#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Hunger for Votes, D.C. Sues Racists, Potter Trial, Celebration Bowl Festivities, Baubles & Beeswax

Episode Date: December 15, 2021

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All right, folks, I am back from vacation. Today is Tuesday, December 14th, 2021. Welcome to Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network, broadcasting from Atlanta. We'll be here all week for the Celebration Bowl. Of course, getting Jackson State, winner of the SWAT Championship against the MEAC champions, South Carolina State. Festivities begin tomorrow, but let's get started with what's happening on today's show.

Poor People's Campaign continued to put pressure on West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin and Democrats to pass the For the People Act. The John Lewis Voting Act will show you what took place today from their news conference and efforts on Capitol Hill. Also, we'll talk with the attorney of Crystal Mason and talk to Crystal Mason. Remember, she was a black woman who had to go to prison for voting illegally. She didn't even realize that she couldn't vote. Now they are trying to file an appeal to get that case thrown out based upon a new law. We'll talk with both

of them also on today's show. We'll talk about what's happening in D.C. as young folks are on a hunger strike fighting for democracy. We'll talk with one of the organizers also on the show. We'll cover the District of Columbia going after the white supremacist, the Proud Boys, for their role on January 6th during the insurrection. Speaking of January 6th, Fox News, eerily quiet, y'all, very quiet. After Congresswoman Liz Cheney revealed yesterday the number of Fox News personalities who sent text messages to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows imploring Donald Trump to do something about those white domestic terrorists who were storming the capitol they said nothing in the more than 24 hours since she revealed those text messages also the treasury department unveils a program where billions of

dollars will go to minority communities we'll tell you about that in addition to that uh kimberly potter the former cop in minneapolis she wants a judge not the jury deciding her fate no surprise there and a detroit artist literally showing how the opposition of critical race theory is whitewashing history. We'll talk with him. In our Marketplace segment, sponsored by Verizon, store-bought candles were making her sick, so she started her business by making her own. We'll talk with the creator of baubles and bee wax. Plus, too crazy as white people's stories.

You don't want to miss these. And Joe Simon, the great soul singer, who later, of course, became a bishop in the Chicago area, passed away at the age of 78. We'll pay tribute to him. It is time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the miss, he's on it.

Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling. Best belief 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 Uncle Roro, yo. Yeah, yeah. It's Roland Martin. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Rolling with Roland now. Yeah, yeah. He's broke, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Roland Martin now. Martin. Martin!

The fight for democracy in America continues. We told you about Sirius XM Radio host Joe Madison, who is now more than 20 days into his hunger strike, imploring Congress to act when it comes to the vote to voting rights bills that are in Congress. But the Senate has yet to approve. Now you have young folks all across the country who are doing their own hunger strike as well. It is about the fight for democracy, folks. That's what's going on for the young folks. Today is day nine of their particular hunger strike. It has already gained and even has secured them a meeting with uh arizona senator christian cinema she of course uh is one of the holdouts who doesn't want to end the filibuster even for voting rights yet they did vote to end the filibuster to pass uh the debt limit the strikers they are also

demanding a meeting with president joe biden and again the passage of the freedom to vote app joining us right now is kyla frank a hunger striker who joins us from D.C. Kyla, glad to have you here. I'm Roland Martin, Unfiltered. Explain to people why a hunger strike matters, why the hunger strike somehow could move Congress to act, the rationale behind it. Most definitely. And thank you so much for having me here today. We have been campaigning and organizing for the last eight months around the issue of democracy reform. And again, the bill is still not passed. And so we have to escalate. We have to quite literally put our bodies on the line so our elected officials hear us, so they see us, and they know how

serious this issue is, not only to young people, but to every American who cast a ballot. So y'all have been able to secure a meeting with Arizona Senator Kristen Sinema because she's been blowing off a whole lot of people. Yes, we did. And it was a great meeting. We definitely want to uplift Senator Sinema for not only voting yes on the Freedom to Vote Act and prioritizing this. However, there still needs to be a change within the Senate rules to allow movement on this bill. So the filibuster does not stand in our way and become an obstacle. But what does she say?

Because she supported ending the filibuster to pass the bill to increase the debt ceiling. So this whole idea of being adamantly opposed to ending the filibuster, that's actually a lie because they just did it. Unfortunately, and yes, the filibuster has been changed over 160 times. And so right now we have a unique moment in time where we're asking the Biden administration to prioritize this issue, to prioritize a change within the Senate rules to allow passage of the Freedom to Vote Act.

And so Senator Sinema has said that she wants to see this bill passed. She has voted yes several times on this bill. But again, we need to see more prioritization within the Biden administration to get this bill across the finish line. And so you had the meeting with Sinema. When did that take place? How long was the meeting? Yeah, so it was last week, Thursday, and it was 20 to 30 minutes.

So, y'all want to meet with President Joe Biden. Have you heard from the White House if he will actually commit to that meeting? Unfortunately, no. And again, we are right outside his doorstep. We will be out here indefinitely until he responds to us, meets with us, and prioritizes passing the Freedom to Vote Act this year.

All right, then. Kyla Frank, we certainly appreciate you joining us. First of all, what is the number up to now? How many students are now on the hunger strike? And are they solely in D.C. or the other parts of the country, too? Yeah, so we have 19 strikers here. Again, many have suffered health, significant health issues because of the strike and had to unfortunately end their strike. But we do have national support from students across the country. I'm personally on day nine of

my hunger strike, and so are about 17 other students. All right, then. Well, Kyla Frank, good luck with the hunger strike. Certainly hope President Joe Biden takes that meeting and the Senate will move. Again, they made exceptions before to the filibuster, and they just did it for the debt limit. Well, I think they could do it now as well. Most definitely. And thank you so much for your support. We need it.

All right. Thank you. Thank you so very much. Folks, today in the nation's capital, the Poor People's Campaign, Reverend Dr. William Barber, Reverend Liz Theoharis, they continue their action on Capitol Hill, trying to pressure West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin and other Democrats to move on these voting bills. They are making the point that democracy is indeed at stake. Here's some of what was said today at today's news conference.

Y'all let me know when you have a video ready so we can roll it. Yesterday they had a massive, massive car parade, car rally that went from West Virginia to the nation's capital. And so that's what happened on yesterday. And again, like I say, they have been putting the pressure on them. Reverend Dr. Barber has made it clear he will continue the pressure. Now, what's also interesting, he spoke at a news conference today how they told Reverend Barber that if he got arrested, they would hold him in jail. Now, of course, D.C. jail has been having issues when it comes to coronavirus and with COVID. And remember, he also has an autoimmune deficiency and plus, you know, he's, you know, first has health issues.

And so that's what you're seeing where they're trying to, in essence, target him and separate him from the other protesters. Yesterday, they have people, 33 impacted people from 33 states across the country who spoke at the rally. And again, they were putting pressure on them again today. And what we're seeing, folks, we're seeing the ramping up of that. And he and others have been saying, where are the other civil rights organizations? Of course, Black Voters Matter, they've been out there. Some other groups have been out there. Barbara Arnwine, the Transforming Justice Coalition.

But you have not seen mass protests being led by the NAACP, by the National Urban League and others. They have joined some others as well. But you have not actually seen that. Here's some of what Reverend Barbara had to say today. Go to my iPad, folks. You'll be able to actually see the video. Go ahead and play it. All right, so we'll work on the audio issue to figure out what's going on with the audio problem here. And so let me know, folks, when we have that video ready there. Let me bring in my panel. I'm going to bring them in right now.

Xavier Pope, host of Suit Up, news owner of the Pope Law Firm. Mustafa Santiago Ali, Ph.D., former senior advisor for the Environmental Justice EPA, and also Matt Manning, who also joins us as an attorney as well. And so I'm going to play some of the video from that. I'm going to start with you, Xavier, because here's what's going on. Look, the clock is ticking. It is December 14th. The reality is this, that people have to understand the reason this bill has to get passed because you have to have time to be able to implement the law. If Democrats keep running the clock out, if you get to January, like even we're hearing, hey, we might take action by MLK Day.

January 15th is too late because once it starts, once that primary season starts, judges are going to say, hey, too late. We can't change districts. We can't implement these changes. And so the pressure is on now to get this done. It has to happen this month. What is the delay, Roland? We're sitting here a year after, practically a year after an insurrection over black votes and black bodies, we know that this is necessary, and it hasn't happened.

And we are tired of the lip service, and we need to have actual change. We shouldn't have people going on hunger strikes for their right to be able to participate equally in a democracy and for other people to participate in democracy with them. You are absolutely correct. You have to be able to have the functionality of the law so that it doesn't get struck down in various different ways as you make it easier for people to vote. This is something that's fundamental to being a citizen of this country,

and it shouldn't be impeded by races and various jurisdictions that have been very swift across this country and it shouldn't be impeded by races and various jurisdictions that have been very swift across this country to make sure that the rights of African Americans to vote are being impeded at the ballot box. 10,000 West Virginians wrote letters to Senator Joe Manchin. And Mustafa, he hasn't responded to them at all. Now, he keeps saying, West Virginians, I'm representing them. But it's amazing how many West Virginians are saying, yeah, but you're not responding to us. But he is responding to the corporate interests

who are funneling money to his campaign coffers. Yeah, Senator Manchin is so disconnected from everyday folks back in West Virginia. And many people know that I grew up in two places, in West Virginia and in Michigan. And it's interesting, the hypocrisy that he's been moving forward on is not only in this moment of all the folks

from West Virginia who are asking him to do the right thing, to support the Build Back Better Act, to make sure that you're passing voting rights acts, but also in understanding the history of West Virginia, that when West Virginia was a part of Virginia, one of the big items was the fact that folks who are on the western side of the state felt that their vote wasn't being actually honored in that space. And they saw all the economic and other things that played out in that. So for him to be representing a state that understood what disproportionality looked like and to be disconnected from the process and be struggling to make that become a reality, for him to now in 2021 to be perpetuating those same bad behaviors

that were going on all that time ago, once again, the hypocrisy is amazing. Here's some of what Reverend Dr. Barber had to say in today's news conference. It's taking place all over this country. And we have to call it as it is. As it is. We have to say just like Jesus what the scriptures say. Woe unto you.

Senator Manchin hides from his own people. When he met with us, it's true, but he didn't like when West Virginia challenged him. He didn't like that it was a diverse group, black and white. Yes, sir. And he lied then. He said, oh, no, I'm going to do all right with living wages. I have a plan. That's what he said.

Were you all in the meeting? Yep. That's what he said. I got a plan. I want to start at 11. But he never has a plan after he lies to his people and then meets with his corporate funders. That's exactly right. He hides behind the COVID because he knows we can't get in the building.

He hides on his yacht. He hides in his Maserati. And as a bishop in the church, he hides behind his faith. Claims he's Catholic, but none of his positions are in line with Catholic social teaching. His positions are out of line with Catholic social justice teaching, out of line with a serious biblical critique. Y'all going to ask Liz about that. She's the best biblical exegetical person I know.

His positions are out of line with the Constitution. He's not working to establish justice, provide for the common good, ensure equal protection under the law. And his positions are out of line with competent economic facts. And he's allowed to lie. He comes out, does a press conference, and most of the media never say, well, now what economist told you that? Matt, the ramping up of the pressure, that is what's needed. But Reverend Barber also says that it's not just Manchin and Sinema, it's

about eight or nine other Democrats who don't want to get rid of the filibuster who are hiding behind those two. Yeah, I believe it. And as the two brothers have already said, you know, we're past the point of lip service. And frankly, we're past the point of making promises that are unkept. I don't know how you can, you know, disregard 10,000 people writing you letters, telling you what their position is on something. But I think that shows you a flaw that we have in a representative democracy. Too often, we have people who, quote, represent us who have no real consequence if they don't do what we say. So I think this is a litmus test to see how the people demand going forward that if you sit in a meeting and tell us you're going to do something and you don't do it, what will the consequence be?

I think that's the question here. And I think that pressure is important because that's the only way you really get anything done, as we know. Folks, when we talk about, again, what we're facing, we're facing Republicans who continue to say, oh, it's voter fraud, voter fraud, when it's really non-existent. What's also interesting, twice the son of Glenn Youngkin tried to vote in the wrong location for his father in last month's election. No big deal. Republicans said nothing. Yet they went after Crystal Mason, a sister who thought she could vote, who voted, okay,

made a simple mistake, violated her parole. She went to prison. They're trying to put her back in prison. They are fighting right now. The state of Texas, they're spending vast amounts of money to keep her in to keep to try to throw her back in jail. To prove what point she joins us right now now along with her attorney, Kim Cole. Glad to have both of you on the show. Kim, what is the latest legal maneuver that y'all are involved in to try to end this case? First of all, explain to our audience, y'all been on before, how long has this been going on? This has been going on, Roland, since

she voted in the 2016 election. She was arrested in 2017. She voted five years ago. Five years ago. Okay. And so

she had to go back to prison, correct? She had to go back to federal prison, yes, to serve 10 months because they violated her federal supervised release based upon the charge of her voting in the Texas election. So they violated her federal supervised release and the federal court sentenced her to 10 years in prison. And then the state court obviously sentenced her to five years.

So federal, 10, state, so is she battling both? Are y'all battling state and federal, or right now you're just battling state? So she has fully discharged her federal sentence. They also, in addition to sentencing her to 10 years in prison, I mean 10 months in prison, they sentenced her to, I believe it's 27, 26, 26 additional months of supervised release. And so she has completely discharged her federal sentence at this point. Now we are still looking at the five year state sentence, which is still pending. It's on appeal. I mean, the fact that Texas is spending thousands upon thousands upon thousands of dollars to send you to prison, Crystal, they are trying to make an example out of you.

Yes. And you got it. You got to remember this, too. I filled out a provisional ballot. I never voted. It never counted. So I'm being, they're saying I voted. I was sentenced to illegally voting, but I filled out a provisional ballot that never counted. So I've never voted. So I'm, I'm going through all of this and it never went anywhere, but in the trash. I mean, this is, this is unbelievable. So, Kim, explain the latest legal maneuver y'all are involved in. So, criminal one here in Texas had a lot of nasty provisions that were geared toward suppressing voting actually had one provision in it that amended the Texas election code under which Crystal was convicted. And that code, even though it already stated that the individual had to know that they were not eligible to vote,

it was amended to make it even more clear. They added knowingly in there, where now it says, originally it says that a person committed the offense when they voted or attempted to vote in an election for which the person knows that they are not eligible. Obviously, the original script required knowledge of ineligibility. So now it states that a person commits the offense when they knowingly or willingly vote or attempt to vote in an election for which they know that they are not eligible to vote. So we put knowing there several times this time to make it very clear that the person has to know. And that's the issue with this entire case, Roland.

The state never proved that Crystal knew that she couldn't vote. Their own witnesses stated that her supervised police officer from the Federal Bureau of Prisons stated that they never told Crystal she could not vote. The state elections officials testified on the stand. These are state's witnesses now.

The state election of the Tarrant County election officials testified on the stand that they mailed letters to her stating that she was not eligible to vote to her home address while she was in federal prison, which means she never got the notice. So Crystal had no clue that she could not vote. She would not have voted. She had just recently discharged a federal sentence.

She wasn't trying to go back to jail. She had a good job. She was in school. She had her family, you know, had everything lined up and was working and just living her life and just went to fulfill her civic duty. She had no idea she was not eligible to vote. It has to be maddening for you, Crystal, that here you are five years after you filled out a provisional ballot and you're still dealing with this. It's five years.

I mean, literally, you've had now two presidential elections, one in 16 and one in 20. It's overwhelming. It's overwhelming on looking at the people that truly voted, truly committed voter fraud to get probation, to get a fine, a ticket. And these people went and voted in somebody else's name. So that's forgery and other charges. And yet they get misdemeanors and get a ticket and a slap on the wrist. You know, it's saddened on looking at what happened January the 6th and looking at all these people that went out to

commit a crime intentions where you see to commit a crime. And yet I'm looking at people getting sentenced as a six months. And if anybody know anything about the federal system, anything up under a year in day, a year a day, you don't go to prison. You can do all that at the house on home confinement or at a halfway house. You will never see prison, anything up under a year and a day, you don't go to prison. You can do all that at the house, on home confinement, or at a halfway house. You will never see prison, anything up under a year and a day. And this is not fair at all. It certainly is not. Kim, y'all have been battling this. Hopefully, a sensible judge will say in this, this is just utterly ridiculous. Texas is wasting valuable resources pursuing this case and just makes no sense whatsoever. And so we appreciate the fight. Keep us abreast of what happens next in this strange, long and utterly ridiculous case.

Thank you for having us, Roland. All right. All right. All right, folks, got to go to break. We come back. We're going to talk more about the fight for voting rights on Capitol Hill. Who's talking, who is not. We'll also cover some other news of the day. Ben, wait till I show you these two crazy as my people segments we have.

I mean, one of them, a louisiana using the n-word called on video and now she's like oh i'm sorry i took a pill and i don't have any recall on what happened boom we have the video and the audio but you're using the inward you're watching roller martin unfiltered the black star network broadcasting live from atlanta back in a minute НАПРЯЖЕННАЯ МУЗЫКА I'm going to go to bed. Betty is saving big holiday shopping at Amazon. So now, she's free to become Bear Hug Betty. Settle in, kids. You'll be there a while. Ooh, where you going?

Hi, I'm Eldie Barge. Hey, yo, peace world. What's going on? It's the love king of R&B, Raheem Devon, and you're watching Roller Martin Unfiltered. Folks, Digital Columbia, they filed a lawsuit against the Proud Boys because of their actions on January 6th. Here is Attorney General Carl Racine making the announcement today. Specifically, we're bringing this lawsuit pursuant to local and federal laws, including the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, a Reconstruction-era federal law designed to protect our country against violent conspiracies, protect our citizens against violent conspiracies like the attack that took place on January 6.

In the complaint, which has been filed and is public, we specifically allege that these vigilantes, insurrectionists, and masters of a lawless mob conspired against the District of Columbia, its law enforcement officers and residents by planning, promoting and participating in the violent attack on the United States Capitol. We further allege the name defendants caused substantial and provable damage to the District of Columbia and in particular to our courageous law enforcement officers who risked their lives, and some even died, to defend the Capitol, the District, and our country's freedoms. As the independent attorney general, I have the responsibility to enforce our laws and hold these violent defendants accountable because they cause actual, physical, and financial harm to our city,

its employees, and our residents. Now, the suit names several specific individuals accused of plotting the riot outlines the events leading up to the riot, and accuses the groups of using the election results to Special Select Committee, she read aloud some of the text messages that were turned over to the committee from former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, which came from a number of Fox News celebrities. Folks, it was riveting testimony. Oh, by the way, none of the conservative networks, Fox News, One American News, and Newsmax carried yesterday's hearing. I wonder why. Could it be because what the Fox News folks were saying privately in text messages,

they've been saying something totally different publicly? This is yesterday. Watch this. These text messages leave no doubt the White House knew exactly what was happening here at the Capitol. Members of Congress, the press, and others wrote to Mark Meadows as the attack was underway. One text Mr. Meadows received said, quote, we are under siege here at the Capitol. Another quote, they have breached the Capitol. Another, quote, they have breached the Capitol.

In a third, mark, protesters are literally storming the Capitol, breaking windows on doors, rushing in. Is Trump going to say something? A fourth, there's an armed standoff at the House chamber door. And another from someone inside the Capitol. We are all helpless. Dozens of texts, including from Trump administration officials, urged immediate action by the president. Quote, POTUS has to come out firmly and tell the protesters to dissipate.

Someone is going to get killed. In another, Mark, he needs to stop this now. A third, in all caps, tell them to go home. A fourth, and I quote, POTUS needs to calm this shit down. Indeed, according to the records, multiple Fox News hosts knew the president needed to act immediately. They texted Mr. Meadows, and he has turned over those texts. Quote, Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home. This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy, Laura Ingram wrote. Please get him on TV, destroying everything you have accomplished, Brian Kilmeade texted.

Quote, can he make a statement? Ask people to leave the Capitol, Sean Hannity urged. As the violence continued, one of the president's sons texted Mr. Meadows. Quote, he's got to condemn this shit ASAP. The Capitol Police tweet is not enough, Donald Trump Jr. texted. Meadows responded, quote, I'm pushing it hard. I agree. Still, President Trump did not immediately act.

Donald Trump Jr. texted again and again, urging action by the president, quote, we need an Oval Office address. He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand, end quote. But hours passed without necessary action by the president. These non-privileged texts are further evidence of President Trump's supreme dereliction of duty during those 187 minutes. And Mr. Meadows' testimony will bear on another key question before this committee. Did Donald Trump, through action or inaction, corruptly seek to obstruct or impede Congress's official proceedings to count electoral votes? Mark Meadows' testimony is necessary to inform our legislative judgments. Yet he has refused to give any testimony at all,

even regarding non-privileged topics. He is in contempt of Congress. All right, folks, now if y'all want a really good laugh, I told y'all, so Brian Kilmeade of Fox & Friends was one of the people who texted him. No mention today at all about these text messages none in fact um y'all gonna get a real kick out of this one here uh none of the fox news people it was that it was as if the story just didn't even exist today that shows you how fraudulent

these folks are i'm gonna play this for the panel. I'm gonna come back to you. And so the Washington Post put this together where they juxtapose text messages and what Fox personalities were actually saying on the air. It's amazing what they said privately. Different from what they said publicly. Watch this. Quote, Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home. This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy, Laura Ingram wrote. The Capitol was under siege by people who can only be described as antithetical to the MAGA movement.

Now, there were likely not all Trump supporters, and there are some reports that Antifa sympathizers may have been sprinkled throughout the crowd. Please get him on TV. Destroying everything you have accomplished, Brian Kilmeade texted. About how I feel about the whole thing, I just thought the tone, the attitude of defiance played out in the Capitol. The lack of security stunned me. I do not know Trump supporters that have ever demonstrated violence that I know of in a big situation. Quote, can he make a statement, ask people to leave the Capitol, Sean Hannity urged. They knew there were hundreds of thousands of people that came to town. We also knew that there's always bad actors that will infiltrate large crowds. I don't care if they're radical left, radical right. I don't know who they are.

They're not people I would support. One of the president's sons texted Mr. Meadows, quote, He's got to condemn this shit ASAP. The Capitol Police tweet is not enough. Donald Trump Jr. texted. Donald Trump Jr. texted again and again, urging action by the president. Quote, we need an Oval Office address. He has to lead now.

It has gone too far and gotten out of hand, end quote. If you were to take his speech and compare it to literally any stump speech, you would see absolutely no deviation. But again, because the Democrats have the media in their pocket carrying whatever message they can go on with impeachment part de wow mustafa fox news is a joke of a news channel and for them to be silent and they are the ones who helped gin this up along with don Trump. They are complicit in this and now they're being utter cowards when they won't even discuss what their own people had to say

and they wouldn't cover the hearing or Newsmax or One America News. All of these conservatives who stand with these MAGA idiots, they are all complicit in trying to tear down democracy in this country to keep that thug, they country to keep that thug. They want to keep that thug in the White House.

It's the ultimate example of whitewashing. I mean, when you say whitewashing, these folks, they brought it to life. And then, you know, by, you know, knowing what was going on and at the same time trying to make remember when they said, well, it might have been tourists or they might have been all these other things, except exactly what they were, which was domestic terrorists and the actions that they were doing. So, you know, Fox is complicit. Fox has been complicit in it and a number of issues. This has been a longstanding way that they do business and they have to be held accountable also. So I'm going to be interested in seeing how folks approach addressing their part that they played in all of this. You know, Xavier, to listen to these idiots, you now we know what they said while it was happening. And here's the deal. All of them were texting Trump. They were texting Mark Meadows and Trump still did nothing. That's why that thug was impeached. And they are the ones

who fought that, defended his crap. And so now we know what they were saying privately. That's why I can't trust any of these shameless, despicable individuals. I can't trust none of them. I don't want to hear any bag of supporters, any Trump person saying anything, because I've heard all this crap. Oh, yeah, they were just taking a walk through the Capitol. It was like a regular tour. I'm like, what the hell are you talking about? We all know what we saw, Roland.

First and foremost, Elon Musk was the time person of the year. It should have been Eugene Goodman, the African-American Capitol Police officer that kept more damage being done to American lawmakers. So that's number one. Number two, we saw in the clip that you played, Donald Trump Jr. saying that the Democrats are in the pockets of media. Well, that's what Fox News is doing right now, refusing to cover a major political event that is going on that covers an insurrection of the country. Fox News, Jose, you support Fox News right now.

You are un-American. You are supporting a network that actively spews propaganda that basically radicalized millions, tens of millions of Americans, so much so that they went to the Capitol, you brought up the Proud Boys suit. OK, they definitely should have gone after the Proud Boys before they sent money to Kyle Rittenhouse's defense. And also, on top of that, you have a situation where this is ongoing right now. And that's it.

We had the last step in on voting rights. We're still having the impact right now as we're continuing to go on and to be able to protect our democracy. And if Fox News audience, which is the largest cable news network in terms of the viewers, if they don't see it, it doesn't happen for them. And so they are doing a disservice to the country in terms of informing their audience as in terms of what is happening in the country, definitely in terms of domestic terrorism. Look at Clarence Thomas' wife basically putting money behind

buses and getting money behind those that came to the Capitol. There's so much more to be uncovered, but we see that these are hypocrites, liars, un-American people, that they should be shamed at every outpost. And Matt, here's the funny part. So now John Eastman is suing Verizon, saying they can't release his personal phone record to the select committee. Here a deal if you did nothing wrong you have no problem

at all with your records being released this is why kevin mccarthy was fighting democrats uh who wanted the phone records of members of congress there are republicans sitting republicans in the house right now who are complicit who were involved involved in January 6th insurrection. We know it. We know what they were doing. We know exactly what happened. And you know what? This select committee, as far as I'm concerned, is too damn quiet. There should be public hearings every single day. Put it in the open. Put pressure on them. Okay, they're going to vote to hold Mark Reynolds in contempt. No, damn that. Start arresting people. Get serious. There are people who should be going to jail.

The Department of Justice is moving way too damn slow. This happened on January 6th. This is now December 14th. I'm like, what the hell is taking so long? You know, Roland, if you, me, Mustafa and Xavier did this, we would already be in custody and we'd already have had an arraignment and be looking at trial dates. I mean, the reality of this is there's two different justice systems in America. And when it's wealthy white people who are involved, they get a different pass. The reality is these people were texting Mark Meadows because they knew that what we're seeing is a once in a lifetime assault-lifetime assault on democracy, really, at this level of demonstrability that we'll probably never see again. And it's absurd that there are people

who are doing everything they can to either obfuscate the issue or to downplay it. And that's what I think is the most sinister part of Fox News, is for all of this time they have fomented all of this unrest, they've leveraged it, and behind closed doors they're saying, hey, man, this is not right, this needs to stop. But on the air, they're still trying to leverage the divisibility between Democrats and Republicans or the left and the right. So I don't know how it's defensible at all that nobody's in custody. And I think you're 100% right. If it was one of us on this panel, we would already be in custody. It would be no question. And they would be parading our black faces all over every news network to show how they got those domestic terrorists. The fact

that it's not happening to them is because they're white and wealthy, period. Absolutely. Folks, gentlemen, gotta go to a break. We come back. Our Black and Missing will also talk about how former Minneapolis cop Kim Power does not want a jury determining her fate. We'll explain next on Roland Martin Unfiltered, right here on the Black Star Network. Are the stars out tonight? Alexa, play our favorite song again. Okay. I only have eyes for you. Субтитры подогнал «Симон» Hello, everyone.

I'm Godfrey, and you're watching... Roland Martin Unfiltered. And while he's doing Unfiltered, I'm practicing the wobble. Taylor Young was last known to be driving his 2019 Silver Honda Civic in Houston, Texas on December 9th of this year. The 25-year-old is 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing 160 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a blue Billionaire Boys Club sweatshirt with gray sweatpants. Young has two tattoos on his right leg, the Tasmanian Devil on the front and a floor deluxe with a snake on the back. Anyone with information about Young's 2019 Silver Honda Civic with a Texas license plate MDC9337 or his know-about-his-whereabouts should call the Houston Police Department Missing Persons Unit at 832-394-1840, 832-394-1840. The trial of Kimberly Potter continues in Minneapolis.

She is a former cop who was, of course, on trial for killing Daunte Wright. Now, here are some of the testimony that took place today. The first line, use of force is a matter of critical concern both to the public and the law enforcement community. Can you explain in your mind why that is a matter of critical concern, both to the public and the law enforcement community. Can you explain in your mind why that is a matter of critical concern? Not many jobs or professions or careers are you authorized and mandated in time to use force. It's a significant reach of the government. And so that's what's critical about it.

Right. I mean, use of force is significant and it's going to play into any kind of ongoing relationship between the police or the government and the community and society. This, I think just tries to, to tries to signal how critical it can be. The next paragraph talks about officers having an understanding and appreciation for their authority and limitations. Is that true? Yes.

Why? We are, peace officers are in a unique role. We've got a unique set of responsibilities, tasks, mandates, and I want our officers to always be aware of that, that special position, that special job that they have. And when you were watching the video, were you able to discern where she was wearing her taser at that time? I was. And I think the two slices of video are attempts at a closer up view of that, correct? Yes. But from watching the video, were you able to determine where she was wearing her taser? Yes. And where was she

wearing it? On her left, it was on the left side of her duty belt. And when officers are wearing their taser, are there two different orientations that they can wear it in? Yes. And what are those two different orientations? I'm going to call them a cross draw and a reaction hand draw. And what's the difference? And if it would help to demonstrate to the jurors, if you want to stand up and just show them, you can do that if you want.

The way I have mine oriented is for a cross-draw. So I'm right-handed, right-hand dominant. I carry my handgun on my right side, carry my taser on my reaction side. So this holster is set up so that I would cross-draw, using my dominant hand to draw across my body. When I refer to a reaction hand draw, the taser would be oriented so the handle is aft, not forward, and you would use your reaction hand to draw the taser that way. So basically which way that handle is pointed, whether it's going to be forward or aft.

And Exhibit 382, can you tell which orientation Ms. Potter is wearing her taser? Reaction, hand draw, yes. Brooklyn Center Police Commander Gary Fletchland testified that Kim Potter should have been familiar with the policies even as they

evolved during her 26-year career. She repeatedly signed documents acknowledging the rules. Now, Potter claimed that she mistakenly grabbed her Glock when she reached for her taser, which led to Daunte Wright's death. Now, pick this out. Potter's attorney told the judge that she does not want the jury to decide whether she should be subjected to a longer-than-the-typical sentence if convicted of manslaughter. Really, Matt? That doesn't surprise me, Roland. Having done a lot

of criminal defense, I might do the same thing in this case. And the reason is because when you have a jury, a lot of times jurors don't have a frame of reference for what a case is, quote, worth. So a jury is not going to know that this is the common case where a person would get 10 years or 12 years or whatever the number may be. So I understand the logic behind her attorney saying we want to go to the judge because the judge will have a frame of reference, and hopefully the judge will not be swayed improperly by all the political pressure and the societal pressure surrounding this case. So strategically, I understand that. I don't understand it, though, from the standpoint of kind of to your point earlier. If you know you

weren't doing anything wrong, why would you be worried about the 12 citizens who hold your fate in their hands determining the appropriate sentence for you? I mean, that kind of bodes to you know you did something wrong. But as to the legal strategy, that actually makes sense to me in this case. But also what you have here, Xavier, you've got these cops who expect judges to be more lenient. Remember, you have the several officers who are involved in the Freddie Gray situation who chose the judge to determine their fate, and they all got off. Yeah, Roland, usually when you have police officers that use the judge instead of a jury, they want to be able to make a calculated decision. One person, they feel like that's on their side as opposed to interpreting the law as opposed to the communities that they're supposed to serve?

It says a lot about what police officers view themselves in position to what their relation is to the people in our society and the communities they're supposed to be serving. Mustafa. Everybody has to be judged equally, whether you're a police officer or, you know, you're somebody who's working in another occupation. If I go out and I kill somebody with my car, there are repercussions for the actions that I did or did not do. If I'm an airplane pilot and I cause a crash and people lose their life based upon me making the wrong decisions, there are repercussions for that. It's the same thing for police officers. If they make a mistake, then they also have to deal with the consequences of the situation. So if we want to make sure that justice is fair and equitable, then we got to also

make sure that on the other side of the equation when somebody is possibly guilty of something, that they actually have to go through the same process. All right, folks, hold tight one second. Got to go to break. We come back. We'll tell you about the latest Jelani Day case. The brother was found, the brother in Illinois was found dead in the river.

And also one of the former NFL player who shot and killed several people in South Carolina. Brother had CTE. We'll tell you those details as well. Plus, we'll talk with the artist who did the issue of critical race theory. Isn't it interesting how that's no longer a thing, now the election is over? It's as if it just never disappeared. Because it was never a thing. You're watching Willa Martin Unfiltered, right here on the Black Star Network.

You're watching Willa Martin Unfiltered. Are the stars out tonight. Alexa, play our favorite song again. OK. I only have eyes for you. Субтитры создавал DimaTorzok ДИНАМИЧНАЯ МУЗЫКА Maureen is saving big holiday shopping at Amazon. So now she's free to become Maureen the Marrier. Food is her love language. And she really loves her grandson. Like, really loves.

Hey, I'm Cupid, the maker of the Cupid Shuffle and the Wham Dance. What's going on? This is Tobias Trevelyan. And if you ready, you are listening to and you are watching Roland Martin, unfiltered. All right, folks. The FBI is offering a reward for help as authorities investigate the death of college student Jelani Day. The Jelani Day Joint Task Force looking into his death announced a $10,000 reward for tips with substantial information about Dave's final hours.

They hoped the information could lead to a new witness or evidence in the case. Dave was reported missing in August. A 25-year-old body was later discovered in the Illinois River on September 4th. Let's go to a story out of South Carolina where researchers at Boston University performed an autopsy on ex-NFL player Phillip Adams, who shot and killed six people in South Carolina. He apparently had severe CTE, which is a degenerative brain disease found in athletes, military veterans, and others with a history of repetitive brain trauma. CTE can cause severe changes in mood and behavior.

It also increases the risk of suicide and homicide. Adams played football for 20 years, spent six years in the NFL, and suffered many injuries during his career. In April, he shot a doctor and his wife, their two grandchildren, and two HVAC workers. Dr. Anne McKee, a neuropathologist who studied Adams' brain, said Adams had stage 2 CTE, and his case was more severe than other cases she had seen for patients in his age range. Adams' family said that he sought help for his illnesses from the NFL, but could not keep up with appointments and was denied services. Folks, that is certainly a sad story there as well.

Folks, going to go to a quick break. We come back. We're going to talk about the Treasury Department announcing billions of dollars to minority lenders. We'll also talk about how critical race theory is no longer a critical issue happening here in America. I wonder why. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. Alexa, play our favorite song again. Okay. I only have eyes for you. Субтитры подогнал «Симон» I'm Chrisette Michelle. Hi, I'm Chaley Rose, and you Department is going to release $8.7 billion to minority communities

to help small businesses and those who lack access to banking. The Emergency Capital Investment Program, those funds will go to 186 community-based financial institutions. Today, at an event in the Treasury Department, recognizing the Freedmen's Bank, of course, which was created after the Civil War. Vice President Kamala Harris and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen made the announcement and said it is going to help those in need. We're here today because in many ways we're still living with both that aspiration and that tragedy. The Vice President just described this very well. From Reconstruction to Jim Crow to the present day, our economy has never worked fairly for black Americans or really

for any American of color. Well, since stepping foot in this building last January, we have tried to change that, to finally make good on the aspiration of the Freedmen's Bank by transforming how Treasury works. We have completed Treasury's first equity review, looking across the department and asking, where are our operations not as inclusive as they could be? We've brought on the most diverse leadership team in Treasury's history. Here's what I know to be true. America is a nation that is driven by the ambition and the aspirations of her people. But I also know that in America today, deep racial disparities continue to hold people back from achieving all they can. Today, the wealth gap persists.

Today, the home ownership gap persists. Today, access to capital is unequal. As one example, black entrepreneurs are three times more likely to report that a lack of access to capital negatively affects their profit margins. I believe that the actions we are taking and must take to address these disparities will define our nation's strength and economic strength in the 21st century. Black Americans make up 13.4% of American population, yet hold 4.3% of household wealth. And a half of a black American's household wealth is in the form of pension entitlements. Mustafa, this is one of those things that somebody who is, of course, watching may say, oh, it wasn't a big deal, $8.3 billion to these institutions are largely the ones that serve Black and other people of color when it comes to providing loans and things along those lines. That is significant. Yeah, it helps us to begin the long journey of addressing the wealth gap that still exists in our country that the vice president was talking about, that Secretary Yellen was talking about, Secretary Yellen was talking about. It also helps us to begin to

better position ourselves also, depending on how quickly these resources begin to move, with hundreds of billions of dollars that's going to come out of these infrastructure bills. We've got the bipartisan that's passed, and now hopefully the Build Back Better will. So our communities need to be able to have our businesses having a stronger position and also to be able to support new entrepreneurs in this space. So that means that you have to have access to capital to be able to build the capacity that's necessary inside of your business to be able to compete for the contracts and the subcontracts and a number of other aspects that will be a part of those resources that will flow, along with even those who are not interested in those dollars being able to have the capital that's necessary to compete

in what we now know is a global economy. So this is a step in the right direction. I'll be interested in seeing the timeframes that this actually moves out the door, which will be critical also in helping people to position themselves properly. Matt, again, this is one of those things that people have to understand when we talk about businesses. If you're unable to get venture capital, look, the ability to be able to go get a loan from one of these institutions, it matters. And so for those who say, oh, this is not enough, well, you got to start somewhere.

And hey, let's start at nearly $9 billion. I think it's a great step forward and it is a great start. But I am concerned or at least intrigued as to why only $3.1 billion of those dollars are going to minority controlled organizations. It stands to reason to me the biggest showing of true investment would be to give all of that money or at least the lion's share to those hundred and eighty six banks and credit unions. So I don't know all of the minutia on it, but that is makes me question as to the other five point two billion dollars. Who's controlling that and why isn't it all being given to those organizations? Because, Matt, it's capacity. No, seriously, it's capacity.

The bottom line is this here. It's sort of like if you look at a store that was recently in Politico, you look at the number of black banks you used to have in Chicago, but you don't have any. They're gone. And so part of the problem is how do you still reach the customers? And so that's like saying, hey, let's give all, let's give more of the money to HBCUs. But if you've got more black students who are attending PWIs, well then what about those

students as well? It comes down to capacity. And so that's part of the problem here, which is why we have, which is the point that I keep making over and over and over again, Xavier, we have to be building capacity. The problem that we have in black America, our institutions are too small. They are unable to handle those large dollars because they are small. People keep saying, let's have more black businesses. No, we need more black businesses that are bigger, that have capacity. Yeah, I think that's a great point, Roland. We need to have media conglomerates. We need to have large institutional banks. We need to have large construction companies.

We need to have large development companies, large financial and investment companies. We need to have large companies that are able to put infrastructure, talk about the infrastructure bill. We have that in place. That has to happen for dollars to flow, but they don't flow if they don't have any undergirding on any economies of scale to be able to do that. And so that's necessary. We have to build those institutions, and I think that's a definite target of where we should go in the future. But I do caution, will we have access to capital when we have the same token, this administration, saying that they're going to continue on with student loan repayment when African-Americans are twice as more likely to default on student loans and likely to delay buying a home and to delay

maybe investing in a business because they're having trouble with student loan debt as well. So look at the other side of the coin as well. In terms of building wealth, we have to be able to build wealth on all channels, build bigger businesses, and also be able to support people in terms of their building their financial portfolio so they can invest and access the capital to build a small business as well. Absolutely. And, you know, somebody asked the question, well, this great world, how do you build capacity? Well, one thing you've got to build capacity is we've got to have mergers and acquisitions. We've got to have we've got to stop having so many small black owned businesses. I don't like the life of me. I don't understand. I was at an awards

event in Houston, and where they were handing out awards for the Black Team of Commerce event, and they honored three black PR firms. Okay, that's fine. That's great. That's wonderful. My issue I have with that is, okay, versus having three small black PR firms, how about those three PR firms merge to form one large black PR firm? now you're not paying three different office bills, three different light bills, three different, you know, back-end services, and now you can actually go after larger clients. That's how you build capacity. And so that's one of the things. We've got a lot of folks who are living in silos, and that's part of our problem, is that we have a lot of small businesses. 95% of all black businesses in America, 95% are doing less than $5 million in

revenue. And even that number is really not right because if you look at prior to COVID, 2.6 million black-owned businesses in America, 2.5 million had one employee. Of those 2.6 million black-owned businesses, they were doing average revenue of $54,000. I'm sorry, y'all. Those are not black-owned businesses. They're not. It's capacity. We got to be able to, where we have, and remember, in the United States, they classify small businesses as having 500 employees or less. 2.5 out of the 2.6 million black-owned businesses, one employee. They're sole proprietors. That, folks, is not going to cut it. That's why these resources matter. All right, got to go to break. We come back. We're going to talk critical race theory.

What happened to that? I thought that was like the next to the democracy, most important issue in America. It's just disappeared. Artists next, we'll talk about his viral painting that has a lot of people talking about this very issue. We'll just talk with him next on Roller Martin Unfiltered on the black star. ¶¶ ¶¶ ¶ Are the stars out in the night? ¶ ¶¶ I'll deny it. Alexa, play our favorite song again. OK.

I only have eyes for you. Субтитры создавал DimaTorzok ДИНАМИЧНАЯ МУЗЫКА Субтитры подогнал «Симон» Maureen is saving big holiday shopping at Amazon. So now she's free to become Maureen the Marrier. Food is her love language. And she really loves her grandson. Like, really loves. Hi, I'm Vivian Green. Hey, everybody. This your man Fred Hammond.

And you're watching Roland Martin, my man, unfiltered. All right, and Awesome Detroit has gone viral with this painting, which deals with critical race theory. Check this out. Joining us now to discuss his work is Jonathan Harris. Jonathan, glad to have you on the show. All of a sudden, first of all, critical race theory was all the rage in July, August, September, October. I told everybody what the white folks are doing, these conservative white folks. They had to gin up something to get white people upset and angry. And they did. All of a sudden, they're showing up at school board meetings

and all that sort of stuff, and now it's as if it's no longer a thing. Yeah, I understand, but I just... I'm just really concerned about our history and my people's history, so I just wanted to document something with this piece that will stand the test of time.

So when we talk about the history, I mean, but see, I try to explain to people, again, it wasn't about critical race theory. They want to associate anything dealing with race, anything dealing with diversity, anything dealing with equity, don't with diversity, anything dealing with equity. Don't want any of it because this is white fear, white fear, the fear of a changing America, that an emerging majority is people of color. They can't stand that. That's what this whole thing is about.

Yeah, it's difficult. It's so much going on with, you know, critical race theory and like you said, like the fear that people that don't look like us have. But I just really just wanted to document, you know, my feeling on it. And I just wanted to know,

well, people to see how I felt about it with this piece. So that's where I'm at with it. Questions from my panel. First off, Mustafa, what you got for Jonathan? Well, Jonathan, shout out to everybody back in the D on Freeland Street where my fam is at. You know, when you first began this journey of trying to highlight and keep our history alive. Was the first set of images that we see, was that the beginning of the process or were there other individuals that you thought about highlighting as well? And I decided to stick with this one because I felt like it would be more powerful. I wanted people to question what was really going on here. I see something that's very blatantly obvious. So to answer your question, this was not the original idea.

But when I was working on this, when I did know I did, I knew that I only wanted it to be about three key figures from our history that people that don't look like me know who they are. And it wouldn't really be no question about who they are and why they're being covered up. It had to be answered. Matt, I'm sure, Jonathan, let me first say, man, it's a brilliant piece, and I appreciate you documenting our history the way you have. But I'm sure you've gotten a lot of pushback from this. So what have particularly non-Black artists, if any, said about this? What has the response been? And have you seen people saying, well, I don't think it's really whitewashing history? You know, trying to add some nuance to what we know is actually happening. Have you had that phenomenon occur?

Yeah. When I originally found out that it had went viral, as people say, somebody had told me I had that had put something in me to start going down the rabbit hole. And when I did that on Twitter, I found a lot of other outlets, like, you know, Republican outlets that had picked it up. And the threads, they were just so long I had began to read. And it was kind of disturbing, but that's part of the problem. This has to be talked about. We can't move forward to the future if we can rectify the past. America's history, it was not

a Disney movie, and they're trying to make it like it's a Disney movie. If it was M. Night Shyamalan, it has to be M. Night Shyamalan. Xavier. Jonathan, great piece. Traditionally in our hip hop culture, graffiti art has either white washing it down or wiping it down, the attempt to basically cover up the expression of our culture, the expression of our being, our soul, our movement, all those different things as you thought about the inspiration for the piece? Yes, so the white on the piece, it actually symbolizes all of the history

that we don't know that's been covered up. And like, I just believe that changing the history to what they would like to change it to, that's like a beast that's never full. Once we give them something, they'll keep coming back and wanting more and more and more. And eventually, it'll get to the point where they'll question teaching Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman, and Malcolm X.

And I don't want that. And I'm doing everything to stop that with my ability. Thank you. You got a lot of response from folks. Are people trying to get you to make copies of this? And people are asking where can they actually get this piece? Yes. Well, the piece has sold the first day of my last show. I did have a limited edition prints online. 250 of them signed and numbered. Those actually sold out today in about two days. And I won't be making another one.

I want this one to stand alone and stand the test of time. So it's a one-on-one. All right. You passed up a lot of money. It's not about the money for me. It's really not about the money for me. I don't sell art. I just paint what's in my heart.

And if somebody choose to buy it, thank you. All right. Jonathan Harris, we certainly appreciate it. Thank you. All right. Jonathan Harris, we certainly appreciate it. Tell people where they can watch. Go take a look at more of your stuff. My Instagram is at artugifted. That's A-R-T-Y-O-U, gifted.

My Facebook is Jonathan Harris Art. I'm John Harris on Facebook. John Harris Art on Twitter. Yeah. That's it. All right, then. Jonathan, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me.

All right, folks. Let's pay some bills when we come back. Our Marketplace segment where we focus on Black-owned businesses. That's right. That's how we do it here on Roller Market Unfiltered every single Tuesday with the Marketplace brought to you by Verizon. If you want to support what we do, download the Black Star Network app. Our goal is to get 50,000 downloads by December 31st. We've got a lot more to go.

Please pass the word. You can download the app on every platform. It's Apple phone, your Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, Xbox, as well as Samsung Smart TV. Also, your dollars goes to allow us to do what we do supporting this show. So please join our Bring the Funk fan club where every dollar you give, again, allows us to be able to travel to places like here in Atlanta to cover the Celebration Bowl. We're going to be going to events all week, live streaming stuff beginning tomorrow. So we want you to support us. And so please do so by Cash App, Donald Sanna, RM Unfiltered, PayPal is RM Martin Unfiltered, Venmo is RM Unfiltered, Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com,

Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Got to go to break. When we come back marketplace brought me by Verizon right here on Roland Martin unfiltered on the blackstone network broadcasting live from it. Betty is saving big holiday shopping at Amazon. So now she's free to become bear hug. Betty settling kids. You'll be there there a while where are you going you know how

some carriers give you so little for your older busted phone you just end up living with it i don't think so verizon lets you trade in your broken phone for a shiny new one you break it we upgrade it you dunk it doggy bone it slam it wham it strawberry jam it we upgrade it. You dunk it. Doggy bone it. Slam it. Wham it. Strawberry jam it. We upgrade it. Get a 5G phone on us with select plans. Every customer, current, new, or business. Because everyone deserves better. And with plans starting at just $35, better costs less than you think. All right, folks, as I said, every single Tuesday, we focus on Marketplace.

Today, we'll talk with a candle maker. She was not too particularly happy when she first started doing this and so Bernadette Brown said, you know what, let me just go ahead and do it myself. She's a journalist, but decided to focus on self-care. Now she loves candles, but she said the ingredients were making her sick so she decided to make her own. That's why she has baubles and beeswax. How you doing? I'm wonderful, Roland. How are you?

I'm doing great. So how are these candles making you sick? Like, what was the deal? So, you know, when I first started, I love candles, love candles. But every time I would burn a candle, it gave me a headache. I was talking to a friend of mine who's a holistic health coach. And she said, it's likely because of the paraffin wax and the phthalates that are in the fragrances that are in manufactured candles. And so I said, well, maybe I should just try to make them myself. Can't be that too, you know,

part of a process, which I learned it actually is a very hard process. I started making them on my own and fell in love with it. And so did my friends and family and a business was born. And it was great to actually create something, you know, I deal in facts every day as a journalist. And so getting to use my creativity was wonderful. That led into soaps and skincare and all types of other products. Now, you're in Mableton, Georgia, and so you go from candles to skincare products. And so how has the business taken off? Business has been great. You know, we took a little break during the pandemic, as a lot of businesses did. We regrouped a little bit, relaunched, and we've been doing wonderful. Getting, you know, reviews back from our customers that they love their products, that they feel comforted and soothed and nourished, that is the goal. So,

we're doing wonderful. We're selling and adding products. The goal is to continue to add products to our offering and get more people to love the brand just as much as I do. Wow. Now, first of all, where can people get your candles and skincare products? Right now, we offer our products online. You can go to baublesandbeeswax.com. You can also shop through our Instagram, baublesandbeeswax on Facebook as well. We will be adding more next year. We're looking to add a men's line, looking to possibly even grow into subscription boxes. The goal is, you know, the product should be a tool for you, right? It should be part of your personal care toolbox. It's meant to trigger you to slow down and to take care of yourself, because I know as

Black women, we just don't. We're taught to just go and work and work, but we're not taught how to stop and relax and care. And it was something that was missing for me. And I built a community and I hope other people will join in this self-care movement. Questions from our panel. I'll start with you, Mustafa. Well, thank you for this and creating a product that doesn't impact, you know, the environment or people's health. I'm curious, as we do more self-care and learn to slow down

and be more efficient, are you thinking about franchising or how are you helping other brothers and sisters who may be interested in starting something similar to be able to on their journey? You know, when I started this, I found a lot of resources online and, you know, books and authors and people were very open to share their knowledge with me. And I feel strongly that I have to do the same thing. It's not simple. People think, oh, you just pour a candle and that's it. It's not that simple of a process. I'm happy to share my expertise. and the growth will be in normalizing the conversation around how we take care of ourselves

in moving from a guilty pleasure to an everyday practical luxury that we should be giving ourselves this gift to ourselves. And hopefully as we add more products and look to increase, I don't see it franchising, but because I love making the products, and so I do want to have my hands in it,

the recipe formulation and creating that part is just a joy for me. But definitely adding and adding employees and getting a bigger workshop, all that is in our future. Matt? Well, let me first say I wish you great prosperity. It looks like your products are incredible, and I appreciate all of the mindfulness and intentionality you've put into making them, but I have a simple question. I know what I'm getting Big Mama for Christmas, so if I order it, do I still have time to get it? That's my question. Sir, I got you. Yes, yes, and yes. You ordered tonight. I'm going to put it in the mail tomorrow.

Perfect. All right. Thank you. All right. Well, we're going to have to get some of your candles. On Monday, I'm going to be back in the studio debuting our new studio. We're going to be showing everybody what it looks like. And so I think you might want to put

some of the candles on the shelves there. So hopefully... I got a box coming to you. It's a dynamic collection because I think that pretty much sums you up. Dynamic. Well, I appreciate it. So look, congratulations on this. And did

you give up journalism completely to focus on being an entrepreneur? I have not. Facts first for me. And I still love storytelling and leading my team. I'm just able to, you know, devote time in other places. And it does fuel me. So still a journalist, entrepreneur as well. All right. Sounds great. Bern a journalist, entrepreneur as well. All right.

Sounds great. Burn that. Congratulations. Good luck. Again, baublesandbeeswax.com. Folks, y'all go check it out. We appreciate you joining us on Marketplace presented by Verizon. Thanks a lot.

Thank you. All right, folks. Got to go to a break. We come back. Woo! I got two crazy ads by people for you. All right, folks, got to go to a break. We come back. Woo! I got two crazy ads by people for you. Y'all about to trip out next on Roller Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. ТРЕВОЖНАЯ МУЗЫКА Betty is saving big holiday shopping at Amazon. So now, she's free to become Bear Hug Betty.

Settle in, kids. You'll be there a while. Ooh, where you going? Yo, it's your man, Dionne Coe from Black-ish, and you're watching... Roland Martin, Unfiltered. Stay woke. No charcoal grills are allowed. I'm not making news. I'm white.

I got you, girl. I'm illegally selling water without a permit. On my property. Whoa! quite the interesting story here all right uh a louisiana judge uh is saying i i don't remember this happening. I said the N word. Yeah, you did. Watch and listen. Oh, shit. Mom goes, why are the lights on? When I pull up in the whip, they be saying, goddamn. Why are your lights on?

They're like, pull up, pull up. And mom's yelling, nigger. Nigger. Ken, we have a nigger. It's a nigger. Like a roach. That's me. I came from the backside. He trips over the wall.

He trips. He trips over the wall. He trips over the wall. Kenny was standing. I'm the one that took him down. Kenny's just standing there. Ha, ha, ha. He lied.

Found Austin's wallet. That's my phone where it standing there. Ha ha ha. That wasn't his wallet. That's my phone where it fell out. Look, Mom. The dude had a phone on him. He should have taken his phone and stolen from him, that fucking asshole. And now I'm going to grab a gun. It's important. Very important.

As we have also made pain control in this situation. The good thing is, is without medium, they've got... Look, they're with the car. Wait, look,, is when God will be with you, God's book! Look, there with the car. Wait, look. There's Ravel. What a play bitch! Okay, y'all.

Now, you're hearing her talk, right? You're hearing her talk. Okay, so check this out. This is what she told K... What's the station right here? It's K-L- KLFY. Y'all gonna love this one.

My children and I were the victim of an armed burglary at our home. The police were called and the assailant was arrested. The incident shook me to my core and my mental state was fragile. That's what she said y'all she said i was a wreck and i am still unable to sleep now after the video came out this is what she said quote i was given a sedative at the time of the video. I have zero recollection of the video and the disturbing language used during it. Anyone who knows me and my husband knows this is contrary to the way we live our lives. I am deeply sorry and ask for your forgiveness and understanding as my family and I deal with the emotional aftermath of this armed burglary.

Okay, I'm going to play for y'all again. The video of Michelle and her family. Y'all, the video is recorded in real time as it's happening. Roll it. Oh, shit. Mom goes, why are the lights on? When I pull up in the whip, they be saying, God damn. Why are your lights on?

They're like, pull up, pull up. And mom's yelling, nigger! Ken, we have a nigger! It's a nigger! That's me. I came from the backside. Look, he trips over the wall. He trips twice.

He trips twice. I don't know. Kenny was standing. I'm the one that took him down. Kenny's just standing there. That wasn't the wallet. That's my phone where it fell out. Look, Mom.

The dude had a phone on him. You should have taken his phone and stolen it from him, that fucking asshole. And now I'm going to grab a gun. It's important. Very important. As me and Austin may going to get the gun. It's important. Very important. As me and Austin may be in control of the situation. The good thing is, is we found medium.

Look, they're with the car. Wait, look, there's a couple. There's a couple. What a great match. Mustafa sounds to me like, boy, that sounds very traumatic. Judge Michelle O'Donnell was very clear in how she felt about the situation. No slurring of the words, very articulate in the things that she wanted to share. So I don't believe that there were any tranquilizers or anything else that was would have made her slur her speech.

So she knew what she was doing. And she does not deserve to hold the office that she has because there's no way that she can be impartial. And I would have great pause if I was an attorney representing someone or a client who had to go in front of her as a man of color. So she got to go in front of her as a man of color. So she got to go. Quite interesting, Matt, just how traumatic and difficult this was for her family, as they were in shock. They're yucking it up.

Absolutely. There's no sedative involved here. And I'm surprised that the judge even made a statement because she made it worse for herself because she's obviously being dishonest about what we see clearly in the video. The Judiciary Commission of Louisiana hopefully has gotten a complaint about this and will be making a public statement in whatever it decides to do with the disposition of said complaint. Because as Mustafa said, I would file a motion to recuse on every single case in front of her. Her impartiality is questioned now, and there's no way a black litigant or a black attorney or any black person who sets foot in her courtroom can have any assurance whatsoever she's going to do her job. She has to go, and I would hope that the Judiciary Commission

makes that possible. Absolutely. So that's amazing how the sedative made me do it. All right, folks, I'm going to close the show out. Unfortunately, some sad news. Soul singer Joe Simon, of course, who had three number one hits back in the day, passed away last night at the age of 85. We found out because his daughter, Denise, sent me a DM on Instagram because I would often

play his music, especially the choking kind. And she said that she always enjoyed me playing her father's music. And she wanted me to know personally that he passed away. It was nine years ago. He had a quadruple bypass uh and of course after his uh but he survived that after his uh career he uh focused on bishop joe simon ministries in the chicago area uh and of course he won the grammy in 1970 for best male r&b performance uh and then of course he had the song number three hit drowning in the sea of love the power of love the hit single now and again the choking kind so uh condolences go out to the family of Love, The Power of Love, the hit single, and again, The Choking Kind. So condolences go out to the family of Joe Simon, who passed away at the age of 85.

Folks, that is it for us here from Atlanta. Let me thank Matt, Mustafa, and Xavier for joining us on today's panel. Tomorrow, we've got a great treat. We're going to be from the world of Coca-Cola here in Atlanta. The Celebration Bowl, which pits the MEAC and SWAG champions. South Carolina State versus Jackson State. It's gonna be taking place on Saturday. We, of course, are partnering with Coca-Cola. We're gonna begin, we're gonna be live tomorrow from 6 to 10 p.m.

That's right, four hours tomorrow. Both teams will be arriving. Our cameras will be there to capture them. Some great things happening. Delta, normally these teams travel to the game by bus, but Delta wanted them to travel like other teams, and so Delta dispatched charter planes to pick up both teams. They're flying them in to Atlanta.

They'll land at 4 p.m. Our cameras will be there to capture that. And then, of course, they'll be coming to downtown Atlanta. We'll be there as well. So a lot of things happening there. They're going to have chefs there. Celebrity chefs are going to be on site. Different teams tasting the various Coke products from around the world will be there,

talking with many of the dignitaries from Coca-Cola, from the teams, university officials, coaches, you name it. And so we're looking forward to our live coverage of the Celebration Bowl beginning tomorrow right here in Atlanta. And so that is it for me, folks. I'll see you tomorrow right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Don't forget to download our app, the Black Star Network. All platforms, Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox, as well as Samsung Smart TV. So you can get us everywhere.

Again, we want to get to 50,000 downloads. Y'all pass the word. Send it out to all of your social media platforms. Download the Black Star Network curated by Roland S. Martin. Of course, we launched Roland with Roland. A new episode of Roland with Roland is going to be airing on Monday. My man, Richard Lawson. Y'all don't want to miss this episode where he talks about when he was in that plane crash, where he almost lost his life. A LaGuardia folks in this amazing story, how he did not listen to his inner voice.

And so we'll talk about, uh, talk to him. That's rolling Groland. That drops on Black Star Network on Monday. On Sunday, folks, we, of course, going to be streaming the McDonald's Inspiration Celebration Gospel Tour from Houston. You've been seeing a lot of the interviews we did with a lot of the artists, James Fortune, Donald Lawrence, Yolanda Adams, the host Lonnie Hunter, and so many of the Walls Group and so many other artists.

Well, we're going to actually stream for you 3 p.m. Eastern of that concert on Sunday. So a lot of things happening, y'all, right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered and Black Star Network. Please support what we do, Black-owned, Black-controlled. We don't ask anybody for what we do. That's why we cover the news. We cover our culture. We cover entertainment. We cover all of it because we're about being unapologetic and of course, unfiltered.

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