#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Lack of fed advertising with minority media, Remembering Bloody Sunday, Afro Flow Yoga

Episode Date: March 8, 2022

3.7.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Lack of fed advertising with minority media, Remembering Bloody Sunday, Afro Flow YogaA recent Government Accountability Office study in 2016 found over five years, the federal government spent more than $5 billion on advertising. But, Black-owned businesses received only $51 million, that's about 1.02-percent. Congressman Hank Johnson calls out the Biden administration for its lack of business with black-owned media & advertising firms. He'll join us to explain why he sent a letter to address the issue.A black Texas woman has her leg broken by a cop for trespassing in a Oklahoma hotel she was a registered guest. She and her attorney, Damario Solomon-Simmons, will be here to tell us about the case.March 7, 1965, is known as Bloody Sunday. Sunday, hundreds were in Selma to commemorate the day that changed the civil rights movement. We'll have a recap of the events, and Miguel Cardona, the Secretary of Education, and I talked about yesterday; I'll show you what he had to say. I traveled to Selma with Vice President Kamala Harris. You'll see my interview with her.Plus, in our Fit, Live Win Segment. Yoga with an African twist.#RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: Nissan | Check out the ALL NEW 2022 Nissan Frontier! As Efficient As It Is Powerful! 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3FqR7bPSupport #RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfilteredDownload the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Black Star Network is here. Hold no punches! A real revolutionary right now. Black power! Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roland. 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 scary. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? Today is Monday, March 7, 2022, coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network.

Congressman Hank Johnson sends a letter to the president, Joe Biden, saying do more to help black-owned media when it comes to federal advertising dollars. We will talk with the Georgia congressman in our Where's Our Money segment. Also, folks, we were in Selma yesterday for the 57th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, along with Vice President Kamala Harris. I have an exclusive interview with her. We'll also hear from those who spoke there as well about the fierce urgency of now when it comes to voting rights and freedom. A Texas black, a black woman in Texas has her leg broken by a cop for trespassing in an Oklahoma hotel. She was as she was a registered guest.

She and her attorney would join us on the show. Also, folks on today's show, Fit Live Win segment, yoga with an African twist. It's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered right here 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 fine.

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

Yeah, yeah It's Rolling Martin, yeah Yeah, yeah Rolling with Rolling now Yeah, yeah Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! We've been frozen out. Facing an extinction level event. We don't fight this fight right now. You're not going to have Black-owned.

Folks, we have been talking for years about the lack of funding that Black-owned media is receiving from the advertising industry. But it's not just the general market. It's also the federal government. Folks, $322 billion is spent every single year on advertising in the United States. On the general market, run by largely these white advertising companies, black-owned media gets anywhere from 0.5 to 1%. Now, you would think we would be doing better when it comes to the federal government, when the fact of the matter is that is not the case. The General Accounting Office did a study at the behest of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton in 2018. It showed that over a five-year period, $5 billion was spent by the federal government. Black-owned media got $51 million out of the $5 billion.

Well, last year, when we were in Tulsa for the 100th anniversary of the race riots, I was talking about this very issue with members of Congress, Barbara Lee and Hank Johnson, and Representative Johnson said, let's do something about that. And so his staff has been working on this over the last nine months. They put out this letter, sent it to President Joe Biden, asking them to take advantage of an executive order that President Bill Clinton signed in when he was president, called Executive Order 13170. He'll tell us more about this.

But one of the things that we saw is that black-owned media did not get our fair share of dollars when it came to census money or COVID money. Joining us right now is Congressman Johnson from Georgia. Congressman, glad to have you on the show. You know, when we were talking about this in Tulsa, when you went back and got with your staff, I mean, y'all saw the stark difference when it comes to the dollars. And here we stand in 2022. Last year, President Biden talked about race and equity. We met with Susan Rice about this very issue in the first 60 days that they were in the White House.

And this continues to be an issue that Black-owned media faces. Well, I tell you, Roland, when we were out in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and you were out there covering what was going on as we commemorated the 100-year anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, a story that has been withheld from us and withheld from everyone in this country since it happened. You out there covering it along with other black owned media. And and you mentioned to me the fact that, you know, out of all of the spending that the federal government is doing, that black media

and advertising companies are getting 1% of that money. We're talking billions of dollars being spent by our federal government. It was a stark reminder of the fact that systemic racism in the dealings of the federal government insofar as spending with black owned firms is concerned. And so, you know, having been awakened to that reality, as we talked amongst ourselves, Roland, as we had a lot of fun about fraternities and which fraternity was the greatest fraternity. We were still having serious discussions about how we can bring equity into this situation for our people. A hundred years after Tulsa and we're being massacred in terms of spending of federal dollars, that's something that has to come to an end. So Barbara Lee, Eleanor Holmes Norton, and myself came together. And as a result of our efforts, we have sent a letter to the administration.

Thirty-eight people signed on to that letter. And that letter is demanding that we get some information about the spending on the CARES Act money, spending on the COVID relief funds from the American Rescue Plan. And we want to know, we want the administration and we want America to see for themselves the disparity in equity that we are experiencing with this federal dollars being spent for advertising in our communities. We don't, people like you, Roland, who are out here covering our issues and you know how to reach us,

you're not getting the money. I'll give you a perfect example. Let's just bring up Tulsa for instance. Here's what people don't realize. There was no one sponsoring us to go to Tulsa to cover that. There was no company. There was no one sponsoring us to go to Tulsa to cover that. There was no company. There was no group.

It cost me about $25,000. We spent six days in Tulsa. So to drive our Sprinter down, our driver security, the staff, hotels, per diem, all of those things, that's $25,000. Yesterday, I was on Air Force Two with Vice President Kamala Harris covering Selma. Okay? Now, people don't realize when you fly on Air Force Two, we have to pay the equivalent of a

first-class ticket. That's like... That's a big expense, Roland. Right. Yesterday, $1,600... That's like a that's a big expense, Roland. Right, yesterday, 1,600, I'm gonna give you the number. That's like a chart of flight. It was 1,000, I need everybody listening, it was 1,000, I'm gonna be charged $1,632

in addition to the cost of the meals. It wasn't like it was a major meal, but in addition to the meals. And so there are other costs. So it's probably going to cost me around $2,000 to make that trip. When we talk about most black-owned media, we

can't do that every week. We can't do that. And so, guess what happens? We don't cover it. Yesterday, not one major network congressman covered the entire Selma event. Some people only carried her speech on the Black Start Network.man covered the entire Selma event. They only carried her speech on the Black Start Network. We covered the entire event, all 17 speeches,

including the walk across the bridge. That's why when we get frozen out of the dollars, we can't cover this kind of stuff. And you know what, Roland, when people talk about the rise in crime and they're afraid of the black males and what is going on, you know, nobody has any hope about the future. Well, the story that mainstream media tells us about ourselves, about ourselves, teaches us to hate ourselves, to not value our own lives. And we don't get the story about what our forefathers have done.

And so we don't get the images that you, as a Black man, would project to us being the owner of a media outlet. And so when we snuff out the ability of people like you to cover us, then we end up with the kinds of results that we're seeing on the streets of this nation, across the nation. And so at the same time, Roland, if you were being adequately used as a source to get information out by the federal government, if you were able to get honest information out to people, you would be able to employ some of these black men who are running around out here who don't have anything, no hope about the future. And so this is a holistic issue that we're

dealing with. It is the epitome of systemic racism. And show me the money. That's what it's all about. And here's the deal, Congressman, and this is the thing here. Show me specifically, because here's what they're doing. They're sending the money

to black targeted media. That's not black owned. Look, when it comes to the digital side, they send the money to Complex. BuzzFeed owns them. They're sending it to BET. That's going to ViacomCBS. They're sending it to white owned media companies.

And then, tell you what they did. We had Congressman Stephen Horsford on this show talking about the census money. He was over the census task talking about the census money. He was over the Census Task Force for the CBC. Young and Rubicam, who had the contract, told him point blank they were not taking out any census ads in any print publications

with a circulation of 50,000 or less. That is 98% of all black newspapers. And so they couldn't even get census dollars. Now, you should take out ads everywhere because you're trying to count everybody. But no, they didn't want to do it. I applied on their portal. Five months, four months, they totally ignored us. I had to call them out on the show.

And so what we're seeing is we tried when it came to COVID money. We forced Marsh, the ad agency that got the big contract, talked to him, sent the proposal, came back, oh, sorry, all the money has been spent. But I'm seeing ads run left and right. We were one of the most impacted groups when it came to COVID. And so this happens. And so Congress, they can't even use a lie because they tried it. They can't use a lie, well, Roland, you don't have the numbers. Got the numbers. They can't say you don't have the reach. Got the reach. We meet

all of the deals, but they systematically ignore black-owned media, and yeah, Urban One might get some money, maybe a couple of other black outlets, they might call Essence. I'm talking about the pool has to be larger. Yes, it does.

You have to go after this thing on a micro level. There's no reason at all to exclude the smaller entities that are more nimble and are closer to the people. There's no need to exclude them because of your administrative issues. Go ahead and open up a pot of money for the smaller guys to get in there and compete and win those dollars. Do for your midsize companies and do something for your larger companies. But we as a people have to have our businesses involved on every level.

And the federal government, quite frankly, Roland, owes this to us. When you talk about reparation, folks get scared. Folks don't want to hear about that. But it is something that this nation owes to us as a people. And the first thing that they have to do is to recognize the truth of our reality living in America today with the vestiges of slavery and discrimination still at work in our lives 24-7 on a granular level. The majority community has to understand that, has to be confronted with that reality, and has to accept that reality. And the truth hurts. But you'll never have freedom and prosperity in this country for all unless you confront the truth. Yep.

And that is what we're doing. We had a meeting today, a group of us in the CBC, the CBC Executive Board, under the leadership of our brilliant chairwoman, Joyce Beatty. We sat down and spoke with the president and his advisers about a lot of issues, including this issue of media and advertising companies, being black media and advertising companies being cut out of the flow of federal revenues. We talked about that. We talked about the president reinstating President Clinton's executive order that you referred to as Executive Order 13170, which mandated the inclusion of minority business enterprises. And when Republicans took office, they rescinded the executive order only for it to be put back in place by President Obama and then rescinded again by Trump. And now it's time for President Biden to reinstate that executive order. but to actually go further, Roland,

because we know all of the tricks that have been used historically to funnel money into the hands of the major firms and wink at them and say that you are required to spend this money with black-owned firms. And then what they do is spend it with white-owned firms that seemingly or supposedly are supposed to be getting the word out to the black firms and to the black people. And then the message, Roland, doesn't get out because they don't know how to get to us. They don't speak to us in the way that we like to be spoken to, and they don't give it to us in the ways that we like to have it. And so those are things, it's no secret. They just are used to doing business for the mainstream and don't really

care to learn about how we receive our information. And so therefore, we suffer, and they suffer too, Roland, because we're all in. That's right. Therefore, we suffer, and they suffer too, Roland, because we're all in the same boat together. Look, I know you have to go vote, but here's what I'm trying to... The reason I'm giving people numbers so they understand, to everybody who's watching and listening, there is not a single black-owned

media company that has a correspondent that covers Congress. So when the CBC comes out of their weekly meeting on Wednesday and the media is out there, there is not a single person from black-owned media. At the White House, Ebony McMorris was with American Urban Radio Network. April Ryan works for Byron Allens, the Griot. That's it at the White House. And I said this to Congresswoman Joyce Beatty. And I said to numerous other members.

With a billion dollars being spent, imagine if black-owned media got 10% of the billion, that'd mean that black-owned media would get 100 million. Let's say I got 2%. Let's say I got 2 million of the 100 million. Okay? That's 2%. Let's just say 2% of the hundred million. OK, that's two. That's two percent. Let's just say two percent of the hundred million.

Congressman, in 60 days, I could have three people hired, three African-Americans hired to cover the CBC. And so when you talk about people say, man, I don't know what the CBC doing because white media don't cover the CBC. They don't cover the issues. Because we simply can't afford to pay somebody $80,000 to $100,000 to solely cover Congress. We simply don't have the money because the advertising agencies and the companies who make excuses will not spend the dollars. And so, as Frederick Douglass said,

we ain't got no choice but to call them out. Final word call them out. Roland, when the little children are on the set watching you handle your business in a professional way, it gives them an idea that, hey, I can do that one day. I'd like to do that one day. Not just do it. I can own it. That's right. I can own it. If they can see it, they can be it.

But if they don't see it, then we end up lost in the desert, in the darkness. That's where our children are today. That's why we're suffering from the crime that is out there. Let's all wake up, Roland, realize and deal honestly with the facts, and then let's move forward with a plan to repair the damage that we have been sustaining for the last 401 years, since we've been in this country, 402 years. Well, look, I hope after y'all meeting, the White House moves on this, is aggressive with this, reinstates Executive Order 13170.

Congressman Hank Johnson, we appreciate it. We're going to keep covering this. Yes, sir. Can I tell your audience, we're going to be on Rep Hank Johnson on my Instagram page, you and I, on Saturday. I believe it's 4 o'clock. So y'all tune in for that. We're going to have some more discussion. Yes, sir. About this and other issues. Yes, sir, I believe it's 4 o'clock. So y'all tune in for that. We're going to have some more discussion. Yes, sir.

About this and other issues. Yes, sir. I appreciate it. Thank you so very much for your leadership on this. Thank you, sir. All right. Thank you very much. I want to go to my panel, Dr. Julian Malvo,

Dean of the College of Ethics Studies at California State University in Los Angeles. Dr. Omokongo Dabinga, Professorial Lecturer, School of International Service at American University. Reverend Jeff Carr, founder of the Infinity Fellowship in Nashville. You heard you heard Congress. You heard Congressman Johnson there talk about that letter. Here's what's very interesting about the letter he's talking about, Julian. There are 56 members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Thirty eight signed the letter. Now, again, what I

want people to understand is that as we talk about this issue, as we talk about in terms of what's get covered, what doesn't get covered, Julian, you know, it comes down to the money. It's always the money in America.

And as somebody who I have, and I need people to understand, because see, some of y'all listen to these old dumb, ignorant folk who call themselves new black media. I need people to understand who y'all listening to. The first time I got paid in media was a black newspaper, the Houston Defender. When the white newspaper in Austin and Fort Worth would not let me write columns, I then wrote columns for the Houston Defender. I then later became news director of KKDA Radio, which

was a black targeted radio station in Dallas. Ran the Dallas, worked for the Dallas Examiner, black-owned newspaper. Ran the Dallas Weekly, black-owned newspaper. Ran the Houston Defender, black-owned newspaper. Ran the Dallas Weekly, black-owned newspaper. Ran the Houston Defender, black-owned newspaper. Went back to Dallas, ran Tom Jordan's blackamericanweb.com, black website. Ran the Chicago Defender as executive editor

and general manager, black-owned newspaper. Launched the first black news source audio podcast and video podcast, 2005 and 2006. News editor, black-owned Savoy Magazine, owned by Vanguard Media. Worked for, did a lecture special in 2000 for major broadcasting cable network, Black-owned company. TV One, Black-owned. Okay? I can go, folks, what I'm trying to lay out, I have been doing this in Black-owned media. And every place I have been at, it has been the same problem for 20-plus years. White ad agencies not returning our phone calls, not giving us allocation, giving us excuses.

And then the companies say, well, it's up to the agency. The agency goes, well, it's up to the company. It's the game that's constantly being played. And so they set up a system, Julian, where they go, oh, here are the metrics. You don't meet our metrics. Then I'm going to give y'all, and I'm going to go ahead and name it. We, last year, Julian, we tried J.P. Morgan. J.P. Morgan Chase.

I ain't got no problem calling names because I'm trying to show people how the game is being run on us. They did this big Juneteenth deal. We'll be a part of the deal. Wasn't a lot of money. They came back and said, well, they turned you down

because JP Morgan said, well, if his show is on YouTube, why don't we just buy the ad straight with YouTube? Well, first of all, if you show is on YouTube, why don't we just buy the ad straight with YouTube? Well, first of all, if you buy straight with YouTube, you're going to support black-owned media. Secondly, YouTube is not going to create content that's specific to black people. They're just going to run the ad.

The agency came back to me and told me, you know what, it'd be really better if you owned your own platform. Well, guess what? If you own the platform, they're going to say it's too small. So, I launched Blackstar Network in September. But guess what? We're almost

at 40,000 downloads. They will tell me, audience too small. That's how they play the game, Julian. That's predatory capitalism and racism combined. You're absolutely right, Roland. First of all, let me commend you, because you really have been there, as you said, as you

outlined your career with Black media. And, you know, I've been writing for the San Francisco Sun-Reported since I could almost hold a pen. I mean, we've all had our experiences with Black media, and we know what happens. There's some things they just can't do because they don't have the dollars.

Many of us who write columns for the NNPA black press don't get paid. We write because we want to communicate. Hold up. Let me say it again. They writing for free. You're writing for free. Every week. Free column. Absolutely. You know, the economics... Congressman Johnson really had it right Every week. Free column. Absolutely. The economics of it.

Congressman Johnson really had it right in the letter that he sent to President Biden. It's an important letter that I hope he pays attention to. I hope when you were chatting up Kamala on the private plane, the Air Force two plane. I mentioned it to her. Yes, I did. Good. Because she needs to hear that this is something that she needs to be an advocate for. The issue is that these folks don't want us to be informed. And there are I remember years, years ago, the San Francisco Chronicle, actually, at the time I was doing some writing for them and some for the Sun reporter. And they did not they would not cover a piece on black folk and AIDS.

This was in the 80s. Y'all know I'm old. So anyway, they would not do a piece. A brother who was writing for the Chronicle, Perry Lang, said to me, can you get this in a summary report? I said, oh, heck yeah, we could do that. That's easy. And he wrote a really great piece. Of course, they didn't pay him. But, you know, he wanted to get the information out there. And the fact is that they don't want us to have certain information. Like Tulsa, buried. Like Wilmington, North Carolina, 1898, buried. Like the lynchings, buried.

They do not want us to know. And because they don't want us to know, it takes folks like you, Roland Martin, and I just shouted you out the other day because it takes folks like you to lift up the story. This weekend, the majority of press has started talking about the majority of electronic has started talking about the black folks, the Africans who are being ill-treated in Ukraine. But, you know, you talked about it last week, Monday. At that time, nobody else had talked about it. And you said and we all said Biden and those cannot give those people relief unless they are willing to deal with that with fairness. So there is a slice of the piece of

the place for Black-owned media. It's so very important. And I think that those of our people who want to be haterators, you know, they need to just go someplace and sit down. And when you mention the 38 signatures and their 55 members of the Congressional Black Caucus, that is only proof positive that everybody brown ain't down, because I do not understand how every member of the CBC did not sign that. I mean, it's just shameful. But then again, you know, it took Brother Conyers how long before the whole CBC wouldn't sign H.R. 40 until, you know, Sheila Jackson Lee got it and started whipping her colleagues into shape, and now we have 215 co-sponsors, but initially,

there were black folks who wouldn't sign it. Black members of Congress play Mr. Bojangles too often with white people. They dancing, shilly-shallying, as opposed to just coming out and saying, I am for black people. I don't care if your district is not majority black. You black. It comes to...

But look, when you see 1% on the Congo, it's 1%. And the thing that I need people to understand, and I'm putting this stuff out here because y'all... I think people go, Oh, man, yeah, I hear y'all. Y'all saying this. No, seriously. Henry, take a wide shot.

Folks, understand, that TV right there, $2,500, $3,000. We got five of them. The lighting package that you see in this studio is $75,000. $75,000. Green screen, a couple of thousand. The artwork you're seeing in here around 25,000 those mirrors that you're seeing on these walls. Those are almost $500 each folks. I'm going through there are 10 robotic cameras That you're seeing right now. You're seeing me talk right now. Those robotic cameras are $3,000 each as a c300 that's sitting right here Okay with the top of the line camera the body alone is 9,000. Put in the lenses, it goes to 20,000. We have five of them. What I'm trying to lay out to y'all, because then I get

these ignorant Negroes, oh, you're always begging a white man for money. Guess what? Your ass eating their food, you buying their cars, you shopping at their stores, why should there not be a return on investment when it comes to what we're getting? We are taxpayers.

And you're telling me that we pay taxes and a billion dollars is being spent on advertising and 1% is coming to Black-owned media and I'm supposed to be happy and satisfied? Damn that. And when we're buying their iPhones and Androids and Xboxes and PlayStations, the list goes on and on. And the beauty about what you're doing, Roland, is you're letting people know

that we deserve this. It's not about handouts. It's about we put so much money into building this economy. And at the end of the day, some of that needs to be coming back to us. And nobody has broken down the importance of Black-owned media versus Black-targeted media better than you have. And that story you just laid out about how we don't have any Black-owned media out there covering Congress or the White House or people who come out there like that after these sessions, this is extremely important, because people have to understand that right now, when we talk about the... We've been talking about the economics of it, but going back to the politics of it as well, Democrats are losing at messaging right now to the Republicans. And as Joe... Hold on, hold on, hold on. Let's not even talk about

how we don't get... we don't get money from the political advertising folks. The Democrats are going to spend a billion-plus dollars this year, and I'm telling you, most of it, it ain't gonna go to Black-owned media. Go ahead. Absolutely, and that's my point, right?

You know, it's like when Joe Madison talks about when you see something in Black-owned media, you know it's for you. And we know that Republicans are out there beating Democrats on messaging as it relates to getting to our community. And so if Democrats want to be serious about this, this is a no-brainer. You have to get out there and make sure you target the money towards us

because we're going to get it where it needs to go. I'm so happy that you did the interview with Vice President Harris that we're going to see later. How often have we talked about that? Day after day, week after week. Come to us if you want to get the message out. These other guys who are targeting Black media, they don't know how to get the message out. These other guys who are targeting black media, they don't know how to get the messages out. And furthermore, Roland, they don't care about making sure they get the message out.

Hold on, hold on. Let me just go ahead and say, Complex gets most of the digital money. Complex was not in Selma yesterday. BET gets a lot of that money. BET was not there yesterday. And let me go ahead and say it. Hey, Urban won as TV won. I worked at it. It's all good. Radio won. I ain't seen, wouldn't have

TV won there as well. So look, I ain't just talking about, I'm not even just talking about black targeted, black owned. We got to be present covering our stuff. And so here's what I need everybody to understand, Jeff. Look, I sent that letter from Johnson to all these other black-owned media people. And look, I have said to all of these people, we should be amplifying his letter, amplifying this story, and do the same thing conservative media does, Jeff.

When one of us does this, let's amplify each other. I ain't got no problem calling names. I sent this email to Londell. No, no, no, do not show email. Do not show that. Take it off. I don't want emails being shown. I'm going to read it. I went, I said, Londell McMillan at the source.

I sent to Paula Madison at the Africa Channel. I sent to Dottavio Samuels and Diddy at Revolt. Michelle G at Ebony. Morgan Devon at Blavity. Alfred Liggins at Urban One. I sent it to Butch Graves at Black Enterprise. I sent it to Byron Allen. I sent it to Carol H. Williams, the Carol H. Williams Agency.

I sent it to Kathy Hughes at Urban One. I sent it to Don Jackson. I sent it to Rich Dennis at Essence. I sent it to Kevin Perry with KBSP. I sent it to Rich Dennis at Essence. I sent it to Kevin Perry with KBSP. I sent it to Munson Steed. I sent it to Ice Cube. I sent it to Sheila Eldridge. I sent it to also my man Todd Brown and also black ad agency Sherman Wright and Terrell Whitley.

What I'm trying to get people, Jeff, to understand, all these black celebrities, y'all keep retweeting something Don Lemon say or something Joanne Reid say or something you see on Good Morning America. If we use our social media power and amplify each other, then we can do the exact same thing that conservative media does. And that's how their stories go to the top 10 of Facebook. We got to give a damn enough to focus on the money. The money. Yes. Yes, indeed. And Roland, you're doing the work. We're all doing

the work here. There's a scripture that said, what does it profit a man to gain the world but lose its soul? Black media is the soul of Black America. If you do a survey of Black media personalities who are prominent, I guarantee you at some point, especially when they were young,

they were working at some small black publication, some small radio station. I started in 1990, 22 years old, with the brilliant late Sam Howard, who owned 1470 WVOL. There would be no Alper Winfrey without her starting in that same studio and getting an opportunity to be on the radio. I walked the streets of Jefferson Street for 11 years getting advertisement from small black business to publish a 10,000-issue-a-week newspaper called The Third Eye, starting at 23 years old.

It was the lifeblood. Advertising is the lifeblood. We get to tell our stories, but tell you what, it's not free. I so appreciate that you gave us a tour and you told people how much this costs. I see this in ministry too. People will say, hey, you need a better microphone. So when it comes down to it, we have to invest in ourselves. And as Dr. Malvo says, Dr. Dabinga says, we are coming together now in a whole new way because now we're shutting up the people who ask us to justify common sense. You got a studio.

We got a network. We have the eyes. We have the downloads. This issue is even deeper than what we're talking about when we say support black media and advertisers. This is our money. This is tax dollars we're talking about. We pay taxes. When we pay taxes, we have a right to see ourselves, and we have a right to benefit from those taxes. When you're talking about $5 billion, $51 million,

it's just a drop in the bucket. And that's the federal government now. That's the federal government. Annually, the industry spends $322 billion a year. We get.5%. Listen, White House... How about it? White House is real simple.

I'm gonna give y'all a week. I'm gonna give y'all a week. And what's gonna happen is... I love it. White House is real simple. I'm going to give y'all a week. I'm going to give y'all a week. And what's going to happen is I love it. The phone number's going to go out. Hey, Roland, can I interrupt and give you a saying to share with them? Go ahead. I'm going to give you a theme. Real quick.

No taxation without representation. Yo, that's it. And I'm telling you, all folks holler, black agenda, black agenda. Reinstate that executive order 13170 and audit every single federal agency that adds contracts to see who the money went to. That needs to happen. I've been talking to y'all now 15 months don't say you just heard am I clear going to a break we come back we're going to talk with an Oklahoma woman

a Texas woman with her leg broken in Oklahoma at a hotel where she was a paid guest you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Back in a moment. I'm sorry. Don't you think it's time to get wealthy? I'm Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach,

and my new show on the Black Star Network focuses on the things your financial advisor or bank isn't telling you. So watch Get Wealthy on the Black Star Network focuses on the things your financial advisor or bank isn't telling you. So watch Get Wealthy on the Blackstar 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. Hi, I'm Eldie Barge. Hey, yo, peace world. What's going on? It's the love king of R&B, Raheem Devon, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. A Texas woman is now suing a city in Oklahoma after being violently slammed by police officers,

breaking her leg. Candace Jefferson was visiting her sick grandmother in Oklahoma when she was accused of trespassing in a hotel where she was a registered guest. She spent a night in jail and suffered from a host of physical and mental problems from the encounter with the Dale City Police Department. Candace Jefferson and her civil rights attorney

and founder of Justice for Greenwood Project, Damero Solomon-Simmons, they join us right now. I'm glad to have both of you here. Candace, first of all, when did this take place? I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. What'd you say? When did this take place? It was May 18th, but in the middle of the night, so it ended up being May 19th, which was actually around three to four days before George Floyd was killed. So, walk us through what happened. Were you just walking down the hall? Were you in the room? Were you in the lobby? What happened? Originally, we were in the room with our kids

and we were all in my godbrother's room and we were told that we were being too loud. So, me, my godbrother's room and we were told that we were being too loud. So me, my godbrother, and, um... my nephew and my cousins, we went outside to talk. So we went to accommodate the hotel clerk by going outside in the front. And then the next thing you know, the police pulled up. So the police pull up, and then what happens? I had he was like, hey, you come here.

And I asked him, was I being detained? He told me, no, I wasn't. But I had to get off the property. And so I did ask him two or three times first if I was being detained when he asked me to come here. He kept telling me no. So when I tried to leave to go get my kids because they were upstairs asleep, he told me I had to get off the property

and I said I would go get an attorney. Hold up, he told you to get off the property, but you got a room key. I did. Did he bother to get off the property, but you got a room key. I did. Did he bother to go to the front desk? No, and my kids were upstairs asleep. Mario, I'm trying to understand here, because, okay, if you roll up

and if you suspect someone of trespassing, I mean, isn't there a process? You might start with the front desk. Hey, first of all, was the cop just driving around or just someone called? That's the thing, Roland, and that's why we were actually suing both the hotel and the Dale City Police Department

because the hotel actually called the police and said that she was trespassed and she no longer had a right to be there, which was totally false. Oh, wait a minute. The hotel said she was trespassing? Yes, the hotel said she needed to leave the premises because she allegedly violated some unwritten rules

about that they couldn't be talking. And they said that they were being too loud. And so the hotel said that she was no longer allowed to be there, actually called the police. The police show up, they go to Candace, and as Candace stated, and this is all in the police reports. This is not something we're making up. This is actual factual. Where the officer even states himself that when Candace said,

am I detained, which is what we teach our people to do, and he said no. So she said, okay, I'm gonna go to my lawyer's room, who she said, okay, I'm going to go to my lawyer's room, who is her sister. And she started going to the lawyer's room, and you can see he puts his hand down towards his waist. She's very afraid. And he treats her like a violent, armed, felony criminal

who's burglarized and is going to cause some problems to people. And let's see. You see on this video, Roland, that this officer is African-American. He's black. So as the sister said earlier, just because you're brown don't mean you're down. And in fact, the clerk was African-American also.

Calling the police on black people for these unnecessary police contacts, these people like Candace, a mother of six, a student, a worker, a loving family member with a broken knee, a broken leg, she's still in pain, she's still having PTSD syndrome,

she's still going to actual therapy. This was totally, completely unnecessary. I mean, this is... So, what was the response from the police department? What has been the response from the hotel? Well, the hotel said that they didn't do anything wrong, and the police department feels the same exact way. And that's why I tell your listeners right now,

if they want to call the Dale City, Oklahoma city manager, the number is 405-677-5741. That's 405-677-5741. Tell them to do the right thing as it relates to Candace and her children. And also to discipline this officer. His name is Ronald Neal. Again, that officer's name is Ronald Neal. To our knowledge, he hasn't faced any sort of discipline for slamming Candace down to the floor in such a violent manner. And we see this all over the country, particularly for Black women who are being violated

by police officers without any accountability. But I'm so proud that we get an opportunity to represent and fight for Candace and her beautiful children. We hope and fight for them to get accountability and justice against Dale City and Spring Hill Hotels. Mm. Uh, unbelievable. Unbelievable. Unbelievable.

Candace, we struggle that you had to endure that. We thank you for joining us, sharing your story with us. And DeMario, certainly keep us abreast of how this case moves forward. Absolutely. Appreciate your role. Appreciate everything you do. Appreciate you. All right. Thanks a bunch. All right, folks. Some breaking

news. The Supreme Court will not stand in the way of lower court rulings where the Republicans are angry when it comes to gerrymandering. This is out of North Carolina and Pennsylvania. This is what Politico writes. The twin orders handed down Monday afternoon are short-term losses for the GOP, but they left open the possibility that at least some of the Republican opponent justices would embrace a once-fringe legal theory that could drastically

reshape the rules under which federal elections are run in some states. What we saw take place here on Macongo was that the Republicans wanted to severely gerrymander these districts to take advantage of their political power. But they lost in the state courts. In fact, they've been losing in a number of courts. There are a consortium of groups that have been fighting this battle. NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Lawrence Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Mark Elias and his law firm, Black Voters Matter has been one of the parties as well. And they have been losing in Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina. They've been losing in Kansas as well.

And so what we are seeing, again, this is what happens when you actually fight. You don't give up. You fight against these sort of actions. And it's potentially by them stopping Republicans from severely gerrymandering Democrats could actually hold onto the U.S. House when it looked like the Republicans were going to gerrymander themselves into majority.

Absolutely. And like you said, the fight is continuous. And when we talk about 57-year anniversary with Selma and the like, this is what we have been part of historically. Every single district, every single county, if we don't fight for it, we are going to lose it. We have to remember, and we saw this when the Voting Rights Act was gutted in 2013, that

whatever we don't fight to maintain, we are going to lose. The Republicans only care about maintaining power in every way, shape, and form. And so we have to stay educated, we have to stay active, we have to stay out there in these streets, and we have to stay in these courts. That was one of the main reasons so many of us came out against Trump was because we couldn't give him access to the Supreme Court, and he got three justices. And with all of that, we're still fighting. And this is also more reason why we need to not give up on getting the federal voting rights legislation passed, the John Lewis bill. We have to do this,

because they're never gonna stop. And Eric Holder, like you said, and the LACP Legal Defense Fund, they are not giving up, and they need our continued support. And we need to keep up in speaking against this. Not only it's important to get out there and protest and march, that's really important, but we got to keep fighting in the courts as well. Otherwise, it's all going to be for naught.

So I commend all of the organizations that have been fighting on this, and I commend you, Roland, for keeping this in the forefront. Here's what's interesting here, Jeff, and people need to be very well aware. Justice Samuel Alito, actually, this is what the article says. He wrote

that he found compelling Republicans' claim that the state courts have no business interfering in congressional redistricting. Here's what's so crazy here. Congress can actually pass laws that deal with gerrymandering.

Now, a couple years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that they had no place in partisan gerrymandering. Alito says the state courts have no role. So these conservatives, everybody listen to me, these conservatives are arguing that only the state legislature can impact how districts are drawn. What they're saying is no court can determine if we're violating the law. Well, here's the other deal.

What two justices agree with Alito? Neil Gorsuch and, of course, Clarence Thomas. Surprise, surprise. Of course, Clarence Thomas. And so, yeah, if y'all even remotely think I support putting a statue of Clarence Thomas up in Georgia, hell no. Hell no. You might support putting a statue upside down in Georgia because that's where Clarence Thomas ends up voting most of the time.

We're seeing this across the nation here in Tennessee. I'm in the capital city of Nashville, Tennessee, one of the most populous cities across the entire state. It is the most populous city now. When you look at the metropolitan statistical area, and recently House Republicans, who have a supermajority in Tennessee, voted to carve up Congressman Jim Cooper's district, the fifth congressional district, which was solidly Democratic. Nashville went to Joe Biden by 64.5 percent, I believe, in the last election, carved up one city into three separate districts. So basically created this map that looks absolutely insane to decentralized Democratic power. Thanks and shout out to the ACLU, to everyone who is bringing this to court now, because now this is working through the courts

in the state of Tennessee. Now, hold up. Hold up. Hold up. Let everybody know there are, what, only two Democrats in the whole state. Yes, indeed. There are only two Democrats in Congress in Tennessee. One from Nashville, one from Memphis. Yes.

I think the Republicans have, how many, is it ten members of Congress? Or nine? I think it's ten, but they'll add two more. So, the Republicans have, is it 10 members of Congress? I think it's 10, but they'll add two more. Y'all, they got an 8-2 advantage. They like, damn that, we want 9-1. And they can figure out how to carve up Memphis. Hell, they'll

make it 10-0. That's what's happening, but that's why it's important that we fight. It's why we get this conversation out here. It's why the Supreme Court opportunity gives us an opportunity to now focus on making sure that we don't reinforce white minority rule. And that's what they're going for,

and that's what's happening here. And, Umacongo, to all people out there, again, I hear all these old loudmouth Negroes, man, roadblocks, you all should talk about supporting the Democratic Party. Y'all, let me explain something to you. Again, let me lay it out again. Right now, it's 50-50 in the U.S. Senate.

Right now, it's 50-50. You've got elections coming up. Republicans are targeting Arizona, Nevada, Georgia. If Democrats hold onto those seats, why is it important Republicans not to win in Florida, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio? That's five seats. Let's say Republicans keep Florida and Ohio.

Democrats win Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and then North Carolina. That means the U.S. Senate will be 53-47. That means that Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin don't hold the whole Senate hostage. Now, all y'all sitting here watching, again, who don't know shit about politics because you ignored civics when your

ass was in school growing up. If the Republicans control the Senate, they could block any, listen to me, clearly, let me talk as slow as possible for some of y'all who don't

know a damn thing about what I'm talking about. If the Republicans control the United States Senate, But some of y'all who don't know a damn thing about what I'm talking about if the Republicans control the United States Senate That means that anybody who Joe Biden wants to appoint to a position in government Must be confirmed by Republicans. Right now, the Republicans are holding up more than 100 of his appointees. That means they control federal judges.

That means the very people who are ruling on civil rights cases, who are ruling on civil rights cases, who are ruling on voting cases, who rule on federal police consent decrees, they will control who gets on. So y'all can sit here and tell me I shouldn't be saying, let the Democrat know what I'm saying is we should be putting pressure on those Democrats running to say, do you support our agenda? Do you support our issues? Where do you stand? Because we know exactly where the Republican candidates stand. And when a William Barr can go on his book tour

and talk about how Donald Trump is the reason for January 6th and talk about the incompetence of Donald Trump and then get asked, would you vote for Donald Trump if he is a nominee in 2024? And Bill Barr said, yes, that's all you need to know about today's Republican Party. There ain't a Republican in America who's a MAGA

supporter or a Trump supporter who deserves to be in office. Period. Bottom line. Period. Bottom line. And this is where sophistication comes in as it relates to the political process. So much of what we're seeing right now with this redistricting and gerrymandering,

if we were able to get the voting rights legislation passed, these things will start to go into effect this year to help us get some of the protections we need going into the midterm elections right now. We need to make Manchin and Sinema completely obsolete right now, because if we don't do that, like you said, the Republicans get in with the Senate,

over 100 people who have their confirmation held up. We are going to continue to go backwards. My oldest child is 15 years old. She has lost more rights since she was born in the last 15 years because of the shenanigans that Republicans are playing to try to oppress us at every single turn. She's going to be voting in three years. What rights is she going to have if we don't fight to keep them? Like you said, if we can get it to 53 seats, there is so much on this agenda that we can get past. But we also, like you said, have to make sure we're keeping pressure on the Democrats

because some of them kind of agreed with Manchin on some of these things about the filibuster and so on and so forth until we started calling them out on networks like this. And all of a sudden, it's like, oh, no, no, I support it. I'm good. I support... No, we got to keep the fire up because just because you're Democrat, it doesn't mean, no, no, I support it. I'm good. I support... No. We got to keep the fire up because just because you're

Democrat, it doesn't mean that you're automatically going to support us. We got to keep the fire to them as well. And we got to make sure that going into these midterms, we got a good chance, man. I hate when people say that, well, the opposing party generally wins the midterm. You're going to tell me after an

insurrection, after all of this stuff that's going on with a twice-impeached president and all of the ignorant things that they're doing in media right now with their misinformation campaigns and their anti-COVID policies and all of this and critical race theory quote-unquote banning and the don't say gay bills and all of this

that they still have a shot to win at the end of the year? That should be nonsense and it'll be nonsense if we make that the case. You know, Julian, it's interesting. I got some dude named Christopher Perkins on my YouTube channel page. He goes, symbolic bullshit, Roland.

It means nothing. No reparations, no vote. Okay, Christopher. What? No, literally, that's... Those crazy... Roland, those are those crazy A-dose people. They are really, truly unhinged and they all need to be sent to mental

institutions because and they're evil, they're vicious, they're probably going to come after me again. They already threatened me a couple of times and I'm still here, so bring it, y'all. And let's be real clear, it ain't like you a newbie on the reparations thing.

No. Share that. I've been there forever. I've been there since undergrad. Y'all know that was like a few centuries ago. Just kidding. Somebody will take me literally. But the point is that these idiots, you can't say reparations are nothing.

We have made tremendous progress with reparations. HR 40, as I mentioned earlier, now has 215 co-sponsors. NARC, the National African American Reparations Commission, led by Dr. Ron Daniels, has been doing yeoman's work. In fact, we're doing a town hall in New Orleans on Saturday. Sheila Jackson Lee has been a tremendous champion. The fact is that we got white folks now who are co-sponsoring reparations legislation. So we moved it. But here's the other fact.

We know that if it comes out of Congress, which it may, it's not gonna go through the Senate, because you really laid out 50-50. You know Joe Manchin ain't gonna vote for reparations. He won't even vote for voting rights. And so these people who say, we won't vote unless we get reparations, then you want to be a slave. Then you really want to be a slave because we know that Democrats are woefully imperfect, but they are exponentially better than the orange orangutan in his party. We have not gotten what we should have gotten from the Biden administration to date,

but a show maybe a month ago, you laid out what HBCUs will get and stand to get through President Biden. But also, Julianne, a whole bunch of us who's sitting here running our mouths, we ain't done shit. We ain't called nobody. We ain't texted nobody. We ain't emailed

nobody. We ain't showed up at no damn town halls. There's a whole bunch of people like, we ain't got nothing. We ain't email nobody. We ain't show up at no damn town halls. There's a whole bunch of people like, we ain't got nothing. We ain't got nothing. What you gonna do? Nothing? Well, that's all... They are nothing. They are nothing, because the fact... We know what politics is about. These people who don't... Like you said,

they didn't miss civics. They flunked civics. They totally flunked it. And, you know, you have black people walking around with their chest poked out talking about, I don't vote. Well, then again, you have Black people walking around with their chest poked out talking about, I don't vote. Well, then again, you're ignorant and you want to be a slave. You know, voting is our fundamental right. And without voting rights, there are no other rights.

If more of us had voted and we had 53 in the Senate, Cory Booker introduced reparations legislation in the Senate. But we know it's going nowhere. Kamala, Vice President Harris, was one of the co-sponsors in the Senate. But we know it's going nowhere. Kamala, Vice President Harris, was one of the co-sponsors of the Senate legislation. But we know it's going nowhere because the Senate is ignorant. The Republicans in the Senate, their goal is to block anything Biden does. The tragedy here, Roland, is that when Mitch McConnell

was leading the Senate and President Obama was in, he said his goal was to make Obama a one-term president. And every time Obama introduced legislation, he stopped it, stopped it, stopped it. Biden should have learned from that. He should have hit the ground running. There's so many more things that he could have done. But he is not a president at heart. He is a senator at heart.

So he would keep running around talking about my good friend. Your good friend does not want me to have voting rights. I ain't studying your good friend. And he, you know, he wants to be Kumbaya Joe. Well, Kumbaya ain't gonna get it when we are in the war. As black people, we're in a war for our lives. Look, I'm just going, and look,

if y'all in Wisconsin, I'm telling y'all right now, Senator Ron Johnson gotta go. Go to my computer. This is what that fool said today. GOP should be ready to repeal Obamacare if they take control of 2024. All y'all black people, guess what? The number of black people who finally got a health care

because of the Affordable Care Act, tremendous increase. But some of y'all say that don't matter. Okay, again, go ahead, mess around, let these dumbasses get control of the U.S. Senate, and then let them get control of the U.S. House. And then come holler at me in 2023 and 2024 when nothing gets passed and they start having national

anti-critical race theory bills, start banning books and all the other crazy stuff they doing. But y'all go ahead and keep playing around, see what happens. All right, y'all, got to go to a quick break. We come back. Another Supreme Court decision.

Well, actually, they didn't even hear the case. Bill Cosby is going to stay at home, a free man. I'll tell you why next on Rolling Mark and Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Don't forget, download our app. Every platform, y'all. We're trying to get to 50,000 downloads. I told y'all that's critically important.

Then to get to 75 and 100,000. These things matter when we go to those advertisers. Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Xbox One, Samsung, Smart TV. And, of course, your dollars make it possible for us to cover and do what we do. So please support us. PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037. That's for checks and money orders. For all y'all who don't want to use any of the other vehicles, Cash, Shappers, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered, PayPal is RMartin Unfiltered, Venmo is RM

Unfiltered, Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com, Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Back in a moment. I'm going to go get some food. Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood-Martin, and I have a question for you. Do 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. 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. Hello, everyone. I'm Godfrey, and you're watching... Roland Martin Unfiltered. And while he's doing Unfiltered, I'm practicing the wobble. All right, folks. Our Black and Missing. Karen Copeland disappeared from Glade Hill, Virginia, on March 1st. The 16-year-old is 5'15", is tall, weighs 190 pounds, with black hair and black eyes. She has a scar above his, Karen has a scar above his right knee and,

Quran, I'm sorry, and his ears are pierced. Finding him is imperative. He requires medication. If you have seen Quran Copeland, you should call the Franklin County Virginia Sheriff's Office at 540-483-3000. 540-483-3000. 540-483-3000. Alright folks, the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected

a bid to reopen Bill Cosby's sexual assault prosecution. Today, the court left in place an opinion by the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court that overturned Cosby's sexual assault conviction. Cosby's sexual assault conviction. Cosby was convicted in 2018 for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in his home in 2004 and was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison. He was released from prison in June of last year.

After the state Supreme Court overturned his conviction, ruling his due process rights were violated by the new DA reneging on a deal that was struck with the previous DA. That particular deal required Cosby to give a deposition in the Andrea Constant case. So again, the Supreme Court doesn't even hear the case, and Bill Cosby will remain a free man. In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, folks, the police chief has been fired for allegedly practicing what they call reverse discrimination. Larry Esquiodo had been in office for less than a year but was widely criticized for

his approach to hiring and promotion by white people. Fort Lauderdale City officials believe the chief was unfairly focused exclusively on minority candidates. In one example, the chief bypassed a white officer with 20 years of experience to narrow the search between two men of color.

Escarota allegedly explained that he decided by asking quote, which one is blacker? That's what they claimed. The former police chief calls the report vague on the facts and claims it was based mainly on hearsay. What's also interesting here, Jeff, is that he made

a comment. He was looking at the hierarchy of the police department on the wall. He said that wall is too white. He said the city should be, the police leadership should be reflective of the city that we live in. Looks like a whole bunch of white officers were upset because he dared to actually give black and other minority officers a shot. Yeah, that's what it is. And we talk about systemic change. We often think about putting people of color in positions where they're making decisions. And we've not always seen that that's an effective way to do it,

especially if people are concerned with keeping the status quo. What this police chief said was actually quite impressive. He said, quote, what this police chief said was actually quite impressive. He said, quote, if I die on the Hill for promoting diversity, as I was charged by the city manager to do from the day I was hired, then I will sleep well at night. We've got to have more police chiefs like this. We've got to have more people in office who are willing to open the door and to blaze trails so that we can truly see some diversity. It seems like he put his money where his mouth is and he put his decision-making in place,

and we see what the system did to protect itself and close him back into that blue wall. I keep trying to tell people, Julian, we're living in this age of white fear. You got white folks who do not like the fact, uh, that they now have to compete, and so it's like, how dare you? I've been here 20 years. That don't mean your ass good.

Especially for a police officer. You've been there 20 years doing what? What's your record? I mean, how many people have you beat? Because we know that's what they do. How many people have you illegally or improperly arrested? You know, you're absolutely right. That is beyond white fear. They are petrified because

by 2040, our nation will be majority-minority. Now, they shouldn't be that petrified because, as I said earlier, everybody brown ain't down. We can't count on not only our Latino allies all the time, but we also can't count on each other. Sixteen percent of black men, or was it 18? I don't know, some ridiculous number, voted for the orange orangutan. So, yeah, when you look at that, they should not be so petrified. But the fact is that they don't like the fact that we are here, that we've been here, that we're going to be here. The whole fight in the schools, you know, as dean of the College of Ethnic Studies, I have to deal with this very, very often, the fight in the schools. They don't want to hear our stories, but the curriculum must reflect our

stories. California used to be Native American, American Indian land. It used to be, part of it used to be Mexico. Come on, y'all. You can't deny that, but they would love to be able to deny it because if they tell the truth, then it refutes the fact that they are superior. When they tell the truth that we have reduced the wealth gap, Roland, uh, more between 1880 and 1910 than we have done between 1910 and now. In other words, formerly enslaved people were more successful because until they passed those Jim Crow laws, we were doing it.

They don't want to hear that. And they're gonna have to hear it. They don't want to hear that, and they're going to have to hear it, and kudos to this police chief for standing his ground about diversity, and we need more like him. I'm a Congo. The chief said, you know what?

Fine. The city said no severance. He said, cool. Y'all going to get sued by me. That's real talk. I mean, it might be out of the seat to do the right thing. I mean, you said, need more brothers on the wall, right? And quite honestly, everywhere we go across the country, in every

industry, all of the efforts to fight diversity or fight the improvement of diversity are being challenged. I'm seeing it in the school systems where I work. I'm seeing it in the government groups where I work. You're talking about all white people on the wall. And what are you talking about as it relates to community relations about the police? And he was not only just looking for black candidates, which is what everybody likes to just throw out there because race always takes primacy in terms of people getting upset first.

He wanted to diversify it in terms of sexual orientation as well with more members of the LGBTQ plus community as well. And so if you're really interested in building strong rapport with the community, you want to make sure that you have people that look like the community, or at least even if your community is all white, you still want to have diversity and representation in there because they can also serve as people who are going to be educators within the community. And this is DeSantis country, Roland, and so we are going to see more of this. I mean, when you look at everything that's going on in Florida, as we talked a little bit about the school

and the don't say gay bills and the critical race theory, protecting the police department is right in line with everything else DeSantis is doing. And we have to support this officer in terms of what he was attempting to do and support other officers who are attempting to make their departments look more like the

communities that they serve. And this is not a fight that is going to be won easily because we know that the police unions are probably on the side of those who fired him, right? And so we have to keep raising attention about this, keep raising awareness, and I hope he gets paid seriously with that lawsuit.

Absolutely, folks. Look, going to break, we come back. Selma, yesterday was the 57th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Vice President Kamala Harris was there speaking. We were there as well, covering it on the ground. We'll show you what was said, and we'll talk about the continuing battle for voting rights in the United States.

You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the black star network ДИНАМИЧНАЯ МУЗЫКА I'm sorry. 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. Hi, everybody. This is Jonathan Nelson. Hi, this is Cheryl Lee Ralph,

and you are watching Roland Martin, Unfiltered. All right, folks, yesterday in Selma was the 57th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. You might recall in 1965, it was the battle for voting rights in this country. And it was the death of Jimmy Lee Jackson that sparked that, where people, again, where he was shot and killed by state troopers there. People then began to protest. And then that marked what took place on the anniversary yesterday of Bloody Sunday, where they crossed that bridge and they were viciously, viciously attacked by white racist state troopers there in Alabama. That resulted in that was a massive call for people all across the country.

Thousands came to Selma. And then that led to the historic Selma to Montgomery March that ended with Dr. King speaking on the courthouse steps, his famous how long, not long speech. And every year, folks, there at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, named after a white racist KKK leader, there's a reenactment of the crossing of that bridge. It takes place. It is one of the places where people go. This is a video shot yesterday there. Thousands of people were there. It was a very warm day there. You can turn some of the audio up some, please. It was a very warm day. You had, of course,

a number of people actually had to be tended to by EMT because of the warm weather, but we had an opportunity to see so many people who were out there. Like I say, every single year, they have events there, and of course, they have this. Now! Now! When? Now! When? Now! When? Now! When? Now!

Now sound like you mean to give a cheer. Yay! So what, of course, and what we did, again, like I said, we're talking to a lot of different people there. A number of dignitaries were there as well. You had Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., Reverend Alex Sharpton, Derek Johnson, CEO of the NAACP, Selma Mayor James Perkins.

Of course, folks from Black Voters Matter, Cliff Albright, Latasha Brown. The family of Ahmaud Arbery was there, his mother and father. They were there as well. Attorney Ben Crump, members of the Congressional Black Caucus were there. A number of people from all over. And we are so appreciative. We saw many of our supporters of Roland Martin Unfiltered who were there as well. A lot of people were stopping me telling me that they are contributors to our Bring the Funk fan club.

Like this woman right here. Also, folks, there were the foot soldiers on that day on Bloody Sunday. Some 600 people crossed that initial march, and a number of them are still alive. They were, of course, there, some of them in their wheelchairs. Freedom singers, the SNCC freedom singers, they were also there as well. Got a chance to see some of them there. And, folks, the big attraction was vice president kamala harris who spoke to the crowd uh before she spoke i had an opportunity

to catch up with her backstage uh here is that exclusive interview with the vice president of the united states all right then how you doing i am well get out of the bubble? He got out of the end Selma, back in Selma. Right. And here again, this year is a little different, of course. This is a great time to be here with us. But thankfully we're able to all be together now with masks and actually be present, walk on that bridge to rededicate ourselves to our life. On that particular point, there are so many people.

I rely on the comment. A lot of people are frustrated. You're like, this didn't pass. George Floyd just didn't pass. The people don't care. The people don't care. What do you say to that person who says, look, I think I'm supposed to be here in 2020. I'm not going to sit here and get going in 2020.

What do you say to that person person is not really focused on voting? Come to your terms. Well, I think that it's a fair question I always ask, which is why should I vote? So I get that. Well, when everybody voted in 2020, they said deal with the issue of child poverty in America. So we said that the child tax credit for some left. It's almost half of black children out of poverty. They said, take care of the problems that we're having.

We've lost our jobs. There's no fault of our own because of the pandemic. We got those $1,400 checks out. For our black and minority and women-owned small businesses, they needed relief. That really paid. When we look at it about HBCUs, you and I have a particular interest

in personal experience with that. I'm a proud graduate of an HBCU. We are putting billions of dollars into HBCUs in a way that is historic in terms of an investment in our future leaders and in our historical institutions. You look at it in terms of what we have done to appoint more black women to the federal bench than ever before in the historical institutions. You look at it in terms of what we have done to appoint more black women to the federal bench

than ever before in the first year. And we're about to, because of the President making that promise, which he's fulfilling, we're about to put the first black woman on the United States Supreme Court. The first in the 233 years of its existence. So things have happened. Now, has everything we want happened in this first year? No.

And we've got to keep fighting. But one of the ways that we fight is to vote. One of the ways that we express what we want is to vote. Because voting is about who's your congressperson, who's your senator, who's your mayor, who's your governor. And, you know, I've got to stress, you never want to let anybody take your power from you. And one of the ways that we have power is to vote. Are you also looking to get far more active? I want to hear from you directly,

because that's also a part of this issue. You look to communicate with those things on a consistent basis with all this, whether it's on black radio, whether it's in newspapers, whether it's on black radio, whether it's in newspapers, whether it's in digital operations, talking to leaders as well. No, absolutely. And I'll tell you one of the frustrations that I experienced last year in particular, the first year being in this office,

was the COVID restrictions really did impair our ability to be out, to go into community, to be with folks, to sit down and talk to people one-on-one. And now, thankfully, we're at a point where just in the last week, we now have gotten rid of so many of these restrictions. I can see your full face, Joe and Martin. I mean, I think that's a good thing, right? We couldn't do that for you.

The President of the House I said, hey, Madam Vice President, he was like, right. Right, right, right. Exactly. I remember you were there and I said, well, that's what I would have had shirts as long as I can read I know there you go So, the, I want to talk about black men. Black women obviously were extremely active in 2012. But there have been an increasing number of black men who are walking away from voting for Democrats. What do you say to the brothers out there who say, like, don't get Democrats speaking to me, don't get Republicans speaking to me. I'm just going to walk out of this process.

So one of the things that I know is that black men feel strongly and deeply about their ability to create, to build, and that they have the ambition but not always access to capital, money, investment in what they're making a difference. One of the areas of focus for me has been, even when I was in the Senate, it continues to be putting, I got, I worked on getting $12 billion

into our community banks, which are about giving access to capital for black-owned businesses to start and to grow. Like, we've been fighting the black-owned media advertising piece. I grow. Like we've been fighting the black owned media advertising piece. I know exactly what you're battling now. It's a big deal.

It's a big deal. Because I've talked to many black men who want to start. They have a creative idea. They have a thought. They are entrepreneurs. And they go to a traditional bank, and they're told this word, you're unbankable. But that's not the case with the community banks.

We want to deepen the assets that community banks have to be able to do that because those banks are in the community. They understand the culture. They understand the fabric of the community and what the community wants. The other piece is what we've done with the bipartisan infrastructure. That's about creating jobs that are good-paying jobs, union jobs that are about carpenters and electricians and people who are trained with science and with engineering and math, those kinds of things.

It's about making sure that people have access to the things that allow them to not only survive, but to thrive and to grow. And so those are some of the areas of focus. It's about HBCUs, and it's about criminal justice and what we need to do. We weren't able to get the bill passed. It's in the Senate, the George Floyd Justice and Precinct Act that I helped write. But what we are doing is through the Department of Justice, stopping karate holes, choke holes, requiring cameras for federal law enforcement.

But we still have a lot more work to do. But the thing that I want to make sure of is that none of us take ourselves outside of having the power to make things happen. And one of the ways to make things happen is to vote. And I never want to see a day, and I want to do everything that I can to encourage and remind voters that among the many powers you have is the power to go when you hope things happen. And we do see change.

It may not happen as quickly as we want, but we do see change. All right. I appreciate it. All right, Roland. Thanks a bunch. Good seeing you. See you later. Indeed.

There were, of course, a number of people who also spoke yesterday. And so here's a roundup of some of their presentations. I want to remind us, there is nothing that has been brought into the physical world that was not first envisioned. Nothing. And so if we are to create a world that is free of racism, if we are to create a world that all human beings fit valued and respected. I didn't say you have to like them, but to feel valued and respected. It is going to take us to have the courage to have a vision to radically

reimagine America and see the kind of nation that we desire and we deserve. Selma was about a movement and the first mass meeting was in 1963, two years ever before the Edmunds-Pettus Bridge, May of 1963, three or four months before the March on Washington, Ms. Boyington and others. And then after they left here, many members of the delegation at the Emmett Pettit Bridge, they also joined the Poor People's Campaign. Amelia Boyden was at Resurrection City with poor people. And you too. She said me too. They wanted me to tell you that Selma is not about us a day.

It's about a declaration. And the declaration is our deadline is victory. What the Democrats say is not our deadline. What the Senate chair says is our deadline. When it comes to our voting rights, when it comes to living wage, when it comes to health care, when it comes to protecting the environment, our deadline always has and always will be victory. We don't stop until we win. I used to come here with Reverend James Orange when I was a student at Clark College, now Clark Atlanta University. We would come to Selma when the cameras weren't here. Every year, my sister Deborah Scott is here from Clark Atlanta and we'd walk that Edmund Pettus Bridge and SCLC Reverend Dr. Joseph Lowry and Mrs. Lowry

and Bernice and Martin and Andrea. We'd walk when there wasn't no cameras. I'm going to say it again. We'd walk that bridge that we're going to do today. Why? Because our freedom to vote has never really been the freedom to vote. One of my mentors, Corey Berry, would say, they're just loaning it to us, y'all. Because every 25 years, we have to go through reauthorization to enforce it. So I see all these young people out here today, and it warms my heart because I've been coming out here since, mm-mm-mm, Buck Aves now.

And the bottom line is what's happening in this United States of America had happened to our predecessors who walked this bridge. John Lewis, Amelia Borton, the names that you've heard of. So today, we're here to walk that bridge. John Lewis, Amelia Borton, the names that you've heard of. So today we're here to walk that bridge. And why are we here? Why are we here? Because we want our right to what? We want our freedom to what? We want our right to what? We want our freedom to what? Last thing I'm going to say is when I think about the fact that we have our first black woman, South Asian woman, vice president, give her a hand for showing up. Two years ago, I was here on the other side of that bridge with now President Biden, and we weren't sure what was going to happen.

But at the end of the day, we are not going to let them steal our vote, are we? So what are we going to do? What are we going to do? What are we going to do? Stand up! Stand up! Stand up, Lee Sanders! Stand up! If we lose democracy in America, we lose all over the world. Stand up! Stand up! Stand up, Lee Sanders! Stand up! If we lose democracy in America, we lose all over the world. So we fight for democracy in Ukraine, we fight for democracy in the south of our own country. I want high school students to listen to this, high school students. I want every high school senior to come across the stage in May and June,

and put them in one hand and put them in the other. Chicago, we're running a mayor, right, again. And in that city, 25,000 high school seniors who graduate. Diploma in one hand, boulevard in the other. 160,000 junior college students. And where you are in America today, make sure your high school seniors register and go. High school diploma should be about part of the ritual. High school diploma and over the card.

And what do you have to offer them? Well, if you register and vote, you can serve on the jury. You have access to college. We fight for free access to junior colleges, community colleges around the country. We win the Senate, we get that bill's rule. We cannot out-organize

all of these repressive laws that they are passing. But we can overcome them if we have a movement. That's why

when we leave here today we will do the first three and a half miles of the Selma to Montgomery march and then each day they'll do 10 or 11 miles and then on Friday they'll do another four or five miles. All of this is moving toward movement. Now, it is critical that we broaden our movement. Are you here to raise good travel? That's what all of us must do. No, 57 years ago, folks marched on this bridge, sacrificing, getting beaten up, standing up for their community, standing up for what was right back then and it is what is right right now. Voting rights, human rights, civil rights, labor rights.

We are here to commemorate that day. But we are also here to do more. We are here to have a call to action, not only here in Selma, but in community by community, block by block, city by city, state by state. It is time. It's time for all of us to come together and do what we do best. A commemoration, but a call to action. It was at this moment 57 years ago that America was reminded that justice and equality were moral absolutes.

And can't you hear John Lewis say, good trouble? Good trouble. Though every commemoration is special, this year it feels undeniably different without our beloved colleague, friend, mentor, and my friend, Congressman John Lewis. And yet we must find comfort in knowing that his spirit and great works live on in us and his legacy will endure through generations. The seed that was sowed 57 years ago gave rise to the election of President Barack Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris and the nomination of Katanji Brown Jackson. It was because Rosa sat that we can now stand, stand up and speak out for justice. It was because of it was because of John Lewis and the freedom fighters dared to march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge

That I as a little girl growing up in Selma, Alabama Could one day dream of representing this great city in Congress. We gather here on hallowed ground It was a chilly Sunday morning 57 years ago when 600 brave individuals set out from Selma. They were marching for the most fundamental right of American citizenship, the right to vote. They knew that if they wanted true freedom, if they wanted to claim what was theirs by birth and by right, they had to march. On this bridge, on that day, they were prepared for the worst. And on this bridge, on that day, the worst found them. Their peaceful protest was met with crushing violence. They were kneeling when billy cubs struck.

On this bridge, on that day, those brave marchers continued to push forward to secure the freedom to vote. And they were pushed back. Today, we stand on this bridge at a different time. We again, however, find ourselves caught in between. Between injustice and justice. Between disappointment and determination, still in a fight to form a more perfect union. And nowhere is that more clear than when it comes to the ongoing fight

to secure the freedom to vote. A record number of people cast their ballots in the 2020 elections. It was a triumph of democracy in many ways. But not everyone saw it that way. Some saw it as a threat. And so, as powerful people have done many times in our nation's history, they launched an assault on the freedom to vote. Across the country, states passed anti-voting laws. Laws that ban drop boxes and restrict early voting, laws that make it illegal to give

food and water to voters who are standing and waiting in line, laws that put simply make it much more difficult for people to vote with an expectation that then we will not vote. Undemocratic laws laws, on American laws. And so last year, we all joined together, we locked arms and lifted our voices and fought to pass federal voting rights legislation. We brought the Freedom to Vote Act, and yes, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to the floor of the United States Senate. And on the night of January 19th, every Republican senator in the United States Senate voted to block passage of this law. We are the ones who must protect the freedom to vote. And we must not stop there. Those who marched across this bridge, yes they marched for the freedom to vote. They also marched for all the rights and freedoms that voting unlocks. They marched for economic justice, for social

justice, for racial justice. And we must do the same. We must fight to ensure all the people of our nation, no matter where they start, have the opportunity to succeed. We must fight to move on why it matters. Just think last week, President Biden made history when he nominated the first black woman, Judge Katonji Brown Jackson, to the highest court in our land. The court where decisions are made about the constitutional rights and liberties and freedoms of every American to generational effect. And I'll tell you what I think you know. Judge Jackson is a phenomenal jurist with a record of excellence, a record that proves her commitment not only to public service,

but to equal justice and equal rights. John Lewis was the embodiment of strength and resilience, the epitome of dignity, grace, and perseverance. As he stood here that day, you could see the body that carried him across this bridge all those years ago had become fragile. But the spirit that carried him was as strong as ever. John Lewis, well, he never gave up the fight. He returned to this bridge again and again and again. It is that clarity of purpose, that relentless dedication, that spirit, the spirit of Selma that we summon today. We will keep fighting. We will keep organizing. We will keep shouting. We will keep making good trouble. And we will march on until victory is won. What do we want? Now! What do we want? Justice!

When do we want it? Now! If we don't get it? Shut it down! If we don't get it? Shut it down! If we don't get it? Shut it down!

If we don't get it? Shut it down! If we don't get it? Shut it down! I said if we don't get it? Shut it down! I said we're about to rise, not under attack. What do we do?

Stand up, fight back. We're about to rise, not under attack. What do we do? Stand up, fight back. We're about to rise, not under attack. What do we do? Stand up, fight back. What do we do?

You know, Jeff Carr, as we continue to roll this video here, it's very interesting when I look at some folks who comment on social media, some of the other platforms, and they say, oh, this is a photo op. This is a waste of time. is when we are unwilling to understand that if we don't force the annual conversation to continue about what happens in our community, well, no one else is going to do it. That's why we go to Selma every year. That's why we focus on what happens there. That's why we cover it because, again, if we aren't telling the story, who the hell will?

Rituals are important. People's memory is important. History is important. It defines who we are. It gives us pride. And it doesn't have anything to do with any made-up notion of reverse racism or anything like that. The great August Wilson once said that the greatest path to universality is cultural specificity.

So, in other words, if you tell your story and you tell it right, it will inspire the humanity in people, no matter what their shade or ethnicity or gender or orientation. When you think about what happened 57 years ago on this day, Jose Williams, Ashe, the great ancestor, John Lewis, Ashe, the great ancestor, knelt in a church with 600 people, said a prayer, and then began to cross that bridge. They faced 150 state troopers, sheriff's deputies,

and even self-appointed people who called themselves the posse. And we saw the results of that, that resulted in a 54-mile, three-day march for freedom that inspired so many people around the world... You can switch also to my... ...to put their money where their mouth was. So when we talk about remembering these things, I think about what it's like to stare down

police. Thirty-two years ago this week, I was student government president at Tennessee State University, and we had to empty a building out two by two, like it was the 1960s. One hundred and fifty policemen stood there in riot gear. And at 21 years old, it was the most terrifying sight I had ever seen. In the middle of that movement, John Lewis sent word. In the middle of that movement, Reverend C.T. Vivian showed up and sat on the floor as we were hunger striking.

Diane Nash showed up, and they told the next generation, keep going, because this is what we did 30 years ago. This generational passing down of this wisdom is inspirational. Is voting enough? No. We've got to vote as a foundation. But we also have to build institutions. We also have to stand up and speak out. And we also have to pass this memory down so that people never forget what we've actually been through

and what the sacrifice of the elders and ancestors were. There were some people who literally were on our feed yesterday asking, what is Bloody Sunday? That's why we can't just go, oh, okay, that thing happened, so it's really no big deal. You know, Roland, our knowledge of history is broken because so many elders, parents, don't want to tell the painful story, but the painful story is like fuel for the movement.

And so the stories have to be told, people have to be taught, people have to understand. And we're not just talking about, I mean, the Edmonds, the 1965, when it happened, it was within my lifetime and yours and others. I mean, this is not, you know, this is not enslavement. This is not way back when. This is very recent, just like the murder of George Floyd is very recent. And so if our young people don't know that, then they really are de-energized. That's why some idiot from ADOS could send you a note saying no reparations, no vote, because they don't understand this is what we paid for the right to vote. Dr. Meyer used to always say, we have already been paid for. The right to vote was

paid for with John Lewis's skull, with all these people who were beaten and killed and dog bit. And so anyone who says they don't want to vote, I don't even want to talk to them. But historical memory, it's like the young people about 10 years ago, Malcolm X, because they didn't know what Malcolm X was. And that's just nonsense. You know, back in the day, and Jewish people do this, they have schools, they have Sunday school or Saturday school. When it's Saturday schools, they learn history. If our history is not going to be taught in the regular schools, which it must be and we must fight for, but we must also teach that history. And if we have to start

doing Saturday schools again, let's do it. Some of these ancestors are leaving us. You know, Reverend Jackson is ill. He's there, and he's going to be there, but how long are we going to have him? And there are others like that. So, these people are leaving us, and we've got to get their stories. You know, Omicongo,

when last, when we were, yesterday I was looking at some of the folks who were marching, and it was very interesting because we were, just so everybody understands, we were on the riser, we were on the riser. And so we were on this flatbed truck. And so there were other media who were there. And so at the outset, when they were walking, milling around, trying to figure out how to get organized, nothing was really happening. So I started talking to the camera. And so I started recounting, you know, look, Bloody Sunday, this is what happens. This is an annual deal. How Hank and Rose, they're the ones who keep this thing going, having this Selma Jubilee every

single year, not always getting the support that they actually need. They do this crossing, people look forward to it because it is an annual ritual, to Jeff's point, and I was standing there, and we were live streaming, and if y'all hear the live stream, y'all might hear me shouting out several people, and there was a white reporter who was in the next truck, and he was like, he says, Roland, who's that guy standing right there, and I said, man, that's Jamie Harris, who ran for the United States Senate in South Carolina,

who runs the DNC, he had no idea. Oh, well, he looked familiar. And they were standing there talking, and then I was talking, and I was like, I said, folks, the guy you see on the camera right now in the black hat, I said, that's Bernard Lafayette. I said, he was the one who Dr. King sent to Selma as part of the advance team to put the report together so they can know what the lay of the land is before they get here.

And that's Annie Pearl, who is in that wheelchair right there. And that's Rose, who is right there. And again, sitting here pointing out all of these different people to Julian's point. I mean, the reality is in the past when we've gone to Selma, we've seen Reverend Congressman John Lewis there. And we've seen Reverend C.T. Vivian there. We've seen Reverend Joseph Lowry there. But see, all of them are all now ancestors. And so, in fact, one of the folks who was there for Selma 50, Bob Moses, who was a SNCC leader, Bob Moses became an ancestor last year.

And so that's the other thing. In fact, if y'all could go to Instagram, please, go pull up, I think it's Sherilyn Ifill's Instagram page. I think it's Sherilyn Ifill. Sherilyn took a picture with an 85-year-old black woman who was the nurse who tended to Jimmy Lee Jackson. When I was there for Selma 50,

I ran into this brother and he was the one who was in the car when Viola Laiuzzo had her head blown off as they were driving down the highway, and he played dead. The only reason those white, racist Klansmen were arrested because of the three in the truck, one of them was an FBI informant who then told on them. The point is, when you're there at these events,

you're literally meeting living history. So when I hear some of these silly ass people say, oh man, these events are a waste of time. To Julian's point, Jewish folks have a tradition where they literally go over their history. Every single year, the children have no choice but to learn the history. And they don't

just start with the last 5, 10, 20 years. You are absolutely right. And the model for many in the Jewish community is never forget. And we need to have that in our mindset. Look, people talk about, oh, y'all coming together for a photo op, it's just symbolic, and so

on and so forth. But let's remember, you started this particular segment by talking about Edmund Pettus. That name is still on the bridge. And that was built there intentionally three decades after this former Klansman and Confederate general died. It was built

in 1940 as part of the whole Jim Crow thing as a constant reminder that white supremacy was going to live. So every year after we do this demonstration, we do this demonstration and we honor our people who have fought, that name is still there every single year. And John Lewis is from Alabama. Edmund Pettus wasn't even from there. So they understand what representation and symbolism means.

And so when you talk about that story about Viola Luosa that you just told, I didn't know about the brother who played dead. I didn't know about the 85-year-old woman who... I mean, these stories have to be seared into our minds because they will keep us active. They will keep us focused. These other folks who built the bridge,

they have no problem with maintaining the memory, but you're saying people are talking about what is Bloody Sunday. And so I commend you, Roland. I'm sitting here watching this segment and a note on these journalists. You're saying these journalists are asking you who's this, who's that? Because all they do is study journalism. They study no

history. So if they would have, they could have spent the whole day out there like you did, Roland, and they could have never got the stories. They could have never pointed to the people and said, this is that, and that is why, going back to your first story to open tonight, Black-owned media matters.

Because no one's going to get the stories, no one's going to tell the history the way we can tell it, nobody's going to know the names the way that we know them, and no one's going to be able to call out the ignorance as they see it. So I commend all of the people who get out there every single year to keep this going. I commend the young people who are out there, as Melanie Campbell talked about as well, because when we see it in their heads, they're going to be continuing this long after any of us are no longer here. So I'm just going to close with this. It was, and I appreciate working with Jamal Simmons,

who's the Director of Communications for Vice President Kamala Harris, for getting me on the plane in the press pool. I was the only African American, there was a brother who was a photographer out of Birmingham, but there was no other black journalist from DC who was a part of the press pool to cover this.

That's first. Second of all, the other reason why it's important for black owned media. Normally when the when the vice president or the president speaks, they only if you go to if you go to White House dot gov, you will see the remarks of Vice President Kamala Harris. They normally only cover her remarks or President Biden's remarks. They don't cover all the other speakers. We learned that when then-Vice President Biden did a rally in Georgia for Raphael Warnock and John Ossoff,

and they had us in a camera position that was far off. And they were like, well, we're covering it on Joe Biden's website, and we're on the website. And I'm going, what the hell? We don't see it. So Portia Coleman, Jermaine Dupri had spoken and some others. And so I was like, what the hell are y'all doing? You got all these damn cameras out here. You're live.

Press the goddamn button. Don't just show Biden speaking. Yeah, I did have to cuss out folks. And they hurry up and they did that. And so same thing. I asked them, I said, hey, are y'all streaming this? They said only her remarks. And so the only reason y'all saw all 17 speakers is because we were there.

People were texting me saying, hey, I'm not seeing this on any network. I'm like, yes, any mainstream network. But Black Star Network was there. And I'll go ahead and say it. There are other black-owned media companies larger than us. Urban One, Black Enterprise, Blavity, Byron Allen's company.

They weren't there. And what I'm trying, but mainstream media will cover the hell out of these 1,000 truckers. Not 4,000 or 5,000 black people in Selma, but 1,000 truckers. But I'm gonna give y'all this here, this is the last point, and my guess is on the next segment,

thank you for being patient. So it was interesting because when you're part of the press pool, they sort of have you roped in you're being patient. So it was interesting because when you're part of the press pool, they sort of have you roped in and you can't really move without a handler from the White House. Okay, so y'all got to understand, I don't like handlers. I don't like anybody telling me I can't walk nowhere. So I was giving them fits because when we got there, I go into the riser, and yeah, for all y'all, yeah, I was the one shooting and live streaming.

They had one seat, okay? So boom, that's how that happened. I know how to work. So I'm sitting here. I set all of my gear up, set it up, boom, press live, waiting for the vice president to start. So I'm walking around. Now, y'all might be asking, now, they were like, well, sir, you can't move around.

I'm like, yes, we can. Why? Because all those people who y'all saw, who, oh, and I think I showed the video. Y'all don't have that video, do y'all? Is it on my computer? All right, I'm gonna walk over here. Just, I'm gonna keep talking.

I was shooting this video, y'all, because I don't believe in VIPs, black VIPs, going to events, standing behind walls, and never going to talk to the people. There were gates that were out there that was separating folks from the rest of the people. Y'all, that's not how uncle Roro works and I'm a firm believer in you go where the people are and so I was doing that so I was walking around talking to people doing stuff and And if you turn on audio you'll hear it and so, you know shaking hands taking selfies and Then there were several points where

the Secret Service was kept telling me, need to get behind the gate or get in the press pool, which was like the secure area. And I was like, no, because I needed the Secret Service to understand that these are the people, and y'all, I told them, these are the folk who watch me every day. These are the folk who send $1 and $5 and $10 for this show. I'm not gonna come

to Selma and be bougie and stay in the VIP section and behind the gate. I'm gonna go shake hands, talk to people, and it was a trip because I was sitting there taking selfies. And the look on their face was like, who the hell is this dude? In fact, one of the White House folks said, man, are they here to see you or to see the vice president?

And at one point, Reverend Jackson and Dr. Barbara and others, they saw me and they were calling me over. They were like, well, you're got to have a handler with you. I said, look, man, y'all are creeping my style. I said, I need y'all to understand. Y'all in Selma for this one event, I deal with these people every day. And so I'm going to move and talk to folk. And so finally, they kind of got the message like, okay, we're going to,

like that sister right there, she said, Roland, I sent my money to the show. The reason I'm saying that, y'all, is that's the other reason why you got to show up to Selma. Because black folks who watch us should never only touch us by touching the TV. And so that's why it's important as well. And so when black-owned media is on the scene, then people are getting the real story. And that's the thing that people have to understand. And so folks, I want to thank everybody who we saw out there. Thanks for all y'all's support.

And again, it was great being a part of the pool, but I just told them, y'all are going to have to back up a little bit because y'all just like, y'all ain't giving the brother enough room to do what he do. And so it was great, again, to share the story and to tell the story as well. All right, folks, I got to go to a break. Don't forget, folks, why you must support Black-owned media because that's what allowed us to be able to go to Selma yesterday. It's a bunch of other stuff that we would love to be able to cover, travel with the vice president. I would love to have a White House correspondent, have somebody who's a part of the pool, who's

covering stuff every day. But see, it doesn't happen without resources. That's why we're going to continue to press this issue when it comes to black-owned media and advertising. Now, as long as there's breath in my body, I'm not relenting. Because I will never apologize for calling folks out when $322 billion is being spent every year and Black-owned media is getting 0.5 to 1%. That simply is unacceptable. Download our Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV, and again, support us. Joining our Bring the Funk

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we thank you for every single dollar that's been given. Again, you can send checks and money orders to P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037. The Cash App is Dallas Sign, RM Unfiltered. PayPal is RMartin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com.

Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Coming up next, Fit Live Win. We talk about yoga with an African twist. I'm sure Jeff at Omicongo can't wait to stretch. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Back in a moment. We'll be right back. All right, folks. Every Monday, we have our Fit, Live, Win segment

where, of course, we talk about health issues, not just working out, Live, Win segment, where, of course, we talk about health issues, not just working out, but not just diet, but different ways to improve your well-being, your wellness, if you will. And one of the things that a lot of people are really doing is

yoga. They are, now, some people who are freaking out, like, oh, does that mean all of a sudden I'm not going to be a Christian? Yo, chill out. No, calm down. All right. Yoga is known, of course, for meditation and healing properties. My next guest here, a husband and wife that created a way to incorporate movements and music from the African diaspora

into yoga. Afro Flow Yoga promotes healing individually and collectively by connecting us to our roots. The CEO and founder is Leslie Salmon Jones. The COO is Jeff Jones, again, of Afro Flow Yoga. They join us now from Massachusetts. Where in Massachusetts? We are in Boston.

All right, then. All right. Certainly appreciate it. All right, so Afro Flow Yoga, where did it start? Where did it come from? Thank you so much, Roland, for having us on your beautiful show here. That was an amazing segment on Selma. We were happy to come from. Thank you so much, Roland, for having us on. Your beautiful show here.

That was an amazing segment on Selma. We were at the opening of Ava DuVernay's movie years ago for Selma, which created new information for the younger generation. So we appreciate that and everybody's work. Yeah, so thank you for having us on and thank you for the amazing work that you're doing. So you asked where we are and how Afroflow got started. And we often say it started with the ancestors. We're sitting here in a house that's been in Jeff's family for 108 years.

And we have been married for 25 years. And when three of our parents passed away in the 2000s, early 2000s, we decided to learn more about our ancestry, Jeff, his family, they can trace back to an enslaved young girl who came into Wilmington, North Carolina. And I was born in Toronto, Jamaican and Scottish Irish descent. We have a book very thick about our Scottish Irish roots,

but three of my grandparents who were Jamaican, we didn't know a lot. So we traveled throughout West Africa in 2007. We went to Ghana, Togo, Cote d'Ivoire, Benin, and stood in the slave dungeons to really understand, first of all, number one, to answer the prayers of our ancestors, because if you're stolen from your home, you're going to pray to go back. And second of all, to really learn about the methodologies and the dehumanization process of how such a strong people can be broken down, and that was a science.

So we learned about the science. And then through prayer and meditation and doing our own healing journey for two years, going to Haiti, Jamaica, and throughout the Americas, really, really connect to that trauma within ourselves. The vision of Afroflow Yoga came through me and then Jeff with all the instruments, which he'll tell you about, and learning that yoga has been in Africa for thousands of years. So it's not just an Eastern thing, an Asian thing, as people often say. Right. And what a lot of people don't know is like there was such a migration and a sharing of wisdom and knowledge between Africa and India.

And so there's a really beautiful, beautiful sharing. And you'll see in Egypt on the hieroglyphics, there's so many amazing scholars who are doing this work. And you can see the yoga postures on the hieroglyphics. And it goes into the spiritual practices that are actually connected also to Christianity at the root. So you can see the beauty in the connection to all. Jeff, go ahead. Oh, you got this, Jeff.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Jeff Carr, Jeff Jones. I'm going to come to you, Jeff Carr, in a minute. Jeff Jones, go ahead. She was talking about the music instrument. Yes. Well, the music we have back here, we've been

virtual for two years, although we've been doing work. We were just in Costa Rica in Nosara for five weeks where we were at Blue Spirit working with a lot of psychologists and trauma healing folks.

The music back here, I have my ajjembe that I brought back from Ghana. I have congas. I have a choli lira instrument back there. I won't get out of the camera here, but I also have, we play other instruments. I have my bass here. This is a bass that my dad played with Billie Holiday. And as you can see, that was my dad playing that bass back in, at Storyville here in Boston in 1959.

That was one of her last gigs. So music's been in my family. My grandmother was an organist, and my parents met in her church, where she was a choir director for many years, Church of All Nations in Boston. And the music, and we have quite the dynamic of being quiet and then also raising the energy and bringing in the fire and the deities and Shango and all the other amazing deities. As far as the other instruments go, so I have a kalimbas that I also play, but it's integrated with the yoga. as far as the other instruments go. So I have a kalimbas that I also play,

but it's integrated with the yoga. So yoga, Kundalini and Vinyasa yoga is connected with, we also bring in a lot of the spiritual jazz to our practice, whether it's John Coltrane, so many, even Earth, Wind & Fire type things are so healing. And along with the yoga. And of course with African drumming. And some Negro spirituals.

The old spirituals, yeah. Jeff's played in many churches. So we incorporate the diaspora. Yeah, having toured for many years and supporting many vocalists, and playing in show bands and traveling around, and playing in church, and whether it's clubs or nursing homes or wherever, you know, it's all about healing.

People come to heal to hear the music. Well, I've got a couple of my panelists who are big time into yoga. Jeff Carr, Makongo Dabinga, Julianne Light. No, I ain't doing all that. But all three, I'm sure, have comments or questions. Jeff Carr, start with you. Yes, sir.

First of all, thanks, Jeff and Leslie, just for everything that you're putting into the world and the dots that you are connecting with the culture, with health, with holistic living, with history. It's just a beautiful thing to behold. And I want to send a shout-out of congratulations to you. People who study Pangea and ancient history and understand how the continents were together at one point understand that whole Dravidian history of India and the connection between that and Egypt.

So you all are exuding that. In a world of cultural appropriation, where you've got Vinyasa, then Bikram, now they have goat yoga. Now they have Jesus yoga. The evangelicals are doing Jesus yoga now. I think it's an amazing thing to witness what you're doing. I'm pastor of a church where we actually do Yoga Sunday.

We're the only church that does a Sunday service dedicated to yoga. So one thing that I wanted to pour back into you and ask about is for those of us who have been practicing a while. I've been practicing about 15 years. I've been teaching about four years. How can people train with you all? Have you reached a point where you're bringing people down to study and you're equipping teachers? And if not, is that something that you're doing in the future? Yeah, thank you.

And so exciting about your journey, to hear about your journey. And it sounds like we have a lot to share and in common. So we appreciate that. Yeah, so we actually created a teacher training program because a lot of the information initially really directly came through the ancestors. So as you said, this information, this wisdom and knowledge has been here. It's within us, within our DNA ourselves. So we've been, over the years, able to... So I've been practicing. Actually, I came to yoga through Alvin Ailey.

I'm a trained dancer. In 1991, yoga was a requirement. So Alvin Ailey was an amazing yogi. He was a visionary on so many levels. So bringing in the diaspora, it's really, the insertion of that is hard to find in Western yoga now. created a curriculum after years of study and doing research and gathering papers and of the history of yoga in africa the history the connection to the healing of dance and music the spiritual practices that have been interconnected and it not, we're not denouncing any spiritual practice. We're opening it to connect so that no one has to denounce. And then the practices, the actual practices

and the yamas and the niyamas. And then we get into community healing because that's really oftentimes a missing piece. We do bring a lot of the indigenous practices into our yoga practice. So it's done in a circle. So we're connecting heart to heart. We're feeling the roots of each other in the interconnection of each other, as opposed to being set up in a grid system and having our shutters on. So we do the individual and the collective. Omokongo!

Well, yeah, this is exciting. Greetings, first of all, from my sisters, Musa, Mwadi, and Shalumba Dabinga. We love you. We like them. Yeah. So we're trying the Ailey and everything and they said, make sure I say what's up and I was going to do that anyway. So

I just want to commend y'all. I mean, the love is just, y'all are just doing amazing things. And, you know, my wife and I, you know, we have our hot yoga studios down here. And so on your way to Nashville to check out Reverend Carr, make sure you stop by us first and we get some sessions in.

We'd love to have you as part of our community down here. Just, you know, it'd be awesome. The question I have for you, it comes from your website. One of the things I noticed, because with Farr Studios, we're also committed to social justice, and you have a spot on your website specifically talking about racism.

Yes. What led you to do that in this area of yoga, which we know in the West is white-dominated and everything? I mean, what was the intentionality behind that? Because I just feel like it's so amazing that you did that. Thank you. Well, I mean, it's been really out of a need. As you mentioned, well, pre-COVID, in so many yoga studios, there was just like not an awareness at all, and almost as if people were in a post-racial society and just no connection, which was causing a lot of trauma for people, people of color who would walk into the studio and there would be microaggressions, all kinds of things. So when COVID happened, we went virtual right away.

And that opened up to global community. Really, we had people from all over the world, which meant they were coming from different places of consciousness, different skin tones, all kinds of cultures. And so then when the racial pandemic, after the murder of George Floyd, so many people just swarmed to us, swarmed to us looking for answers. And we found really three situations.

One situation where the people who had no idea there was racism, right? That's like, oh my gosh, there's racism and they're awakening to it right now. So we said, okay, well, let's just go over here with the history, like got some homework to do because there's history and you gotta learn the history. And they were well, you know, people who really

actually were where they were. Then there were the people who knew and wanted to be really active and allies. So we're like, OK, go on this track with the anti-racism work. And then there are our folks who are closest to the pain, who need the healing and need to be in a place where they're really encouraged and health. And so that's our healing of our roots. That's that. We've been working with Reverend Liz Walker also. I don't know if you're familiar with her.

She was a news anchor, one of the first black news anchors here in Austin. So we've been doing a lot of trauma and healing with her. And Leslie's one of Leslie's first yoga teachers. His father had been a yogi in Africa also. Yeah, well, yeah. So hold tight. Hold on one second.

Hold on one second, because I'm literally running out of time. I got to get in Julianne. You can finish that, but Julianne, I got to get your question in. First of time. I got to get in, Julianne. You can finish that, but Julianne, I got to get your question in. First of all, I love the way y'all look, and I love your energy, and I might try your yoga. I wouldn't go try Omicongo's with that hot stuff,

but I might try yours. So thank you so much. Thank you, thank you. My question is, how do you get to yoga? I mean, I'm not that still. So that's my problem with yoga, is you have to yoga? I mean, I'm a person, I'm not that still. So if that's my problem with yoga is you have to be too still. You mean how to slow your butt down and calm

down? Well, yeah, that could be it too. All right. I have a meeting with somebody today who said just exactly that. When you go calm down, I'm like, I don't know. I got about 60 seconds. Who wants to take her question? Well, we have our classes on Sundays and Thursdays live since we've been virtual.

We're already booked again for Costa Rica next year. Yes. And we'll be down there for three or four weeks. But we have other things that we'll be doing throughout the year in different states. Yes. And how you can slow down and get to yoga is when you come, we'll teach you. But really, the music is really something, another element, the live music, that helps people calm, get out of the head, into the heart, into that embodied practice.

And it's for every level. So when you come in, we'll take good care of you. It's a non-judgment environment. All right, then. First of all, give the website, please. We'll also give more information. Afroflowyoga.com. A-F-R-O.

Don't forget the flow, like the water. F-L-O-W. Yoga.com. dot com. A-F-R-O. Don't forget the flow like the water. F-L-O-W yoga dot com. And we have virtual classes, teacher training, retreats coming up, and we'd love to see you. It's for all levels and ages. All right, then.

We appreciate it. Thank you so very much, Leslie and Jeff Jones. Thanks a lot. Thank you so much. All right, folks, before we go off, some breaking news. The United States Senate has passed the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act. It was a vote of 422 to 3, 422 to 3. Again, that had been blocked for quite some time by Rand Paul of Kansas. It passed the House last week,

and now the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act has been passed by the U.S. Senate and now goes on to President Joe Biden for his signature. Folks, tomorrow we're going to hear from Education Secretary Miguel Cordona about his visit to Selma, but also about education in Selma and the Black Belt. That's tomorrow. And also a couple of weeks ago, journalist Askiya Mohammed passed away. His memorial service took place on Saturday. I got a chance to stop by, say a few words, and also record this gorgeous song that was done by Ayanna Gregory, one of the children of Dick Gregory.

We're going to have that for you tomorrow as well as we pay tribute to Askiya Muhammad, who passed away at the age of 76. And we'll also share some of the content we got in Liberia when the Congressional Black Caucus arrived for their meetings with the president of Liberia, George Weah. That's all that tomorrow right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. If you missed any of our coverage of Selma, you can go to the Black Star Network app. You can see the entire program, hear all of the speeches, check all of that out as well. And so please do so. Again, folks, support us in what we do.

Download the app, Apple TV, Android TV, Android, Apple and Roku. Of course, phones as well. Amazon Fire, Xbox, Samsung TV. And of course, join our Bring the Funk fan club. You can see in checks and money orders to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037. Cash app is R. Martin Unfiltered. PayPal is R. Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is R.M. Unfiltered. Zelle is rolling at rollinglessmartin.com. Jeff, I'm a Congo Julian. Thank you very much for joining us.

We appreciate your participation. Folks, I will see you guys tomorrow right here on Rolling Martin Unfiltered. And don't forget, we keep the fight up, not only for our people, but for the money. How? our people, but for the money. This is an I heart podcast.