#RolandMartinUnfiltered - MS Man Shot while Handcuffed, NY Buffalo Shooter Sentenced, Dashiki Representative,IM Thomas Dortch

Episode Date: February 16, 2023

2.15.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: MS Man Shot while Handcuffed, NY Buffalo Shooter Sentenced, Dashiki Representative,IM Thomas Dortch In Mississippi, a black man almost died at the hands of white sheriff's deputies who allegedly shot him in the mouth while handcuffed. Roland will show you disturbing images and details about the case. The white man who gunned down ten black people at a Buffalo, New York,  grocery store last year was sentenced today. Roland will show you a video from the hearing to hear the shocking comments the Gunman is making a year after committing mass murder. The National Association of School Psychologists held its annual convention in Colorado last week when hotel security broke up a gathering held by the association's president. Roland will speak to the National Association of School Psychologists' president to tell Roland what the hotel had to say about the incident. A black freshman Tennessee representative is causing a stir with House Republicans because he wore a Dashiki. Roland will speak to him about how representing his culture changes how people see blackness. It's Time to Bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered streaming live on the Black Star Network. Let's go. Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork 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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. 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. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 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.

Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position.

Pre-game to greater them. Let's put ourselves in the right position, pregame to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org, brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Today is Wednesday, February 15, 2023, coming up on Roland Martin and the Quilter, streaming live on the Black Star Network. In Mississippi. A black man is almost killed at the hands of a white sheriff's deputies who allegedly shot him in the mouth while handcuffed. We'll show you disturbing images and provide you details about this case. The white man who gunned down 10 black people at a Buffalo, New York grocery store last year

sentenced today. We'll also show you video from the hearing and hear the shocking comments the government is making a year after committing mass murder. National Association of School Psychologists held its annual convention in Colorado last week, but hotel security broke up a gathering held by the association's president.

If they're not happy about it, we'll tell you. We'll talk to the president about what the hotel had to say about this incident. A black freshman Tennessee representative is causing a stir with House Republicans because he wore a dashiki on the floor. We will talk with him about how he's representing his culture amidst the sea of whiteness in Tennessee.

And folks, we mourn the loss of a business giant and HBCU supporter, Tommy Dorch. He passed away a couple of hours ago in Atlanta. We'll pay tribute to him right here on a show that he had a great appreciation and love for. It is time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Let's go.

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

He's Roland. It's Uncle Roro, yo. Yeah, yeah. It's rolling Martin, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Rolling with Roland now. Yeah, yeah. He's broke, he's fresh, he's real the best, you know he's rolling Martin now. All right, folks, a strange case out of Mississippi where a black man came very close to being killed at the hands of white sheriff's deputies

who allegedly shot him in the mouth while handcuffed. Michael Corey Jenkins was in the Braxton, Mississippi home of Eddie T. Parker on January 24th when the deputies burst through the front door and handcuffed the man while searching Parker's residence. According to Michael's attorney Malik Zulu Shabazz, the six white Rankin County sheriff's deputies falsely accused him and a friend of selling drugs and dating white women. When the officers didn't find anything, Shabazz says they used excessive interrogation methods to curse a confession. The officers held the man for nearly two hours, repeatedly punching, kicking, slapping, and shocking them with stun guns, even poured various liquids over their faces. According to a report in capitalBNews.org, as of Monday, Jenkins remains in ICU at a hospital where he has undergone at least two different surgeries.

Jenkins' family took a photograph of him in the hospital about two weeks after the shooting, giving a thumbs up. The bullet to his mouth has caused permanent injuries to his brain, and he has lost the ability to speak because his tongue was surgically removed due to the damage by the bullet. As of today, the six white officers have not been identified. Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is leading the investigation. We've reached out to Malik Shabazz, Jenkins' attorney, and his family. We have yet to get a response. Let me bring in my panel, A. Scott Bolden, former chair of National Bar Association PAC, also attorney here in D.C., Robert Portillo, host of the People's Passion Politics

on News & Talk 1380, WAOK in Atlanta, Rebecca Carruthers, vice president for Fair Elections Center. Scott, this is one of those cases where you absolutely would hope that there's body cam footage to actually see what took place. The last thing you want to do is go by, frankly, the testimony of these officers to describe what took place. Well, you know, you got to pull the police reports. That's where the lies start. We've seen these cases before. But what was the motivation? It's such a strange case. They accused him of dating white women and interrogated them for two hours.

Why haven't the police been identified? Why isn't there an internal investigation? There's just not enough on this matter. But you've got this young black brother in jail, can't-I'm sorry, in ICU. He can't talk. His life has been permanently changed. And by the way, are charges pending against him? Lots of questions. But we got to get to the bottom of this because the county or the state ought to be investigating this. They should. And, you know, you know, we've done a number, a number of these stories, Robert, your attorney. And I swear the Mississippi Bureau investigation pretty damn busy with cases of the Mississippi.

Yeah. You know, you think these jurisdictions will learn after a few of these settlements that there's no longer economically viable to keep beating up and killing black folks. But I would love to hear from these officers what exactly the justification they could articulate for shooting somebody in the mouth? That is the most striking part of this, because even if you go by the standard excuse that police officers use, he was reaching for my gun, he was resisting arrest, what would motivate you, what would cause you to need to shoot somebody in the mouth? And this is why the need for nationwide mandatory tamper-proof body cams, body cams that record directly to a cloud, that cannot be turned off, that cannot be disabled or covered up by the officers, are absolutely required. And that's also why there has to be federal legislation so that officers do tamper with body cams if they face civil rights charges charges because we have to have an unbiased view, an unbiased

witness. As you mentioned, the individual, the victim in this case can no longer speak on his own behalf. And all we can go by is what the officers, quote unquote, put in the report or what they say. And as we see, something is not adding up here. We have to have independent voices that are able to protect the rights of individuals. Rebecca, this is an Associated Press story. The cops claim a gun was actually pointed at them, and that's why that took place. Again, we know a lot of these examples. I would hope there's body camera footage to actually see what the hell happened. So I have so many questions. If there was a two-hour interrogation, at what point was there a gun that was pointed towards them that required them to discharge a gun in his mouth, towards his mouth,

to cause brain damage as well as damage to his tongue, resulting in it being cut out? My other question is, is a standard operating procedure to interrogate someone for a couple hours and not check to see if they actually are in possession of a firearm before you spend two hours interrogating someone? This simply doesn't make sense, but it doesn't make sense because it does not make sense. I know that the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is busy with all sorts of things. Maybe they're too busy still researching to see if Brett Favre stole some money from poor folks in Mississippi. But either way, we're going to need the Department of Justice to step in and to actually do the investigation here. Indeed. All right, folks, got to go to break. We come back. We're going to talk

about what happened in Buffalo, where the white racist was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The family got a chance to also have their victim impact statements and they got real tense in the courtroom. We'll show you what took place. Folks, you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network is here. Oh, no punches! A real revolutionary right now. Thank you for being the voice of Black America. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal.

See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? Most people think that these television shows that tell stories about who we are as Black men, and then they paint these monolithic portraits of us. They think that they're being painted by white people.

And I gotta tell you, there are a whole bunch of black folk that are the creators, the head writers, the directors of all of these shows and that are still painting us as monoliths. So people don't really wanna have this conversation. No, they don't. of all of these shows and that are still painting us as monoliths. The people don't really want to have this conversation. No, they don't. On a next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie,

a relationship that we have to have. We're often afraid of it and don't like to talk about it. That's right. We're talking about our relationship with money. And here's the thing. Our relationship with money oftentimes determines whether we have it or not. The truth is you cannot change what you will not acknowledge. Balancing your relationship with your pocketbook. That's next on A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, here at Blackstar Network.

Hi, I'm Eric Nolan. I'm Shante Moore. Hi, my name is Latoya Luckett. And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks, in the courtroom today in Buffalo, the white man who gunned down 10 black people in a grocery store in May of last year, sentenced to life in prison without parole. This is what the judge laid out. What she did was she made mention of every single person who was shot and killed and handled the sentence down tied to each particular person. We're going to have that in a second, folks.

Then also, of course, he also apologized in the court, but also got real tense as well. And so we will have that for you in just a second. I must say, you know, look, he had already pled guilty, Rebecca, to these crimes. And so the opportunity to hear what he had to say, but also the family had the opportunity to say their piece as well because of how his actions just devastated so many families. You know, there's nothing that he could have said today that would have brought back those who lost their lives in this horrific incident that occurred. And, you know, it also bothers me at times because when we see these

tragedies happening, especially towards Black Americans, sometimes we're expected just to immediately forgive. And it takes a while to be able to forgive. I'm not even convinced that we should all we should readily be offering our forgiveness because it seems like it's almost like a solace to the perpetrator. But, you know, I really grieve for those families and I feel for those families. It was such a horrific thing that happened. And I want to center around those folks who lost their lives rather than the actual perpetrator, because it's just senseless. And again, it was one of those things where today, again, where the judge, you know, so many people, of course, were just shocked and stunned by what took place.

Here is the judge speaking in the courtroom. And other similar hateful acts across the country motivated by white supremacy and replacement theory are a reckoning for us as a nation. The ugly truth is that our nation was founded and built in part on white supremacy, starting with the treatment of Native Americans by the first European settlers, to the cruel, inhumane, economic engine, nation-building practice of slavery, to indentured servitude,

to Jim Crow laws. To government policies creating segregated public housing with communities of color often placed in environmentally hazardous locations. To the manner in which expressways were built, dividing urban neighborhoods to create easy access to government-subsidized developments in the suburbs, with restricted covenants prohibiting the sale of suburban homes to African Americans. All right, folks. The man who, of course, did the killing in the courtroom, he actually, first of all, that was Judge Susan Egan. And so the man who actually did the killing, he apologized and offered this statement.

So this is what Peyton Jenden had to say. Listen. To the war on... I'm very sorry for all the pain I forced the victims and their families to suffer through. I'm very sorry for stealing the lives of your loved ones. I cannot express how much I regret all the decisions I made leading up to my actions on May 14th. I did a terrible thing that day. I shot and killed people because they were black.

Looking back now, I can't believe I actually did it. I believed what I read online and acted out of hate. I know I can't take it back, but I wish I could. And I don't want anyone to be inspired by me and what I did. You don't be doing that shit! You don't be doing that shit! Get the fuck out of here! Folks, it was extremely emotional in their courtroom.

At one point, a family member, overcome with emotion, lunged at Jindan and had to be restrained by authorities All right. Other family members did have an opportunity to share their thoughts about how Jitna's action hurt so many in Buffalo. My name is Kimberly Salter, and I stand here this morning on behalf and with my husband Aaron Salter. My family and I are here this morning and we wear red and black. Red for the blood that he shed. For his family and for his community. And black because we are still grieving.

Our grandmother went to buy seeds for her garden on May 14, 2022. She may not have been able to plant those seeds, but the seeds that she planted throughout her life are abundant. The same way she brought us together on Ridge Street is the same way she brought unity and solidarity to the masses. We fondly remember waking up from our sleepovers to the smell of Sunday dinner while getting ready for church. She was the driving force for our fishing trips and our camping adventures. Our grandmother had a strong and resilient spirit. She will not be present for our milestones, but we stand strong and determined and triumphant in ways that you could never fathom.

We find strength in knowing that her legacy will outlive you. You will simply go from a name to a number. You will be herded like cattle. You will be shut away from the world. You will not enjoy family events. You will not enjoy outings with friends. You will be nameless and faceless, and we feel sorry for you. We pity you even. Your life was meaningless before May 14, 2022, and you woke up every day feeling small. You clearly did not value your own life which allowed you to devalue the lives of others. Even with all of the heartache that you have caused you still

have failed to break our family spirit. You thought you broke us but you awoke us. We all know the pure hatred and motivations behind your heinous crime and we are here to tell you that you failed. I watched you kill my mom. I watched you on the Internet. I watched you shoot her once, reload, and shoot her again. I know a lot of cops, and 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. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that Taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission.

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I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.

We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer

Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. 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. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like, he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it.

I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. I just want you to remember that name and what you did.

On March 14th, you killed Celestine Chaney, Robita Dury, Andrew McAlee, On the 14th, you killed Celestine Chaney, Robita Dury, Andrew McAlee, Kathleen Mosley, Markel, Marcus Morrison, Haywood Patterson, Andrew Saunders, Geraldine Talley, Ruth Winfield, and Pearl Young. These are the names of the victims you decided to kill that day my daughter robbie drury was

a young woman she was not married she had no children she never will robbie was our youngest daughter when ask, how many children do you have? I don't know what to say. Will I ever be able to enjoy August 11th, her birthday? May 14th, how will my family ever have a nice thought on a beautiful spring day? How do I look at her Christmas stocking hanging every year today when I think of Robbie I don't think of her like this and this picture to remind me she was a beautiful girl You took away my mom. Scott, again, very difficult day in that courtroom, and clearly those families are still devastated by what this white racist did.

I can't take it, man. I'll tell you. You know, I chose to be a lawyer because I grew up watching my daddy try cases. I've been in those courtrooms with similar situations, and this racism thing, man, has so many components to it, so many tentacles. I've never really understood racism and why. I've never had a problem with race in this country.

I've had a problem with others who have a problem with the color of my skin and the color of your skin. And it has devastated my people. It has. And in 2023, when you look at the video of that courtroom, that's America, Roland. That's where we are. That's a microcosm of America. Guns, racism, white supremacists, criminal justice system, black and whites against one another.

We can't help. We can't hate all white people, but we can hate pure evil, which is what these mass murderers bring and racists bring and racial violence with them. And it's got to stop. And we are not prepared as a country, elected officials or otherwise, to deal with the race question, to deal with the gun issues, right? We accept gun violence in exchange for the Second Amendment. We do. Shame on us. Shame on this country and how we would argue that we're the best and the brightest, because we're not. As long as we got racism, gun violence and racial violence, it is still a struggle for America to reach its pinnacle and to give us the promise to keep the promises of fairness and justice and equality. We're a long way from it. And when you look at that video, you see how far away we are from that utopia,

from that American dream, from this experiment being successful. That's what I think. Robert? We have to stop treating these as individualized events. We have to look at this for what it was. We talked about during the trial the fact that he was radicalized online. We need the Department of Justice to take these cases and treat them in the exact same way that we treated the war on terror, because this is the war on terror for the black community. We are still to this day being terrorized by white supremacists, whether it's in Buffalo, whether it's in Charleston, whether it's in any of these other white supremacist shootings that are happening around the country. There's nothing, I'm a Second Amendment advocate, there's nothing that tells me that that many-o-means young white boy was able to simply afford a Gucci'd out AR-15, body armor, helmet, trading tactics, et cetera, all on his own. The same thing with the Uvalde shooters, the same thing with many of these other shooters. We need to be investigating and breaking

down these terrorist networks that are expanding throughout the country because we are seeing an increase in radicalized white violence. We saw that in Charlottesville years ago. We see this in these militias that are rising up around the country. Unless we take these groups seriously as a terrorist threat to black communities and to Jewish communities and the LGBTQ communities, et cetera, around the country, we will wait until it is too late to do something about it. This is the clearing call. We have to fight back. And Rebecca, very simple. The FBI directors made it clear why domestic terrorism is the number one threat to the United States. White domestic terrorism. Yeah, and what Robert just said is very important.

We have to understand and see this in the bigger picture. We can't just look at it individualized. The point that I was making earlier is that what we've seen with wash, rinse, and repeat is that something happens to Black communities. Black communities are traumatized. The white perpetrator in court apologizes, and Black community and our trauma, we're expected just to say, okay, well, we forgive you, and then that's it. Instead, we have to treat this the way Robert just said. We have to understand this is a long line and continuity of white terrorism and white racism against black communities in this country we have to begin to view it that way instead of these just single-ized instances where we're just like okay we have trauma trauma happened to us okay let's forgive let's move move on. No, this is systemic. This is not going away.

And it's about damn time that this country does something about it. Indeed, indeed. All right, folks, hold tight one second. We'll be right back on Roland Martin Unfiltered, the Black Star Network. If you're watching on YouTube, hit that like button, folks. Also, download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. We'll be right back. We're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it or not. From politics to music and

entertainment, it's a huge part of our lives. And we're going to talk about it every day right here on The Culture with me, Faraji Muhammad, only on the Black Star Network. Next on Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach. Listen to this. Women of color are starting 90% of the businesses in this country. That's the good news. The bad news, as a rule, we're not making nearly as much as everyone else. But joining us on the next Get Wealthy episode is Betty Hines. She's a business strategist and she's showing women how to elevate other women. I don't like to say this openly, but we're getting better at it. Women struggle with collaborating with each other.

And for that reason, one of the things that I demonstrate in the sessions that I have is that you can go further together if you collaborate. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. I'm Chrisette Michelle. Hi, I'm Chaley Rose, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. The National Association of School Psychologists held its annual convention in Colorado a week ago, and participants say hotel security at the High Regency Denver

broke up a gathering held by the association's president. The group was honoring Dr. Celeste Malone, the organization's first black female president in 25 years, during their 55th annual convention. The group says hotel security shut down a party in the presidential suite hosted by Malone. Guests were asked to leave, and security officials stayed in the room

to make sure they did. They say no warnings were given. I know a lot of cops, and 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. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution.

But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated.

I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, It's really, really, really bad. Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way.

In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this

quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. 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. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

Here's the deal. We gotta set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We gotta make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them.

Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Even when hotel policy requires one or two warnings before any action is taken. Joining us now is Dr. Byron McClure, a National Certified School Psychologist from Houston, as well as Dr. Malone, who is President of the organization from Bethesda, Maryland. All right, so, Doc, look, we've all been to conventions, and we all know, anybody knows, okay, you're going to have parties in the

presidential suite. So, did y'all have music going? What did they say? Was it too much music? Was it too much talking? How in the world did it escalate to, all right, everybody got to go? Well, they came to the door. I had given a toast, just thanking the black community, my students, the alumni, the faculty at Howard University, as well as my other black faculty colleagues. It was a beautiful space for us to be able to make connections, especially in a profession that's predominantly white. About 10 minutes after, around 9.30 p.m., hotel security came to the door. They asked for the person whose name was on the suite.

Hold on. Wait, wait, wait. Wait, wait, wait. Hold up. 9.30? 9.30. 30 minutes before their quiet hours. This ain't like 1.30.

Nope. Okay, 9.30. Okay, go ahead. Okay. So hotel security came. They asked if my name was the one on the suite. I said yes. They said there had been several noise complaints and that everybody needed to leave and that they were going

to stay there until everybody left. So I told people what had happened and everyone moved out quickly. We complied. We followed directions to the point where there were some people who left things in the suite because it was so abrupt that the ending occurred. There were a few people, some of my close family and friends that were staying in the suite to help me clean up. And hotel security was standing in the living room and said that the only people allowed to be in the space were the people that were registered to the suite, which was me, and that everyone else needed to leave. I pointed out that all of these other folks are with me. They're helping me to clean up and hotel security saw them cleaning up.

And then they said that we would have to go downstairs with our identification for everyone to be added to the suite in order for them to stay. OK, so did did you ask for the manager that you asked for the head of security? And what did they say? Well, at that point, I got everyone to leave. There were a few people there, and I challenged it, that we're not going to show identification, nor are we going downstairs. Am I not allowed to be in my room with my guests? Since when did hotel policy change that we're no longer able to have rooms? And then I pointed out the suite that I was staying into, where we were was a large parlor area. I also had a one bedroom suite next door

and I also had a room adjacent to the suite where some of my family were staying. So I asked, well, are you telling me that I can't have anyone in my sleeping quarters next door? When the security guard realized that I had both of the adjoining rooms to the suite, he backed down and said that there better not be any more noise complaints and left. After that, I called the NASP executive

director, Dr. Kathy Minky, to apprise her of the situation so that we could schedule a meeting with the hotel general manager the next day. So, Byron, the hotel has since issued an apology. Hyatt Regency Denver sincerely apologizes to the National Association of School Psychologists President Dr. Celeste Malone and her guests at an event in our hotel during NASP's 2023 convention for not providing them with an experience that is consistent with Hyatt's strong commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion. We want to begin by thanking Dr. Malone, NASP members, and convention attendees, and the broader black school psychology community who have reached out to us to share their concerns over what has transpired this past week.

Our goal is to treat every person who walks into our hotel with empathy and dignity, and we believe that we did not deliver on that experience for Dr. Malone and her guest. On the evening of February 8th. Hyatt is conducting a thorough investigation of the colleagues involved, and the entire hotel staff will be retrained in diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are working with Dr. Malone and NASP leadership to determine a path forward. In addition to retraining for a team, we are planning to compensate and apologize to the individuals involved and make substantive donations to organizations

important to NASP. We've discussed a focus on supporting graduate education of black and other minority high school psychologists. We've also invited Dr. Malone and NASP to work with us to ensure that all NASP attendees

feel genuinely safe and welcome at future events hosted at Hyatt Properties. We trust we can continue a productive dialogue with Dr. Malone and NASP. Sincerely, Greg Leonard, General Manager, Hyatt Regency Denver. Okay, so here's my problem here. Okay, that's all great. It's all wonderful. It's all flowery. It's all after the fact. But you jacked up the moment. You screwed that up. It was supposed to be a joyous occasion. You completely threw water on that, Robert. So first, Robert, were you there? Oh, Byron. I'm sorry, Byron. Byron, were you in the suite? Yes. I was there. I was fortunate to be in attendance. And we have to be clear, Roland, that they put out the statement, but just because they put out a statement, we can't equate progress with concessions.

Right. And the statement that they put out was six days after the fact. And this is a step in the right direction, but there is still much work to be done. And I don't want it to get lost that we have to have serious progress. Black school psychologists account for roughly 4% of the field. We break that down with black men. We account for only 1% of the field. So it's more likely to become an NFL football player than it is to become a black

school psychologist. And what we're talking about here is having serious progress so that black psychologists can meet the mental health needs of our young people, of our students all across this country. This incident should have never happened. Dr. Malone, I'm confused here, okay? So the general manager releases that statement. Where were they the next day? So the next day we met with them. I met with them along with the executive director of NASP and our manager of conventions and meetings. When I told them the story, Dr. Minky, she immediately recognized it for what it was. And for that, I am grateful and appreciative that they also took a very strong stance as they met with the hotel leadership. In our meeting with the general manager on Thursday morning, I explained to him the whole story.

And we asked why their security protocols were not followed. We never received a warning about any type of noise complaints. I also pointed out to him that I questioned if there were noise complaints in the first place, considering that I occupied most of that floor. I had the largest suite in the hotel, and I also had the rooms that were adjoining to the suite, and the suite across the hall from me was vacant. Per the protocol and agreement that the hotel had with NASP, if there was any incident with a NASP convention attendee, they were supposed to call our executive director and our director of convention and meetings. That did not happen. And so I was, we were all very forthright with the general manager that security came to the largest suite of the hotel, saw a room full of Black people, and for that reason, shut it down as opposed to following their protocols. Even before, we believed that

we were being surveilled by the number of Black people that were coming to the suite. We were warned when my friends were setting up and they asked for plates, we were warned not to get too rowdy. I've been to many of these conventions before. I've been to many receptions in suites, and never have I seen anything like that when there have been far larger, louder gatherings late at night. So it was quite clear to us that this was racially motivated. And that was our consistent messaging when we spoke with the general manager, as well as with Hyatt corporate. So they're saying we're going to retrain. Okay. Is anybody going to get disciplined? Is anybody going to be fired? And the security who came, first of all, how many security people and were they white?

Yes. There were two and white. Yes. What? A male, female? A male and a female. And the male security individual was the one who entered into the room and said that he was going to stay there until everybody left. Have you all demanded that he be disciplined or fired? We have not said anything about that. So we have been focused on the broader structural and reparative actions. We also recognize that that is a human resources issue. For what we wanted at the moment, it was for repair for those who were immediately harmed, such as myself and all of the guests there, as well as the larger community of black school psychologists,

because it violated our sense of safety, that if the president of the association could experience this, what does this say about any other Black school psychologist? So the actions that we were working towards was looking at what changes Hyatt Corporate was going to make in terms of their training, and also working closely with them for how they could use this and learn from the situation. And if they did not respond in an appropriate way, what was on the table as well was canceling contracts with future Hyatts. But for me, Byron, I want somebody fired. I want a manager discipline. I want and I want to know how many black security staff they have there.

And then if they don't have any, I want the people hired. I mean, because at the end of the day, this is somebody who decided on their own to take an initiative on their own. We all understand what a protocol is. low-level security officer who is not a supervisor, who is not head of security, who just decided on their own, I can only imagine who else they are going, who else they're dealing with on their own. Right. And Roland, that's what we have to have a conversation about. We have to look at this not as an individual problem, but we have to look at the structural and systemic problems that led to this incident happening. For me, I'm looking at both. Again, follow me here.

For me, I want the individual dealt with, frankly, gone. Because my whole deal is, who did this happen to beforehand? And then I want to know, y'all got any black people? Look, I'm real clear. I'm a firm believer, white folks act a fool, they get fired, get replaced by black people.

That's just me. But then also saying, all right, now let's break down exactly your whole system here, because at the end of the day, look, imagine if this person did this to other people who did not have the power to fight back. Right. And that's a valid point. And we're looking at Dr. Celeste Malone, who is the first black female president in 25 years. And the first was Dr. Deborah Crockett, who paved the way. And we want to be able to propel a black school psychologist to leadership positions to make sure that we're in the workforce so that we can meet the needs of young people across the country. And if we're unable to do that by attending NAS, then that's going to make our work that much more difficult. And so all of these issues must be addressed at the individual level as well as the systemic level. Last question for you, Dr. Malone. Have y'all reached out to other black organizations to let them know what took place and to also say, hey, we need allies to put Hyatt on notice.

If you don't fix this, then we will make sure that other black conventions are not booked at your hotels. We've had that type of outreach and so much more. So there was a lot of outreach that happened organically when NASPA released a statement on Friday when some of our talks with the Hyatt stalled. Once we put out that statement saying what our demands were in terms of compensation for me, all of the guests who were at that event, as well as the substantive donations to the NASPA Minority Scholarship Program, Howard University School Psychology Program, and the Black School Psychologist Network, we had a number of organizations rally, such as the Association of Black Psychologists, the American Psychological Association, the Association for Association Executives. There were a number of groups that came to us and released public statements saying that this behavior will not be tolerated. Have y'all also reached out to the black convention planners,

the individuals who work with much larger organizations as well? Have y'all let them know about what took place? I personally have not. Yes. I mean, this is where we need your help. We need help. We need people to amplify what happened. We need to bring awareness, but we also need to be connected with resources.

We have the Black School Psychologists Network, as Dr. Malone mentioned. We're trying to have the first summit, which is going to take place April 27th through the 28th. But we need your connections, your resources, so that this incident isn't in vain, that we can continue pushing this message forward and actually taking action and bringing about positive change for our community. So help us, Roland. We're calling you out, Roland. Help us out. Like that, first of all, that's easy. They know about text message. Okay. So that's how it is. Okay, so again, you've got the black convention planners who actually do this. Then, of course, you've got your larger organizations. You've got Divine Nine.

Are either one of you members of the Divine Nine? We both are. I'm a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. Have you reached out to the Deltas? Yes, I have. Okay. Byron, are you a member of what? Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

Have you reached out to President Lanzer? And that's on our list to do as well. No, no, no, Byron. Have you reached out to President Lanzer? I have not, but I will. Okay. You reach out to your regional vice president and President Lanzer. I can send them a text message during the break. So that's how we'll handle that. So let us know what happens next with the Hyatt. Thank you so much for amplifying and sharing the story. We really appreciate it.

All right, folks, I appreciate it. Plus, also, I know the last four Delta presidents. I'll let them know, too. All right. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot, folks. I'm over time. I got to go to break.

We'll discuss with my panel when we come back. I'm Roland Martin. I'm Roland Martin. We you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us. We cannot tell our own story if we can't pay for it. This is about covering us. Invest in black owned media. Your dollars matter.

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Hi, I'm Carl Payne. Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your boy, Jacob Lattimore, and you're now watching Roland Martin right now. All right, I wanna bring in Rebecca Scott and Robert here. Robert, I'll start with you in this segment here. This is where institutions have to pay. And when I say have to pay, somebody got to lose their job.

Somebody got to lose their job. I don't give a damn okay people would say oh you know what you can have mercy you can have grace that's that church you can have grace that church somebody got to lose their job because you ain't some white boy who decided to walk into a presidential suite. Let's be real clear. I have been to a ton of conventions. Everybody know when you in the presidential suite, let's just say you get privileges not everybody else get. And when you hear her say,

I had the rooms next door and a suite across the hall was the hall was empty who the hell complained well on that point rolling one i'm realized i should have had a whole different major in college ain't no psychologist or school psychologist got down like that that's not like what kind of party uh that you need to be at but first of all robert it was 9 30 let's be clear it wasn't 2 30 9 30 yeah yeah yeah i'll use the roll around for the after party around 1 33 o'clock around there but uh but First of all, Robert, it was 9.30. Let's be clear. It wasn't 2.30. It was 9.30. Yeah, yeah. I'll use the roll around for the after party around 1.30, 3 o'clock around there. But to your point, there's no reason for this protocol to not have been followed.

If there was indeed a complaint, then you give a warning. You call up to the room. Then you may send somebody to knock on the door a second time. And then if it's continuous complaints throughout the night, then you break up the party. But nobody goes to the presidential suite at 9.30 in the evening and tells everyone to leave. And it's clear from what they said that there was profiling that went on from the time that they registered, from the time they started bringing people in. And it's not as if the hotel was surprised there was a party going on there. They asked for plates. They helped them set up the party. So this entire thing reeks of racial profiling and racial animus. So not only should individuals lose their jobs, I would love

to see a new program instituted by the hotel chain to train new hotel general managers who come from the African-American community to have more owners of hotels be African. I know a lot of cops and 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. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that Taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley

comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad.

It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast.

Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all

reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill.

NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corps vet. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. 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. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like, he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it.

I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. Because the way that you remedy this isn't simply by releasing a statement. It's by ensuring that you change the practice going forward. Again, Rebecca, I need somebody fired. I need a head on a stick.

Roland, they were just simply too nice. Because as I was listening to them, 85% of the Hyatt chain is still owned by the Pritzker family. As in Governor Pritzker of Illinois' family still owns 85% of the Hyatts. It is Black History Month. This is unacceptable. We got to raise hell here. It is not just saying, oh, there has to be systemic change. Well, we could do both.

And I agree with you. Tonight is not the night in Black History Month to be extending black grace and black mercy. That is not what this is. That security guard should have been fired immediately. And if the second security guard that was also with him, if she sat there and she followed up with what he was doing, she needs to be fired as well. This is not acceptable. I have thrown many a hospitality sweep through being a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the links, or even doing things with

the Democratic Party. I've seen where organizations have been extremely rowdy, not my organizations, mind you, but I've seen where y'all being rowdy. Stop fronting. First of all, stop fronting. I will neither deny. Hold on. I can confirm. I will say I've seen where things have gotten rowdy and security was not called. But even a couple months ago, I threw a party in a presidential suite and we had liquor, we had food, it was filled with people and it was music. And just like the previous guest said, when you have the presidential suite, you also have the adjoining rooms next to it. So really, who are the people who are calling and saying that things are so noisy and things are so loud? Once again, this was 9.30 p.m. A bunch of school psychologists, they didn't seem like they were a rowdy bunch, but even if they were, the hotel did not follow

protocol. So I'm asking the Pritzker family, which owns 85% of the Hyatt hotel chains, what are you all going to do to make this right? It's black history, man. Hey, listen. And again, look, I appreciate Dr. Malone and Byron coming on.

I'm kind of with Rebecca Scott. They were a little too nice with them. Because, matter of fact, I'm hitting the brother who leads up. See, again, I don't waste time. Just so everybody understands, again, I believe in being as gangster as possible. So the brother who leads all diversity, I'm hitting him right now. And I will be hitting the Alpha president and the Delta president because I'm sitting here like, and you can let other organizations know. I got a group chat of all these black civil rights folks they need they should know

as well this is where you have to send a signal and again see see scott here's the deal corporations they like for us to be quiet they They like for us to keep things inside. No, hell no. You got to be noisy. You got to let folk know, do understand we can send this thing across the country and stop folk

from meeting at Hyatt's nationwide. The apology ain't enough. Well, the apology is the beginning, not the end. And you can throw Denny Johnson in for the Alphas also, I'd give a call to, because he's on the road with the Alphas 24-7

at various conventions and gatherings of his fraternity. But two things. This organization spent more money at this hotel. They spent money at this hotel, more than anybody else, for those two or three or four days for the convention. That's the first thing, right? So what you're talking about is nobody else spending money with them.

The apology is okay, but you have to be accountable for this bad conduct. Secondly, what's really missing, who sent security up there? And why wasn't the manager, the general manager there, the night manager? They're there. How come they didn't come up? Let alone, how come nobody called the night manager and said, listen, this is complete nonsense? But this security guard, usually poor, not well-paid, white, for one night, had a superiority, had his white privilege, and he was going to tell all these black people that society has power over them, right?

So what's missing beyond the apology and giving a contribution is demand an investigation as to how this occurred from a management and leadership standpoint so that it never happens again. Show us the report, and then we'll stop telling people not to come to your hotel because if you don't do it that way, it's going to keep happening and you can't feel safe or comfortable by doing business with the Hyatt Regency in Denver. So you need an internal investigation. Where was that night manager? And then you retrain everybody up and

you fire as many people as you can because you want to send a message. Black people spend a trillion dollars a year in total. They spend a trillion dollars a year on some ungodly number. We're spenders, right? Organizations spend. That's their bread and butter. They're in the people business. The tourism, higher reason, they're in the people business.

It's outrageous. It's really, really inappropriate in my opinion. And again, when they said, hey, we're going to make donations to organizations, no, no, no. Size of check. Size matters. Yeah, size matters.

Look, I'm telling you right now. Listen, y'all, look, look. You know you've been thrown out of a couple parties at presidential suites. No, no. First of all, let me be real clear. If I was in that suite, I'm letting you right now. I would say we ain't moving a goddamn inch.

Oh, God. No, no, no. I would have said y'all going to call the manager right now. See, I would have said, y'all going to call the manager right now. See, I would have hit that. I would have hit that as a protocol. I would have said, yo, ain't nobody moving. Call your boss. Yeah, yeah.

Bring your boss. Then they say, well, we're going to call the police. No, what they say is, we're going to call county on you. No, you're going to say that. Hold up, hold up, hold up, hold up. Scott, see, you're talking to the wrong one. I hope you call the police on me. Because you know what Rowling going to say?

I got the mayor on speed dial. Right, right. It's going to be a show. You want a show? This is real simple. It's going to be a show. This is real simple. If I'm in Denver and you show your ass,

I'm telling you right now, I'm going to hit you with, I'm going to call the mayor. And then, keep showing your ass. I'm going to say, I'm going to call the former mayor willing to weigh up. Now, you want to go there, just go there.

And then, if you really want to go there, then I'm going to say, I'm going to call your real boss, I'm going to call the governor of Illinois. Now, what you want to go there, just go there. And then if you really want to go there, then I'm going to say, I'm going to call your real boss. I'm going to call the governor of Illinois. Now, what you want to do? Guess what? The party. Sir, put your hands behind your back. No, that's not what you're asking. Put your hands behind your back, sir.

No, no, no. What's going to happen is the party will be continued. That's what's going to happen. Let me go to a break. We come back. We're going to tell you all about a student walking out in Alabama. We'll discuss that. I'm going to tell you all what Ruth Simmons,

why she may be leaving pre-PB early. White Texas A&M Regents trying to truly run Prairie View. And we'll pay tribute to Atlanta businessman Tommy George. Passed away today, folks. A devastating loss. And we'll celebrate his life and legacy. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. Pull up a chair.

Take your seat. The Black Tape. With me, Dr. Greg Carr, here on the Black Star Network. Every week, we'll take a deeper dive into the world we're living in. Join the conversation only on the Black Star Network. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. White people are losing their damn lives. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol.

We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. There's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources,

they're taking our women. This is white fear. I'm out. All right, folks, we told you about about 200 students at a high school in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, walking out after they were told by school officials for the Black History Month program they could not discuss any issues that took place before 1970. These students, obviously, not happy at all at Hillcrest High School. Joining us right now is the president of the Tuscaloosa branch of the NAACP, Lisa Young. Lisa, glad to have you here. We read the response of the school. Has anybody actually accepted responsibility?

Have they actually said that this was stated? Was this written? Was this in an email? Or was it verbal and was told to the students? It was verbally told to the students. No one had accepted that responsibility. So it was verbally told. Who told the students this? Was it a principal? Was it a teacher? This was told to students by an assistant principal.

By an assistant principal. And so I take it they reported that assistant principal. Has the school board, I mean, what have they actually said? You know, other than that statement that they put out, what has actually happened? So we've had a meeting with the principal. We've had a meeting with the superintendent, with a couple of board members, and some members of the administration at the board. All right. And what did they say? I must say that I have been disappointed with the outcome. No one is accepting responsibility. I must say that I have been disappointed with the outcome.

No one is accepting responsibility. It seems to come down to a situation where we have some people that's just not willing to negotiate. So their whole attitude is, all right, what y'all got next? So what do you have next? So what do we have next? One of the demands of the students was that if they did not feel that the administration was being genuine with them, that they would lobby against a tax referendum that would support the school system that failed yesterday. Also, I have been in contact with individuals with the Department of Justice. They want to come in and do mediation.

We met them today. We're still waiting on a response from the school board to have the Department of Justice come in and do mediation. So has this assistant principal, has anybody actually called him or her in? And have they admitted that that's what they told the students? No meetings that have taken place have included the assistant principal. She has not been available. Well, Lisa, keep us abreast of what happens next. We certainly are interested in hearing how this comes to a conclusion? Most definitely.

We want to thank everybody for our support, and we're trying to keep everyone up to date as things unfold. Man, again, that's what we're dealing with here in 2023. Lisa Young, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. This is one of those things, Scott, where, look, it ain't ended, okay? We know it's Alabama, but this happens all over the place.

We're dealing with white fear. That's why I wrote the book. And we got to understand that we just can't sit here and play footsie with these people. We got to, frankly, put that foot on their neck and keep it there. Yeah, you know, we got to not only put that foot on their neck and keep it there. Yeah. You know, we got to not only put our foot on their neck, but we've got to also encourage black folks and white folks to have a dialogue on this race question. White people are so afraid to talk about race. They're so either whether they feel guilty about it or they feel proud about it. They just don't want to talk about it. They don't about it. They just don't want to talk about it. They don't want to teach. They don't want to talk.

America's so imperfect. The only way you get better is to discuss your imperfections. And that national dialogue on race will never take place. Not because black people don't want to have it, but white people certainly don't want to have it. And they don't want to even teach it, quite frankly. It's like slavery and Jim Crow and civil rights and black oppression just never occurred. What occurred, we did our accountability, we made our atonement, and let's just not talk about it anymore.

Let's talk about the great things in America. Well, you just saw that video of that Buffalo mass murderer, that racist SOB being sent to that courtroom. That courtroom, what you just showed, was race in America today in a microcosm. Until that changes, we need to be talking about Black history 12 months a year, and we really need to be talking to white people about Black history and being comfortable with having that dialogue to eliminate racism. Till we have that dialogue, and I don't see it coming anytime soon, we're going to continue to have this race question. I've said point blank over and over and over, Rebecca, we can't be nice about this.

We can't be gentle. We can't make them comfortable. We've got to give them hell and we got at every step of the way. So I hear what Scott is saying that we got to talk to white people. But let's just take a moment back. This is Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They could just go right up the street to Birmingham to the Civil Rights Museum, which is one of the best civil rights museums in the country where the 16th Street bombing occurred, where that 16th Street Baptist Church is still there. It's right there. So this is not about we have to go talk to white people about

race. The people in Alabama already know about race. You could go down to Montgomery and you can see the Truth and Reconciliation Museum where you can see you see all the imagery that is highlighting and showing those who died by lynching in this country. It's over 4,000 Black folks who are honored there, and plus the many other folks whose names we will never know. That's right there in Alabama. Or next month is the reenactment of Bloody Sunday. So it's not like Alabama doesn't have all of this imagery around race or Alabama doesn't have all this history that's rooted in racism

and the civil rights movement that has occurred. It is not where these people don't understand or don't care about. These people aren't aware of civil rights. Civil rights is all around them in Alabama. This is folks deciding that they don't care. And like what Roland is saying tonight, when we think about white fear in this country, that's what this thing

is about. It is not our responsibility to educate them anymore when they have all of the access and resources around them to educate themselves on race if they so choose to. But here's the deal, Robert. We're seeing what's happening in Florida with the Sanders. We're seeing what's happening in Texas.

We're seeing how these white conservatives are doing this all across the country. And this is what we're really... Once I talk about the Prairie View story, you're going to understand this. I know a lot of cops, and 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 We 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. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good

and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad.

Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast.

Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice

to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Cor vet.

MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. 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.

And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more.

Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. They want to shut all of this down. We also have got to, frankly, train our black kids to not be afraid. And I'm glad these students walked out. We got to say, no, no, no, no. You got to bring that heat every single day. Yeah. Well, you know, it's interesting because this is all about who controls his story

because they have never taught history in America. Even the black history we had 20 and 30 years ago wasn't really a full counting of what America has done. It's always been his story. And even at this point in time, the little bit of black history that we got has all of a sudden become unpalatable because as you say, in the next 15 or 20 years or so, we'll be going to a majority minority nation.

They see themselves as losing power, and their fear is that when the rest of us become the majority, we will teach them how they treat them the way they treated us when they had the majority. And so the way you stop that is by preemptively changing history to suit your purposes, to change history to where you are always the hero. That's why you can teach that. George Washington chopped down a cherry tree and told his father, I could never tell a lie. But then you find out in college, oh, he owned 300 slaves that he beat and raped for his entire life. They want to change the way that they view that history and the way that they see those things going forward. This is why it's so crucial that we control the education for our children going forward. Regardless of whether they try to teach and indoctrinate into your children nationwide, you can control that at your home, at your house, in your church, in your community.

Make sure your children are volunteering with civics groups. Make sure they're talking to our elders who are still here, who fought those battles on the front line and saw those things firsthand. Make sure they have a full Black history education before they walk into that room so when somebody tries to tell them to smoke bull jive, they know the truth. Indeed. So, folks, that's what we have to do.

We've got no choice to do so. Going to a break. We come back. Ruth Simmons is one of the reasons why she's stepping down is that she's been battling the Texas A&M Board of Regents, who are nearly all white, over the real control of Prairie View A&M, historically black college. Wait till we show you what she said at the State of the University Address.

This could reveal the tensions she's been having with the Texas A&M Board of Regents. That is next on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Watching on YouTube. Hit the like button, y'all. We should easily be at 1,500 likes. I should have to be asking y'all this every single night. Y'all are commenting. Hit the button.

Also, download our Black Star Network app. Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. You can also now watch us on Amazon News. That's right. Click the Amazon Fire. If you got Amazon Fire, click on the Amazon News on Amazon Fire. You can watch our 24 hour, seven days a week live streaming channel right there on Amazon News on Amazon Fire TV. We'll be right back most people think that these television shows that that tell stories about who we are as black men and then they paint these monolithic portraits of us they think that they're being painted by white people.

And I gotta tell you, there are a whole bunch of black folk that are the creators, the head writers, the directors of all of these shows, and that are still painting us as monoliths. The people don't really want to have this conversation. No, they don't.

Black Star Network is here. Oh, no punch! I'm real revolutionary right now. Thank you for being the voice of Black America. All the momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scared.

It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home, you dig? On a next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, a relationship that we have to have. We're often afraid of it and don't like to talk about it. That's right. We're talking about our relationship with money. And here's the thing.

Our relationship with money oftentimes determines whether we have it or not. The truth is you cannot change what you will not acknowledge. Balancing your relationship with your pocketbook. That's next on A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, here at Blackstar Network. Yo, it's your man Deon Cole from Black-ish and you're watching... Roland Martin, Unfiltered. Stay woke. Alright, we've been covering what's been happening at

Prairie View A&M University with Dr. Ruth Simmons, who's president of the university. She dropped a letter last week saying that if she didn't have the full authority to be president, she'll be stepping down. She'll be stepping down at the end of the full authority to be president, she'll be stepping down. She'll be stepping down at the end of February, on February 28th. We told you yesterday that she's going to be becoming a fellow at Rice University in Houston. I would send this

video today because this could very well tell us exactly what the tensions that's been going on at Prairie View A&M University. Now, I told y'all when she initially resigned, when I saw that resignation letter, the initial resignation, what happened last year, I was like, hmm, this is weird. My gut was saying, this ain't just what everybody, I'm like, this ain't just a normal resignation. Something is happening here. Well, this is when she was speaking recently at the State of the University Address. This is on YouTube. This is about 30 minutes in. About 30 minutes in. Listen to what she says. that the regents protested our having this individual on campus.

And that we, because of the whole CRT thing, we're in a period where the system wants to monitor very closely what they're doing. The director came in to let them know before I was going to do the interview, for example. Do any interview. So we are under a very so-called guidelines right now in terms of what we can and cannot do. And he was to say, I can't take that seriously. You know, what kind of president could I be if I counted out that kind of nonsense. So, the only thing that you have got to do, in this moment especially, is pay attention.

Yes. Yes. Pay attention. Yes. We exist in a system. The guidelines come down to us, to what we can and cannot do. Somebody apparently raised the question, well, why are we not closed on Monday? Because the system says we cannot be closed on Monday.

Okay, so we exist within a system, and naturally what you're always trying to do within that is be a self-respecting institution that does what it needs to do in spite of the fact that you have all kinds of restrictions. And so there are bound to be moments when this erupts. You should expect that. But we're saying to the system, we're going to do this anyway.

And so sometimes you have to maneuver very carefully how to handle this, like doing certain things before they know it. And then challenging them to overturn it and having every black person in the area and her letter. And so we set up the Center for Race and Justice. We did it without telling them that we didn't. And to be sure, they couldn't have been happy with it. But on the other hand, what were they going to do? Come and say that at Prairie View, you couldn't have any black students. Right? So, you've got to shepherd your resources so that you can marshal those resources when they have to be used in defense of the ability of this university to be what it needs to be.

So keep that in mind, and when you get the call, answer the call. That right there, Rebecca, Robert, and Scott, that was a whole lot there in that three and a half minutes. And so for folks to understand that Prairie View A&M University falls under the Texas A&M University system. The Texas A&M University Board of Regents oversees all universities within the system. Texas A&M University, the flagship, Prairie View, Texas A&M, Galveston, and the other institutions. Texas Southern University is not under any system. They have their own board of regents, and so they actually have self-governance. Listening to that, Robert, said a whole lot there. She talked about, again, people asking why wasn't Prairie View closed on MLK Day.

Well, she said because the system isn't closed on MLK Day. Well, she said, because the system isn't closed on MLK Day. You heard her talking about, talking there about being able to, you know what, don't, don't inform them. In fact, before I go to my panel, I got Malina Abdullah, and you heard her there say she did an in conversation with Malina Abdullah with Black Lives Matter with grassroots and the Texas A&M Board of Regents did not want Malina on that campus. Ruth said,

y'all don't get to tell us who we talked to. And she went forward with that conversation. Malina, and so we now are now understanding what happened here. And so you speaking at Prairie View with Dr. Ruth Simmons caused some friction with the Texas A&M Board of Regents. Yeah, well, you know, Dr. Ruth Simmons is not one that you want to debate on issues like this.

Not only did she bring me to speak, she made me her activist in residence for an entire year, the last academic year. I was at Prairie View and fell in love with Prairie View. It's also my grandmother's alma mater. It is a very special place under President Ruth Simmons, And she's just been a force. I was an activist in residence. She had Nikki Giovanni as the writer in residence. She was just an amazing leader, is an amazing leader. And Prairie View will miss her and has so much to be grateful for as she led that university and continues to contribute to the wonderful, beautiful, powerful history of Prairie View. All right, Melina, we appreciate that. We just want to get your comment there because clearly we now understand the friction that was happening

behind closed doors between Dr. Ruth Simmons and the Texas A&M system. Yes, yes. Thank you so much for having me. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Robert, going to you, this is Ruth Simmons telling the Prairie View alumni, you have got to stand up and fight for black students and essentially not let these white Republicans in Texas water down and neuter a black institution. You know, I'm reminded of a work by Frantz Fadal, Black Faces, White Masks, that often black people are put into positions, but the backing and the undergirding of those institutions are still run by white people. And so because of that, you don't have the full power to institute

your programs. You don't have the full power to institute your programs. You don't have the full ability to actually have autonomy over what you're doing. And so she's making it very clear that she has no intention of being a president in name only. She does not want to be a vassal, does not want to be in fiefdom with anyone else, but rather she wants to be ensured that she has the ability to do what she sees as being best for the institution. I applaud her for standing up in this sort of a way. I think we need this across black academia.

We saw this in the Atlanta University Center for a decade, bringing in voices of leadership that were not actually interested in doing what was in the best interest of the students in particular. And we've been able to remedy that going forward. But presidents of this nature are exactly where needed for students matriculating through HBCUs. The thing here, Rebecca, that is important, again, she talked about basically saying, all right, well, you know, we're going to do what we do and then we're going to tell y'all later. And so for this center on race injustice, she was like, yeah, we just decided to do it and then told them later, and then let's then fight it out. What she is saying is, when you've got this Republican governor who now wants to get rid of anything that's DEI, this is going to have an impact on state HBCUs, and what she is saying is,

I know a lot of cops, and 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. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley

comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.

We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug ban. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote.

Marine Cor vet. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. 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.

And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement

plan at thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the ad council. Saying, and if you look at the resignation letter she gave, she clearly states it in there. They fight. She didn't see you use these words, but she was saying is you have to fight for what is right. Fight for your institution. Yes, Dr. Ruth Simmons is one of the premier, one of the top administrators in the country. She has heralded for all the work that she's done across many campuses, including Ivy League Brown, including the work I believe she did at Spelman, at Philander Smith College, at one of the universities out in California. Like I said, she is one of the top academic leaders in the country, bar none. What's interesting, I had a chance to visit Prairie View last summer,

and I was talking with some alum because one of the questions I had with Prairie View being the A&M system and part of that system that is chartered, I believe, in the Texas state constitution, is that it's also a funding question. Because by being a part of the A&M system, then there is dedicated funding that Prairie View gets that a Texas Sunderland does not get. But the problem is, is even with that dedicated funding that Prairie View was supposed to receive, Prairie View had to go to court to make sure they actually got the funding. Because for many years, just like some of the HBCUs in the state of Maryland, they weren't getting the level of funding from the state that they were promised and in law that they were supposed to get. So it is a question

of funding with why Prairie View is still in the A&M system and why some of the alumni still wants Prairie View to be in the A&M system. But to your point, by being in the A&M system, there are certain things that Prairie View can and cannot do because it is in the state system with other A&M schools. The thing here is that, first, Scott, Prairie View has never had one of its graduates sit on the Texas A&M system board of regents. That's one. Two, the thing that also jumps out here is that this should be of concern. These Republican governors in southern states, this should be of grave concern to public HBCUs because if we're going to now see this attack on race and diversity, equity and inclusion, that could have devastating consequences for our state HBCUs. It's a bad equation for historical black colleges that are part of these state region systems.

On one hand, they get support from the state, but on the other, they want to try to dictate to you. And in Texas, dictating to you means that you can't talk about slavery or civil rights or you can't talk about these black issues. But you're an historical black college. Ruth Simmons is a is a brilliant woman who happens to be black, a brilliant administrator, president of institutions of high academic learning. It is a loss for Prairie View, but it'll be even a greater loss for the region system of Texas A&M and in the state of Texas. They just don't know yet because they're not smart enough to understand that this is a brilliant woman and she's going to be just fine. But this is a bad equation, because this is where DeSantis and his whole issue of culture wars comes down on historical black colleges in the state of Texas. And the only thing you can do is now fight.

And you cannot be afraid to fight if you block an historical black college and you get funding from the state. And you're going to have to get others to fight with you, build your coalition. Right. And go fight and diversify that board of regents. Because right now, I understood. I understand why she resigned. But the fight continues. Of course, circumstances aren't going to get any better. Indeed. All right, folks. Hold tight one second. When we come back, we're going to pay tribute

to, he's bigger than an Atlanta businessman, Tommy Dortch. Of course, businessman, philanthropist, very much involved, HBCUs, had a deep love for black people, passed away today in Atlanta. We'll pay tribute to him next right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. Next on Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach. Listen to this. Women of color are starting 90% of the businesses in this country. That's the good news. The bad news, as a rule, we're not making nearly as much as everyone else. But joining us on the next Get Wealthy episode is Betty Hines. She's a business strategist and she's showing women how to elevate other women. I don't like to say this openly, but we're getting better at it.

Women struggle with collaborating with each other. And for that reason, one of the things that I demonstrate in the sessions that I have is that you can go further together if you collaborate. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood-Martin, and I have a question for you. Ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders? Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Blackstar Network for A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. We'll laugh together, cry together,

pull ourselves together, and cheer each other on. So join me for new shows each Tuesday on Blackstar Network, A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. Hi, I'm Gavin Houston. Hi, I'm Carl Payne. Hey, what's up, y'all? This is your boy, Jacob Lattimore, and you're now watching Roland Martin right now.

Folks, as we were preparing for today's show a couple of hours ago, got the phone call that Tommy Dortch, a businessman out of Atlanta, philanthropist, very much a huge advocate for HBCUs, passed away. Tommy had been battling pancreatic cancer, a valiant fight, and was, look, fighting up until the end. He was still traveling this country. In fact, last month, we talked because he had a speech in, I think it was in Erie, Pennsylvania. He gave me a call. I said he couldn't make the speech. He wanted me to give the speech. I couldn't. I had

another speech somewhere else. I couldn't get to Erie, Pennsylvania in time. It just could not work out. And Pastor Jamal Bryant had alerted a number of us a week ago that Tommy, about 10 days ago that Tommy was not doing well. And February 5th, I called him, left him a voicemail, sent him a text as well, told him that we're praying for him to keep fighting, that we loved him dearly. He was indeed someone who loved black people, very much involved in education efforts, was sat on a number of board of trustees at universities across this country, involved in a number of businesses in Atlanta. And, of course, he knew everyone. Longtime chair, national chairman of the 100 Black Men for America.

In fact, Tommy, he made sure that I was named an honorary member. He wanted to pin me at the convention during COVID, but they still sent it to me. And when we last talked, he was planning a major event in June at the National Convention. He said, hey, I got to have you there. I'm stepping down his chair, passing the torch on. But unfortunately, he passed away today. Tributes have been pouring in all across social media. We looked at several different items This is of course a photo that John Hope Bryant had posted on his page

This is from a birthday celebration for Andrew Young that took place a couple of years ago Dee Nice and so many others have been posting tributes And I saw a tribute from my man, saxophonist Mike Phillips. And Mike also paid a tribute. The phone call that I got today came from Melanie Campbell, chair of the National Coalition Black Civic Participation. Tommy was the board chair. In fact, when they had their Spirit of Democracy Awards in December,

again, Tommy did not. He wasn't just standing down. He was still appearing places, and he actually was there in person. Here's some of him speaking in December at the Spirit of Democracy Awards. Friends didn't recognize me when they walked in. I spoke to him my 61 pounds later,

but I'm here. It's been great. But before I get into my remarks that they wrote for me, they wrote me a Bible, so I'm gonna go to the New Testament. I'm not gonna go to the Old Testament here tonight. But I want all of the members of the board to please stand. I'm going to play a little bit more of that later. But I want to go to Melanie Campbell. Melanie, again, you called me

to let me know he had passed away. When I say that he was up, again, was very much involved. Folks, if y'all can show, I mean, again, when they had the ringing of the bell at the New York Stock Exchange, Tommy was there. He was speaking in Dallas. I mean,

his boots were on until the very end. Yes, indeed, Roland. Tommy would always say, he starts out the day, he said he wanted to leave, start the day off, put it all on the table,

and have his cup empty at the end of the day, every day. And that's how he lived his life, whatever he was doing. And so I feel like we lost a renaissance man. He was unapologetically black no matter what he was, whether he was in a boardroom, whether he was on a stock exchange, whether he was right there on Capitol Hill, wherever he was, he made sure that he focused on upliftment of our people, especially our young people. He was passionate about that. Capitol Hill, you and others were on Capitol Hill last week offering up a resolution for him to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. Congresswoman Nakima Williams actually spoke on the floor of the House

for that. Let's play what she had to say. All right, I'm going to play it in a second, Melanie. And so talk about that particular effort there. Well, you know, last week, I think Congresswoman Nakima Williams, who for the great state of Georgia came together with Nekima leading it to nominate Tommy for the Congressional Gold Medal for his lifetime of service to not just Black America, but to the nation. ago. And his son, Thomas W. George III, was there along with several other, Bishop Jamal Bryant, who is his pastor, along with many folks from our board and others, attended that to bear witness. And so we thank them for that. And we want to keep that legacy alive and try to push that across the finish line of being able to see if they can still get a vote and get it

passed. And preferably if partisanship doesn't get involved, then I think he will posthumously at least receive that award. And I think it's worthy of that because it talks about the work. One of the things she honed in on was his love for HBCUs,

which I heard you mention. Undergraduate from Fort Valley State, graduate of school from Clark Atlanta University, AU. And actually, Roland, on Monday, Dr. George French Jr.

and several of us witnessed the board of trustees of Clark Atlanta University actually went to Tommy's house and bestowed behind him an honorary doctorate that they had planned to do during commencement. But they did it Monday. So he also left here knowing that. And he was able to watch what happened last week. And so many of us, many, many people, not just those of us, me and others, but many people gave him his flowers while he was here to know it. A lot of times we don't get to do that. So that was a blessing. And here is that speech on the floor of the U.S. House from Congresswoman Nakima Williams. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor my constituent, Mr. Tommy Dorch, one of our country's greatest contributors to closing the racial wealth gap.

I could spend hours highlighting his contributions to the black community, but I want to focus on his investment into our great HBCUs. A proud product of both Fort Valley State University and Clark Atlanta University, Mr. Dorch founded the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame. Mr. Dorch has led the foundation to award over $1 million in grants and scholarships to students and exposed more than 500,000 students to college opportunities. As a third-generation HBCU grad, I know firsthand their critical role in fostering black excellence. Mr. George's lifetime of giving back to the HBCU community

has laid the groundwork for economic mobility for generations to come. And Mr. Speaker, today I proudly join with members of the Georgia delegation to introduce legislation to award Mr. Tommy George the Congressional Gold Medal for his leadership and contributions to our country. I'm eternally grateful for the work he continues to do to advance equity and opportunity for all. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I yield back. Saxophonist Mike Phillips was performing at City Winery in Atlanta. He posted on his Instagram page, God clearly had something else. And he said he had an opportunity to go to see Tommy and to play for him. And Tommy, of course, was a huge fan of Mike Phillips.

Mike, you performed at many of Tommy's events. I often attended his big birthday celebrations. Was that today when you went by? Yeah, I went by today. I mean, you can't make this up how God can align things. Like I said in my post, I thought it was about City Winery. We booked City Winery six months ago and not knowing that it was just meant for me to be here, not on the 14th, but the 15th originally I was supposed to go to the house at 11 and I got we pushed it back a little bit and got to the house and he was there and

one of the most beautiful things happened I took out my horn and I'm basically I played him Amazing Grace and the doctors were amazed because they saw him smiling. He was literally cracking a smile. So whatever he heard from that horn allowed him to smile. We all saw it. And it was just a beautiful thing. And then he passed a little bit after that. And I can't tell you the level of gratitude that I have for this man.

He invited me on my first board ever And I can't tell you the level of gratitude that I have for this man. He invited me on my first board ever to be a part of the Black College Alumni Hall of Fame. And being in the trenches with him helps you understand how dedicated he was to our community and working right beside him. Because you remember, you know, 20 years ago, HBCUs, we weren't the cool thing on the block and it wasn't the shiny thing that everybody could see and make those investments in. And he was down in the trenches before HBCUs were even cool from the outside looking in. Melody, I can recall when the Obama administration made some changes to the Parent PLUS loan, which devastated many HBCUs.

I remember getting a phone call from Tommy saying, hey, Roland, we got to fight this thing. I'm going to be on a plane late tonight. I'll be in D.C. tomorrow. And so he was well known by folks on both sides of the aisle when it came to HBCUs. He also worked for Senator Sam Nunn, made history as one of the first top Black staffers on Capitol Hill as well. And so we're talking about somebody who had tremendous influence in business and politics, in education, in a number of areas.

Most definitely. And the thing about Tommy is that in his struggles, in his last, you think about, he never stopped. For four years, he was going through this battle. But for many, he didn't talk about it. And then when he decided to talk about it, he spoke to it even in that and even in going through his time. He suffered three different bouts of cancer over his lifetime. And he was unapologetic about how he knew that he was blessed to have not just the resources but the connections. And he said, but it should not be that way. That's one of the things he spoke about at the Spirit of Democracy Award. It should not be that way, that you have to have what I have in order to get quality health care. So even

in his struggles with terminal cancer, he still spoke to the issues about how the fairness of that is something that we need to all continue to fight for. So I will forever be indebted to watching him live until his last breath. And he never stopped. And he was unwavering in that. And I think he lived until the end. Mike, he was chair of the Grady Hospital board as well. I remember being in Atlanta. This is December of 21. I get COVID, Mike. And my doctor was like, hey, you need to get the antibodies. Look, I ain't stupid. One of the first people I called was Tommy, knowing full well he was the board chair.

He said, let me call you back. And next thing I know, I got doctors hitting me up. One of the folks at the hospital had a doctor who was in Chicago who was ready to hop on a plane to fly to Atlanta to administer me those antibodies for COVID. And if it was one thing, I will say Tommy Deutsch was very well connected. If there was somebody I did not know, and that said a lot, I know I could call him and get to somebody real quick. Yeah, I always had a had the a nickname for my call consigliere cheat code.

He's the cheat code whatever you needed to get to something and you needed to circumvent some bureaucracy and get to the person that you needed to get to Tommy was that do and the tentacles of his relationships were so diverse that it allowed him to shake and move and bring those resources back to this whole ideology that he had that was unapologetically black. And that's why we've made so many strides in raising money

because he used all of his tentacles and his reach to make sure that we were straight in our community. And he fought for that till his last breath. Uh, indeed. Gotta go to break. We'll come back. Uh, we'll continue to pay tribute to Tommy Dortch, who passed away today, pancreatic cancer in Atlanta. I know a lot of cops, and 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. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened

when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute season one, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th.

Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Real people, real perspectives. This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote.

Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. 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 iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like, he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it.

I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. We'll chat with John Hope Bryant, the founder of Operation Hope.

We'll also bring in my panel as well, Robert Petillo, of course, new timing wheel, as many folks did in Atlanta and around the country. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. White people are losing their damn minds. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol.

We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. Here's all the Proud Boys guys.

This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white people. Pull up a chair, take your seat. The Black Tape with me, Dr. Greg Carr, here on the Black Star Network. Every week, we'll take a deeper dive into the world we're living in. Join the conversation only on the Black Star Network. Hey, I'm Antonique Smith.

What up? Lana Wells. And you are watching Roland Martin unfiltered. You'll notice I did wear my mask. Folks, don't get too comfortable because we're having over 100,000 new infections a day. This BA.5 is more contagious, while it may not be as impactful on the body. And many of you know that this is my third, well, three and a half years of battling stage four pancreatic cancer. Usually it takes you out in six months. My former neighbor and good friend John Lewis that passed last year, one of our great civil rights leaders. But you know God has a plan for me.

I am focused. And at the end of the day, folks, and I say that to begin, when our time comes, it comes. But my late friend, Dr. Miles Monroe, said that the most valuable real estate in the world are the graveyards where people went to their graves with so much knowledge and talent and resources. And he says we should die empty. So every day I get up, I empty my life for the young people of this nation, for our community, and I am unapologetic for working to make sure

that the African-American community is strong and successful because when we do what we have to do, all of our brothers and sisters, regardless of their color and race, we make this nation better. Because as you know, I will not call a name, but there's this president has divided this nation so much, former president, but it's us who must come together to rebuild the strength, rebuild the partnership, and work hand in hand. And that's what we're doing with the coalition and with so many partners. Let me move on because it's a lot of great awards, but we're not going to be here until

tomorrow. We're going to get this done tonight. So again, the 2022 midterms elections are over the coalition and all of our partners did a phenomenal job and making sure that we turned out in record numbers we salute tonight's Tommy George who passed away earlier today speaking at the Spirit of Democracy Awards we live streamed that event in December, annually put on by Melanie Campbell's organization. He was also a strong voting rights advocate as well. John Hope Bryan is the founder of Operation Hope. He joins us right now. John, you were a part

of a group of brothers there in Atlanta who got together once a month. Y'all invited me there to speak to the group. It took place at Dikembe Mutombo's house. First of all, prayers for him as he battles his brain tumor. Tommy was there. He was of course always at the center of

things political and economic, social, cultural in Atlanta and across the country. Your reflections on your good friend. Yeah, on behalf of his family, his wife, Carol, who I'm sure is hurting right now, his son, Tommy Dorch III, we send our hearts. 100 Black Men of America, just a Men of America came and spoke for and thank you for doing that

Tommy and my request the loss is unimaginable the shoes can't be filled he is a cross between and sits between Ambassador Andrew Young and Herman Russell so he was talking about civil rights, i.e. Andrew Young, and made strides there, as you

know. But he was also talking about what I call civil rights, economics, ownership, cutting deals in the suites. So he's sort of like Herman Russell without the real estate. I mean, he had at some point thousands of employees. People don't know that. He had, at some point, thousands of employees. People don't know that he had incredible influence. But every time I talked to him,

Roland, he was using his influence for others. Never once was it about him. I'm talking about private conversations. How do you get somebody through college? John, can you hook this person up for an internship? I call him, he call me. Whenever, John, can you come to 100 Black Men and receive an award?

Can you, John, can you come and talk to the HBCUs? He never once in all the time I've known him asked for something for himself. It says a lot. Weren't you, didn't you recently go to Dallas? Like I say, he was I told Melanie Campbell this. I said I said he left us with his boots, boots still strapped on. He was still going places as you know, earlier this year. In fact, I'm looking at a text message. I'm on a group text text chat with a number of civil rights leaders and other folks. And this was January 1st. He said my year started off great. Looking at a text message, I'm on a group text chat with a number of civil rights leaders and other folks. And this was January 1st.

He said, my year started off great. I was released from the hospital yesterday. I'm relaxing and getting ready for plenty of football today. And, of course, many of us wished him well. But he was still, like I say, he had to give a speech in Pennsylvania, couldn't make it. So he calls me and says, hey, Roland, can you give this speech for me? He was he could have easily said, hey, y'all, look, I'm sick. I don't have any time for this. But he was still looking out for people.

Yes. January 27th is my last text exchange with him. I went to go see him. Thank you. Thanks, Carol, for letting me to see him, his wife, since then. In fact, in the last week or so. I just came back to Atlanta. I was going to go see him tomorrow. But on January 27th, I have a text from him about Just Brothers and what we should do. And he said, I'll call

you up again on my hospital visit. Even that wasn't about him. It was always serving, to your point, and with his boots on. He was about Ph.D. as much as he was about people getting Ph.D.s. I'm on the board of Clark Atlanta University because of Tommy Dorch. Clark Atlanta University has a boatload of money. I'm talking about seven figures, Roland, because of Tommy Dorch. Clark Atlanta University has a boatload of money. I'm talking about seven figures, Roland, because of Tommy Dorch.

He could have put that money anywhere. I guess he could have put it in his pocket. He gave it to Clark Atlanta University to create an institute around entrepreneurship and community development and wellness. I think that's also involving Melanie, I believe. He would ask his friends to donate, not to him, to an HBCU. And I know of one donation that's seven figures that has not yet hit yet, but that's coming because of Tommy. That's about to hit at Clark Atlanta. Seven figures, Tommy

directing it back to his community. All the stuff that we don't know that he did to help make this world a better place. And we all need to honor him like we honor the legacy of Dr. King with a day on, not a day off. Stop whining, stop complaining about how bad your life is and how inconvenient your credit cards are, what club you can't go to, what thing you can't get involved with or whatever. And start trying to figure out, like Tommy, what we have to give and not what we have to get. He was on the board of Operation Hope. He spoke at the Hope Global Forum. He was at our last Hope Global Forum in December while he was sick,

now that I think about it. Yep. Indeed. John Hope Bryant, founder of Operation Hope. We certainly appreciate you sharing your thoughts and reflections about the life and legacy of Tommy Dortch. And I thank you, Roland, for doing this. I mean, I'm rolling right now, no pun intended, rolling. But I wanted to, because you called, I wanted to stop the world to do this.

I don't want to get in front of the family and what they need to do. But I thought it was important to at least honor him. And thank you for doing this. I appreciate it. His niece, Angela, reached out to me. And so the family is watching. And so you for doing this. I appreciate it. His niece Angela reached out to me. And so the family is watching. And so we certainly appreciate that. Thanks a lot. Rob Petillo, your thoughts. You know, as a Clark Atlanta alumni,

someone who's been active in the civil rights movement in Atlanta for 20 years, this is a tremendous loss to the city and to the movement. And I'm not certain how it can or could be replaced. I don't think people from outside of Atlanta can understand just the impact that this man had. Well, I was an intern my sophomore year, an intern for Thomas W. Cole, the former president of Clark Atlanta University. And we had lunch with Tommy Dortch. Normally, the 19-year-old college student doesn't really get to talk during those meetings between the big dogs. But they had to engage me. We had a conversation about black men and mentorship and leadership.

And he kind of left with me this conceptualization, this idea that it's the responsibility of each of us to carve a path for those who come behind us. And that was truly the legacy that he left. You did not run a campaign in Atlanta without visiting Tommy Dortch first. That was just, it was not a thing that was done. You had to have his blessing in order to run for office in many cases. Civil rights organizations and conferences, I've never seen someone donate so much and give so much of his time and resources and connections to ensure that we had a movement that could fight back and to create really this black Hollywood as it would be in that Atlanta is now that does not get built without someone like a Tommy Dortch and building out much of the financing for the last decade or

plus of the civil rights movement. So when we lose these lions, I think this generation, the millennials and Gen Zers need to make sure that you are doing what you need to do to be in the position so that you can be that leader going forward. Because where we are today, we've lost James Orange. We've lost John Lewis. We've lost Tommy George. We've lost so many in the movement that now is our time to pick up that baton and move forward, learn from their lessons, and fight the battle going forward. Rebecca, the point I made, Tommy, was very much about the importance of black folks voting, and that was one of the reasons why he was such a huge supporter of Melanie Campbell's organization.

Yes, absolutely. Tommy Dortch is the blueprint. All I can say, especially to his family and friends that are watching, may he rest in peace. May he stand strong with the ancestors. But he is definitely a man to be admired. Scott. Yeah. Hey, Roman. Thanks. You know, Tommy, I was not close to Tommy, but I certainly knew of Tommy. I met him over 40 years ago at the first HBCU day. Oh, this had to be 1980, 81. I was a freshman at Morehouse College.

And Tommy was probably at the beginning of his grind for HBCUs. And I remember being at a rally as a freshman on the steps of the Georgia State Capitol, 80-81, and he was a fiery speaker and committed. He was much younger then. But I had been active with some Morehouse students, with Tyrone Crider and others. Tyrone's not with us anymore. And he gave me an opportunity to speak at this rally just upon knowing what we had done at Morehouse.

And I never will forget, as he stood behind me, that he was introducing other speakers. But if you knew him and you had something to say, he certainly you got to speak that day, especially as college students. And then the rest is history with his legacy of not only wealth building, but he loved black people unapologetically. And he certainly gave his time, money and resources was the power behind the throne. I just saw him at Herman Jerome Russell's home for a fundraiser for for Lucy McBath probably about nine months ago. And he was there, and Joe really gave me a big hug. I hadn't seen him in 20 or 30 years, but he remembered who I was. And we had a good conversation reminiscing about HBCU Day, which was the first one in the history of the country.

So God bless him. When we get to heaven, he'll be there waiting on us, Rowan, for sure. Melanie Campbell, your final thoughts. Melanie, you're muted. Melanie, you're muted. Sorry, Rowland. Hey, Scott Bolden. I think we were there together.

And so that's how I got involved. Is it Tommy Deutsch? That's right. We were doing launches on Raven Black colleges and universities. And I want to lift up Carol Deutsch and Tommy

Deutsch III and the whole family for sharing Tommy with so many of us in this nation. And they were a dynamic, powerful couple because she was powerful in her right in leadership and kept the trains moving and he would always lift

her up in that way so I want to lift the family up and know that we are going to do all we can I know I will speak for myself on a personal as well as professional level to know that Thomas W. Doris Jr. not only walked this earth he shook this earth and he meant so much to so many of us.

And thank him, thank God for the life and legacy of my friend, my mentor. My last thing he said to me was ride or die, and he was my ride or die, and I thank God for it. Indeed, indeed. Four years ago, I moderated a conversation in Operation Hope with Butch Graves and Tommy Deutsch. We were talking about how do we change the black community when investment, and just hear some of that conversation. I'm going to take my money that I've earned.

I'm going to find the black auto dealer. I'm going to find the black dry cleaner. I'm going to find the black investment banker. I'm going to find the black dry cleaner. I'm going to find the black Investment bank it might set on the black whatever it might be and I'm going to put my money in with them That's not isolating us. That's that's protecting ourselves and that is reinvesting in ourselves That's what has to happen So it's not a new plan it is taking a plan and doing something with it and time and the reality is that their government does serve a role, private serves a role. Look, 1973, Maynard Jackson becomes mayor of Atlanta.

At that time, African-Americans were receiving.0012% of all city contracts. Maynard Jackson comes into Atlanta, Coleman Young in Detroit, Marion Barry comes in DC. You have this group of black mayors who made it clear that they were going to open up those doors of opportunity for black businesses. And that's how, when you look at the skyline of this city, Russell construction, huge, huge part of that. And so that, but that's maximizing politics, but you still have to also deal with black-owned businesses also being able to get capacity. Right.

First of all, you've got to understand that civic engagement is important because we could not have gotten a Maynard Jackson, a Coleman Young, and those in office if our community didn't turn out. Sadly, we only had 23% of the eligible voters in this city to turn out in the last mayor's election. But the important thing about their leadership, Maynard Jackson said to us, it doesn't matter what your name is, first, second, or third, only sign outside the door. It's a joint venture.

Work together. So you got black people to understand bringing your resources together, you can get a bigger piece outside the door. It's a joint venture, work together. So you got black people to understand bringing your resources together, you can get a bigger piece of the pie. The other thing was he took on the corporate community here and said to them, we won't build a new airport until you commit to following my suggestion and lead of 25% of the procurement. We at the time were over 70% of the city's population. It's amazing that today we still have the program started on the Lake Manor Jackson here. We're doing 37% mandated requirement in this city. No other city in this country does that. When we

expanded the airport with the last $5.3 billion expansion. $1.6 billion of that went to mostly black-owned businesses in this city. And so we've had that kind of leadership. But back to what Butch was saying, it's still important for us in our community to understand that nobody's going to give us anything. That we earned it. The government takes taxes from it. It's our money. We should not be begging for that money.

But the other important part is nobody should expect that they're going to get a free meal. You've got to be good at what you do. You've got to be best. But we have to work together. I've been in business 24 years. My biggest challenges have come from black elected officials and black folks who, as I say always, black people, you know, understand there are those of our color who are not of our kind and there are those of our kind who are not of our color. But we have to still understand this on us to do our job. Butch, we've seen about a $700,000 addition of black. Before we go, I'll take a personal privilege.

I remember it being the Spirit of Democracy Awards. We live streamed it and Tommy stood up there and made a personal plea to those who are attending to support this show. To support what we were doing because he understood the importance of black owned media. We often talked about that. He would always say, how can I be of assistance? How can I help in any time he called and he would call? And if I could do it, I was there. If I could be there in person, can I help? And anytime he called, and he would call, and if I could do it, I was there. If I could be there in person, if I could call somebody else. And so Tommy Deutch was certainly one of those folks who loved black people, helped black people, stood with black people, fought for black people. And we're actually over time. But the reality is the reason why this show is important, because let's just be clear.

In MSNBC, a CNN, a Fox News, an ABC, a CBS, an NBC, they're not going to do a story on Tommy Dortch. They're not going to sit here and devote any time to it, which is also why we must have our own institutions that tell our story, that gives the perspective of individuals who have had a tremendous impact on our lives, not just folks there in Atlanta, but trust me, there are people all across the country who know Tommy Deutch, not just folks who are in 100 Black Men of America, but all across this land, because again, he understood why it was important to be able to touch people in a unique way. We're going to end this tribute to Tommy Dorch Jr., who passed away at the age of 72. Mike Phillips said the last song he played for Tommy before he passed today was Amazing Grace. And so we have Mike Phillips to take us home as we celebrate the life and legacy of an extraordinary brother,

Tommy Dortch Jr., passed away today at the age of 72. ¶¶ ¶¶ © transcript Emily Beynon Thank you. 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. I get right back there and it's bad. I'm Clayton English.'m greg glad 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 starts that

a little bit man we met them at their homes we met them at the 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. Here's the deal.

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