#RolandMartinUnfiltered - May job numbers review; Broken promises to Black media; Ex-cop in Breonna Taylor case wants job back

Episode Date: June 5, 2021

6.4.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: May jobs numbers are out. Two economists will deconstruct what they say about the labor market; Big biz broken promises to Black media; FL Sen. Randolph Bracey talks about reparations for descendants of the 1920 Ocoee Massacre; Tulsa Massacre survivors received $100k checks from the Justice for Greenwood Foundation; Virginia Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy will be here to talk about her campaign for Governor of the state; Ex-cop in Breonna Taylor case wants job back; How can we solve problems in our educational systems without involving politicians.Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$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.

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Unemployment numbers released today. Increase in jobs. What does it mean for black folks? We'll talk to two black economists about what they say about the labor market. Also, in our Where's Our Money segment, we'll talk about promises being made to black-owned media that have yet to show substantial change from major corporations. Also, Florida State Senator Randolph Bracey will join us to talk about reparations for the descendants of a 1920 massacre in Florida.

And in Oklahoma, Tulsa massacre survivors received $100,000 checks from the Justice for Greenwood Foundation. Virginia delegate Jennifer Carroll-Foy will be here to talk about her campaign for governor in that state. Plus, an officer fired for his involvement in Breonna Taylor's death, trying to get his job back.

And in our Education Matters segment, we'll talk about solving problems in our educational system without involving politicians. It is time to bring the funk on Roland Martin and Filcher. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the piss, he's on it.

Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's Roland. Best belief he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks. He's rolling.

It's Uncle Roro, y'all. It's rolling, Martin. Rolling with rolling now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rolling with Roland now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Roland Martin now. Martin. All right, folks.

Every first Friday of the month, unemployment numbers come out, giving us a sense of exactly what's happening in the job market. Well, guess what? The job market showed some growth in the month of May. 559,000 jobs were added, dropping the unemployment rate to 5.8%, down from last month's 6.1 percent. Now, for African-Americans, the unemployment numbers are 9.1 percent. For whites, 5.1 percent.

Hispanics, 7.3 percent. Asians, 5.5 percent. Now, one of the things that we keep hearing from all of these different companies is, oh, my God, we can't find people to work. It's hard to find people to take these jobs. But what's interesting is that the companies that starts marketing jobs, raising pay and offering other incentives, they seem to find the workers. And then what happens? Their productivity hasn't dropped. Their revenue hasn't dropped. Hmm. Let's talk about this with a couple of black economists. Joining us right now

is Dr. Kristen Brody. She's a fellow of Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, and will also be joined by economist Bill Spriggs from Howard University and the lead with the AFL-CIO. Glad to have both of you here. Bill, I will start with you. I saw one of your tweets earlier today where you said all of you companies complaining and these governors, largely red state governors, turning back unemployment benefits because these companies keep saying, oh my God, we can't find people to work. People are lazy. They're standing at home. That was obliterated. That's a lie. It's a lie. I'm glad you put it bluntly like that, because really it's gotten to that point where we don't speak with real frank honestness that

it's like the lies that Republicans have told about other things. It seems credible. And so therefore people, you know, let it creep into their conscience. Look, the silliness is, and I was explaining this to a friend, that you've got to be white to understand the way that they're talking about it. If you're black, you know this is a different world. If you're black, you know you have to have a job. So here's the silliness of it, right? Their thing is they're getting more money than they would if they were working. Now, the money they're talking about, understand the money they're talking about and the examples they raise, well, they're getting $600.

$600 means I'm drowning. I'm drowning. So the $600 doesn't matter to you because it doesn't keep you from drowning. What you do know is if I have a job, I can defend the job because I can't defend my unemployment benefits. Obviously, as you see, these governors cut it. I will have a job. I can defend my job. And it's a stepping stone. I know I need a job to get a job. I know if I don't have a job, how hard it is to land one. So that's why people are still going back to these restaurants at the rate of $200,000 a month,

because even though, quote-unquote, I'd be getting more money, they understand that doesn't matter. And so we need policies that recognize that in the black community, we don't have liquidity. We don't have wealth. This is the whole thing about what does the racial wealth gap mean? It means that when we lose a job, we go from treading water to drowning. Because there's nothing underneath us. We're not standing in the shallow water. We're always in the deep end. And the $300

doesn't get you out of the deep end. That's the truth and the reality of it here. The $300 is a little bit of a lifeline that makes it a little easier to trade water because at least if you get the $300, you know, well, I can, you know, try and get rent done. Christian, what's really happening here is you got a lot of companies, and I'm going to go ahead and say it, that are greedy.

They don't like the fact they now have to compete for workers. And what is happening is the companies that are trying to get high quality talent, you got to pay. And so all of these people who've been getting over like a fat rat paying $7.50, $8, $8.50, $9 an hour are now being forced to compete for workers.

That's what's going on. And also what COVID exposed. COVID exposed so much of our society. It exposed what happens when people can work from home and then they're not having to spend money on child care. Now, all of a sudden, these companies are saying, okay, y'all got to come back. And folks are going, I can't afford child care. It's exposing the people who don't have transportation. And now you're saying, well, baby, hold up. I got a factory in transportation and child care.

I'm essentially working for free, and I'm always at the bottom. And so you have these Republican governors who have bought into this nonsense that, oh my God, people are lazy. Senator Lindsey Graham saying, these folks are lazy, we should be paying people more to stay at home. If there is somebody in your state who is making more money from unemployment

than their actual job, it's a shit job. Krista, go ahead. So I guess I like the numbers, Roland, as you know. So you put up the numbers by race overall, but as I look, we do see decreases in the unemployment rate for black women, for instance. In April, the unemployment rate was 8.6 percent. In May, 8.2 percent. Right. But still 2.5 percentage points higher than the U.S. unemployment rate.

For black men, we saw the rate drop from 10.2 to 9.8. So 4.1 percent and 4 percent higher than the overall rate. And so then I guess I look 4% higher than the overall rate. And so then I guess I look at this month where the job gains came, right? So we added 559,000 jobs, employment and leisure and hospitality increased by 292,000. And so we know that people are starting to go out and eat again.

We know that people are starting to travel again. Employment also rose in amusement, gambling, recreation. And so we know that Black and Hispanic people are overrepresented in jobs like cashiers, food service. They're overrepresented in the people that clean the hotel rooms, all of these sort of service jobs. So yes, we do see these decreases in the unemployment rate, but at the same time, those aren't the jobs that pay a whole lot of money, right? And so because you see these decreases, it's like the people who can go back to work, who do have childcare, who do have transportation, who were able to find a job if the company that they worked for no longer exists, that they are going back to work. But it is so ridiculous that people should have to work for these very low wages or that they may be making more money by collecting these benefits that the government is offering by staying at home.

That just shouldn't be. But I'm happy to see these decreases. But we do still see that black and Hispanic people's unemployment rates are significantly higher than the rates for white people and for the U.S. unemployment rate overall. Well, again, Abiyal, what really jumps out at me when we look at these numbers and then we look at, again, the conservative talking points coming from the Chamber of Commerce. OK, what we saw is we've seen folks spend all of this. All is a time and attention talking about all how things are bad for us and how it's worse for us. Look, I get it. Look, I'm a small business owner. But I'm going to tell you right now, if there is somebody who is sitting here working for me and look, we're in D.C. so we

can't pay less than $15 an hour. But if you're sitting here paying somebody eight bucks an hour and then they got to pay for parking and daycare and transportation. Yeah, it's going to be a problem. And so it's exposing the fundamental issue that we're seeing here. And then we see these examples, Bill company after company after company who all of a sudden starts marketing, starts giving incentives, they're now having to compete for workers. And here's the deal.

If you are a company out there that you keep saying, oh, we see these signs, oh, the restaurant is closed because we don't have enough workers, it's probably because you're not getting off your lazy ass and trying to go find them. No, that's absolutely right.

I mean, look, when the unemployment rate is lower and we declare that we have a tight labor market, we instantly draw a line and start yelling at the unemployed worker and say, well, there are jobs out there. There's something wrong with you. Now we have the reverse. We have a sea of unemployed workers, and we have these employers who say they can't find them,

but we're not telling them, look, people are hiring 200,000 people a month. There's something wrong with you that you're not hiring, given that they are. But we have to get below the numbers because this idea that there's a tight labor market for black people, of course, is absurd. The unemployment rate for black people, I'm going to say it slowly because people are going to say, what did he just say? Because that can't be right. The unemployment rate for black people with an associate's degree, degree, not some college. I went to community college. I have a degree. I have an associate's degree. That's 7.7%.

The unemployment rate for white high school dropouts, dropouts. White people didn't finish school. White people didn't finish school. White people cannot say, I had a better schooling than you had because they had no schooling. Their unemployment rate is 7.3%. They have a lower unemployment rate than black people who have an associate's degree.

That's not a market in which employers are saying, oh, I just want anybody. If anybody shows up, I will hire them. That's a clear signal that they are still doing what they have always done. The shock when you look at the graphs that some people shared today to reflect on what has happened to the unemployment rate for Blacks, for HispanicsANICS, ASIANS. IT'S SO ASTOUNDING THAT WHEN WE SHOCKED THE SYSTEM BACK LAST SPRING AND SUDDENLY EVERYBODY LOST THEIR JOB AND EVERYBODY THOUGHT, OH, THE BLACK UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IS GOING TO BE 20% BECAUSE THE WHITE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IS LOOKING

LIKE IT'S GOING TO BE 10%. WELL, THE WHITE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE WAS 10%, THE BLACK UNEMPLOYMENT RATE DID NOT GO TO 20%. IT DIDN'T GO TO DOUBLE THE WHITE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE. IT WAS MUCH LOWER THAN THAT RATIO. BUT SLOWLY OVER THE MONTHS, AS It didn't go to double the white unemployment rate. It was much lower than that ratio. But slowly over the months, as we have recovered, we're back to the same racial hierarchy. Asian American unemployment rate, which spiked even above the black unemployment rate, is now back closer to the white unemployment rate. The Hispanic rate, which also spiked above the black unemployment rate, is now back where it had been before, about in the middle between blacks and whites. I mean, it's remarkable how this has reordered itself in a market where people say, oh, we can't find any. This lie is going to hurt our recovery because what these Republican governors are doing when they deny people the ability to consume is they're taking away demand for everybody

at the rate of $1.2 billion, that's a B, billion dollars a week. Their veto of what Congress passed in order to make sure that we would keep aggregate consumption up and make this a robust recovery, their line item veto, doing what Mitch McConnell could not do, because Mitch McConnell didn't want this passed. Mitch McConnell and the whole Republican Senate voted against it. But they have their henchmen, their Republican governors saying, well, we'll just take the money out of the economy ourselves anyway. So they took and are taking one point two billion dollars out of aggregate demand. That's only going to slow the recovery with this lie that somehow or another employers would hire anybody.

And if you're black, you know, that's not what's happening. And Christian, they're aided by the business networks where they're on the Bloombergs and the CNBCs and the Fox Business. Oh, woe is we. Oh, my God. It's so rough for us. That's also what's fueling it. And then mainstream media picks up the same BS.

They don't go talk to actual workers. They don't go talk to actual small. They don't go talk to actual small business owners who have to compete. They spread this nonsense and then it becomes the narrative. Yeah, so I guess I've been tracking the unemployment rate by race since January of 2020. And so as I look at it for black women, it's been 2.39 percentage points on average higher than the overall rate. So I agree with what Dr. Sprague said, definitely. And then for men, for Black men, it's 3.49 percentage points higher on average. Now, for Hispanic women, it's 2.55 percent higher.

And then for Hispanic men, it's 1.19%. So we do see their rates starting to come down some. But I guess my thing is, how do they expect people to go back to work if they don't have transportation, if they don't have child care, if you're not paying them enough to cover those costs? If they don't have broadband anymore, do they know that these jobs are out there? The whole matching people with jobs, I think, people think is easier said than done. And then I think the other thing is you have to think about vaccinations, right? Of course, people are getting vaccinated, but there are still some people who haven't had access, who may not know where to go.

And just because you get vaccinated or just because a job is there doesn't mean that you have a place to take your children, doesn't mean that you have a way to get to that job, doesn't mean that that particular job is a match for your skill set. So matching people with jobs that are right for them is more than people just deciding, I'm going to go back to work, especially considering, like I said before, how low many wages still are. I think the last thing that I want to point out is that a lot of these companies are giving these incentives, right, $300 or $1,000.

But that's not going to continue, right? Like, you can't rely on those one-time bonuses to pay your bills. You can't just, you know, pay your mortgage or your rent this month with that incentive and then tell them, hey, you know, I got that incentive. I don't have it anymore. Like life doesn't work like that. So we need to have jobs that are consistent, jobs that people can get to, jobs that match their skills and that are going to continue to pay a livable wage, not just right now while companies are trying to attract people. All right. Dr. Christian Brody, Dr. William Spriggs, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. We know on this day that mainstream media,

they never seem to find black economists, but it's amazing how easy for us because just like these employers, we know how to actually look for black people. I appreciate both of you. Thanks a lot. All right. Glad to have both of them on the show. And again, folks, this is why this show matters because we know how to reach our own to get our expertise. My panelist, Michael Imhotep, hosts the African History Network show. Brittany Lee Lewis, political analyst. Kelly Bethea, communications strategist. Glad to have all three of you here. Bob Liner here, Brittany.

Again, I mean, the whining and complaining is amazing, but I need people who are watching to understand why media matters, the people who control media, who control the narrative. This thing beginning to circulate on the business networks and then in mainstream media, and then you begin to see it in newspapers and magazines and on blogs. And then that's what you begin to see happen with Republican governors. Oh, we've got to stop this. We've got to learn to understand not to have a counter narrative, not the one that they're

trying to put out. These companies simply don't want to have to go out and find people. They're used to folks walking to the door. And you know what? When you got to compete, you got to go to work to compete against your competition. Absolutely, Roland. I love the way that you put it. You know, these companies need to adjust to the times. And I finally feel like they're getting their ass handed to them. And I'm loving it, right? Pro workers, I'm loving it. And I think it's important to remember that even though more than 60% of Americans are fully vaccinated, we're still in the middle of a pandemic. And there's still a serious risk for many individuals to contract the virus,

especially those who are immunocompromised. I know a lot of pregnant women or women who are getting pregnant, they feel like they're not really sure or comfortable yet with the CDC stance on pregnancy. So, and then of course, thinking about a lot of schools that aren't fully back open. Right. So that leaves a lot of issues with with those who are, you know, working remote, who are being told that they need to come back in. So I think employers, one, need to understand that, you know, not everyone can go back in, that times are changing and they need to get comfortable with potentially moving forward with remote workers. And I also think it's really important, as the previous black economist said, which is that the reality is if your business model is solely based on these dirt cheap, exploitative wages, then you don't actually have a functional business model at the end of the day. And if, you know, aside from small businesses, we know these major corporations have plenty of money to pay their workers accordingly. We're talking about companies that are making millions and billions in profits. They pay relatively little

to no taxes and they regularly provide bonuses to their executives. So there's absolutely no reason why they can't pay individuals a living wage. The thing here, Kelly, that amazes me again when I listen to these people and they just, you know, they keep spinning this whole deal out. We've got the examples of the companies that actually went out and raised wages, competed, marketed themselves, went to places where they normally don't market to get employees. And they've seen to the people to hire them. So maybe companies should stop being lazy. It's not just about being lazy. They absolutely are being lazy, but they're also being cheap.

And the bottom line is this. What we've learned throughout this pandemic is that paying me what I am worth is not going to mess with your bottom line. You are still going to make money if I get a living wage, period. And something else that I've noticed with these companies is that they're trying to boost morale post-pandemic because we've been holding the house for so long and, you know, we've been isolated. And then coming back to the office, they'll try and entice you with a lunch or some cookies or some type of community gathering of some sort.

But at the end of the day, those things don't boost company morale. Money does. You paying me what I'm worth boosts morale. You acknowledging what I have done and compensating me as such, that boosts morale. Not some cookies, not a virtual lunch, not a guest speaker, money. Because money boosts your morale as the owner of your business. If you're not the owner of the business, if you're just heading up the business, profiting, your profits boost your

morale. So why wouldn't it boost my morale in the form of a check? So for these employers who, like you said, seem to not find anybody, it's because at the end of the day, it appears as though they don't care about morale. They don't necessarily care about the person working. They just need somebody to work. And for the workers themselves, they realize that and are like, I'm not coming back until I am paid a living wage. And that's how it should be. We shouldn't be having to fight to live on a living wage. But that's apparently the thing to do right now because employers just don't understand that money talks, not a cookie. Well, look, I've always said, Michael, I cannot deposit you're doing a good job. I can't. If you want to show appreciation, you got to pay. Definitely, Roland. And, you know, it's really interesting, this whole dynamic here.

You know, I was rereading a piece from The New York Times from May 20th that asked the question, is there a labor shortage? And it was saying, no, it's not a labor shortage. And it was talking about how wages are basically today, well, back at least May 20th, at historic lows, wages nationwide. But corporate profits have steadily been rising. And it was saying, look, if you pay more, if you pay a living wage, you can find the people you're looking for. But the other thing, because of this pandemic economy, a lot of small businesses have gone out of business. A lot of small businesses have gone under. But corporations like Amazon are having record profits because they're having less competition because a lot of these small businesses went under.

OK, so and then the other thing is, as you said, and a piece from The Washington Post today also deals with this. There are other obstacles to getting to the job, having child care, but also lingering health issues. And do you have a fear of getting COVID-19, et cetera? So when I hear these Republicans, especially Republican governors, who are cutting the pandemic unemployment insurance, $300 a week, before it runs out in July or September, I think it runs out in September, when I hear them cutting this, they are ignoring these obstacles to getting to the job, okay? And it's going to hurt a lot of white Republicans that put them in office in the first place, as well as African Americans, of course. But it's going to hurt a lot

of the people who put them in office, which is one of the reasons why we need to vote them out of office. Well, absolutely. And so again, folks, job numbers go, go up. Again, you're seeing an improving economy. Mighty how quiet conservatives are about this President Joe Biden economy. I thought we were just going to lose everything. In fact, I saw there was this silly tweet Senator Tim Scott sent out that I thought was pretty much, I just thought that was just one of the dumbest things in the world. Let me see if I can find it so y'all can laugh at it. And this is literally what Tim Scott tweeted out on yesterday. We need common sense policies that leave families with more money in their pockets. I am determined to stand up to Biden's destructive policies that are limiting the American dream.

Y'all. He's a South Carolina governor. He's a South Carolina senator where his own governor cut unemployment benefits for people in South Carolina. That was policies of Joe Biden. So actually, Tim Scott is supportive of money being taken out of the pockets of American workers, including those in South Carolina. I'm going to remember that when you go vote next year.

All right, folks. All right, folks, let's talk about where's our money. We've been frozen out. Facing an extinction level event. We don't fight this fight right now. You're not going to have Black-owned media. All right, folks, y'all know we have been focused on this show with what's been happening with Black-owned media. We've been telling you again about this idea of how we are impacted when we are ignored. And so one of the things that we've been focused on

is challenging these companies directly, challenging these ad agencies directly who have frankly been raping the black community. It has been economic apartheid by these companies. Oh, they love our money. They love us buying their goods and services, but they do not want to spend money with black owned companies. And in fact, I'm going to, I want to, I want to, I'm going to

show y'all something. Uh, and I think remember, remember I was in Tulsa. Uh, I'm going to show you guys, that's not it. So don't go to my, don't go yet. Remember when I was in Tulsa and I showed you those companies that were sponsoring, economic form. And the whole conversation was the whole conversation was about black economic empowerment. It was like all of these companies and they were, you know, they were, you know, showing that they care and they were trying to spend money. And it's like, oh, we care about black people and economic empowerment. And so let me see if I can go ahead and pull one of these up because I thought it was real interesting. And just so those companies know, y'all are going to be hearing from me real soon to answer these questions.

And so here's a perfect example. You can go ahead and go to it. So here, this was called Economic Empowerment Day, Black Wealth Wall Street. You had Nationwide, JPMorgan Chase and Company, Bank of Oklahoma, Combs Enterprises, Deloitte digital salesforce walmart.org okay that's uh that was that was um uh one of those uh advertisers and so then uh here was uh here was another one uh this was the capital group uh national association of counties uh category pirates moette hennessey north america first oklahoma bank Prudential, Prosperity Bank, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, QT, Boeing, Vast.Bank, the Executive Leadership Council. Hmm.

Again, those were the sponsors of this particular event. And so then there was one more that, again, that I came across, and again, so you see here, JPMorgan Chase, Nationwide, Bank of Oklahoma, Deloitte Digital, American Express, PepsiCo, Citi, BlackRock, Acheon Opportunity Fund, the American College of Financial Services. All of these people were sponsoring. And the first question that I had was,

well, what's their black spend? I mean, if you're going to be sponsoring, you know, a conference that's supposed to be about black economic advancement, that means that you probably were doing well with black people. My next guest actually wrote a story for the site Morning Brew, where Ryan Barwick, I'm sorry, Marketing Brew, where they talked to, he talked to a number of these black owned media companies with all these big announcements from Group M and Dentsu and all these companies talking about, you know, they're going to spin with black people at General Motors and McDonald's.

It's been a whole lot of talk, a bit of little action. Ryan Jones is right now. Ryan, welcome to Roller Martin Unfiltered. Ryan, you talked to a lot of different people, and it's amazing how the story was the same with each black-owned company you talked with. Lot of hot air, lot of empty promises, and lots of no checks, no deposits.

Yeah, that's exactly it. Everyone I spoke with, basically, following a year after the death of George Floyd, all of these media buyers, basically, they represent all of these brands across the country, $200 billion in ad spend. They all made these promises, basically, that they want to stand up for the black community. But a year later, they still have not actually had those conversations with these black owners. They're having the conversations, but they're not actually writing checks. And earlier, about a month ago, a month and a half ago, they actually put numbers out saying, we're going to make sure we spend 2%, 5% of our clients' ad budgets with Black-owned media. And yet a month later, a month and a half later, money still has not been spent. They're taking the meetings, but no money is being spent.

No checks are actually being written. Well, absolutely. And I've had a number of these meetings and we've had some great discussions and we present and I pitch this show and then the digital network that I'll be launching and I'll be telling my viewers more about that. I've been, of course, pitching this to advertisers and providing our deck, providing our numbers. And yeah, no deals have been closed. Yeah, Byron Allen has called this analysis paralysis, where these media owners, or these black-owned media owners are saying they're given every excuse, basically, whether the audience does not meet a certain salary threshold so we can't spend with them, or, oh, well, there's gospel there,, we don't want to advertise near religious content,

so we won't spend there. And it's basically every excuse in the book. And meanwhile, last year, black-owned media businesses only saw 2% of total ad spend. And that, again, is worth, you know, this is, we're talking about $200 billion last year spent in advertising across brands like General Motors, McDonald's, Coca-Cola. And yet it never actually it never reaches black owned media businesses. It reaches black targeted businesses, but it doesn't actually hit black owned businesses. And these are businesses that obviously want to continue to grow. They want to invest in their newsrooms. They want to invest in even their advertising opportunities by actually developing relationships with these brands. But they can't even get to that step.

And you just said something that is really important and the audience needs to understand this and that is the the BS that we get from folks and we get all of this it's like well you know I remember I had a conversation with Procter & Gamble and and and I was too well you know we don't really buy news really then so I'm just trying I'm just trying to figure out, when I see all these ads on CNN, and I see all these ads on Fox News, and on MSNBC, and I can go on and on and on, I'm sorry, where did those ads come from? Then I did present for this one client in financial services. It was tied around Juneteenth. And the company said, well, you know, his show is streaming on YouTube and Facebook. You know, why should we buy his show? We can just give the money directly to YouTube.

Oh, so a company that's damn near a trillion dollar company, you'd rather give it to them. Well, they're're gonna run ads, but it's not gonna be targeted. You can't integrate the content. They can't create specialized content to service an audience you're trying to reach. I said, wow, that was interesting. And then what I was told was,

also was told, hey, you know what? If you create your own platform, it'll be better. And I said, well, here's the problem. If I create my own platform, but my numbers are smaller than they are now, then you're going to tell me my numbers are smaller, but I got my own platform. So I lose both ways. And I can go through example after example of how we have to jump through hoops and then present all this information and well, well, this and this and this and this. But yet I see all of these agencies just throw

one hundred and fifty million dollars at Meg Whitman and Jeffrey Katzenberg for an absolute shit app called Quibi that had no data, that had no metrics, but they literally locked up $150 million in advertising before they even launched. Yeah, I mean, that was a common complaint. It's black media owners are left in a position, at least the ones I spoke with, where they're chasing deals that are monthly deals, basically.

So every month or every quarter, they have to find new clients. They have to find new work. Whereas with Quibi, they got the entire year right there, and that's untested media. And so there's this real disparity there that, again, a lot of these holding companies and a lot of brands, they say they want to work with these black owned publishers. But again, the checks haven't been written yet. And I think it's an ongoing story. I look forward to continuing to cover the story.

But, yeah, from the interviews I've done, no one is impressed. Everyone has basically called these performative meetings. Yeah, that's exactly what it is. And I can't, look, when we met with General Motors, I said, I'm going to judge you not by press releases. I'm going to judge you on what you actually do. And I'm talking about every single one of these ad agencies. Not one of them have a good record. You can do a roll call. WPP? No. Group M? No. Omnicom?

Mediacom? Densu? I mean, we can just keep naming them. I mean, we can go on and on. As a matter of fact, you can name every single one of them. And see, part of the problem, and I dare say this, Ryan, and I got no problem saying it, we got these weak-ass black organizations who get checks for their banquets, who get checks for their luncheons, and give out these fake-ass

diversity awards. Oh, how wonderful these companies are. And then they're celebrated. Then a company goes, well, my goodness, we just got the award from so-and-so. You bought the award. You paid for the reception. And what I keep telling black organizations, stop accepting bullshit $20,000 and $30,000 checks to sponsor an event when black media should be getting $20,000, $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 million. And again, guess what? We can buy the damn table at your banquet. Yeah. It's not even millions, though. It's literally billions of dollars that are being thrown around. And to

your point, the media buyers have acknowledged that they have dropped the ball, right? Like, they have acknowledged that they have not spent here, and they have pledged to spend a specific amount. But again, the checks haven't been written yet. And I think that's, and the audacity to tell black media executives to be patient is frankly, you know, I think it's a bit insulting. But again, and another point, again, they have no problem investing in BET. They have no problem. Which is ViacomCBS. Exactly, right? like black targeted media they have no problem spending that money there but not actually with black owned media but i'm gonna say

exactly why and ryan because this is why because these white ad agencies have relationship with largely white ad executives for these companies, and they're hooking each other up, and then they're also like, ah, you're too small, you're too small, because they don't want to do the work. When Young and Rubicam, which I later really found out that Forrest Marsh Group

got the big contract for the census, then farmed it out to the agencies, Young and Rubicam literally told Congressman Stephen Horsford, who chaired the Congressional Black Caucus Census Task Force, we are not going to buy any newspaper, 50,000 circulation or less. Okay, this is why that was stupid to me. You're the census.

You're trying to count everybody. So the black paper, if the ad was $1,500 or $2,000, who cares? No, they don't want to do the work. I talked to another black agency where they had a client, and the client called their general market agency, and the general market agency said, yeah, we don't know who, I mean, we don't know who these black media companies are. And frankly, you know what? You know what? They're just too small. See, so they see us as you're pesky. You're just, we, look, we want to

deal with these large companies. We can write one big check. We're not trying to have a bunch of small little conversations. And that's what they're doing. I had a conversation with a Group M vice president back in December who sang my praises. And he was, I watch you and all that sort of stuff. Five months go by. We don't even get our email back, phone call back. We hear nothing for five months. So basically, it was a performative phone call,

a feel-good phone call, nothing for five months. It was another Black executive who jumped in his ass, then all of a sudden, he rediscovered our email. Yeah, and not to excuse it, I do think there's a degree of momentum where media buys are going to buy what they bought the year before. They have relationships with NBC, ABC, or any digital site that's out there. So they have those relationships. That's what they're going to keep returning to. And it takes a shock to the system to actually redirect those dollars. And again, those conversations are happening. I'm being told that there are more and more meetings taking place, but it's the point I keep hammering home is that checks haven't been signed and written yet. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No,

there are meetings, but I'm sorry, meetings ain't going to cut it. And so we're going to keep the pressure up. We're going to keep calling people out. We're going to keep calling people out by names. And I'm going to tell you right now, Ryan, I'm going to tell you who's next. And I'm, and they better, they better get ready. Like Bishop J's get ready, get ready, get ready, get ready. All of you black board members sitting on these companies, be prepared for us to start calling you out because you are sitting on these boards, getting stock options, getting a check. And if you're a black board member and you're not jamming up these companies on their black owned spin. And Ryan, when I say black owned spin, I'm not talking just about black owned media.

I'm talking about catering, transportation, law firms, engineering firms, architecture firms, bond firms. We go down the line. That's why I keep saying those other companies that sponsor that workshop. What's your black company spend, your black-owned spend? I'm not interested in other stuff. So black board members, y'all have been talking about we need more black board members. But if you're a black board member and you're sitting your ass on a board and you're challenging nobody, yeah, we're going to start calling y'all out by name as well. Because here's the whole deal for me. I ain't getting a damn thing today. So I don't know what in hell is going to cost me tomorrow. Zero plus zero still equals zero. Yeah. And some of

the people I've talked with, and I'm curious if you agree with whether this would be the right course of action, but basically saying, look, if you're telling me you're going to pledge 5% of your client's ad spend, well, we need an auditor to come in. That's right. Is that 5% hiring these kind of third-party diversity spend trackers or whatever you want to call it? Do you think that there's potentially a solution there? Hell no, because they ain't trying to do that because they lying. You're right.

If you control $10 billion of your client's money and we're saying 5%, yeah, we're talking about show me the money. And you got to be able to do it. See, what they don't understand is we all talk to each other. So it's like, yo, you got any money? Nope. You got any money? Nope. You got any money? Nope. You got any money?

Nope. Well, hell, if I know y'all didn't get no money, I know the smaller people haven't gotten any money. I'm like, here's the deal, okay? There is no other digital company that's doing a daily black show targeting African Americans other than me. Black Enterprise is not doing it. Essence is not doing it.

I go down the whole line. So if you're trying to, there's Black News Channel, but they're black targeted because Shahid Khan, the billionaire owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, is a majority owner. So there's no TV owners that have a daily show. Okay? I can go down the whole line.

So if you're trying to actually buy a TV show. You're not buying us. Who the hell you're buying? What are you buying? And again, what they want to do is and this is how dumb it is. If you're a company, if you're a financial services company, why the hell would you say we just give the money to YouTube when you actually look better saying we're investing in a black owned media company like Roland Martin unfiltered. You actually are going to get praise for that, but no, they would rather keep giving it to the current system and making alphabet, the parent company of YouTube, richer, as opposed to how do we invest in a black-owned media company? Yeah, I mean, you kind of laid it all out right there. It is really interesting to hear that the excuses are not new.

Like some of the men I've spoken with have basically said, yeah, it's the same thing for the last 20 years, basically. A buyer will say, oh, well, you don't meet the specific demographic criteria. And we say, OK, well, how do I get there? Then it's too late, right? Then the deal is already passed. And it's just that kind of continuing cycle. And I do think Byron Allen's legal threats to a lot of these brands and to media companies, let's see if that is kind of the shock to the system and whether that actually does make a substantial change to kind of the status quo of how things are done.

Yep, absolutely. Well, look, it's a great story. Folks, if y'all go to morningbrew.com, you can actually see the story, morningbrew.com. Ryan Barber, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. I want to bring in my panel right now. Michael, this is the reason this matters,

and I keep trying to explain to people, okay? If there was a different way, if you said, Roland, if y'all would just ask nicely, if y'all would just be patient, these things are going to pay off. OK, that's fine. That that ain't worked. So when Byron Alex, he's suing people, he dropped a $10 billion lawsuit against McDonald's. And again, here's the deal. McDonald's, for years, McDonald's has been the top of the heap in spending money with black media. But even they admitted it was 2%.

Right. So if a McDonald's is at the top and they were spending 2%, the rest of these people have been, 30, 50, 100 employees. This is why y'all when we OK, going to Tulsa and I should I should have took a photo for everybody to understand. Y'all should have seen this huge tent that NBC had on the parking lot of Vernon AME. I mean, this massive tent where they could have three and four. They had multiple reporters and producers who were in Tulsa and camera people. And Tiffany Cross was there and Tremaine Lee was there.

They had Jelani Cobb there. They had all these people. Right. And that's why I had to sit here and essentially work from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. because, hell, we couldn't afford to have multiple staffers there. People say all the time, man, I wish y'all could do more. Y'all,

if you ain't getting the money, you can't do more. This is a money thing. And this is a deliberate attempt to impose economic apartheid on black owned media. And guess what, Michael, they cannot say I ain't got the numbers. 100.4 million views the first year, 260 million views the second year. We can create customized shows, customized content, product integration. We can go live from events. We have

eliminated all excuses. Right. Ain't seen the checks. Well, brother, the way the system is designed is designed not to provide the checks, not to deliver the checks. You know,

Roland, my degree is in business administration with a major in marketing from Wayne State University here in Detroit. My concentration was advertising. So once I graduated, I really found out how racist the whole advertising industry is, okay? It's designed to lock the money in to white corporations. That's what it is. I used to sell radio ads back in the late 90s here in Detroit, and we also sold for the Time Journal Morning Show. I learned about no urban dictate. No urban dictate deals with how corporations, like what you all were just talking about said they was an unwritten rule that they did not have to advertise in African-American owned media. And in some cases, not African-American targeted media. They said we can advertise in general media, general TV shows, radio stations, and get black consumers. So

at the end of the day, brother, we're going to have to do what Reverend Jesse Jackson did in 1981 with the Coca-Cola boycott. That's the only way I see this happening. Well, but again, though, and this is... But here's the deal, though.

This is the deal, and I have been very methodical in the approach to this, Brittany. And there's a reason why we have this segment on a regular basis. The people who have thrown out Boycott over the years, they did not educate and enlighten the audience to understand the issue. If you throw out boycott,

see, boycott was the last thing Operation Breadbasket did. Reverend Jackson didn't always throw out boycott at the beginning. But see, Brittany, a lot of people go to boycott like, no, no, no, no, no. You got to go through negotiation. You got to go through negotiation. You got to go

through enlightenment. You got to educate the people. And so when we drop the hammer, if the companies refuse to cooperate and refuse to spend, then we have cultivated our audience who now understands the problem and they go, oh, I've been paying attention for two, three, four, five, six months. Now you can unleash and now the people have been educated properly. That's where boycotts have failed when it was the first thing out of folks mouth and they never educated their people to understand the implications of a negotiation. Absolutely. And I think, you know, any type of movement and this really should be a movement because it's so, so important. I mean, Black media has been a staple in the Black community in type of effort like this. And our voices need to be amplified through the media, right? Not someone else's, not through the mainstream or through the white lens. We need to be able to tell our own stories. And I think what's really important,

and you always say this, and the last guest said it as well, is that these companies will spend money on Black-targeted business, but not Black-owned business. And it's so important to make sure that our community understands that distinction. Because I know too many folks, unfortunately, um, that don't know, for example, that BET is owned by Viacom, right? Um, and thinking about how that's not us.

And they are paying... And let's be clear. They are not paying BET rates. They're paying ViacomCBS rates. Because when BET was black-owned, it is in the book, Kelly. It is in the book by Brett Pulley. BET was being given

$1,500 for a 30-second ad that MTV was getting $8,000 for. No, you're absolutely right. And I think we need to really come to grips with the fact that a large reason for that

is upholding whiteness. So the reason why you are able to get money to BET is because it is now white owned. The reason why you are able to get money to BET is because it is now white owned. The reason why you're able to get money for a black targeted entity is because it is white owned. They do not understand or they do not care about our worth. And we need to realize that as a group, that we need to basically put

our money where our mouth is. Money talks, like I said in the last segment, but it also applies here. Money talks. If you can do the research for any entertainment ventures and the shade room issues and things like that, you can go on Google and figure out which companies are Black-owned, which companies are only targeting Black people but white-owned, and make decisions accordingly regarding where the money is going to these respective companies. When we put our money where our mouth is and invest in our own communities and invest in Black-owned things and really try to drive home the point that is Black- owned and we are actively looking for Black-owned companies, then the change will come. A perfect

example of this is something that we've been seeing all week, which is the Tulsa Race Massacre footage and the coverage of that. When we actively as a group put out there that we need to focus on this issue and we back money into that issue, I realize it's not necessarily a media buy, but it is a media coverage issue. Tulsa Race Massacre was 100 years ago. It's not news that it happened. It's only new because people came up and was like, we need to when we need media buys, to when we need money from white companies. We need to put in their face that this is an important issue to us. And if you still want our money, you need to invest in this company. If you still want our

money, you need to invest in this Black-owned, not a black targeted one, a black owned one. And the more people who actually do that and actually put our faces out there for that purpose, that's when the tables will turn. Well, I just want people to understand. So just and again, I just need people because, you know, Kelly just mentioned, you know, Tulsa. All right, folks, this was our setup right here when we were in Tulsa, okay? I just want you all to understand, all right, this is another photo of our setup. For everybody to understand,

we didn't have a sponsor to go to Tulsa. Tulsa cost us about $10,000. I'm talking about driving our vehicle down, our equipment, our staff, all of that gear you see, the streaming equipment. Y'all, that's $10,000. We live stream stuff Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, came back on Wednesday. All right.

There was no other black owned media outlet that was in Tulsa for six days going hard like we were. None. And so when we're talking about these dollars. We can do that. We can go down to Texas for Juneteenth. We can go back to Elizabeth City, North Carolina, where they're having protests. We can be on the road when they're in Minneapolis. We could be going to St. Louis. We did the show from supporting Deborah Peoples, who's running for mayor. The election's tomorrow, so everybody in Fort Worth, y'all got to go vote.

That sister can actually win. We can do that broadcast. We had a sister on yesterday who's running for governor for South Carolina. We want to be able to go to South Carolina next year and broadcast from South Carolina while she is running. We want to be able to do this for multiple candidates. But yo, that ain't happening. We're not getting the advertising dollars.

Y'all have been amazing. Our audience has been amazing with the giving that you have done. I had people walking up to me, putting cash and checks in my hand in Tulsa. I was given 10% of the money we spent in Tulsa. I was literally given 10% of what it cost us on the ground because folks want to see this happen. But the companies want your money to buy their products. You've got to tell them what are you spending on Black-owned media company. Going to go to a break.

Before we do so, please support what we do, y'all, by joining our Bring the Funk fan club. Again, every dollar you give goes to support what we do. We're moving into new office space. I'm literally getting the keys on money. I can't wait till you actually see it. We could even do even more than what we're doing right now. So you can join our Bring the Funk Fan Club.

We're asking is 50 bucks from each one of our fans, $4.19 a month, 13 cents a day. Folks have given us more, people have given us less. Every dollar we think is important. Cash app, dollar sign, RM Unfiltered. paypal.me forward slash rmartinunfiltered, venmo.com forward slash rmunfiltered, zellroland at rolandsmartin.com or roland at rolandmartinunfiltered.com. When we come back, folks, we're going to talk about folks in Florida, a massacre more than 100 years ago.

They're now getting compensation. Also, a sister's running for governor in Virginia. We'll talk to her as well. Back on Roland Martin Unfiltered in a moment. When I managed a team of 5,000 as vice president of AT&T, I led by empowering my people. I'm Deborah Peoples, and that's exactly what I'll do as mayor of Fort Worth. Together, we'll get small businesses moving again, invest in our neighborhoods, and we'll support our schools to help kids catch up after COVID. On Saturday,

June the 5th, I'm asking for your vote. I'll be mayor for all the people to build one Fort Worth. Black 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. 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. 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 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. Yo, what's up? This your boy Ice Cube. What's up? I'm Lance Gross, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Being in a union.

Being in a union. Being in a union means better pay and better benefits. But it means a lot more. When you're in the union, you're never alone. You know the people around you got to bet. And if you see something wrong, there's someone to turn to. The real union difference is we're stronger when we stand together. We are stronger. We're stronger.

Stronger when we stand together. When we stand together. That's the union difference. In Florida, a scholarship program will serve as reparations for descendants of the victims of a massacre in 1920, the Ocoee Massacre. The U.S. Randolph-Bracy Ocoee Scholarship Program will award 50 college scholarships for up to $6,100 to the descendants. The sponsor of the bill is Florida State Senator Randolph-Bracy. He joins us right now. Glad to have you on the show. So this was similar. Didn't Florida do the exact same thing for Rosewood creating scholarships? They did. They didn't. Thank you for having me on the show. They did. What they also did was they paid directly the descendants in a cash payment. This was in the early 1990s. And then they had a scholarship program that still goes on to this day

for the descendants of Rosewood. This is unique in that we are paying the descendants not a cash payment, but a scholarship program. Descendants have first dibs on it, but then after that, African-American students in Ocoee can apply for it. So they don't even have to be direct descendants. They just have to be of African-American students in Ocoee can apply for it. So they don't even have to be direct descendants. They just have to be of African-American descent

and they can qualify for the scholarship. This of course was a lot of work getting Florida to first of all acknowledge what took place and even get to this point right here. Yeah, absolutely. So last year I had a bill that required that the public schools teach about the Ocoee massacre of 1920. A lot of people don't realize this was the deadliest day in political history.

It happened on Election Day, 1920. Their property, their land was stolen. But what what incited the violence was that they organized to go out and vote in the 1920 presidential election. And that's what created, that's what ensued the violence. And so it is quite a historic event that a lot of people just don't know about it. But that bill passed last year, where it had to be taught in schools. This year, I worked on reparations. And so very proud to say that we got that done. And so you talked about not just descendants, and so is it a maximum number of 50 a year? Yes. No, it's 50 a year. Every year, it's recurring indefinitely for $6,100. Each student gets that amount, exact amount. So it is a total of $305,000.

This was just the first step. I plan to expand it to more than 50 students next year, but this was the starting point. And this is funding for the state of Florida? Yes, the state of Florida is funding this initiative. For the folks who do not know about this particular massacre, just give them some history of what actually took place in there in Florida. Yes, so a man named July Perry is really the person that is most known for it. He was a wealthy black man who owned a considerable amount of land. He was like the broker in town when folks wanted to come and maybe hire some workers. He controlled the city, and he owned a considerable amount of land.

He already drew the ire of the white folks then because of how wealthy he was back in 1920. And so not only was he wealthy, but now he organized the black community in Ocoee to vote. And they all went down to the election place on Election Day, and they were greeted with guns, a fighting suit, and they all ran for their lives. A mob was formed. They went through the black community looking for July Perry. They burned down the homes of the black people in that town.

Everyone was forced to leave. Up to 60 people were killed that day. And they found July Perry. They hung him. And that was the story. Later after that, the Orange County government transferred all of the property to members of the mob. Many of them got nothing. This land is worth $20, $30 million today. And that's a low estimate.

And that's the story. After that day, there was about 500 people, black people, in 1920 in Ocoee. The census showed that next year they were all gone. No one moved back to Ocoee until the 1980s. It was what they call a sundown town, even in the 60s, where black people could not even be seen there after dark or most likely they'd be killed or hurt. So it's had a lasting impact in the city of Ocoee right here in Central Florida. Well, this is certainly good news. And the fact that you say it's indefinite is very important as well. And so it's not like a five or a 10 year cap. No, no. Just like Rosewood, we passed that in 1992, I believe.

Those scholarships are still available. It starts now and it'll go on indefinitely. All right then. Oh, look, we certainly appreciate it. Great work here, Senator Bracey. And it was great to see you when we were there in Orlando. And so glad to see this actually happening for the folks there in Florida, for the black kids there in Florida. Thank you. I appreciate it.

I'll be running for Congress also. I just wanted to mention that in District 10, our congresswoman, Val Deming, is going to be running for U.S. Senate against Marco Rubio. So I'm looking to continue the work I've been doing in the state legislature. I think you're the third person I know who's running that. So that's going to be a hotly contested seat. Yep. All right. We'll be covering that as well.

We appreciate it. Thanks a lot. All right. You got it. All right, folks, let's go to Virginia, where Jennifer Carol Foy is running for governor. If elected, of course, she'll be the first black female governor in history. This is, we have, of course, a sister

who's running in South Carolina. That election is next year, but Virginia is actually next week. She joins us right now. Jennifer Carroll-Foy, glad to have you on here. When we look at, I'm gonna ask you the exact same thing I asked Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax. When you look at the polling data, former Governor Terry McAuliffe is far, far ahead based upon polling.

How do you close that gap? How do you compete against his fundraising, but also the notion that some people are saying that he is the inevitable candidate to win? So thank you for having me, Roland. And I can tell you that I got off the polar coaster a long time ago. The polls got it wrong when I ran for the House of Delegates in 2017 while pregnant with twins, flipping a seat from red to blue, being out-endorsed and outraged. And I went on to win that race and then ended up having more votes than the governor, lieutenant governor, and the attorney general as a down-ballot state legislator. So it's hard to measure the energy and excitement, the momentum that we're building.

We have the wind to our back. It's not only about this historic moment in electing the first black woman governor in the history of our country, but it's about time to have a working mom represent working families, someone who understands the challenges that Virginia families face. And then let's talk about inevitability. I know that a lot of people who are tuning into this race believe that the person who has been elected before, it's inevitable that they'll be elected again. And it's not lost on me that people may be wondering if they tuned in to the right station when they see me, a woman with black skin and ambitious ideas running to be the next governor in the former capital and cradle of the Confederacy. But we have to remember that it was inevitable for a particular person to be president until Barack Obama and Shirley Chisholm raised their hands. It was inevitable for only men to go into space until Sally Ride got on that rocket ship. Inevitability only happens if we allow it to.

But Virginians are hungry for change, and we don't get changed by recycling the same old policies and politicians of the past who left so many Virginians behind. They want a new leader with a clear vision and bold ideas for Virginia who has a record of getting things done. And that is me. And I look forward to having people's vote on June 8th.

When you talk about issues, look, Virginia has flipped. It's not purple. It's not red. It's very much, it is blue. And so what are the specific two or three policy items that you want African-Americans to know about and why they should be voting for you come next week? The policy ideas that I'm bringing to the table that I want African-Americans specifically to know about is that, you know, we're in the position that we are now, where the cost of child care, education, gas and groceries have gone up, but our wages have remained stagnant, that the racial wealth gap has exploded, child poverty has increased, and many of our black and brown communities are in disrepair because they've been neglected

and ignored by politicians of the past. So if we want something different, we have to do something different and invoke that difference into office. And I will bring bold transformational policies to bear. I will fully fund education, pay teachers $60,000 a year as a base salary to address inequitable funding of our schools, millions of

more dollars for our HBCUs, and make them research and development universities so the next best idea happens at a HBCU where we produce Black excellence across the board and as doctors and lawyers and engineers and nurses and teachers. And also, I will be sure that we have a $15 minimum wage that doesn't start five, 10 years from now, but transitions now here in Virginia.

I have already ended pregnant discrimination, ended wage theft, passed Medicaid expansion to 500,000 Virginians while under a Republican-controlled General Assembly. So one of the things that people will tell you about Jennifer Carroll Foy is promises made, promises kept. And I will keep all my promises to uplift all communities in Virginia and have a Virginia where we leave no one behind. All right. Let's go got questions from my panel. Let's start with Brittany Lewis. Brittany, your question for General Carol Foy. Of course. So I know that

one of your platform initiatives has to do with criminal justice reform. And I would love if you could talk a little bit about how your experience as a public defender has helped you prepare and how it would ultimately affect your position if you win. Thank you for that question. Yes. So I'm excited to say, yes, I was the first public defender ever elected to the Virginia General Assembly because there was only one voice that was predominating the conversations with a tough on crime narrative. But we have to be very explicit in the fact that a lot of the policies that were made were done with discriminatory and racist intent. And in order to address them, we have to have anti-racist policies, not just race-neutral policies. So I am excited to say I've passed a bill to prohibit the use of chokeholds by law enforcement officers so we don't have an Eric Garner situation in Virginia.

I've helped to pass a bill to ban no-knock warrants so we don't have a Breonna Taylor situation in Virginia. But as governor, I will be bolder. I will mandate civilian review boards, have them apply to sheriff's offices as well, make sure they have subpoena power and they can delve out consequences. Because in Virginia, no one should be above or below the law. And it's about prevention and accountability is how we're going to end the killing of black and brown people on our streets due to racial injustice. I will end qualified immunity. And I'll address the mass incarceration by addressing cash bail.

In Virginia, you are more likely to sit in jail before your court date if you are black, poor, and innocent than if you are white, wealthy, and guilty. We have a justice for profit system, and I've been fighting it from the courthouse to the city house every single day, representing people a hundred percent below the poverty line who can't afford a hundred dollars. So because they can't afford their freedom, they then lose their homes, their jobs, and sometimes even their children. So this is something I'm very passionate about and I will bring true reform as governor. Next question, Kelly. Thank you. Regarding the fact that you are running in Virginia, you did already mention that it is the capital, the former capital of the Confederacy. That's a rich history that you as a Black woman is having to combat on a daily basis, certainly in your previous roles in the state. So my question for you is, as governor, what are your plans for shifting the culture from that stigma that still

exists to one of diversity and inclusivity? So I know that you have taken down some statues, renamed some buildings? Will you have plans for the continuation of that? And what does that look like under your tenure as governor? Thank you for that question. It is much easier to dismantle racist monuments and statues than it is to dismantle racist policies that's been put in place over a number of years. And so because I have been a criminal defense attorney representing the poorest amongst us, I've been a community organizer, a foster mom. I have seen up close and personal all of the opportunities that we have here in Virginia and the intersectionality between inequities in our healthcare system, our education system, our environment, and I will address them head on.

For example, one of the ways that we need to desegregate our communities and our schools is by promoting and working with localities for upzoning and inclusionary zoning. And what that means is telling developers, you can't build in these high demand areas unless you allocate a certain number for low and moderate income Virginians.

That is a great way of people of different social and economic statuses being able to live together, work together, worship together. That's how we'll desegregate our communities and our schools. People can afford to live where they work. It'll improve people's quality of life because it'll relieve traffic congestion.

It'll help decarbonize our environment because we're getting more cars off the road. So it's that type of thinking that we need to bring to bear. These are things that have to happen. If not, we're just putting Band-Aids on our issues, getting us from one crisis to the next. We need a governor who's going to uplift our communities and bring real systemic change. And so it's not only about affordable housing and helping people, but making health care more affordable as well. So passing Medicaid expansion is just the beginning. Having a prescription drug affordability board that's going to negotiate the cost of our high-cost prescriptions, because I, too, have had to make the tough decision between paying for my grandmother's mortgage to keep a

roof over our heads or the medications keeping her alive. It's about putting every three- and four-year-old in full-day pre-K so we can end that educational divide that starts as early as the age of three. And it'll address the child care issue where inaccessibility and unaffordability has been issues before the pandemic because we pay our providers poverty wages. So ensuring to pay them more and subsidize child care so people aren't spending 40 percent of their income to send their kids to child care so they can go to work is a top priority. And making the investments in the communities that's been most hurt and harmed by mass incarceration and the failed war on drugs and disinvestments is a priority as well. Putting child care centers there and job skills and workforce training development centers, making investments in our community service board so people can get the substance abuse, mental health and treatment that they need and more money for our at-risk schools who have high numbers of free and reduced lunch,

English as a second language learners and special needs children. Those are the plans and policies I will implement as governor. Michael, your question for Jennifer Carol Foy. Yes, Jennifer Carol Foy, thanks for coming on today. A quick question here. How will your policies help African-American-owned businesses in the state of Virginia, young entrepreneurs, maybe get access to capital, also getting state contracts? How will your policies help with that? That's a great question. I can tell you there's a statistic that's out there that says 40% of all Black businesses who are closed their doors due to COVID will never reopen them again. I don't see that as a fact. I see that as a challenge. And so as governor, on my website at jennifercarolfoy.com, I have detailed policies of how I'm going to uplift small businesses in

Virginia, spur economic development, and help businesses upscale and scale out. And so for our small women and minority-owned businesses, I will, as governor, have 45 percent of all of our discretionary spending for goods and services spent with Black-owned and women-owned businesses. That is a historic number, never been done before. It will be done under a Jennifer Carole Foy administration. I will put $50 million a year into my Rebuild Virginia Small Business Grant, so that way our businesses can have access to capital that they need, so they can open their doors if they close them and keep them open if they have survived the pandemic. I will have an angel investor tax credit and expand it so more businesses are able to receive that tax credit and we can have more people take their private money and invest it into businesses to give them the seats that they need in order to build up. I mean a tax credit for masks and PPE because that wasn't a part of people's budgets. And so having that tax credit will go very far to helping our businesses as well. So I'm excited about spurring more economic development

and protecting and helping our small women and minority-owned businesses. And I'll have a special commission whose entire purpose and goal is to find the challenges and barriers for procurement contracts amongst our Black-owned businesses and address it in a real way. All right.

Jennifer Carroll Foy, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Good luck next week in the Democratic primary. Thank you. Thank you for having me. All right, folks. Got to go to a break. We'll be back.

More on Roland Martin Unfiltered. When I managed a team of 5,000 as vice president of AT&T, I led by empowering my people. I'm Deborah Peoples, and that's exactly what I'll do as mayor of Fort Worth. Together, we'll get small businesses moving again, invest in our neighborhoods, and we'll support our schools to help kids catch up after COVID. On Saturday, June the 5th, I'm asking for your vote. I'll be mayor for all the people to build one Fort Worth.

Black 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, 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. 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, to this generation period of time and gone through phases. I love the word. I hate what it's become,

you know, to this generation, the way they visualize it. Its narrative kind of like has gotten away and spun away from, Iish, and you're watching... Roland Martin, unfiltered. Stay woke. How can we ensure a better education and a brighter future for our children? My next guest is the CEO of BrightBeam, Chris Stewart, wants to do that. He'll lay out exactly what his organization is doing. Chris, glad to have you here.

And so you say you want to make it for a brighter future. What does that mean? What does it look like? I mean, in normal times, it means just making sure that our kids have access to great teaching, great schools, a wide variety of opportunities to be able to choose from when it comes to education in schools. But that's in normal times. We're not in normal times right now. So right now it means making sure that our educators are free to teach our kids the real history of the country that they live in, that our educators aren't being muzzled in the classrooms by bad legislation in multiple states that is attempting to stop teachers from being able to teach our kids their real history, teach them to understand the structures that they live within, and teach them how to be critical thinkers about their government. So to make sure that their government is not treating them unfairly. So like I said, in normal times, we would be talking about teaching and learning and great schools, and whether or not our kids have all the access to the resources

that they need. But these are not normal times. So how are you going to do that? So how is your organization going to do that? I mean, one of the things that our organization does is we shine a light in places where we think there's not enough attention for. So when it comes to kids in cities, for instance, two years ago, we looked at cities from across the country, maybe about 50 cities, and we wanted to see where kids were doing the best. One of the things that came out of that report that was a little bit of a shock for many of us or people working on it is that in many of our most progressive cities that have booming economies, have great kind of services in all kinds of ways, you know, great parks, great museums, and just great lifestyles, actually had some of the worst outcomes with kids of color.

And we decided two years ago that, number one, that was a problem that could be addressed if we started putting municipal leaders, local leaders on the hook for the outcomes of children in their communities. So basically right now, instead of taking a national look, we're taking a place-based grassroots look at how our mayors and city council members and school board members being held accountable by their communities for the outcomes of kids in their communities. And that's our number one strategy right now is you elect people to serve you. And too many cities you can go to and they're wiping their hands of the outcomes for their children, for the children in those communities. We actually are determined to make sure that those communities, the constituents,

are holding their feet to the fire, putting pressure on them, and making demands for what's best for their kids. So, I mean, people are asking in the chat, what is BrightBeam? What do you do? That's what they're asking. So BrightBeam is a nonprofit, an educational nonprofit. What we do mostly is we work with parents, students, and educators to create content, content with a purpose, a purpose of, like, moving decisions, getting decision makers to respond to communities. So we talk to moms.

We talk to students and people who are impacted by educational issues. What states? What states? So we are national. We do city-based work. For instance, we do work in Oakland and Washington, D.C., Chicago, the Twin Cities, some cities that were strategically picked because we felt like there was great promise for things that could happen for those kids. But, I mean, we work in Kentucky.

We work in Atlanta. We work in Georgia, New York. So we're national in a lot of different places, strategically picked for places where we think that change can happen and where the problem is pronounced. movement, but mostly by Republicans, to pass laws in right now up to 12 or more states that really rolls back what educators can teach kids in classrooms. We are witnessing a white supremacist attempt to change the name of the game in classrooms, what history could be taught, what students can learn about their government. And it is working. White power is working right now in legislators. And I think this is a red alert situation. This is not like normal times for me. Where have you seen success? Where have you been able to move the needle? You know, I can't claim that we have had victories anywhere in the United

States where we're going to say mission done, mission accomplished. We have seen we have had small wins and small gains by holding mayors accountable in cities, for instance, like Minneapolis, where we are getting more kids into stable housing because we think that stable housing is important. And the city had a small program. We're actually actively right now working with the city to make that program bigger. We've actually went on a very large national push to make sure that more families have access to broadband. During the pandemic, we discovered that there were so many families that couldn't even attend school because

they didn't have adequate broadband. So we actually had a national campaign, some local campaigns in some municipalities where we were able to get changes, rule changes, and definitely get word out to more parents where they could get access to broadband. There's no place where I could say the mission is accomplished and we can go home and say that City A or City B has been doing amazing. But there are definitely schools across the country. For instance, you know, Ile Omide in Oakland is a school I could point you to where, you know, you have black folks who start a school and are, are, um, uh, making real gains with real kids every day in a city that isn't making real gains with its kids. We have programs in cities like Oakland that are working with African-American youth, making sure that they're getting the culturally responsive education that they need. Um, there are good things happening. I can name a

lot of places where that's taking place, but no place where I can rest easy at night that Black children are getting a great education in the United States. Okay. Where can people get more information? You know, you can see me at BrightBeam. You can find us at brightbeamnetwork.org. Folks can find me on Twitter at Citizen Stewart. And if you want to go to our main flagship platform that we have, it's educationpost.org. All right, then. We certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much, Chris Stewart. Good luck.

Thank you so much, sir. Appreciate you. Thank you very much. Let's go to Ohio, folks, where Wibble Force is forgiving $375,000 in debt for its 2020 and 2021 graduates. This is what took place at their commencement over the weekend. Class of 2020 and 2021, because we are in awe of your strengths and perseverance, because you have made your family and yourselves proud, because you have shown the work,

because you have shown that you are capable of doing work under difficult circumstances, because you represent the best of your generation, we wish to give you a fresh start. So therefore, the Wilberforce University Board of Trustees has authorized me to forgive any debt. Your accounts have been cleared. And you don't owe Wilberforce anything. Thank you. Congratulations.

Now, that's for the fees to the university. The graduates still have to pay their state and federal loans. The school gathered the funds to forgive the debt from the United Negro College Fund, Jack and Jill, and other organizations. We're seeing more of this, Brittany, where universities are looking to offer these type of things to their graduates. We're seeing the pressure being applied to President Joe Biden to forgive student loan debt. Members of Congress, like Elizabeth Warren, keep saying, man, you got the power, use it. Absolutely, Roland.

You know, so many of us were hoping that Biden would make good on his campaign promise to eliminate that 10K in student loan debt, if not more. I know Chuck Schumer was pushing for 50K, and I'm really still keeping my fingers crossed that something gets done. But until then, these types of things are truly a blessing for these students. I mean, considering the fact that student loan debt is, I believe the number is 1.7 trillion. It's the second largest amount of debt that U.S. citizens hold behind mortgages. I mean, this is really something crazy that we need to deal with. And we know that

that debt stops us from being able to buy homes, start businesses, start families, and really actualize our dreams. So power to Wilberforce, and I hope that more universities follow in their lead. Michael, this was a tweet that Elizabeth Warren, Sarah Elizabeth Warren sent out. Student debt is locking millions of young people out of the housing market. They can't come up with a down payment. They can't qualify for a mortgage, all because they did exactly what everyone told them to do, get an education, and got stuck in a rigged system, hashtag cancel student debt. Yeah, you know, I agree with that, Roland. This $1.7 trillion right now is crushing African-Americans. In addition to student loan debt, you're also dealing with the racial wage gap as well.

OK, we know the average African-American woman has to work 20 months to make the same amount of money that the average white male makes in 12 months. So, you know, I definitely agree with this. I think we have to keep the pressure up. And I know that I know that and I want to get clarification on this myself. I know Biden was trying to get research, legal research to determine if he had the authority to discharge fifty thousand dollars through executive order. So, you know, I want to get conclusive information on whether he does or not. But I think they should discharge, you know, the student loan debt a significant amount. If you can do fifty thousand, conclusive information on whether he does or not, but I think they should discharge, uh, uh, you know, the student loan debt a significant amount. If you can do 50,000, that'd be great. I know he

promised 10,000. Uh, so, but this is a good story, even though it's just fees that are, that are being wiped out and not student loans. Um, it, cause I'm reading the story here. There was a clarification from, um, university professor, uh, Dr. Pinkard, on that. But this is, you know, still helps these students as well. Hey, bottom line is any debt forgiven is good. Kelly does not matter. And so, yeah, if I was those students, absolutely. So if they owe parking tickets or whatever, that debt is gone. It's a good start. It's a great start, but obviously more needs to be done. And this goes beyond just waiting for Biden to make good on his promise in clearing just a modicum of student debt. Because, you know, even though 50K sounds like a lot, even 10K sounds like a lot,

but in the grand scheme of things, as far as how much money each individual person takes out for their education, $10,000 is probably just the interest for a lot of us, especially the higher up you go in the ladder as far as your education, getting your master's, your doctorate, your PhD, what have you. That's something that needs to be considered when you run the gambit of exactly how much debt can be cleared by federal government. Another point I want to make is, while this is a wonderful thing that Wilberforce does, it also brings to mind the fact that we are no longer in a society where we can afford to not go to college, meaning you have to have some form of degree in order to get a job in which you can survive.

And we can't be in a system in which we have to take out debt in order to make money all the time, and especially debt that we'll probably die trying to clear out in order to make a living. It's not fair to the debtor. It's not fair to the debtor. It's not fair to the lender. It's not fair to any person in society to live that way

because you always have this huge dark cloud over your head that prevents you from being truly financially free. When I hear stories like this, again, I'm glad that these students have some type of reprieve from the school, but it also brings to mind the fact that they aren't able to do anything unless they go through a school such as Wilberforce or any school. So just keep that in mind when we're talking about debt forgiveness. We also need to talk about the fact that we need a job market that allows people to live without having to take out

five, six figures worth of debt. Folks, let's go to our next story. In Tacoma, Washington, witness statements, witness statements, cell phone video, and a doorbell camera helped three officers

get charged with the death of a black man on march 3rd 2020 as manuel ellis walked home officers stopped him alleging he had been harassing a woman well witness witnesses told prosecutors they saw officer christopher burbank and matthew collins in the patrol car talking to ellis burbank swung open the door as ellis attempted to walk away hitting and knocking him They saw Officer Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins in their patrol car talking to Ellis. Burbank swung open the door as Ellis attempted to walk away, hitting and knocking him to his knees. Both officers rushed out of the vehicle, slammed Ellis to the ground, punched and hogtied him. Witnesses say they heard Ellis scream, I can't breathe. Already handcuffed and pinned down, the officers tased Ellis. When Officer Timothy Rankin arrived on the scene,

witnesses saw him applying pressure to Ellis' back with his knees. Ellis was pronounced dead at the scene. Well, folks, Burbank and Collins face second-degree murder charges. Rankin is charged with first-degree manslaughter. All three officers were released on on $100,000 bail each. I keep making the point, Michael. The reason we're seeing these type of things happen now is because of Black Lives Matter. People can yell, holler, scream all they want to. The bottom line is this here. The exposing of corrupt killer cops is causing other localities to say we don't want to have to face the heat when something happens.

That's why we're seeing more and more being charged in these deaths. Yeah, I think so. I think, you know, the Black Lives Matter movement, the activists and their different, you know, everybody doesn't agree on the same thing in the movement,

but just the focus, just the consistency, especially what happened in the summer of 2020, the protests all across the country and around the world have really lit a fire when we deal with these municipalities. So I think the next step is also continuing to vote for progressive prosecutors as well that will continue to prosecute these officers also while we work on the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act at the federal level.

Again, Brittany, pressure, pressure, pressure has to be unrelenting to force the cities and DAs to do what's right. Absolutely, and I mean, we've seen that the pressure is on and I think last summer is probably the best indication of that, right? We saw, I mean, millions, millions of people, one of the largest social movements we've ever seen in history happen last summer. We saw more than 60 countries participate. The

pressure is on and it continues to be on. And I think that we're going to continue to see more and more officers being held accountable as we continue to push and hopefully see more federal legislation that gets put in place to just make sure things change, Roland. Kelly? I absolutely agree with the other panelists here. It is unfortunate that we still have a system in which we have to basically force the justice system, namely DAs, to do the right thing and seek justice out for true victims of police brutality.

But thankfully, between the Black Lives Matter movement, other protests, the world actually seeing what's going on by way of these camera phones that everybody has in their possession, we're making strides in the right direction. And we saw it with the George Floyd case, and hopefully we'll be seeing it in this case. But as far as the fact that they're out on bail, I mean, it's pretty disgusting. I'm pretty disgusted by it. But, you know, that's

how the justice system works at this point. The fact that the bail was relatively low for all three of these individuals just goes to show you just how much more work we need to do to prove that our lives really do matter in this country and this system. Folks, let's go to North Carolina, where pressure is on the governor of North Carolina to pursue federal charges in the death of Andrew Brown, Jr., civil rights activists and religious religious leaders met with Governor Roy Cooper, State Attorney General Josh Stein, and members of the Black Caucus

to request support for their request for an expedited federal investigation into the death of Andrew Brown Jr. The group will also present U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland with a petition with more than 2,000 signatures calling for a civil rights investigation of the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Office and Elizabeth City, North north carolina d.a andrew wambles handling of the case no charters

will file in the death of brown who was killed on april 21st his officers attempted to serve an arrest warrant protesters continue to fill the streets of elizabeth city every night since brown's death demanding justice well we've been there a couple of times and it's glad to see that they're absolutely still there. Let's go to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where Army veteran LaRue Bratcher faces first-degree murder charges for the death of a man who allegedly attempted to break into his medical marijuana business. Two nights straight in May 2020, Daniel Hardwick showed up at the property and tried to gain entry. The second time proved to be fatal. Bratcher was inside and opened fire on Hardwick. Bratcher's business license lapsed

and needed more than $100,000 for renovations. He's charged with a felony for unlawful cultivating of marijuana. Oklahoma, being a stand-your-ground state, would have recognized the defense of Bratcher shooting Hardwick. However, because Bratcher was committing a felony, the protection of stand-your your ground does not apply.

Hmm. Ain't that something? All right, folks. An officer fired for his involvement in Breonna Taylor's death wants his job back. Louisville Police Merit Board is considering whether to reinstate Joshua Janes, who secured the search warrant for Taylor's apartment. Janes was fired in January for violating department police on truthfulness and search warrant preparation. During yesterday's hearing, Janes said he believed he had verified his information through former Sergeant Jonathan

Mattingly. Braylon Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, is calling for a boycott at each hearing to protest Janes' termination appeal. She posted this to her Instagram page. It says right here, folks, again, for several days this month, the merit board will decide if Jane should get his job back. This is just one of those things right here, Kelly, where mayors keep saying it's hard for us to fire cops because the contracts protect cops in such a huge way. The mayor of Columbus, the mayor of Columbus, Ohio, said it's damn impossible for them to actually fire somebody. Well, that may be the case. I didn't look too far into it.

But as far as the fact that it is hard at all to fire a cop is an issue. The fact that these are public servants who are supposed to protect and serve have such a high space, a high placement in hierarchy in our society such that they can't, they're untouchable, that's a problem. Because when you are supposed to be in a space where you protect and serve, that is where you're supposed to be held the most accountable. And if you don't have the safeguards in place to hold these cops accountable, then we keep coming across situations such as this one, such as George Floyd,

such as the one we previously mentioned in Washington State, I believe you said. But it is ridiculous that it is such a, it is an issue because other public servants don't come across this. It's easy to fire an attorney. It's easier to fire an attorney than it is to fire a cop. It's easier to fire a judge than it is to fire a cop. It's easier to fire a judge than it is to fire a cop. All of

these actors are part of the judicial system, but it's the one that's actually, as far as the justice system goes, the ones on the bottom of the totem pole being officers have more safeguards than the ones who actually are tasked with bringing them to justice. So that's a problem. And the way to rectify that problem is for public to put the pressure on them. Call up your mayor, call up your legislatures, call up whomever has influence in your jurisdiction to get something done, because this is not feasible.

It doesn't work anymore. It never did, but it certainly doesn't work in 2021. Brittany? I completely agree. I mean, if you're a surgeon and you make a mistake in the surgery room, you get held accountable. If you're a pharmacist and you accidentally give someone the wrong medicine and they die, you get held accountable. You're not keeping your job nine times out of ten. These are public servants who have a very, very... They have so much power to potentially take someone's life with the wielding of their weapons.

There should not be this much protection. This isn't a matter of bad apples. This is a system. So, you know, it's unfortunate that Breonna Taylor's family has not only had to go through, you know, losing their child, their sister, their loved one, but also have to watch, you know, losing their child, their sister, their loved one, but also have to watch, you know, one of the people who was very incremental in her murder essentially try and get reinstated. It's unfortunate. Michael. Yeah, you know, brother, this is more craziness with this whole case than with Breonna Taylor. But, you know, this also goes to the police union contracts,

the police bill of rights, all of that. I think it was the state of Maryland where they repealed the, was it the police bill of rights there? Yeah, yeah. It was the police bill of rights. The legislature repealed it. The governor vetoed it. They overrode his veto. Exactly, exactly. So we have to look at different ways to skin this cat. You know, it's not just the federal level. It's also at the state level. And the majority of control over policing is at the state level,

at the state and local level, as opposed to at the federal level. So we have to look at different ways to skin this cat, brother. But this is more craziness here than with the Breonna Taylor case. Oh, absolutely, absolutely. All right, folks, tomorrow here in D.C. at 11.30 a.m. Buddy Jim Jones, who's been on our show many times, is leading a Black Lives Matter Plaza workout in Washington, D.C.

Of course, the first 100 participants will receive a free BLM Plaza workout mat. There will be a performance by the Backyard Band, a walk-up COVID-19 vaccination and clinic, and refreshments by Turning Natural. So if y'all are in D.C., y'all can certainly go support Jim Jones, 11.30 a.m. tomorrow. Simply go to his YouTube channel.

Excuse me, go to his Instagram page, his Twitter page. You can actually see that, the RSVP link as well. So it's bit.ly forward slash BLM Plaza DC. BLM Plaza DC. Alright y'all also this weekend. Hey parents come out.

So this weekend we're not in this weekend. Next week actually my parents have been celebrating their 54th wedding anniversary. Come on. Hurry up. We live. What the hell taking so long?

I'm like, y'all got the boo. All right. So, yeah. So y'all see we're packing up because we're moving the office space. So that's why we got all this stuff out here as well. So, mom, why you got a mask on? We all got vaccinated. What the hell?

Mama come out here with a mask on. All right. So y'all. So this is my dad and my mom. So June 10th, celebrating their 54th wedding anniversary. And so we're going to be hanging out. And so I want to give them a shout out on the show. Married 54 years.

I've been tolerating them 52 years, 52 and a half years. So I just want to give them a shout out. Y'all, don't forget to support what we do here at Roller Barton Unfiltered. I told y'all we went to our new place. We're going to get the keys on Monday. We're moving to a new location. We're packing up from this one. We're going to be located on Black Lives Matter Plaza.

Trust me, y'all, I can't wait until y'all see the office space. It's going to blow y'all away, okay? But your dollars goes to support what we do. So please join us on our Bring the Funk fan club. Cash at Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered. PayPal.me forward slash RM Unfiltered. Venmo.com forward slash RM Unfiltered. Zale is Roland at RolandSMartin.com.

Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And I would give y'all, okay, so the address, 1625 K Street, Northwest, Speed 400, Washington, D.C., 2006. Again, we're moving, so we're going to have a new address. And so I just want to give y'all that. So that's it. Please support what we do. We got some great stuff coming up. I'm telling y'all, the announcement I'm making next month is going to rock y'all world.

This is why y'all don't worry about haters. Because, see, when you focus on building, it don't matter what haters got to say. Especially all you fools who I blocked on YouTube. See, I keep telling y'all, see, I multitask. All right, I got a laptop here, three iPads, two phones. So when y'all talks back on YouTube or Facebook, yeah, I will block your ass right there.

So just letting y'all know, act the fool doing the show and watch me work. All right, Kelly, Michael, Brittany, I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Y'all have a great weekend. Folks, I'm going to see y'all on Monday. Y'all know how we do. I know a lot of cops.

They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there

and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on

not being able to, you know, we're the providers, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-up way, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war.

This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast.