#RolandMartinUnfiltered - #MarchForDemocracy day 3; TX gov. uses COVID to target migrants; Eviction moratorium ends

Episode Date: July 31, 2021

7.30.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: #MarchForDemocracy day 3; Texas Gov. Greg Abbott uses COVID to target migrants; Eviction moratorium ends; Nekia Trigg update; Colorado cop caught on video beating a Black man quits; Wife of slain Haitian president, Jovenel Moïse considers presidential run; Education Matters: Rep. Jamaal Bowman talks Green New Deal for Public Schools.Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered#RolandMartinUnfiltered is a news reporting platform 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. Thank you. Today is Friday, July 30, 2021. Coming up on Roland Martin on the filter. Broadcasting live from the University of Baptist Church here in Austin, Texas. This is where the marchers for the March for Democracy ended their 27-mile journey. Tomorrow, they head to the state capitol for a massive rally that we'll be covering live here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. We'll show you also some of today's news conference that featured a number of people, including Reverend Dr. William J. Barbara, Barbara Arnwine, Reverend Leah Steele Harris, Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., and Beto O'Rourke. Also on today's show, a lot of people are going to be facing eviction notices very soon as a result of COVID. What the White House is now trying to extend to give them some aid.

Here in Texas, you have Greg Abbott, the governor, of course, doing his part to make excuses for targeting migrants in this state and using COVID as his cover. Shameful and despicable. Also on today's show, we'll have an update on the arrest of Nakia Trigg, the woman who was accosted in Mississippi where a cop laid literally on top of her to detain her. Also, the Aurora police officer. Oh, yeah. Remember we showed you the body cam video of him beating an unarmed black man? Well, guess what? That cop has quit. Yeah. No shock there from that thug. And guess what? The widow of the Haitian president, Jovenel Moise, his wife says she may run for president. Also in our Education Matters segment, we'll talk with Congressman Jamal Bowen about the Green New Deal for public schools. Folks, it is time to bring the Falk from hot Austin, Texas.

I'm Roland Martin Unfiltered. Let's go. He's got it Whatever the piss, he's on it Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the find And when it breaks, he's right on time And it's rolling Best belief he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling It's Uncle Roro, y'all It's rolling, yeah, yeah It's Uncle Roro, yo

Yeah, yeah It's rolling Martin, yeah Yeah, yeah Rolling with rolling now Yeah, yeah He's funky, he's fresh, he's real The best you know, he's rolling Martin Now All right, folks, welcome to Roland Martin Unfiltered,

broadcasting live from University Baptist Church here in Austin, Texas. This is where the marchers of the 27-mile sojourn from Georgetown, Texas to Austin ended up today. Everything started off, y'all can go ahead and go to our drone shot if you see it there. Everything started off here at the North Austin Muslim Community Service. Sorry, folks, there we uh looks like we uh lost the the the shot there so we're going to go ahead and get that back uh and so this is where i think we should have it now um this is where everything started uh at the north austin muslim community uh center uh in north austin that's where we of course were yesterday as well. We had an opportunity to do the

show from there yesterday. What they did was thousands of people actually wanted to march, but they purposely limited the number of marches to 125 per shift due to COVID restrictions. That was from Reverend Dr. William Barber. And what they did was everyone who marched had to be vaccinated. They also had social distancing. You saw the distance that took place there with the marchers. And so that's one of the things that happened today. And so, as I said, they traveled from that church into the city to University Baptist Church. This is where we ended up. Of course, they were a rowdy bunch, if you will, chanting along the way, singing movement songs, freedom songs. And so all of those things were actually happening during the course of the day. It took us about six hours or so to travel the distance, stopped several different times.

And of course, if you want to see the full march, you can simply go to our YouTube channel where you'll see that we were broadcasting the march all throughout from beginning to end. So a great job here with our crew. Of course, we had got Henry Peterson, Anthony Hampton and Reggie Hopkins. And so, folks, we've been up late, up early covering this. We got one more day, which is tomorrow. And so, like I said, everything ended up here at University Baptist Church. And that was a news conference that also took place where a number of folks spoke at the particular news conference. And so we wanted to share some

of that with you. Allow me to set it up, please. I was literally editing up until the last second. Here we go. The rules always get changed. And if we hadn't break broken filibuster, we wouldn't have a civil rights law. That's how we got. They broke the filibuster. But then it was a parade. At least you had to stand on the floor and defend it. This is a coward filibuster. Ain't no courage in it. Any man or woman that called themselves a man or woman should be ashamed to stand behind. It's weak. It's puny. Huh? But we're putting Supreme Court justices on the Supreme Court for life with 51 votes. That's right. We passed the COVID relief bill, which we should have, with

51 votes. Yes. They're talking about a reconciliation infrastructure bill with 51 votes. Well, if all of that can be done with 51 votes, you can save this democracy and voting rights with 51 votes. You can pass living wages with 51 votes. You can ensure the justifier immigrants with 51 votes. You can stop going to John Lewis's damn grave and saying you love him, but you won't stand for what he fought for while he was living. I'm sick and tired of the pettiness all up on people's graves. Let me tell you,

politicians, I don't know why the Spirit's on me like this, but let me tell you, politicians, what the Bible said. Woe unto those who love the tombs of the prophets. When the prophets are alive, you claim you won't stand with them. John Lewis is still alive, because the 40 People's Act, it still has his ink on it. And no senator should ever go to another memorial of John Lewis or Dr. King or Rabbi Heschel if you have not attached your signature to this bill and saved the heart of this democracy. Brother Beto. Our democracy is in peril. Right.

We have fewer voting rights today than we did because of preclearance and all of these changes, voting abridgment than we did 56 years ago. We live in a nation that has the wherewithal to end poverty immediately. And yet there are 140 million people who live in poverty or one emergency, one storm, one health care crisis, one job loss from it. Thirty-two million workers in this nation could have enough to thrive, not just barely survive, if we were to put the minimum federal, the federal minimum wage up to $15 an hour. And so we see this attack on our democracy and the lack of economic justice happening in this, the richest country in the world, as a moral abomination.

Yes. in this, the richest country in the world, as a moral abomination. Yes. And it's been powerful to march these 27 miles with the people of Texas. Yes. And I am here to tell you, people are ready for a moral resurrection. That's right. That's right. People are ready to save the soul of this democracy.

And Reverend Liz always reminds us of those numbers. In Texas, there are 12.6 million poor and low-wealth people in this state. Five million make less than $15 an hour. In 2016, the presidential election was decided by 800,000 votes. 2.7 million poor and low-wealth people did not vote or were suppressed in one way or the other. Thirty percent of the electorate is now poor and low wealth. It wasn't that way in 68, Dr. Reverend Jeff. Thirty percent, 65 million.

In 15 states, including southern states, if poor and low-wealth people who are already registered to vote, not new registered, already registered, would vote at 1 to 22 percent higher, they could turn states from Michigan all the way to Texas. But any voter suppression undermines that. And then that undermines policies like living wages and health care. Now, there's a sister. Freddie Haynes and I were talking about her the other day. She's about 6'7", about 6'7", when it comes to constitutional law.

Throughout the entire day, and was with me when we were all arrested, right? That's right. On Monday. On Monday. And was arrested himself on last Thursday. Daryl Jones is also one of the pillars of our movement for justice. Well, I want to just say two things really quickly. One, the president of the United States has to stand up in this moment.

He cannot say this is about what some senators may not want to vote for. He has to bring his power to say that you've got to vote. He has to sell Schumer the recess. You haven't even done your job. You don't deserve a recess until you save our democracy, until you put the Foreign People Act under his desk, he should say nothing happens until I have this bill on my desk and I sign it. Nothing less is acceptable. The other thing I want to say is that the people of this nation are rising up.

They're not sitting back and taking some kind of okie-doke. They're not saying that you can destroy the democracy that my father, who was a proud Texan, that they fought for, that my grandfather, who was a proud Texan, fought for. You can't do that. We're going to keep fighting until we free to vote.

Free to vote. Free to vote. Free to vote. Free to vote. Free to vote. Black people, brown people, women and children, since the summer march, we've gone from four black congressmen to six. Gone from two Latino congressmen to 45, 25 Asians. We are more representative of the democracy today than we were at that time. The Bridge experiment was a bloody Sunday. It was a dramatic dimension. Here it's not just a drama, it's a trauma of losing what we've gained. And if Lyndon Johnson, he did the right moral thing. Now Biden has to do a survival thing.

We lose, he loses. We lose, democracy loses. We win, democracy wins, everybody wins. And everybody wins, there are no losers, because including these growth and growth, everybody wins. Thank you. that no loses because including these are growth and growth growth everybody wins thank you let me take this question and then we're gonna it's so hot out here we don't want nobody to fall out people gotta tell you we we are so lucky to be in the presence of so many courageous texans and americans who've walked these 27 miles over the last three days, who are helping to bring

attention and focus, not just from across this state, but from across this country, to the most important issue before us, the fact that our democracy is being attacked unlike any other time in this country's history since the Civil War. That's exactly what the president of the United States recently said in Philadelphia. What he has not said and what we have the power to say now for him and hopefully to get him to say is that the next step of political courage is to make sure that we get the For the People Act through the Senate. As Bishop Barber said, they've made exceptions to the filibuster for fast track trade deals. You can pass them on a 51-vote majority. For

budget deals, 51-vote majority. For Supreme Court judges, 51-vote majority. For federal judges, 51-vote majority. We're asking for just one more exception, a 51-vote majority for voting rights legislation. If we fail at this moment of truth, we do not just fail the Democratic Party or the Republican Party or the generation alive today. We fail this country and every generation that follows ours because Abraham Lincoln called us this the last best hope of Earth. And we have inherited the struggle and the sacrifice of everyone who has come before us. And we either make the most of it now at this moment of truth, or we squander it forever. The folks on this march, and even more of them who are coming tomorrow, 10 a.m., in front of the state capitol to rally

for the right to vote, these people will not be found wanting or lacking in courage at this moment of truth. In fact, we are trying to give the president the power he needs to make this his undying, unyielding, uninterrupted focus until we pass the For the People Act, get voting rights in this country, and protect American democracy for the next generation. That's what we're here to do. Now, folks, at today's news conference, at today's news conference, I did ask Reverend Dr. William Barber with regards to this whole issue of the White House not meeting with Texas House Democrats. What do you thought about that?

Remember, just yesterday, we had Representative Collier and Representative Sophronia Thompson who told us at the White House, well, President Joe Biden had yet to meet with those 50-plus Texas House Democrats. Vice President Kamala Harris has a couple of times, but not President Joe Biden. Listen to what Reverend Barber said in response to my question. PRESIDENT BARBER, PRESIDENT BIDEN, OUGHT TO PUT HIM ON AIR FORCE ONE, FLY HIM TO TEXAS, HAVE A MEETING ON AIR FORCE ONE, THE MATTER—THAT'S FEDERAL LAND, RIGHT? Force One, fly them to Texas, have a meeting on Air Force One to matter to that's federal land, right? Yes.

Yes. Huh? Yes, sir. There? The constable's here. They come on there and get them, and then have a rally with them, a meeting with them, and then go back with them to the well of the Congress and have those Texas legislators sitting right there in the front. He's got to, because they have power.

And he has more power than he's using. He's got more power. I had a chance before he was elected. I'll get you, Reverend. I had more before he was elected. I did an Easter program with him on his podcast. And I said to him, what your, come here Liz, what you think, what your political consultants might be telling you is possible is going to fundamentally change through this pandemic.

You check the record. I said, this pandemic is going to open up pain and expose pain, poverty, pain, race, pain in a way that will give you an opportunity because you can see it. This fight for voting rights and the fact that the filibuster has already been used to block part of the covid relief plan that would have lifted 32 million people, the people who got we had to go to work first, got sick first, got infected first, and died first, and now is threatening the democracy. I said to him, you will have your Lyndon Baines Johnson, Kennedy, Lincoln moment presented to you. I said this in March, Jesse. I don't know why the Spirit says that.

He wasn't even president. He wasn't even elected. I hadn't even endorsed him. I said, but I believe if you get to be president, you're going to have a moment delivered to you. And the question is going to be, what do you do with that moment?

Go to West Virginia, Mr. President. We love you enough to tell you this. Meet with those folk, those 79% of West Virginians that say Manchin is wrong. 81% of Democrats. Go to Arizona. Push cinema. Meet with the Latino community, the black community, the white community, the gay community. Put those folk on a plane.

Come to Texas. Have a meeting right out here in the airport. Fly them right back. And when you go back, already have Pelosi and Schumer inviting you to the well of the Congress. And I guarantee you, if you take this to the well of the Congress, it will well up a sentiment of resurrection and transformation in this country. And you will be able to do more than you even think you can do now. But you've got to get the leadership. All right, folks, let's go to my panel. Joining me right now is Dania Joseph.

She's an immigrants' rights activist. Glad to have her on the show. Brittany Lee Lewis, she is a political analyst. And Michael Imhotep, host of the African History Network. All right, Ms. Joseph, I've been trying to get you on the show for quite some time. We finally got you on our panel. Glad to have you here. Let's talk about that last point I raised.

Let's just say after the news conference, literally right after, a phone call came in to Reverend Jackson's cell phone from the White House. And they were, I won't say they were happy to hear what Reverend Barber described in terms of the pressure putting on, but they clearly were listening and got the message. And you're seeing that now. You're seeing Senator Chuck Schumer say that he may not allow them to go on recess. He may keep them in to vote on this bill. The external pressure that is being brought to bear is working because it is forcing these Democrats to reckon with the unrest in the streets on the issue of voting.

Right. Absolutely. And I think it's time. You know, this idea that there isn't more that could be done is preposterous, right? We are living in 2021. We're not living in the 1950s and the 1960s of the civil rights movement. And so this idea that the Biden administration couldn't meet—I mean, yes, you mentioned Vice President Kamala Harris did, but this idea that the president couldn't, why is that, right? This is one of the quintessential issues that is impacting us in this country today. Voter suppression is real. This idea that Black and brown and indigenous people, communities of color that have been historically disenfranchised, are currently under attack again, because we've

always been. So why not find the time? Why must we take, you know, taking to the streets, right? Taking to the streets is always a good idea. Dr. King said, rioting is the voice of the oppressed, right? When we are oppressed and feel as though there's no other channels, that's what we do. We take to the streets. But I feel like it shouldn't have even gotten to that point. Voter suppression is a real issue that's impacting us in 2021, not just in Texas, but in Georgia and other states across the nation. This should have been one of the administration's first things that they did on day one, because during the campaign cycle, we saw a host of promises that was being made time and time again. We saw John Lewis's name, may he rest in peace, being uplifted over and over again by individuals

who otherwise wouldn't have supported his life's work and much of the things that he fought for in regards to voting rights. And so when you hear Reverend Barber say that, right, he literally said that, that there's individuals who are invoking the name of Dr. King, Ralph Abernathy, John Lewis. You know, we have different people that are being uplifted, but yet you don't want to keep their legacies alive, right? It's time that the president meets with these individuals who are on the ground, whether that be politicians, activists and organizers, or just invested Americans who do not want to see their right to vote be infringed upon. That meeting should have happened yesterday. DR. RONALD FERGUSON The thing here, Michael, that is quite interesting

is, President Biden has not called these holdout democratic senators to the white house to specifically talk about the voting for the people act the john lewis act they keep talking about also this john lewis voting act the problem is it hasn't been written right so what the hell are we talking about if we don't even know what is in it? And so essentially what Democrats are doing is they're negotiating against themselves on this For the People Act vote. We're hearing that now they're talking about remove the dark money provisions out of the bill and some things along those lines. What Bob and others are saying is, no, you fight for every single element that's in the bill. And if you have to give up something, you do it at the absolute last minute. You don't do it at the beginning of a conversation.

Yeah, you know, so there are different aspects of this. And there's a time element also, because you have the in September, we know that the federal budget runs out. You're going to have a debate over the debt ceiling. We know that August recess is coming up. Now, Schumer is signaling that he may suspend the August recess, which I think he should. At the same time, we know that the House goes on recess, I think, either today or next week, something like the House goes on recess. So you have all these different dynamics. If you have to remove the dark money provisions and things like that to get the bill passed, then you get that bill passed now and then come back

and get those other parts later. You know, this is really—you have a lot of moving pieces, and this is really complicated. And one of the things that this march is doing is shedding light—because I've been covering this march—I've been talking about it for the past two days on my show as well, letting my people know about it also. Mainstream media is starting to talk about it more. I saw more coverage yesterday. But one thing that I see still missing,

and we've talked about that here on this show, Roland, one element that's a powerful element that I still see that's missing is corporations are still very silent on what's taking place. I agree with what you're talking about and pressure on Biden and Biden should step up more and things like this. And Biden has signaled that he supports a standing filibuster as opposed to the filibuster now, all that. But I see that corporations are still very silent. Also, I see, with this movement here in the Poor People's Campaign, and, to me, Reverend William Barber is a modern-day Dr. King, I see them expanding the conversation to beyond just African

Americans. This is something that we have talked about here. And because this impacts everybody, college students, the elderly, the 38 million disabled Americans who are registered to vote, they're going to be impacted by this. This impacts Latinos, Asian-Americans, Native Americans, LGBTQ. I'm wondering where the MeToo women are. No offense to any MeToo women, the white MeToo women especially. They were very vocal a couple—a few weeks ago when Bill Cosby got out of prison, but they're very silent now. This affects everybody. So, and lastly, Roland, this is not just a 15th Amendment issue, because we associate the Voting Rights Act of 1965 with the 15th Amendment, but this is also a 19th Amendment issue, because white women didn't get the right to vote until 1920, the 19th

Amendment. But this is also, Roland rolling the 26th Amendment issue of 1971. The 26th Amendment lowered the minimum voting age from 21 to 18. So this impacts everybody. All right. So we have to continue the pressure. We saw Representative Sheila Jackson Lee just got arrested yesterday at the Senate Hart Building. So we have to continue this pressure. But, yeah, Biden, I think Biden has to step up as well.

And he should meet with those Democrats from Texas. Well, well, look, look, Brittany, the thing that again, is pressure, pressure, pressure, it has to be relentless, it has to be constant. That's what we've learned from many of the movements, historically, especially the Black Freedom Movement. It simply cannot—will not get done by inside conversations. It's not going to happen that way. Absolutely, Roland. And you hit the nail on the head.

Nothing has ever been easily handed to us. And the very notion of freedom and so many of the things that, quote, unquote, come with democracy have been made possible because of us saying no, and because of us marching and fighting and putting that pressure. You know, even thinking about finally, right, these marches getting picked up by mainstream media, and they're hearkening this back, essentially, to the civil rights era and the landmark Alabama voting rights march in Montgomery in 1965. And, you know, some are claiming that this is essentially an extension

of that moment and of that fight. And they're right. And I pray that that perspective and this pressure that we're putting on puts a fire not only under Biden, but under our legislators. And, you know, Reverend Barber is just so important to this. And he's constantly speaking truth to power because they've made so many exceptions to the filibuster for so many things. And we know that—and I also love the point that he made about John Lewis's grave. You know, don't visit his grave if you're not going to defend the principles that he stood for. And we know that this is not just a Black issue. We know that this, and Reverend Barber also reminds us that this is an American issue. This is a Black, white, brown, yellow issue.

And it is a moral cause that we have to stand up for. Not to mention the fact we know that the Constitution, the 15th Amendment, says no one, no state or entity can deny us the right to vote. And more than 56 million Americans use different processes to vote other than going in person on Election Day. So—and the fact that we have legislators fighting tooth and nail on some false claim that hasn't been proven that there is election fraud is absolutely ridiculous. And, you know, we need to end the filibuster. We need to pass all of the provisions in the For the People Act. And I hope Biden continues—or I hope Biden takes this call seriously, because I think if he doesn't, it's going to have serious consequences moving forward for him and all of us.

You know, when I think about history, when I think about A. Philip Randolph and President Franklin Roosevelt, when I think about Truman, when I think about Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, I could go even further back. Black civil rights leaders were applying a level of pressure. Abraham Lincoln didn't just go, oh, he's a great emancipator. No, no, no.

He was getting his ass whooped by Frederick Douglass. And that's the thing that I think we have to always remember, that we've had leadership that was not willing to capitulate and be happy with an invite to a meeting. They understood that they had to come back to their people with some actual action. Otherwise, all they got was some nice words, tea, and cookies at a nice, cute White House luncheon. Right. This is about accountability, right? I think people are sick and tired of the age-old, let's just have a meeting, a photo opportunity immediately after that, and then we see nothing come out of it. Much like the immigrant rights movement and what we've been seeing for that fight, we're ready for action, right? If this is something that is done via a campaign promise, it's not enough that once folks

get into office, those promises are forgotten, and then there's no action until close to the midterm elections, where we want to see people be reelected and we want to see those numbers in the House and the Senate, right? It's time for us to be able to have the legislation that provides the protections for the voter rights measures that we have across the nation. And so for a lot of people, we've been mobilizing across the nation, state to state, because people recognize the urgency in this matter, the fact that we are witnessing a continuation, right? I saw someone call this a continuation of the civil rights movement.

Are we not ashamed as a nation in 2021 to be able to call the actions, the voter suppression actions of Governor Greg Abbott in 2021 to be a continuation of what we saw with civil rights suppression. This is something that we need to work on immediately, because the more that we continue on, we see state after state getting these same ideas and want to infringe upon voting rights based upon this idea, right, that was perpetuated by the previous administration, that there was somehow some sort of voter oppression that took place to members of their party that prohibited them from having their ballots being counted, when we know that most of the states counted their ballots not one time, not two times, but three times. This idea that a lot of folks have been perpetuating, it really needs to stop.

And I think it's time that we start to correct those narratives, that we move beyond the meetings, that we have action. And I think one thing that we need to remember, this party, the Democratic Party, oftentimes perpetuates this idea of bipartisanship, right? Something that we have to recall is that for the Republican Party, whenever they're in power and have control of Congress, both houses of Congress or even one chamber of Congress, they tend to act alone. They pay no mind to bipartisanship. They simply act. In fact, we saw the Trump administration continue to refuse the orders that were being handed down from the courts. They just ignored them, right?

So why is it that we're not fighting more to simply not worry about bipartisanship, but to protect what's right and should be protected in this nation, which is voter rights. Michael, look, August 6th is the anniversary of the signing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Reverend Barber and others wanted a bill signed by that particular anniversary date. Democrats cannot wait till October, November and December because you need time to also implement the actual bill if it is passed. And so that's why you have this level of pressure, because so the business happening tomorrow, the state capitol, then you're going to have mass action of some 600 plus clergy in D.C. on Monday. Then you're going to have action on Tuesday. Then, of course, the black women are going to be mobilized and organized again with action on Wednesday and Thursday.

It has to be this constant drumbeat that has to happen. There's no other way. Absolutely. It has to be continuous pressure, continuous education, and expanding the conversation and showing how these different segments of the population, how they are all impacted by this. Too many people look at this fight, as the other panelists have been saying. They look at this fight as a black fight. They look at this fight as, oh, the 1965 Voting Rights Act. OK, that's a black thing. That's Dr. King, and that's John Lewis. That's the Edmund Pettus Bridge. No, you have to make this direct and targeted and show how this impacts elderly white people who vote through mail-in ballots, how this impacts Latinos,

how this impacts this 38 million disabled Americans who are registered to vote. Now, Vice President Kamala Harris did meet with members of the disabled community, I think it was two weeks ago, at the White House. But you have to show how all these different segments that have massive organization all across the country, because we're being targeted in 48 state legislatures, even though a lot of these bills are not going to pass in, like, state legislatures where Democrats control it and you have a Democratic governor. But still, the attack is in 48 states, probably 50 states. So the mobilization has to be in all across the country as well. And lastly, we have to put relentless pressure on these corporations who we spend dollars with, and they finance Republican candidates that are working to suppress our vote.

We have to put pressure on them to put pressure on these Republicans to shut this stuff down also. None of them have said, if you pass these bills, we're not going to give you any more money. OK? So we have to continue the mobilization and putting pressure on these corporations as well. Brittany, again, we are moving towards this path this path again tomorrow uh it's wide open they put no limitations on tomorrow uh they are expecting uh several thousand people uh at the texas state capitol uh it will all kick off actually with a 151 car caravan representing 151 years uh of action and so we'll take going from Georgetown, Texas, which is 27 miles away, coming into the state capitol, actually going to be led by a hearse.

And then they want that to actually symbolize that voting rights could be a DOA if Congress does not act. The thing that also I find to be interesting with, oh, by the way, Willie Nelson is also going to be performing tomorrow at the rally. And I got to ask, and with that, I actually, you know, his was interesting. And Willie Nelson is obviously a Texas legend known across the world. I remember the Selma to Montgomery march. Harry Belafonte recruited a lot of entertainers who actually came and performed. I mean, I got to be honest with you. I am very disappointed by the lack of presence from many black folks in the entertainment community with what is going on here. Yep. Yep.

Yeah, I completely agree. And I think a lot of our artists would do well to think about what our artistry means. And I think so many within our community would argue that we don't have the luxury of, quote, unquote, being apolitical, right? And to be apolitical is to actually be political, right? It's to take the side of the oppressor. And in a moment that is so important, because we know without voting, so many of the things that we care about, whether that be education, housing, unions, federal minimum wage, whatever it may be, we can't address those things if we don't have

the very bridge or the very tool to do that, which is our voting rights. So I am also completely disheartened. And I wish I could say I'm surprised, Roland, but I'm not. In light of so many of the things that we've been seeing in the press with some of our artists, I'm a bit disheartened, but I'm not surprised. And I pray that they recognize that they have so much power that they can wield to make a difference, not only in our community, this Black community, but in the nation and in the world, if they would use their platforms. Yes, it's great that Willie Nelson is going to be there, but I would love to see way more people come out that have that power.

And that's the thing right there, Dania, that I think, and again, I'm not one where I'd say, oh my gosh, you got to have celebrities involved with anything and everything. But I do believe, and again, I go back to all these folks. Boy, they were out here and they were talking and posting and emotional in the aftermath of George Floyd's death. This is what we call the real work after the hype moment. Dania, go ahead. I think you're muted.

I think you're muted. Dania, I think you're muted. Yeah, we can't hear you at all. We can't hear you. All right, so what are we going to do? We're going to try to fix your audio. I'm going to go to a break. We'll be back on Roland Martin Unfiltered in just a moment.

The same forces that are trying to pass these bills across the country, but here in Texas, to, yes, suppress, to stop, to undermine the vote. The same folk that block you from having living wages are the same folk that wouldn't fix your utilities problems. AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. Secretary of State for Economic Justice and Social Security, In this time, when our voting rights are under attack and economic justice is being denied— SEN. economic justice is being denied. We're launching a season of nonviolent moral direct action to demand four things by August 6, the 56th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act.

Number one— AMY GOODMAN, SEN. KAMALA HARRIS, SEN. KAMALA HARRIS, SEN. KAMALA HARRIS, SEN. Yes. AMY GOODMAN, SEN. Yes.

AMY GOODMAN, SEN. Number two, pass all provisions of the For the People Act. AMY GOODMAN, SEN. Fully restore the 1965 Voting Rights Act. And number four, raise the federal minimum wage to $15. Pass the For the People Act. That is the last best hope for voting rights, not just in Texas, but Georgia, Florida,

and about a dozen other states. Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Bill and the For the People Act. Let our people vote. the John Lewis Voting Rights Bill and the For the People Act. Let our people vote. The Latinx community is the rising electorate in Texas and our representatives are threatened by these shifting demographics.

Our pathway to citizenship, to a living wage, depend on our access to the ballot. This is not just a black issue. That's right. This is not just a black issue. That's right. This is a moral, constitutional, and economic democracy issue. Poverty is reinforced by public policy. And what happens in Texas, as well as in America, we create policies that perpetuate poverty,

and then we criminalize the poverty that we create. There's only so much we can take, and it's time for us to stand up and speak loudly against what's happening here. I think in Texas that it is time for a Selma-like. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think we ought to run from Georgetown to Austin. And we ought to come to Austin, but we ain't coming to Austin just for Austin. We come to Austin to save the Washington, D.C.

Which side are you on? And don't tell us you can't do all of this. You must do all of this for the soul and the heart of this democracy. Forward together! Forward together! Forward together! Hello together! Forward together! Hello, I'm Nina Turner.

My grandmother used to say, all you need in life are three bones. The wishbone to keep you dreaming, the jawbone to help you speak truth to power, and the backbone to keep you standing through it all. I'm running for Congress because you deserve a leader who will stand up fearlessly on your behalf. Together, we will deliver Medicare for all.

Good jobs that pay a living wage and bold justice reform. I'm Nina Turner and I approve this message. I believe that people our age have lost the ability to focus the discipline on the art of organizing. The challenges, there's so many of them and they're complex. And we need to be moving to address them. But I'm able to say, watch out, Tiffany.

I know this road. That is so freaking dope. Come here. That was the most you've done today. All right, folks, we're here in Texas. And you want to know how trifling the Texas governor, Greg Abbott, is? He literally is trying to use COVID as a way to attack migrants. What he did was he actually had the state troopers pull over migrants. Now, this is what his office says. He claims that they're doing this because of the dramatic rise in unlawful border crossings, the same that they're bringing in COVID-19. Now, of course, this is hypocritical because this is the same governor who opposes COVID-19

public health policies. Remember, his executive order could be an illegal preemption of a federal contract with bus companies transporting migrants for work. Now, the Texas Department of Public Safety was vague about enforcing the order. This is a quote from them. Pull the graphic up, please. The Texas Department of Public Safety is committed to securing our border under the direction of Governor Greg Abbott and through the executive orders applicable to DPS. While the department does not discuss the operational specifics, we will continue to monitor the situation at the border to make real-time decisions and adjust operations as necessary. I don't know what the hell they talking about, Dania. Listen, this is dog whistle, if I've ever heard it. This is dog whistles,

right? And let's be clear. This is just one more thing that Greg Abbott needs to check off on his list of racist, xenophobic and discriminatory policies. This isn't anything that's new. And I'm being completely sarcastic here when I say that surely this has nothing to do with the fact that Texas hasn't followed through with the vast majority of the CDC mandates. This has nothing to do with the videos that we've seen from Karens and Kens coming out of Texas, where they fail to wear masks to enter public

establishments, right? Surely this has nothing to do with the fact that Texas opened up the vast majority of its establishments months before the rest of the states in the United States, right? This has everything to do with the stereotypical notions that Greg Abbott, as well as many people in Texas, have of immigrants, right? There's been this trope from really the dawn of time in which we feel and fear that immigrants are disease-ridden. When we look at the numbers, the vast majority of people coming from states that are immigrating from various countries, they actually have low to no numbers of COVID-19, right? The people who are fleeing Central America are coming from Mexico and

Guatemala. These individuals are not disease-ridden. What he really should have said is, I hate immigrants, and as a result of my hate in immigrants, I'm now passing a basic stop-and-frisk-like policy that is specific to the immigrant community. And let's be clear. We've seen this before. This is basically 287G. For those of you who do not know, 287G was actually a section taken out from the Immigration and Nationality Act, right? And then it became law in 1996. And what 287G did was allow the Department of Homeland Security to work with local and state law enforcement and deputize them so that they could act as immigration officers,

right, and basically allow them to be able to detain people. Now, the problem with that, amongst many other things, is that U.S. citizens were actually caught up in this. Based on the stereotypical notions that law enforcement has of immigrants and who immigration impacts, they were racially profiling members of the Latinx community. And as a result, as of 2017, based on the 2002 starting point of this policy, they actually had detained or they had 2,800 U.S. citizens that they had accused of being undocumented and detained of that 2,800, 214 U.S. citizens because they thought they were undocumented. I think we all remember the story

of the man who was held in a detention center here in California. And it's happened across the nation as well, too, where U.S. citizens have been detained for extended periods of time until they can provide their documentation, whether that be naturalization papers or their U.S. passport, right? So this is a dog whistle. All he wants to do is infringe further upon the constitutional rights of immigrants. And I know what people are thinking. Waitringe further upon the constitutional rights of immigrants. And I know what people are thinking. Wait a minute. The constitutional rights of individuals who aren't U.S. citizens. Yes, the constitutional rights of immigrants. Anybody who remains in the United States of America is considered to be protected under the U.S. Constitution. This is a violation of us as immigrants and our constitutional rights. And all he's trying to do is enact one more xenophobic policy.

This has absolutely nothing to do with COVID-19, because as we know, the reason Texas is facing the surge of COVID-19 cases is as a result of their own negligence and the negligence of their governor, Greg Abbott. Well, you brought the font there. What we're definitely seeing here, Brittany, we're seeing Republicans play their white fear game. We see them attacking people of color. And this literally was Donald Trump's entire playbook. Absolutely. It's very on brand for the Republican Party, but of course it's very on brand for Governor Abbott. But it's no less disgusting. And we know that, you know, as was mentioned earlier, migrants are not the cause of a dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases. He is literally using immigrants as a scapegoat, which is on brand for the United States and its history, for really terrible conservative leadership and the handling of the virus.

We know that this policy is racist. It's illegal from a constitutional perspective, which was brought up. And then it's also, Roland, logistically impractical. So we know the problem with the virus in Texas is due to many unvaccinated residents, like throughout the nation. And if Abbott was actually concerned about stopping the spread of COVID-19, he would call for, instead of actually have a problem with, another statewide mask mandate, or at least allow other local communities to implement their own mask requirements, rather than prohibiting it, which is what he did in May. And then in terms of the racial profiling that comes with this, we know that it's going to come

with that. And it's going to come with a bunch of other abuses related to the law. The order in and of itself is vague. I think it's less than two pages. And Texas state troopers are told, are directed to stop any vehicle with reasonable suspicion that it's carrying migrants who potentially have COVID. Yet the order does not say what would constitute such suspicion. So with that question, I want to say, so are they just pulling over any Latino passengers in Texas for a traffic stop, seeing as though the state has 11 million Latinos, which compromise more than 40 percent of the population? So it's like, that's a recipe for a clear violation of Latino rights. And

it's unfortunate, but it's not surprising. Michael, again, what it is, is the targeting of people of color in order to make their white Republican base happy. Yeah, and this is going to be in, you know, in midterm elections, this is going to be a campaign talking point. This is the cruelty. We see the continuation of the cruelty coming from the Trump administration. But first of all, I'll be interested to know how many white people they stop because we do know they're white illegal immigrants also. So I want to know, like, how many white people did they stop? And then the other thing is, if you want to cut down on migrant workers, you should crack down on the businesses and corporations that employ them.

If you really want to if you really want to do something, target the businesses and corporations that employ them. But see, they're not they're not going to do that because those are their campaigns. Now, you know they can't make the Texas Chamber of Commerce, they can't make the U.S. Chamber of Commerce unhappy. You know, I'm serious.

I mean, if that's what you want, if you really want to crack down on that, go after the corporations, right, that employ them, okay? And then you should probably also, if you want to crack down on that, go after the corporations, right, that employ them, okay? And then you should probably also, if you want to crack down and reduce the need for migrant workers, you should probably only eat food that you grow yourself. Now, you know damn well that ain't going to happen. So, let's just be real clear.

You can hang that one up. You know these folks ain't doing none of that sort of stuff. So, we certainly, again, are going to be looking at this story and following what happens next. It's just shameful the things that are happening in my home state. And, again, it's all because they boy lost. That's why they mad. Let's talk COVID eviction moratorium. Of course, Sunday is a deadline when millions of renters could very well get kicked out because they're behind in their payments.

And the CDC's current eviction moratorium is going to expire. As we speak, House Democrats are meeting. And one of the leading folks there is Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Here is Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking on this issue. What? Okay, guys, we have an audio issue with that sound bite uh britney you know this is we are still dealing with the uh after the reality of covet and there are people who are still being impacted economically uh yes and there are also people who are losing money who own uh these buildings as well but here's the problem you throw them out where they're going to go and then. You throw them out, where are they going to go?

And then if you throw them out, if they have jobs, how are they still going to be able to go to their jobs and live? What happens when they have kids and you throw them out? I mean, this is the crisis we're dealing with that COVID has exposed in America. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you hit the nail on the head. And I think what COVID has done is essentially called into question American exceptionalism and this notion of how great America really is. Because when we see millions of people being evicted from their home because nothing gets done in the moratorium comes to an end, then what? We make all of these comments about what other countries don't do well, and they don't house their citizens, and they don't do this, and they don't do that. And yet, we have plenty of empty homes, condos, apartment buildings. But yet, we are about to have a mass—we

already have homelessness pre-COVID, but we are about to have a mass exodus of folks who have nowhere to go. And I really feel like the administration has not done a good enough job to push Congress to extend the memorandum. And this is really last minute. And we're really going to have a problem, because even if the House passes it today, we still have a problem with the Senate. And in 30, what, less than 36 hours, when the clock strikes 12.01 on Sunday, the CDC eviction moratorium is over. And we know there's a lot of filings already on the books. Sheriffs are going to drag people out of their homes.

And what's really unfortunate about this, Roland, is we're talking about—there was $47 billion in rental assistance that was supposed to go into the hands of renters and landlords that are struggling with, let's say, mortgage payments. And I think the number was that it's only been about 7 percent of that money has actually been allocated, whether that's because of, like, problems with, like, bureaucratic red tape, states and local communities not doing enough or not having their programs being utilized in the right way. And it's really unfortunate, and something has to be done. A good thing, Michael, and this could exacerbate an already difficult economy for the poor. Absolutely. And I'm looking at the update from NBC News.

They're reporting that Congress fails to extend eviction moratorium expiring Saturday. And we know that the House goes on a recess today. They're reporting that Maxine Waters, who spearheaded this bill, she's at odds with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. So I was reading another article about this and objections from one of the Republicans and things like this. And you notice Republicans haven't stepped up to help with this at all. I mean, keep in mind, no Republicans in the House or the Senate voted for the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan in the first place.

So, yeah, brother, this is—I mean, this is catastrophic. You know, personally, I don't think they should leave for recess until they pass this bill. But, yeah, brother, this is catastrophic. You're going to see—I don't know what they're going to do after this, past this, brother. This is catastrophic. But at the same time, man, we knew that the moratorium was expiring July 31st. And I think—there may be information. I don't know, but I think Democrats should have

taken initiative before now to get a bill passed, to extend the moratorium, to get it passed through Congress. Because that's what the U.S. Supreme Court ruled. Go ahead. That's what the U.S. Supreme Court said when— But, Michael, this is Congress doing what they do. They always wait until the last minute. Yeah, well, I understand that, but I'm saying this is too serious to wait until the last minute. You can't wait until the last minute. No, that's everything.

Yeah, yeah. This is what they do. They are very good at waiting until the last minute. I mean, just they're excellent at that. They're just very good. Just like, oh, yeah, I know we got stuff to do, but okay, we'll go ahead. We'll just wait until the last second. And they try to figure something out.

I agree, but this is too serious for that. This is too serious for that. No, no, there are a lot of serious issues, but this is what they do. They wait to the last moment. I agree. I agree. You see this on any issue. I mean, we've seen this on DACA.

We've seen this. I mean, I can go down the line, and it's like, yo, what the hell do y'all do? I just want more legislators who have been homeless, who have gone, you know, many days without having food, without having health care, without having these things. Because I honestly think, Roland, that these folks have no concept. Oh, boo, you asking for a lot. Have no concept. No concept of what folks are going through. Lord. Lord, Denea, if we actually had some folk in Congress who'd been homeless before, a whole hell of a lot would change in America.

Okay. Listen, and that's why it's important that we have some of the Congress members that we do, right? People like Ayanna Pressley, people like AOC, right? People like Ilhan Omar. This is the reason that it's important that we have members of Congress who actually understand the everyday plight of the American people and people who live in the United States of America and call it home. Because if you don't have that, like Brittany said, you're going to have people who are oblivious. I mean, during the height of the pandemic, members of Congress were debating whether or not $1,000 was too much money,

whether or not that $1,000 and then after that, the $2,000 would be too much money. And then people would decide after receiving $3,000 that they never wanted to work again. Right. So there's so much that happens as a result of their lack of understanding. Maybe if they experience houselessness. Right. Maybe if they experience having to leave their country. Right. To flee to another one because there were no opportunities and there were violence that they were facing. So they had to flee their home. Maybe they would understand that. But the privilege, it just reeks of privilege for them to have the audacity to want to recess after doing virtually nothing, right? And I can say that because I've also been waiting to see some movement in regard to comprehensive immigration reform, in regard to making sure that people have the protections that they need, given the— Oh, man, Dania was on a roll there.

We lost her there. Allow me to actually do this. I want to give an update, y'all. So let me know when we actually have her back. I want to give an update on a story we told you about yesterday that's right at kauffman texas uh where the uh uh cop uh connor martin does lay over the sister uh her name is nakia trig well he's been put in administrative leave as a result of that the seven minute videos caused a lot of uh outrage from people uh based upon actions of that particular video and

again the outcries led to the release of Martin's unedited body camera footage of the actual incident here is he some of his video footage what are you crying Well, here, come talk to me. What's wrong? How come you're crying? And you're barefoot? I'm just totally crying. Where do you live at? Over here.

What's your address? 55, that's where I'm at, rambling and rustic with that female What's your address Just to talk to you make sure you're okay, okay? Well here hang on just slow down and talk to me, okay? Just slow down and talk to me. I want to go home. Okay, well, here. Hold on, okay? You're not in trouble, but you've got to stay right here, okay? You can't go walking off, okay? You've got to stay right here, okay? Okay, why are you hurting me? I'm not hurting you.

Can I call my mom? How old are you? I'm 18. You're 18? Where's your mom live? Can I call her? I don't want you to hurt me. You can't walk off. I'm not going to hurt you, okay? I don't want you to hurt me. You can't walk off like that, okay? I don't want you to hurt me. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you.

I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you.

I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you.

I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you. Where do you live? Okay, so you can't go anywhere, okay? You got to talk to me. Okay? Let me call my sister. I don't want you to hurt me. I'm not going to hurt you, okay?

Okay. Stop pulling away. I don't want you to hurt me. I'm not going to hurt you. If you keep pulling away, I got to put you in handcuffs, though. Stop pulling away. Stop pulling away, okay? Mom, you're hurting me though. Okay. Stop pulling away. Stop pulling away, okay? No, you're hurting me already.

Pulling away, all right? You're hurting me already. You're hurting me. No, no, no, please. I'm 50 pounds, so can I get a 40 unit or 50? Here. Just sit down, sit down, okay? Sit down, okay? Sit down, okay?

Sit down, okay? I don't want to hurt you. I got it. Just sit down, okay? Sit down, okay? okay britney we showed the video that was shot by paris sabat so when obviously when he went to the ground there uh knocked his camera loose okay see, now I'm even more pissed off. Even more pissed off from yesterday. First, he shows up on the scene. She's walking barefoot and she's crying. He does not observe her going in traffic.

He says, we got calls that you were weaving in and out of traffic. He never observed that. He grabs her. I'm sorry, do you actually hear at any point in there probable cause for him to detain her by grabbing her? Then he says, I have to handcuff you. She clearly, as a lot of black people, is afraid of what may happen with the cops. And he's talking in a very calm manner. But again, why is he putting his hands on her when he has not observed her? And then he says, why are you walking around barefoot crying?

I'll be honest with you. I'm from Texas. I know a whole bunch of folks walk their ass around barefoot. Country's hell. Okay? But okay, she's barefoot and crying. But why is he putting his hands on her, detaining her, and telling her she cannot leave, and then he must put her in handcuffs?

Insane. My girl has a serious case on her hands with that police department. Because first off, if I'm crying, if I'm walking barefoot, as long as I'm not hurting anybody or causing any harm, it's none of your damn business. That's what I feel like doing. If you don't know what I'm going through, I could have broke up with my partner. I could have done anything. It's none of your business. And more importantly, she didn't do anything, like you said, Roland, to be legally detained or to have his hands put on her. And it's so sad because it's in those instances where our

rights are being violated that end up being extremely dangerous and sometimes deadly. And I think that's the unfortunate reality. These officers are entirely too comfortable with violating our rights and believing that they're going to get away with it. So I pray that this man, yet again, yet another cop, is brought to justice, because this is foolishness. It's absolutely foolishness. It's straight-up harassment. I'm watching the video, Michael, and again, I'm trying to understand how does he arrive at, I'm grabbing your arm, she's pulling away. He goes, stop pulling away.

Why your ass grabbing me? You giving me no legal basis to detain me and saying you can't walk away. Actually, I can. Yeah, you know, it's obvious she was traumatized. It was obvious she's going through something even before he started talking to her. Now, according to the piece from Newsweek, there were calls made to the police. They said passive buyers were saying that she was jumping in front of cars, possibly in a suicidal manner. If I was an officer—I've never been an officer before, but if I was, I would—when I see that she's distressed and doesn't want to talk, I would just observe her, follow her, you know, not grab her, detain her, because now what you're doing is you're heightening her anxiety.

She's already distressed and she wants to call her sister, what have you. Then she ends up on the ground in handcuffs with you on top of her. Okay, so, I mean, this is just, you know, this is just crazy. All right, Zia, I'm watching this. And to Michael's point, if you're the officer, I'm just going to follow her to see where she's going. Dania, can you hear me? Can you hear me? Yes, I can hear you.

Okay, here's my whole deal. What Michael just said. I'm going to follow this woman to see where she's going. I'm going to follow her to make sure she doesn't do anything. That's what I'm going to do. But to get out and say, even though he's talking the calm way, but he grabs her, holds her, tells her he cannot allow her to pull away. When at no point then says, I'm going to put the handcuffs on. He has not established

why he's handcuffing her it's the audacity for me go ahead please it's the audacity for me each and every time right the fact that you could see you could see her fear she She was so fearful immediately, right? That's the reality of black people in America upon seeing visual images or being approached by the police. It's fear because we've seen where this has led to, right? We've seen people like Breonna Taylor, people like George Floyd. We've seen the outcome of videos such as this one. So this idea that he's asking her, why are you resisting? Why are you pulling your arm away from me when the first moment that you walked up to me, you were automatically trying to infringe upon my

personal freedoms? And not just that, people wonder why we say defund the police. How is it that Dylan Roof, after murdering people at Mother Emanuel, could have been taken in without incident after fleeing the scene, one, and they not only did that, but they took him to Burger King to get a meal. So Dylann Roof could be taken in without incident, but this girl, who they did not witness having committed any crimes or doing anything to endanger anybody else, they didn't even see her trying to endanger herself. But the immediate response of this officer was to grab hold of her? It's ridiculous. This is why we say defund the police, because if you can take white people, mass shooters, in without incident, then why is it that when you're approaching a black person on a regular call, right, we don't know what the outcome could have been, but I'm sure there could have been questions that were asked. Are you okay? What's wrong? And when we say defund the police, it's about

giving resources. Clearly, as Michael mentioned, she was dealing with some sort of anxiety, some sort of depression. We don't know. She was emotional from the moment that he walked up, but she was not violent. She didn't do anything to endanger herself or him. She was dealing with it herself. This is why mental health services is important and that we shouldn't be left to call the police to deal with what a mental health provider should be dealing with, right? Because those two are completely— — It looks like we lost Dania's signal again.

I mean, look, she's absolutely right. I mean, look, this is what happens when you're dealing with these outrageous cops who think that they can just do whatever in the world they want to do. All right, y'all. Before we go to this break, what I'm going to do is I'm going to play some more from some protesters who are actually marching today here in Austin. We're going to go to break. We're going to come back.

We're going to have our Education Matters segment with Congressman Jamal Bowen of New York talking about the Green New Deal for public schools. We are here at University Baptist Church in Austin, Texas. The March for Democracy is taking place tomorrow. We've been with them for the last three days. And so after I play some of you, some of these folks who are walking today, we'll go to break and we'll be back right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. So you're used to the sun. Am I what? Used to the sun. You bet. He is born and raised Texan and proud of it. Well, same here. Yes.

I'm Houston. We get blacks for that. So why did you want to be out here? Why was it important for you? It's important to represent because I have friends and I can't make it. So I'm here on their behalf as well as my own. We talk about the power of voting and we see what's happening in the state of Texas. We talk about the power of voting.

We talk about the power of the state of Texas. We talk about the power of the state of Texas. We talk about the power of the state of Texas. We talk about the power of the state of Texas. We talk about the power of the state of Texas. We talk about the power of the state of Texas. We talk about the power of the state of Texas. We talk about the power of the state of Texas. We talk about the power of the state of Texas. We talk about the power of the state of Texas. We talk about the power of the state of Texas. We talk about the power of the state of Texas. So, I'm here on their behalf as well as my own.

When we talk about the power of voting, and we see what's happening in this state with Abbott, Dan Patrick, and Republicans, what's crazy is that it was a safe election, the Texas Secretary of State said it, and they still want to change the laws. That's right. That's right. We're going to have to change the government in order to change the laws. That's right. That's right. We're going to have to change the government in order to change the laws. Absolutely. I'm talking to him. He's trying to pipe in. I know. He has taught me everything I know. I never was this active—

Really? —the last four or five years. So what happened? You got her active? Yeah. Oh, boy. Lead by example. active really last four or five years so what happened you got her active yeah oh boy lead by example yes we all have rights and he devotes the people out and gets the people in

for the people so now he got you fired up yes everybody should vote everyone has the right. We don't need to take it away from anybody. We need to make it easier. There are working people that need to get out and go. Where did the march start? What bar? No, actually, it started in Georgetown.

It started in Georgetown on Wednesday, with Round Rock on Thursday, and then at the Muslim Community Center today. Awesome. All right. Now we're here. Absolutely. Thank you for being out here.

I appreciate it. Appreciate it. How are you doing? Excellent. How about you? Doing great. Why does this march matter? Because the people are important. And that's what we have to stand for as people. Just ordinary people.

Just ordinary people. I'm an ordinary person. We need to uphold and stand for ordinary people. Yep. All right. Thank you. I appreciate it. You're very welcome.

How you doing? Good. How are you? All good. So why'd you want to come out here? Marching to save drive-thru voting. Stop the legislators from taking away our new methods of voting and suppressing the vote. Harris County did very good with that. And what was crazy to me, I saw an interview with Abbott, Governor Abbott, where he said, oh, it's the sanctity of the ballot. You can have your employer in the car with you. And I'm like, what the hell are you talking about? Exactly. And there are so many ways we would love to work with different people like Governor Abbott and others to improve it even more.

But as you know, there were zero instances of voter fraud this election. His own secretary of state said there were no instances. This is the safest election they've ever had. So all these claims are baseless and are just excuses to impact more voter suppression laws in our state. Absolutely. All right. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. What's up, Doc? Took that longhorn shirt off. Way to go. Being an Aggie, that was offensive.

Oh, we're in Austin. I don't care. I worked in Austin out of college. I graduated from Texas A&M and came right here to work. And we kicked their butt that Thanksgiving. They were not happy. Hey, hey, you might have the chance to play us again, but we're too long. And we'll kick their butt again.

Nothing like barbecue Bevo. We're marching for the same thing. There you go. There you go. There you go. That's right. It's a nice beef. No barbecuing. No barbecuing.

So why do you want to be out here? Why did you come out here? Okay, we're driven into this lane now. Why did you come out here? For the people. Watch out, there's a car behind you. Okay. For the people and generation to come.

Okay, I think we're moving in this way. Yes, Richard. There's so much. We ain't going back to Sanford. Right. Moving back. Moving back. Ho, ho!

The filibuster has got to go! Hey, hey! Ho, ho! The filibuster has got to go! Hey, hey! Ho, ho! The filibuster has got to go! Hey, hey!

Ho, ho! Ho, ho! The filibuster has got to go! Watch that come out today. Watch that come out today. Well, I would like for them to be able to exist when they want to live. And, importantly, they're going to grow up to be white men, and they're responsible to make sure that we ensure whites, particularly voting rights, are safe. All right. I appreciate it. How you doing? You doing good? All right. Give that thumbs up. That's called Texas A&M Gig'em. SEN. TREVOR MACKENZIE, Texas A&M Gig'em Leader of the Democratic Party of the United States The same forces that are trying to pass these bills across the country, but here in Texas, to, yes, suppress, to stop, to undermine the vote, the same folks that block you from

having living wages are the same folks that wouldn't fix your utilities problems. AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. Senator of AMY GOODMAN, In this time, when our voting rights are under attack and economic justice is being denied— REP. TAYLOR ROBERTS, We're launching a season of nonviolent moral direct action to demand four things by August the 6th, the 56th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act. Number one— AMY GOODMAN, Yes. REP. TAY Rights Act. Number one. End the filibuster.

Number two. Yes! Pass all provisions of the For the People Act. Fully restore the 1965 Voting Rights Act. And number four, raise the federal minimum wage to $15. Pass the For the People Act. That is the last best hope for voting rights, not just in Texas, but Georgia and Florida and about a dozen other states.

Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Bill and the For the People Act. Let our people vote. The Latinx community is the rising electorate in Texas, and our representatives are threatened by these shifting demographics, our pathway to citizenship, to a living wage that depend on our access to the ballot. This is not just a black issue. That's right. This is a moral, constitutional and economic democracy issue. Poverty is reinforced by public policy and what happens in Texas as well

as in America we create policies that perpetuate poverty and then we criminalize the poverty that we create. There's only so much we can take and it's time for us to stand up and speak loudly against what's happening here. I think in Texas that it is time for a Selma-like— Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think we ought to march from Georgetown to Austin. And we ought to come to Austin, but we ain't coming to Austin just for Austin. We come to Austin to save the Washington, D.C. Which side are you on?

And don't tell us you can't do all of this. You must do all of this for the soul and the heart of this democracy. Forward together! Forward together! Forward together! Racial injustice is a scourge on this nation, and the Black community has felt it for generations. We have an obligation to do something about it whether it's canceling student debt increasing the minimum wage or investing in black owned businesses the black community deserves so much better i'm nina turner and i'm running for congress to do something about it.

When you study the music, you get Black history by default. And so no other craft could carry as many words as rap music. I try to intertwine that and make that create whatever I'm supposed to send out to the universe. A rapper, you know, for the longest period of time, has gone through phases.

I love the word. I hate what it's become, you know, and to this generation, the way they visualize it. Its narrative kind of, like, has gotten away and spun away from, I guess, the ascension of black people. Yo, what's up? This your boy Ice Cube. What's up?

I'm Lance Gross, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. You should have won at eight. Stinger. you said the one at eight stinger All right, folks, how many times have you heard people talk about the Green New Deal? Did you know that it applies to public schools? Congressman Jamal Bowen of New York joins us right now to explain that. Congressman, glad to have you back on Roller Mart Unfiltered. Thank you, brother. Appreciate it. Good to see you.

So, Green New Deal and public schools. Who knew? Absolutely, man. This is about a revolution in public education. It's about rebuilding our economy. It's about ending the asthma rates in our black and brown communities. asbestos, we have lead in the water, we have places where the hot water doesn't work in the bathrooms, and we have HVAC systems that are many, many years old. And this is one of the reasons why we couldn't return back to school due to COVID. So, we have to change the physical infrastructure, power our schools with solar and sustainable energy, but then we also have to change the curriculum. Our kids are architects. They're engineers. They're scientists. They're doctors. We need more STEM and STEAM in our

schools. So in order for our kids to be prepared for a 21st century clean, renewable economy, we need to make sure we're creating a learning environment that allows them to blossom and thrive and be the creative, brilliant people that they are. So it's the physical infrastructure. It's also how kids are learning in our buildings. And so when we talk about what would be repaired, what would it cost, what number are y'all placing on this? And what type of things are we talking about when it comes to the Green New Deal in public schools? So we're talking one point four three trillion over 10 years and we're targeting Title one schools. These are schools disproportionately located in red line communities.

So schools that have been underfunded for several decades. You know, if you go to school in the suburbs, your schools are funded at about twice the rate. So we're talking targeting these communities, creating a million new jobs as we retrofit our schools, hiring locally so we can create a pipeline, not just for those who will work the technical side of the Green New Deal for public schools, but in terms of teachers, teacher assistants, school counselors, and the like, all hired locally, all developed locally. And it's about time, man. We've allowed our schools to be neglected for far too long, and the federal government has to step in and do a lot more. How do you walk people through this so they understand that the Green New Deal has an

application to public schools? Because you've got to sell it. Yeah, of course. Our public schools right now are dependent on fossil fuels, like many buildings and structures across the country. We have to end our dependency on fossil fuels within the next 10 years,

or the extreme weather that we're seeing is going to continue to get worse and continue to cost lives. So because public schools serve 90 percent of kids, that's the place we should start in terms of transitioning off of fossil fuels and moving more towards solar and wind and the like. In addition to that, and I think this is the important point for parents, our kids, especially in grades 6 through 12, are ready to be co-creators of their learning environment. STEM and STEAM is the future. It's

the present and the future. And our black and brown kids need to be the creators of the technology that runs the future. Public schools have done a poor job of allowing our kids to become creators of the new technology. They help us to become workers, which is great. Nothing wrong with that. But we want to create the new technology. We want to own it. And we want to distribute it. And this is how you build community wealth, community power. This is how you bring regenerative agriculture and urban farming into schools. It's about saving the planet, saving our kids and communities, and allowing them to be in the driver's seat of their own learning.

All right, questions from our panel. I will start with Brittany. Brittany. Yeah. First, I want to say thank you so much. This bill is probably, it is the most important piece of legislation I've seen to address the ills within our education system. I mean, it really is a commitment to address probably every single issue I saw in the classroom as a Title I middle school teacher. So thank you for this. But I do want to know, what do you believe is going to be kind of the greatest challenge in getting this passed? We need a paradigm shift in Congress. There are too many people who are stuck on the public charter debate.

Public charter, public charter, public charter. Well, guess what? Charters need to do better for our kids as well. Because we're all focused on a singular measure to determine how well kids are doing in our schools. We need project-based learning. We need collaborative problem solving. We need to align the K-12 learning opportunities to the real world. We haven't done that. We need a new vision, and we need a paradigm shift in Congress to get us there. One of the things I'm trying to do as the vice chair of the Ed and Labor Committee is set up a CODEL so that we could visit other states and other countries so we could see what they're doing in education. China, which is a communist nation, is leading us in entrepreneurship and higher education.

They're encouraging their kids to take a year off to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities. We've heard about what places like Singapore and Finland are doing in our schools. So I've been very critical of how our system, public and charter, has been a test prep system, okay? We need to expand that and get our kids working on projects that are real world, get them working with their hands, and bring in a 21st century career and technical education, which is green. So it needs to be a paradigm shift. And what will help that to happen is all of us contacting our representatives and senators so that they could look at this new vision of our public schools. All right. Michael, your question for Congressman Jamal Bowman. Hello, Congressman Jamal Bowman.

A question for you. So, when I was in middle school, I was in a program, a pre-engineering program here in Detroit called DAPSEP. How do you—how do we improve career identification for students, especially in the inner cities? And the reason why I say that is because I was talking to a friend I have that's involved in hiring people and job placement, things like this. And she talked about how, in suburban school districts, like here in Michigan, suburban

school districts, they would start career identification in, like, fifth grade, sixth grade, whereas in the inner city, like here in Detroit, they'll start career identification in the 11th grade and 12th grade. Well, if we start earlier, we can put more of our students, more African-American students, in the STEM fields. How do we do this? Well, you're absolutely right. First and foremost, we need to start earlier. Secondly, we need to align the curriculum to the competencies that are needed in STEM fields. Now, there is technical skill that is needed, right? There's technical skill needed to become an engineer, an architect, and the like.

Mathematics and science technical skills. There are also adaptive skills and soft skills that are needed as well, like organizational skills, time management skills, curiosity, creativity. Our schools are starving for more creativity, and our kids want it badly. And it's my belief if we implement, first of all, this is a K-12 vision. If we implement more Montessori education, more culturally responsive education, regio emilia and the like, beginning in early childhood, our kids will learn to become self-directed learners, collaborative learners, and learners in a formal setting while acquiring the skills needed to thrive in the 21st century economy. And just as you said, they do it in the suburbs already.

They do it in private schools already. Our kids, because of institutional racism in the education system, it is believed that we need formal, rigid instruction, and that's the only thing that could help us to survive. Whereas we know, the truth of the matter is, we've built nations before we engaged with Western civilization. So we have to tap back into the magic that we have as Black and brown

people. All right, thank you. All right, then. Dania Joseph, your question for Congressman Jamal Bowman. Congressman Bowman, first and foremost, I just want to say that this is the kind of bold policymaking that I'm talking about and I think every member of Congress should be doing. I just wanted to ask about the $250 billion in resource block grants. What kind of programs, what kind of resources are you hoping to see schools create out of this funding? First, we have to start local. There are people in our communities who have a tremendous amount of gifts and talents that they could be contributing to the schools.

So how are the schools partnering with these community-based organizations and bringing them into the schools to provide additional resources and support. In my school, when I was a principal, first of all, our school was open seven days a week. We were open late into the evening, and we partnered with a series of community-based organizations to come in and do additional programming. One program idea we brought in was something to help facilitate that. Schools are not and can no longer operate in isolation, in silos. We are the heartbeat of

a community, and we have to work with community-based organizations and small businesses and others in our schools to really unlock the full potential of our kids. So that's part of it, in addition to the retrofits and the solo work that's going to be done, in addition to the additional staff members that we're going to bring in as well to lower class size and really zero in on what our kids need. All right, then. Congressman Jamal Bowman, man, we certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much for joining us.

You're certainly welcome back. I'm Roland Martin on the filter anytime. Thank you so much, brother. Peace and love to everyone. All right. Thank you so very much. Folks, we certainly appreciate. School Choice is the black choice sponsoring our education matters segment.

I got to sit here and go to a break. We come back. I want to have some final thoughts about voting rights in this country, as well as talk about tomorrow's big rally taking place here at the Texas State Capitol in Austin Texas we'll be back shortly on Roland Martin unfiltered trying to pass these bills across the country here in Texas to yes suppress to stop to undermine the vote the same fault that block you from having living wages are the same folk that wouldn't fix your utilities problems. In this time, when our voting rights are under attack and economic justice is being denied... We're launching a season of nonviolent moral direct action

to demand four things by August the 6th, the 56th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act. Number one. End the filibuster. Number two. Yes! Pass all provisions of the For the People Act. Fully restore the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Yeah. And number four, raise the federal minimum wage to $15. Pass the For the People Act. That is the last best hope for voting rights, not just in Texas, but Georgia and Florida and about a dozen other states. Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Bill and the For the People Act.

Let our people vote. The Latinx community is the rising electorate in Texas, and our representatives are threatened by these shifting demographics. Our pathway to citizenship, to a living wage, depend on our access to the ballot. This is not just a Black issue. That's right. This is a moral, constitutional, and economic democracy issue. Poverty is reinforced by public policy. And what happens in Texas, as well as in America, we create policies that perpetuate poverty,

and then we criminalize the poverty that we create. There's only so much we can take, and it's time for us to stand up and speak loudly against what's happening here. I think in Texas that it is time for a Selma-like. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think we ought to run from Georgetown to Austin. And we ought to come to Austin, but we ain't coming to Austin just for Austin.

We come to Austin to save the Washington, D.C. Which side are you on? And don't tell us you can't do all of it. We're going to be there. We're going to be there. We're going to be there. We're going to be there. We're going to be there.

We're going to be there. We're going to be there. We're going to be there. We're going to be there. We're going to be there. We're going to be there. We're going to be there. We're going to be there. We're going to be there. We're going to be Austin. We come to Austin to save the Washington, D.C. Which side are you on?

And don't tell us you can't do all of this. You must do all of this for the soul and the heart of this democracy. Forward together! Forward together! Forward together! Women have always been essential. So now how are you going to pay us like that? And it's not just the salary. I mean, there are a whole number of issues that have to support us as women.

Yeah, but that's what we deserve. We shouldn't have to beg anybody for that. I think that we are trying to do our best as a generation to honor the fact that we didn't come here alone and we didn't come here by accident. I always say every generation has to define for itself what it means to move the needle forward. 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. Welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered. We are broadcasting from University Baptist Church. We want to thank them for allowing us to be on their grounds. We were going to do the show from the sanctuary. They have a gorgeous, gorgeous sanctuary. But Henry said that he wanted to really feel like we were just like sitting in the driveway, just chilling. And so that's why we

here outdoors so you know i mean it's it's always it's always important uh britney i think to have some country folk work for you uh and you know sometimes so we're just out here and you know him and anthony over here kicking it back just feeling the breeze you know because it's shaded you know and you know it's like you, it's, let's see here. It's 651 here. The temperature is not that bad. Well, that's a lie. Damn, I didn't realize it was 93.

See, let me tell you, Dania, where are you from? Where are you from? I'm in California, okay? I know nothing about that struggle. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, I ask you, wait, wait. No, you say you're in California. Where you from?

Not you doing the where you from from, Belize. I ask, I ask, where you from? Not where you live now. Where you from? It's been a while since I've gotten that. I'm from Belize, Belize, Central America. Yo ass from Belize. Belize ain't no cool climate country.

It's not. See, I knew right there. See, I knew right there, Brittany, I knew right there, Brittany. I knew right there Dania was trying to be bougie, trying to be one of these California bougie people like, I'm sorry, we don't know about that because I'm from California. No, your ass live in California. You ain't from California.

No, no, no. See, right there, Michael, that's what really—see, I'm on these church grounds. I'm trying not to cuss Denia out right now. If Reese was here, we'd be—see, that's what I'm saying. First of all, Denia, let me help you out. This is a really, really black show, okay? Yes, yes. This is like a blackity black

black show. Right. But you know, but you try to be a little boozy right there, like, no, I'm from California. We don't quite know about that heat. And so I had to go old school on her, Michael, by saying, no, no, no.

No, no, no. No, no, no. No, no, no. Because, see, I knew you weren't from California. I wasn't where you're from. See, Michael, see, she's from Belize. Okay? Right. How long have you been here? Listen,

it's been about 20 years, okay? Okay. See, right there, right there. See, Michael? See, right there, Michael. See, see right there michael see you in detroit see when you meet somebody black in detroit chicago new york city boston when they say oh i'm from boston you said no no where your people from because you know the negroes were actually from there so you got to go ahead and be real black no no where your people from and typically when you ask where your people from that's when

you're gonna get mississippi arkansas louisiana those places like like britney i'm not like britney i know you light-skinned, but Brittany, where you from? Only on my mama's side. Only on my mama's side. No. I'm saying, where you from? We're from Georgia and Florida. Fort Pierce, Florida.

See, right there. See, you live in D.C. right now. Mm-hmm. But you from the South. See, I had a sister when I was right now. Mm-hmm. But you from the south. See, I had a sister when I worked at CNN. What's that child's name? I'm going to go ahead and bust her right now. It was a trip, Michael.

We were talking, and I detected a very strong accent that That was like Southern. I'm like, she said, I'm from Connecticut. I'm like, your ass ain't from Connecticut. That's where you live now. Right.

Right. I knew, I knew something was, no, no, no, we were in New York, but she kept,

no, no, I'm from Connecticut. I'm like, no, no, no, your country is not from Connecticut.

The twang, the twang that was way too strong. She was trying to cover it up. So she's in my office. I was like, where are you from? I'm from Connecticut. Where are your people from? Well, then she said, well, my dad's from Connecticut. I'm like, your dad white, huh?

Her dad was white. Her mama was black. Right. And she said, I said, okay, your dad white, huh? Her dad was white. Her mama was black. Right. And she said, I said, okay, your dad from Connecticut. I said, where your mama from? Right. Oh, my mama from North Carolina. I said, your ass from North Carolina.

And from that point on, that's what I called her, Carolina. That was her name I called her. Y'all, I can't even Carolina. That was her name I called her. Y'all, I can't even remember. Her name was Christina. I'm looking at Christina. Hold up. Christina work at BET right now.

I said, you're behind from California. I said, girl, stop it. I'm from Connecticut. I said, you are from California. So that's how we do. But that was nice try, Dania. Michael, no. Yes, you know my California. Okay, Michael, where are you from?

We were talking about where you were from right now, where you were sitting. So I said, okay, I'm from Cali. This is where I'm at. This is where I'm seated, okay? Right. You know my family. is where I'm at. This is where I'm seated, okay? Right. Mm-mm. Mm-mm. Mm-mm. You know, my family's from Mississippi and Tennessee.

So when you talk to African Americans, I mean, in 1910, 90% of African Americans lived in the South. And now there's a legacy of slavery. So when you talk to African Americans, there's a good chance their parents or grandparents came from the South.

Most of us have that type of Southern connection. Some of us don't want to African Americans, this is a good chance their parents or grandparents came from the South. Most of us have that type of Southern connection. Some of us don't want to acknowledge it, but it's still there. So that's part of the history of this country. So I'm just letting you all know. So her name is Christine Mons, M-O-N-D-S. Christine, we worked together at CNN, she didn't want to let anyone tell me she was from Connecticut. I'm like that ain't no Connecticut accent.

And so last we chatted she worked at BET. So Christine, I just sent her a text and I just literally tweeted Carolina! That's what I call it, Carolina. Alright y'all, tomorrow we of course will be at the Texas State Capitol.

We're going to be – the program begins at 10 a.m. local, 11 a.m. eastern. But the caravan is going to go from Georgetown, Texas, the 151-car caravan from Georgetown, Texas, all the way to the state capitol. We're going to live stream that. My man Mark Thompson is going to be joining us. We're making plans. He's going to be joining us. He's here in Austin.

He'll be joining us tomorrow as well. We'll be set up shop there at Texas State Capitol, setting up there early. We literally have been sitting here hiring additional crew members to help us out. So Henry and Anthony are here, and so we'll be there doing what we do. We want you all to tune in for our coverage. We'll also be bringing in other guests. A normal show. We're going to have a completely staff control room.

They'll be back there in our home base as well. This is a huge, important issue for us, the issue of voting rights. It has been one that I've covered all my life. In fact, I did not have – I should have run it. I was editing at the last second. I had a chance to talk with Bento O'Rourke. We were just walking, and we ended up just having a conversation. I was just sharing with him that my parents have, look, they've worked campaigns. They've been involved in voting efforts. They still work

the polls right now. And I think that's the story for many of our people, Brittany, that, like Common says in that song, Glory, freedom is like a religion to us. We understand when we've been denied something, and voting is one of those things. And so this is why this is important for us. This is also why I have been calling out other people. To my staff, Jackie and Carol, I need y'all to call the brother who's the president of HRC. And I want to find out, when is HRC going to have any public demonstrations for voting rights. Black folks stood with them on gay marriage, stood with them to come gay adoption, all kind of other stuff. But these are the kind of issues that we need white folks. We need gay folks, Latino folks,

Asian folks, because these voting laws affect everybody, not just black people, not just Latinos. Yeah, absolutely. We've got to do so much. And I think, you know, the very notion of freedom, I would argue, comes from us and our legacy, right? Because we've never really been free and freedom is a constant struggle. And we're seeing that right now. And we're going to continue to fight.

And, you know, even with talking about your folks working the polls, I mean, that's my family story, too. And I think that so many of us continuing to fight and essentially realize our ancestors' craziest dreams. So, I mean, it's not just us. This is a moral struggle, and this is a struggle that affects black, brown, yellow. It doesn't really matter.

This is something that affects all of us. So I pray that they kill that filibuster. And on that point, Dania, that is so important here is that we are left with no choice because what I keep saying on this show is that the policies that we want to see enacted, we talk about student debt relief. Yes, sure, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said President Biden shouldn't do that. But the bottom line is Senator Elizabeth Warren came out and said, no, he actually has the authority. That disproportionately impacts us. We talk about health care.

We talk about climate change. We talk about environmental racism. I can go down the line the issues that impact our people. And so we can't just sit here and act like, well, you know, it's all about a voter ID. No, no. What they are doing or what the Republicans are doing, it is not about voting. It's about policy. It's about power. We have to organize and mobilize as though our life depended on it, which it does, right? We have to mobilize as though Trump was still in office.

One of the good things, if I could even say good things, that came out of the previous administration is that it forced everybody, even the privileged, right, who had once been shielded under their privilege, to come out and to be on the streets and to mobilize, because for one of the first times, people couldn't ignore the fact that Black people were being killed by the police. People couldn't ignore the fact that Black and Latino and Indigenous people were being killed by the police. People couldn't ignore the fact that Black and Latino and Indigenous people were being disproportionately impacted by this global pandemic, right? Everything happened simultaneously. The fight for racial justice, the fight for us to defund the police, the movement for Black lives, the global movement for Black lives. And I think we

have to bear in mind what Dr. King said in the letter from Birmingham. Dr. King said that he's not worried about the KKK, right? That's not his greatest stumbling block in the fight for freedom. The greatest stumbling block is the white moderate who actually says that I agree with you, but I disagree with the methods that you are taking in your fight for freedom. So our problem is the white moderate, right, where it comes time for election and reelection, and those votes are needed and promises are being made. But when it comes time for the day-to-day task of fighting for those who are most marginalized among us, then all of a sudden it's crickets, right? So we say no justice, no peace. There won't be peace until we can ensure that there is voting

rights for members of marginalized communities. Those are things that we have to continue to fight for and ensure. And it's not okay to say that we are in support. Actions need to be done right now, not today, yesterday, the day before, months ago, from the time that this administration actually took office to ensure that we have access to the voting rights. That's crucial. Michael, M. Hotep, final words. Yeah, brother, you know, this is a tremendous fight. We have to expand those who are involved in the fight. And like I said, we have to show how this impacts people across the country, regardless

of race, ethnicity, age. And I am wondering, the celebrities that spoke out so voicefully. Summer 2020, when people were in the streets protesting regarding the killing of George Floyd, things like this—Britney talked about it earlier—celebrities have been largely silent on this issue. Now, when it comes time for a presidential campaign, you'll see celebrities speaking out on behalf of a candidate. Well, now we're talking about protecting the right to vote. But it's not just the right to vote, Roland. It's also having your vote counted. Because, see, this is what states like Georgia and Texas are trying to do. They're trying to be able to overturn election results. They're trying to take over Fulton County

right now in Georgia. So it's not just your being able to vote, it's also having your vote counted. So we still have a lot of work to do, brother, but this is serious right here. It absolutely is. All right, y'all, it's also serious when we talk about birthdays. My sister, Levita Martin Marshall, she celebrated her birthday on July. First of all, I got to deal with real quick here. So I don't understand why all these years we've been having two damn birthdays for my sister. Like for the longest, there was confusion whether she was born on July 27th or July 28th. So this Negro got us celebrating both days.

I'm like, look, damn it. The birth certificate say one date. So it ain't like, like, if you were born on July 27th at 1159 p.m., you were not born on July 28th. So I don't understand why I'm talking like two cakes and all this nonsense. Go to my iPad. Y'all show it. Now put a face up there. Put a damn face up there. This photo I took last year. Okay. Uh, y'all, y'all see my iPad. That's my sister, LaVita. Uh, she's the oldest girl in our

family. She's number three kids. She's behind me. Uh, and so y'all, she just sent me a text. She said, shut up. Uh, she said she celebrate birthday Eve. She said, shut up. She said she celebrates birthday Eve. See how Negroes are? See how Negroes are? And so I'm going to give her age. She's 51 years old. She turned 51. I told her, pick a day.

We ain't doing this two-day stuff anymore. Enough with that. No more two-day stuff, okay? That's it. Pick a day, 27th, 28th, okay? Call the Bureau of Vinyl Statistics. Get the actual birth certificate because I'm tired of sitting here on the family group chat looking at happy birthday, LaVita, for two doggone days, enough all right all right y'all y'all don't have see right there see there y'all go there y'all go first of all you were not born for a month okay you were born on a day it's a birthday see y'all take this stuff too damn far with all these. See, who said that?

Who said that? See, I'm surprised y'all ain't sitting here celebrating, you know, how long your mama was in labor. I'm surprised we ain't celebrating, you know, like Francis. I was born November 14th. So clearly my parents had sex on Valentine's Day. I'm a Valentine's Day dude, man. February 14th, November 14th. That's exactly nine months later.

My brother, Reginald, was born November 13th. He a Valentine's baby, too. In fact, him and his wife, we know they were knocking the boots on Valentine's Day as well because his son was born November 12th. So look, I'm surprised y'all ain't celebrating the first, second, third trimester. I mean, come on, y'all just stop, okay? That's a good idea. One day.

Y'all get one day. See you right there. I'm done with y'all. I'm done. Okay. All right. So last question to ask where y'all. Okay. All right. So, last question to ask where y'all from. So, Dania, what's your little sign?

I'm a Virgo. Can't you tell? I don't even know what that means. Brittany, what's your little sign? I'm a Cancer. I still know what that means. Michael, what do you want? I'm a Gemini. Ooh.

I don't even, I don't even know. I'm just letting y'all right now. June 7th. I don't even know, y'all. Black people come up to me talking about, ooh, you're a Scorpio. I'm like, what the hell that mean? Ooh, you this, you that. Go on with that. Y you that. Gone with that.

Y'all gone with that. Y'all kill me with all them signs, signs, wonders, and miracles. Okay, gotcha. Y'all, if y'all want to support what we do here at Rolling Mark Unfiltered, the blackest show out here, ain't no show on MSNBC, CNN, Fox, ABC, NBC. Well, we know ain't no show on Fox that's black. ABC, CBS, NBC. See, what we know ain't no show on Fox. It's black. ABC, CBS, NBC. We blacker than Black News Channel.

So if y'all want to support us, what we do, y'all can support us. I think I woke Henry up. He over here napping on that one. He had laughed at that one. Y'all can support us at Cash App, dollar sign, RM Unfiltered. PayPal is rmartinunfiltered. Venmo is rmunfiltered. Zell, rolling at rollingmartinunfiltered.com.

Also, rolling at rollingmastmartin.com. If you've got a credit card, y'all can go to rollingmartinunfiltered.com, and y'all can support us in terms of what we do. Don't forget, tomorrow, we're at the State Capitol for the March for Democracy rally. I appreciate it. We always end every show. First of all, Dania, Michael, and Brittany, thank you so very much, y'all. This is Dania's first time.

She's been sitting here avoiding us like the Delta variant for the last decade. Then I finally get a DM from her. She was like, okay, I can do your show now. That either means she left her job or she quit her job. One of the two. That's what that means. But she now can publicly talk on our show. Okay, I'm saying I've been asking the sister for

like a decade. I've been following her social media. I'm like, you know what? That'd be an interesting perspective on the show. She's like, okay, I'd love to do the show. Seven years later, but it's all good though because it ain't like you've been avoiding us like Nancy Pelosi. Yesterday was the

one year anniversary like Nancy Pelosi. Y'all, yesterday was the one-year anniversary of Nancy Pelosi not doing our show. I sent an email to Stephanie Cherry, who's black, who's her director of media affairs, on July 20th. Actually sent to Ashley Etienne, who was in office. Ashley forged to Stephanie

Cherry. And for the last year, we've been emailing Stephanie, and all we get, Nancy Pelosi unavailable. Every Democratic presidential candidate did our show. Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer did our show five times. Clyburn,

CBC chairs, numerous members. Nancy Pelosi, she ain't got time on black media. I always see her on CNN and MSNBC. And the only reason she did Joe Madison's show in February because Joe went on the air and said, I stand with Roland. I've been asking her for years, and she didn't come on. Her staff hurried her on his show two days later.

April Ryan, when Nancy got an interview with April Ryan a few weeks ago, April had been trying to get an interview with Nancy Pelosi for two years. She said, Roland, thank you, because if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be getting this interview. And so I'm just letting y'all know, and speaking of Nancy Pelosi's office, because one of my peeps reached out to them, and they said, well, does he think by him calling us out and bullying us, this is going to make us want to interview with him? Well, guess what? Hell, you ain't done with me being nice.

So guess what? I'm just going't done with me being nice. So, guess what? I'm just going to keep calling y'all out. Because you know what, Nancy? You're going to need black votes if you want to stay Speaker of the House. So I suggest Stephanie Cherry and Drew Hamill in the office. I suggest y'all

get together, come up with y'all black media plan. Because if y'all don't get black votes, you are going to be the House Minority Leader and not the Speaker of the House. I'm just saying. We always end the show on Friday with our Green and Funk fan club list. Let's roll

that thing. I'm going to see y'all tomorrow. We're about to get out this heat and go get us some barbecue. How? This is an iHeart Podcast.