needs to question those. I'm not questioning your views. I know you're not, but I also want you to know I'm a pretty good judge of what an anti-Semite is, and I do not believe that she is an anti-Semite, and I do not believe she is discriminatory in any sense. Okay, tell me this.

Judge, you are a man of integrity I do not believe she is discriminatory in any sense. OK, tell me this, Judge. You are a man of integrity and one who honors and respects the laws. What assurances can you give us, as one who has been nominated to serve as the attorney general of the United States, that you have confirmed as attorney general of the United States, what assurances can you give Americans who are Republican, who are pro-life, who are religious people, who are members of certain minority groups? In short, half or more than half of the country. Telling them that the U.S. Department of Justice, if you're confirmed, will protect them if Department of Justice leaders have condoned radical positions like those that I've described.

Look, I'll say again, I don't believe that either Benita or Kristen condone those positions, and I have complete faith in them, But we are a leadership team, along with Lisa Monaco, that will run the department. And the final decision is mine. The buck stops with me, as Harry Truman said. And I will assure the people that you're talking about, I am a strong believer in religious liberty, and there will not be any discrimination under my watch. Thank you. No, these are the same senators who wouldn't give Merrick Garland a hearing, wouldn't even meet with him when he was the nominee, Barack Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court, who are currently grilling him over whether or not Christian Clark and Vanita Gupta

are somehow racist or anti-Semitic. At the same time, they're still failing to condemn and continue the big lie on voter fraud, even while their supporters were trying to lynch Mike Pence in that very same building. So if it strikes you as disingenuous, join the club. Let's hear Tucker Carlson on this same subject. Let's play the clip of Tucker Carlson on this.

Kristen Clark is Joe Biden's pick to run the Justice Department's enormously powerful civil rights division. Clark says her job is simple. It's to end hate. But like so many in her world, Clark is in fact an enthusiastic purveyor of what she claims to fight. Clark's been on this show several times. A new investigation, though, by our reporters has uncovered shocking, and we don't use that word lightly, legitimately shocking statements that Clark made in public while at Harvard.

In 1994, Clark wrote a letter to the Harvard Crimson in her capacity as the president of the Black Studies Association. Clark wanted to explain her views on race science. Quote, End quote. So you know it's going to be interesting. And it was. Quote, notes that human mental processes are controlled by melanin, that same chemical

which gives blacks their superior physical and mental abilities. Four, some scientists have revealed that most whites are unable to produce melanin because their pineal glands are often calcified or non-functioning. Pineal calcification rates with Africans are 5 TO 15%, ASIANS 15 TO 25%, AND EUROPEANS 60 TO 80%. THIS IS THE CHEMICAL BASIS FOR THE CULTURAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BLACKS AND WHITES. AND FIVE, MELANIN ENDOWS BLACKS WITH GREATER MENTAL, PHYSICAL, AND SPIRITUAL ABILITIES, SOMETHING WHICH CANNOT BE

MEASURED BASED ON EUROCENTRIC STANDARDS. END QUOTE. LET THAT SINK IN. something which cannot be measured based on Eurocentric standards, end quote. Let that sink in. Melanin endows black people with greater mental, physical, and spiritual abilities. No, that's not an editorial from The Final Call, Louis Farrakhan's free newspaper. That is a direct quote from the person Joe Biden is about to put in charge of this country's civil rights laws. Even at Harvard, crackpot theories like that were considered deranged and dangerous. After an outcry on campus, Kristen Clark suggested that she didn't necessarily believe what she had written. Now, the Harvard Crimson, a left-wing paper, did not buy that explanation.

Well, does she or doesn't she, wrote the editors. So far, she has given us every indication that she does. And indeed does she or doesn't she, wrote the editors. So far, she has given us every indication that she does. And indeed, she did. Just a month later, Kristen Clark invited the noted Trinidadian anti-Semite, Tony Martin, to speak on campus. Martin, then a professor at Wellesley College, was the author of a self-published manifesto called The Jewish Onslaught. In it, Martin chronicled the, quote, escalating Jewish onslaught against black people. Now, for Martin's fans, like Kristen Clark, Martin's speech at Harvard did not disappoint. He attacked both Jews and Judaism as a religion.

Tony Martin spent his final years giving speeches to Holocaust denial organizations on topics such as, quote, tactics of organized jury in suppressing free speech, end quote. Kristen Clark strongly approved of Tony Martin, and we're not speculating, because as she told the Crimson after his speech, quote, Professor Martin is an intelligent, well-versed black intellectual who bases his information on indisputable fact. So again, directly from Kristen Clark, Tony Martin's anti-Semitism was based on, quote, indisputable fact. Kristen Clark has never shed these views.

They've simply become more sophisticated. Just last year, as a lawyer, Clark was fighting for the crudest kind of racial discrimination in college admissions. This fall she said it was quote madness for the federal government to take the side of Asian applicants who had provably been denied college admission purely because of their skin color. But tough luck as far as Kristen Clark was concerned, those Asians didn't have enough melanin, and melanin is the key. Speaking of madness, in a sane country, someone like Kristen Clark would be under investigation

by the Civil Rights Division, not running it. How crazy have we become? Well, we will see if Clark's nomination gets to the U.S. Senate, and if it does, we're in serious trouble. Let's remember, Donald Trump's first nominee for attorney general was Jeff Sessions. Jeff Sessions was denied a federal judgeship in 1986 because he was too racist for Ronald Reagan. And at the time during his confirmation hearings, Jeff Sessions said, and I quote, the NAACP, the SCLC, Operation Push, the National Council of Churches are all un-American organizations teaching anti-American values. But Republicans and conservatives did not speak out against Jeff Sessions then, as they did not against Bill Whitaker or Bill Barr, Donald Trump's other attorney generals. But when you're trying to address civil rights, now they have a problem. There's a 30-second ad directly attacking this woman.

Let's see the ad. Murders on the rise, faster than ever before. Biden appoints Vanita Gupta for a top job in the Justice Department. She supports defunding the police, led a group that wants to reduce punishments on white supremacists, even terrorists. When our cities burned, Gupta could have stood for law and order for victims. Instead, she advocated to let convicts out of jail. Biden promised unity, but this is a dangerous appointee at a dangerous time. Let's go to our panel. Joining us today, we have Executive Director of the National Council of Negro Women, also former Executive Director of the Rainbow Pus Coalition, Peachtree Street Project, Attorney Janice Mathis. Also, President of the National Bar Association and Chairman of the Board for the Rainbow Pus Coalition, we have Attorney C.K. Hoffler.

And also from the Black Women's Roundtable, Executive Director, Ms. Melanie Campbell Campbell joining us today. So I want to throw this to the panel. Why are these Republicans suddenly up in arms about Vanita Gupta and the other nominees, but did not have the same outrage for a racist leprechaun like Jeff Sessions or Bill Whitaker or Bill Barr? I'll ask you first, Attorney Mathis. Thank you, Robert. It's a pleasure to be here with my good sisters, Melanie and with CK. That's always a good thing. But we're facing, this isn't about logic or about respect for the rule of law.

This is a raw power grab based on extreme fear and just afraid of what the future holds in this country and the demographics here. But what's interesting to me about it, they kept saying radical, radical, they're radical. And I thought back 150 years ago, giving African-Americans the right to vote and land being confiscated and given to them, that was also radical. Remember the radical Republicans, they switched names,

but it's the same philosophy. None of the benefits of citizenship are owed to Black folks. And these women, we need an independent Justice Department. William Barr has really corrupted what it means to be an independent. And with this report that just came out this week, we see that folk at the Justice Department might have been complicit in the Russian interference with the 2020 election, not the 2016 one. So you have to consider the source. I mean, I'm sitting there looking at them ranting and raving at Kristen Clark and Benita Gupta and wondering how stupid do they think their voters are that they didn't hear their prior inconsistent statements.

CK is picking up on that, this idea that people who defend civil rights are somehow radical. We read the quote from Jeff Sessions when Jeff Sessions said the NAACP, SCLC, Operation Push, and any other group fighting for civil rights were radical and un-American back during his confirmation hearing in the 80s. But suddenly, despite the fact Republicans had no objection to that, now they have objections when you have women who are really fighting for civil rights.

Help us understand what's going on. Well, you can't understand the inexplicable. You can't understand the ridiculous. You can't understand craziness. You can't understand lunacy. It is completely an exercise to me in craziness. I'm going to tuck across and say craziness. eminently qualified, intellectually proven, women who have trial experience, who have life experience, who have leadership experience, who have worked at the Justice Department, who know their practice areas and subject matters inside out, have a proven track record. You look at the case of Kristen Clark, she's going to be overseeing civil rights.

Of course, she must have experience in civil rights. So it is an exercise in lunacy to sit and dissect their backgrounds in the manner in which it's being done, because it's simply based on their race and to some degree, gender. It's just, for me, that's completely transparent. It's hypocritical. And frankly, these lawmakers need to be ashamed of themselves. I hope when they go home that someone is putting them in check because it would be a travesty, although this is a standard playbook.

We saw it with Lonnie Guineer. We've seen it before. There's nothing new, but it is sad, it's tragic, and I just hope and pray that the American people this time around make enough calls and put enough pressure on the senators so that

these two eminently qualified women are confirmed and will be at the Justice Department. We need high level, strong people, women like these two in the Justice Department. It is time to stop the craziness, the madness, the racism and gender bias that we are seeing front-center

when it comes to these two eminently qualified women. It's simply not justifiable. It's inexcusable. It's not explainable. And I hope and pray that the American public sees through it and that people will impress upon the senators to do the right thing and confirm these two nominees. Melanie, you know, Donald Trump's second attorney general, Bill Whitaker, was a former Iowa football player who worked for a company that patented a special extra large toilet, and that was his qualification to be attorney general. What does it tell us about white privilege, and particularly white male privilege, that they had no problems with a football player and toilet salesman being attorney general, but they questioned the qualifications

of Ms. Gupta and Ms. Clark. Thank you, Robert. It's awesome to be here with my sisters and you. Bottom line is they lost, okay? I'm like, so you lost. And this president, President Biden, has the right to put in the people. We know they're qualified.

They're eminently qualified. But as black women and women of color, we always held to a different standard. We have to continue to push back on that, continue to push our friends in the Congress to make sure that they stand strong. I remember Lani Guinier, as was mentioned, how they tried to tear down Alexis Herman when she was up for Department of Labor. And so when we, you know, push for to be able to say, OK, Black women are shooting for what is rightfully positions that we are qualified for. I've worked closely with Kristen and Vanita for years, and these sisters are ready to walk in the door. And I think part of the problem is, Robert, they don't want people to go in the door to know where the bathroom is. That may sound a little simple, but the reality is,

if you have worked in that space, you have a great idea, because it hadn't been that long. And the damage that was done under this past administration, there's a lot of work that has to be done. And because I think it was I was reading that Thurgood Marshall was the last person who was had a civil rights background. Right. And was able to make it all the way to the Supreme Court. And one of the challenges we have is that we do need people who

understand racial bias, voting rights, and all the things that Black people voted for. Black women said, we want this administration to address three top things. One is systemic structural racism and hate crimes, as we saw what happened in Atlanta. We don't have all the facts, but it looks pretty damaging that they attacked our APIA brothers and sisters down there in Georgia.

They want the candidate that they voted for and the Congress to address COVID-19, eradication of that, make sure that their bias is not there, right? So at the end of the day, and then policing and criminal justice reform, these ladies have, these sisters have the qualifications par excellence. And so at the end of the day, that's why I can remember hearing a lot of Republicans say, and this is not partisan, it's just factual, elections have consequences. So the consequences is the person who got elected should be able, if those people are qualified, and all this shenanigans going on

trying to tear down their character, and that's a historical issue for Black people, period, in this country. And we just have to continue to push back on that and make sure that we continue to speak up and speak out. So I'm glad to be a part of the conversation tonight. Absolutely. Joining us now, former chair of the National Bar Association, Attorney A. Scott Bolden. Scott, one of the things that we saw during the Jeff Sessions regime as Attorney General was he used the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department to go after discrimination against whites in college admission, claiming that all of the laws which were put in place to protect minorities were actually used to discriminate against white students.

Why do you think Republicans now have such a problem with Christian Clark and Vanita Gupta working towards actual enforcement of the civil rights laws that are on the books? Because their par excellence and their readiness to be in the Department of Justice and to lead it is because they've led efforts in this country to make America better. I don't understand why the Republicans are so afraid of excellence and those who have toiled in the fields and led the fight against voter suppression, to lead the fight for more people to vote, to lead the fight against racism and sexism and anti-Semitism, if you will. And you know that because they've got to distort their records, if you will. For example, Ms. Clark, her letter to the Harvard Crimson was tongue-in-cheek in response to the bell curve book that basically said in racial science that white people were smarter than

black people. And so she wrote this piece tongue in cheek. Ms. Gupta certainly has the experience, but more importantly, has bipartisan support from not only the largest police union in the country, but also pro-Jewish groups as well. And so that cross section of support equals their excellence, right? And their work to make America better versus the status quo or to preserve white privilege or what doesn't work for people of color who make up 10% to 15% or more of this country, that's bothersome. But it is the height of hypocrisy and the depth of arrogance because if you look at Donald Trump, none of these GOP senators had a problem with Donald Trump attacking the DOJ, attacking the Mueller report, attacking investigations on him and his team and his campaign team and what have you.

But they reserved their most brutal attacks, misleading and misjudgments on these women of color who are not only qualified, but are fighting to make this country better. It's very sad, very disappointing. Are we going to continue to monitor this? Absolutely. We're going to continue to monitor this situation. We're going to go to a commercial break, and we should have Roland on when we come back. So we'll be back after the break. Senators, this cannot be our future. Do not concede, Mr. President. Fight hard. This cannot be the future of America.

That's all we got! The force, let's go! American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass. Where the fuck are they? Everybody stay down. I'm going to fuck this man's son up. People died that day. What message will we send the rest of the world? What happened today in Washington, D.C. is not America. America has stood for some very important things.

I think what we've seen in the United States is terribly distressing. Incited by the current president. President Trump. The world is watching and wondering whether we are who we say we are. You are patriots just like the patriots gathered at Bunker Hill. The election in many ways was stolen. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. At one point, people started chanting, kill him with his own gun.

They thought they were going to die. Watching someone use an American flagpole to spear and pummel one of our police officers ruthlessly, mercilessly. We didn't need more witnesses. We need more senators with spines. President Trump declared his conduct totally appropriate. So, if he gets back into office and it happens again, we'll have no one to blame but ourselves. Hi, I'm Gavin Houston.

Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your boy, Jacob Lattimore, and you're now watching Roland Martin right now. Eee! You're now watching Roland Martin right now. All right, we're coming back. We should have Roland on the line now. Roland, are you there? Yeah, Robert, actually, I'm in your city here in Atlanta. I'm taping the Urban One Honors, and so we're here in Austell, Georgia,

and so glad to be here. So we literally are still taping it, and so that's why I had to come in late, dip in, and dip right back out. So I appreciate you holding it down. Scott, you always talk about wanting to host a show. I trust Robert a lot more than I trust Scott hosting a show. So that's why we got Robert doing it. But it's all good.

It's all good. Let's go to our next story, folks. Yeah, I appreciate that. Folks, we often talk about the importance of African-Americans owning businesses, being entrepreneurs. But it comes down to capital. Well, there's a new private equity firm, Cleveland Avenue, being led by the former CEO of McDonald's, Don Thompson, that is focused on investing in black and other minority-owned businesses, individuals with great ideas, but who traditionally aren't getting access to capital. Don Thompson joins us right now.

Don, how you doing? I am good, Roland. How you doing, man? My brother, good to see you. Don't mind Scott Bolton. He's a capper. He cannot handle when alphas are running stuff, so we'll deal with him later.

We'll just pat him on the head, Don. Hey, you know, Fred, everybody ain't able, but, you know, we're going to do the best we can. Yep, yep, yep. We'll do the best we can to include them in what we do. So, Don, explain to us really what is Cleveland Avenue. First of all, where does the name come from, Cleveland Avenue? Well, and I think you probably know, Roland, but the name came from actually Cleveland Avenue. Well, and I think you probably know Roland, but the name came from, actually, Cleveland Avenue is a street both my wife Liz and I grew up on in Chicago. And it is, it's in the

neighborhood that people would normally, it's Cabrini Green on one side, near north on the other side. Neighborhoods, people historically said, were those kind of neighborhoods that, you know, good things don't necessarily come out of. However, having said that, we were blessed. We called them neighborhoods of love. And so what we wanted to do was call the endeavor that we started five years ago Cleveland Avenue because it pulls us right back to where we always were and where our hearts and minds still are,

which is we have brilliance coming out of those neighborhoods, brilliance coming out of black and brown folks. And we need to make sure that we celebrate that brilliance and support it. And this is called the Cleveland Avenue State Treasurer Urban Success Initiative, or CASTUS. And so who exactly will you be targeting? Will it just be there in Chicago? Will it be all across Chicago or just parts of Chicago? Or will you be investing in companies across the country? Well, right now, Brian, so this is our third fund.

So we have Cleveland Avenue Food and Beverage Fund, one. We have number two that we've started. Actually, one, people are familiar with us from investing in things like Beyond Meat, Farmer's Fred, Somers, Red Bay Coffee with Cable Conte. So people remember that one, and they know about food and beverage. Caste Us is our first, what we will call,

it's the first fund that is focused on making sure that we are supporting fully our black and brown entrepreneurs, our women entrepreneurs. So 75% of this fund is focused on the south and west sides of the city of Chicago. 75% of this fund will be focused on black and brown entrepreneurs. And at least half of this fund is going to go to women entrepreneurs and so we are very very focused on being able to support that group because as you look at it today black and brown entrepreneurs represent roughly less than two percent of all venture capital investments that's it two percent uh women are in the high single digits. And so when you look at the combination of that, think about black and brown women as well

and where they fit. So our fund is focused on black and brown men and women entrepreneurs, and very, very focused on ensuring that we can support them and the ideas that they have for their businesses. Don, last night we had a two-hour conversation talking about the future of black media. And one of the things that we talked about was the lack of advertising support that goes to black businesses.

And it really spoke to how black advertising agencies are also being choked off. And what at the end of the day when we think about Dr. King and of course the last five years of his life, look at Operation Breadbasket, he was talking about the economic piece, economic rights, or as what John Hope Bryant calls silver rights. You've been CEO of a worldwide company like McDonald's. And at the end of the day, the only way we can truly have a direct impact is when we are a part of this economic engine, and that's through owning. Absolutely, Brett.

I mean, this goes back a long, long time. We've had advocates that have talked about the economics and economic development and economic empowerment. I mean, you go back to Frederick Douglass and comments that Frederick made and W.E.B. DuBois. And so many people have made these comments over the years and they have fought, lived and died for these comments. The reality of it is, unless there is economic development and economic achievement within our communities, we will never have a sustained economic power in order to be able to support sustained wealth and wealth generation. And so as we look at the collective there, it's so important that we support our entrepreneurs.

And to really look at some of the businesses that we've already supported. So we've got six companies we've already invested in. And when you look at the diversity and the mix of these companies and the fact that they're very supportive of our communities, I'm very excited about what's to come. You could have easily, like many other former CEOs, you could have easily tried to go after another high-profile Fortune 500 company. There were a lot of people who were not happy when you left McDonald's. I was one of those folks.

Why did you decide to say, you know what, this is where I'm going to focus my energies, focus my time, focus my impact in this particular space? You know, Rob, you and I talked quite a few times before. I had a wonderful 25 years with McDonald's, and we achieved much during that time relative to things we were able to do with each other in a broader diversity aspect at that point in time. There was a lot of things that we were able to do. Having said that, you know, I've always coached people and I said, when you get to a point where you believe that what you're doing in the day to day is not full achievement of who you are,

what God has blessed you to be, then you probably need to pursue that. And so that was what I wanted to do. And I was supported by my wife, Liz, who really, really goaded me on to say, look, why don't you go ahead and do what you really want to do? And so for us, it was, this was a passion point. This was something that I thought we could do and we could do well. One, we could build and develop a business that had a lot of people that look just like me and you, a lot of black folks, a lot of brown folks that are focused in the financial investment arena around venture capital. That was one. Two, we could amass a group of individuals with expertise that was so resound that we could support businesses of all color

in terms of their achievement over those that they had, both financially as well as from a consumer and a social impact perspective relative to whether it be the environment or economic development. And the third thing was that we would create a model by which it could be a bit of a beacon. It would say we are as capable as anyone and more capable in many regards of being able to drive businesses and derive growth and capital relative to various industries and spaces. And so, you know, for me, this was a passion thing. And I could have stayed, yes, and I know the media twisted it all up at McDonald's, but I do believe that this was my calling.

And so, you know, I'm blessed, man. Liz and I both are blessed to follow our dreams and do what we wanted to do. All right, questions from our panelists. Scott Bowden, your question for Don Thompson. Yeah, Don, I love the project, and I certainly love the purpose. And having a social impact and generating revenues for the community or for your family certainly don't have to be inconsistent with one another. When you're looking at companies to invest, which comes first, turning a profit or having social impact or both? So thank you very much, Scott.

It's interesting because I refer to it as impact. And social impact is one of the outcomes and outgrowths. But these are businesses. These are businessmen and women who have viable concepts, viable initiatives, who have walked into banks and other funding environments and have not been able to achieve the capital levels and requirements that they have to move their businesses. And so from our perspective, what we're merely doing is the same thing we've done with some of our other investments along the way because we're going to wrap yes they have capital we're wrapping resources around them we're leveraging our relationships and so what we want to do is this is a this is a business fund it's a venture capital fund now having said that we know that the impact that we're able to have because of our intentional and unapologetic focus,

we know that that impact is also impacting our communities and that our entrepreneurs are much more mindful of the impact that they have on the south and west sides of the city of Chicago and on our broader black and brown communities and women communities as well. So I would tell you that they go hand in hand. One does not lead the other. And if you looked at our team at Cleveland Avenue, you'd realize that as soon as you came in.

I mean, there's a lot of black and brown folks up in Cleveland Avenue. Why? And they're leading marketing, communications, our investment relations, investor relations. So we're very, very focused, man, on the mission of just putting the right spotlight on the folks who are already bright, talented,

and just need some support. And happen to be black. They just happen to be black. They're experts in their field. Thank you. Thank you. Nobody has to qualify them. They can beat across the board.

You know, this is not a gift. Robert, you're... People think, okay, Don, is this a donation? Is this a grant? No, these are investments in capable businessmen and women. That's right. That's right. That's right.

No doubt. Excellent. Robert, your question for Don. My question would be, how do we replicate this? Because I used to live on the south side of Chicago, I used to live on the west side of Baltimore, lived in the swaths of Atlanta over on English Avenue and down in Southwest. How can we see communities around the country that are African-American

that need this sort of investment and replicate this type of model there so we can almost self-gentrify those areas and build them up instead of waiting for someone else to build them up and put us out. Robert, I'm so glad, brother, that you asked that question, because one of the reasons that this was put together the way it was, and I'll speak to it, is because I also wanted to create a model. The model that we have is we are partnered, if you will, with the state of Illinois through the treasurer's office and Rodrigo Garcia, who's the chief investment officer, Mike Frerichs, the state treasurer. That's one partner. Another partner, a group of partners are those that have community

based economic development engagement. So Chicago Community Trust, led by Helene Gale and the MacArthur Foundation with John Palfrey. And with them and then we have a couple of financial institutions. We've got the Joyce Foundation. And then we've got about five family foundations. So why did we put it together that way? It was intentional. It was meant to say that you too, venture capital group, PE group, can partner in the same way to provide not just capital resources, but expertise resources and lend your relationships to support these entrepreneurs. All right. Well, Don Thompson, that's certainly... Well, Don, I think it's a great initiative.

It is important that, again, we have access to those dollars because the reality is this here. Pre-COVID, there were 2.6 million black-owned businesses in this country, 2.5 million, as we talk about all the time on this show, had one employee doing average revenue of $54,000. The biggest issue we're talking about is capacity. And that is if you can't grow capacity, then you can't thrive and build in this country, in this economy. And so this type of investment is important for these businesses. And so certainly good luck with it

and keep us abreast of how it's going. Hey, I most definitely will, Roe. And thank you so much for all that you do and the team does, bro. You have been committed to all of us for the betterment of all of us and educating and informing all of us for a long time. And so just appreciate you continuing to wave the banner and carry the flag, bro. I appreciate it. Don Thompson, Cleveland Avenue, thanks a lot. All right. Be good.

Yes, sir. Got to go to break, folks. We come back. We'll talk voting rights, what's happening all across the country, massive voter suppression and the pushback against it. That's next on Roland Martin Unfiltered. If people begin to believe that their democracy is fraudulent, if they conclude that voting is a charade, the system is rigged, then God knows what could happen. They rigged an election. They rigged it like they've never rigged an election before. Actually, we do know what could happen.

It's happening right now. The U.S. Capitol overrun under siege. Pro-Trump extremists storming inside, flooding the halls, breaching the floor of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Millions of Americans sincerely believe the last election was fake. It was a landslide election, and everyone knows it.

We will not go quietly into the night. When thousands of your countrymen storm the Capitol building, if you don't bother to pause and learn a single thing from it, then you're a fool. I know you're pained. I know you're hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us.

We got to this sad, chaotic day for a reason. It is not your fault. It is their fault. Therefore. Donald Trump is not done dividing America. He's come out of hiding to find his old friend, the spotlight. On Sunday, he took the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, where he lobbed insults, spread conspiracies, and lied. This election was rigged. The same things he's done for four years,

with no concern for the destruction he leaves behind. He'll get the attention he craves. After all, even condemning him feeds his insatiable need to be seen. Which is why it's more important than ever to remind ourselves that in November, one thing became clear. America is not Donald Trump. America is the people whose names you may never hear, whose only fame will be among those whose lives they touch, but who are the best of America all the same. They're doctors, nurses, health care workers, the people working tirelessly to get every American vaccinated against COVID-19. They're the disaster relief workers and first responders

holding up their Texas neighbors during the harshest winter the state has ever seen. They're the people who show up, lend a hand, and give a damn when their fellow Americans are in need. Remember them. The lives they lead are the best proof that Trump is a liar. Because America's greatness

comes from us, not him. The Lincoln Project is responsible for the content of this... Black TV does matter, dang it! Hey, what's up, y'all?

It's your boy, Jacob Lattimore, and you're now watching Roland Martin right now. Eee! Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your boy, Jacob Lattimore, and you're now watching Roland Martin right now. Folks, as I said, I'm here in Atlanta. We've been covering, of course, the voter suppression bills being pushed by Republicans in this particular state. It is ground zero for voter suppression.

This actually happened today. This was a tweet that came from Fair Fight. Georgia House Republicans led by Representative Barry Fleming are rushing out a 93-page substitute to Senate Bill 202 right before a key committee meeting to try and ram through their anti-voting agenda as part of their unconstitutional attacks on Georgians' voting rights. That's the type of things that have been happening here. We told you the New Georgia Project, as well as Black Voters Matter, have been putting pressure on major corporations in Georgia, Coca-Cola, Home Depot, UPS, and others to come out against these voter suppression bills. Salesforce, their CEO, he tweeted out their strong opposition to these particular bills. And so this is not just happening in Georgia, Texas, Iowa, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida. Happening all across the country, led by Republicans. And so the battle continues everywhere. Let's go to our next guest, William Pott Rogers,

Managing Director of Democracy and Government Reform for the Center for American Progress. William, glad to have you on Roller Martin Unfiltered. Thanks for having me back, Roller. When we talk about power, when we talk about the ability to impact public policy, if you're able to keep people from voting, then that keeps you in power. Republicans want to be able to politically gerrymander. They want to be able to control the redistricting process. They want to be able to maintain, by doing that, you maintain control of the House, the Senate, and the governor's mansion, and that's how they're able to further drive their agenda.

That's why these voter suppression bills must be stopped. I mean, you have it exactly correct, Roland. This is really about power and the backlash that we're seeing in these states across the country. Almost 300, I believe, voter suppression bills. You mentioned what's going on down in Georgia and in the other states. These are just a response to people voting. If you think about it, in 2020, because of the circumstances of the pandemic, more people had access than ever to mail-in voting, to early voting, and people exercised their right to vote. Not just, well, least of which because Donald Trump was on the ballot and we needed to get him out. But people, when you give them the opportunity to vote, they will vote.

And it seems like the only tactic that conservatives and Republicans in these state capitals have decided to use is to suppress people's votes. It's really the hugest wave of voter suppression we've seen in a long time. You know, the thing that really jumps out here, people say, look, okay, this is really no big deal. Well, I keep trying to let folks know, when you change these laws, you aren't just impacting the presidential race, the U.S. Senate race and congressional races. You're impacting school districts. You're impacting city council races, county government races.

These laws would change the voting process for the state in every election. Yeah, I mean, this is, it's really, you know, after the 2020 election, and after every election, really, we say to voters who become engaged, stay engaged, stay in the fight. Keep at, you know, keep in front of your lawmakers to know what's going on. This is a perfect example of why, because this is happening sort of in the blink of an eye after, you know, after people revolve the door from the 2020 election. AS YOU SAID, IT WILL IMPACT ELECTIONS UP AND DOWN THE BALLOT. IT IS REALLY CRITICAL THAT PEOPLE ARE PAYING ATTENTION, PUSHING BACK, INTERFACING WITH GROUPS LIKE CARRIFIDE IN GEORGIA. ALSO REALLY IMPORTANT THAT PEOPLE ARE PAYING ATTENTION TO

WHAT IS GOING ON IN WASHINGTON WITH THE FOR THE PEOPLE ACT, WHICH WOULD REALLY FIGHT SOME OF THESE HEINOUS VOTER SUPPRESSION TACTICS DESIGNED TO LOCK PEOPLE BACK OUT OF THE SYSTEM. the For the People Act, which would really fight some of these heinous voter suppression tactics designed to lock people back out of the system. Robert, when it comes to that particular federal legislation, President Joe Biden recently has now spoken out against the filibuster. Pressure from groups like Rainbow Push and others must be applied to Congress because if they do not act and allow Republicans to pass these bills, they're guaranteeing future losses, guaranteeing those losses. Yeah, I mean, go ahead. Robert, Robert, Robert first, Robert, then William. Go ahead, Robert.

Yeah, you're completely right. And we have to understand that when we're talking about fighting this filibuster, Republicans are not fighting from an even playing field as Democrats are. The 50 Democrats in the Senate represent 40 million more voters than those 50 Republicans. Republicans have not won a popular vote in a presidential election in 17 years. Indeed, they've won one time in the last 30 years. Right. There is a survey done of political registration. 34% of Americans registered independent, 33% as Democrats, only 29% as Republicans. So why are we keeping around this arcane filibuster rule that allows a minority group? We keep

calling ourselves minority. No, we are the majority ideologically in this country. We allow a small minority group, primarily of white voters who are outside the mainstream, who don't live in urban areas, to control politics at this point in time the only way the democrats win going forward is by reforming the filibuster and pushing through the legislation if you look at what's going on in georgia georgia's 35 african-american and 15 latino that's already 50 of the vote if you did not have gerrymandering if you did not have republican redistricting if you did not have voter suppression and closing of polling locations then you will not have gerrymandering, if you did not have Republican redistricting, if you did not have voter suppression and closing of polling locations, then you would not have Republicans running all the constitutional offices and also having a constitutional majority in the

House and the Senate in the state. So it is imperative to overturn and break the filibuster and pass through the type of voting rights legislation needed to actually have a democracy and not simply an oligarchy. Scott, your question for William. I'm sorry, William, go ahead. I was just going to say I couldn't agree more. And, you know, the H.R. 1 and S. 1, the For the People Act, is exactly the kind of bill that, you know,

the kind of policy that people think might end up giving Democrats the path to change the rules and to not only to pass transformational democracy reform for the American people, but also to pass all the other things, right, that McConnell and the Republicans have kept in his legislative graveyard, so-called, over the years. And so this is both about voting rights and democracy and all the things that you spoke to eloquently, but also about all the other policies that we're fighting on as well. Well, it goes to the very basis of our democracy. It's that serious. And not only must they fight the filibuster, right, and the Democrats are the only ones talking about bipartisanship. We

need to be talking about these five open Senate races and surviving 2022 and adding seats, not losing seats, and reversing that political trend. Because if you don't fight the filibuster now and get this voter legislation passed at the federal level, you may not have another chance to do it. And the reality is you have a party that is unpopular with unpopular policies that cannot win without suppressing the vote in the American democracy. Think about that. One man, one vote. The will of the people. The Republicans literally stand for suppressing the vote, not having that, so they can control or maintain some power. That's crazy. And yet and still, that is their only survival technique, not because they're more Democrats than Republicans,

but because Republican policies are more offensive than the Democratic policies are that stand for all the people. Not perfect, but clearly more in line with the people than the conservative and the GOP and what they stand for. William Roberts, final comment. Yeah, definitely. GOP and what they stand for. William Rogers, final comment. Yeah, definitely. You know, I would just say that the things that are in the For the People Act, the things that we've talked about are things that would help Republican voters also, right? The things that help Republican voters in 2020. We're talking about expanding mail-in ballots, expanding not just early voting, but, you know, automatic voter registration. THEIR VOTERS.

THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT EXPANDING MAIL-IN BALLOTS, EXPANDING NOT JUST EARLY VOTING BUT AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION. THE WAY THESE BILLS ARE TAILORED AT THE STATE LEVEL CUT RIGHT TO THE HEART OF THIS. THEY ARE TRYING TO TAKE AWAY THE POWER OF PREDOMINANTLY BLACK AND BROWN VOTERS WITH THE ABILITY TO DO SOLE TO THE POLLS AND THINGS LIKE THAT. ALL THESE THINGS ARE CONNECTED. away the ability to do soles to the polls and things like that. And so all these things are connected. As you said, this is about power for conservatives in Congress, and they would even disenfranchise their own voters further in order to stop what they see as a threat, which is people voting, right? As you said, Scott, we're just talking at the most basic level about the

fundamental ability of people to be able to participate in our democracy. And that is a threat to a major political party that is in the minority. As you said, it represents a minority of folks in the Senate anyway. But the very democracy and participation in that is a threat to a major political party. And it is really astounding. Absolutely. They call themselves the patriots. That's another great irony of this juxtaposition we find ourselves in. Yeah, but they're not.

But they're not. William Rogers, Senator for American Progress. We certainly appreciate it, William. Thanks a lot. No problem. Good to see you. William, thanks a lot. Folks, today on the United States Senate floor,

Raphael Warnock, the U.S. Senator from Georgia, gave his first floor speech and gave a powerful speech on the issue of voting rights. This is what he had to say. Mr. President, Senator from Georgia, Mr. President, before I begin my formal remarks, I want to pause to condemn the hatred and violence that took eight precious lives last night in metropolitan Atlanta. I agree with Georgians, with Americans, with people of love all across the world. This unspeakable violence visited largely upon the Asian community is one that causes all of us to recommit ourselves to the way of peace, an act of peace that prevents these kinds of tragedies from happening in the first place. We pray for these families. Mr. President, I rise here today as a proud American and as one of the newest

members of the Senate in awe of the journey that has brought me to these hallowed halls and with an abiding sense of reverence and gratitude for the faith and sacrifices of ancestors who paved the way, I am a proud son of the great state of Georgia, born and raised in Savannah, a coastal city known for its cobblestone streets and verdant town squares, towering oak trees, centuries old and covered in gray Spanish moss, stretched from one side of the street to the other bend and beckon the lover of history and horticulture to this city by the sea. I was educated at Morehouse College, and I still serve in the pulpit of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, both in Atlanta, the cradle of the civil rights movement.

And so like those oak trees in Savannah, my roots go down deep. And they stretch wide in the soil of Waycross, Georgia, and Burke County, and Scriven County. In a word, I am Georgia, a living example and embodiment of its history and its hope, of its pain and promise, the brutality and possibility. Mr. President, at the time of my birth, Georgia's two senators were Richard B. Russell and Herman E. Talmage, both arch-segregationists and unabashed adversaries of the civil rights movement. After the Supreme Court's landmark Brown versus Board ruling outlawing school segregation, Talmadge warned that blood will

run in the streets of Atlanta. Senator Talmadge's father, Eugene Talmadge, former governor of our state, had famously declared, the South loves the Negro in his place, but his place is at the back door. When once asked how he and his supporters might keep black people away from the polls, he picked up a scrap of paper and wrote a single word on it. Pistols.

Yet there is something in the American covenant, in its charter documents, and its Jeffersonian ideals that bends toward freedom. And led by a preacher and a patriot named King, Americans of all races stood up. History vindicated the movement that sought to bring us closer to our ideals, to lengthen and strengthen the cords of our democracy. And I now hold the seat, the Senate seat, where Herman E. Talmadge sat. That's why I love America.

I love America because we always have a path to make it better, to build a more perfect union. It is a place where a kid like me who grew up in public housing, first college graduate in my family, can now stand as a United States Senator. I had an older father. He was born in 1917. Serving in the Army during World War II, he was once asked to give up his seat to a young teenager while wearing his soldier's uniform. They said making the world safe for democracy.

But he was never bitter. By the time I came along, he had already seen the arc of change in our country. He maintained his faith in God and in his family and in the American promise, and he passed that faith on to his children. My mother grew up in Waycross, Georgia. You know where that is? It's way across Georgia.

And like a lot of black teenagers in the 1950s, she spent her summers picking somebody else's tobacco and somebody else's cotton. But because this is America, the 82-year-old hands that used to pick somebody else's cotton went to the polls in January and picked her youngest son to be a United States senator. Ours is a land where possibility is born of democracy. A vote, a voice, a chance to help determine the direction of the country and one's own destiny within it, possibility born of democracy. That's why this past November and January, my mom and other citizens of Georgia grabbed

hold of that possibility and turned out in record numbers, 5 million in November, 4.4 million in January, far more than ever in our state's history. Turnout for a typical runoff doubled, and the people of Georgia sent their first African-American senator and first Jewish senator, my brother John Ossoff, to these hallowed halls. But then what happened? Some politicians did not approve of the choice made by the majority of voters in a hard-fought election in which each side got the chance to make its case to the voters. And rather than adjusting their agenda, rather than

changing their message, they are busy trying to change the rules. We are witnessing right now a massive and unabashed assault on voting rights unlike anything we've ever seen since the Jim Crow era. This is Jim Crow in new clothes. Since the January election, some 250 voter suppression bills have been introduced by state legislatures all across the country from Georgia to Arizona, from New Hampshire to Florida, using the big lie of voter fraud as a pretext for voter suppression. The same big lie that led to a violent insurrection on this very Capitol.

The day after my election. Within 24 hours, we elected Georgia's first African-American Jewish senator. Hours later, the Capitol was assaulted. We see in just a few precious hours the tension very much alive in the soul of America. And the question before all of us at every moment is, what will we do to push us in the right direction? And so politicians driven by that big lie aim to severely limit and in some cases eliminate automatic and same-day voter registration, mail-in and absentee voting and early voting and weekend voting. They want to make it easier to purge voters from the voting roll altogether. And as a voting rights activist, I've seen up close just how draconian these measures

can be. I hail from a state that purged 200,000 voters from the roll one Saturday night. In the middle of the night. We know what's happening here. Some people don't want some people to vote. I was honored on a few occasions to stand with our hero and my parishioner, John Lewis. I was his pastor, but I'm clear he was my mentor. On this occasion, we boarded buses together after Sunday church services as part of our Souls to the Polls program, encouraging the Ebenezer Church family and communities of faith to participate in the Georgia legislature, some who even dared to praise his name, that are now trying to get rid of Sunday souls to the polls,

making it a crime for people who pray together to get on a bus together in order to vote together. I think that's wrong. Matter of fact, I think that a vote is a kind of prayer for the kind of world we desire for ourselves and for our children. And our prayers are stronger when we pray together. To be sure, we have seen these kinds of voter suppression tactics before. They are a part of a long and shameful history in Georgia and throughout our nation. But refusing to be denied.

Georgia citizens and citizens across our country brave the heat and the cold and the rain. Some standing in line for five hours, six hours, ten hours. Just to exercise their constitutional right to vote. Young people, old people, sick people, working people, already underpaid, forced to lose wages to pay a kind of poll tax while standing in line to vote. And how do some politicians respond? Well they are trying to make it a crime to give people water and a snack as they wait in lines that are obviously being made longer by their draconian actions.

Think about that. Think about that. They are the ones making the lines longer through these draconian actions. And then they want to make it a crime to bring grandma some water while she's waiting in a line that they're making longer. Make no mistake.

This is democracy in reverse. Rather than voters being able to pick the politicians, the politicians are trying to cherry-pick their voters. I say this cannot stand. And so I rise, Mr. President, because that sacred and noble idea, one person, one vote, is being threatened right now. Politicians in my home state and all across America in their craving lust for power have launched a full-fledged assault on voting rights. They are focused on winning at any cost, even the cost of the

democracy itself. And I submit that it is the job of each citizen to stand up for the voting rights of every citizen. And it is the job of this body to do all that it can to defend the viability of our democracy. And that's why I am a proud co-sponsor of the For the People Act is a major step in the march toward our democratic ideals, making it easier, not harder, for eligible Americans to vote by instituting common-sense pro-democracy reforms like establishing national automatic voter registration for every eligible citizen, and allowing all Americans to register to vote online and on Election Day, requiring states to offer at least two weeks of early voting, including weekends, in federal elections, keeping souls to the polls programs alive,

prohibiting states from restricting a person's ability to vote absentee or by mail, and preventing states from purging the voter rolls based solely on unreliable evidence like someone's voting history, something we've seen in Georgia and other states in recent years. And it would end the dominance of big money in our politics and ensure dominance of corporatist interests and politicians who do their bidding, the voices of the American people have been increasingly drowned out and crowded out and squeezed out of their own democracy. We must pass for the people so that the people might have a voice. Your vote is your voice, and your voice is your human dignity.

But not only that, we must pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. You know, voting rights used to be a bipartisan issue. The last time the voting rights bill was reauthorized was 2006. George W. Bush was president, and it passed this chamber 98 to zero. But then in 2013, the Supreme Court rejected the successful formula for supervision and preclearance contained in the 1965 Voting Rights Act. They asked Congress

to fix it. That was nearly eight years ago. And the American people are still waiting. Strip to protections. Voters in states with a long history of voter discrimination and voters in many other states have been thrown to the winds. We Americans have noisy and spirited debates about many things, and we should.

That's what it means to live in a free country. But access to the ballot ought to be nonpartisan. I submit that there should be 100 votes in this chamber for policies that will make it easier for Americans to make their voices heard in our democracy. Surely, there ought to be at least 60 in this chamber who believe as I do that the four most powerful words uttered in a democracy are the people have spoken.

Therefore, we must ensure that all of the people can speak. But if not, we must still pass voting rights. The right to vote is preservative of all other rights. It is not just another issue alongside other issues. It is foundational. It is a reason why any of us has the privilege of standing here in the first place. It is about the covenant we have with one another as an American people. E pluribus unum, out of many one. It above all else must be protected. And so let's be clear.

I'm not here today to spiral into the procedural argument regarding whether the filibuster in general has merits or has outlived its usefulness. I'm here to say that this issue is bigger than the filibuster in general has merits or has outlived its usefulness. I'm here to say that this issue is bigger than the filibuster. I stand before you saying that this issue, access to voting and preempting politicians' efforts to restrict voting is so fundamental to our democracy that it is too important to be held hostage by a Senate rule, especially one historically used to restrict expansion of voting rights. It is a contradiction to say we must protect minority rights in the Senate

while refusing to protect minority rights in the society. Colleagues, no Senate rule should overrule the integrity of our democracy. And we must find a way to pass voting rights whether we get rid of the filibuster or not. And so as I close, and nobody believes a preacher when he says as I close. Let me say that I, as a man of faith, I believe that democracy is the political enactment of a spiritual idea. The sacred worth of all human beings. The notion that we all have within us a spark of the divine and a right to participate in the shaping of our destiny.

Reinhold Niebuhr was right. Humanity's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but humanity's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary. John Lewis understood that and was beaten on a bridge defending it. Amelia Boynton, like so many women not mentioned nearly enough, was gassed on that same bridge. A white woman named Viola Luiso was killed. Megan Evans was murdered in his own driveway. Schwerner, Cheney, and Goodman, two Jews and an African American standing

up for that sacred idea of democracy also paid the ultimate price. And we in this body would be stopped and stymied by partisan politics, short-term political gain, Senate procedure. I say let's get this done no matter what. I urge my colleagues to pass these two bills, strengthen and lengthen the cords of our democracy, secure our credibility as the premier voice for freedom-loving people and democratic movements all over the world and win the future For all of our children, mr. President I yield the floor That was Senator Raphael Warnock, my senator here in Georgia, also my pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, giving a powerful address in the defense of voting rights in the United States Senate today.

It is crucial that we pass through the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, SB, and also the Senate Bill on Voter Protection. We are seeing across the country attacks on the right to vote, and it's very important for everyone to contact their senators, join civic organizations, fight back against voter suppression. Again, we represent the majority, and we have to stop allowing a dedicated minority to prevent us from progressing forward. Got to thank the guests today, A. Scott Bolden, Janice Mathis, C.K. Hoffler, Melanie Campbell for joining us. I think Roland, he had to check out a little bit early. He will be back tomorrow.

And then join the Brenda Fan Club. And as Roland would say, we'll be show up in our lives in small ways. Four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. Small but important ways. From tech billionaires to the bond market to, yeah, banana pudding. If it's happening in business, our new podcast is on it. I'm Max Chastin.

And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott.

And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording. We met them at their recording studios.

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

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I always had to be so good no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper.

The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersceiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. This is an iHeart Podcast.