#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Ill. SAFE-T Act, DNA Arrest Lawsuit, Stacey Abrams, Salamander Resorts, Remembering Ramsey Lewis

Episode Date: September 14, 2022

9.13.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Ill. SAFE-T Act, DNA Arrest Lawsuit, Stacey Abrams, Salamander Resorts, Remembering Ramsey Lewis Illinois' massive crime reform package, the SAFE-T Act, is designed to eliminate cash bail reducing the number of people detained in jail while they await trial.  But misinformation about the bill set to go into effect in January 2023 is popping up all over the internet, claiming that violent criminals will be released without bail.  We have two Illinois lawmakers here to address the false narrative surrounding the "Illinois Purge bill." A California rape victim gets arrested after San Francisco police use her DNA from her sexual assault in an unrelated crime.  She's now suing the police department.  Her attorney will explain the case.  A South Carolina middle school teacher defends herself referring to a black teacher as the "monkey next door" in front of her students because they are friends.  A federal judge temporarily halts Arizona's law preventing the video recording of law enforcement within eight feet.  I talked to Stacey Abrams, who's gunning for Georgia's governor's mansion again.  She explains why she thinks the current governor, Brian Kemp is dangerous to the entire state.  In today's Marketplace, a black-owned cookware and utensil company.  Also, Salamander Hotels and Resorts takes over Mandarin Oriental Hotel here in D.C.  And a special tribute to jazz great Ramsey Lewis.    Support RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered Venmo ☛https://venmo.com/rmunfiltered Zelle ☛ [e-mail] Annual or monthly recurring #BringTheFunk Fan Club membership via paypal ☛ https://rolandsmartin.com/rmu-paypal/ Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com #RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Black Star Network is here. Oh, no punching! I'm real revolutionary right now. Black power. Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roller. Be black. I love y'all.

All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and B-scape. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? សូវបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបា� Thank you. Today is Tuesday, September 13th, 2022. Coming up on Roland Martin on a future streaming live on the Black Star Network. A massive bill in Illinois that is designed

to provide folks opportunity to get out of jail has been hit with massive information. The right is claiming that criminals are gonna be fleeing the prisons in Illinois. Well, we're gonna break this thing down with the two Illinois lawmakers who are sponsoring this to address the false allegations and give folks the actual facts regarding this new bill, also called the Illinois Purge Bill.

We'll break it all down. A California rape victim gets arrested after San Francisco police uses her DNA from her sexual assault for another case. What the hell? She's now suing the police department. Her attorney will explain this case. A South hell? She's now suing the police department. Her attorney will explain this case. A South Carolina middle school teacher defends herself,

referring to a black teacher as the monkey next door in front of her students because they're friends. A federal judge temporarily halted Arizona's law preventing the video recording of law enforcement within eight feet, saying it violates the First Amendment. Also, Stacey Abrams, she's running for governor of Georgia. I talked with her about her campaign and what she looking for, what she needs to do

to beat incumbent Brian Kemp. Also, in today's Marketplace, we'll also share with you Sheila Johnson. What does she do? She actually owns a hotel now in D.C. She owns Salamander Resorts. She announced yesterday that new hotel, Salamander Hotel, formerly the Mandarin Oriental.

Folks, a lot we're gonna talk about today. And we'll also talk with Michael Bearden about his mentor, the late jazz pianist, Ramsey Lewis, who passed away yesterday at the age of 87. You're watching Rolling Mark, and unfiltered, the Blackside Network. It's time to bring the funk. Let's go.

He's got it. Whatever the piss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. 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 gigs.

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Martel. Martel. Martel. Martel. Martel. Martel. Martel. Martel.

Martel. Martel. Martel. Martel. Martel. Martel. Martel. Martel. Martel. Folks, thousands of people across America are in local and state jails. Why? Because they cannot afford bail. There has been an effort across America to reduce this, to actually stop imprisoning

people who are sitting in jail. Remember Sandra Bland was sitting in a Texas jail when she was arrested in Prairie View, Texas. She could not make the bills, about $500, and she died in jail for $500. And so this effort to get rid of cash bail has been happening all across the country. Now, what's also been happening is the folks on the right have been claiming, oh, this is the reason why we have high crime. And so in Harris County, Texas, you had these, the police union supporting prosecutors running against judges who supported ending cash bail in Harris County. Several of those progressive judges lost in the primary.

You had the attacks on Alvin Bragg, the DA in Manhattan, the same thing happening in other places. Now the attacks are moving to Illinois where they're calling this all the purge bill. Well, it's actually that's not the case. So Illinois has passed the Safe Tea Act. Now, again, it lays out in a very strong way exactly what this means yet for two. But what's happening, though, is you've got tons of misinformation that is going on. Folks are on social media trying to debunk it, but we know what happens when the right takes that lie and begins to amplify it. It goes on and on and on.

Here is one of those efforts to try to keep the lies at bay. Listen to me. It cannot be understated how significant of a role the media plays in quashing progressive movements and keeping more black people in jail. It's frustrating because every time we say the criminal system isn't broken, it's working as intended, these are the outlets and institutions

that respond, no, no, no, we still need to have faith in the system. We need reform. We need reform. We need reform. But then every time we actually get substantive progressive reform here they go with campaigns like this filled with lies and please trust that it's not a coincidence that they're going to places like the shade room and baller alert with black audiences to peddle these lies because what they want is for black people to internalize propaganda and lies so that we don't support progressive initiatives that are designed to keep us out of jail so i'm going to dispel these myths about the purge law because there is

no purge law. All there is is a concerted effort by media right-wing Republicans and neoliberals to keep black people in jail. You've probably heard about Rikers because Rikers is infamous, but less people realize that Rikers is a pre-trial detention center, meaning the people incarcerated at Rikers have not been convicted of a crime. Last year, 16 people died in Rikers. This year, 13 people died in Rikers, and Rikers has already been declared a human rights crisis. So what if I told you that the crisis happening at Cook County Jail was worse? Cook County Jail is the pre-trial detention center in Chicago, Illinois, meaning the people incarcerated at Cook County Jail have the pre-trial detention center in Chicago, Illinois. Meaning, the people incarcerated at Cook County Jail have not been convicted of a crime.

They simply just don't have the money for bail. And that's an important point people need to understand about bail. Bail is not about public safety. Bail is about whether or not you can afford your freedom. Period. I am a public defender who represents people that are incarcerated at Rikers, where people are killed, people are beaten, people are sexually assaulted, people spend years of their life.

And I'm telling you that I was floored to find out that there are people sitting in Cook County Jail waiting on a trial for four years, eight years, even 11 years. So let me tell you about what the Chicago Public Safety Act would do. The first lie being circulated is that this bail reform will prevent police from being able to make arrests. False.

Not only can police arrest whoever they want, like they've always been able to, all the bail reform law does is encourage them not to make low-level, completely low-level arrests that they could write tickets for. And you wanna, you wanna know what else? You want to know what else? A law enforcement agency proposed that language. The Public Safety Act would do, would take low level crimes, low level misdemeanors, nonviolent crimes. And instead of those being bail eligible, where you sit in jail, you sit in jail because you don't have the money. You fight your case from the outside because now

judges cannot set bail and keep you incarcerated for something they probably otherwise would not have been able to what this Public Safety Act would do is it would get rid of the cash bail system it doesn't mean that nobody goes to jail pretrial it means that instead of whether or not you're you're free or you're in jail being determined based on how much money you have instead prosecutors would have three different options that they could keep you detained should they so choose. Prosecutors will have an option to present evidence to the judge showing that you are a threat to public safety or that you have engaged in some kind of woeful flight from prosecution, or if you're

simply charged with most felonies and they can have you detained pretrial. The reality is that the majority, the vast majority of people in our criminal system are living well beneath the poverty line. They're represented by public defenders because they cannot afford representation, which is a fact. The court, the same court that will then place high bail on them knows they know they can't afford it. So it's a tactic by which we put poor people in jail for things we probably couldn't prove at a trial. They'll probably never have a trial. It's a way to coerce them into plea deals. But it is not about public safety

because at the end of the day, if you have the money, you can buy your freedom. So what this act does is it gets rid of that component and it actually makes it about dangerousness. It makes it about whether or not the prosecutor has some evidence that he can present to justify detaining you pretrial rather than just using and exercising your own wealth

or lack thereof against you. Listen to me, do not fall for the propaganda. They're calling it the purge law because they want you to believe that a law designed at affording you more rights, at preventing you from being railroaded, at preventing more deaths from mounting inside a Cook County jail

is not there to help you. It's a lie. This has nothing to do with public safety. Listen, we allegedly live in a civil society with a presumption of innocence where people should not die awaiting their trial for crimes they have not been convicted of. That shouldn't be what's happening, but that is what's happening each and every day inside this country. Pre-trial detention centers all around this country. But Cook County Jail and the pretrial detention centers in Chicago and in Illinois are some of the worst. This law is meant to help us. Do not mind the propaganda. Sister there, Oluyemi, she's actually a public defender in the state of New York. Joining us right now, folks, are two Illinois lawmakers who are very much involved with this particular bill. Joining us right now on Roland Martin

Unfiltered, Illinois State Senator LG Sims and Illinois State Representative Cam Buckner. Glad to have both of you here. Cam is also running for Chicago mayor. So Senator Sims, again, folks have been labeling this. Y'all is going to be just releasing criminals left and right. They're going to be fleeing Illinois state prisons. This was a well thought out, well crafted bill that the right now is trying to demonize in order to brand Democrats as soft on crime? Absolutely, Roland. And they try to act as if they didn't have a seat at the table, as if they weren't participating in these discussions.

We had over nine public hearings, 30 hours of public testimony about the issues included in the Safety Act. And Safety Act, which stands for, coincidentally, safety for our communities, accountability for law enforcement, and fairness and equity in the criminal justice system today. But that's what the lies that are being told is that somehow the doors to the courthouse are going to be open. That's just not the case. Clearly, and what we have heard from prosecutors and from Republican operatives around the state is they've taken one part of a sentence, not even reading the entire sentence, but one part of a sentence and said, well, this shows that they're going to let people out of jail. The entirety of the law says that if you are a threat

to public safety or you're a flight risk, you are going to be held. Sister Aluren did an amazing job of outlining the issues that are included in this bill and why these are not just misdirections or misinformation. They're downright patently false lies. These individuals are trying to play politics and it's the worst form of dog whistle politics in its worst. And they're trying to fearmonger individuals and scare them into believing something that's just not true. Republicans have shown themselves that they don't have ideas. They can only play on fear. They can't debate on policy. They can't engage on policy. They can only engage in fear tactics and misdirections and misinformation. And that's exactly what this

is all about. Representative Buckner, there have been stories coming out of New York City. They're saying, oh, these people being let out of prison, they get out, they commit more crimes, they're blaming the judges, they're blaming the DA. As I said in my open, this happened in Harris County, where you had the police union actually financing prosecutors who ran against judges who were in support of getting rid of cash bail. And so this is a consistent attack that we're seeing where police unions are aligning with hardline right-wing prosecutors to get rid of these type of bills

and these type of laws? That's right, Roland. This is a consistent, as you said, and concerted effort. The folks here in Illinois who are peddling this nonsense, who are peddling these lies, are folks who have very clearly been aligned line with the Tea Party Patriot Act and had some say-so in the planning of the insurrection on January 6th in Washington, D.C. We know where these people stand on the spectrum. But the truth of the matter, as Senator Hsu said, is that we've got to be able to beat back these false narratives because we are aggressively attacking a system

that didn't work for the people who we represent. And we know that when you aggressively attack systemic racism, it will always try to fight you back. That's where we are right now. But it's important for us to get the word out, to let people know that this does not make us less safe. This makes the people in Illinois safer. And we have really attacked a system that treats you better if you're guilty and you're wealthy than it does

if you're innocent and you're insolvent. So how many people are we talking about who are going to be impacted by this, Senator Sims? Every new charge would have someone have to go through the determination of whether or not their crime fits within these categories. As you've alluded to on a couple of different occasions, the Texas effort. The Texas effort showed that there was no increase in crime. Representative Buckner just mentioned, the reason we started this effort was we are seeing, and as, again, Sister Allura mentioned in her comments, the recommendation to do what we have done came from a task force which I sat on that was spearheaded by the Illinois

Judiciary that talks about and it found that after three days incarcerated and when you are detained on a pretrial basis, after three days, your life starts to unravel. You've lost your home. You've lost your job. There's an impact and sometimes irreparably on your family. So the efforts that we're taking are to make sure that we keep low-level offenders out of the criminal justice system. But then there is a determination made about someone's threat to public safety, and if there was not their willful flight risk. That one of the memes that's going around suggests that second-degree murderers or kidnappers won't be held in custody. Again, that is a scurrilous lie that plays on the worst fears that individuals have.

But what we're trying to do is make communities more safe by engaging in stripping systemic racism from the criminal justice system. We don't really have a criminal justice system. We have a criminal legal system. And right now, that criminal legal system is not acting on behalf of all of its participants. So that's why we have to have a system. That's why we focus on equity, fairness and equity in this criminal justice system, so we can have true justice, not just a criminal legal system. Representative Buckner, isn't it also a fact, the bottom line is,

you're spending a ton of money having people in jails, and so if the low-level offenders don't have to be sitting in a jail, isn't that saving taxpayers money? It is, Roland. We spend more money on car-spreading people in this country, in this state, than we do on educating them or feeding them or housing them or clothing them. We're talking about a purely economic argument here. This is good for municipalities. We are making sure that we don't pack just people who don't need to be here. You talked at the open about Sandra Bland, who died in your home state of Texas,

who was an Illinois native. We can talk about Cleve Browder. We can talk about a number of folks around this country who have found themselves with petty crimes, incarcerated, and then they don't make it out. This is not okay. This is not in line with the humanity we should have as we move forward. And once again, this law will do the right thing to make us all safe

and to make our criminal legal system push further towards justice. All right. I want to thank both of you for joining us. Representative LG Sims, excuse me, Senator LG Sims, Representative Cam Buckner. We certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you, Roland. I bring in my pound, Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali, a former senior advisor for environmental justice at the EPA. Breonna Cartwright, political strategist. Demario Solomon-Simmons, civil rights attorney and founder of Justice for Greenwood. Demario, I'll start with you. I mean, the thing that we're dealing with here is

you're dealing with individuals who are on the right, who absolutely believe in throw them in jail, throw the key away, we don't care, give them years and years and years, when in fact it's also red states that realized they were going broke by doing this. Kansas was one of the first states that realized we can't keep imprisoning people. You've had other states, red states, that people like, you just can't keep this. And then the problem is you've got people like Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, and I'm looking for the tweets where he literally said the problem is not over-incarceration.

This fool actually said we're not putting enough people in prison. That's how sick and demented these so-called Jesus-loving white conservative Christians are. Well, you shouldn't be surprised because it was the first slave ship that brought enslaved Africans over to America was named Jesus. So this has been a long tradition of white supremacists utilizing their religion to oppress and subjugate black people. You also have to remember, Roland, and I know you know this, the 13th Amendment, as we all

know, outlawed enslavement in America in the first part of it. But the second part says unless you are convicted of a felony, and they have utilized that since the ending of slavery in 1865, 1866, to continue to have chain gangs, put us in jail and do convict leasing. And now they have private prisons. And this is why it's so dangerous. When we see, when they talk about these prisons, school-to-prison pipeline, and the kind of re-upping of the crime bill of 1994, kind of 2.0, with the president talking about more police officers and more law enforcement. What that means for us as Black people is more imprisonment.

And with these private prisons, people are making millions and billions of dollars off us being actually in prison. So, yes, the states may be going broke by imprisoning folks, but there are private, wealthy corporations and individuals that are making millions of dollars. This is dangerous. We must continue to fight against it. I applaud the two brothers that you had on that's pushing this particular bill. This needs to happen all over the place.

And one last thing I would say, pre-child detention, here in Oklahoma City, we had 13 inmates die in Oklahoma County Jail. I've sued the Oklahoma County Jail for inmates dying there. This is an epidemic that happens all across this country. And people are in jail without actually being convicted of a crime. They're usually there because they cannot afford the bail. That's why bail reform is important. That's why we need to have criminal justice reform.

And we do not need more officers or more prisons. Brianna, this is the tweet from Senator Thomas Cotton of Arkansas. We don't have an over-incarceration problem. We have an under-incarceration problem. That shows you just how stupid and sick this man is. In fact, he then went on to say this is, again, and again, this is going to this whole issue. Democrats cause this crime way by eliminating cash bail, electing Soros prosecutors, and giving early release to violent criminals.

And what's their solution? To take away your right to own a gun to protect yourself this is the same guy who opposed the first step act because he didn't want people getting out of prison he believes that if you get sentenced to 20 years you should serve all 20 years these folks but they call themselves fiscal conservatives but they love to spend money on cops and love to spend money on prisons as opposed to reform. Yes. Unfortunately they forgot how we call it a rehabilitation system.

And so we should be focusing on wanting people to be productive members of society, being able to have jobs, give back, pay taxes. And so having them to say we have an under-incarcerated problem is just baloney, to keep it simple, because we want more people outside than inside. So I don't understand the fact that we would go to seek random people or keep people in longer. And that's the reason why we have issues with our social, our public trust with prisons. It is just mind-boggling to listen to these people, Mustafa, as if they have any credibility on this when states like Arkansas, these people are going broke. They're going broke when it comes to throwing people in prison. And it's a bunch of folks that got no business being in no damn jail. They know it. We know it. Yeah. I mean, Senator Cotton, he has access to all kinds of information. So just in

case he don't know the facts, let me break them down for him. We've got about two million folks every night in our country who are incarcerated in jails and prisons and other ways that they've captured folks, especially folks dealing with border issues. We've got 400,000 people who are in pretrial detention. So all he has to do is go over to prisonpolicy.org, and he can see the facts that are there, and it's broken down about how all these types of individuals are dealing with these situations where, you know, they haven't been convicted of a crime, but yet they are dealing with this pretrial detention situations that are currently going on.

We know that in our country you get as much justice as you can afford. So if we want to actually begin to balance out this legal system, address some of the things that Mario has been talking about, then that means that we've got to get rid of the cash bail, because we understand the wealth gap that exists inside of our country. We understand the hard decisions that families are having to make about keeping the lights on, putting food on the table, or helping somebody to actually be able to not be incarcerated until they have a trial. So maybe Senator Cotton actually needs to go spend some time with some real people and stop dealing with this from a political lens and deal with it from a humanity lens. But that is not what they are going to do. Folks, hold tight one second.

We've got to go to a break. We come back. We'll talk a number of stories. We lost jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis yesterday at the age of 87. We'll talk to musical director Michael Bearden about his mentor and what he meant to him. Also on today's show, Sheila Johnson adds to her growing luxury real estate empire by buying the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, D.C. and renamed it Salamander after her resort in Middleburg, Virginia. We'll show you

what took place yesterday. I was there for that grand opening in our Marketplace segment. That and lots more to cover right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Download the app, folks, on all platforms, Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. And, of course, you can also join our Bring the Funk fan club. Your dollars make it possible for us to do what we do here on the show. And you can join, of course, by sending your check-in money orders to PO Box 57196,

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Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. You will not be black. White people are losing their damn lives. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country

who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash.

This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. There's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. Hey, everybody, it's your girl, Luenell.

So what's up? This is your boy, Earthquake. Hi, I'm Chaley Rose, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks, according to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network, only 310 out of every 1,000 sexual assaults are reported to police. Many do not come forward for fear of some kind of retaliation or criminal prosecution. Check out what happened in San Francisco where the police used a rape victim's DNA. A rape victim's DNA to arrest her for an unrelated property crime. Now she is filing a lawsuit against them.

Joining us now from Oakland is her attorney, Adante Pointer, who says the San Francisco Police Department has a practice of placing crime victim's DNA into a permanent database without the victim's knowledge or consent. I'm on a group chat with some other journalists, Adante, and when I posted this story in that group chat, folks were shocked. They were stunned. Folks said, Christ, that's awful. Unreal. That is just, it's awful. Unreal. That is

just... It's like, are you serious? Unfortunately, we are serious. It's not unreal. It sounds like it's something that comes from a movie, a sci-fi movie about a dystopian future

when in reality, it is our reality. It's not just something that's confined to what's happening in San Francisco. This is probably happening in other jurisdictions, other police departments, other cities, other states within this country, in that the government obtains crime victims' DNA or biological information, store it in a database, and then use it as they see fit and do unconstitutional searches in a way to where they're either trying to match people to crimes or any other government interests that they're pursuing. And so this is something that cannot go on. And, you know, we filed this lawsuit because this courageous lady was willing to come forward and not only bring this to light, but also stand up for the rest of crime victims everywhere else.

So they actually think this is justified? They certainly did. And in fact, the crime lab director said that this was their routine or daily practice, which essentially asked someone, and the only way you could get into this system, you know, or I should say the way she got into this system was as a sexual assault survivor. So she was someone who was looking for police protection and instead was violated again and re-victimized by the police and their practices.

So, you know, this is standard procedure, and this is what and how they were treating crime victims in San Francisco. And frankly, as I mentioned, there's probably, there's thousands of other people who have their rights violated who are also in that crime victim database. And I also understand there was a similar lawsuit that was filed in the state of New York. This reminds me of, you know, we've had these stories where people who have done these ancestry DNAs and some of these companies have actually shared data with the FBI or other law enforcement agencies. Yeah, this is a practice that is not just limited to the government, and that just shows

the dangers of what they're engaged in. This is a very slippery slope in that once a person or once a government entity or any entity has your DNA evidence, we are still unlocking the mysteries of DNA. But one thing that we do know is it's one of the most unique identifiers.

It's one of the most personal things that you have just by your very existence as a person and as a human. And so as, you know, DNA science is becoming more expansive, as corporations find out how they might be able to use it and exploit it or monetize that, as the government finds ways to how to track and monitor and project people's health outcomes in

the future or what they think is your characteristics and the way in which you might behave, there's any number of ways this DNA can be used to impact not only individual people, but also groups of people or target people within society. So we have to be very vigilant and understand that this is something that just we cannot as a supposed civilized society stand for. It makes total sense. And we're talking about a property crime? What was it?

Yeah. I mean, this was a retail theft. So, you know, we're talking about something that she came to police looking for help in what was, you know, obviously a very low point, a very tough, difficult point in her life, having to be a survivor, to only then be victimized by the police years later.

No one ever came to her and told her that they were still holding onto this DNA evidence six years later. No one ever told her that she could be subject to taking the information that she trusted them with and that they betrayed that trust and it would be weaponized against her. This is something she only found out about when she was at another difficult point in her life, going through a domestic violence or a domestic disturbance situation. And the police show up to her door. She needs the help. Neighbors called for help. And as opposed to, you know, ameliorating the situation, the police say, hey, you know what?

You have an arrest warrant. And it wasn't until she was sitting in jail, unable to make bail, did she find out what this arrest warrant was based upon. And that was DNA evidence that she had given to the police six years prior. And so, you know, this has stirred up a whole list of emotions for her because it's forcing her to relive the underlying trauma. And, you know, they've re-victimized her again. And we all know that we as an African-American community have a very, very, very horrible, or some might say negative, or just the reality of it is we've been targeted by the criminal injustice system for far too long. And so this is just another slight,

another slap in the face, another reason why our community has healthy distrust for police and the criminal justice system. Just, again, unbelievable story. That makes no sense. And you're right. I can only imagine how this woman is feeling. Dante Pointer, I certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

Thank you. Brianna, I'll start with you. Look, you talk about a slippery slope because I mentioned ancestry. I mentioned, again, when you start giving over, we used to be fingerprints. Now you start giving over your DNA, and then you don't know who these companies are selling your information to and whose hands it is going in.

Right. I've heard it passed before with ancestry, and a lot of people are saying, okay, I don't want to know my ancestry. It's not worth it in order for my DNA to be taken. And what they can do with the DNA, right? What the government might, you know, they found the crime, but they might do something that's even more of a slippery slope that's against your rights. And it's just the most overreach of the government in the highest order.

And I'm glad that California has created a law to prevent this from happening again. But we definitely need more, I think, federal protections over it, not just state by state, because the government shouldn't be able to take our most precious genetic code, right? We've had people exonerated from realizing that it was the wrong DNA. And so that shouldn't just be freely taken and used against people's wills. Indeed. And you just sit there, and, Demario, I mean, again, a woman gets raped, and they're using that DNA to arrest her for a property crime. Wow.

Well, you know, we just dealt with this here at the Justice for Greenwood Foundation, dealing with the Tulsa race massacre. But a city of Tulsa set up a program that's just a PR pitch, really, and said they found these mass graves that we've been pushing for for many years. And they said, oh, we need to get DNA from black Tulsans and former black Tulsans so we can try to match who these individuals that we put into the ground in a mass grave. We rang the alarm. Really want to give a shout out to my good friend, Professor Eric Miller at Loyola Marymount University Law School. We actually looked at this, and this is very dangerous

for black people to give their DNA, even involuntarily or in this case, voluntarily, in the case of our situation. Because it does not only impact you as an individual, it impacts your entire family tree, going up the tree and going down the tree. And this DNA databases, they can be hacked. These DNA companies can sell your data, the third parties, and the police, as in this situation, can always have access to the DNA evidence through a warrant.

So this is very, very troublesome. I really hate that this happened to this young lady to be re-traumatized. But I would say for anyone that's putting your DNA into these commercial third-party vendors, be very, very careful because you're exposing not only yourself, but your entire family unknowingly. Mustafa. This is just another example of how trust continues to be broken with law enforcement. There is no reason for us to believe that they have our best interest at heart.

The other part of it, as my sister just shared, is that we now need to see something from the Biden administration. Well, whether it is more than likely nothing's going to happen in the fall, but after the election and as we move into 2023, you know, let's make sure that we actually have a federal law that's in place to address what's happening in this space. And then let's also make sure that the Department of Justice is making sure that police departments across the nation understand, you know, what their responsibilities are. So I'm one who believes you've got to have some strong language in place. And then there's got to be real accountability to make sure that it is playing out across the country.

Indeed, indeed. All right, folks, going to break. We come back. We'll talk about the story of a white South Carolina teacher in trouble for calling a black colleague a monkey. Mm, okay. Also, why was Aretha Franklin being followed by the FBI? And Brett Favre, rich white quarterback, taking money for the poor. And he said, is the media gonna find out? Now we have.

We'll show you the text messages next on Roller Martin Unfiltered on the Black Stud Network. And he said, is the media going to find out? Now we have. We'll show you the text messages next on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Stud Network. Hey, folks, don't forget today my book, White Fear, dropped all across the country. It is White Fear, How the Brown of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds. You can get it everywhere. Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Ben Bella Books, the publisher, IndieBound, Bookshop, Chapters, Books A Million, Target. Also, go to your favorite black bookstore. You can actually have them, get it from there as well.

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Anyone with information about Sozo Marshall should call the Duval County Sheriff's Office at 904-630-0500, 904-630-0500. Folks, a white South Carolina teacher, middle school teacher, is under investigation after admitting to using a racial slur and calling a fellow teacher a monkey. A black eighth grader at Oakbrook Middle School told his mother his teacher referred to a black professor as the monkey next door. This happens to be the same teacher who asked her class to participate in a cotton-picking activity where she brought in raw cotton for the class. The child's parents alerted the Dorchester District School Administration to address the situation, but it's unclear if they got back to her. Now, according to the local affiliate WCIV-TV, there's a recording where the teacher is her admitting she made the monkey statement but says she didn't mean it that way.

She defended her statement by saying the teacher she was referring to is her friend, who she calls that. The Dorchester School District has issued the following statement. Dorchester School District 2 takes every allegation seriously. We are currently investigating an alleged incident at Oak Brook Middle School. We do not comment on personnel matters. All staff should recognize that they are being continuously observed by students and that their actions and demeanor will be reflected in the conduct of the students. Brianna, I don't know that many black folk who willingly let somebody

wipe, call them a monkey I don't believe it, yeah I know that she's a liar, and in South Carolina a white woman knows better there's no excuse and it's unfortunate that the middle school is on the

response, honestly we've seen it over and over again, and especially bringing in Cotton. I mean, how much more clear than that? A liar. Yeah, that's kind of crazy. I'm not going to buy that, Mustafa. No, neither am I. The positioning of the school district, they said it's an alleged incident. How is it an alleged incident if you have the person who did it saying they did it? So I'm not sure who they have representing them, but they really need to get their act together. The other part of it is supposedly from all the things that I read, this is not the

first or the second time that this individual has went down this road. So you got to make sure, if you are a school district, if you are a principal, that you are addressing this with real intentionality so that it does not spread. And others think, well, if I say somebody's my friend, I can say whatever I want about them. That's not what you're supposed to be doing in this situation. And you, at a minimum, should have already been relieved of your duty until the investigation is over. I'm just trying to figure out how that one's going to work out, DeMario.

First of all, I ain't letting nobody black call me no monkey. No, we friends. That's cute. No, I like, I've never met Breonna before, but I like she just directs it. She's a liar, and I agree. Breonna, she's a liar. No black

person. I mean, Tim Scott is from South Carolina, so he may allow them to make statements like that to him. We got to keep that in mind, right? We got to keep that in mind. But most Black people, normal Black people, will not allow that. But for our audience, if this happens to you, if you are called a racial slur, and particularly in the educational setting, this is what you need to do. First of all, you need to make a complaint with the Department of Education, a Title VI complaint. Second of all, you need to make a police report because this is,

this is, to me, when a black, white person uses a racial slur towards a black person, that is violence. It's not just words. And then third of all, you should consult with an attorney in your location. At least it's an intentional affliction of emotional distress. It's probably a civil rights violation. So in addition to whatever the school is going to do as far as disciplining this individual, which sounds like it has a history of racist, discriminatory conduct, as individual black people, we should take matters into our own hands, follow the proper steps, and do what you can to hold this

individual accountable. Yeah, I think so. Alright, folks, let's talk about this next story. So, Brett Favre, NFL quarterback, retired, rich dude from Mississippi. You know, he used, they gave him money

supposed to go to welfare to build a volleyball project. Well, the folks in Mississippi today have been involved in a lawsuit, and they actually have the text messages. And, like, literally, this is the headline right here. The former governor, Phil Bryant, helped Brett Favre secure welfare funding for USM Volleyball Stadium text reveals. Now, here's what's so funny.

Now, again, y'all, the money. Now, remember, Brett Favre also was given welfare money for speeches that he never gave, and he's been slow to pay the money back. So in the lawsuit, guess what they ended up. See, that's why I'm letting y'all know. Y'all send text messages. It'll come back to bite you in your ass. Here they were.

Here they are. If you were to pay me, is there any way the media can find out where it came from and how much? The response from Nancy knew, no, we never have had that information publicized. I understand you being uneasy about that, though. Let's see what happens on Monday with a conversation with some of the folks at Southern. Maybe it will click with them, hopefully. Okay, thanks. And then, wow, just got off the phone with Phil

Bryan. He is on board with us. We will get this done. Awesome. I needed to hear that for sure. Hmm. Hmm. We're talking about DeMario, a state with the highest child poverty rate in the country, and you have folks in Mississippi using money for welfare folks, folks who need that money,

going to a rich, retired NFL player. You know, that's the American way, to give, to make white men who are rich, to make them richer, to pay them for not doing anything. That's how America was built, built upon our labor, built upon our sweat, built upon our brawn and our brains. And this is just a continuation of this. The fact that Brent Farr was not already arrested when it came out more than a year ago

that he took money and did not federal funds. Hundreds of thousands of dollars. And did not perform these speeches. That is fraud. That is fraud. And they want to talk about black people and welfare queens. This is the biggest welfare king

that you can possibly imagine in Mississippi, a Hall of Fame quarterback. This guy should be prosecuted. Everyone that participated on those text messages from the governor on down should be prosecuted. They should be... What is the DA over in Georgia utilizing?

The RICO statutes? When you are having a criminal conspiracy working together to defraud or create crimes, that is... that's what we have here in these text messages. They should be prosecuted, they should be ashamed of themselves, but they're not. But I hope that the federal government... I hope that the federal government will come in and prosecute Brent Farr and the entire everyone

that stole that money. Mustafa, what's shameful is that the welfare acceptance rate in Mississippi is less than 2%. This is a state with a bunch of broke people, and they hate giving them any federal welfare money. They do. You know, I've tracked some of this before. They will let you suffer and suffer and suffer

and maybe even die before they will actually give you those benefits. But DeMario was on to something. So wherever those federal funds came from, and there are a couple of different agencies and departments that they can come from, they actually should be doing a forensic audit of what's going on in Mississippi because if they don't, then they have some responsibility also for allowing these types of things to go on. And then the question becomes, you know, are you actually going to step in, since we know that Mississippi has not been living up to what the responsibilities are that are tied

to these dollars? So it'll be interesting to see how this all plays out and if the Department of Justice actually gets engaged as well. I'm just saying, Breonna, it's taxpayer money. What's up? It's taxpayer money. What's up? It's taxpayer money. Yeah, I think that Brett should go to jail. As we've seen constantly this year, the issue with PPP loans and the government is very confident in locking our community up for fraud of that, even if paying it back. And so this is even worse,

right? We're building big businesses off of the back of the poor. We see it time and time again with increasing fines because parking and so forth, it costs more to be poor. And so the fact that he took this money that should be going to the poor. And the funny part is he knew it was wrong because the text message is, well, anybody going to find this out? And then they leaked it themselves. And so something needs to be done. This definitely needs to be repaid back with interest ASAP. Yeah, I think so. All right, y'all. In Arizona, a judge has temporarily blocked that law that prevents people from actually videotaping law enforcement within eight feet.

The judge said, wait a minute, this could violate the First Amendment that ACLU sued. This is something that right here, we've seen so many of these cases, DeMario, where we now know what happened because citizens were recording. And so these folks in Arizona, they don't want

cops being recorded. They don't want these videos to go public because it holds police accountable. Well, you know, the cops always tell us, if you're not doing anything wrong, what's the problem? So if they're not doing anything wrong, what's the problem with them being recorded?

The fact of the matter is, it is a violation of the First Amendment to stop people from recording law enforcement officers who are public employees doing work in a public location. And I would say to our audience, if you find yourself that you see something that's happening, some illegality, or you just feel suspicious about a law enforcement or police officer's activities and you want to record, I encourage you to do it. But I do encourage you to be safe and smart. I do believe being even 10 feet back makes sense. You know, these cameras nowadays, our iPhones can zoom in. You don't have to be right up on the cop

because you don't want to have an opportunity for the officer to say you are obstructing his or her ability to carry out their duties. That could cause you to be arrested yourself. It could cause you to be injured. We want you to get the information. And lastly, this is very important. When you are recording a video, don't narrate through it. As a lawyer, it is so frustrating to get a good video showing officers misconduct, and yet the person that's doing the video is cussing through the video, screaming through the video, saying, you can't do that. Get off of them. Why are you doing that?

That does not help us get this officer held accountable. That does not help us in the courtroom. That may help you get Instagram or a Facebook like, go viral. Well, hold on. I gotta stop you right there, Demario. No, no, no, no. Nope. I gotta stop you there.

First of all, when we look at a lot of these videos, they typically are shot by somebody who is the spouse or the girlfriend of the person. That's an emotional response. That's something that's happening. I mean, you're not going to have somebody. No, no, no. No, no, no.

I'm not done. I'm not done. I'm not done. DeMario, it is natural if all of a sudden the brother in Texas who was in his driveway and then the cops just roll up, say, oh, yeah, there's a warrant out for you in Louisiana. His wife comes out and she's like, stop, what are you doing? That's a natural deal. So, I mean, I get your point, but we're also dealing with human beings who are watching things happen in real time.

They're going to react naturally. That's fine, Roland, but number one, I see these videos all day, every day. And just because the big videos go to national, I'm looking at videos that happen all the time with people all the time. That's number one. And just because the big videos go to national, I'm looking at videos that happen all the time with people all the time. That's number one. And number two, my goal is to help

our people achieve justice. And yes, it is an emotional response. Yes, it is natural. But what I'm telling you that it is better to hold someone accountable because when you go in front of a jury, particularly in places like where I live and in where you're going to... Even in black places, federal courts are usually going to have mostly all-white jurors. They will be so focused sometime on the language

of what's happening that they won't focus. So we as a people have to understand that. We're at war. We have to do what we can. I get it. I just... Breanna, I just don't think you're gonna have people go, oh, let me

not cuss on this video. Let me just say, everybody is not dealing with their spouse. I see videos all the time where the people are recording this and they don't know. Right, and what I'm saying is, those are also just regular, ordinary people. People go, the natural reaction is like, yo, man, what y'all doing?

Get off that man's neck. That doesn't help anything. But Demario, here's the deal. It's some things that are just natural that are going to happen. There's a lot of things natural that we tell people not to do. There's a lot of things natural. I just don't think that in the heat of that moment spots going to be going. Oh shh, everybody be quiet. Hold on hold on hold on

Brianna when I think that you both have great points. I think that I'm trying to be Switzerland and be real stop trying to be Switzerland. Just she talking. No, you might be emotional. Like DeMario is right now. Go ahead. We've seen on this show times where a mother had to see his son,

see their son get dragged. And so stuff like that or, like, you know, comply or whatnot might be overpowering. And so we can that or, like, you know, comply or whatnot might be overpowering. And so we can see those indices. But I also understand what he's saying as well in the sense of if you can, try to be quiet so that this can be utilized for evidence so we can hear what's going on from the police so it could be a better shot. And as Uncle Rose says, keep it horizontal so we can look good for us to put back on the TV. So I think that there's sometimes it's going to be too hard to be quiet, right? You're actually involved. You're trying to help the person, and it's very emotional.

But the times where you are less attached to it, stand back and be quiet. Mustafa? You know, if police officers aren't doing anything wrong, then they shouldn't have anything to fear. They should make sure that, you know, they're following the police procedures that they have in place and the training that everybody keeps talking about. When something bad happens, we always say, well, we need more training. So let's actually see that playing out. And I think they shouldn't have a problem with folks recording because it's the only way we can make sure that the fullness of the story, the fullness of what has happened actually gets out there for folks to be able to then judge for themselves if someone has been,

you know, doing police brutality or who have went above and outside of the law. All right, folks, hold tight one second. We come back. Stacey Abrams, I talked with her about her run for governor of Georgia. Sheila Johnson opens a new Black-On Hotel in the nation's capital. We'll show you that as well. Plus, Cheryl Lee Ralph, an amazing emotional response to winning her first ever Emmy last night. Also, a lot of people are talking about Jimmy Fallon sleeping, laying on the stage while the sister was trying to give her Emmy speech. Black Twitter has been lighting his ass up all day long.

We'll talk about both of those things. Plus, we'll remember the great Ramsey Lewis, the jazz pianist who died yesterday at the age of 87. Folks, you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Don't forget, download our app. Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV.

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Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. I remember being with The View when they said, we want to extend your contract. And I knew God said, it's time to move. It's time to go. And everybody was saying, Sherri, you got a great job. You're making all of this money. And I said, no, it's time.

And they said, you ain't gonna be able to, you've been away from Hollywood. And I said, it's time to go. And when I didn't, that's when I realized I was about to go through this divorce and it was gonna be expensive, it was gonna be a lot. And I said, I'm gonna stay. I said, I'm gonna stay for a couple of years. So you make this money.

See, go ahead. I'm gonna make this money and then I'll get out lower. So it'll do a compromise. I'm gonna do what you say, but I'm gonna do it on my thing. And he went, really? He went really. And you know when he went really? They said that we were heavy in contract negotiations.

And they came, my manager called. She said, they're not gonna renew your contract. And I went, hey, wait, what? Just yesterday, they was offering me more money. She said, they just decided not to renew your contract. And I remember sitting in front of the mirror at the view and I went, what happened? And it was very clear.

God said, I told you it was time to go. When we invest in ourselves, we're investing in what's next for all of us. Growing. Creating. Making moves that of us. Growing. Creating. Making moves. That move us all forward. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure.

Hi, I'm Vivian Green. Hi, this is Essence Atkins. Hey, everybody, this is your man Fred Hammond, and you're watching Roland Martin, my man, Unfiltered. All right, folks. Stacey Abrams is in a tight race against Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to be the next governor of the state. She lost four years ago by 30,000 votes to Brian Kemp. She and I talked earlier about what is going to be needed for her to become victorious in November. Here's our conversation.

All right, Stacey Abrams, glad to have you on the show. It's been a while. You've been out and about on the campaign trail. Let's get right into it. You look at the polling data. I've seen various polls showing you around 85% African-Americans. What is it going to take to get that number? You need that number to be at 90, 92, 94% supporting you to beat Brian Kemp? Well, we believe that the issue is not me or Kemp. It is whether people are going to vote or not vote. And as you know, people are feeling exhausted. They're feeling anxious. And midterms just don't tend to generate the same level of engagement.

But we've got to change that. You have on a shirt that says, vote as though your life depends on it, but we know in Georgia, it's actually true. We're about to lose another hospital, the sixth one to shut down in Georgia, yet another one shutting down in a Black community. We have a governor who has expanded access to guns and made our laws weaker, and we know that that is turning into more gun violence that is disproportionately affecting black people in the state of Georgia. Guns are the number one killer of our kids right now. We know that this is a governor who does not believe in advancing and investing in our communities.

We have a black-to-white gap of, although we're 33 percent of the population, we're only 2.2 percent of the business revenue revenue. It's going to take 100 years to close that gap. Ryan Kemp said he needs to study the issue. I already understand the solution. We need to expand access to contracts, and that's something a governor can do without legislation. These are all issues that are affecting the Black community right now. Governor Kemp does not have our best interest at heart, but we need people to believe that not only do we deserve more, we can have more. And when that is the case, when people believe that, we'll see those numbers go up because it's not about whether it's me or Kemp. It's about understanding that Kemp is dangerous for the Black community and that I am the solution to so many of the challenges we've been seeing for the last 20 years. When we talk about one of the things that I look at polling data also when it comes to Black men, I've been signing this alarm for 10 years.

There's a nine-point gap between Black men and Black women with Obama and Romney in 2012. It's up 13 points, Trump and Hillary Clinton. When you look at the centennial race in North Carolina between Cunningham and Tillis. The numbers are 18 percent. What is your message to black men? What are you hearing out there? Because there's a lot of dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden, a lot of dissatisfaction with Democrats, where a group of black men saying, hey, if you're not appealing to me economically, I'm not going to support you. What are you saying to them?

Well, I begin by saying that we have seen what Brian Kemp is not willing to do. He got PPP for his business, but most black businesses in Georgia didn't get a dime, and he did nothing to help prop up or invest in black businesses. I did. Through my private company, we helped move money into a number of small businesses, and I've done everything I can to help them. We know that he has done nothing to help returning citizens get access to jobs and opportunity. I want to make certain we create an entrepreneur's learner's permit so that those who finish and have served their time can get access to economic opportunity. We know that too many of our young Black men are not finishing high school, and they drop out and basically drop out of society. I want to create apprenticeships so they can learn while they earn. I want to make certain that we are not over-criminalizing them as they're young Black boys, but that we're also creating a

pathway to higher education where technical college is once again free in Georgia. Republicans, stop that. Democrats created free technical college. Republicans eliminated it in 2011. I want to restore it. I want to make certain that we create need-based aid in Georgia. We're one of only two states that does not do so. And that disproportionately harms not only Black students, but Black men. Because in Georgia, you have to rely on the Merit-Based Hope Scholarship. And Black kids are the least likely to get it and the most likely to lose it.

If we create need-based aid, more of our Black kids can not only go to college, they can finish college. And I want to create a solution to the fact that we are disproportionately not receiving state contracts. Right now, the governor has the authority to say to every single agency, you have to hit certain targets of purchasing from minority-owned businesses, especially Black-owned businesses. Brian Kemp won't do it. I will. But we can also create cluster contracts. And a lot of our Black business owners understand this. You hear about all those billions of dollars coming into the state from infrastructure and the Inflation Reduction Act, but you can't bid on those contracts because you aren't big enough yet. Well, I want to break those

into smaller contracts that I call cluster contracts so that smaller companies can bid on them and win because the prime subcontracting program does not work. You basically become the sub of a sub of a sub 10%. I want to make sure you get a piece of the pie, not the crumbs. And the governor can do that. The way I frame it, I want to be the Maynard Jackson of Georgia. What Maynard Jackson did for Black economic success in the 1970s as mayor, the governor can do for the entire state. And it doesn't require legislation. It requires leadership. Brian Kemp has not done it, will not do it. I can and I will. Well, that's a great point. And I was about to make that because when Mayor Jackson came in, blacks were getting 0.0012% of all contracts. And that was why Atlanta is considered the black Mecca today. When you last ran, you hit counties, you hit every county in the state.

You were talking to white voters in rural Georgia. One of the issues we look at with Black farmers, but also agriculture, that's a huge issue in Georgia as well. And so what is your message to those rural, white, agriculture-based folks in Georgia that Stacey Abrams would be better for them than Brian Kemp has been? Well, I think it's two messages. It's to all rural Georgians, because in Georgia, one third of our population is African-American. People often mistake rural to mean white in Georgia, and actually it's much more diverse than people realize. And one of the challenges is that billions of dollars were allocated across the country through the efforts of Raphael Warnock, Cory Booker, David Scott, to get money to Black farmers through the COVID relief dollars. That

money is being held up in litigation, and our governor and our attorney general have done nothing to defend Black farmers in Georgia. And it benefits every farmer in Georgia. If more money pours in and helps us expand our base, agriculture continues to be our dominant industry, and it is a benefit to everyone for Black farmers to finally get what they are owed. But the current governor has not done a thing to help bring those dollars home. In addition, I want to create a family farm fund. What I want to do is make sure we're not only privileging those mega industrial farms, that our smaller farmers are getting the money they need. If you've ever tried to navigate a USDA contract, those things take forever. And sometimes all you need is access to a tractor. You don't need to be able to buy an entire factory. I want to make sure that we create a $5 million family fund initiative, family farm initiative, so that farmers of all races can get access to those dollars, especially those micro farms and those organic farms that can create jobs. Because

one in every seven jobs in Georgia is in agriculture. And by expanding apprenticeships, technical college, and making sure college is affordable, we can also take advantage of the technological changes that are happening on our farms and in agriculture. I'm the only one with a plan to make sure that all of our young people can not only have access, but can stay where they are. They don't have to move to Atlanta to get opportunity. I want to invest in the places where they live so they can grow and live where they choose. Last question for you. At the end of the day, it's about turnout, turnout, turnout, turnout, turnout.

That was the case for Warnock and Ossoff in the runoff in 2020. That was the case for Biden and Harris in Georgia as well. A lot of money is going to be spent on television, a lot of money by these campaigns. But the reality is the money has to also be put on the ground because you've got to reach, you know, picking up two and three and four and thousand. That's going to be the difference between win or lose. You know that after the last election. Well, I have been lauded by some for the work I do with organizing, but it comes from a basic understanding that the efforts on the ground are what moves the needle. Air cover is absolutely important because it's how you set the narrative. It's how people know what's at stake, but it's on the ground that you get them to the polls. And that's why we've got to do both and.

That's why we need people to remember the energy they felt, not only in 2020-21, but in 2018. I can't be a brand-new candidate again. And I'm not going to be able to generate the first-time excitement. But what we can do is remember the message of that first time. We can change the future of Georgia with a governor who believes in the people of Georgia. Brian Kemp didn't commit treason once, but he has been an architect of voter suppression. He is continuing to push voter suppression activities. He is refusing to invest in our hospitals. He's lost six hospitals. He has stripped women of their bodily autonomy, especially Black women. He is returning us to a mass incarceration state. He has weakened gun

laws. He is dangerous to the people of Georgia, to Black people in Georgia. But we only change the future if we show up in this election. And so my message is this. I'm going to be doing everything I can to energize and educate, but I need everyone to understand that this is our turn. We have the ability and the power to set the future, not only for Georgia, but for the South. We have seen 20 years of what Republican leadership has done. We have a chance to actually in Georgia change the future. 2020 and 2021 weren't flukes. They were the result of years of effort, but we can't give up now. We are this close to the finish line. And what we were able to do on

the national level, we can do for ourselves in Georgia, because it is governors who decide the future. A governor created standard ground that killed Trayvon Martin. A governor eroded the social safety net that became the welfare reform bill. A governor did the three-strikes-your-out law that turned into the 94 crime bill. And Jim Crow never had a single federal law. It was all Southern governors in nine states that stripped Black people of their humanity for 150 years. And on November 8th, we have the chance to set the future for Black Georgians, for Black Americans, and for all Georgians. And I want their help to get it done. All right, Stacey, we appreciate it.

Look forward to having you back, and I'll be in Georgia soon, so we'll be on the ground there, so I'm sure our paths will cross. Thank you so much, and congratulations on your book. Appreciate it. Take care. You as well. All right, folks, we appreciate that.

I mean, the thing about this race, Mustafa, as I said, it's going to come down to turnout. Simple as that. You've got folks on the right who are energized. When you look at those polling numbers, there is some concern there that Stacey Abrams is at 85 percent. You look on the Senate side, Warnock is down two or three points to Hershel Walker. President Biden's approval numbers, even though they have gone up since the student loan debt, student debt announcement, is really dragging them down. You know, they've got to be at 92, 94 percent among African-Americans. And again, it's going to come down to the turnout for them to win in November. Yeah, without a doubt. It goes back to what my grandmother says, that you have power unless you give it away. You know, 33 percent of the folks there in Georgia are black.

And, you know, there's real opportunities. If you listen to Stacey's platform and what she's talking about, she's actually breaking it down. You know, all those huge amounts of dollars that are flowing and, you know, her actually talking about the cluster grants so that folks can actually be able to access those dollars is so incredibly important. And it touches every aspect of the things that folks in Georgia are asking for, everything around health care and the environment and jobs and housing and changing transportation sets of opportunities. So folks really need to just, one, open up their minds and listen to what the two candidates are actually sharing with you and then actually get out there in the polls.

I know folks keep saying that folks are tired, but, you know, our sister Fannie Lou Hamer said, I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. If you are sick and tired, then we've got to actually utilize this opportunity to change the dynamics and to get individuals into office who will make sure in the future that you are no longer sick and tired. Well, Breonna, the reality is here. The hell with the polls. If you live in Georgia, if you live in Pennsylvania, if you live in Wisconsin, you live in any state with this election, ignore all polls. You should be operating as if your candidate is

five points down. And what I keep arguing for African-Americans, like I got some of these old dumb ass FBA people. We not going to vote. I was like, you stupid as hell. Bottom line is this here. You can't be running around talking about this is what you want. This is what you want. Well, how in the hell are you going to get it if you don't vote based upon the policymakers? We have to maximize our numbers. If we don't maximize our numbers in Georgia, then Warnock doesn't win. Abrams doesn't win. We don't maximize our numbers, black folks in North Carolina. Sherrod Beasley doesn't win. We don't maximize our numbers in Wisconsin. Mandela Barnes is not going to win. We don't maximize our numbers in

Florida. Demings is not going to win. You're talking about, you could have four, five, or six black United States senators. We're talking about Demings in Florida. You have Barnes in Wisconsin. You've got Warnock in Georgia coming back. You've got, of course, you've got Booker in Kentucky. You've got Chambers and the other sister we had on the show who's running in Louisiana. You've got candidates who are running, but you've got to have folk who are showing up and showing out. Absolutely. The only poll that matters is the poll on Election Day.

We say that over and over again because we can see even from 2016 polls come out and they're wrong. What matters is you going out to vote. Really stressing the fact that Stacey Abrams said there were hospitals, there were two hospitals in the community that closed. That's huge on a community. Knowing what that means to our people and not having those hotels, I mean, those hospitals, is very important. Stressing what has gone wrong, what has not been done enough in Georgia. I really like that she laid it right on about the Black agenda. She didn't, you know, beat around the bush. A lot of people say, okay, well, if I do this, then it helps the Black people. She is very upfront about helping Black people, helping our community. She said, learn, earn while learning. And I think that's very

profound as we have issues with our student loan debt and being able to give opportunities to our community. And she's willing to do that. She has a plan. And we just need to be able to communicate that more to people and how important for us to go out and vote. Absolutely. Just a total truth there. DeMario. Well, first of all, big shout out to Stacey Abrams. She stood with us last year with the Tulsa race massacre. And she said she was not going to come to Tulsa once she found out that the city was trying to use her to raise money for themselves and not for our survivors and their descendants. So I'm a huge I was already a huge fan of hers, bigger fan after getting an opportunity to work with her team. I love, as the sister just stated, how clear she was on what she's

going to do for Black people. Look, we all understand that the Republicans are racist. I consider that all of them are MAGA, and they all want to put us back to enslavement. We understand that. But it's also important for candidates to be very clear about what they're going to do for Black people and Black communities. Stacey Abrams, every candidate that's running and needs Black votes, they should listen to this, your interview with Stacey Abrams, and do what she did, because if you listen to her, you're very clear what she's going to do for our community. And that's important to get people mobilized and energized to go vote. It's not enough to say, as your shirt, I love your

shirt, by the way, vote as my ancestors died for, because that's true. But that's not enough for some people. It's not enough to talk about how bad Trump is, and he's horrible, and how bad the Republicans are, and they're terrible. But that's not enough for some people. Some people need to hear, this is what I'm going to do for this community. So I think if people can do what Stacey's doing, and she can tend to do that, I believe she will be successful. I believe Warnock will be successful and we can get these other brothers and sisters into the Senate who will do the good work for our community and for this country. Indeed, indeed. So, you know, this this is the thing. Give me stuff.

I keep walking people through this. Um, if you say, and this is the thing that, again, it trips me out. Folks say, I want this. Okay. Let's be clear. No candidate can give it to you. They can promise it. They can say, I'm going to fight for it, but you're not going to

get it during the campaign. The only way you're going to get it is if they win. So I don't understand the logic of people who say, we don't get this. We're not voting. You're not going to get it from somebody who's not in office. And second of all, you can make a demand of an individual, but we see it in the Senate. One person can't actually give it to you. It requires working to get the votes to make it happen. Again, I just think we got to have schoolhouse rock 2.0

for these folk who is real easy to tweet something or put it on Instagram, but the reality of getting it is something that's totally different. Right. Well, you know, that's the difference of those of us

who've actually done the work on the ground, understanding what organizing truly looks like, what does strategic goal setting look like, and how much you have to invest to actually be able to make that become a reality. And we understand that it's not an instant process. It is a set of actions over time. It is a building, one on top of the other.

And that's why in this moment, I often talk about transformational moments. We got a chance, as you shared, to have a number of folks who are committed to our communities holding some of the highest offices across our country being governors of states. But we've got to understand this moment, and we've got to just make sure that, one,

we're helping to educate our folks, to get our folks out, and then the accountability comes after we get those folks in office to make sure that those things become a reality. And I know many of the individuals that you talked about, and I know that they are true to our community. They are authentic to our communities, and they are going to deliver if we can get the numbers in place to be able to help them to be able to do that. Indeed. So I just want people to understand because I had somebody said, oh, well, our ancestors, they died more than just for the vote.

Well, no kidding, dumbass. You can't put it all on a t-shirt. I mean, I'm telling you, some of these simple assignments get on my damn nerves when they respond with that stupid shit on social media like that's the only thing. I mean, it's just stupid. I mean, and I'm telling you, I just got little patience for stupid people. I just really do.

Okay? And these people who whine and complain, and I keep saying, okay, well, please, show me how you're going to get it. Please, by all means, show me how you're going to get it if you don't switch out the policymakers. Don't tell me you want the George Floyd Justice Act and you blind to the fact that right now the U.S. Senate is 50-50. If we maximize our votes, we could come back in January and it'll be 55-45. So guess what?

Cinema Mansion no longer in the way. Now, some other folks might show themselves, but guess what? Numbers change. And so that's what it boils down to. Because see, let me be clear to all the simple Simons out there, okay? Those of y'all who are confused, the right, let me be real clear, the right, right now, they're not sitting around bitching and moaning. Let me be real clear with y'all. I told y'all last night, the governor of Arizona kept saying the election was certified and was legal. You got crazy ass Carrie Lake, Trump MAGA loving election denier.

She wins a nomination. He campaigned with her. Now, he was against her in the primary. Does Doug Ducey know she crazy? Hell yeah, he knows she crazy. He knows she's sick in the head. But there's an R in front of her name. They want power. New Hampshire, Sununu, the person running to replace it, he know they crazy.

Election denial. They won the primary. Guess who he's backing? Now, I told y'all, Larry Hogan in Maryland, he is refusing to support the crazy fool who won in Maryland the Republican nomination. He like, no, he

election denial. I ain't supporting him. But you know what's interesting? The Tarrant County, Texas judge, where Fort Worth is, is not supporting Dan Patrick, the lieutenant governor. He's supporting the Democrat. He's like, basically, Dan Patrick a damn fool. And he is.

So, what I'm trying to get y'all to understand, it's a whole bunch of purists over here going, nope, I'm not doing this. You know what they say on the other side? Damn that. We want to win. Because we want power. To me, I want to win. And I'm going to figure out who gets me to the victory path to then get what I want.

And so a lot of y'all in Georgia, a lot of you brothers and sisters, you sitting around and you mad about Biden. Listen to me clearly. If y'all stay home and let dumb-ass Herschel Walker win, we are talking about one of the dumbest people ever to run for office. He makes Tommy

Tuberville of Alabama look like a Rhodes Scholar. Herschel Walker could be the next U.S. Senator from Georgia. You know who can stop him? We can. Oh, we can stop him. We can take out Senator Ron Johnson in Wisconsin if we maximize our vote for Mandela Barnes.

We can take out that MAGA-loving fool in North Carolina, Judd, and back Sherry Beasley, who when she ran for Supreme Court, Chief of the Supreme Court of North Carolina in 2020, lost by 400 votes, y'all. 400 votes. We could take out that fool Marco Rubio in Florida, supporting Representative Val Demings. What I'm trying to say is I don't want to see on election night when we're going to be here for six hours and we see in the aftermath black voter turnout was 52 percent, 48 percent.

Now, I want to see 80, 85. Y'all can write it down right now. If black voter turnout in Georgia and North Carolina, I'm talking about turnout, not a percentage of the turnout. I'm talking about a percentage of the eligible and registered voters. We hit 80 and 85%. First black woman in the United States Senate from North Carolina. She'll be there.

Barnes will be there. Demons will be there. Warnock comes back. Booker already there. You know, I don't even count Tim Scott. But that's five. You will have five black Democratic senators in the U.S. Senate. Don't let your vote sit at home.

Don't do it. We come back. FBI. They had Aretha Franklin, the queen, under surveillance. We're going to talk about that. Also, in our Marketplace segment, Sheila Johnson, co-founder of BET, owner of Salamander Resorts, opens a new five-star hotel in

Washington, D.C. That's right. When y'all come to D.C., you can stay in a Black-owned hotel. We'll show you Salamander Hotel when we come back. Roland Martin, Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Download the app, Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Support us by joining our Bring the Funk Star Network. Download the app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV,

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Zelle Rowland at RowlandSMartin.com. Rowland at RowlandMartinUnfiltered.com. We'll be right back when we invest in ourselves our glow our vision our vibe we all shine together we are black beyond measure hatred on the streets a horrific scene a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence white people are losing their damn minds there's an angry pro-trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot

tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. Here's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking

our women. This is white fear. Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood Martin, and I have a question for you. Ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders? Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Black Star Network for Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. We'll laugh together, cry together, pull ourselves together, and cheer each other on. So join me for new shows each Tuesday on Black Star Network. A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. When we invest in ourselves,

we all shine. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. What's up, what's up? I'm Dr. Ricky Dillard, the choir master. 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. I would like everyone to raise a glass, not a glass something. This is to Salamander, Washington, D.C. DC... . .

. . . . . . . .. Oriental Hotel where, of course, Sheila Johnson, she now owns that. You see it right there. It is

now called Salamander. That's named after the, of course, the resort that she launched in Middleburg, Tennessee, excuse me, Middleburg, Virginia a few years ago. And she, of course, owns properties all across the country. You see those properties right there. This is her newest one. They are not just managing this. They also are controlling it. And it was a great opportunity to see the folks there, to see what she has done. Just an amazing, amazing job. Amazing job of what she's able to contribute there. And so they had the band playing. Come on, y'all, let's hear some of that. They had the band playing.

The people who were there, it's exciting. And so Sheila, she talked about what she's doing, this being the third phase of her life and how she's excited about this opportunity to own this latest luxury property here in the nation's capital and here's what she had to say. Incredible. I can't thank all of you enough for being here. And Prem, thank you and I want to thank everyone again for your attendance.

Welcome to Salamander, Washington, D.C. But first, I really want to thank Anderson Park and its CEO, Nick Weber, for their partnership and believing in us for this project. We will achieve great things together and this is just the first. We know Henderson Park, no pressure, we know Henderson Park sure is our love for Washington D.C. and our desire to create a special destination hotel. Now to our speakers today, Mayor Bowser and Jason Wright, thank you for your time and words. I know the mayor's here. Jason, where are you? I'm here. Oh, I got you. Okay. Just want to make sure you're here. You know, the commanders had a win yesterday.

Did you bring any plans with you? No, they wasn't enough. Ah. Oh, boy. Okay. So to our Salamander Hotel and Resorts team, led by Prem Devidas, and our executive team, Dale Palletier,

Tracy Slovagna, John Spears, Teresa Silo, and Chris King, transitioning a hotel of this size and scope is a tremendous undertaking. I cannot begin to tell you, and I've got to give them all the credit, in the past four days I was at the University of Illinois delivering a Title IX speech and directing the marching band, the Fighting Illini, band the fighting of line eyes and they were back here working sanitizing taking artwork down putting artwork up i can't thank you enough and getting the signs up outside i can't thank you enough for all the work that you've done and lastly but certainly not least to the wonderful hotel staff led by our general manager, Manuel Martinez,

who has been working tirelessly through a very busy time period. We welcome you to the Salamander family with open arms and warm embrace. Now, this year marks the 50th anniversary of me conducting business in Washington, D.C. And I can't think of anything more benefiting than celebrating the launch of this property with you. We're delighted to bring Salamander's welcoming and diverse style of luxury hospitality to the nation's capital. Now, many of you have heard this story, but I'm in the third act of my life. The first act since 1972. I was a teacher, I taught at Sidwell Friends and also then started Young Strings in Action, an orchestra that went to the Middle East, then we became ambassadors to Jordan. And then Act II, of course, during that time, also starting DC Cable, bringing cable television to DC, and then black entertainment television.

But now the third act of my life is this. And this is the happiest part of my life, I'm here to tell you. Because it's mine! So as you know, we got started opening Salamander Resort and Spa in Middleburg, and you know what I went through getting that open. But you know, you get stronger through going through the adversity. I've learned a lot of lessons because look at what we've accomplished. And it's really amazing.

Now since we opened nine years ago, it has become one of the most successful resorts in the country. And we have worked hard to retrieve the Forbes star rating for both the resort and the spa. And the resort has gotten it four years in a row and this is the first year that we have been able to achieve the four star five star for both the resort and the spa and one of 63 in the whole world. And what we have done, we've been able to create the Middleburg Film Festival that is going into its 10th year. And we've had our second year of the family reunion, which will continue. But all of this programming, we're going to bring a little bit of that here to Washington, D.C., because we want to really put together the town and country

feel. So what you see here is just the beginning. Wait till you see what we have ahead of us. We already are developing these synergies between the two properties for the benefit of many of our loyal guests, including, as I said, town and country packages. Additionally, over the past decade, we have grown into one of the top hotel brands in the world, recently gaining recognition from both Travel and Leisure and USA Today. We now have properties in iconic locations, of course Middleburg, Aspen, we have Aspen Meadows, the Aspen Institute. Charleston, the Hotel Bennett,

Tampa Bay, Innisbrook, Golf Resort, we're part of the PGA Tour, the Valspar Tournament, Jamaica Half Moon, Aguila, the Aurora Hotel in Aguila, and now Washington, D.C. But I've already got so many other connections to D.C. as several of you know. You know, I'm vice chairman and president

and managing partner of Monumental Sports. But I also want to call out, where are my two players? Some of the players showed up today. Where's Tiana Hawkins? Where are you? Oh, there she is, a nice tall woman over here. That's Chatori Walker, there she is. And I gotta give a shout out to Mayor Bowser, because when we won the 2019 National Championships, who did I see in that front row? But our mayor! It was one of the most exciting things. And it was right after the event auditorium had been built, the arena.

And for us to bring that to board A was amazing. Jason Wright and myself, we also co-chair the Greater Washington Partnership, where we have been really working with all corporate leaders within Washington, D.C. to really raise enough money and funds to help support minority and small business. And we are very, very proud of what we've been able to do. Jason, am I right? We raised $4.75 billion. It's going to go across the country over the next five years. The other thing, if you all have not noticed, there is a new facility going up on the National Malls,

right near the Lincoln Monument, across from the Martin Luther King Memorial. But I've been able to raise $18 million to build new horse stables. Did you know that, Madam Mayor? So our United States Park Police now have a home and so do those wonderful horses. So my horse chief is the leader. He's passed firearms training. He is great. There's so many other things that we're doing, the charter school project, but I just want you to know we're not just here as a hotel company. We also work with the community. We're going to be establishing new partnerships and relationships

and really I'm going to work alongside the mayor to try and do whatever we can to enhance this great city. Which brings us back to Salamander, Washington, D.C. and the reason why we're here to celebrate. This property is already a grand luxury hotel and we intend to introduce the warm and inviting feeling that guests enjoy at our other Salamander properties. Salamander is renowned for approachable luxury and that's our intent for this hotel. It's a beautiful building and has a great reputation our goal is to simply adjust and we're really going to elevate through service and programming we also intend to physically enhance this hotel with a variety of improvements Prem is going to touch on these shortly and we will create a gathering place for the community, especially utilizing our grand lawn, where we actually want to hold, which

is where we wanted to hold the event, but we didn't know what the weather was going to do. We also recognize that we are surrounded by amazing activities and attractions and we want to become a constructive community and partner. DC has always been a wonderful place to live and visit, but especially now, it is exceptionally brilliant and vibrant. One of the reasons is our next speaker.

It is my pleasure to introduce Mayor Muriel Bowser. And prior, I'm not done. Prior to becoming mayor in 2015. So, I'm gonna address a comment in a second. Holly Perrin, just be prepared. I'm going to light your ass up in a second for a comment that you just made. But here was Mayor Muriel Bowser speaking yesterday. Everybody give a big round of applause to Sheila Johnson.

Let's give a D.C. She has mentioned all of the big things that she has already done here, including creating the communications and entertainment powerhouse that was black entertainment television but also bringing us champions in the form of the Washington Mystic so let's give them a round of applause. I want to congratulate her, her team at Salamander, the Henderson partnership for acquiring the Mandarin Oriental DC and adding it to your international portfolio of luxury hotels and resorts.

I'm speaking on behalf of my entire administration, 700,000 Washingtonians and millions of people from around the world to come to visit Washington DC. We too are in the hospitality business. And hospitality, yes, is fun, games, spas, great hotels and events, but it is also jobs and jobs for D.C. residents. I am proud of the entertainment and hospitality team that we have put together in Washington, and I want to recognize the head of our destination. All right, folks, Jason Wright, who was the first black president of an NFL franchise, the Washington Commanders. He is a good friend

of Sheila Johnson's. He spoke yesterday as well and shared some thoughts with the folks there about their relationship and about the work that she is doing there. And so here's what Jason had to say. It's a lot nicer reception after you win it's very nice true it's really an honor to be here um sheila is a special person to many of us in this room she's a very special person to me personally and so i'm going to take a different tact instead of reading her resume back you, which would be a two hour long speech, I'm instead gonna talk to you about what she's meant to me personally.

And maybe you've experienced this about Sheila too. There are three things that come to mind when I think of Sheila Johnson. The first is a truth speaker. Sheila is a truth speaker. There's a scripture that says, speak the truth in love. That's Sheila.

And it comes with a whole lot of love but a whole lot of truth she's been real with me at every moment in my professional and personal journey here advice on how to navigate family situations and the real honest truth of what I was walking into professionally and who to connect with in the city and who to be wary of and all of those things that you wish a true friend would give you that's what she was giving me as a mentor and we could all do well to have someone like her in our lives who truly speaks the truth in love second is she is a bold visionary you don't go by the mandarin if you don't have a bold vision.

And that's just one of a million things that Sheila has done like this. What I've learned from her is that you don't need to be afraid of a big vision and that it's okay to take the risk in pursuing that vision. Sheila is a risk taker at heart, but it's because she knows something that the rest of us don't always know. And that's the third thing that I've learned from her, is that she knows her value. Sheila is convinced of what she brings to this world. She knows her intellect. She knows her charisma. She knows her ability to connect with people. She's too humble to be able to articulate them but they're there and she knows it and it's that quiet and steady confidence that I wish I had and I wish I could draw on and

I spend time around her just so I can somehow absorb it through osmosis because it's incredibly powerful as she actually said this in her own words that you grow stronger through adversity she's known her adversity and through it all she's known her value and that's what's carried her through and I have channeled that again and again over these last two years and I've had the privilege of leading this historic franchise through a challenging but beautiful time. You don't settle when you're Sheila Johnson. You trust yourself.

There's actually a line from a poem that comes to mind uh comes to mind for me to be able to trust yourself when all men doubt you but make allowance for their doubting too that's Sheila in a nutshell so it's this unique mix of gifts uh that have brought black excellence to light for me personally and Society writ large. I think that's important to put a stamp on Because whether it's BET tonight to the Aspen Institute to now the Salamander DC She's led business ventures that feature black talent and they somehow reach the highest levels of both Social relevance and luxury at the same time connecting to every person and the fancy-pants people that we are in this

room here today in equally powerful manner and it's a special gift that she has somehow she's able to create this sense of luxury and family at the same time and it's a magical gift that Sheila has. That is worth a round of applause. And I don't know that any of us can replicate it. I know I'm darn sure going to try and everyone else should as well. But I think it emanates from who she is just as a person.

Because Sheila as a person also embodies those two things that seem contradictory, that seem like they can't connect, she embodies them so seamlessly. A dynamic business leader, an advocate for the people, however you define that, she's an advocate for the people, and yet the matriarch of a family that many of us in here get to call ourselves a part of,

who is not going to let anyone in that family fail. And so Sheila, just as a personal toast to you, may the Salamander DC embody all that you are and carry this city and our area and each one of us to higher and higher heights. Congratulations. All right. So I saw this utterly stupid comment from this person named Holly Perrion who said, oh, this is boring, I don't stay in luxury hotels. Holly, let me explain to you why your comment is so stupid. The number of African Americans who own hotels in major downtown cities is virtually nil.

Here you have a black woman who took her proceeds from the sale of BET, and then, of course, also her eventual divorce from Bob Johnson, and has created a major luxury brand, owning hotels, managing hotels all across the country and the world. That's one. So how can we talk about black economics, black power, and then we ignore this reality when we're talking about what's happening here? That's the thing that for me that's important, Mustafa, Brianna, and Demario. I was recently at her resort, Ennisbrook, playing golf there. Rooms are not out of this world. Very reasonable. Folks can stay there.

But we talk all the time on this show about celebrating black excellence. And we talk a lot about police brutality cases. We spend lots of time talking about political stuff and voter suppression. But Holly, the reason we spent that much time on it, because one, I own it and you don't. And that's precisely the point. The point is black ownership. And so we should always, when we see black entrepreneurs who are building major companies, we should give them the type of time others ignore. Tomorrow, that's the piece.

Black folk need to stop running around howling about rebuild black Wall Street. But then somebody want to say, well, I don't want to hear this boy. I don't want to hear what she got to say. She is the same as the folk who were in Greenwood in Tulsa before it was burned down. Same thing. Yeah, I'm really glad. I didn't know about her. I knew about her resort down in Virginia, but I didn't know about the Hotel Mandarin.

I'm coming to D.C. at the end of the month. I've already told my assistant. I texted her and said, hey, I don't know if there's any rooms available. That's where I want to stay. Because as you stated, Roland, this is just like J.B. Stratford, who owned the largest African-American-owned hotel in the nation in Tulsa before it was burnt down during the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. So to see this sister talk about the three levels of her life as a teacher, as a media entrepreneur, and now doing this with hotels and owning such a magnificent luxury brand, I was excited that you exposed that to us. I took time to literally listen to her because, hey, she's a black female billionaire.

I want to hear what she has to say. So to me, anybody had any issue with that, they're not understanding what this show is really about. It is about educating our audience. It is about inspiring our audience. And it's about empowering our audience. And I don't know anyone can listen to that and not be educated, more inspired and more empowered, Brianna. Yes, I absolutely love to see the success of Sheila Johnson. I did not know that it converted to the salamander. I love the mandarin. I love their spa. Um, now that this is owned by a Black woman, it's phenomenal. Um, and now all she needs to do

is start buying up the Trump hotels and starting with Mar-a-Lago. Um, I just hope she keeps on going. and now all she needs to do is start buying up the Trump hotels and starting with Mar-a-Lago. I just hope she keeps on going, and I'm actually saying at the end of this month for CBC coming to D.C., and I am so excited to check it out soon. Mustafa? It is about black wealth, and black wealth comes in so many different forms and fashions, but to see Ms. Johnson make this major, major move of being able to take over the Oriental, I mean, for those of you who have never been there, I mean, it's a very, very nice spot.

And I know she's going to take it to another level. So for one of our own to own that, along with the other resorts that she owns, is significant. And it is also helping us to have a blueprint on how we can actually acquire wealth in this country and then utilize it to continue to uplift our people in so many different forms and fashions. If you know Ms. Johnson's story, it ain't just about, you know, living, you know, oh, hotsy-totsy or whatever the words are that people use. It is really about making sure that we're building wealth inside of our communities and then exponentially growing that out and helping others to understand not what the blueprint is. I should have said the green print.

There you go. That's what it boils down to. Demario, Brianna, Mustafa, I so appreciate it. Thanks for joining us on the panel this week. Y'all hold tight one second. Demario, Breonna, Mustafa, I so appreciate it. Thanks for joining us on the panel this week. Y'all hold tight one second. Demario, go ahead. I just wanted to see when we're going to talk about Texas A&M getting beat by Appalachian State at home.

Easy. We're not because we don't cover sports. But what we can talk about is that dusty, crusty school you went to, OU, out there in the hinterlands in the country there in Oklahoma. That's all right. But, but, but, and, and – but – and we can talk about – we can talk about your football team being the only NFL team not to score a touchdown on Sunday.

Boy, don't even try – the three points your Cowboys scored. Yeah, yeah, you real quiet about that, huh? Three points. Like I said, when we come back, Michael Bearden talks about his mentor, the great jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis, who died yesterday at the age of 87. And we're going to close the show out

showing you Cheryl Lee Ralph, her amazing speech when she won the Emmy last night. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. When we invest in ourselves, we're investing in what's next for all of us. Growing. Creating.

Making moves that move us all forward. Together, we are Black Beyond Measure. Folks, Black Star Network is here. Hold no punches! I'm real revolutionary right now. Back up! Support this man, Black Star Network is here. Hold no punches! A real revolutionary right now. Back up! Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told.

Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roller. Be black! I love y'all! All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scape. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home.

You dig? Hey, what's up everybody? It's Godfrey, the funniest dude on the planet. Hey, I'm Taj. I'm Coco. And I'm Lili. And we're SWB. What's up, y'all?

It's Ryan Destiny, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Music lovers were sad yesterday. We got the news that Ramsey Lewis, the jazz pianist, amazing man who tickled those keys, died in his sleep in Chicago. He was 87 years old. Numerous hits over the last several decades. Always a cool character, someone who was impressive with the piano, but also playing with other artists as well and inspiring a whole new generation of folks,

including my next guest, music director Michael Bearden. Michael, he was one of the first comments yesterday on my Instagram page when I announced the death of Ramsey Lewis. And Michael, you shared the personal connection that you had with him as someone who was your mentor. Yeah, thanks for having me on again. I always love coming on with you, Roland. Yeah, Ram, as we called him,

was a personal mentor of mine when I was still in high school. I knew his sons, Kevin and Kelly. Kelly actually was my friend in high school, and we had like a little band together. So that's how I even met Ram. And then I would go over to his house. And one day I sat down and played his piano, and I didn't know nobody was supposed to play his piano so you can't run it downstairs like who's playing my piano and um it was me and I said oh I'm sorry Mr. Lewis and he was like sit there sit there for a minute let me let me see what you do and so that's like my introduction to Ramsey Lewis. Wow you're playing a man's piano. Yeah like I didn't know it was the rule in the house that nobody was to touch Ramsey Lewis's piano.

And so, you know, as I was waiting for Kelly to come to meet me, I guess we were going to go downstairs in the basement or whatever. I just sat down and played the piano because I didn't know about the rule. And Ramsey came downstairs like, what? Who's playing my piano and um but we struck up a friendship then and he gave me so many pointers not only just piano but just music and how to navigate this business and ram if you if as you watch and i'm looking at these clips he was always elegant always put together uh he had he had a guy named uh dennis who used to i think dennis has passed away now as well uh dennis was he wasn't like his valet. He was just like road manager, I guess.

But they always had a steamer and all these, you know, things in the dressing room to just make sure that he was always looking great when he hit that stage. And that's just how Ramsey lived his life. He was always elegant, always graceful,

always dignified. And you can even hear it when he plays. And so that's what I mostly learned from Ram. You talked about, again, those lessons learned. And the reality is what really jumped out at me, teaching you the inner workings and the intricacies of music. Yes, you know, there's so many stories I have, you know. So after I graduated and then went on to just navigate my way into the business, I was on a tour where I was actually

Angela Bothfield's music director, a name from the past. And we were on the same tour. I guess they had the same agents and we would play all these rooms, elegant rooms. And, you know, certain times, like even before I got to that point, I was playing with Ramsey

and I was just playing keyboards alongside of him. And, you know, he's just leaning over on the piano. Shut up. You're too loud. And you hear the singer coming in, like stuff like that, like, you know, get down. And so I mean, I can't even think of all the stories and all the things that I just learned about just being on time, you know, stage, you know, getting to the stage on time. And if you're there when the time was, you're too late. So you've got to be before. It was just so many lessons and so many intricacies, as you say, about the music business.

When it comes to, you know, the work, he didn't just focus on jazz. He impacted folks in so many other areas of music. Yeah, I mean, you know, some of his biggest hits were gospel things, you know, like Wade in the Water was a really, really big thing. You know, obviously a lot of people know him from, you know, the in crowd or with his famous Ramsey Lewis trio. I think that what I loved most about Ram was because he was so not just focused on one style of music.

And that was the thing that resonated with me as a kid, because when you're young, you don't want to play, you know, your father and your mother's music, your parents' music. And so, but he was, he embraced, you know, electric keyboards, Rhodes, and, you know, as well as Herbie Hancock and, you know, Quincy Jones. And I think it was just a thing in Chicago where everybody just was, you know, really into just not just being one thing. And so, you know, Ramsey definitely was the epitome of that as well. And he was the one who performed until the end.

Yeah. I think the last time I saw Ram was, I just was in New York. I happened to be there with somebody and I was walking in the village and I just walked past the blue note and it said, tonight, Ramsey Lewis. So I just walked in, no tickets, none of that. And I was just like, you know, I just want to the blue note and it said, tonight, Ramsey Lewis. So I just walked in. No tickets, none of that. And I was just like, you know, I just want to go say hi to Ram. And I went in and he was like still in another part of the dressing room.

But, you know, the band, obviously, they're really good friends of mine that came up with me in Chicago. And when he came out, he was just like, oh, my goodness, look what the cat dragged in. And, you know, I think I actually posted a photo of that when we were in this dressing room. And that was the last time I spoke to him. And he was really proud of what I had accomplished musically in the business. And, you know, I think when I met him, I was 15, 16, maybe. So, you know, to be able to do what I've done in the business so far and to have a mentor and, you know, somebody who would just push me out there and, you know, show me things. One thing he got on me about was like, you know, your right hand is good, young man. You need to develop your left hand.

You know, things like that, just like little subtle things in his way that he did. So I'm holding on to the fact that he told me that he was proud. That's like literally the last thing he said to me. Wow. That really, he was really proud of me and just to keep going. So yeah. It's always good when your mentor shares those with you, Michael Beard. We appreciate you sharing your thoughts and reflections regarding the late, great Ramsey Lewis. Thank you for having me, Roland. we appreciate you sharing your thoughts and reflections regarding the late, great Ramsey Lewis. Thank you for having me, Roland.

Always appreciate you. Yes, sir. Thanks a bunch. Yes, sir. Folks, last night, Shirley Ralph stole the show at the Emmys when she won for her role in Abbott Elementary. Folks, it was an amazing speech that she gave. Folks are still talking about it. Here's that moment. I am an endangered species

But I sing no victim song I am a woman, I am an artist and I know Where my voice Belongs To anyone who has ever, ever had a dream and thought your dream wasn't, wouldn't, couldn't come true, I am here to tell you that this is what believing looks like. This is what striving looks like. And don't you ever, ever give up on you, because if you get a Quinta Brunson in your corner, if you get a husband like mine in your corner, if you get children like mine in your corner, and if you've got friends like everybody who voted for me, cheered for me, loved me.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right, folks. Big congrats to Shirley Ralph. Shout out to her husband, Pennsylvania Senator Vincent Hughes. They had a grand time last night. She is absolutely on a high. So we look forward to having her on the show soon. Folks, that is it for us.

We appreciate all of you for joining us today. Don't forget, download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. And, of course, please join our Bring the Funk fan club. Your dollars make it possible for us to do what we do right here. And so our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans every year contributing on average 50 bucks each. That's $4.19 a month, 13 cents a day. You can send your checks and money orders to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. Cash out, dollar sign RM Unfiltered.

PayPal is RMartinUnfiltered. Venmo is RMUnfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And also, folks, today my book, White Fear Drop. Get it right here, folks. This is the book right here. That's right. White fear. It is how the brownie of America making white folks lose their minds. Get the book, folks. I've already a

lot of you have been posting your photos. You have you pre-ordered the book. Post those on Twitter, on Instagram. I love to see them. And I'll be retweeting them, sharing them with folks as well. And so we've got, of course, endorsements from Reverend Dr. William Barber, Jane Elliott, Tim Wise, Angela Rye, Tiffany Cross, and my man, Dr. Cornel West. He says Roland Martin is one of the greatest journalists of our time. This book is another grand example of his brilliance and courage. So, folks, please support us in what we do. Let's make this a bestseller. And so get your copy of White Fear, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds. You can get that book everywhere. Here are the places, Ben Bella Book, Ben Bella

Books, the publisher. I appreciate them. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, Bookshop, Chapters, Books A Million, Target. Also, you want to order through your favorite black bookstore, you can do that. And don't forget, it's also an audio version. It is on Audible. That's right. I recorded it myself. So you can download the audio book as well. Folks, that's it.

I will see you tomorrow right here. Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Ha! This is an I heart podcast.