#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Haitian migrant crisis update; Title 42 decoded; Voter ID hearing gets hot; Melvin Van Peebles dies

Episode Date: September 23, 2021

9.22.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Haitian migrant crisis update; DHS allows some Haitian migrants to stay and places several border patrol officers on administrative leave for using whips on migrants; Title 42 decoded; Voter ID Senate hearing gets hot; DC police accused of "systemic psychological abuse"; Jesse Jackson leaves hospital; Julius Jones' execution date set; R. Kelly trial update; Melvin Van Peebles diesSupport #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#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. Today is Wednesday, September 22nd, 2021. Coming up on Roland Martin on Filtered Breaking News. Acclaimed director Melvin Van Peebles has passed away at the age of 89. We will talk with a number of Hollywood luminaries. Directors Rob Hardy, cinematographer Ernest Dickerson and many others to share their thoughts about Melvin Van

Peebles. We also have an exclusive statement from Bill Cosby who helped fund his completion of his book, his movie, Sweet Sweet Bats Bad Ass Song. Also on today's show, the House Haiti Caucus calling for a halt on deportation flights to Haiti, demanding due process for Haitian migrants at the southern border and congressional oversight

into the inhumane behavior of border patrol. We'll talk with Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. She is co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus. Also joining us, the new CEO of the African American Mayor's Association, Phyllis Dickerson. The AMA was quick to offer support for African refugees,

but what about Haitians? We'll discuss that with her. Also, we've been talking about Title 42. What exactly is that? And how does it apply to Haitian immigrants? Also tonight, the Metropolitan Police Department of District of Columbia hit with a discrimination lawsuit by 10 current and former black female officers.

We'll talk with Attorney Pamela Keith, Assistant Chief at the Metropolitan Police Department. Chanel Dickerson will discuss the case as well. Oklahoma sets the execution date of a black man despite the state parole board's recommendation to commute his sentence to life imprisonment without parole. A black law professor gut checks Senator Ted Cruz over racist voter ID in Texas.

Wait until we show you that video. Plus, Michigan black gets little to no attention. Today we're going to profile a few missing black folks who are getting left out by mainstream media. Folks, it is time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin, unfiltered at the Blackstar Network. Let's go. And when it breaks, he's right on time And it's rolling Best believe he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics

With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling It's Uncle Roro, y'all It's Rolling Martin, yeah Rolling with Roland now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Roland Martin now. Martin. Outrage continues on Capitol Hill over the treatment of

Haitian migrants along the Texas border. The Department of Homeland Security is reporting on the recent outburst of the Haitian migrants. We'll be right back. Outrage continues on Capitol Hill over the treatment of Haitian migrants along the Texas border. The Department of Homeland Security, they're allowing some Haitian migrants to stay in the U.S. despite the Biden administration's plan to expel them. It's not clear how long that is going to take place, but there's a concentrated effort to allow families to stay. DHS has placed several Border patrol officers on administrative leave who use

their horse reins as whips on the Haitian migrants. Folks, we got this statement from Simone Sanders, senior advisor and chief spokesman for Vice President Kamala Harris, about the conversation between Vice President Harris and the head of DHS. Yesterday, Vice President Harris spoke to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to receive an update about his trip to Del Rio. During that call, the vice president raised her grave concerns about the mistreatment of Haitian migrants by Border Patrol agents on horses and the need of all CBP agents to treat people with dignity, humanely, and consistent with our laws and values.

Secretary Mayorkas shared the vice president's concern and noted that he looks forward to updating her on the investigation by the Office of Professional Responsibility once it concludes. Secretary Mayorkas also spoke with the vice president about the efforts DHS has underway to address the humanitarian needs of people at our border in Del Rio through the provision of food, shelter, clothing, and medical care, as well as engagement with non-governmental and international organizations. The vice president acknowledged the attention and concerns Secretary Mayorkas shared and looks forward to following up with him in the coming days. Now, we've reached out to the White House since Sunday to ask for them to send someone to this show

to discuss what's happening with Haitian migrants. They have yet to send someone. Joining us right now, though, is Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley from Massachusetts. She joins us right now. Congresswoman, glad to have you on the show. CBC members on today held a news conference along with others to talk about this very issue. What answers are you getting from DHS and this White House administration with the treatment of these Haitian migrants? Well, first, let me just say, as co-chair of the Haiti caucus, someone who proudly represents the third largest concentration of the Haitian diaspora in the country, we have been for six months now advocating for a halt to these deportations. Once Biden did come into office

and instructed ICE to halt deportations, they continue to target Black immigrants and Haitian immigrants in particular. So this has been a fight for six months. More recently, myself and Representative Villasquez led a letter with dozens of our House colleagues calling for a halt to these deportations. This is a humanitarian crisis, and our response should be one that is humanitarian, that is humane. And this is not. The cruelty is the point.

We have seen some manifest of children as young as three years old being deported. And we know, given natural disasters, the recent assassination of their president, the ways in which the pandemic has ravaged the region. It would just be cruel. The entire region is unstable. They have made it clear that they cannot accept anyone back. And so we need a halt to these deportations and a repeal of Title 42, which has been, was weaponized by Trump, and that is deporting in the interest of public health. This should be repealed. Again, this is a humanitarian crisis. We need to affirm due process for legal asylum. Again, asylum is legal, and we need to halt all deportations. I am still trying to understand, and this goes back to the administration of Jimmy Carter,

why are Haitians treated differently than Cubans? And no one seems to give me an answer. Well, I think the point here is that Haitian lives are Black lives. And we continue to get a message throughout the globe that Black lives, in fact, do not matter, which is why there has been disparate response and treatment here, which is also why, in my capacity on the Oversight Committee, I have reached out seeking oversight and investigations to ensure that those CBP officers are held accountable for their egregious

and vile demonstration of white supremacy. CBP has been racist and rogue for a long time. So this is just another demonstration of the systemic inhumanity and cruelty of this agency. The union for the Border Patrol officers has come out condemning folks for their criticism of these agents. And I've asked the White House, is it policy in terms of how folks are treated? Get to get an answer. Now you have, of course, you've got folks on the right wing who are saying, no, these were not whips, they're horse reins.

Well, if you're swinging horse reins like a whip, damn it, it operates the same way as a whip. I mean, yeah. I mean, the... People keep talking about these images. It's important to, you know, remember that these images are real people. These are not just images.

But they are abhorrent, and what we have seen is it's unconscionable. It's cruel. It's inhumane. It's shameful. It's really shameful. And again, you know, when we were in the face of this so-called national reckoning on racial injustice in the Country. Many espouse that Black Lives Matter. It's moments like this, in tragic inflection points like this, where we should be standing up and affirming that that is, in fact, more than an expression, but that it is a fact that is codified in our policies. So these deportations must be halted. These rogue and CBP officers should be held accountable. We need an investigation. Again, CBP has proven itself for a very long

time to be racist and rogue. Again, even when deportations were halted by the Biden administration, ICE continued to target black immigrants, and Haitian immigrants in particular. And so now we see ourselves where we are in this moment when Haiti is dealing with three conflated, very severe crises, which they have yet to recover from and will not for quite some time. Large swaths of the region have no power, no clean drinking water. And again, many of those that they are deporting unjustly have not been to Haiti for more than a decade. And the children have never been there. And certainly during a time of such great instability, uncertainty and violence,

and a pandemic ravaging the region, this is not the time. This is the United States of America. We have the capacity to do the right thing here and to affirm due process for legal asylum. And the only thing that we're missing in this moment is the political will and courage to do it. Well, we certainly want to see more from this administration. Vice President Harris, when she was a senator, was highly critical of the use of this particular policy,

which was pushed by White white supremacist Stephen Miller under Donald Trump. It continues with the Biden administration. And so have they given you answers as to why they are continuing using it if when running for president, then Vice President Joe Biden, now President, saying we should be treating people in a more humane way. Then you had a federal judge, Emmett Sullivan, here in D.C., who said they could not use this against families.

And it was going to go into effect in 14 days, but they're actually going to even appeal that decision. Well, I've not spoken with the president directly. I have been in ongoing communications with the White House, and I did have the opportunity to speak to Vice President Harris directly about this when we were together at her residence celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Congressional Black Caucus. And I found her to be sympathetic, to agree with our characterizations, and I know that—and to be responsive. And, as you know, members of the Congressional Black Caucus met earlier today with senior White House officials about this matter.

And so we're waiting for their response, both to ensure accountability for the vile and egregious actions by these CBP officers to halt deportations, to affirm a due process for legal asylum, and to treat this like what it is, a humanitarian crisis. We have the capacity. This is the United States of America. We have chosen to exercise that capacity for everyone else except for black immigrants and Haitians. Last question for you. And I'm going to ask Phyllis Dickerson coming up next the same question. How do how how does this administration explain to African-Americans the making way supporting financially Afghan refugees, but sending Haitians back. Has anyone explained the difference between how America is accepting and treating Afghan refugees compared to Haitian

migrants who are trying to come into the country? Well, I've not heard that rationale or a rationale, because there isn't one. And the contrast is damning, and the disparate treatment is obvious. So, again, if we do in fact want to affirm that black lives matter, and that is more than a rallying cry, but a value and a belief with which we practice Haitian lives, our black lives. And it's tragic inflection points like this where we need to stand up. This is a humanitarian crisis. It requires a humanitarian response. And the callous and cruelty that Haitians have been met with at the border is certainly not consistent with that. we must halt all deportations immediately and repeal Title 42 and hold accountable

the rogue officers and their vile, racist actions. Conor, I want to yell and press you, Massachusetts. We appreciate it. Always glad to have you on the show. Thank you, Roland. Thanks a bunch. Let's go to Phyllis Dickerson, the CEO of the African American Mayors Association. Phyllis, glad to have you on the show. Thank you, Roland. Thanks a bunch. Let's go to Phyllis Dickerson, the CEO of the African American Mayors Association. Phyllis, glad to have you here.

We have seen mayors and governors say welcome with open arms, Afghan refugees. What are black mayors saying about the treatment of these Haitian migrants along the Texas border? Roland, first let me say thank you for having me on the show this afternoon. One, yesterday, Mayor Turner, as you know, is your mayor, Mayor Sylvester Turner of Houston, sent a letter to the White House, in fact, to President Biden, addressing his concerns with this. The images that we see coming out of the Texas-Mexico border are horrific. It took us all the way back to slavery when you saw the horses, white men on horses, and the whooping of the Haitians and rounding them up. And so we have, as a group, as an organization, spoken out against this. The letter was sent to President Biden

and it addressed our concerns and the images that we were seeing. And, um, and we're asking for... Looks like, uh, Phil... There we go. There we go. You froze there. Do we have her back? We... Do you have me back? Yep, there we go. You're back.

Sorry about that. As the Congresswoman stated, this is a humanitarian crisis. And so we have to treat people with the same dignity and respect that we want to be treated. And so we are the United States of America. This is being broadcasted in real time. And we

have to show that we are better than the images that we're seeing coming out of the border. So what is happening here, again, people talk about, and again, no one seems to give me, I still can't get an answer, how we're treating Haitians differently from Cubans as well as from Afghan refugees as well. It makes no sense to me. And so I would appreciate somebody explaining that. So are there other mayors who are speaking out, other black mayors,

who are saying there needs to be a much more coherent policy in terms of how we treat Haitians? Yes. So the letter came from the African-American Mears organization as a whole, which represents large and small cities. So mayors like Michael Hancock out of Denver, Mayor Lightfoot out of Chicago, and Mayor Turner got together yesterday and put the letter together addressing the issues. But when AMA speaks, when the African American Mayors Organization speaks, they not only speak for their cities, they speak for cities across the country. And you're asking for an answer that doesn't exist because there is no answer as to the why. Like, why are they being treated differently? And the only answer is right in front of our face.

As the congresswoman said, that black lives should matter, but do they matter to everyone? And so we have to address the issue that is right in front of us, which is we have to call for action and say, look, this is unacceptable and we have to be treated fairly, justly and human, just like any other immigrant coming into our country. All right. Phyllis Dickerson, of course, executive CEO of the African American Marriages Association. Certainly appreciate it.

Look forward to having you back. Thank you, Roland. All right, then. I want to talk about this with my panel member, Robert Portillo, who joins me right now. I'm going to be joined by others as well. Robert, look, you keep hearing this, different rules, different people. And it's been the case since President Jimmy Carter, how we treat Haitians compared to how

we treat Cubans. Well, you know, it's interesting. Growing up Haitian American in this country, my mom grew up in Khanskoff in Haiti. We were there in the 90s when you had the quote-unquote boat people that were the menace to America. We tried to figure out, well, why were they not being treated the same way as Elian Gonzalez, being coddled, being taken in by this nation? But then when you look back at the history of America, it is not simply since Jimmy Carter, since the inception of Haiti, that America has had one simple policy, which is to subjugate and keep down the entire nation of Haiti. And the reason for that is, and this was written by Thomas Jefferson,

the fear has always been that if Haiti succeeds, then black people everywhere will believe they can succeed. The fear was that the revolution that started in Haiti would spread to the plantations of South Carolina and Florida and Georgia and throughout the South, and that they would start revolting and standing up and fighting back the same way that Desi Bookman and Toussaint Louverture and that Dessalines stood up to the French.

And this is the fear that America has always had, and they have put this into policy for the last 200 years. People forget that the United States of America occupied the entire island of Haiti from 1919 until the mid-1930s. Even as recently as the Clinton administration, we saw the U.S. occupation from 1994 to 1997 during the reign of Aristide, when George Bush was president. He actually picked up Aristide with U.S. military forces, dropped him off in the Congo, and placed his own government in place right there. Not to

mention the billions of dollars in earthquake relief that just disappeared, thanks to the Clinton Foundation and many other non-governmental organizations after that natural disaster there, it has been the U.S. policy towards Haiti the entire time. This is just what was caught on camera. No one, none of us believe that this is the first time that these rogue cowboys and bounty hunters rode around the Texas border doing a Walker, Texas Ranger impression, beating and whipping people, particularly Haitians and other African migrants who are coming into the nation. That has simply put the culture and the policy of America, and we have to demand more from the Biden administration. Because guess what? The

largest Haitian population in America is in Florida. And if you would want to lose a Sweden state for a generation, have both the Cubans and the Haitians in Florida mad at you at that same time. And concurrently, we have to flex that muscle to ensure the administration understands that this is the end of this policy. We'll no longer accept disparate treatment to Haitians and other black groups of migrants for political purposes.

The reason no one can give you an answer because the answer is right in front of your face is because they're black. And until we admit that, and until the administration's willing to do something about that, this will continue for the rest of our lives. Well, that is certainly the case.

And, again, we're going to keep talking about this here. And like I said, we've been trying to get the administration to send someone to this show to specifically talk about this. Hasn't happened. And that needs to happen. And I made it clear I'm going to hit them, call them out every single day until they do. Because what is being stated so far is simply insufficient with

what is going on. And there is a process for asylum. The fact that they're sending people back and not even following that process just makes no sense whatsoever. And so, this Democratic administration owes black people answers. They owe folks an explanation to what's going on. And guess what?

You're not going to get let off the hook. It's as simple as that. Well, you know, they're going to be right back in 2022 and 2024, and they're going to have the same old dog and pony show, the most important election of our life. We have voting rights around the ballot, this, that, and the other. But it's going to be very hard to pull that coalition back together that got Joe Biden elected. That coalition of young voters, first-time voters, African-Americans, Latinos, women, you're not going to have the boogeyman of Trump on the ballot, and therefore you're going to have to

put some points on the board. You put points on the board by passing things to the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act, passing things like the John Lewis voting rights that for the people, but also doing right by Haitian Americans and understanding that this is the perfect opportunity to show where your administration is different than the Trump regime. Quit trying to prove yourself to moderate Republicans, quote unquote, thinking that's the way forward. They are never going to come back. They are never going to vote for you. They have not yet admitted that 2020 was even a real year, that it was a real election. So because of that, you need to be coming through for the people who are supporting you. That includes Haitian migrants, because in those southern states and those swing states, it's not going to be forgotten images of cowboys on

horseback with whips and lassoses, corralling black people carrying food in the middle of the desert. Those images are going to be seared in in the next election, so there's going to have to be concentrated action. Alright folks, let's go to our next story. Here in D.C., the Metropolitan Police Department, they're being accused of systemic psychological abuse. Ten current and former black female officers

filed a lawsuit claiming they were subjected to a male-dominated culture of race and sex discrimination and faced retaliation when they raised concerns about the treatment. Joining me now is Pamela Keith, attorney from D.C., Chanel Dickerson, assistant chief at the Metropolitan Police Department. Glad to have both of you on the show.

So, first and foremost, Chanel, first of all, I'm sorry, I'm going to Pam first. Pam, so just walk us through the lawsuit. When you talk about 10 current and former officers, how high up do they go in the department? Well, you have one of the highest in Assistant Chief Chanel Dickerson. She's not just one of the highest ranking African-American women in the Metropolitan Police Department, but also just across the country. Chanel has something like 33 years of service, as do almost all of our plaintiffs. We have 10 African-American women officers. Only one has less than 15 years and several have more than 30. And these are officers who are in specialized elite units, some who had retired and were asked to come back because of

their expertise. And the story that they tell across the board, Roland, is a story of systemic denigration, of disrespect, abuse of power, and an EEO department that absolutely disregarded them and actually colluded with management to undermine them and their credibility when they complained. And of course, the worst of all is the systemic retaliation, this idea that management gets to bully, harass, and haze and push out employees that complain of gender or race discrimination or other police misconduct, which is a very important part of this. And so that doesn't happen without the approval of the chief of police or her delegates, but it is an actual culture of the

police that once they decide that you're persona non grata, they're going to push you out through death by a thousand cuts. And these women have been subjected to that. They've had enough. They've banded together. They've stood up. And they have put it squarely

in the consciousness of the people of the District of Columbia and elsewhere that this is no longer going to be tolerated. Chanel, it is never an easy decision for folks to actually file a lawsuit. And so share with the folks who are watching and listening what you have had to experience in this department and why you are part of this lawsuit. Thank you so much, Roland, for the question. I have been with the police department, as Pam stated, for a total of over 30 years. I started at 17 years old as a police cadet. And at 17, I was subjected to sexual harassment by older men on to the police department who wanted to offer me money and clothes and items of value for sex. And we all know that no one under the age of 18

can agree to have sex for anything of value. And I asked to be transferred at that moment. And, later, I resigned and I moved away from the area. But I returned back at the police department in 1994 and became a civilian employee. But unfortunately, in 1995, the lieutenant, my supervisor, started to sexual harass me. And when I complained to his boss, a captain, nothing was done. My lunch period was changed from one hour to 30 minutes, while other similarly situated employees kept an hour lunch period. And I had to sign in and out to go to the bathroom. I mean, sign in and out.

He created a log for me to sign in and out. And my friends and I saw him often outside of my home in Maryland. He had no legitimate business to be outside of my home in Maryland, but he was just basically stalking me. I complained about it, and absolutely nothing was done. Move on to me being a law enforcement officer. In 1997, I became a sworn officer with the police department, and I was on the job training at the 3rd District. And once again, I was subjected to harassment. A lieutenant verbally abused me, told me the things that he wanted to do to me sexually, commented on my physical attributes. And a community member who witnessed the entire incident was so appalled, they wrote a letter of complaint. And absolutely nothing happened

to him. And I later found out that he had a substantiated complaint against him, and they just moved him to another area of the department where he could actually abuse another woman. And then I ascended the rank. I've had, you know, different situations at every level, but my current level as an assistant chief, I'm not exempt from it. I'm a Black woman. I'm Chanel Dickerson, a Black woman who happens to be an assistant chief of police. I'm often isolated, made to feel invisible, excluded from meetings, important meetings. I'm not a diversity checkbox. I am qualified for my job. I have the education for my job. But in a male-dominant profession, you have to fight for it every day.

When Pam Keefe reached out to me about the lawsuit, I had to stand behind these women. And people talk to me about the dire consequences or possible consequences that I could face for stepping up. This is unheard of. An assistant chief standing up for the rank and file, but it's the right thing to do. How can we safely police the community and engage with the community if we don't treat our people internally fairly? It's like the analogy with beating a dog. If I beat a dog and then expect a dog to protect my house, like, that's not going to happen. We have some phenomenal people on the police department. So by no means am I suggesting that everyone at the police department is a part of this.

But it's so culturally embedded and ingrained in the department, we have to say no more today. No more. Pam, what did the city do? I mean, obviously, what Chanel described, she didn't just keep it to herself. Was there anything from city council members, mayor, or others? Were folks alerted? Folks were alerted. I think they perhaps underestimated the strength of our case.

Not only do we have 10 extraordinary, phenomenal class representative plaintiffs, but we also have sworn affidavits from the employees within the EEO department of the MPD that have made clear that the EEO director thinks his job is to collude with management to discredit complainants. And that is shocking to have, not just one person, but three people who corroborate that the EEO department is dysfunctional. And I don't think they anticipated that either. What we've gotten so far is sort of the placeholder response. We believe in equality and inclusion, and we're going to take this seriously and take a look at it, which I expect. I mean, again, I think they were a little bit surprised

at the scope and the depth of this complaint. It's 213 pages of chapter, verse, and footnotes of what these women have been put through, because we decided we weren't going to be vague, and we were going to name names and put in dates and specific incidents so they cannot claim that, you know, this is a unique circumstance.

All of these women in different stages of their career, different parts of the department are telling the same story of retaliation, discrimination, and being ignored and devalued. But I do wonder, Roland, about what the city's response is going to be. You have 10 black women with a total of more than 285 years of service to the District of Columbia, and almost all of them have more than 15 or 20 years of service. So are they going to say all of these 10 women are lying? I guess they could, but I'm not sure that would work.

They could also say, well, no, they're not lying, but what's happening to them is not a big deal. That, you know, being treated this way is perfectly acceptable. Not sure that's going to be a winning strategy either. Or they could say, well, yes, it's bad and it's happening to them, but we don't want to do anything to stop it or change it. Also an option. But I just find that we did our due diligence and we did the work to show that this is not just happening

to these 10 women, that this is happening to Black women across the board, and that it is a confluence of disrespect of them because they're women in a male-dominated field and disrespect of them because they are Black women in particular. And we are, I mean, this news broke today, Roland,

our office has been bombarded with calls of people who are seeking representation because they've been treated this way in the MPD as well. So, you know, we feel our case is very, very strong. And we hope that this is actually an opportunity for a mayor like Muriel Bowser and for the city council of D.C. to be the transformative leaders that they claim to be. Chanel, final comment from you since you decided to go public with this

and announce this lawsuit. Have you been shunned? Have you heard from other women in the department who said, thank you for doing this? Has there been any response directly to you? Yes, it has been. People are calling both of my phones. I have two cell phones. Officers are calling. They're very emotional and crying. This case is bringing up a lot of bad

memories. I have to admit, I suppressed mine. And this case actually brought up emotions for me. People want to know how they can get to be a part of this lawsuit. People want to know that they have, we have their support. It's an overwhelming amount of support. I'm getting it from clergy members, A&C commissioners, community members, men on the department, regardless of their race, are reaching out saying, hey, that was a power move. And I can't believe that you are risking so much to stand up for the rank and file. And we really appreciate you. It really resonate. The words resonate with within my spirit because I knew that it was the right thing to do. At the end of the day,

even if I stand up and I'm standing alone, but you're standing for what's right, how am I going to look myself in the mirror and sleep at night if I know that there's nine other members? See, I can accept things happening to me, right, and not do anything about it. But how do you allow this to happen to nine other women on the police department? And for three years, I was the highest-ranking sworn female member on the department. And people look up to me. I felt like a fraud. So I had to step up. And I'm not worried about it. I haven't been shunned. I do not expect to be shunned. We really have a phenomenal police department, but we need to do better with this. So this is our opportunity to rally together.

I would like the police department to acknowledge that we have gone through this, and let's work together to fix it and ensure that this never happens again. We can have a zero tolerance policy for discrimination, but we don't have a zero tolerance policy for retaliation. I would like to see that. Thank you. Assistant Chief Chanel Dickerson, Attorney Pam Keith, we surely appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you for having us. All right. I want to bring on my panel, Tiffany Lofton, of course, activist and also still with us, Robert Portillo.

Tiffany, listening to that, it speaks clearly in terms of what women have to face in many of these male-dominated places, such as police departments and fire departments. Tiffany? Oh, I'm sorry. Repeat the question, Robert. I'm sorry. I didn't hear you. I said what you just heard described there shows us what women have to face in male-dominated professions such as police departments and fire departments.

Yeah, absolutely. I don't have too much to add. I'm still processing the stories that the ladies have shared and the fact that there's not few places where they can share their stories and be heard. You know, after the Me Too movement and after hearing a lot about what women have to go through and what I've had to go through and experience, there aren't a lot of safe spaces where women are able to have fair processes that trust them. So this is important for us to have this conversation, especially in the black community. And we know that the injustices that exist are both policy fixed and also cultural. So I'm glad that you were able to at least have this on the show. The thing here is certainly disturbing, Robert, when you listen to what's described there, and also what stands out is how this department is going to respond

when you also have a black female mayor of Washington, D.C. Absolutely, Ron. I think the fact that you hear these stories and see what went on last summer in the Freedom Summer of 2020 kind of pushes even further the need that we have to have for systemic police reform. Even when we look at the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act,

it doesn't go far enough when it comes to instituting these types of reforms that are needed in policing departments across the country, not just to deal with the community and racial reconciliation issues, but deal with their own issues in HR, human resources, and how they treat other officers, particularly women, as was articulated earlier. My sister, my eldest sister was a police officer in Charlotte, Mecklesburg, for 20 years. These stories are across the border, across the nation, not a department-by-department issue. And the same way we had to attack the culture of sexual assault and sexual harassment in the military in previous years, I think we need to do the same sort of thing on the federal level

of police departments around the nation to ensure that people are allowed to simply work and do their jobs regardless of their sex or gender. Well, we have not gotten a comment from the Washington, D.C. Police Department or the city of D.C. Well, from District of Columbia. But we certainly want to hear their side of the story. Alright, folks. This story coming out of Capitol Hill at the

months of negotiations between Democrats and Republicans for police reform measures. There will be no deal. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, a Democrat, told reporters he had a conversation with Republican negotiator Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina indicating the talks were over. After Minneapolis jury found a white police officer guilty of Joy Floyd's murder, lawmakers in both parties expressed optimism

they could broker a deal. They said they believed the verdict would provide new momentum to reach a compromise. It didn't. Big sticking point that the police departments, the unions and sheriffs did not want to see an end to qualified immunity. Tiffany, there was a point here where Republicans were saying

that they could bring Tim Scott, Lindsey Graham, they could bring 20 to 25 Republicans on their side. Mm, isn't it amazing how these things keep ending the same way, nothing? And then you have Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, who, if they would be against the filibuster, this bill could actually pass. It absolutely could. We know that for a fact. So this is really about the filibuster

and about delaying the process for voting rights and a series of other things. Listen, politics is a game. And the constant excuse that we need to work bipartisan, that we need to work across the aisle for an issue that is clearly bipartisan, when we're talking about democracy and we're talking about voting rights, to young people, it leaves a sour taste in their mouth. The parties don't think forward in advance. Young people are going to be some of the biggest turnout for 2022 in the midterm elections. And then as we gear for the 2024 presidential elections, they are going to remember exactly who did what and who used the excuses to filibuster to not push these issues forward. Their jobs are on the line. And more importantly, their parties are on the line. And so when we think about how people are saying and playing this game, it's been all year after

the pandemic where folks have not pushed these issues forward, blaming each other, pointing the fingers, trying to say that they need to get their friends on their side, and then also talking about the filibuster. And I just want people to, like, have a bigger context for what this means in the long run for elections. People are going to suffer, and communities are going to suffer. But more importantly, our politics needs to bend down to the democracy of young people who are going to hold their feet to the fire if they don't do what they're supposed to do for our communities. Robert, you know, I think the Democratic Party sometimes has to be stuck on stupid. It's as if they do not want to win, that they have no interest in actually doing anything for their voting base that would actually encourage them or give them any reason to continue supporting them.

They're like the Falcons, basically. They go out there every Sunday, you root for them, you think they're gonna do their best, and they just keep losing. And they'll find a new way to lose no matter how they lose the last time they lost. And what Democrats have to understand is, look, without African Americans, without young people,

without progressives, you cannot win. So when you allow someone like Joe Manchin and Christian Sinema to basically tank police reform, when you have protests in 20 cities around the country, when you have international support of every part of the globe, from New Zealand to China to Iran, we're protesting for George Floyd, and you cannot get a bill passed after that. This shows you how broken the system is.

I don't blame Republicans, because Republicans are going to do what Republicans are going to do. But when you look at the fact that even if they did get rid of the filibuster, they did not have 50 votes within their own caucus to pass the bill. You are not going to get Manchin. You are not going to get Sinema. From my sources, there probably were at least five other Democratic senators that would not have supported the Georgia Court of Justice and Policing Act because they are so well supported by the police unions and the First Order of Police. And this just shows the corruption in our political system. And this is why so many

people check out of politics, because if you do all the things they tell you to do, you give them the House of Representatives, you give them a majority in the Senate, you give them the White House, you knock on doors, you register to vote, you do all those things and you get absolutely nothing out of it. Meanwhile, as soon as the Republicans get elected, they have a $1.5 trillion tax cut and they're building the wall. And somehow government just works different for them. So unless Democrats are going to get on their horse and start passing some bills, 2020 is going to be a tough year for them.

But here's the deal, though. We say Democrats, what do they do? A U.S. senator can do whatever decision that they make. It passed the House. Democrats in the House did their job. Okay, what now? I mean, it's really two people who are really holding it up. It passed the House. Democrats in the House did their job. Okay, what now? I mean, it's really two people who are really holding it up.

Look, let's understand something. President Trump came into office with Lindsey Graham comparing him to death. And many Republicans not wanting to touch him for a 10-foot pole. He whipped that entire Senate Republican caucus into shape to the point that they will vote for whatever it was that he said, including decertifying the election and claiming that the entire thing was rigged. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Robert, Robert, Robert, Mitch McConnell was not leading a 50-50 Senate. He was leading a 52-48 Senate. So they did a 52-48 Senate. So they did not have the same dynamics as the

Democrats did. My point is that we need to see a more active and involved president on these issues. Stop outsourcing the black issues to Kamala. Stop outsourcing black issues to Simone Sanders. We all love Simone, but it seems like the only time they have her put out a statement

is when they do something stupid to black people. So I need to see a president who is actively out there standing up and fighting for these issues. Letting Joe Manchin and Christian Sinema and anybody else know that I have some LBJ in my system when it comes to running the Senate rules. I know how to use the levers of power.

I was in the Senate, or I was in Washington for 50 years. That was the entire point of you running by saying that you could at least get your own caucus in order. I don't think black voters are willing to sit down and say, well, look, I know you didn't pass voting rights. I know you didn't pass police reform. I know you had a whole bunch of Border Patrol agents whipping black people down at the border. I know you dropped that bomb and killed all those Afghani civilians. Oh, and also, I know the economy is not going the way that we thought it was going to do, and you've actually passed none of the legislation that you said

you were going to pass for us. So I'm going to get out here and knock on doors in 100-degree weather in Atlanta to make sure you get re-elected. That's just not the way that things work, and they know that's not the way that things work, and they're going to have to get up off their butts and do something about it. Otherwise, they're going to find themselves in a very poor position going into 2022.

And it is going to be a problem, Tiffany. It is going to be a problem. Going to voters to go, what the hell did you get passed? Oh, listen, what Robert just said is what I said five minutes ago. He just said it in a way better way than I did. It ripped off all the examples, including also what did you do when the Texas ban happened and the Supreme Court didn't do anything? And also what did you do when you were trying to cancel student loan debt

that you told us you was going to work on, but you only did it for some people and not everybody else? As an organizer who has been doing for the last 10 years that door knocking that Robert just finished talking about, it is entirely difficult for me to go and talk to regular folks and knock on their doors and say, hey, we need you to vote. And the question that I always get is, what are elections going to do for me? And when we think about the daily impact that it has on people and their cost benefit to going to go cast their ballot and

cast their vote, it becomes harder for leaders of organizations. It becomes harder for people who are invested in the party. It becomes harder for organizers who want to see an improvement in their community to convince people to do something for somebody who did nothing for them. And every day that he waits, and I'm talking about Joe Biden, every day that he waits, every day he takes inaction, is going to strike against him and the entire party. And so that's why I mentioned, talked about 2022, but not only the party, but for 2024. And listen, I think that I said this a long time ago,

and I've been saying it for a long time, I didn't want a punk president. I wanted a president who was going to take action, who was going to support the community that they were going to support, who were going to support the communities that got him into his job in the first place. Joe Biden has not done that since I've seen him be in office. And I think that the party does itself a disservice when they can't hold the president accountable to do things that they promised they were going to do. I was talking to my friend the other day about strategizing what we're going to have to do to move some of these campaigns that we're working on, literally right now, working on getting aid to the border in Haiti. And, you know, when we talk about Republicans, they don't really care if people are yelling and screaming. They care about money and they care

about their jobs, whether or not you're going to elect them again. Democrats, you can protest them all day and they'll feel bad, but I still don't know what moves them, what moves the actual power for us to win what we want to win. And it's an embarrassing party for us to be a part of. So I think I agree with what Robert just said prior to me speaking. And young people, like I said, are paying attention. When the elections happen again, you're not going to be able to use me to come out and use me on behalf of the party and speak on your panel to talk about why young people need to vote in the election. I'm going to tell us why we need to vote,

but I'm not going to tell them why they need to vote for y'all. We're going to start doing independent stuff. We've been doing independent stuff. There are some incredible young, specifically people of color and specifically young women of color who are running for office who don't associate with none of these parties.

And I hope they will be all telling the election. I'm just going to say that. All right, folks, I got to show y'all this here. There was a hearing today on Capitol Hill talking about voter ID and the usual being an asshole, Senator Ted Cruz. He thought that he could somehow check a sister and some others. You want that smoke? Here you go, Ted. Mr. Chairman, I want to start with a question for each of the five witnesses. Mmm. You want that smoke? Here you go, Ted.

Mr. Chairman, I want to start with a question for each of the five witnesses. In your judgment, are voter ID laws racist? Professor Tolson. Thank you for that question. So it depends. One thing we have to stop doing is treating all voter ID laws as the same.

OK, so your answer, I want to move quickly, so it depends is your answer? Yes, that's my answer. Okay, so what voter ID laws are racist? Apologies, Mr. Cruz, your state of Texas, perhaps? Okay, so you think the entire state of Texas is racist. What about requiring an ID to vote is racist? So I think, sir, that's pretty reductive. I'm not saying the entire state of Texas is racist, but...

You just said my state of Texas, so you tell me. Your voter ID... What about the Texas voter ID laws is racist? So I think, sir, that's pretty reductive. I'm not saying the entire state of Texas is racist, but... You just said my state of Texas, so you tell me. Your voter ID... What about the Texas voter ID laws is racist? Absolutely. So the fact that the voter ID law was put into place to diminish the political power of Latinos with racist intent and had been found to have racist intent... You're asserting that. What's your evidence for that?

The federal district court that first resolved the constitutionality of Texas's voter ID law. Okay, so your Texas's voter ID law. Okay, so your view is voter ID laws are racist. How about you, Mr. Yang? I agree with Professor Tulsa. Voter ID laws can be racist. Okay, that's two. Mr. Sides? There are some voter ID laws that are racially discriminatory in intent. How about in practice? In intent, fine, you say there's some racist with a malevolent intent lurking in the back of their mind. But let's just talk about it as a practical matter.

When I go to vote, they ask me for my ID. I pull out my ID, I show it to them, I vote. Is that racist? If the law that requires you to do that was motivated by racially discriminatory intent under our Constitution... What about the intent. Set aside intent. Set aside intent. I'm asking about the effect. Yes, in effect, I think that there are discriminatory effects from a number of voter ID laws. Okay, thank you, Ms. Reardon.

I'm going to give the witness a chance to answer the question. Go ahead, Mr. Stein. Yes, in effects, I think many voter ID laws are discriminatory. And in design. They are designed to have that effect. Okay. Ms. Reardon. No, sir. Mr. Van Spakovsky.

No, particularly because every single state that has passed an ID law has put in a provision to provide a free ID to anyone who doesn't have one. The turnout numbers show it has no effect. And I would remind everyone that the current version of the Texas voter ID law for in-person voting, the Obama administration agreed in court, in a court filing, that they were satisfied with it and it was not discriminatory. You know, I have to say this is the wildly partisan nature of the Democrats' proposal. The record should reflect all three of the Democratic witnesses invited by the chairman, maintained to this committee that voter ID laws can be, in many instances, in most instances,

I think of the various ways they formulate it, are racist. So let me tell you who disagrees with that. 35 states across the country disagree with that because 35 states have voter ID laws in effect. But not just 35 states. 81% of voters in America disagree. I'm tired of his lying ass. Bottom line is this here, we're dealing with a true idiot in Ted Cruz there, Robert, and it is what it is.

Let's understand. It's an argument the Republicans have been having about voter ID. It was made for absolutely one reason, which is that you can look at the maps. Right about the same time the Republicans stopped winning the popular vote is when they started pushing these voter ID laws in the mid-90s. After the Reagan Revolution, after George W. Bush, they saw the demographics of the country were changing,

and therefore we started seeing the first rollout of voter ID laws in the mid-90s. 1997, Georgia got its first voter ID law. And even at that time, you could use your light bill, your water bill, any public utility, those sorts of things, identification, to say who you are and where you are. When that was not strong enough to get them in power,

that's when they rolled out 2005 voter ID. And this is what we saw sweep across the nation then, which were the more stringent voter IDs, many of which were struck down as being poll taxes, such as the Georgia law, which were struck down as being poll taxes, such as the Georgia law, which was struck down in 2006. And now we are in our third wave of voter ID laws. The entire idea, as Reverend Jetson liked to say, is about skimming. It's not about making sure that every single person can't vote. It's about ensuring that one out of every 100 people does

not have the right to vote. One percent. That's all it really takes to win an election. Donald Trump lost the state of Georgia by 11,800 votes, 80 votes per county. So the fact that all it takes is to make one out of every 100 people inconvenienced are putting a barrier in place to stop them from voting. That's all that they need to do in order to win elections. That's why Republicans in the Senate represent 41 million fewer people than the Democrats. That's why Republicans have not won the popular vote in the last 17 years. That is why in the House of Representatives, Republicans will represent about 50 million fewer people

than Democrats because they no longer need to win the majority of the votes. They simply want to mess with the rules, play around with the referees, and win on technicality as often as possible. And that's what voter ID is about. And we know exactly what these frauds are all about, Tiffany. And yeah, they are racist. We know what the intent is, Ted. Yeah, we know what the intent is. We know what the impacts of it are. And we know how it's

shifted the election results over the last couple of years. But what's interesting about the clip you just played, Uncle Roland, is that like we are watching Ted Cruz fight on whether or not he is being called racist, whether or not whether or not he is being called racist, whether or not the state of Texas is being called racist. And what I think that does for the other audience is that it moves them to decipher whether or not they believe he is being racist or he's not being racist to help his election in the future. This is about the impacts of voter ID laws being racist. This is not about whether or not Texas or he is racist. And that game he just played, where he tried to survey

everybody and say, well, do you think it's racist? Do you think it's racist? Do you think it's racist? I think it's a strategy that he's using to distract people from the impacts of what voter IDs do, how it has disenfranchised communities of color, and how it has helped the party, and also how there's actually no need. There's no need for voter ID laws, period. There's no need for them. Everybody should be naturalized to vote. You shouldn't have to re-register. Texas, during the pandemic, made it very difficult

until the end of the last two weeks of election season, made it very difficult for anybody to register to vote online. During the pandemic online during the pandemic during the pandemic nobody was able to register to vote online during the pandemic very few states quickly turned around and said we could get people to register to vote and so the nature of that conversation that discussion he just had totally uh distracted everybody from what the actual problem is and why voter id problem why voter ID laws are a problem. And instead, let's talk about racism because I'm a white man and y'all keep calling me racist and y'all not going to win that fight.

And I'm sick of him. I'm sick of him doing it. Absolutely, folks. Got to go to break. When we come back, we'll celebrate the life and legacy of the great indie director Melvin Van Peebles. He passed away today at the age of 89. We'll talk with director, producer Rob Hardy, cinematographer Ernest Dickerson. We'll hear from Reggie Hutland and others including Will

Packer as they share their thoughts about how Melvin Van Peebles changed the game for black Hollywood and the whole generation of African-American directors. That is next on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. I believe that people our age have lost the ability to focus the discipline on the art of organizing. The challenges, there's so many of them

and they're complex and we need to be moving to address them. But I'm able to say, watch out Tiffany. I know this road. That is so freaking dope. I am 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 don't want to be on a show that you own. A Black man owns the show. Folks, Black Star Network is here. I'm real revolutionary right now. Rolling was amazing on that. Hey, Black, I love Network is here. I'm real revolutionary right now. Rolling was amazing on that. Stay Black. I love y'all.

I can't commend you enough about this platform that you've created for us to be able to share who we are, what we're doing in the world, and the impact that we're having. Let's be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You can't be Black on media and be scared. You dig?

Yo, what's up? This your boy Ice Cube. What's up? I'm Lance Gross, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Filter. ¶¶ He can be called a renaissance man. He produced an independent film, had no real history when it came to cinema. But he let Hollywood know he could do it. It went on to gross in excess of 15 million dollars. Hollywood was shocked and stunned at that, unfortunately. Sweet Sweetback's Badass song ushered in the

Blaxploitation era. He was highly critical of that because it stripped, of course, black movies of what he was focused on, which was political power with that particular movie. Melvin Van Peebles, folks, today, passed away at his home in Manhattan at the age of 89. He was more than just a director. He was an author. He was a composer.

He wrote Broadway plays. Sir Thomas, a stockbroker at one point. And he's done all kinds of stuff. And in fact, folks, that movie that he did, Sweet Sweetback's Badass Song, he needed to finish the movie. And he's done all kinds of stuff. And, in fact, folks, that movie that he did, Sweet Sweetback's Badass Song, he needed to finish the movie. And he went to a bunch of people. No one would give him money.

One of the folks who did was Bill Cosby, who gave him $50,000 to finish the film. Van Peebles said that Bill Cosby did not want equity in the movie. All he wanted was his money back. Well, he got his money back because how much that movie made. We reached out to Bill Cosby. We got this exclusive statement through his rep, Andrew Wyatt. This is what Bill Cosby had to say about the death of Mario Van Peebles. Melvin's work as a composer, writer, and performer need to be studied. He was very prolific and at

times prophetic. The two original 33 and the third albums, Braille Soul and Ain't Supposed to Die, Natural Death are amazing. Written, composed and performed by the great Melvin Van Peebles. In his time, Melvin did not have the luxury of producers and directors of today. Thank you, Melvin. One of those folks who is a director and a producer is Rob

Hardy. He joins us right now just to share his thoughts and reflections on the life and legacy of Melvin Van Peebles. Rob, what immediately comes to mind as we pay tribute and pay our respects to the passing of this great man? You know, I think of him as just an innovator. You know, a lot of people refer to him as the father of modern-day black cinema. And, you know, he was the person that unapologetically was him. He was political. He was creative.

And he was also an indie filmmaker that went out and made films his way by any means necessary. And, you know, that ushered in that era of the blaxploitation films, but not even so much from the exploitation side, but just from the fact of making films by us and for us and starring us, and so many of the filmmakers

that inspired, you know, me and my generation of filmmakers were birthed from him. So he's got his fingerprints on everything that we do and the way that the industry is today because of his fearlessness, and because he put his career and his personal safety on the line to speak for us and to give a voice to the voiceless and to represent for his people.

And we'll forever be indebted to him because of that. You talked about fearlessness. He shot the movie in 20 days in Watts. Did not pay scale, couldn't afford to pay it. And the way he got around it was telling the unions that he was shooting a porno film that they wouldn't actually care about. That's right. That's right. You know, sometimes it's by any means necessary. And I think that that became the template for people like the Spike Lee's and Robert Townsend's and Huffman

Brothers and the late great John Singleton's of the world to's and Robert Townsend's and the Hovland brothers and the late great John Singleton's of the world to continue and fight that path. Even when you look at the way that Spike went and raised money for, to finish Malcolm X. You know, all those were like, you know, pages taken from the Melvin Van Peebles handbook. Well, that's the thing that, and in fact, uh, you know, a lot of people criticized, uh, Sweet Sweetback's Badass song, uh, because's the thing. And in fact, you know, a lot of people criticize Sweetback's Badass Song because of the sex was involved.

He couldn't get any actor to play the lead role. So what the hell he did himself. And I think that there are some similarities to his film and you and Will Packer, your first film, Twa. Long time ago. But the way y'all did that, independent, he put this movie in movie theaters, in places like Detroit and Chicago, where black audiences were.

Y'all did the same thing with your first film. You're absolutely right. Listen, you know, looking at what he did with that movie and the fact that people came out and responded to it inspired Will and I to do the exact same thing. So for us, it was, you know, markets from Jacksonville, Florida to Chicago and, of course, our home city of Atlanta, Georgia. And being able to take a film, you know, for us, you know, into theaters and market to our people was a huge, huge deal for us, you know, into theaters and market to our people was a huge, huge deal for us, and that launched our careers. And at that time, it was a big resurgence

of independent black cinema that was happening all over the country, and you felt that, you know, that energy in the air. And as we were starting, we were going to the movies and we were watching all of our heroes from Mario Van Peebles on down doing all these amazing films. And that inspired us. And we heard about Robert Townsend using his credit cards.

But that all started with him. And, you know, he did that throughout his whole life. And every time that he went someplace new, whether, as you mentioned, it was, you know, in theater and he was writing and composing, he was always an innovator and he was always pushing the line and representing for his people, and we never forgot that. You spoke of that.

Will has got a whole bunch of Zooms today. This is the video that he sent us because he wanted to be sure that he shared his thoughts with regards to the passing of Melvin Van Peebles. Let's see here, not sure what's going on with the audio. Audio's up, folks. Okay, all right, so we'll get this fixed so we can have that. The other thing that I think, how much he was self-taught. He did not allow the lack of knowing something stop him from living his vision.

You're absolutely right. I think his perspective was that I'm a creative person. And, you know, I have a soul, and I have something to say. And I'm going to put those things together along with my will to make it happen. And listen, you know, to make it personal, Will and I didn't get the opportunity to go to film school, and there were so many other filmmakers that started

that did not get this opportunity. Again, that took a page from his lead to be able to go out and to have a creative perspective on a story that we wanted to tell and we love the fact that you know you know he didn't have everything because he had to use the tools that he had which made it that much more creative and was that much more of an inspiration to us absolutely uh rob hardy we certainly appreciate it man thanks a lot for joining us and just sharing your thoughts about the great Melvin Van Peebles.

Thanks for having me. Folks, National Visionary Leadership Project was an effort of Camille Cosby to document and do various interviews with prominent African-Americans. One of those folks was Melvin Van Peebles. This is what he said about that movie. Successful. Very successful. Yeah, I had a three-picture contract from Columbia after that,

which was the dream of anybody. So I did what everybody else, any other militant snake would do. What happens, the director usually decides what equipment he wants to work with, what people he wants to work with. And so once you have this, and the word gets out immediately, every laboratory where they develop film, every rental house where they rent the cameras and all these things want to get on the good side of the director.

So when they make their next feature, they will use them. Why... So in other words... It's... a cachet. So I just decided then I was going to do Sweetback. Now there are a few things in my way. First, I wanted to lose the agent. So I showed him the most salacious version. He said, I can't represent anything like this.

So he left. That saved me 10% right there. Then the next thing, the unions were all white, and I said, they don't know me, I don't know them, except I needed competent people. But the only people who were competent, knew anything, really cinematically competent, so forth, outside of the union, were porno houses. The people did porno film.

So I used, I sat through so many porno films, I used to get seasick, you know, like, but every time a film came up, it was at the credits at the end was the same guy so i wouldn't find this guy and it turns out he was a terrific guy and he was it was a family affair his wife did the makeup his his his daughter was her assistant. The daughter's boyfriend was the second cameraman and so forth. And then I went to the lab and said, look, you know, I got this little girl. I said, I like her. I want to do it in film. So the lab said, well, come on. I said, well, I'm going to serve you. Don't worry about it, too. You'll get the bill. So everybody

assumed I'm going to make a little, I'm going to spend a weekend in a motel with four dildos or something, and then they got a movie. Do you know what I mean? Nobody asked me the question, how much is it going to cost? It is this. So that's how I did the movie. Then I tried the movie around since the unions were very tough, I mean, physically and so forth.

I said, well, they're bad, but they ain't going to come down to the hood and get me. So I shot the other stuff and then shot the hood part second, where they wouldn't dare to come to start trouble. And then the third part, I went out in the desert where nobody could find me. Those of us who understand what it means to be independent,

who understand what it means to hustle, to get it done. Look, great appreciation for a Melvin Van Peebles. And you know what? If you're black and you're in media, before the big studios called you and the Netflixes of the world, guess what? You were hustling doing exactly what Melvin Van Peebles did. My next guest, same thing.

Him and his brother, Warrington. My next guest, same thing. Him and his brother, Warrington Hutland, did the same thing. Everybody was trying to do their thing. Hustle trying to make it happen. Joining us now is, of course, director, producer, comic book, sci-fi aficionado, Reggie Hutland. What's up, my man? Reggie, you got us? Yes, I hear you.

Got it. Just share for folks who never met Melvin Van Peebles, just what he was like. Melvin, he was that perfect combination of super smart, but he was fun. He was clever. He had great turn of phrases. And he was always such an innovator.

And, you know, you look at his body of work. He founded black cinema as we know it. He founded black theater. He was on Wall Street before black people were on Wall Street. I read his novel. You know, he launched Earth, Wind & Fire. You know, he was a guy who just said, oh, I can do that, and just did it.

He was a big inspiration for me, because that's what I try to do. I've done movies and television and comic books, and I try to emulate his freedom of expression in every medium. And that's the thing that I think, when I think about Melvin Van Peebles, when I think about Gordon Parks, these are people who said,

you know what, I want to do that. So, I mean, Gordon Parks, he was, of course, shooting photos, and you know what, I think I'm going to paint. You know what, I think I'm going to compose a Broadway play. You know what, I think i'm gonna paint you know what i think i'm gonna compose a broadway play you know what i think i'm gonna do that i mean that that that that curiosity and not giving a damn about the rules right it's as people forget artists just as human beings right we when we're kids we we do everything, right?

We play piano, then we'll play baseball, and then we'll do our math homework. And as we get older, we figure out what we're good at. And that's kind of all we do. And we get better and better at what we're good at, but we get scared of trying new things. We get scared of embarrassing ourselves and failing new things. We get scared of embarrassing ourselves and failing at things.

And these guys were so courageous that they just never had that fear of failure. They were like, well, I'm just gonna try it. I'm just gonna do it. What's the worst that could happen? And that's a lesson for everyone, uh, to emulate. To have courage in our everyday lives, to be, try new things and don't worry about being bad.

Just do it. And also, being very deliberate with what it is that you want to say. He chose with this movie, with his art, he made it clear he was going to speak about an issue. He dealt with police brutality in that movie. He dealt with black folks being in control. We talk about self-determination.

That's what it was about. It wasn't just a movie. It was about, no, no, no, I'm saying something with this movie. In fact, Huey Newton of the Black Panthers told everyone, go watch this film. The Black Panthers fully endorsed you watching this film. Absolutely. Well, it's interesting.

Now, here's the amazing coincidence. This French documentary company contacted me through Tanya Hart. You know Tanya, the journalist. And they were interviewing me yesterday about the career of Melvin Van Peebles and about the making of Sweet Sweetback. And they asked me to read some passages from his diary, from his autobiography.

And he was talking about the making of Watermelon Man and how, you know, he never wanted to be in a situation where people were controlling him and how he had agreed to shoot two endings for the studio, but then he just shot the ending he wanted. He said, that's it. Look, this is the ending. We're not doing two things. And, you know, he was willing to pay the cost to be the boss.

And he had clarity of purpose, clarity of statement, and he did it his way, and he was a success to the very end. Absolutely. Reggie Hutland, it is always great to see you sharing your thoughts about Melvin Van Peebles and hopefully a whole new generation who does not know anything about him will learn about his story and realize, I can do that too. Yes, yes. Appreciate it, my brother. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Robert Tiller, Tiffany Lofton, one of the reasons why I just think it's always great when we talk about these elders who now are transitioning to be ancestors.

I'm a firm believer in taking the time to listen to them and learn. And there are a lot of people who might come into contact with our elders and they just sort of just quickly brush by. And I'm always saying, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. They're not going to be here forever. Take that moment to stop and listen. You're absolutely right, Roland.

And we think about the wisdom that can be passed down, the information that people gain with a conversation, understanding. I think people, we have these moments when it's a celebrity or someone famous who dies. But think about your own family, that elder in your family, that grandmother, that aunt, that person who has generations and decades of knowledge they can pass on to you, take the time to sit down, talk to them, ground with them, listen to stories, learn from them and figure out how you can apply that not just to your life, but to the life of your children going forward. Because the same battles they fought before are the same battles you'll be fighting today. There's an old saying that listening is the cheapest lesson. I think people need to understand,

if you look at what they've done before, if you look at Hollywood right now, where you have an Emmys where no African Americans are winning, we still have fights now. If you look at the lesson that was laid down previously, then you know exactly what you need to do going forward. And the importance of independence and controlling your own narrative,

controlling your own art, controlling your own art, controlling your own creation cannot be emphasized enough. Tiffany, how important is it? And, you know, you had the opportunity to sit with Dr. Janetta Cole in that interview we did. If I didn't stop y'all, y'all would still be talking right now.

And that was in February. You didn't stop us because I text her and we go back and forth all the time. Go ahead. We stopped them cameras from going. But to me, again, there are a lot of people who,

I got them figured out. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. Learn from the cats who have already been there. You know, every major action that I've been a part of, we have invited our elders to join us. And I have never been told, no, they didn't want to be there for us. Even thinking 10 years ago when we were occupying the Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida, in the name of Trayvvon Martin with Dream Defenders and a bunch of other

organizations we had so many elders come visit us in the capital while we were occupying and even now last year SNCC the student non-violent action coordinating committee celebrated its 60th anniversary they're holding a conference in 21 days folks should google the information or find it on Instagram. There's a website for the conference that's coming up. And I just think how precious it is for us to have so many elders that are still here with us, that have so much to share and testify, and they also give us advice for. I did the Black Voters Matter bus tour earlier this summer, and it was the anniversary of commemoration of the Freedom Rides that took

place in the South. And what was amazing about that, Roland, was that we stopped in 10 different cities, and we didn't talk about just the figureheads that everybody is a household name for. We didn't talk about John Lewis. We didn't talk about Rosa Parks. We didn't talk about Benny Wilhamer. We talked about the individual organizers of every single one of those cities. And as one of the program coordinators, you know, I got to interact with them and then usher them to the stage so that they can give their remarks and share about what happened when they were there and what do they want us to take away from that moment. And specifically being in Memphis, Tennessee for the rally in Memphis, Tennessee, there was an elderly woman who was there, who was one of the

Freedom Riders who's still here to this day. And she said, look at me, young lady. And I said, yes, ma'am. You know, my family's from Louisiana, so I just have a different level. Look at me, young lady. Yes, ma'am. She said, you will remember the stories. You will remember when it happened. You will remember how it made us feel.

You might not remember our names, but you will remember the work. And that's all we ask. We want you not to honor us as individuals, but to acknowledge what we went through and never forget your history. And I was like in program mode, I have a little walkie talkie. I was like, I had to load up agenda.

And I was like, yes, ma'am. Even my work at the NAACP for the last three years and the elders who were there, there's so much wisdom that is available to us. It's unfortunate that folks learn about the wisdom after folks, like you said, transition to go be in glory. But we have a super big gift with us. And if folks are interested, like I said, SNCC is having their 60th anniversary. There are a lot of elders who are organizing Freedom Summer, Bus Rise, Civil Rights Movement, who are still here with us now and trying to get folks the information at a large scale. And they're not always, you know, given the platform to go viral and to get the information out.

But thankfully, because we have shows like this, we can talk about black people. We talk about our folks. And our people are having a conference, and we need to show up for them and get all that knowledge because history repeats itself. A few weeks ago, we were in loss. Robert, go ahead. No, just to piggyback off of that, I do want people to remember, too, just start remembering people after they pass. Give them their flowers while they're still here. For example, Reverend Jackson is being released from his Parkinson rehabilitation today.

So I want to give a shout out to him and give an update on him coming back to us and making sure that we see these people who have fought for 75 years still fighting today to give us the energy that we need to fight back against the Joe Manchin and Christian Sinema. Also, we have the Rainbow Pulse conference coming up next month at CreatingOpportunities.org. Absolutely.

And folks, a few weeks ago, we were the Rainbow Post conference coming up next month at CreatingOpportunities.org. Absolutely. And folks, a few weeks ago we were in Los Angeles doing a variety of interviews. And one of the folks we sat down and talked with was Mario Van Peebles during that conversation. Of course, as he always does, he's always invoking his father. And he told the story of his dad taking him to a bar mitzvah and what he learned from his father about the experience.

Watch this. The things that my dad saw in me, he saw, he said, okay, I know how to deal with Mario, he's an ambitious cat, so I know what I can do with him, but that's not the same thing I can do with his brother. One size fits all, parenting doesn't get it. How many siblings you have? I have a brother and a sister.

Got it. Yeah. One size fits all, parenting doesn't get it. You know, so he was able to... I'll give you a case... Let me tell you one quick thing. This happened to me. I was writing a book on it called Free Thinker about my dad and my mom.

I never knew what my dad was gonna say. Smart cat, man. My sister and I were in L.A. once, and he said, I want to take you guys to a bat mitzvah. We said, what's a bat mitzvah? He said, it's a celebration, and part of it's a religious celebration and a coming-of-age thing, and I'm gonna bring you. So my sister and I went. And there were these little beautiful Jewish kids,

kind of nervous, kind of nerdy, and, you know, standing around, no one dancing. And me and my sister could dance. Yeah, we looked like the Jackson 5 of them. Had a big old afro. She had a big red afro. So we turned the music up, talked to the DJ, and we got out of the floor.

We tore it up. And my dad was watching. And after we were dancing for a while, he said, come here, I want to talk to you. We thought, what's he going to say, you know? He said, I love you all, you know, but I'm very disappointed because you two are beautiful and you know you're beautiful and you know you can dance but you're not bringing

out the beauty in the other people. There's two things we love about people Mario and Megan, we love who they are and we love who we are with them. You'll never know what that man who had been to Auschwitz was thinking, or that little Jewish girl was thinking. Because the way you're dancing is so intimidating that they're

going to just watch you and applaud you, but you're not bringing out what they applauded themselves. So you guys are going to miss out, and I'm disappointed. So did he want y'all to bring them to the dance floor? Brother, we went back out. Let me tell you, we went back out. My sister got the old man up.

I got the girl up. We got everybody up. And the guy wound up funding my movie years later, the kid who's bat mitzvahed. Wow. You got to bring out the beauty in others. See, that's what I'm saying. And my dad understood good allies come in all colors.

They don't just look like you or vote like you. Don't leave love on the table. It's funny. I'm going to share a few more clips from that interview of Mario Van Peebles talking about his dad, Melvin Van Peebles. Right now, I want to go to director, cinematographer, the guru of the look of films, Ernest Dickerson.

You've seen a lot of the work of films, Ernest Dickerson. You've seen a lot of the work he's done with Spike Lee and others. He joins us right now just off the set. Ernest, just share your thoughts with the folks watching and listening about Melvin Van Peebles. Well, I'm shocked. You know, I mean, I lost a brother brother last week and I lost a father this week. Melvin was a father to us all. He was the force of nature who who was the godfather for all. Modern filmmakers, you know, he was the one that started it back with Sweet Sweetback.

But even before that, you know, he was an accomplished artist. I remember I first heard of Melvin when he did an album of being Br'er Soul and listening to some of his music and some of his word stylings. And he was also an accomplished playwright. You know, I saw the play Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death when it played. So he was a force of nature. He was an inspiration to all of us. And I can't believe he's gone. We were talking to Rob Hardy earlier

about Melvin Van Peebles and how, look, folks had to learn the hustle and how he made the movie and how he was fiercely independent. And, you know, you got a lot of folks who want to be accepted into the traditional Hollywood system. But what we're seeing right now, we're seeing because of the proliferation of other outlets,

the ability for independent black artists to maintain a hold of their work. The sister who, again, I think it's who just won the Emmy for writing. Netflix wanted to offer her a million bucks, didn't want to give her

ownership. She says, no, no, no, I need ownership and creative control. Held it and got it from the BBC and HBO. You know, he was about no, no, no, no. I'm going to do this my damn way and there's a cost to

doing that, but there's still something about being able to have complete control. Melville was almost like a modern Oscar Michaud. Oscar Michaud was doing it on his own terms as well. Getting it out there the best way he could. When Melvin made Sweet Sweetback,

it was revolutionary. He did it on his own terms. He raised the funds for it and everything else. But everything that he did was cutting edge. Everything that it came out, which is, I think, maybe around 68, 69. But yeah, he was a genius. And not only in the art, but also financially. I think he also had some success on Wall Street, if I'm not wrong. Yeah, he was, for a long time, he was a trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, the only black.

I mean, that was in the 80s. So he was like, you know what? What the heck? I'm the stock trader. Yeah. An amazing, like I said, force of nature. And he was unstoppable. then, but he's still with us. His spirit is with us. He's not stopped. He's going to continue to inspire us, uh, as long as we're in it, as long as we're lasting, as long as we're here carrying on his name. Absolutely. Ernest Dickerson, my brother,

I appreciate you joining us sharing your thoughts and reflections, uh, thoughts and reflections about life and legacy of Melvin Van Peebles. Thank you for having me. Yes, sir. Here's what Melvin Van Peebles had to say about being a pioneer to the National Visionary Leadership Project. How do you feel about the overall, what's going on in terms of the variety, in terms of what black directors are doing, not doing? Any feelings at all about? No, I don't know my job. To have a feeling about the one thing that overshadows or that trumps everything, I think that, in large part, I was possible to make it possible. Okay. Now... Um, Spike Lee...

uh, is very, uh, clear about being inspired by you. That... you have meant a great deal to him, artistically. Does that make you feel, I don't know, is it a positive feeling to be revered in that way? Absolutely. Beat the bird's stick in the eye. Hmm? positive feeling to be revered in that way? Absolutely. Beat the burn stick in the eye.

Look, we can go around. I'm the Rosa Parks of the industry. Okay, over and out. Again, you make it seem really simple, you know, but being the Rosa Parks But it is, it is, it is, it ain't. It is so far. Somebody says, oh, Rosa Parks got on the bus and helped us all. Duh. What are you supposed to think about that? It's true. It's true, yeah.

I know. So when something's true, then fine, okay. Okay. But with the caveat, many times things are true now now what happens you early on after sweet back of this and then everybody was being touted as the as the beginner or the this or that. I mean they were we're gonna do an article about the people, me and Richard Browntree and da-da-da-da-da.

I said, well, wait a minute, guys. We ain't all in the same category here. Hmm? Well, but we're going to do this thing called drown the fish. Do you know what I mean? No. I said, well, we're doing an interview. I said, wait a minute.

You don't do an interview about Kubrick and Corbin. What the hell are you doing? What about me and such and such? No, go ahead and do it without me. You know what, Tiffany, I love about that. His whole deal is, okay, fine, I did it, next. Whereas others would ride that for the rest of their lives

and sort of demand I remember Joe DiMaggio had a requirement that anytime he was introduced he had to be introduced as the greatest living baseball player of all time which was kind of a joke because there were other greater players than him like Willie Mays

but that was sort of like, anytime he got introduced, that's how he was introduced. There was so much humility in that. It was almost a little scary. Because I don't know the last time I've ever seen somebody say, listen, okay, yeah, I did all that. I understand my, I understand

what I did. Let's move on. What else you got to talk about? And she was, you could hear the interviewer say, what? No way. Like, damn, I thought I was going to get like a great answer out of it. Now I got to ask something else. Um.

She didn't know what to do. She was stuck. She was like, what? You realize who you are, don't you? He's like, yeah, OK. I'm Rosa Parks of this industry. OK, keep going. What else?

And all of us are like, no, you can't move on from that, sir. You're incredible. You're amazing. I think there's so much humility in that. And in addition to all the other things that people are going to learn about him, I think that that's one of the things in that clip that I'm just going to take away for the rest of the day of like, it's not about me. It's not about me.

I think that's beautiful. Rest in peace and praying for his family in this transition. I think that's beautiful. Rest in peace and praying for his family in this transition. I think that's beautiful. This is what Spike Lee posted on Instagram. Spike said, I am so sad by the loss of my brother Melvin Van Peebles, who brought independent black cinema to the forefront with his groundbreaking film, Sweet Sweetback's Badass Song. He personally signed this poster to me.

Melvin was a big supporter of my film career. He even showed up to the set of Do the Right Thing. Damn, we have lost another giant. Here's the video, folks, we promised earlier, of director-producer Will Packer. Van Peebles was an icon, the godfather of contemporary black cinema, period. There would be no Will Packer.

There would be none of the many other contemporary black filmmakers that we have today. We're all his sons. We're all his daughters. He blazed a trail that we're all following. We're all following his trail. Thank you, sir. Rest in power. Legend.

It was interesting listening to Melvin Van Peebles answer that question in our interview with Mario Van Peebles. He shared this funny anecdote about Melvin Van Peebles and Sidney Poitier. Interesting, Mike, when I remember you, because you started this by asking about my dad. Poitier, Sidney Poitier, presented my father with a Lifetime Achievement Award. And so you hear Poitier, and then Melvin Van Peebles comes up. And my dad took the award, thank you, brother. He said, put the music on, we just going to dance.

And him and Poitier started dancing. He said, we've done enough, we've talked enough, we've interviewed enough, we have earned it. Let's dance. And him and Poitier started dancing. He said, we've done enough. We've talked enough. We've interviewed enough. We have earned it. Let's dance. In fact, all of y'all get up and dance with us. And that was it. That was it. He's like, I ain't giving a speech. No, no, that was it. I think I think remembering

and that's part of the joy of it is remembering to have fun. That right there, Tiffany, first of all, that sounds like something, Tiffany, that you would do. Yeah, let's just go ahead and just dance. We ain't got to get no speech.

You probably would do a headstand on the stage. Yeah, that's something that you would do. Yeah, uh-huh. You know me too well, but it living in the moment. Is what I got from that like okay, yeah, we got to talk about me me me me let's let's all he wanted something bigger than that I think that's so

beautiful you asked me I would this is that that's that I have to use the DJ got that be did a headstand and whatever outfit I was wearing so that we can have a good time because that's that's what it's about we can have a good time, because that's what it's about. We don't get a lot of that. It's about me, me, me. Credit, credit, credit, credit, credit. And I think that, you know,

young people, I'm 32, young people, we get so excited when we learn new things. And to hear Spike Lee and to hear Will Packer and everybody else talk about how much of an icon he was to them, and then some of them are our role models, talk about how much of an icon he was to them. And then some of them are our role models. We're like, oh, there's levels to this.

And we got work to do to learn who these people were. And it's unfortunate that we lost a giant in that transition for us to know about them. But there's so much more that there is to be learned about him. I would have definitely done some stuff like that. But you got to live in the moment. You got to live in the moment. This is the tweet from Sally Richardson. I've just heard that this dear special man has passed away.

Melvin Van Peebles was my father in my first big movie, Posse, and also a filmmaker that paved the way for me and many others. Mario Van Peebles, I'm so sorry for your loss, my friend. I love you much and prayers for the family. She posted that about 40 minutes ago. And so you see the likes of Terry Vaughn, Mara Akil, and others commenting there on her page. We have another sound bite here of Mario Van Peebles talking about his dad's epic film, Sweetback's Badass Song.

It's when Melvin Van Peebles says, okay, I made my little movie, Watermelon Man. It was a comedy, cool. But now I'm going to make a film called Sweetback. I'm going to fund it myself. I'm going to have a multiracial crew. I'm going to own it. And you make a movie and say,

I've got a new band called Earth, Wind & Fire in this movie. And you make a movie and say, I've got a new band called Earth, Wind, and Fire in this movie. And you make the movie that becomes the top grossing independent hit. You never got another job offer after that. And I said, Daddy, why? You could make a movie, Sweetback, that made $15 million when it was a dollar a ticket. That'd be like me and you going

off and making a movie that makes $150 million today at $10 a ticket. I said, why wouldn't you get another job offer? He said, son, if you go into a pool hall and everyone counts on the fact that you can't play pool, and you play along with it, and scratch and fumble, and then you whoop ass and take all the money, you can't go in the same pool hall again.

The pool hall is called Hollywood. Mm-hmm. They don't like that. So you have to be, you have to understand that sometimes that means, Roland, and I know you know this already, that you have to be bold enough to do it on your own. Not everyone's going to be cut from that cloth. That's what a revolutionary is.

I think that's probably the best way we can end tonight's show, the tribute to Melvin Van Peebles. He passed away today at his home in Manhattan, surrounded by his family, at the age of 89. There's no doubt more tributes will be pouring in talking about him, talking about his life, his legacy, and we certainly appreciate that. And folks, what you saw there was portions of the interview that I did with Mario Van Peebles. It is for a one-on-one show that we will call Rolling with Roland that will be on Black Star Network, which is one of the reasons why we do that.

In the spirit of a Melvin Van Peebles, it's independent. You don't have to ask anybody's opinion.. Don't have to ask anybody's opinion. Don't have to ask anybody's permission to do it. We just do it. We own the cameras. We get on the plane. We go make it happen.

And we tell our stories. And that's why it's important to do so. And so, I don't know. As a matter of fact, I saw a tweet earlier. My home girl, Heidi Barker, I've known her for years with NABJ. She tweeted this. And she tweeted this. Wondering if any of the big three network news shows covered

the death of Melvin Van Peebles tonight. And here's the deal, folks. We don't worry about what they do. The reality is we know they're not going to dedicate 45 minutes or an hour to paying tribute to Melvin Van Peebles. But that's why we have Roland Martin unfiltered. That's why we have the Black Star Network. Because as the first black newspaper,

Freedom's Journal said on March 16, 1827, we wish to plead our own cause too long have others spoken for us and so this is about us being able to tell our story for us being able to celebrate in our way our former elders who now transition to ancestors so we want you to download the black star app it's on every available platform, Apple, Android, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Fire Stick, Samsung TV, X-Box, all of those platforms. You can also join our Bring the Funk fan club.

Every dollar you give goes to support this show. Cash App, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered, PayPal, R Martin Unfiltered, Venmo is RM Unfiltered, Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com, Roland at RolandMartinUniltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And you know what? You can't worry about what others

have to say. You can't worry about what others do. You can't worry about if people are just saying this, that, and the other about you. You know what you gotta do? You just gotta go ahead and just do what you do. You gotta go ahead and do it. And like Melvin Van Peebles, he didn't worry about what people

said about him. He just went ahead and do it. He just went ahead and did it and it didn't matter. And so that, folks, is what I think is so important about his story. And if you don't know about him, if you don't know what he represents, then again, take the opportunity to learn about Melvin Van Peebles and his amazing story.

And so with that, we will see you tomorrow right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. ¶¶ this is an iHeart podcast