#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Celebrates Confirmation, Will Smith Oscars Ban, Charter School Funding

Episode Date: April 9, 2022

4.8.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Celebrates Confirmation, Will Smith Oscars Ban, Charter School Funding Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson celebrates her historical confirmation to the Supreme Court at the White House. I was there for her emotional speech thanking her role models and others who helped her along the way. You'll hear what she and others had to say at today's ceremony about this historical confirmation. Will Smith gets banned from attending the Oscars for the next ten years. Mason, Tennessee leadership is fighting to keep a Republican comptroller out of their finances. The vice mayor of the majority-black town will tell us what happened in Wednesday's court hearing. A black college student disarms a man during a melee. He ends up getting shot four times. He and his attorney will be here to talk about his lawsuit against the San Jose, California Police Department. Dealerships in four states are accused of overcharging black customers will have to pay a 10 million in fines. In today's Education Matters, we'll look at how proposed new rules for charter school grants could impact how states fund and regulate charter schools. And a huge loss in the NFL, Hall of Famer Rayfield Wright has died.   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. Să facem o pătrunjelă. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Rolla. 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? Today is Friday, April 8th, 2022. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. The White House does a victory parade today on the South Lawn as Judge Ketanji Brown-Jackson speaks for the first time after she was confirmed by the United States Senate. We will hear what she had to say, along with Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden. Also, amazing reaction from brothers and sisters who were attending the event.

Our cameras caught them exclusively, and so wait to hear what they have to say as well. You'll hear from Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., Derek Johnson, CEO of the NAACP, Martin Morial, CEO of the National Urban League. Also, Playola Brown, A. Philip Randolph Institute. You'll hear from Roz Brock, who's the Chair Emeritus of the NAACP.

Also, Reverend Frederick Douglas Haynes, Marcia Dyson, Michael Eric Dyson, and so many others, including Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. We caught up with all of them, folks, and we can't wait to show you that. Also on today's show, we'll get an update on what's happening in Mason, Tennessee. The Vice Mayor will be joining us on the show. but we caught up with all of them, folks, and we can't wait to show you that. Also on today's show, we'll get an update on what's happening in Mason, Tennessee.

The vice mayor will be joining us on today's show. It's a jam-packed show, lots more news we're gonna be talking about. You wanna keep it locked right here. It's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network, 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 find.

And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling. Best belief he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks. He's rolling. It's Uncle Roro, y'all. It's Uncle Roro, yo. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's Roland Martin.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rolling with Roland now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best, you know. He's Roland Martin now. Martez! Martez! Martez! Martez! Martez! Martez! Martez! Martez!

Martez! Martez! Martez! Martez! Martez! Martez! Martez! Martez!

Martez! Martez! Martez! Martez! Martez! Martez! Martez! Martez!

Martez! Martez! Martez! Martez! Martez! for me so that I might rise to this occasion. And in the poetic words of Dr. Maya Angelou, I do so now while bringing the gifts my ancestors gave. I am the dream and the hope of the slave. Folks, there were a lot of tears shed on the White House South Lawn today as Judge Katonji Brown Jackson spoke to the nation since she was confirmed last night, yesterday, by the United States Senate. Of course, she was flanked by President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Numerous people were in the audience, including her parents, her husband, her children, her siblings, and also many folks, especially black women who have fought for years for this particular moment. Vice President Kamala Harris, she spoke first, and President Joe Biden then followed her and both talked about the importance, the history that was actually made with her confirmation yesterday by the United States Senate to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court. President George Washington once referred to America as a great experiment, a nation founded on the previously untested belief that the people, we the people, could form a more perfect union. And that belief has pushed our nation forward for generations. And it is that belief that we reaffirmed yesterday.

Through the confirmation of the first black woman to the United States Supreme Court. No! And Judge Jackson, you will inspire generations of leaders. They will watch your confirmation hearings and read your decisions. In the years to come, the court will answer fundamental questions about who we are and what kind of country we live in? Will we expand opportunity or restrict it? Will we strengthen the foundations of our great democracy or let them crumble? Will we move forward or backward?

The young leaders of our nation will learn from the experience, the judgment, the wisdom that you, Judge Jackson, will apply in every case that comes before you. And they will see, for the first time, four women sitting on that court at one time. When I made the commitment to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court, I could see this day. I literally could see this day because I thought about it for a long, long time. As Jill and Naomi will tell you, I wasn't going to run again. But when I decided to run, this was one of the first decisions I made. I could see it.

I could see it as a day of hope, a day of promise, a day of progress, a day when, once again, the moral arc of the universe, as Barack used to quote all the time, bends a little more toward justice. I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I knew the person I nominated would be put through a painful and difficult confirmation process. But I have to tell

you, what Judge Jackson has put through was well beyond that. There was verbal abuse, the anger, the constant interruptions, the most vile baseless assertions and accusations. In the face of it all, Judge Jackson showed the incredible character and integrity she possesses. Poise. Poise and composure. Patience and restraint.

And yes, perseverance and even joy. Even joy. Katonji, or I can't, I'm not going to be calling you that in public anymore. Judge, you are the very definition of what we Irish refer to as dignity. You have enormous dignity. And it communicates to people. It's contagious. And it matters.

It matters a lot. Maybe that's not surprising if you look who sat behind her during those hearings. Her husband, Dr. Patrick Jackson and his family. Patrick, stand up, man. Stand up. Talia and Leila, stand up. I know it's embarrassing to girls. I'm going to tell you what Talia said. I said to Talia, it's hard being the daughter or the son of a famous person.

I said, imagine what it's like being president. He said, she said, she may be. I couldn't agree more. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And Kataish, her brother, a former police officer

and a veteran. Kataish, stand up, man. This is a man who looks like he can still play, buddy. He's got biceps about as big as my calves. Thank you, bud. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And, of course, her parents, Johnny and Ellery Brown. Johnny, all right, stand up.

I'll tell you what, as I told Mom, Mom's ruling my house. No, you're not to think I'm kidding. I'm not. My mom and my wife as well. Look, people of deep faith, the deep love of family and country, that's what you represent, who know firsthand, Mom and Dad, the indignity of Jim Crow, the inhumanity of legal segregation, and you had overcome so much in your own lives. You saw the strength of parents and the strength

of a daughter that is just worth celebrating. I can't get over, Mom and Dad, you know, I mean, what you did and your faith and never giving up any hope in both that wonderful son you had and your daughter. You know, and that strength lifted up millions of Americans who watched you judge action, especially women and women of color who have had to run the gauntlet in their own lives.

So many of my Cabinet members are women, women of color, women that represent every sector of the community. And it matters. And you stood up for them as well. They know it. Everybody out there, every woman out there, everyone. Am I correct? Just like they have. Just like they have.

And same with the women members of Congress as well, across the board. Look, it's a powerful thing when people can see themselves in others. Think about that. What's the most powerful thing? I'll bet every one of you can go back and think of a time in your life where there was a teacher, a family member, a neighbor, somebody, somebody who made you believe that you could be whatever you wanted to be. A lot more to play, including from hearing from Judge Brown Jackson. I want to, though,

talk to my panel right now. Linda Carr, she's the president and CEO of Higher Heights. Their focus is to elect more black women to public office. Rebecca Carruthers, she is vice president for Fair Elections Center. Damon Hewitt is president and executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. And also Cliff Albright, co-founder of Black Voters Matter. He is joining us from Boston. Glad to have all of you here. Glenda, it was certainly an amazing day to be out there at the White House to see the looks of joy.

There were a number of young girls who were in the audience. There were mothers and grandmothers who actually brought them to this ceremony. There were folks who were American Indian, who were African American, who were white. But I'll be honest with you, the people who were really moved by what took place today, we call them seasoned saints in our church, really the black women who were 60 and older, who were just overjoyed with what they witnessed with their own eyes today. It was truly an amazing day, Roland. I saw you, and I can't wait to see all the videos you collected today.

It was, when you talk about church, you know, the church mothers, black women, it felt like Easter Sunday. People were tell Roland we were in our jeweled tone outfits. Just if people have been the D.C. area, folk know that it's been a gray down here and it the sun broke just for that press conference. And to see the rejoice, you know, I was just as Brown Jackson, you know, talked a little bit about a Maya Angelou quote, which was so powerful. When you talk about her standing there and her authentic, unapologetic Black woman, a brown-hued Black woman with natural hair, you know, telling the story that in one generation she went from segregation to the Supreme Court.

It was church. You know, we do call on response. And so the black women in attendance, black women who have been, you know, advocates, activists, elected women, there was, you know, New York Letitia Tish James, the New York Attorney General to Charlotte Mayor Viall Iles, the former mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms were there. So some of our, you know, elected women from across the country to the little girls that were there. It is truly a day that talks about how we can continue to reach higher. We've been prepared for this moment. The world now knows what leadership, what Black women's leadership looks like at the highest

level. And I think she stood there in grace and prepared for this moment, but understanding that this is so much bigger than she is, not just from a historic perspective as being the fourth woman that will be seated at the highest court, but at the intersection of her race and her gender, and that she is going to be inspiring generations of young people. I just came back from the Supreme Court where people are gathering, and there are little girls, literally, of all race and backgrounds, running around the Supreme Court steps right now, celebrating Ketanji Brown Jackson. Uh, this photo, I shot this photo

to give people a sense of what the crowd was like. We saw the livestream, typically they leave it on the podium. Uh, but you had an opportunity to see the people who were out there, who were amassed there. God, take a full screen of that shot, please. And Rebecca, again, to watch these folks, to see these folks, and as she talked, I mean, yes, people, they were waiting to hear the vice president, waiting to hear the president. They want to hear from her. And she brought so many sister to tears with what she had to say,

standing there in her full authentic blackness while speaking. Roland, I was on a flight headed back to D.C. during the ceremony, and I just sat there and cried as I watched the ceremony. I'm a Black woman. I'm a Black woman attorney. And just to see this moment after 233 years, we have someone who looks like us on the Supreme Court. And what's so amazing about that, continuing with the church analogy, even from watching the confirmation hearings, it was like we were all in a watch service, keeping watch over this process, making sure that this woman got put on the Supreme Court.

So it's a great day. I'm not fooled, especially when we see some of the shenanigans that happened with some of the other members of the Senate who didn't even show proper respect during the vote to actually appoint her to the Supreme Court. I just want to take this moment today just to be happy, just to express joy, and thinking back to Senator Booker's remarks during the confirmation process about the ancestors being with her, and just thinking about all of our ancestors are with us at this moment, watching, and proud, and so happy that this day has come. Damon, you were there. Um, for the folks, uh, who are watching and listening,

just, uh, put it through your eyes, through your lens, uh, what it was like, uh, to watch, uh, the first Black woman speak after being confirmed as the 116th Supreme Court justice? Well, Roland, first of all, as you know, it felt like a homecoming because it was good to see so many friends together for the first time in person in a while. But there were friends who have been fighting for a common purpose, not just this nomination and confirmation, but fighting for voting rights, fighting for reproductive rights, fighting against police brutality so that Black people can be safe

and protected from hate at the same time. And so this one moment is an important one. It's not the end-all, be-all one for all times, but it's important that we celebrate. And we all left and felt full. As you know, there was not a dry eye in the place. You know, our new justice made big men cry, along with women and children and everybody else.

And so she... What I loved about her remarks was she complicated the narrative. So people look at her and think they know who she is because she went to Harvard. They think they know who she is because of her hairstyle, but they don't. She is every woman. She complicated the narrative so much and she left us on a note to remind everyone that she is folk. When she quoted Maya Angelou, when she talked about her faith, we all know that we walk on the giants of shoulders. We all know who paved the way for us, especially

those of us who have a lineage who come from people who were enslaved Africans. And to bring that to bear on the national stage, I know she's going to bring that same energy with her to every case, to every decision, whether it be in the public oral argument or in the so-called shadow docket of the Supreme Court. She's going to bring all of us. She said we did it. We did it. All of us did it.

She's going to bring all of us with her every day in this role for decades to come. Cliff Albright, we talked about this on yesterday, and that is if it wasn't for Georgia, if it wasn't for the election of John Ossoff and Raphael Warnock to the United States Senate, we are not here today. The work that you and LaTosha Brown did, we'll hear from LaTosha. I caught up with her outside of the White House. Going to those rural towns, the places lots of people don't go to, and really impressing upon them why their vote matter. And when I talked to Reverend Jackson, we'll hear from him as well, so many people who I talked to after, they said,

today was why we vote. No, you're exactly right, Roland. You know, 11,000 and change votes, you know, here in the state of Georgia in the presidential election. You know, similar numbers in regards to those two Senate races. And that means that every vote mattered. And that means every vote in metro Atlanta. But it also means every vote in rural communities all across the state of Georgia, in places like Cairo, Georgia, that most people can't find on a map from Cairo, Egypt. But those votes matter, you know, and that's why we do the work that we do. If I said this to a group last

night, I'm in Boston right now, and I spoke to a group last night, and I told them, you know, the next time as we're going out doing our voter mobilization, if we come across anybody who says that our votes don't matter, you tell them we got a justice named Ketanji, because that was made possibly because of largely because of Black voters that came out. And so, you know, we got elections coming up. And as I said yesterday, and as I've said before, and I'll say it again, elections have consequences. This historic moment, both parts of this historic moment, right, the first black vice president being able to call out the vote for the first black woman on the Supreme're going out and talking to voters all across this nation in this upcoming election cycles. Elections have consequences and we've seen things happen. Historic things happen because of our ability to turn out. to the audience on this show, is that, yes, we can be mad, we can be frustrated, we can say we haven't gotten what we wanted,

but the reality is this. Sitting out is not an option. What we have to understand is that somebody is going to win. And when President Joe Biden said today that he has appointed more black women to the appeals court than any and then all previous presidents combined, combined. But people have to understand these judges, their lifetime, they can choose to stay alive. We had Judge Vanessa Gilmore on the show yesterday. She just retired in January, but she spent 28 years on the federal bench.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away on the bench. And so we talk, people say, well, man, I don't really see how it matters. Guess what? The president can only be there a maximum number of eight years. These judges can be there 20, 30, 40, 50 or more so years.

Yeah. President Biden is living his values of diversity and inclusion. And he started that on the campaign trail when he committed to nominating a black woman to the Supreme Court. He then committed that he was going to have a woman as a running mate for vice president, and he chose a black woman to be his running mate. His cabinet is one of the most diverse cabinets. On that front row you had Secretary of HUD Marcia Fudge sitting on the front row of that press conference today. His White House staff is filled of diversity, and particularly black women, all the way up to senior-level staff members. And his administration looks like America. That's progress.

We are living in some of the most politically divisive times. And so there's work to be done, as Cliff said. We need to change the configuration of our Congress. And then we need to get the work to holding our elected officials accountable and creating the environment for our champions to do – to push progressive policies. So what do we need to do? We need to elect – as much as we celebrate today, we've never elected a black woman governor. Although Kamala Harris ascended to the front of the chamber as the president of the presiding over the U.S. Senate, there was zero black women sitting in the Senate to cast their votes. And so this year in 2020 in November, we have an opportunity to elect governors with an S, Black women senators with

an S. We have the most number of Black women running for office up and down the ballot. And when you have diverse decision-making tables, they make better decisions. And certainly, I believe that Justice Brown-Jackson is going to show that when you have diverse benches, like the Supreme Court, those benches make better legal decisions. The, to that point, in terms of moving forward, Rebecca, as I said, she ascends. She says, finally, we are now here.

But the point that we have to keep making is more history can actually unfold. There can be more federal judges, more district judges, more appeals court judges filling the pipeline so it's not just the one.

Now is an opportunity for us to keep pressing. And the reality is, I said this last night, you've got critical Senate races. If Democrats are able to expand, hold the majority and expand the majority, we can guarantee that there are more black federal judges. And then there's some

sister out there who was younger than Judge Katonji Brown Jackson who could be appointed. Donald Trump and McConnell, they appointed a 35-year-old white woman who was only 11 years removed from law school. And so people need to understand that sitting out the election cannot be an option because we must be thinking about the judicial branch and the executive and the congressional offices as well.

So I run a national nonpartisan voting rights organization. And one thing that I really want to point out here, since the 2020 election, there have been so many laws across the country that suppresses the right to vote. And so as we think about the critical races up and down the ballot across the country this year, we still need to urge Congress to pass meaningful voting rights legislation. We have a gutted Voting Rights Act. So, I'm happy with the events that unfolded today that Justice Kentaji Brown Jackson is a staunch supporter of voting rights. She actually believes in the fundamental right to vote. But we also need Congress to act. We are seven months today away from the general election. We're already seeing that in the primaries that are taking place across the

country right now, that some of the people who are trying to register to vote this year, when we look at what happened in Texas the other month, tens of thousands of people were denied to be able to register to vote because of the new rules that Texas has put into place since the last election. So we really need to lean on Congress and urge Congress to pass meaningful voting rights legislation. But the reality, Cliff and Damon, is that it's been made perfectly clear by leaders, by Sinema and Manchin. They're not going to do that, which means we've got to make sure

that we are putting Sherry Beasley from North Carolina in, putting Mandela Barnes in from Wisconsin, Val Demings in Florida. So the opportunity, Cliff, is there to expand, to ensure and get what Rebecca just said. Yeah, I mean, there's, you know, a bunch of Senate seats that are up for grabs, right? There's a couple that we need to defend

in places like Georgia and Arizona, but there's some seats that are up for grabs. And in many of those seats, as you named, you named just a few, that it's Black candidates and Black women that are running. And so, you know, if we weren't clear about the importance of these Senate seats before the past year, before we've seen the struggle going on over voting rights, before we saw this struggle over the Supreme Court nomination,

if we weren't clear about it before, we'd best be clear about it right now. This election cycle matters. These Senate races matter. And across all of these states, we've got to take it seriously. I just wanted to say a quick word, if you don't mind rolling, you know, because you got some folks that are, you know, and especially brothers, not many that might be making the point. I've seen it a little bit on Twitter, you know, you know, what's the big deal? Why is this so, you know, she's not this or that, right?

Why is it just about, you know, the black woman and all that stuff? Not from a lot of whatever, but, you know, you got to have real talk that there's a little bit of that out there. I just think that it's important that, you know, we point out this is an important moment for me. Like, this is a historic moment. I recognize I'm a student of history. I recognize the importance. But even for me, and I've had tears in my eyes at various points over the past couple of days, but even for me, it can't mean the same thing, that it means the sisters all

across this country. Like, you mentioned it. You were there. You see the little girls outside the Supreme Court and outside the White House, what it means to be represented. You know, and we talk about Kamala being the first Black woman vice president, but it follows a Black man as president, right? We talk about Sister Katonji, Justice Katonji Brown Jackson being the first Black woman. It follows not one but two Black men that had already been there, right? Even the vote itself, sisters didn't get it for decades after brothers got it with the 15th amendment because the 15th amendment did not give black women the the right to vote right and we talk about all the black

representation in reconstruction black women didn't get to participate in that and so this is a particularly important moment for for black women i think we need to lean into that and as brothers that i know that you roll in my brother Damon, who's on here, falls in this category, you know, we've really got to lift that up unapologetically that this is a special and historic moment for sisters and lean into that historic nature of that. Indeed. Glenda, Rebecca, Cliff, and Damon, I sure appreciate y'all joining us to share your thoughts and perspective on this historic occasion. Thanks for having me, folks. Folks, Judge Brown Jackson. She spoke today and we talked about what moved folks to tears. Here's what she said. Are telling me that they see now more than ever that here in America anything is possible.

They also tell me that I'm a role model which I take both as an opportunity and as a huge responsibility. I am feeling up to the task primarily because I know that I am not alone. I am standing on the shoulders of my own role models, generations of Americans who never had anything close to this kind of opportunity, but who got up every day and went to work believing in the promise of America, showing others through their determination and, yes, their perseverance that good, good things can be done in this great country.

From my grandparents on both sides, who had only a grade school education but instilled in my parents the importance of learning, to my parents, who went to racially segregated schools growing up and were the first in their families to have the chance to go to college. I am also ever buoyed by the leadership of generations past who helped to light the way, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Justice Thurgood Marshall, and my personal heroine, Judge Constance Baker Motley. They and so many others did the heavy lifting I am proud to say that I am the first person to be named Justice Justice Baker Motley.

They and so many others did the heavy lifting that made this day possible. And for all of the talk of this historic nomination and now confirmation, I think of them as the true path breakers. I am just the very lucky first inheritor of the dream of liberty and justice for all. To be sure, I have worked hard to get to this point in my career, and I have now achieved something far beyond anything my

grandparents could have possibly ever imagined. But no one does this on their own. The path was cleared for me so that I might rise to this occasion. And in the poetic words of Dr. Maya Angelou, I do so now while bringing the gifts my ancestors gave. I am the dream and the hope of the slave. Powerful, powerful words there. There were a couple of people that President Joe Biden shouted out. One of them was a Senate staffer whose Senator Dick Durbin had talked about doing the confirmation hearings. Mrs. Roberts. She worked, I think she's a staffer,

she works on the cleaning crew, I believe, and she wanted to just to be in that room during her confirmation hearings. Well, she also was there in attendance today. But the president also spoke about a very young girl who also was there today as well. But the truth is, she's already impacting the lives of so many Americans. During the hearing, Dick spoke about a custodial worker who works a night shift at the Capitol.

Her name is Verona Clemens. Verona, where are you? Stand up, Verona. I wanted to see you. You don't mind. She told them what this nomination meant to her. So I invited Miss Clemens to attend the hearing because she wanted to see, hear and stand by Judge Jackson. Thank you, Verona. Thank you. thank you, thank you. At her meeting with Judge Jackson, Senator Duckworth introduced her to 11-year-old, is it Vivian? Vivian. Vivian. I'm sorry, Vivian. That's her. Is that your sister? He's pointing. Who was so inspired by the hearing, she wants to be a Supreme

Court justice when she grows up. God love you. Stand up, honey. Am I gonna embarrass you by asking you to stand up? Come on, stand. There's tens of thousands of meetings all through the entire United States. She met Judge Jackson and saw her future. It means you're here today, and thank you for coming, honey. I know I embarrassed you by introducing you, but thank you. People of every generation, of every race, of every background felt this moment, and they feel it now. They feel a sense of pride and hope and belonging and believing

and knowing the promise of America includes everybody. You know, one of the things that I hate at these White House events, they always keep the camera on the podium, so you never actually get to see the person who is speaking. And I actually caught up with Vivian Price as well as her brother August and her sister Eleanor, who was actually bothering all three of them as they were leaving the White House grounds. How y'all doing? Hello. How are you?

All good. So you got a big shout out today. Yeah. Just share your thoughts and all of y'all's as, just about being here, watching history. We didn't know that, like, we didn't know that I was going to be mentioned. Or, like, what was really going on. Because we were actually in the back section until somebody came up to us and told us that we were in, like, the wrong spot in section. Yeah, that we, in like the wrong spot in section. Yeah, that we in fact had a spot.

And also if you told me that we'd be here today, I would not believe you. I literally would. All right then. There's always a little sister, a little brother who's always interrupting things. We also caught up with a number of other people who were there who shared their thoughts and

reflections about witnessing this historic day. This is what they all had to say. Oh, Roland Martin and the United States of America, this is Frederica Wilson from the 305 Miami, Florida, we just had the opportunity to witness the groundbreaking confirmation voting hearing of Katonji Brown Jackson, a graduate of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and as a former principal, I am bursting with pride. She has broken the glass ceiling and glasses covering the streets of Miami-Dade as people paint her pictures all over the city. All kinds of likenesses of this young woman is being

drawn by little girls in school. Ketanji Brown Jackson, Miami, Florida. Bring it home, Ketanji. I got it. Representative Plaskett, just your thoughts about today and this history. Happy KBJ to all of America. Thank you so much, Roland, for being out here. This is just an amazing day, not only for America, but of course for black women. When she expressed the words of Maya Angelou about our ancestors and them coming before and she's the recipient and is coming with the gifts that they had, that was the most for me. We're going to continue to be a better America. And Roland, I know you're going to keep us in line to do that as well.

I appreciate it. Thanks so much. Thank you. All right. All right. Barbara. Yes. You just shared with our folks about today's history. Well, I thought it was bottled up joy. For a minute, I said, I am back in America.

I felt for the last four years I was someplace else where black women were spoken evil of by President Trump. But now I felt today that it is worth the pain, the suffering that we have done to give our nation a blessing of a woman with so much aptitude, so much understanding, that she represents not only us, but the future of democracy. And so I almost felt this breaking down and crying, and the woman next to me was crying, because we just felt restored. We know it's just for a moment, but this moment is enough to keep us going and fighting for a moment just like this one.

I thought today was some kind of wonderful—I mean, the Justice's talk made us really believe that Justice will roll down like a mighty stream for all American citizens because of her appointment today. We're blessed to have her on that seat. This is why we vote. When we vote, when we come out, it's material. And there's no history that can erase what just happened. And I can't wait to see what she says.

Because when the justice expressed that she is the dreams and the hope of the slave, we knew exactly what she meant and that our promise is still laying before us. But I have to say, overall, this is why we voted. And we have to keep doing it again. She's going to need more friends, more girlfriends on that bench. Today is monumental. This is why we voted, and we have to keep doing it again. She's gonna need more friends, more girlfriends on that bench. Today is monumental. I mean, the fact that we are seeing history celebrated, to go from segregation to the Supreme Court,

I mean, when she said that today, it just touched my heart. One generation. Yes, yes. Oh my gosh, one generation. This is just a historic day, but I mean, we were just so touched with her words. And when she started quoting Maya Angelou's poem, to just know how far we've come, but that we finally get a chance to see this day and to be able to celebrate this day. She is the first.

She will not be the last. That's right. That's right. Got it. Jamie, Roland. What's on your mind? Listen, man, it was a beautiful, beautiful event today. You know, Roland, I think you and I were both there when this promise was first made.

And that was in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2020 at the debate there. And it's great to be full circle, to see the promise being kept. And now we are about to see the first African-American woman sitting on the Supreme Court. It is a great day in America. It's a beautiful day.

It's a wonderful day. When the D9 is together, it's a wonderful day in America. We're loving up on each other. Katonji just made history and preached the sermon. We thank God for this moment. One generation from slavery to the Supreme Court. Absolutely.

And still we rise. We love you. Proud of you too, Roland. And still we rise. Keep the network going. Yes, we're here. On our behalf, still we rise. I appreciate you.

Watching the faces of all those young children who were talking and acknowledging how powerful it was, and then watching the tears of all of us old folks. That's the real deal right there. It defined the moment in the history of America. It defined the moment. Glad to be here. Glad to witness it.

I want to tell you, she started off judicial-like with her speech and she ended up like Ben Crump. I was impressed with the remarks. Rashad, your thoughts? I think it was one of the most important speeches we have seen in a generation, and it's going to be important for all of us moving forward. But more important is what she's going to do on the courts. So it was a great day.

All right. All right. How's it going? Hey. Your thoughts on today? Oh, my goodness. I cannot possibly capture how important this moment is, how emotional it is for all of us, and what the future will bring because of Judge Jackson being the first black woman on the Supreme Court of the United States of America. Yes! Yes! Jim, share your thoughts.

Whether you are religious or not, God smiled on this day with sunshine. This sunshine provides a light of hope for all of us. This is a day the kids are watching. A lot of children are watching this. And one generation, surrogates to the Supreme Court. I am the child, the dream, and the slave.

She is going to influence the Supreme Court and the country for years ahead. So this is a historic day. We needed this. A lot of us needed a day like this. This is a day for all of us. Glorious day, glorious moment, glorious history. I am blessed to be here and be here with you.

Ketanji Brown Jackson and I have talked at Harvard for the past three years, and I've watched her brilliance talking about procedure. But today, she thought more about passion from, in her words, Roland Martin, from segregation to the Supreme Court and one generation. Thurgood Marshall, Constance Baker Motley, they were smiling down from heaven on that queen. What

a day. It's herstory. I am speechless to go from—we gave birth to this nation to fighting for so much and now to finally have representation at the highest court of the land. It's overwhelming. I'm still in tears. And she understands what this means for us. All right.

Sonny? I don't even know if I should be on air, because I have been crying. Right, LaTosha? It's been so momentous. Her words, I think, will go down in history as one of the most important speeches in our country. It was right on time. She talked about the fact that she is the hope and dreams

of the slave, really quoting Dr. Maya Angelou. And we've arrived. We have arrived. It was absolutely beautiful. It was beautiful. I'm trying to get myself together now, too. So I'll see you soon. I'm getting myself together.

But it was really a historic moment. And it was so much authenticity and so much power and spirit. And whenever you open up, first give an honor to God. Listen. All right. Listen, it was beautiful. All right. Congresswoman, your thoughts today?

You know, waking up this morning, I was, it was like, you know, Christmas Day. It's just been surreal, euphoric, just incredible, awe-inspiring. And I want to say this, Ketanji, y'all going to learn today. They will never mispronounce that name ever again, although we're only going to call it Justice Jackson. But, you know, it's just been incredible, incredible. Glorious day. Can't wait to see her legacy begin.

And I want to say also I'm thinking about Thurgood today as well. No, it was historic. The fact that her statement summed it up, that in one generation, she's — her family has gone from segregation to the Supreme Court. That's the American story. That's the story of the fight that black people have put forth to ensure that democracy worked for all. Our theme is when you fight, we win.

And this is another example of winning. Reverend, always good to see you. Who the matter? We were in the Reconstruction. The Congress of Black Reconstruction, Public Education, the Black and White kids alike, except the right way to cut it off. They're trying to cut it off again.

They're trying to do a repeat last century, trying to diminish the vote. But I think a lot of them are focused on what they're trying to do, unregistered black voters. I popularized that. I was in Arkansas last week. Two and a fifth thousand blacks unregistered. They registered. It changed the course of Arkansas. A black governor in the U.S. across the South, we always work harder. We're working on people and getting them out to vote, not just from the direction to our success. The President President Obama All right, Reverend, always good to see you. David Johns?

Mr. I am privileged to bear witness to this moment. I'm thankful for black women. They are responsible for everything great in the world. And I'm thankful that our ancestors conspired to make today happen. The President All right, appreciate it. Mark Morial. Hey, Roland.

Hey, today was I call it an oasis day, a day of celebration, a day of reflection, a day to celebrate an incredible black woman who not only makes history, but who is destined to even make more history as a member of the Supreme Court. So I think we all sat there and said, boy, it took a lot. It took tremendous effort. It took many people paving the way. And her remarks were just perfect, particularly the way she ended it. So it's a day of joy and a day of celebration. And now it's back to work. All right. Michael Dyson. Yes, sir. Got a few words about today? My God, it was incredible. Here was a woman who summed up the whole range of history

in the last hundred years. She began with segregation and talked about in one generation. She's on a Supreme Court. But by ending with Maya Angelou, I am the dream be a slave. I'm not saying that I'm not going to be a slave. I'm not saying that I'm not going to be a slave. I'm not saying that I'm not going to be a slave.

I'm not saying that I'm not going to be a slave. I'm not saying that I'm not going to be a slave. I'm not saying that I'm not going to be a slave. I'm not saying that I'm not going to be a slave.

I'm not saying that I'm not going to be a slave. I'm not saying that I'm not going to be a slave. I'm not saying that I'm not going to be a slave. I'm not saying that I'm not going to be a slave. I'm not saying that I'm not going to be a slave. I'm not saying that I'm not going to be a slave. So why ain't they been running the United States of America and certainly on the Supreme Court? It's a great day.

It's a great day to be here to celebrate her. God bless all black women in America. I appreciate it. All right, Judith Brown-Diaz, I know you got something to say about being here. Yes! 233 years, and a black woman has finally made it for, not only for black lawyers, but for black girls,

for our community, and for America. She's gonna throw down on all the important issues. only for black lawyers but for black girls for our community and for America she's gonna throw down on all the important issues so I needed tissues to get through the day but the sister had powerful words quoting Maya Angelou and acknowledging from slavery to this absolutely powerful for her to say to quote Maya Angelou towards the end of that speech after extending her appreciation, captured everything, the hope of the slave. And so when we think of all that we've been through to come to this point, it says so

much. She handled herself brilliantly, showing the same poise and composure that she showed during the vicious hearings. And so I'm proud of her. And again, it lets us know what we all can do. Well, I mean, my heart is full. When she made her statement that her family started in segregation and now ends in the Supreme Court in one generation. Those were very, very powerful words because most black folks had that same kind of story where our origins are in slavery and segregation. And to see her with her grace, her intellect, and her ability and her parents there to witness it in pride. It was a beautiful day. I was I was surrounded by black women,

mayors, attorney generals who were just beaming with pride and knowing how incredible this moment was, because when you see something like that happen, what it tells you is what seemed impossible is actually possible. It was a beautiful, beautiful moment that I will never forget for the rest of my life, and I was grateful to be here. Folks, about an hour ago, the White House released the first official portrait of Judge

Katonji Brown Jackson. This is it right here. That is her first official portrait. There, of course, there will be the actual Supreme Court photo once she is sworn in and she is actually provided her Supreme Court justice robe. My panel, Matt Manning, civil rights attorney, Kelly Bethea, communication strategist, Michael Imhotep host, the African History Network show. I also hope folks watching understand what you just witnessed is what happens

when you support black-owned media. Because just so y'all know, the White House at the event, we were all behind the barricades, and when it was over, they would not let us actually go interview the people who were attending.

I was not particularly happy with that. Yes, I've already made my feelings known about that. I said, it kind of don't make any sense having all these folks here. We can't actually talk to them. So we had to actually leave the White House grounds, walk, Lauren Burke and I walked all the way around to the, literally, the entrance was like right there. But we had to literally go out the White House, go all through the front to the side

to capture those folks there. And so that's what we did. And there were no other media out there. And so it was important for, I felt, for us to hear from those voices, the people who were sitting in there. And so that was important. So when y'all support us,

we're able to buy the cameras, send staff. In this case, that was me to do these things. That's why it's important, because otherwise, if you watch the other network shows, all you're going to see are just the speeches from the platform. No, the reaction was also critically important. And Kelly, I'll start with you. That was the thing that you saw that, you know, especially each one of those black women, they remarked about what they what they saw, what they heard. And when she quoted Maya Angelou, that also really brought it home? It really did. Um, I've been kind of sort of emotional most of this afternoon, uh, primarily because of, of this speech and just seeing what justice, uh, soon to be Justice Jackson, uh, Brown Jackson has gone through. Um, it, it just was a reflection of what I've seen so many other Black women go through, trying

to get to where they are in their respective careers, in their respective positions. The vitriol, the ridicule, the belittling, the diminishing of accomplishments on the side of the bigots. And then on the side

that is right, the side of the Black woman trying and then on the side that is right, the side of the Black woman trying to get to where she is, the grace that she had to exhibit, the poise she had to exhibit, the joy she had to exhibit in order to be presentable and be deemed worthy, even though she already is. The level of excellence was just

above and beyond in those confirmation hearings. And while she was already worthy, it was evident during these confirmation hearings that she was the one who was supposed to be on this bench. And finally, seeing that it was a bipartisan support, even though it was only, what, three Republicans who voted for her, the fact that there was some modicum of decency on the GOP side to confirm her, the fact that she has been affirmed by the president of the United States and every single colleague who matters in her regard. It just felt like anything is possible today. This was a wonderful way to end a stressful week, for sure.

And I can only imagine what she is feeling as the first Black woman Supreme Court justice. I am so excited for her. I am excited to read her opinions. I am excited to hear recordings opinions. I am excited to hear recordings of her on the bench. I'm excited to read the books that inevitably will come out on her behalf, books that she will write. I'm excited for the law clerks that are going to be learning under her, who will be under her tutelage, who will be out there in the world after their clerkships with her

to even make better law, to interpret the law better, to do whatever they want to do in their respective careers, all because this one woman was brave enough to stand up to basically just white supremacy and bigotry. And not only did she stand up to it, she succeeded and stepped over it. And it is just an overwhelming feeling to know that it is possible and that she's going to continue this work.

You know, um, Matt, I-I really hope... And I've been watching the comments, and I've been watching the comments, and I've been looking at how people have been commenting, and I think you've got a lot of people today who are cynical for their own reasons. But I really think brothers out there who are watching us, who are listening to us, need, someone needs to chill the hell out to understand that this has always been a paternalistic country. Now, we talk about white supremacy. We also have to understand it is paternalistic.

Because when you go back to those reconstruction amendments, folks say black folks got the right to vote. No, black men got the right to vote. Women still did not have the right to vote. So brothers, men need to be cognizant of what moments like this mean, what it meant when Sandra Day O'Connor became the first woman on the Supreme Court,

when Sonia Sotomayor became the first Latina on the Supreme Court, and Katonji Brown Jackson becoming the first African-American woman on the Supreme Court. Ionji Brown Jackson becoming the first African-American woman on the Supreme Court? I think you nailed it, Roland. I actually teach constitutional law to undergrads. And what people don't know is the level of scrutiny that's used when a case involves suspect classifications of women is lower than any other level relative to that importance. It's intermediate scrutiny rather than strict

scrutiny. And your point is well taken in that this is not about us. This is about Black women, and this is about Black women's excellence yet again being on display, being devalued, but nonetheless carrying the day. As Proverbs 18, 16 says, a man's gift makes room for him. And Judge Jackson's gift or Justice Jackson's gift has made room for her. At every stage of her practice, she has been impeccable. We have seen that she was impeccable at Harvard. She was impeccable in the law review. She's been impeccable as a public defender and on the bench for many years and in many different areas of service. So brothers need to chill. And this needs to be about her and about

the black women that have given us life, that continue to give us life, continue to pour into us and continue to be at the highest level of excellence wherever they are. This is just emblematic of all the sisters that we know who have done this kind of work at this level and who haven't always gotten the credit. And thankfully, she understood that and gave the credit not only to the ancestors, but to those with whom she stands today. And you know, Michael, a lot of times you'll hear men when they have daughters all of a sudden

begin to see why these things matter. I don't have children. I don't need to have children to know what this means. I don't need to say, oh, I have a daughter, so now I see what it means to have a woman, a black woman, ascend to the highest court in the land. And that has to be stated. That has to be said. I remember when Loretta Lynch was being, her confirmation hearing as the first black female attorney general was being held up. And I saw black women going to the U.S. Capitol, marching and protesting. And I kept saying, where in the hell are the brothers?

Where are the black male civil rights leaders? They were holding news conferences, but they were not leading black men to Capitol Hill demanding for her to be confirmed. And so I put the call out to Reverend Jamal Bryant, to Jeff Johnson, and we organized 200 Brothers for Loretta Lynch because I felt people needed to see black men standing up for a black woman

trying to become attorney general. And that's sort of how I see this as well. Yeah, you know, Roland, that's, I think, an extremely important point. And for us to really understand history also, you talked about the 15th Amendment, February 3rd, 1870. It's only for African-American men. It wasn't until the 19th Amendment, 1920 that women got the right to vote, but that was mainly largely white women because in those former Confederate states where they still had Jim Crow laws and poll taxes and things like this,

African-American women couldn't vote either. Okay? So, and then when you look at the Civil Rights Movement, and you know this, Roland, you've talked about this as well. You talked about Ella Baker who left the SCLC that she helped co-found in 1957 with Dr. King because she was passed over for a permanent leadership position because Dr. King and others didn't think that women should have leadership positions in the movement. So when we look at the civil rights movement, one of the things that does not get talked about is the sexism in the civil rights movement. The civil rights movement was largely led by male Protestant reverends, ministers, things like this. There was sexism, even though we love Dr. King and others and Ralph Abernathy, things like this.

There was sexism there. We're still dealing with a lot of that today. So, you know, this is monumental, but we have to connect this to the vote. Everything is connected to the vote. Politics is the legal distribution that scares wealth, power, and resources, and the writing of laws, statutes, ordinances,

amendments, and treaties, their adoption, interpretation, and enforcement. Here, and all you have to do is look at the Republicans who walked out of the Senate chambers yesterday after she was confirmed. The only one that was left behind was Mitt Romney, who voted for her, and he was clapping. You see all these white men walking out in disgust, OK, because that was not supposed to happen. And then you look at the comments from Senator Mitch McConnell

when he was interviewed by Axios, and he's telling you, look, if Republicans take back control of the Senate, they're gonna block any more Supreme Court nominations, but also federal bench nominations as well. So we have to... We can celebrate today, but this is a war. And these... And these... These...

This white nationalist party, they're playing for keeps. We don't understand history. Indeed, indeed. All right, folks, got to go to a break. When we come back, we're going to get an update on what's happening in Mason, Tennessee. We'll also cover some other news of the day. Folks, you want to support what we are doing when you see us traveling and covering stories.

And it's not just me being at the White House. While I was at the White House, another two of our other team members were setting up and we live streamed the Black Women's Roundtable event at a restaurant here in Washington, D.C. You can see that event on the Blackstar Network app. And so all these things are happening at the same time. Your resources make it possible for us to do what we do.

And so please join our Bring the Funk fan club, send your check and money orders to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037. The Cash app is dollar, RM Unfiltered. That's the only one that we have. RM Unfiltered, I'm very close. I had to cuss out Cash app again to take down those six fraudulent accounts.

Two are still up. I'm getting those other two knocked out. Cash app, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered. PayPal is RMartin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinunfiltered. Venmo is rmunfiltered. Zelle is roland at rolandsmartin.com. Roland at rolandmartinunfiltered.com. We'll be right back.

You know that this is what I wanted. I think right after high school, because in high school I was in all the plays. I was always funny, but I didn't know nobody would pay me for it, you know? And then I saw Eddie Murphy, this was like 84 when I saw Eddie Murphy. Eddie Murphy was the hottest thing in the whole wide world. Not just comedy, but anywhere. He saved Saturday Night Live.

If he hadn't started that, that show would be gone. He had done 48 hours, trading places, his first Beverly Hills top, could wear the hell out of a red leather suit, and he wasn't but 23 years old. He was rich enough to pee cream, and he got all that telling jokes. I said, shit, I've been funny my whole life.

I didn't know people gave you money like that, so I went and got some Red Fox albums. I went down to my mama's basement, where I was living anyway, and I stood in that mirror and played them albums and them jokes until I could tell them like they were mad. Wow. And that started me doing jokes, and then them albums and them jokes until I could tell them like they were mad. Wow. And that started me doing jokes.

And then I went and did comedy in the street. I was standing on State Street, telling jokes that passed my hat. And white folks would come up and just hand me money. And I liked it. 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. Thank you. First, get into the bins over the window seats. These are the only bins that will accommodate larger rollerboards. You put 10 in here? 10, and you don't come out until you die.

And you eat him, he pooped him. Oh my God. You know what? You die. And you eat him. And you poop me. Oh my god. All right, folks. Part six of our docuseries, 1619 to 2019, the year of return, My Trip to Ghana, airs right after tonight's show. Trust me, you don't want to miss it. It's a fabulous, fabulous show.

If you missed the previous five, simply go to the Black Star Network app and you can see all five of the previous parts. And so trust me, something that you definitely want to check out. Yesterday, there was a hearing in Nashville with regards to the lawsuit against the Tennessee state controller on behalf of the city of Mason, Tennessee. NAACP, the father of the particular lawsuit, the comptroller, of course, has decided he's going to take over the finances of the city. The NAACP calls that unfair. Joining us right now is the vice mayor of the city of Mason. We've had her on before. We appreciate her coming back to tell us what's going on.

Virginia Rivers, glad to have you, Vice Mayor Rivers. So, what happened in the hearing? Well, we went in and our attorney defended us really well. They did a wonderful job. So,

we won't get the verdict until April 15, according to the judge. She will give us that verdict then. So you've got some time here. And what was the rationale offered by the state of Tennessee to deny what the NAACP is seeking seeking to stop their efforts? Well, basically, they wanted them to deny it based on the fact of the past history of the audits not being turned in on time

or the fact of what has... Basically, it was all based on the past, things that have happened in the past. They didn't focus on what we have done in the last four years. I'll say three and a half years. They didn't focus on that at all. They were more concerned with the past. That's basically what he talked about is what wasn't done in the past or how it was the audience was behind, the amount of money that was behind. He never discussed where we were now. But what he did is make a statement that the numbers that we are saying

we are at now is just an estimate. It's not true numbers, which wasn't true because the comptroller's audit came in after the meeting with MindPower to verify our numbers. And in the process of verifying our numbers, before they left, they said everything looked good. So with that being said, that means that if they verified the numbers and then re-sent out an order for us to follow, then the numbers had to have been correct. So I don't know why he would make that statement in the hearing that the number was just an estimate. That is exactly where we are now. So that's where you are now,

and we'll know in a little more than 20 days what the judge's decision is. Yes, sir. All right, then. Well, look, we're going to continue giving folks an update on what's going on, obviously. So as of right now, Comptroller does have control over your finances, and so the goal here is to get him to relinquish that back to the city, correct? Yes. The goal is for them to, yes, I'll just say to relinquish back to us that we can take

control of our own finances and to just back off. I mean, because we have came a long ways. What they're not looking at and what they won't tell anybody about or bring forward is the fact, okay, we come from where the town was almost a million dollars in debt because that's how much almost was taken from the town. And here we are now, all we owe is $250-some thousand,

and you're still talking about we're not capable of running our city. They're not even considering that. It's just determined that them coming in and taking over our finance or controlling our finance by telling us that we can't spend but $100 without their permission, anything over the $100, then we'll have to continue, call and ask them for permission to pay that bill or permission to file for grants.

All right, then. Vice Mayor Virginia Rivers, we certainly appreciate it. Let us know what happens next. I will. Thank you for having me on. I appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Folks, on March 27th, a black college student disarmed a gunman at a restaurant.

His reward was getting shot four times by San Jose, California, police officers. Kayon Green has filed a lawsuit. He and his attorney, Udante Point, join us from Oakland, California. Gentlemen, how are you? I'm well, sir. How about yourself? Doing great. So what actually happened here?

And how in the hell did you end up the one being shot by cops? Honestly, I don't know. I was just trying to protect me and my friend. How in the hell did you end up being shot by cops? Honestly, I don't know. I was just trying to protect me and my friend. That's all. I just wanted to get out of there and make sure we could get home safe. But unfortunately, I was shot by the people who were supposed to be doing what I was doing. So when you say you were trying to protect your friend, so walk us through what happened. You're in the restaurant.

Then what? A gunman storms so walk us through what happened. You're in the restaurant, then what? A gunman storms in? Tell us what happened. Um, no, it was just a... kind of like a conflict started between another person and I, and honestly, I just tried to de-escalate it, but once I was hit, as you can see in the video, I just had to defend myself,

as what anybody else would do. So we're showing the video right now. And is that you on top of the gunman? No, that's me on top of his friend. The gunman is actually being apprehended by my friend right there. My friend is also a hero. He was tussling

with the guy for a long time. So your friend is... He's holding him. He's holding the guy right now. So your friend is standing up. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I'm walking out. I thought my friend was going to follow me. I was

unaware that there was a gun at the time. Got it. And so this is another camera angle right here, correct? Yes, and I come back in at the bottom left. Okay. And we begin to fight a little bit. So one guy had a gun? Yes.

And that's my friend and him are tussling for it right now. On the right side or left side? Left side. Gotcha. And you are in the black shirt on top of the guy here. And this right here is when I get the gun. That's when I realized there was a gun. I tried to grab my friend and walk out, but he asked for help.

Honestly, I didn't know why he was asking for help, but once I saw it, I just helped him out and I was able to grab the gun. Got it. And so at what point then, so is this y'all leaving the restaurant? Walk us through this video here. Okay, right there.

I'm just trying to back out. I'm telling the guys, like, man, we just want to go home. We're athletes. We don't want to shoot anybody. We don't want to hurt anybody. We're just trying to walk out of there. And as you can see, the guy is grabbing me by my clothing. And I'm just backing out. I never once pointed

the gun at anybody. And then right after that, I turned around, and the police were right there. So when you... So all of a sudden, so is there no video of the police shooting? Oh, no, there's multiple videos.

They just haven't posted them. I'm pretty sure the officer, they have body cam, and also somebody recorded from, I believe, the right of the taqueria of them shooting. Right there. That's the video right there. You can see it. But the officers haven't dropped the body cam yet.

Udante Point. So, again, what is weird here, and this is one of those things where, obviously, officers, you come onto the scene trying to ascertain who's who. How in the world does your client, the one, end up being shot? You're on mute. You're on mute. Now keep talking. Let's see if we have your audio up. Go ahead.

Am I better now? Yeah, we're good. Go ahead. Great. Yeah, my client winds up getting shot because the officers failed to just follow basic common sense and, frankly, their training, as opposed to assessing the scene to determine what's going on and not rushing into what was a crowded restaurant

with any number of people in there, and they don't know who's innocent versus who are the bad guys. And instead, they should have formed a perimeter and essentially given orders for people to come out with their hands up and done this in a more orderly fashion. Instead, they rushed in, guns blazing, and it wound up with my client being shot as he's inching his way with his back to the police and his back to the street. So my client essentially has the door propped up with his left hand. And in his left hand, he has the gun, and the gun is pointed in the air. The police in their press conference claim that the gun was pointed at people. It's certainly, even from the video that the gun was pointed at people. It certainly, even from the video that the police have released

up till now, edited videos, they cherry-picked what they made available to the public. But it does not show my client pointing the gun at the police. It certainly doesn't show him pointing the gun at anyone in the restaurant when he was shot. So that begs the question, what was the basis, the lawful basis for the police to ever shoot and fire a single shot? And I submit, based upon the information that I have from my investigation and the videos and the pictures that the police show, there was no lawful reason to fire that shot. And in fact, what I think is very telling here is that only one officer fired. But there were several officers there, if you look at that bystander video,

but only one officer shot. So that leads us to the conclusion that that officer overreacted. That officer, maybe he panicked. That officer misperceived what he thought was an imminent threat. But he was the only person to see it that way. And unfortunately, my client paid the price for his grave mistake. Fortunately, we're here today and you can interview him and I can represent the young man and get to know this great young man and hopefully get him back on the road toward his goal of continuing with his education in a four-year university and perhaps an NFL career, as opposed to talking about and placing pictures up on the screen and talking about how nice of a young man he was while he was alive, but, tragically, the police killed him. But he was really only an inch away from losing his life. And that is a shame.

And that's why we filed a federal civil rights lawsuit. This reminds me of the security guard, the black security guard in Illinois, who broke up a fight and cops come on the scene. They shoot the security guy, the bouncer, and people were yelling, what are you doing? And because, again, how the laws are, they walked away. They were never indicted or charged. As a result, and that brother, he's dead. Yes.

And fortunately, you know, that wasn't the case here in terms of the ultimate price that that brother, who was a security guard, paid with his life. Here, Mr. Green survived. And now he's in the fight of his life to regain the life that he had worked for, to regain his hopes and dreams, and is on the long road to recovery. And he's fighting just as hard to regain that life as he had to when he was in that restaurant to protect not only his life, but the life of everyone else in that restaurant.

Kayon, are you still impacted by the shooting? Were you able to continue playing football? Are you still any after effects from those gunshot wounds? I'm affected tremendously, sir. Honestly, I still get flashbacks of it. I keep, you know, I constantly see myself looking at my hands, and I had all the blood on my hands. I see that every night, and it's hard to sleep.

And also, I can't play football this season. I don't know when I'll be back. I can't run. I can't do anything. I can't play football this season. I don't know when I'll be back. Yeah, I can't run. I can't do anything. I can't lift weights anymore as of right now. Hopefully, I'll get back to that though. You were shot four times. Where were you shot? I was shot once in my knee, twice in my arm, and once in my stomach. Man. Questions from my panel. and once in my stomach. Man. Questions from my panel. Matt Manning, you're first.

Yeah, my question is how the police have not immediately gotten rid of you as a suspect. I mean, presumably they have surveillance video from the entire restaurant where they can see the beginning of the confrontation. They can see that the gun was not pulled out by you, and they can see that you were defending yourself and other people in the restaurant. I'm a former prosecutor. It seems pretty basic. What have they told you and your attorney, Mr. Point, about why they haven't immediately invalidated you as a suspect? Honestly, we haven't heard anything. I haven't heard anything from them. No, no sorrys. a criminal suspect while he was in the hospital. And then after he was released, they had this press conference where they tried to justify their conduct.

But not in one time. And all they had to do was one sentence out of the thousands that they uttered to try to explain away their bad conduct. Did they ever apologize? Did they ever say, you know, we got this wrong, we made a mistake, or simply offer words of support for someone that they knew was a hero, that they knew hadn't done anything wrong? Instead, it's the same playbook that we see repeated over and over and over again throughout this country dealing with the police, which is they want to explain it away, and then they want to victim shame and present it as if the person who was the victim decided or brought the victimization on themselves. But that's also why we're filing

the lawsuit, because it was clear to me and clear to Keon, as well as his family, that the city of San Jose and their police department, you know, don't have the best of intentions for someone who is a hero. Instead, they want to mitigate the damages and force this young man to fight for justice. And we're here to do that. Yes, sir. That, I'm sorry if I. Go ahead. Don't have to fuck anybody. No, go ahead. Yeah, that hurt me pretty badly when I got in the hospital and I finally

was able to watch the news and they were saying that I pointed the guns at the officers. It's just like, how can you get that wrong? Out of everything that goes on, as a young black man, I'm pretty sure everybody my age knows to never do anything like this. It just kind of

hurt me, the picture that they painted to try to pay me as a criminal when I've never once put myself in that position. Always try to do right and go the other way, which is right. Kelly? First and foremost, I am so sorry, Mr. Green, that you had

to go through this trauma, because that's exactly what this is, and I'm actually looking through the Green, that you had to go through this trauma, because that's exactly what this is. And I'm actually looking through the complaint that your lawyer has so beautifully drafted, and I paused at, uh, Section 23, or Clause 23, rather, where they... Uh, it says that you were handcuffed to your hospital bed and wasn't able to see your family

for three days until after the incident? Yes, ma'am. How, I mean, given, one, you were shot, two, you were assaulted, I mean, how are you dealing with this trauma? Because that's exactly what this is. It is trauma upon trauma. How are you reconciling being a hero in the situation?

How are you reconciling that truth with the fact that you've been so demonized? That's my first question. And to follow up, how can we support you guys in this endeavor so that you can be made as whole as you can from your community until the trial is over, of course. Okay, well, I'll start off with dealing with the trauma.

Honestly, it's very hard. It's not something that I ever thought I'd be going through, but something that helps me is like just being here, being around my mother. I am at my mother's house, just being around my mother, being around my little sisters. That kind of helps me a lot. But at the same time, you know,

it's all fine and dandy when people are around, but once you're by yourself and you're in the room alone, and then all those memories just come back, it hurts. It doesn't. Are you in therapy? No, not yet. Not yet, ma'am. But I will seek out to get help.

Michael. Well, first of all, Kion, you know, we're grateful that you're still alive because, I mean, this is a crazy situation and you truly are a hero as well. But for Attorney Pointer, and maybe, Kay, I may want to answer this as well. So in looking over this information, you hit on something that's really, really important, Attorney Pointer. You said only one police officer fired four shots, only one police officer fired. So my question is, one, how many officers were there on the scene? Two, how has the San Jose police chief, Anthony Mata, addressed

while only one officer fired, shocked, and the other ones didn't? No, they have not addressed it. They've only said what they thought, not what they knew. It's kind of weird. And also, I don't know.

I really didn't know how many people were there. It happened so fast. I just turned around and they were right in my face. I didn't have a chance to react at all. I was just being shot after I turned around and saw it. So what's clear here, and you hit on it, is that, you know, there were several officers. If you look from that bystander video, which is a video that was posted to YouTube, which you showed earlier in this segment, that's from outside the restaurant. You see that there's, you know, you can count two, three, four, five, maybe six or seven officers there, right?

And they're all within the same or similar position. Only one officer fired. So that to me is indicative that there was not an imminent threat, because if there was and Mr. Green had pointed the weapon at the officers or was in a movement to where it was going to kind of graze the crowd, if you will, then more than one officer would have fired their gun. When you have a situation where there are several police officers right there and only one uses deadly force, that's indicative of the idea and, for me, the fact that I would certainly point out to a jury that this officer

overreacted, that this officer misperceived, had an unreasonable fear, had an unreasonable belief of some type of imminent threat that he responded to. All his other fellow officers didn't fire a single shot. And to answer your other question, no, the police chief did not touch that topic at all during the course of their 30- to 40-minute press conference. Instead, he hid the officer's name and identity and just said that he was a four-year veteran. But to me, that does little to satisfy the public interest in knowing the name of this officer in order to determine, does this officer have a background? Is this the first time he's used,

questionably used deadly force? And so these are all the things that we're demanding, is that if a police department wants to improve the public trust, if the police department wants to continue to police in the public's name, then they need to be transparent. And so they need to release the officer's name. They need to release all of the body cams as well as the surveillance videos so that the public can stand in judgment as to what this officer did. But just based upon the evidence that the police has released to this date and as well as witness interviews that I've conducted, and I'm sure the

police have also talked to, it's clear that Mr. Green was a hero here. He was aggrieved, and he deserves all of the justice that our civil system affords, period. All right. Gentlemen, we appreciate both of you being with us. Please let us know what the outcome of this lawsuit is. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Thank you. Folks, don't forget to download our Blackstart Network app. Our goal is to get 50,000 downloads by May 1st. You can download Apple Phone, Android

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I'll be right back on Rolling Mark and Unfiltered. Did you know that the majority of households headed by African-American women don't own a single share of stock? No wonder the wealth gap continues to widen. Next on Get Wealthy, you're going to hear from a woman who decided to change that. I have been blessed with good positions, good pay, but it wasn't until probably in the last couple of years that I really invested in myself to get knowledge about what I should be doing with that money and how to productively use it. Right here on Get Wealthy on Blackstar Network. We're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it or not. From politics to music and entertainment, it's a huge part of our lives. And we're going to talk about it every day right here on The Culture with me, Faraji Muhammad, only on the Black Star Network. Pull up a chair.

Take your seat. The Black Tape with me, Dr. Greg Carr, here on the Black Star Network. Every week, we'll take a deeper dive into the world we're living in. Join the conversation only on the Black Star Network. When did you know that this is what I wanted? I think right after high school, because in high school I was in all the plays.

Well, I was always funny, but I didn't know nobody would pay me for it, you know? And then I saw Eddie Murphy. This was like 84 when I saw Eddie Murphy. Eddie Murphy was the hottest thing in the whole wide world. Not just comedy, but anywhere. He saved Saturday Night Live. If he hadn't started that, that show would be gone.

He had done 48 hours, trading places. His first Beverly Hills cop could wear the hell out of a red leather suit, and he wasn't but 23 years old. He was rich enough to pee cream and he got all that telling jokes. I said, shit, I've been funny my whole life. I didn't know people give you money like that. So I went and got some Red Fox albums. I went down to my mama's basement where I was living anyway and I stood in that mirror and played them albums and them jokes until I could tell them like they were mad. Wow.

And that started me doing jokes. And then I went and did comedy in the street. I was standing on State Street, tell jokes would pass my hat, and white folks would come up and just hand me money. And I liked it. Hey, Fan Patrol Grooming is a men's grooming company that delivers on this promise every day to men everywhere. Everything we do, every product we make is designed to help you to present your best self.

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at Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Black Star Network is here. Hold no punches! A real revolutionary right now. Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roland. 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? Folks, 17-year-old Norell Bryan has been missing since March 22nd from Arlington, Texas. She is 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighs 140 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Norell has a piercing on the left side of her nose. Anyone with information on Norell Bryant should call the Arlington Police Department at 817-274-4444. Well folks, the verdict is in for the Motion Picture Academy. They are banning Will Smith from attending any Academy events including the Oscars, for 10 years.

The Academy decided today that barring the blockbuster actor would be the consequence of him slapping Chris Rock during the Oscar ceremony last month. The Academy's Board of Governors also accepted the Smith's membership resignation. Smith also issued a statement where he said that he will accept the punishment from the academy as a result of his actions. If I'm looking for that statement, this is, so I'm looking for it. Of course, remember, he issued an apology on March 28th. But again, he has said that he accepts their decision. Kelly, is 10 years too damn long, or is it justified?

I don't even know how to answer that properly. Easy. Say yes or no. I mean, I don't have an opinion on whether it is, you know, justified or not. Should he be banned? Sure. I mean, if that is the repercussion for slapping another celebrity on stage during Hollywood's biggest night, absolutely. But I also am conflicted with the fact that it seems a tad

hypocritical, given the history of racism with the Academy. So maybe because he made a huge spectacle and because the media dragged it on and on and on, maybe that's why they felt like they had to give him 10 years. But I can't help but go back to the fact

that when Hattie McDaniel was nominated for an Oscar as the first Black woman to ever get an Oscar, she had to come through the back just to accept the award. It was just a lot of hypocrisy there. As if this is like the first scandal

that the Oscars have ever encountered, and that this is the only celebrity that has ever done something so egregious. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, this was not the most egregious thing that has happened at the Oscar Awards. So should he have slapped Chris Rock? No. Does he need to be punished? Yes. Whether 10 years is justified, I mean, it depends on how you look at it. This is the statement here. I accept and

respect the Academy's decision. Matt, do you believe this is fair and just? No. No, I don't think it's fair and just. I think it's way overboard, and I think it's for the Academy to look like they're actually doing something. We're talking about one of the biggest celebrities in the entire world. He wouldn't get 10 years for this slap if he were actually criminally prosecuted. Obviously, it'd be different in incarceration, but the point is, they want to look like they're doing something. It doesn't actually matter. I think it's overkill, and I don't think it has any measurable effect on Will Smith or his career. Michael? Well, Roland, number one,

I thought it was going to be something excessive when I saw the article from CNN on Wednesday saying that the Academy, the Board of Governors, were moving their meeting up from April 18th to April 8th. So I said I think they're about to lower the boom on them. I think this is something excessive. I reached out to somebody I think knows more about this than me. My girl, Nikki Rich, who interviews celebrities. And she said she thought it was excessive. Also, she's been to the Oscars, things like that. So I think they were trying to send a message as well that something like this would not be tolerated, but I think

10 years is excessive. I think so as well. I think five years certainly is more than enough, but I think 10 years is indeed excessive as well. Let's talk about another story. Two black coaches have joined Brian Flores in his lawsuit alleging racist hiring practices by the NFL towards coaches and general managers who are African-American.

Steve Wilkes and Ray Horton say they have faced the same discrimination as Brian Flores. Wilkes alleges the Arizona Cardinals discriminated against him in 2018 by only allowing him to be able to serve as one year as head coach, saying he was a bridge between the necks. He said they also then fired him after one year and then hired their current coach, who was a college head coach, Cliff Clingsbury, who sucked, who had a losing record at Texas Tech. Horton claims he was subjected to discriminatory treatment when he interviewed the Tennessee Titans head coaching

position in January of 2016. The amended lawsuit from Flores also criticized the NFL for its response to the lawsuit he brought against it and its team several weeks ago. In that particular amended statement, one of the things that he said is that the

NFL, they've set up this advisory committee that includes two lawyers who have fought people on the issue of racial discrimination. He said they don't have anyone who's actually fought against it. These were attorneys who've defended companies who've been accused of this. Also, what is quite interesting in their amended complaint. They say, without a doubt, that one of the coaches, Horton, and they use the actual words of another coach against the NFL. So, y'all, check this out. You're going to trip out.

So, Mike Malarkey was hired as the head coach of the Tennessee Titans. OK, so he was hired as the head coach. Well, Mike Malarkey gave an interview on a podcast several years later where he literally stated, guess what? The other coach had no shot at getting the job. Check this out. This is from the email that I received from the attorneys of Brian Flores. Check this out, y'all. Horton

interviewed the Tennessee Titans head coaching position in January 2016. They say this turned out to be a completely sham interview done only to comply with the Rooney rule and to demonstrate an appearance of equal opportunity and a false willingness to consider a minority candidate for the position. Indeed, the Titans' all-white ownership and management ultimately hired Mike Malarkey, a white candidate, for the head coach position. Years later, in 2020, Mr. Malarkey admitted

in a podcast interview that the Titans, quote, told me I was going to be the head coach in 2016 before they went through the Rooney Rule. And so I sat there knowing I was the head coach in 2016 as they went through this fake hiring process, knowing a lot of the coaches that they were interviewing, knowing how much they prepared to go through those interviews, knowing that everything they could do and they had no chance to get that job. Matt, how damning is this against the NFL?

You read my mind, Roland, because that's literally the word I was going to use. I think this is incredibly damning because he was the actual coach and he is the one who's in the best position to say what his status was when they were going through the actual coach. And he is the one who's in the best position to say what his status was when they were going through the interview process. When I read that, I was bowled over as well, because for him to say, not only did they tell me I was going to be the coach, but this was an entire sham, and I now feel bad about it, that's going to be extraordinarily powerful evidence

for especially Ray Horton to prove his case, because he's got concrete evidence. Not to say Mr. Wilkes doesn't, but he's got a little harder road to hoe in his case. But as it relates to that, that's extremely damning. And I'm glad that they joined the lawsuit because I think it puts even more credence behind Brian Flores. And it shows, you know, just how rampant this is and how blatant it is. I mean, the idea that you would just tell him he's going to be the coach in 2016, go through the interview. And as Mr. Horton is leaving the building, the idea that you would just tell him he's going to be the coach in 2016, go through the interview, and as Mr. Horton is leaving the building, he sees the eventual person walking in and knows something isn't right. I mean, that's about as powerful as you get in a case like this. So I'm glad that they now have this kinds of evidence behind them even further

buttressing the arguments they've been making thus far. Michael, Steve Wilkes, this is what they say. His white GM, who made poor personnel decisions and was convicted for a DUI during the offseason, was given a contract extension. Mr. Wilkes was replaced by a white coach, Cliff Kingsbury, who had no prior NFL coaching experience and was coming off of multiple losing seasons as a head coach at Texas Tech. Mr. Kingsbury, armed with quarterback Kyler Murray, Heisman Trophy winner,

has been given a much longer leash than Mr. Wilks, and to his credit, has succeeded. That said, Mr. Wilks, given the same opportunity afforded to Mr. Kingsbury, surely would have succeeded as well. I mean, you're sitting here, what's the rationale for hiring an experienced black coordinator, give him one year, fire him, you go get a white

guy from college who had a losing record as a head coach at his alma mater, Texas Tech? Well, Roland, when you look at Brian Flores' original lawsuit, one of the things he talked about were sham interviews that the NFL was doing, just trying to meet the Rooney Rule criteria.

Another thing he talked about is how an African-American head coach would try to rebuild the team, get it to a certain point, get fired, then they bring in a white head coach to take it from there. After the African-American head coach, you know, went through the gutter and brought the

team together, things like this, or we could put it another way as you talk about sharecropping, and then they bring in a white head coach to take over from there and take him to another level. So I hope more head coaches and assistant coaches, things like this, join this lawsuit. You know, like I said before, I haven't watched an NFL game

since Colin Kaepernick got banned from the league, okay? He wasn't officially banned, but, you know, he didn't get hired. So hopefully not only do they get damages from this, but they actually make real changes. And the first thing they need to do at the heart of this, this is about ownership. Who owns these teams? We need African-American ownership, not just head coaches,

because head coaches can be fired. So I want everybody to understand this here. The pro coaching record of Cliff Kingsbury is 24-24-1. Because he's been head coach. No, no, no, no. Let me go to when he was at Texas Tech.

Pull it up, y'all. In six seasons, Cliff Kingsbury had two winning seasons. He went eight and five his first year. He went four and eight his second year. He went seven and six his third year. Then he had three consecutive losing seasons, five and seven, six and seven, five and seven. So in six years at Texas Tech, Cliff Kingsbury coached 75 games. He won 35 games.

He lost 40 games. That means in Cliff Kingsbury's career, he has won a total of 59 games, and he has lost 64 games. So a white coach with a losing record, three consecutive losing seasons, gets a multi-million dollar job in the NFL. So let me, I need everybody understanding this right now, because see, some of y'all

are watching me, and y'all are trying to understand, alright Ro, okay, what's the whole big deal? So allow me to put this in perspective so you can understand what this is really about and that is this here um just hold tight one second because i i gotta show you this uh do this. Do... So you understand what's the deal.

First and foremost, Cliff... And I told y'all. I told y'all he went 24... What did I tell y'all? He went 24... He went 24 and 24. Y'all, that's

break-even. The Arizona Cardinals on March 2nd posted this tweet. We have reached agreements on contract extensions with GM Steve Kime and head coach Cliff Kingsbury. They now are under contract through 2027. So, a head coach who's break-even 24 and 24, y'all, gets a contract extension. Okay. Now, some of y'all are looking at me going, all right, Roland, that's fine. But what's really the big deal?

I'm glad you asked. What you're about to see is what this is all about and why black folks should be in support of Brian Flores. Cliff Kingsbury, y'all, signed a contract with the Arizona Cardinals for $5.5 million a year. Listen to what I just said. $5.5 million a year. That means that if over a four-year period, Cliff Kingsbury will make $22 million. Okay. If you are a coordinator, you might make a million, maybe two. If you are a position coach, wide receivers, running back, offensive line, tight end, you're talking about $500,000, $700,000, $800,000.

So let's say you are a position coach in the NFL. You make $800,000 a year, five years. You made $4 million in five years. Cliff Kingsbury, loser in college, he makes $22 million in five years. Let me just use an example, Kevin Sumlin. Kevin Sumlin was the head coach at Texas A&M University. Settlement was increased to about $5 million a year. He gets fired. He walks away with $25 million.

He signs with Arizona, University of Arizona. He gets fired after three seasons. He walks away with $15 million. So in two settlements, Kevin Sumlin made $40 million with two settlements. What that means is that the children's children of Kevin Sumlin are now rich. Listen to what I just told y'all. The children's children of Kevin Sumlin are now rich.

Over here, black position coach makes $4 million over five years. White head coach makes $22 million over five years. Do y'all now understanding this fight with Brian Flores' waging is not an equality fight. It's not a fight over what's fair in terms of we are just as qualified. Y'all, this is a battle over money. This is a battle over generational wealth. And when you're able to make $5.5 million a year, you now are able to invest in stocks and bonds and businesses. So therefore, the money you make now has even a higher multiple. So when they are freezing black coaches out of head coaching positions, they are directly impacting the ability of black coaches to create wealth, which means they are impacting the black

children of coaches. They're impacting the black grandchildren of coaches. So now all of a sudden, if my dad was a head football coach making 22 million, my dad has five children His five children have 13 children So do you now understand what the battle this is all about? This is about money So when we're frozen out of positions We are frozen out of the ability to be able to build and create wealth. And then what that does is that prevents us from being able to fund civil rights groups, fund HBCUs, fund our fraternities and sororities,

fund under things. So when you freeze black people out of positions, you literally are freezing black people out of being to take their wealth and now be able to do more things with their wealth. And so now we are stuck in this position. And so some of y'all are sitting here saying, hey, man, I don't understand what the big deal is. I don't understand what's going on. What I need you to understand is that what we are walking through is what we keep fighting over and over and over

again when they freeze us out of the economic opportunity then what they're doing is ensuring that we will never be able to get out of the position of begging for a check waiting for a check, waiting for a check, and guess what? Weak, losing white coaches will continue to benefit from mediocrity, and black coaches will never be able to show how successful they are. And success means this. And that's why all of us must be standing and calling up the NFL for these practices. Because the reality is there are no black owners in the NFL.

There are very few blacks working in the NFL front office. And even Roger Goodell, who's getting more than $50 million a year and has a private jet for life, is a beneficiary of this system. Don't get this thing twisted. It's always about the money.

Folks, gotta go to a break. When we come back, our Education Matters segment and more headlines. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. Pull up a chair. Take your seat at the Black Table. With me, Dr. Greg Carr, here on the Black Star Network.

Every week, we'll take a deeper dive into the world we're living in. Join the conversation only on the Black Star Network. Every week, we'll take a deeper dive into the world we're living in. Join the conversation only on the Black Star Network. This is Judge Mathis. Hi, I'm Teresa Griffin. Hi, my name is Latoya Luckett, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. So y'all hear me always talking about the money. A lot of people get uncomfortable.

Black people even get real uncomfortable when I talk about the money. And the reason they get uncomfortable is because we are not used to talking about the money. They don't mind us talking about, oh, let's fight for public education, which I absolutely support. But what you never hear is, who are the folks making money from public education? Who has the textbook contracts? Who has the food services contracts? Who has the pouring rights? Who has all of those different technology contracts? And so when I travel around this country and I'm talking about charter schools

and I'll get black folks, Roland, how dare you? I can't believe you support charter schools. What's wrong with you? That's not right. It's not fair. Until I begin to break folks down about the money. So then when I tell them, if you want more, do you want more black history in school? They go, yes. I said, well, you do know when you control the charter school, you control the curriculum. They go, what? Then I tell them, well, they say, well, I said,

do you want more STEAM, science, technology, engineering, math, arts, in the school? Absolutely. You want band? You want the choir? Absolutely. You do know when you control the curriculum, you do that. I said, you do know when you control the curriculum, you do that. I said, you do know when you control the charter school,

you control who gets the contracts. You control who gets the construction contracts, who gets the engineering contracts, who gets the janitorial contracts, who gets the textbook contracts, who gets the food services contracts. They look at me going, we control all of that. And I go, yeah, we control all of that.

Now, I understand the game that folks play when it comes to charter school. People say, well, some of these charters ain't good. You're absolutely right. And as a co-founder of School Choices is the Black Choice, a sponsor of this segment, I say get rid of that what does not work. But that also includes horrible public traditional schools that impact our children. I only believe in success. Public traditional schools, magnet schools, homeschool, online, public charter schools. We can go down the line.

If our children are learning, then I am supportive of it. That is my position on charter schools. I want black people controlling, not running, because you can run a charter school, but we don't control it. I want us controlling more public charter schools where we are in control of the education of our children. So last month, the Biden administration introduced a proposal to reduce federal funds to charter schools. The proposal would force charter schools to collaborate with public schools and justify their need in the community. The fact that public charter schools even exist shows you what the need is because clearly the traditional schools ain't doing the damn job.

Joining me now from D.C. is the Senior Director of Government Relations for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools to talk about this here is Ron Rice. Ron, glad to have you on the show. I walked through that for a reason because I'm sure you get it the same way I do and I travel around this country

and I've been in numerous cities and people go, well, I just can't believe, you know, you must be one of those private schools brothers who support charter schools. I was like, nah, public elementary, public middle school, public high school, public college. I ain't never went to a private school. But what I do understand is if there is a

mechanism that gives us actual control over the education of our children, ain't no way in hell I'm going gonna say no. Brother, I gotta give you a major 06 to your opening statement because you hit the nail right on the head. The reality is, is that the administration, through the Department of Education,

is proposing an incredible number of new regulations that would stranglehold the exact schools that we've been talking about. We have a lot of issues with some of these regs, but the most prominent one is proposed rules by the Department of Education actually will require applicants to propose racially and economic diverse models. Sounds good, right?

But regardless of community need, which will disadvantage urban areas, culturally affirming school models, and models that are serving indigenous populations. And so to your point, an urban prep in Chicago, which for the last 11 years has graduated Black boys, 11 years in a row, 100% of their student body, and sent those same boys to HBCUs, another four-year colleges, 100% for the last 11 years. That kind of school was created to deal with black boys, a particular interest.

And so the school is 99.9% black, because parents want that, and it's a choice that they make. But under these regulations, right, they would have to, in the name of diversity, go against the culturally affirming reason that they were even started. That was the community need, to service Black boys who were not getting service by traditional schools.

But they would have to bring in other nationalities, whites, students, and others to meet this diverse definition that doesn't make a lot of sense. And so when a community need requires a Hmong school for Asian students, charter school, or Cherokee Lakota schools that teach the culture and language

of indigenous populations, that's open enrollment. Anybody can go. But they're specifically tailored to meet the community need of the students that actually need it in that particular community. And these kind of regulations from the administration actually choke off that very intent that parents are demanding across the country. The thing that's interesting, as you were talking, we had the brother on our show and his last name is escaping me right now. I'll have it in a second. First name is Sean. He opened a charter school in, Sean Hartnett, I'm sorry, Sean Hartnett.

Sean Hartnett opened a charter school in D.nett, I'm sorry. Sean Hartnett opened a charter school in D.C. specifically for black boys. And he took the same black boys who had no interest in math and science at the traditional public school

right down the street. They said, these boys cannot learn. Sean said, these boys cannot learn. Sean said, I don't think y'all are teaching them right. So Sean opens his public charter school right down the street from the exact same school. And all of a sudden, the same black boys who were not learning down the street now are excited about math, excited about science, excited about English, and beginning to improve because he understood

I got to reach them in a different way. And so he said, if y'all were doing your job, I shouldn't have a job. He's 150% right. The other thing that Sean did, and we both know him very well, is Sean went right to the community before he had any design about how he was going

to create a school and said to the people in that community, what kind of school do you want? What do you want the curriculum to look like? What do you want the teachers to look like? What do you want us to do with the boys? And that's how you created a school. It was organically created, authentically created from the community.

But under these proposed regulations from the Secretary of Education, they would create a new definition of what community impact is. That would actually be over what D.C.'s community impact statements would be. And it would mandate, as you mentioned earlier, the district MOU and sign-off on that new school.

So if Sean had to deal with what these proposed regs are going to mandate, he'd have to go to that underperforming school down the street and get their permission to start his school and their sign-off. And you know, Roland, as well as I do, that when you have a traditional district school that sees a potential of a high-quality, high-performing charter school coming onto its turf

and potentially taking away its student bodies, they say no to those kind of schools. They reject that. They don't want a collaboration. They want an annihilation. And that's what our schools are looking at. And so, a Sean Hartnett who wants to... who may want to grow his school into a network,

and I hope he does one day, would be run... would be running roughshod over the very, uh, uh, uh, rules that this administration is trying to... trying to put on him, uh, that would make sure that his schools would never be able to replicate or expand, no matter how high-quality or high- high performing those results are of those kids. And that is tacitly wrong.

And it definitely sends the wrong message to our students coming out of COVID with all the learning losses and other obstacles we're going to have to deal with after this two-year pandemic. Panel, time for your questions. I'll start with you, Matt Manning. So, Ron, what I am confused about is what is behind this and who is behind this? Who's behind the push? I know it's the Department of Education promulgating these proposed regulations, but this seems pretty obviously counterintuitive to the success that a lot of charter schools have seen

in particular communities. So what's going on behind this and who's behind, you know, strangleholding those communities and charters this way? There's an education establishment status quo that has existed in our country for hundreds of years that has never been able to educate the masses of Black folks, of Native American folks, of Asian folks, of Latinx folks. And those relationships go deep, they go wide, and they are millions and millions and hundreds of millions of dollars. And anything that challenges that system and anything that kind of goes against it, you know, is with resistance. But those people also have a long history of being involved in electoral politics and in government and support a lot of folks who are in office who care about our kids, but only get one side of this debate and one side of this argument. So I would say the traditional sort of status quo protectors of our system that has proven not to be able to educate the masses of our people,

I won't go into more specifics than that. I think it's self-apparent who those elements and those forces are. But the reality is that after COVID, we need more, not less quality seats. We need more public school models that work and are no respecter of model, but are more respecter of what parents want and are more respecter of the results that come out of those particular schools. Kelly. Yeah, so I understand that the Biden administration is really restricting charter schools at the moment. on to try and reverse this kind of situation? But also, more importantly, is there opportunity for

bipartisan support that is not, that basically makes this less polarizing as an issue so that everybody wins in this case? Yeah, that's an excellent observation. Historically, the charter school movement has been bipartisan. The charter schools program, the only line item for federal funding of new charter schools and replicating and expanding existing high-quality charter schools, that was signed into law by President Bill Clinton. It's been supported by both Bushes. And the largest increase in the CSP program came from President Obama. So it's only been recently that this has not enjoyed bipartisan support in terms of the administration. In Congress, one of the strongest supporters of it was George Miller and others in Congress. Senator Bennett, Senator Booker

are current leaders in this particular fight in Congress, and we lean on them for support. But historically, this has been a bipartisan issue. And if you look at polling data for particularly African-American and Latinx parents, it's 60 and 70 percent across the nation. And in the South, it's 80 percent support charter schools and other models of public education that are different than traditional schools. That is the base of the Democratic Party. Those are the people who are going to be coming out in midterm elections to decide the control of Congress. And we need to look further than the polling that showed that years ago Democrats had a 20 percent lead on Republicans on who would handle K-12 education

best. That is down to 5 percent now. And I think it's because our party, which has embraced and supported charter schools through a number of generations, is now seemingly running away from that idea. But it's also running away from the aspiration and the hopes and obviously voting of folks who look like us, that are black and brown throughout this nation. And so we have to get back to that. We have a research report that showed that during the pandemic, the only model of public education that actually grew in enrollment during the height of the pandemic were charter schools, which saw a 7 percent increase in enrollment in the first year of the pandemic. That's 240,000 new students across America who decided to pick and use and choose a charter school to educate their children during probably the worst pandemic we've seen in our lifetime. Michael. Hello, Ron Rice. Thanks for coming on and sharing this information with us. So it looks like the real crackdown is on for-profit the change in the policy is coming from teacher unions and teacher unions advocating against charter schools?

Just trying to find out. I'm not against teacher unions. My mother was a member of them. And then also the NAACP, National Urban League, other national African-American organizations. What how are they weighing in on this, or are they silent on this? Yeah, so I'll answer your first question first. The regulations do have a piece of regulating

for-profit entities, and we don't have a problem with that. We think every entity who runs a charter school ought to be fully transparent and fully accountable. We want to make sure the rules, though, in terms of contracting with vendors and contractors are the same for charter schools than they are with district schools, because district schools contract with for-profit entities, private entities every day of the week and twice on Sundays when they need to. Charter schools need to do the same thing when it comes to school transportation and accounting services and curriculum buys.

So we should be allowed to contract in the same way. And the rules of federal oversight need to be the same for that kind of contracting as they are for district contracting. But to your second point, but I was also going to say, these regs go beyond just regulating for-profits, right? They are actually allowing district schools to mandate what type of charter school or if a charter school

can come into that district. They're requiring MOUs potentially between the district school and the charter school to come in. As I mentioned, they're pushing a diversity attachment that they're not doing with traditional district schools, but that would curb and harm culturally affirming schools. But in terms of the organization that you mentioned, not a lot of them have weighed in on this. The NAACP has not since a number of years ago when they came out with their request for a moratorium. But I would share with you that organizations like the National Urban League, its affiliates, actually run charter schools. The UNCF, as you might have read, just entered into an agreement working with the Bloomberg Foundation, if you will, to get a grant to fund HBCUs starting charter schools. So Black institutions are not decreasing

the number of charter schools that they're starting. They're increasing them. There are a number of incredible charter schools led by members of the Divine Nine. I mentioned Urban Prep, who's run by an alpha man. And there are other initiatives and other fraternities that are doing so at the local level. And so as more and more institutions within our community are embracing charter schools as another model, a way of educating our kids, where the district schools have not,

our elected officials, our government officials need to be following suit and not be dragged along, but should be leading the call alongside them to talk about we need a new deal when it comes to education. And maybe, just maybe, this model of high-quality, high-performing charter schools in the right hands of people of color who know how to educate our kids but don't want the restraints and the constraints that they have had on them and leading traditional district schools, maybe this is a model that we can look at. We certainly look at it as self-determination

amongst our people to pick the kind of schools that we want to have in our communities and to demand the ability to run them and own them and control them in the way that our history has taught us to do. And it's in our DNA as a people in America to create the very institutions that will address our pain and our suffering

when existing institutions have not. Ron Rice, certainly keep us abreast of what happens next on this policy front. Will do. Thank you for the time. Thank you very much. Folks, some sad news in memoriam. Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive tackle

Rayfield Wright has passed away. Wright's family confirmed his death Thursday. The family said the Hall of Famer was hospitalized for several days following a severe seizure. Wright was diagnosed with early-stage dementia in 2012, but had been suffering from seizures since his retirement with the Dallas Cowboys in the early 1980s. Known as the Big Cat, he played in five Super Bowls during his 13 NFL seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. Rayfield Wright, 76 years old. All right, folks, that is it for us.

Let me thank Matt, Michael, and Kelly for being on our panel today. We certainly appreciate you joining us. We also want to thank all of you who have been watching our coverage of Judge Katonji Brown-Jackson. Certainly hope you enjoyed all the things that we've done providing you the black voices in order for you to understand what we're doing.

We're going to close it out here. Kill the music, please. We'll close it out, of course, with, so y'all see me rocking the Shibori pocket square here. And so a lot of people have been hitting me up about our Shibori pocket squares. We have these for sale on our website. Our members, our Roland Martin Unfiltered Bring the Funk fan club members get a discount as a result.

So you can actually go to RolandSMartin.com forward slash pocket squares to get these. What I love about these pocket squares, essentially, you get bored with these typical silk pocket squares. And so these here give you sort of this flower effect, which I love in your pocket. And then, of course, what you're able to do is you can actually turn this over, and the same pocket square gives you a completely different type of texture. And so I would say this is probably a more conservative look right here than the other look. And so if you like these pocket squares, we got limited amount. Literally, when I saw these years ago in GQ magazine, I reached out to the company in Japan that made them.

They were doing a exclusive deal with a U.S. distributor. And so I was able to secure 900 of these. We probably have about 300 left. So we got them in numerous colors. And so if you're interested in our Shibori pocket squares, go to RolandSMartin.com forward slash pocket squares to actually get it. And look, you know, brothers, we now look, look, people are now getting out. We back to dressing up.

You know, I see Matt over there with his bow tie on. And so, you know, the bow tie cute. And I see Michael with that boring gray jacket on. See, Mike, you got to get a shibori pocket square to dress that thing up, man. You know, I know you Sigmas don't have the same level of style as us Alphas, but I can guarantee you, I can guarantee you, when you come in with that shibori look,

it will absolutely get the attention of folks who find it necessary. So I'm trying to help you out. Okay. I'm just trying to help you out. You have the blue and white? Yes, we have them in white. We have them in cobalt blue. We have them in, Lane, how many colors? We got

about 35 colors. We got them in abalt blue. We have them in, Landon, how many colors? We got, what, about 35 colors? We got them in a whole bunch of different colors. And so check it out. All right, y'all, I'm going to close this out with this here. Now, y'all, my fans send me a whole bunch of stuff. They send me all kind of stuff. So let me shout out, I got to shout her out. She sent me this.

Mr. Martin, thank you for the work you do. Three years and going, RMU Digital Show, and now BSN. Yes, my donations, one for personal, one for my business. So, honey, Ohana Tene, she follows me on social media. So, last time, y'all, she made some shirts for me. Y'all zoom in so you can see. So, she made some shirts for me for the show with the different slogans on the show. And so here she put this together, this frame. And so all the different

slogans y'all see, Unapologetically Black, Holler, Trap to Tell Ya, Bring the Funk, You Did It, Congratulations, What the Hell, all of them. And so she sent that to me. She probably need to add that one. We're going to get that money. But y'all know how we do it. So, honey, I appreciate you sending this. And so, yeah, I'm going to put this on our shelf somewhere right here. And so I appreciate all of our fans. Y'all send me shirts, hoodies. Somebody sent me a cane. Even though I'm an alpha, they pimped it all out with alpha on it. Y'all know how making the cap was jealous. And so I

appreciate all of y'all who support us in what we do. Folks, that is it. We're going to roll the name of our contributors right now. If you don't see your name, send us an email. We'll be sure to get your name added. And don't forget, coming up next, we'll be live streaming the part six of the docuseries, 1619 to 2019,

the year of return. That is next. Folks, I shall see y'all on Monday. Have a fabulous weekend. Ho! Să ne urmăm în următoarea mea rețetă. The this is an iHeart podcast