#RolandMartinUnfiltered - NABJ: Don't gut the 1866 Civil Rights Act; Guyger trial witness dead; Tyler Perry studios opens

Episode Date: October 10, 2019

10.7.19 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: NABJ backs Byron Allen in case against Comcast; Civil Rights Act of 1866 decoded + We'll breakdown it's impact on Black media; Rapper and Civil Rights Activist turned politician is the subject of a new documentary; Witness in Amber Guyger trial killed; Tyler Perry studios opens; A 21 year old is sentenced to 10 day in jail for oversleeping for jury duty; We'll give you the list of cities where you need to register to vote today! - #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: Life Luxe Jazz Life Luxe Jazz is the experience of a lifetime, delivering top-notch music in an upscale destination. The weekend-long event is held at the Omnia Dayclub Los Cabos, which is nestled on the Sea of Cortez in the celebrity playground of Los Cabos, Mexico. For more information visit the website at lifeluxejazz.com. - #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: 420 Real Estate, LLC To invest in 420 Real Estate’s legal Hemp-CBD Crowdfunding Campaign go to http://marijuanastock.org Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Thank you. It's Monday, October 7, 2019, coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, the impact of the Civil Rights Act of 1866. Of course, Byron Allen is suing Comcast. We'll explain to you exactly what this act is and why he is using it in this battle against Comcast. Rapper and civil rights activist turned politician. The subject of a new documentary.

He will join us here today. We'll tell you exactly who he is. A key witness in the case of both of them. John's killer has been killed. People asking lots of questions in Dallas and saying, what happened to this young brother? And also, speaking of a young brother, 20-year-old sentenced to 10 days in jail for oversleeping for jury duty? What the hell?

There are people who got caught in the bribery case getting their kids into Ivy League schools who got 10 days in prison. Also, it was an amazing weekend in Atlanta as Tyler Perry had a grand opening for his new studio. Folks, it is unbelievable, but I'm gonna explain to you why this studio is all about black empowerment,

plus we'll give you the list of cities where you need to register to vote today. Time to bring the funk on Roller Mark Unfiltered. Let's go. He's got it Whatever the mess, he's on it Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time.

And it's rolling. Best belief he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks. He's rolling. It's Uncle Roro, y'all. It's Uncle Roro, y'all. It's Roland Martin. Rolling with Roland now.

He's punk, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Roland Martin now. Martin. Martin! The National Association of Black Journalists has joined the NAACP, Congressional Black Caucus, and a number of other civil rights organizations in urging the Supreme Court not to gut the 1866 Civil Rights Act. Of course, this is the subject of a lawsuit.

It will go before the Supreme Court on November 13th of this year. Now, first of all, this speaks to the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which said that companies could not discriminate against African Americans. Now, the potential outcome of Comcast's urge in the Supreme Court to undo equal opportunity protections afforded under the 1866 Civil Rights Act could have a tremendous impact on NABJ's 4,000 members, according to NABJ. All right, folks, if we can actually pull up the actual statement, please pull it up. And obviously for disclosure, I'm Vice President Digital on the board of National Association of Black Journalists, and so was one of the folks who participated in sending out this particular

statement. Now, this is, of course, critically important because, again, as I said, on November 13th, the Supreme Court is going to hear this portion of the lawsuit, of a lawsuit that Byron Allen has actually filed against Comcast. So let me actually read you the NABJ statement that was sent out. Guys, if y'all have it there, you need to pull it up on your end. It says that, so I don't know why we don't have it there. Okay, fine.

The National Association of Black Journalists joins the NAACP, the Congressional Black Caucus, and numerous other civil rights organizations in urging Comcast and the Supreme Court, I'll turn it this way, Comcast and the Supreme Court, I'll turn it this way, Comcast and the Supreme Court to not dismantle the critical protections provided under Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The potential outcome of Comcast urging the Supreme Court to undo equal

opportunity protections afforded under the act could impact our more than 4,000 members as well as black media professionals and entrepreneurs nationwide. at issue is the filing of a brief asking the courts to require a minority plaintiff to provide proof that the denial of a contract property ownership or job opportunity is 100 based on race for example a company's decision to not award a contract or a job to an African American or any person of color could be 99% based on a reason of race and only 1% based on a lack of sufficient experience in the industry. What Comcast is proposing allows for acts of discrimination to be hidden by the justification of that 1%,

leaving those impacted with no legal remedy to pursue. Even if the motive of the Comcast filing is isolated to defending itself in one court case, the profound and widespread lasting impact will be devastating to minority entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs. It will also have a negative impact on communities of color, in that there will be even fewer media platforms

and content of interest produced for and by us. NABJ strongly urges that these efforts not be allowed, as they would have a huge long-term and negative impact on our members and their content, creating opportunities as well as entrepreneurial aspirations." And so, as I said, this is a very, as they would have a huge long-term and negative impact on our members and their content, creating opportunities as well as entrepreneurial aspirations. And so, as I said, this is going to go before the Supreme Court on November 13th. Joining us right now is Mustafa Santiago Ali,

former senior advisor for environmental justice at the EPA, Dr. Julian Malveaux, economist, president, emeritus of Bennett College, and also Derek Holly, host, Reaching America podcast. And a little bit later, we'll be joined by the executive director of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center at Howard University, Justin Hansford, to actually explain this law. Julian, I want to start with you. So first of all, for the people out there who do quite understand, Supreme Court is not ruling on Byron Allen's lawsuit. They're only ruling on this particular aspect

here, which Comcast appealed. He filed a lawsuit against AT&T, against Charter and Comcast. Those other two settled the lawsuits, put his networks. What he is saying is that Comcast is blocking, abusing race, blocking

the placing of his networks on their systems. They fired back saying, wait a minute, we put other black networks on our systems, and so your argument makes no sense. But by taking this to the Supreme Court, what's also interesting here is that the Department of Justice, under Trump, they have sided with Comcast, and Comcast has done something that I can't recall anybody doing the quite. I can't remember

We want to be a lot of this They are going to allow the Department of Justice ten of their 30 minutes to argue before the Supreme Court I can't remember a private company even though they're publicly traded, suing and saying, allowing the Department of Justice to actually

give them a third of their time. The amount of precious time argued before the Supreme Court. They're giving 10 to the Department of Justice to argue on their behalf. But let's look at the context of this administration. Let's look at what this Department of Justice has done around affirmative action.

Let's look at what 45 has said about African-American people. Let's look at who we have on the Supreme Court, these new justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh and their positions on affirmative action. This is a very ironic role. And this week is Med Week, Minority Enterprise Development Week. I just came from Philly where I keynoted their opening. And my theme was that economic entrepreneurship is a revolutionary act. And it's a revolutionary act because we're not supposed to do that. We're supposed to just slither away and let folks do this.

This is wrong. It's beyond wrong. And it has reverberations beyond Byron Allen. It really does speak to the ability for black folks to participate in the economy and for black folks to be treated fairly. That notion that you have to show it's 100%, nothing is ever 100%. But what we ought to be able to do is go back to the Croson case where people talked about pattern and practice. In other words, if black folks are 12% of the population, we get 2% of your contracts.

What's up with that? Especially if we're in the industry. So, you know, if African Americans represent 12% of the population, how many black-owned channels has Comcast let on there? Mustafa, what's quite interesting about this, again, to see the DOJ step in the way they are. But also what you have happening here is the fact that it was, you know, the legal precedent or the strategy of Byron Allen

to use the 1866 Civil Rights Act as the basis for the lawsuit. And he's been able to fund this thing all the way through, which is also different. Do you believe, if the Supreme Court rules against Comcast in its favor, your thoughts about what that would mean for other African Americans

when it comes to trying to break into these industries and then who are being frozen out? Yeah, well, we first should probably just start with the fact that the Trump administration continues to put their thumb on the scales and lead it toward those who they want to see to be successful. I mean, the effect of this is actually going to be less African Americans having the opportunity to be in this space,

less jobs, less ability to frame out our narrative. All these various things are a part of this. So I see it as a very negative thing for our communities. Derek, here's what I find to be interesting. So you have Donald Trump. They had the little black leadership summit, little rally at the White House last week. And Trump is always talking about how he's helped the blacks,

talks about the unemployment. This is an African-American who recently did a deal with Sinclair, very conservative, when it came to buying the regional sports networks. Trump was always talking about business. He was talking about, oh, helping black folks. I'm still trying to find the evidence of that.

But now they're siding with Comcast, and again, if the Supreme Court rules in Comcast's favor, that would mean that if you wanted to sue a company, 100% of the reason would have to be your race. Not 50, not 75, not 99, 100. That's a hurdle that...

I agree. It's an impossible hurdle. It's an impossible hurdle. And so, but I do, I look at it, because it is an impossible hurdle. And so, but I do, I look at it, because it is an impossible hurdle to handle and to try to overcome. But at the same time, I'm just wondering, I do wonder why and why the DOJ has anything to do with this

and how that even came to be. But also go back to, Roland, what we talked about last week, just when Comcast is still arguing know we've let other black programming on and we've got other networks to be established on on comcast and comcast owns universal which is nbc and all the all these programs all these stations that kind of so i'm trying to figure out again we go back to last what is it content with byron or is it something else and so that's what'm wondering, because they've done it before. And for it to get all the way to this point, I'm just wondering what else has happened that they won't allow him on this network.

Well, I'll tell you what else has happened. This is a white male ego game. They do not like the way that Byron Allen has come at them. He has come at them aggressively. He does not back down. Folks can... I mean, folks cannot stand, black men especially, but also black women who stand up to them.

And that's really what's happened. They're drawing a line of sand. We're not going to let this brother tell us what we're going to put on our network. I think I'm going to agree with you on that too. But then I also look at, you know, or go back to the content part because I actually turned to Byron Allen, one of his shows, I guess it was a few months ago, and I was looking. I was like, is this a rebroadcast? Because I couldn't tell

just, that's why I go back to the content part of it. And according to Comcast, their reason for this whole deal is the content. But, again, though, taking this thing

now to the Supreme Court, this could now completely change. Again, you're establishing legal precedent. Sure. By being able to say it's 100%. Guys, let me know when our guest is there, because that's why I wanted the guest to walk us through that. But that's, okay, no one told me the guest was there.

All right, let me go to the guest then. Justin Hansford, Executive Director of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center at Howard University. Justin, how are you doing? Good. How are you doing? Doing great. All right. So for our folks who don't understand, again, we know about the 64 Civil Rights Act, 65 Voting Rights Act, 68 Fair Housing Act.

But explain to folks exactly what the 1866 Civil Rights Act is, why it was implemented. Sure. So 1866, we know that the Civil War had just ended, and we found that there were black codes created to make sure that black Americans were not entitled to full citizenship rights in America. That included, of course, the ability to engage in opening businesses, but even on a much more basic level, even the ability to buy and sell products were, even those basic things were denied to black people in 1866.

So Congress passed this act, the Civil Rights Act of 1866. It was vetoed by Andrew Johnson. Congress overridden the veto to ensure that we had more rights, citizenship rights, that would allow us to participate in the economy and to do so on what would be somewhat of an equal basis. So from the very beginning, this was a law passed specifically to help the freed slave. Now, fast forward 150 years, like many of our civil rights laws,

they help a lot of people. This is something that is important, not just for Black Americans, but people of all different racial, ethnic backgrounds, anybody who may be discriminated against they can all look to this law to make sure that they can be protected from this type of discrimination and so so this has wide of impact for people throughout the country just like many of our civil rights laws which were initially passed specifically coming out of the black struggle, have gone on to be important for everybody throughout the country. Obviously, the act also covered some other things, including the right to vote, things like those, or had the same right as white citizens to make and enforce contracts, things along those lines.

But what do you make of Byron Alleyne using this legal strategy of using this Civil Rights Act as a basis of his lawsuit, his $20 billion lawsuit? to create a precedent, as your guest noted, that will take us back in over 150 years, to be exact, and really destroy one of our main avenues for civil rights, makes it a risky act to use this act for his argument. But, however, I can see why he did so. Whenever companies or anybody who is involved in racism can simply point to a pretext. We see this oftentimes in the case of policing. If they can point to some sort of pretext and say, well, yes, you know, the person was black, but also look at this other small factor. You know, this other small factor was the real reason for our discriminatory decision. Whenever they can use that pretext to move forward with their

discriminatory activity, it really makes the letter of the law laughable. And so there's a lot at stake here. I think the strategy specifically to use the civil rights law, just like in any civil rights context, it can be flipped and used against us, and the impact will be severe if indeed we lose this case. That's going to be seen by the amicus briefs filed by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Congressional Black Caucus. People throughout the civil rights community see the possible wide-ranging impact of this lawsuit, which, to be honest, really creeped up on a lot of us. I think with all of the things that have been happening politically, this is something that has flown under the radar for the last few years. And, you know, here we are right in front of us, the arguments are going to be happening in November, and we have this huge risk right in front of us. Well, let's just be honest justin the reality is uh lawsuits are filed every single

day all right and and the supreme court takes very few cases so so really what happened here is that when the supreme court took this case that's really what elevated it because all of a sudden it was like whoa hey wait a moment the supreme court is now looking at this deal whole deal i think that's what actually changes it. So when the court does something like that, again, it elevates any case because it's rare for a case file to go through the court system and make its way to the Supreme Court. Very rare. So under 100 cases per year is what the Supreme Court hears. This is, you know, over tens of thousands, you know, probably over 100,000 cases in the federal courts, the district courts every year. And so to get just to make that cut,

usually they only do so when they're ready or somebody in the Supreme Court is ready to make a big, bold move. So that also raises the alarm bell. But before we got to the Supreme Court, this was already in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers the vast area on the West Coast, California, and other places. So it was already a major concern, but now this is something that can affect the whole nation.

All right, then. Justin Hanson, we appreciate it. Thank you so very much. All right, thank you. All right, folks, let's now talk about of course this story out of Dallas, which is just so stunning. And that is the young man who testified on behalf of the deceased Botham Jean, who was a neighbor, lived across the hallway from him, shot and killed on Friday. Stunning, stunning story today. This this morning on the Tom Jordan Morning Show,

I talked with Daryl Washington, who, one of the family lawyers, and the family's absolutely stunned by this young man's death. Joshua Brown, of course, testified. He had since moved from the apartment complex where both of them, John, were shot and killed and was living elsewhere in Dallas. Well, on a Friday night,

he was approached by some folks in a four-car sedan, in a four-car sedan, in a four-car sedan, and gunshots were fired. The initial reports, the initial reports said that he had been shot in the mouth as well as the chest. Dallas County Judge

Clay Jenkins said that was not the case, that he was struck in the lower part of his body. We'll have a video here. Guys, go ahead and play the video. I can't say I seen him. I heard him in there. Okay, when you say you heard him, what did you mean? Heard him singing every morning.

Okay, you heard him singing. What kind of things did you hear him sing? Gospel music, Drake. And your door is directly across the hall from where Mr. Jones' apartment was, correct? Yes, ma'am. And so, in the morning, were you inside of your apartment

when you heard Mr. Jones? Again, that's Joshua testifying, and he was the one who was shot and killed on Friday. Now the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, they're calling for an independent investigation into his death. There's no suspect or motive thus far. Also, a $100,000 reward put up by Wall Street into his death. There's no suspect or motive thus far.

Also, a $100,000 reward put up by Wall Street financier Bill Perkins has been put up, and so that's where it currently stands on Crimestoppers. They also have a $5,000 reward. If there's any information regarding this case, you can call Detective Jacob White at 214-671-3690. You can also email Jacob White at jacob.white at dallascityhall.com. The case number is 202-433-2019. Again, the case number is 202-433-2019. Bill Perkins, he is the author and the CEO of Breeza Max Holdings Consulting Firm, and he's offering a $100,000 reward. The Crimestoppers number is 214-373-8477,

214-373-8477. So certainly a sad case there, and so we will hopefully find out, find the killer or killers of Joshua Brown. Got to go to a break. We'll be back on Roller Barton Unfiltered. Want to check out Roller Barton Unfiltered? YouTube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. It's Roller Martin Unfiltered. See that name right there? Roller Martin Unfiltered. Like, share, subscribe to our YouTube channel. That's youtube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin.

And don't forget to turn on your notifications so when we go live, you'll know it. You heard me talk a lot about marijuana stock.org. Why? Because I want to keep you informed of investment opportunities that make sense. We've all watched the growth of the cannabis industry now at more than $340 billion worldwide. And of course, we're seeing increasing number of states in the U.S. actually make marijuana illegal. Of course, the cousin of the marijuana is the hemp plant with a much higher concentration of CBD, which means hemp gives you all the medical benefits of marijuana without getting you high. Until recently, hemp farming was practically illegal in the U.S., but the 2018

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crowdfunding campaign that you can give from 200 bucks up to 10,000. Again, this is a $340 billion industry that is still growing. You can participate with as little as $200. To invest, go to marijuana stock.org, marijuana stock.org. And that's again, marijuana stock.org to get the game and get in the game. Now, our folks, we always talk about voter suppression here on Roland Martin unfiltered. And guess what? We have another case of that. This is what is actually happening in Georgia. Officials in Jonesboro, Georgia, are trying to move the city's sole polling site from a museum to the

Jonesboro Police Department. The Lawyer Center for Civil Rights Under Law believes this is a clear example of voter suppression and they along with their partners are planning to resist these efforts. Derek, this is a thing that we have seen in other places as well, where

they are moving a voting site from a recreation center, from a church, in this case, a museum, to a police station. And many folks believe that's a chilling effect, clearly are trying, because people who are... And look, this has happened in many other places. Right, I ain't going to that. And you're like...

Seriously? Right. People who are, and look, this has happened in many other places. Right, I ain't going to that. And you're like, seriously? Right. And so, I mean, I have no argument other than it is a way to suppress the vote. And the same thing happened in Georgia last year when they tried to shut down several voting places in a little town. It went from like seven down to two. And put it, not one county, but they want to put it outside of the city limits. Sure, yeah. This is definitely- And any black person

who's had any kind of trouble with the law, you're gonna avoid going into a police station. Right. So what is the purpose? But this is the thing, like every time I have, not all of them, but every time I have black Republicans on the show,

they're like, no, folks like Malik who might say, no, I don't think it's voter suppression. I'm sorry. You cannot explain to me the logic of saying, let's move a voting location from a museum to a police station. This happened in Texas as well. I've seen it before. It's voter intimidation, Roland.

It's not suppression. It's outright intimidation, Roland. It's not suppression. It's outright intimidation. It's both. Because you want to intimidate them so they don't vote to suppress the vote. Okay, it's both. But literally, you're sending a signal. Some folks, I remember years ago, and I won't mention the town I was traveling for for Hillary, actually,

and I ran into someone I knew and I said, bro, have you, did you early vote? He said, oh, no. This particular county had gone from eight polling places to three, and one was at the police station. He's like, no, man, I got child support. I got parking tickets. I can't argue that, bro. You know what I'm saying?

You got to keep it real. He's like, no, I'm not going there. He said, if I can, I'll vote at the regular time in a regular place. I wouldn't go. He was refusing. And this is what they've done. I mean, just the bag of tricks is a bag of tricks that says y'all don't vote. I mean, they also, you know, flyers in people's homes, Latino people who are citizens and have the right to vote,

afraid to vote because of things that have been circulated in Espanol, you know, to basically intimidate them. So, you know, the Lawyers Committee, the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, they have their hands full. Here again, there's more work for them to do. Mustafa, that was a report show

that in the last 10 years we have thousands upon thousands of fewer voting locations. Again, voter suppression. You would think folks would be saying, no, let's expand it. Let's have more folks voting.

No, there's been a deliberate effort to shrink the number of voting locations in order to make it more difficult for folks to vote. Go ahead, then, Derrick. Because our vote is so powerful, they're doing everything that they can to minimize how many people vote,

to try and take power out of our vote, all these various things. And my niece, who is now eight, she has a word called strategery that she likes to use all the time. This is psychological strategery, in her words, where you manipulate people by making sure that they don't go into certain places because of past relationships, because of past impacts.

Nothing good has ever happened when a person of color walks into a police station. So she would say that this is psychological strategery. So if somebody who's eight years old gets it, then everybody else should get it. But I would say, conversely, though, when you look at Maryland, where they just passed legislation where it's going to allow people to register and vote on the same day. So it looks like you are expanding it in that regard.

No, no, no. No, no, no, no, no. Maryland's a blue state. Democrats, Republicans have been fighting that. But it passed. No, no, no, no, no. Let me walk you through. In the state of Maine. In the state of Maine. They've passed. No, no, no, no, no. Let me walk you through. In the state of Maine.

In the state of Maine. They've had same day voter registration in Maine. The Republican legislature goes, oh, we don't need that. Got rid of it. Voters said, we didn't ask you all to do that. Came back two years later, put it on the ballot, and it passed by more than 65%. We see other examples where Republicans have fought saying they voted registration.

Trump has spoken against that saying, oh, no, that's fraud, fraud, fraud. And so in these places where folks have been saying, no, we should be expanding the opportunities. Like, for instance, it makes no sense that you're not automatically registered when you turn 18. It is illogical. Then you had Republicans in Ohio who went a step further.

This case went to the Supreme Court, and the voter lost. A white guy sued them. Their deal was, oh, you haven't voted in the last two elections, so therefore we're going to purge you from the rolls. The guy was like, wait a minute, hold up. Just because I didn't vote in the last two elections so therefore we're going to purge you from the rolls the guy was like wait hold up just because i didn't vote last two elections oh we said we sent notices to you which first of all it looked like a damn bill so people ignored them so what happened was guy sued goes to supreme court supreme court says no y'all can do that so now what has happened states all across the country now purging voter rolls. So you've got people who are registered to vote who go, wait a minute, I didn't even just got in and vote.

Now you're purging me. That's how convoluted the system is. And the problem that you have is you have I mean, I'll give another example in Wisconsin, how they are gerrymandering districts. They got into a room. They got into a room and the Republican consultants used an algorithm that was devised with something else. It was a Nobel Prize winning guy, mathematician. And they gerrymandered the districts, called each Republican in,

they had to sign a statement swearing they would not reveal any of this information, and they showed how they can parse these districts. And so that's why in Wisconsin, Democrats could win 55% of all votes and then still lose the seats when they're there. So the tricks that are being played with the voting is actually being led in this country by the Republican Party. I disagree because I've seen the Jerry Marindy happen straight in Maryland. I had that.

Hold on. That was one congressional seat. There were several congressional seats. No, no, that was one. But you're speaking of a lawsuit. We've covered it. That was one. I'm talking about a whole state. It happened in Maryland during the census. I know. I had that contract. Right, that was one congressional district.

It was a couple of different congressional districts. I'm talking about... What I'm trying to walk you through is, okay, Maryland. Show me where else Democrats have done that. I think it's... I can't point to another state. I'm pointing to Maryland right now. Here's what I can point you to about Republicans. Texas.

Georgia. North Carolina. Pennsylvania. Ohio. Tennessee. So gerrymandering only takes place in one state by Republicans? No, no, no. Is that what you're saying?

No, what I'm saying to you, Republican Party, by design, the guy... The Democrats only did it in one state, you understand? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. What I'm walking through, I'm walking through you, I'm walking through the two parties, which party is consistently fully embracing voter suppression, voter intimidation, and hardcore political gerrymandering. In fact... I'm agreeing with you on the voter suppression part

about the police thing, but some of the other arguments about voter suppression, I can't get with you on. Well, there's a guy named Mike Hoffler. There's a guy named Mike Hoffler. He's dead. He's got Tom Hoffler. He's dead.

And the only reason we know this, praise the Lord, him and his daughter did not get along. But when he died, she went to his home and discovered, she was looking for something else, and then discovered his computer. And what we now know from his secret files, this guy was the master Republican

gerrymandering. He had, and when they got sued, even with the census deal, they claimed, oh, no, no, it's not about race. In his hard drive, it was all about race. We only know this because... Because his daughter... She got the hard drive. Republicans are suing to keep this guy's notes private.

They're trying to claim attorney-client privilege when this was the guy who was hired by multiple Republicans in states all across the country to come in to gerrymander the districts and to also do voter suppression. This guy literally, he was dying, and he said, I'm going to work up to my death to frustrate them when it comes to political gerrymandering. His name was Tom Hoffler. Folks, go to The New Yorker, and you can read this story. As a matter of fact, go to my iPad, folks. This is the headline, September 6, 2019,

The Secret Files of the Master of Modern Republican Gerrymandering. Democrats have gerrymandered, but Republicans have taken this thing to a whole different level, and not in one state or two, nationwide. Julianne, go to my next story.

We have to look at the economic piece of this in terms of reducing the number of polling places. Some people do not have transportation, do not have automobiles. The other thing is the class bias, which is intersecting with race, in terms of who gets to take Tuesday off. I mean, some people, they're not hourly. They don't get to take Tuesday off. Those of us who are professional, whatever, we can take whatever off we want to.

So there is an economic anti-working class bias to the way that they're closing these polling places. And we have to pay attention to that, too. All the things about voter suppression. But the closing of polling places in one county, Mississippi, people have to drive almost 40 miles. Go to my iPad, please. This is a story from Reuters. Southern U.S. states have closed 1,200 polling places in recent

years. This is a report that was released by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights that laid out, and if y'all want to, go to the website democracydiverted.org democracydiverted.org which lays out exactly what they did. And then they started, of course,

and then we talk about, again, the games being played. Remember, in 2012 in Ohio, in Republican-led districts, Republican-led counties, they increased voting hours. Democratic counties, they decreased it. The Obama campaign sued Ohio, and Secretary of State had to admit,

yeah, that was kind of unfair, Republican Secretary of State, but he had to get sued. They lost in court because they were sitting here playing games with the voting hours. All I'm simply saying is if we say that voting is supposedly Democratic, fine. Stop blocking it. Stop shutting down polling

locations. Stop moving them to police departments. Unfortunately, the Republican Party is real good at that because, to your point, they are absolutely... And they ain't just targeting black people. I keep telling all these white folks out here, especially these young white kids. In Wisconsin, 2016, 2012, a county clerk said she moved an early voting location

off of a college campus because too many students were voting Democratic. She moved it to a far place in the corner, a far place in the county that had a small parking lot because she wanted to make it hard for folks to vote. Hell, she was on record. That, to me, is a fundamental problem, and so... Strategery.

We know what's going on here. All right, y'all, I got to go to a break. When we come back, more Roland Martin Unfiltered Daily Digital Show by going to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing 50 bucks each for the whole year. You can make this possible. RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. All right, y'all, that's my alpha brother, Gerald Albright. He'll be one of the many performers at the second annual Life Flux Jazz Experience taking place in Cabo, Mexico, November 7th through the 11th.

Folks at GFNTV.com, they're going to actually be live streaming all of the concerts covering those three days. You can get a streaming pass, of course, for $10.99. Let me, again, go over who's going to be 14 different acts performing. Gerald Albright, Pieces of a Dream, Alex Bunyan, Roy Ayers, Kirk Whalum, Donnie McClurkin, Shalaya,

folks, a number of people who are going to be performing, a number of R&B, jazz, and gospel artists, again, taking place 7th through the 11th. That's the Life Look Jazz Experience. The live stream is going to be November 8th through Sunday, November 10th. If you want to actually sign up,

go to gfntv.com, gfntv.com to sign up for the live stream. If you actually want to go with us to Cabo, go to lifeluxjazz.com, lifeluxjazz.com, L-I-F-E-L-U-X-E-J-A-Z-Z.com. Package is still available. But if you can't afford that, you can definitely, of course, get the live stream for $10.99, covering you for three days.

It's going to be an amazing time. I'll be broadcasting Roller Martin Unfiltered there Thursday and Friday. So we're looking forward to you, if you do go, being part of that experience. And, of course, you'll be able to see the show right here as well. And so, again, be sure to get the live streaming pass for $10.99. Go to GFntv.com. All right, folks, there's a new documentary

airing on MTV in the future that looks at the life of Bruce Franks. Now, he was a prominent activist who was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives

in 2016. And he won re-election in 2018. Well, this summer, he announced that he would be resigning from the legislature to focus on his mental health

and family. And more recently, he said he would be moving away from St. Louis. Here's a clip from that documentary. I let you watch the old school Ghostbusters, the one that came out when I was your age. Oh, cool. I watched old shows when I was your age.

When you was my age? Yeah. Hmm, okay. That sounds interesting. When you were a baby. Okay. Ah, you know what song I heard today? No. That I ain't heard in a long time?

What? We ready. We ready. We ready. We ready for y'all. We sang it when I was five. You ain't five, though. You ain't five till what day? August.

August what? Night. August 9th. You're going to learn about August 9th. August 9th. You're gonna learn about August 9th real soon. Something else happened on August 9th when you was born. What happened? I'll tell you when you're five. On August 9th... On August 9th.

On August 9th. On August 9th, 18-year-old Michael Brown was gunned down by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Ferguson has been in turmoil after a white police officer shot dead an unarmed black teenager. If we don't get it, shut it down! If we don't get it, shut it down! If we don't get it, shut it down! If we don't get it, shut it down! If we don't get it, shut it down! If we don't get it, shut it down! We do this for Mike Brown!

If they turn up, don't turn around! There's not really a conscious political voice in battle rap. It's a way to reach people. It is, man. I'm about to make a political move in my city. I'm about to run for state representative. Remember, I'm the one that went from being pepper sprayed and tear gassed to being sworn in. Touch one, touch all! Touch one, touch all! Everybody look to they left. You're gonna walk right into gun violence. pepper sprayed and tear gassed to be a sworn in. A twin puzzle! A twin puzzle!

Everybody look to they left. You're going to walk right into gun violence. Off my day. Senator. I do not support the Constitution of the United States. Congratulations. All right, Bruce Franks joins us right now. How you doing, Doc?

I'm doing good. So, um... you get elected, folks are excited. They're talking about your youth, they're talking about someone from the act... who's an activist, uh, now going to the public space. But when was that point where you said, I can't stay here?

It started in 2018, right around August 19th, 20th. My best friend was killed. I've been through a lot of gun violence, but that was, he was the closest person to me. When he was killed, as well as other things that I was going through in life, in November, my godson was killed at 16 due to gun violence. And just the weight of being a representative, you know, in a black poor community, right, and having that weight on your shoulders.

It's like everybody hypes you up to run and they want you to run and they're excited when you win, but nobody tells you about a lot of these other things, you know, the mental strain and a lot of the stuff you're gonna go through. And so I had got to the point where I fought through it, starting to recognize like my mental health, depression, anxiety I was going through. And, you know, to be quite honest,

even in December of 2018, suicide. And fought through that and decided to go back when session started in January. And when I started back, it just, when I got there, I was like, you know what? I don't even, I don't even wanna be here. But did you have any of that prior to running and did it really come about after you got elected? And was it that you were not fully understanding

of all that it went into? Because the reality is, when you get elected to office, it's not a five-day-a-week job. No. It's seven days a week. Yeah, 24 hours a day. If you truly doing the right thing, you're there for the people.

But you're right. I've been going through this for 26 years. I just didn't know. My brother was killed in 1991. When I was six years old, he was nine. And so going through this string of funerals and gun violence and being from this community and these things that you are taught that are normal, but it took me till I was 34,

33 to realize that everything I went through for the last 20-something years ain't normal. You know, so I was able to now identify that, oh, this is anxiety, this is depression, this is suicidal thoughts, this is PTSD, you know. Well, the reason it's interesting you say that, Jason Kander, of course, who was Secretary of State in Missouri, almost upset Roy Blount, was running for mayor of Kansas City,

and dropped out. And he announced it was because of PTSD. He served in Afghanistan. He was an Army intelligence officer. And people were even shocked by that. But he said, no, I got to step out. Because he was still dealing with the PTSD of what he experienced in Afghanistan. Absolutely.

So he's a friend of yours? So Jason. Y'all discussed this? Yeah, so Jason is a person who Jason and Stephen Weber and I, who was the kind of leader of the Democratic Party for a couple years before he stepped down. We would have these conversations. And Jason Kander is one who's always kind of been open about PTSD, and he was really open at this point where he's talking about stepping back.

So he's one of the people that I actually talked to. But, you know, he came from a different aspect of it. You know, you've been at war. So we have a lot of veterans that deal with PTSD. So it don't matter if you're a veteran dealing with PTSD that come from a war or you're a black kid from a community fighting a war you didn't sign up for. And that's the thing that I don't think people

truly understand. I spent six years in Chicago. And, um, when you have conversations, it's always a trip being here. I've been at the White House at the table with Trump, and they help people bring up Chicago, and people always want to throw Chicago up. But I got to walk people through,

because I tell them all the time, I said, look, I was born and raised in Houston, um, and I'm trying to think it may have been maybe when I was in high school, I first experienced a classmate dying. When I was in college, that was a guy who was our church and our youth group, shot in the head, was killed.

You're not dealing with folks who've experienced 10, 15, 20 deaths before they got to high school. And we're talking about, oh, they should be able to go to school, be able to learn. And you're sitting here 12 and 13 and 14 years old, and to your point, you've gone through all of these funerals and to act as if I can just go to school as a regular thing? No, it's not.

Yeah, especially when it comes to the black community, because it's such a stigma on depression and anxiety. Yes. And, you know, I've heard before where parents told their kids, you can't be depressed. You're too young to be depressed. My brother died when I was six years old. My godfather died eight months later.

My uncle died eight months later. At this point in my life, I've been over 200 funerals. Most of those resulting in gun violence. Most of those being peers. You know, I had... 200? Yes, 200. Between 2015 and 16,

I had lost almost 24 kids that I mentored in the St. Louis area. And that's within a 12 to 18-month span. I've been in rooms and I've talked to a room full of white folks that haven't been to 15 funerals in their whole life, and they're 60, 70 years old. And so to think that, to think that this is such a, you know, this is just such far-fetched to believe that our young people today are going through anxiety and depression and, you know, it's real. And we got to get real about the conversation because far too long we've

said, oh, just be strong. Oh, just keep going. Oh, just keep moving. And I just felt like I've been a strong person this time because my grandma was strong. My mama was strong. You know, everybody was strong. And now I understand that, no, I need time to get some help. Derek, mental health in the black community. I wrote an op-ed, it's in the Huffington Post.

It's time to start talking about mental health in the black community because, like he said, it's been so taboo. And for black men, we've been told, you can't cry, you'd be tough. You know, just pray about it. And so, yeah, just pray about it. And that's what we've been told, you can't cry. You'd be tough. You know, just pray about it. And so, yeah, just pray about it. And that's what we've been taught.

Meanwhile, our counterparts, white people, they go get help for their mental health issues. But this is where, and Bruce, I want you to come in here, but this is the thing, though, and you're right. This is what we also have to understand. I keep making the point that this discussion about gun deaths goes back to understand. I keep making the point that this discussion about gun deaths goes back to economics. This discussion about mental health goes back to economics.

The reality is, if you're white and you got insurance, there you go. You can get help. But the reality is, we had to go to the pastor. Because that's all we had. And so, part of this thing is when we're discussing, like, every time these people want to talk about Chicago,

I said, if you do not want to talk about the economics of Chicago or St. Louis or Ferguson or New Orleans, then you don't want to talk about gun control. Go ahead. We can't condemn these things unless we condemn the environment that brings it, right? So if you talk about gun violence, right, what's the root cause of gun violence?

Nobody in the hood. I can't speak for nowhere else, but ain't nobody in the hood just picking up a gun because they want to pick up a gun, right? They suffering from something, like a job, education, undiagnosed mental health issues in the black community. Absolutely. And not to make light of anything that's happened, because my heart goes out to every single mass shooting that's ever happened.

But when a white person goes and shoots up something, the first thing they revert to is, oh, well, he suffers from this. Well, how do we even know that he suffers from that? And they bring in massive resources for mental health. Absolutely. Absolutely. But that's where we're missing it.

In our communities, we don't have mental health resources, right? But even if we get the resources, we got to have a real conversation that lets us know that it's okay to go take part in it. You know, I want to commend you for coming out and talking about mental health issues. And I hope to see the rest of your film and that you continue a crusade to raise awareness about mental health in the black community. Because there is an absolute stigma against seeking help. There's an absolute stigma against

getting medication. But these things can help. When people have mental health problems, some of them are chemical. They're not necessarily trauma induced, but they're chemical. Trauma induction is also another area. But we really, I want to lift up Terry Williams, who wrote a book about black folks and depression.

And she talked about, she wrote it about 10 years ago. It was a really good book where she talked about how we just are in denial. And the go talk to your pastor, rolling your right, there may not be any other resources. But on the other hand, if your pastor is not a licensed counselor and cannot prescribe meds, he ain't going to do anything for you but hold your hand and say a prayer, which is not ineffective, but it's not a solution. But it's also owning up to, again, the people who are trying to make a difference

and then what happens when services get cut. You talk to a state representative. Go to my iPad. This is a story here of Dr. Carl Bell. I knew him quite well in Chicago. Carl died in August, 71 years old. He was all about mental health. And he had his own, first of all,

finished from Meharry, served in the U.S. Navy, had his own facility, witnessed the violence, was in gangs growing up, and then dealt with this whole issue. But what happened was he had his own center. Funding gets cut, had to shut it down. He came up with various programs in Chicago public school system, trying to teach people how to deal with conflict resolution. But the reality is in this country, what cities

and counties did is that they slash anything dealing with mental health. We used to have community health centers. Okay? Then when cities and counties and states shut those down, it's kind of like, well, y'all sort of figure it out. And so you got people who are walking around

where you used to be able to have a facility go to, and they don't. So as somebody who experienced this, but you were also elected official, what has been the response? What have been those conversations like when you're trying to explain to elected officials why they must fund clinics and health centers?

And then do you get pushback or do they say, yeah, I hear you, that sounds great, but then they'll sit here and then go fund something else? They'll go fund something else. Because reality is when it's not happening in your community and you're the majority, you control where

everything goes, right? It's cool that we have mental health awareness days. Those are important, right, to uplift, to bring, you control where everything goes, right? It's cool that we have mental health awareness days. Those are important, right, to uplift, to bring, you know, to bring education to it. But if we're not funding the places that are most affected when we talk about mental health issues, then what are we doing? And that's another part of being in a legislature where it's like, all right, I'm going back home. When I get home, I hear a gunshot.

I live in the hood. I used to live in the hood in St. Louis, right? I hear a gunshot. I ain't your regular elected official. I'm running over there, because I know there's probably one of these kids that I done mentored, that I talk to every day. So I'm over here compressing the womb

and waiting till the ambulance get there, right, talking to the entire community, like, all right, well, what needs to happen? All right, we need better education. We need more programs. We need this over. We need to fund summer jobs. Cool. So I leave and go to Jefferson City, which is our capital, right?

I serve all week, and I'm up here fighting, fighting, fighting. Highly Republican state, highly outnumbered. Super minority, top to bottom. Trying to get stuff done. But on the same hand, in my head, what's still playing is, I just had to hold this kid warm. I just had to talk to his mama. Then when I come back, my brother dies. Right? My best friend.

My kids that I mentor. My nephews. My... It's an everyday process, so I'm speaking to them from a lived experience, like, look, I'm not telling y'all no stories. It's not a myth. This is what I'm going through every day. And even when you're talking to them,

even if it feels like they may get it in the room a lot of the times, their ability to move forward on action about it is just not there because they're not necessarily forced to. Until the numbers change and it's closer in proximity where White kids start getting shot in huge numbers, then that's when something will change.

And that's one of the realest things I heard in a long time. Because at the end of the day, I fight for everybody. But I fight for those who look like me. First. First. And when you talk about this issue of gun violence, which ties right into mental health issues and undiagnosed mental health issues,

I hear so much talk about banning these guns. I hear so much talk about these other mass shootings that's happened, and those are atrocities. They're tragedies, absolutely. But when you highlight those and you forget about the black folks and the black communities that go through gun violence each and every day,

you're taking away our voices. You're taking away our need for mental health resources. Because when you parade him to the front, when y'all take him out of here safe as can be, even though he done killed all these people, the first thing you gonna say is, you know what? Well, he suffered from, he got bullied. He suffered

from anxiety. He suffered from depression. And that's not okay. Mustafa. Mustafa. First, I just wanna, you know, I mean, I wish I could get up and this mic wasn't on just to give you a hug because I know how important self-care

is. I just came back from St. Louis last night, and while I was there, I wish I could get up and this mic wasn't on just to give you a hug because I know how important self-care is. I just came back from St. Louis last night. And while I was there, I slid over to Ferguson for a second. I had conversations and it reminded me of the work that I did in southeast Washington where some of the young brothers who we were running through programs, they was getting their lives together. They'd be standing on their porch and just catch a cab. And you're like, all this is just put on everybody. And the thing is, there's a numbness that comes through that situation. Oh, absolutely.

And you're just like, okay, so I just got to be hard all the time. I can't tell anybody about what's going on. And it just starts to eat away at you. And then that's why we have all these diseases that continue to pop up, hypertension, heart disease, all these things they want to put on top of us and say it's our diet. If you're living in a war zone all the time, you don't never get a chance to breathe. So I applaud you for the self-care and for you taking a step back and reevaluating how do we best address these issues? And how do we make sure that we're educating people about our vote and using our vote to actually get the right people in office?

And also, and that last thing you said, brother, was so incredibly important. You know, I also work for everybody, but it is our communities that continue to be the ones who are unseen and unheard and forgotten and never get the resources that are necessary to make the change. So I just give the utmost respect to you for what you have done. Appreciate it. John Hope Bryant, Operation Hope,

he says this all the time. He says that you will never see a riot in the neighborhood with a credit score 700 or higher. Period. That's a word. Period. Yeah.

That's a word. And so I think, and again, I'm going to go back to the money piece. I'm going to go back to the money piece. I think every time, every time when people want to yell Chicago, I think our response has to be, where are the jobs? Mm-hmm. Where's the home ownership?

Where's the... Because, again, I think about, again, I think about where I grew up, Clinton Park in Houston. I can remember standing on the portion of our street. Look, we had two parent house souls with older black folks, took care of y'all's, everything like that. But I could still, I could stay on the porch and remember seeing the FBI and the Houston Police Department taking down a crack house.

I saw those things. But also, what the difference is, my house, you had mom and dad have a job. Brothers live across the street. Mr. Jordan, he was working. Folks next door work. Folks do not want to deal with the economic calamity that is existing in these places.

And to your point, yes, when you see a young girl in Atlanta who's sleeping and a bullet comes through the house and kills her while she's in bed. When you think about, again, when you're seeing these young black folks who are at Clark Atlanta, opening a school as a shooting.

Luckily no one was killed, but again, you're like, I'm not trying to send my kid to school. And that's leaving places going to Atlanta. You said you're like, I'm not trying to send my kid to school. And that's going to, that's leaving places going to Atlanta. You said you're leaving. How tough is that, a place that's home for you? Most of us want to go back home. So I'm gonna be all the way real with you, Roland.

It was a little easier than I thought it was gonna be. The hardest thing is family. Right. Right. Family, my district, I fought so hard to get that seat. We fought hard. But knowing that the district is in good hands, knowing that it ain't a mile of miles in the world that's gonna take me from my kids and my family.

And understanding that I'm important, I'm needed, I'm necessary, and whatever I need to do to make sure that I'm okay and my self-care is at 100%, then that's what I need to do. So when I made the decision to actually leave, it was a little easier than I thought it was gonna be, but it's been one of the best decisions that I've made. I got black folks who I know who have said they're not going

back to Chicago matter of fact Chicago had the second number second highest concentration of African Americans outside of New York New York is 3.5 Chicago used to be around a 1.3 1.4 million. It's going to approach 800,000. Folks are leaving because there are people who... And to your point about going home, I know some black professionals who say, I don't want to go home because I don't want to get caught in a crossfire.

I don't even want to be in the city and something happens and I'm just visiting. So the thing... That's... So this is the thing with me, though. I'm not worried about the crossfire. Like, if I come back and I'm doing the work and I get caught in the crossfire, then that's just what was meant for me. I'm okay with that.

It's just being able to come back at 100% and actually do the work. Right? Like, I don't mind. Because everywhere I go, I go to the hood. Right. Because that's what we needed. I don't care what state, every state got a hood somewhere. So that's where you're going to find me.

But as far as going back because of, you know, not being caught in crossfire, not being caught in this, like, no, I'm, that's what I signed up for the moment I started to speak the truth and stand on what I believe in. But I need to make sure that I stand on what I believe in but I need to make sure that I'm at a hundred percent while fighting see St. Louis ain't never seen me at a hundred percent they see me at 50 they see me at 60 in office they see me at 70 hair gone now I'm

at 50 but now I can go I can come back right do what I need to do leave and come back whenever I need to and it's gotten to the point where I realize where my place in this fight is. It was one of the dopest things on Earth was getting elected. Especially this kid from 4300 Gibson with tattoos on his face that rap. That they thought couldn't do it, right?

But I got in that office, I fought, I fought, I passed legislation, put millions into the budget, something that a lot of folks didn't do. But I realized politics is for patient people who understand it's going to take a while to change this system. I speak up and speak out. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X didn't make it to 40. Right. I got activists that stood right next to me in Ferguson that didn't make it to 35. So if that's what our tale is, if that's what our life expectancy is, I need change to happen a little faster. And the way it's going to happen faster is if I force it from the outside while

working with those patient people from the inside. I'm lane and you know I since I was 25 every city I've lived in I've been approached to run for office every single city people go my Facebook page Twitter wrong rough press we need ruffles I'm like no so then what I'm there for I said I'm doing exactly what God designed absolutely this is what I've done I'll I said, I'm doing exactly what God designed for me to do. Absolutely. This is what I've done. I'll be 51 in November. I've done this since 14.

No desire to do anything else. None. I said, this is what I'm designed to do. And I try to explain to people all the time that everybody's not, people want Michelle Obama to run. Michelle Obama has said, I don't want no part of that. Because it takes a certain type of person to be a politician. Everybody can't be an activist. Everybody can't be the one leading a news conference.

Somebody got to be the one who you don't even know anything about. Now, I think for a lot of people, it's understanding that. That's just critically important. But I got to ask you this here, because you mentioned the activists. And we saw this with the folks who went through Ferguson. We saw this with Black Lives Matter activists all across the country. And I tell people all the time,

well, you gotta study history. So many of them did not realize the mental health part of all of this, and the strain, and the pressure. And it hit them where the work was every single day. And I tell folks all the time, I said, y'all, when King died, his heart, the autopsy said, it was almost that of a man who was 70

because of the strain and the pressure. And he went through depression. Major bouts. When they had the march in Memphis, where the young brothers at the end of the march start to bust up the windows, when they grabbed King and took him to holiday In he literally got under the covers fully clothed shaken and immediately went to a depressive state Was that the king now a lot of these activists have been going through this not realizing man this thing

This is this is real 2017 we was protesting the Stockley verdict. I did an interview with you. That was the police officer in St. Louis. I did an interview with you over Skype. Left out, went and led a... It was about 2,000 people. March with Anthony Lamar Smith's mother,

you know, a bunch of people in front of a police station. It was about 2,000 people. March with Anthony Lamar Smith's mother, you know, a bunch of people in front of the police station. I'm yelling and I'm passionate. We get to the top, right at the top of the hill where the police station is, and I just pass out. And I had to get water and they had to get me. And it got to the point where I was realizing, at one point I was out there with pneumonia. And I'm thinking, you know,

I just got a severe cold, but if I ain't out here, or, you know, if I organize this, or we helped organize this, or if I'm not out here... And then I look back over some of my brothers and sisters who didn't make it out, um, more brothers who didn't make it out past the fight. It's like you hear a lot of conspiracy theories. You hear that, oh, well, they was out here,

so, you know, this happened. The guys who got shot, cars on fire, these different activists. And not to take nothing away from, because we know, and I'm going to keep it real, we know how that happens, right? We know that's happened. We know that's real.

It's happened over history. Them being targeted. Yeah, us being targeted, period. Right. But to not delve in and really find out I know that's real. It's happened over history. Them being targeted. Yeah, us being targeted, period. Right. Um... But to not delve in and really find out what's going on takes away from the mental health strain and the actual fight internally

that we may be going through, you know, depending on the situation. And you hit it right on the head. When it come to us as activists, and I could just speak for those who I got pepper spray, tear gas with. That was a full-time job, 14 hours a day that we wasn't getting paid for. We was out there off pure passion and a hope and a prayer, not understanding, even when we was out there in Ferguson

after Michael Brown was killed. A lot of us didn't know what we was doing out there. But we figured it out. But unfortunately, nobody came up before and said, hey, look, self-care, take care of yourself. Hey, take your time back. And now, it's like

I look at a lot of things that we've been through, and then those who ain't here, and I realize, you know what, that's, I am important. And in order to fight, I got to be here. Before I go, Julian, as you were sitting there talking about that, I remember in Harry Belafonte's memoir, he talked about when he sent Fann Lou Hamer and several other activists to Africa for vacation.

And that's something that people really don't understand, that you also have to have the resources to take your warriors away from the fight so they can go somewhere for a week or two and go swim in a pool and lay on the beach and enjoy the sun because if you need a respite in your everyday life, if you out there as an activist, I'm like, folks have no real understanding of what that life is like,

which actually is even more intense than a politician. So just imagine being a politician and activist at the same time. I'm in office. I'm in office, elected. But when Stockley popped time. I'm in office. I'm in office elected. But when Stockley popped off, I was still elected. I'm organizing these protests. I'm helping organize, not by myself,

but we organizing these protests. We blocking the highway. I'm getting locked up. I'm getting it from the Republicans because I'm getting locked up, and I shouldn't be out here protesting. I'm getting it from this community, and then I come back to my... You talk about a strain to go back and serve in that house

and deal with folks that want to present legislation to make protesting on the highway a felony simply because they got a colleague that's doing it now. You right. I made a good choice. Julia? Absolutely, you did. One of the things you mentioned when you talked about

you had to be on top of the hill while you were sick because you felt no one else could do it. One of the really lessons for activists is to have rotating leadership. Oh, absolutely. To make sure that the baton can be passed. I mean, to make sure that if someone isn't there, someone else is there to pick it up.

And what we've often had is ego-centered leadership in the black community. passed, I mean, to make sure that if someone isn't there, someone else is there to pick it up. And what we've often had is ego-centered leadership in the black community that requires somebody to say, I've just got to be there all the time. The folks who don't give the props to the people who are propping them up. Because as Roland says, everybody should not be a leader. Some people don't want to be leaders. But those who are leaders need to understand compassion. Now the other thing, Roland, I want to mention quickly, the economics is at the bottom of this. Income numbers came out beginning of September. Average white family,

$67,000 a year income. Average black family, about 40. Black folks don't take vacations. They take staycations. I mean, whether you're, you know, I didn't take a vacation until I was 35, even though I could have afforded it because I felt like I didn't deserve it because my mama didn't take vacations. I felt like, you know, what do you mean take a vacation? You know, and so

we need to, that self-care thing needs to be hardwired into our community. And you don't have to go to Africa or to Hawaii. You can go to Rehoboth, someplace that's within driving distance. Chesapeake Beach. Huh? Chesapeake Beach.

Wherever. But I'm just saying, I really want to push the notion of leadership posses. It's one of the things that I liked about the Black Lives Matter young people, is that they really had a leadership collective. It wasn't just one person. And my understanding is minimal, so I may be wrong, but that was a perception I got, is that they passed the leadership around. So you didn't have one person who they took pot shots at

because the other thing is people took pot shots at you. Those Republicans took pot shots at you because they could. The only thing I would say about passing it around, though, you still got to have a hierarchy because one of the problems of that leadership, and this is not just a black thing, it happened when we had all those massive Latino marches, the May Day marches, is that they had massive mobilization,

but then you had no entity that was then, so, okay, how do we now harness this thing and then take this thing and then be able to move this thing forward? Because that's how we were. Like, we had leaders. Like, all of us were leaders, right? But I was in the forefront because I was the elected official.

I was the one that was talking to the news. And I told them, let me take the death threats. Everybody got them. A lot of folks got death threats. We got, I mean, no matter who you were in the movement, but they calling my office, right? They sending me emails so we can track that. You know, we can make sure I'm cool.

So let me take that, the brunt of that. So even if something happened to me, this deal keep going. Right. You know, and like you said, they get, a lot of movements get centered as far as ego, and then you take out the leader, then you don't have a movement anymore. We learned from that,

and we made sure that everybody was a leader. You might not saw this person, that person, or that person in the front lines or even in the camera, but just know when I got locked up on the highway with them 144 people for shutting down 40, the movement kept going. You know, we kept organizing.

But y'all had hierarchy in the plan oh absolutely i went through all of that absolutely unfortunately i knew some of the groups that didn't and so stuff was just sort of disarray occupation wall street was the same thing they were like no like we got no leader i'm going and you have no focus uh it's all over the place uh i gotta ask you this here so when you um um what was it like that... So what was it like that moment for you when you got away, when you got away from St. Louis and you're set to go away?

Did you go, damn, I don't know what this even feels like? So I said something, I made a Facebook post, and it's gonna tie into everything, but I made a Facebook post and I said something to her. I made a Facebook post, and it's gonna tie into everything, but I made a Facebook post, and I said, you never know how racist the place you live is until you go live somewhere else. Mm-hmm.

You don't understand how toxic it is until you go live somewhere else. I was realizing that where I live now, I've been there for two months. I've probably heard sirens twice. Where are you now? Mm-mm. Mm-mm.

He don't tell me. And he shouldn't. No, no, that's that. Oh, he didn't tell? That's why I didn't ask. Oh, gosh. And so, and so, um... You think I went this long time

and not thought about that question, Darryl? My bad. Rolling this show, show. Man, figure out some stuff without having to say it. You see how I gave him that look? Right, right. You should have did. That's what I was like. And I gave him a look too, like...

Well, I didn't see your look. I saw his. Right. I was about to pat him down. Right. I didn't give him a look. I just swiveled. Fuck the hell. Go ahead. But I realized that I only heard sirens twice. St. Louis? Man, from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep. I left my door open the other day on accident

and came home and was like, hello. They got to searching around and making sure. I realized, you know what, everywhere ain't, it just ain't the same. And I love my city. I love my city. I'll fight. I'll die for them. But I will die while I'm fighting, right?

Not in the sense of while I'm fighting myself, while I'm fighting these inner demons. And so now being, being, just being able to work out, being able to be healthy, being able to just drive to wherever it is I like to drive to that's only three or four hours away, right? To get away, scenery, and just all these different things. Like, when I was in office, um, back in February,

I weighed 130 pounds soaking wet with ankle weights on. And now I've been working out, I've been feeling good. I weigh 170. This is the most I ever weighed. It's the healthiest I ever been. I battle rap. And I looked most I ever weighed. It's the healthiest I ever been. I battle rap. And I looked at my performance from my last battle where I'm not. I'm in this new space,

and I'm jumping across stage like I'm 18 again. You know, I'm 35. That ain't old. But for me, that's, you know... Right. That's double what you're used to. Yeah, I'm getting there, you know? And so I'm looking at how I'm jumping across stage and the energy I got and realizing that not only have politics never seen me at 100% activism,

but, like, my world. Like, even talking to my kids, my kids like, oh, Daddy, you look good. Just realizing my kids ain't even seen me at 100%. You're free. Free. Documentary airs when? So we don't have a specific date, but it's late fall,

and so just, it'll be on MTV. It's in all these film festivals going around, and, you know, it's a lot going on, so it'll definitely be highly publicized when it does drop. Well, we're certainly glad you were here sharing your story. Absolutely, I appreciate it.

Hopefully, there's somebody who's watching, whether or not they're activists or not, will understand the importance of self-care, taking care of themselves, and not being sort of bound by all of that pressure. And definitely the activists out there. And I also hope people have a better understanding and appreciation of what activists go through.

Because again, those folks who haven't read don't realize, again, the number of times MLK were hospitalized, the number of times Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr. has been hospitalized because of dehydration, because how they've just worked themselves to exhaustion. And it's real. And it's real. And I think for a lot of people,

we're very critical of activists. We are demanding of things, what they should and should be doing, what they should not be doing, saying what they should be making this amount of money, shouldn't be doing this and doing that. Not realizing that even just a getaway to go to an awards show

is actually a vacation for some of them. I think a lot of people have no understanding of that. Well, that's true. Well, appreciate it. Thanks so much. Thank y'all for having me. All right, folks, let's talk about this story. A 21-year-old man was sentenced to 10 days in jail if he overslept or missed jury duty.

Yeah, jury duty. 10 days. DeAndre Somerville, West Palm Beach, Florida, was ruled in contempt of the court in September by a circuit court judge. Somerville did not have a criminal record prior to the judge's ruling. He was also put on probation for a year in order to pay a $223 fine,

write an apology letter of no less than 100 words, and complete 150 hours of community service, which included reporting to the jury office once a week to have a 10-minute discussion about the importance of jury duty. That, Mustafa, is absolute bullshit. At best. I don't even know how you get away with something like that.

You overslept, and you go 10 days in jail, write a demopology letter, probation for a year, fine. Hell, he might as well just go ahead and bribe somebody to get their kid into college, and hell, he would have got slapped on the wrist. That's exactly what it's about.

You know the value they place on our lives and on other people's lives, our time and other people's time. Man, so many people have missed jury duty and none of them went to jail. And what they fail to realize, too, is that when you go to jail, anything can happen once you go inside of those walls.

So it's just bananas. And the judge who did this, they need to actually bring that judge up on investigation as a charge. Exactly. I mean, basically the demonization of black people. This is reflective of the demonization of black people. Oversleeping is something that anybody can do.

Anybody on this panel has done that at some point in time. We don't go to jail for it. I mean, you might miss an appointment. Somebody might cuss you out. But you're not going to jail. This young man spent the 10 days and then they suspended it, but he already spent the 10 days. I guess they can give him the fine back if they made him pay it.

But this is just, it is a height of absurdity, especially in the context of the way that black people are punished and the way that white people get slaps on the wrist. Amber Geiger gets 10 years for massacring a brother in his own home. 10 years! Which means she's going to serve five or maybe two and a half.

Got it. At the same time, you know, the woman who voted illegally and didn't know it got five. This is absurd. I'm glad we're bringing these cases up, but this judge does need to be, I don't know what the word is. Right. Debenched? Derek? I just think it just goes to show how devalued we are to some people.

I mean, it just goes without saying. devalued we are to some people. I mean, it just goes without saying. It makes no sense. This boy served 10 days in jail for oversleep. Crazy. Crazy. Folks, today's the last day to register to vote in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Tennessee, and Texas. And be sure, if you want to vote in November, you better get it done today. Speaking of that, tomorrow in Montgomery, Alabama, Stephen Reed could very well be elected the first black mayor in the history of Montgomery, Alabama,

the state capital of Alabama. And so, again, folks go to the polls there, and so we want all of you to go to the polls as well because that is critically important. Now, think about it. All these years, Montgomery, where the bus boycott began, has never had a black mayor in its history and is 60-plus percent black.

That's also what happens when we don't vote. All right, folks, over the weekend, I have the honor of being one of the VIP guests at the grand opening of Tyler Perry's new studios in Atlanta this weekend. It was unbelievable. You should have some photos, I think, of the event. It was unbelievable.

It took place on a Saturday and Sunday. I was not there Saturday for this. I was not there because I was speaking at the Baltimore Civil Rights Gala there. But he dedicated the various sound stages that he has named after prominent African Americans. You see Diane Carroll, Whoopi Goldberg, Spike Lee, Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier,

Oprah Winfrey, Harry Bel Fonte, Denzel Washington. I know I'm missing somebody. It was an unbelievable experience. My wife was there. She enjoyed it on Saturday. You see Spike Lee right there. This location is on the former Confederate Army base. Then, of course, it later transitioned to a U.S. Army base.

And, of course, Tyler Perry took it over. It is an unbelievable place where they've already shot. First of all, it's been open for five years, okay, but it just had the grand opening. And they've had all kinds of different movies there, not just his productions. And, in fact, this studio lot is actually bigger than the Disney lot, the Fox lot combined. And there's still 60 more acres.

And so these are all the various photos. Now, the reason you didn't see a lot of photos on social media, because Tyler's people said you can't take photos. And I was here yesterday. This is from the church service that took place yesterday. Unbelievable, folks. Of course, you have Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Shirley Caesar. You had Smokey Norfolk, the Clark sisters, Yolanda Adams. All of them, all of them were singing. You see Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton. They were there as well. That's the great Cicely Tyson.

Had a chance to get a photo and talk with her as well. It was just unbelievable. And so, so let me say this. This is critically important. Those of you who see those photos and you say, oh, that's great for Tyler Perry, but the reality is this here. Black people built that studio. I had Tyler Perry speak at the National Association of Black Journalists last year and we were texting in March when I invited him

and I said, this is what I want you to do. I want you to come talk to our membership about how you respect your audience and how your audience will respect you. Tyler Perry has never crossed over. That studio was built by black folks. Black folks went to see Tyler Perry's plays. I don't give a damn if you don't like Tyler Perry's Madea plays.

I don't care if you don't like his movies. The reality is that black consumers, that's how he was able to do what he's been able to do. Television shows, the movies, the stage plays. He is targeting a black audience. And he said this at the BET Awards. He said that when people were talking about Oscars so white, he said, I'm not interested in sitting at their table.

He said, y'all can go do that. I'm going to build my own table. He put that on Facebook and Twitter as well, in his Instagram page, when he said he just celebrated his own table. Why am I saying that? It's because there are a whole bunch of us who love to talk about crossing over.

People said, after TV One ended my show, man, you're going to go to MSNBC? Go back to CNN? No. Why? Because I'm going to create my own show and build my own show and then turn that and build my own network.

Yeah, man, but we need you here. No, no, no. Because see, here's what we have to understand. He now controls his destiny. He's employing his own people. He's also providing opportunities. In Bishop Jake's sermon yesterday, he talked about how when you create a platform,

you're actually creating a pathway for others to be able to live their dreams. When I think about the black folks who you now see on cable television, who came through Washington Watch on TV One, who came through News One now on TV One, I can take this thing back further. The black folks who I put on blackamericaweb.com when I ran it, that was all using the platform to be able to elevate other folks. And that's what Tyler Perry has been able to do. This is the power of black economics, which means that we have to learn

to fully respect our dollar. And for too many of us, we don't do that. Now, I said our dollar. Not that person's $1,000, not that person's a million, because. Not that person's a million. Because here's what happens. We often will say, well, if the well-off black folks would do this, this, this. First of all, they are.

They are. Yes, Robert Smith, the billionaire, paid the debt off of the Morehouse class. And it's probably going to number some $40 million. Those are people who would say, well, Oprah should do the same. Not realizing that Oprah put more than 200 brothers through Morehouse College.

Mm. Paid for the full education. She didn't do one grand gesture saying, I'm gonna pay off this whole class of student loan. She put essentially a whole class of brothers through Morehouse, paid all the expenses. We have to recognize that every dollar matters. You think about HBCUs started by freed slaves

who took pennies and nickels and gave for those schools. That's the equivalent of $1 and $5 and $10 today. So the real issue that you have to ask yourself is, what are you willing to do? And Black Panther made $248 million his first weekend. I put this on Instagram. I said, imagine if every Black person who went to see Black Panther would give the equivalent of two

movie tickets to their favorite HBCU. Y'all, it's right there on my Instagram page. Man, what you talking about? That can't change nothing. What $20 gonna do? I said, the same $20 from you, you, you, you, you, and you is how Black Panther made $248 million. Hello.

Everybody didn't go out and rent a studio and say, come watch it for free. Collective dollars creates economic opportunities. And so, as you watch these photos, as you see the videos that are gonna come out creates economic opportunities. And so as you watch these photos, as you see the videos that are going to come out of this amazing experience, you're probably going to be saying, wow, Tyler Spears spent millions of dollars.

Do understand, that's a $250 million studio that he built. Not from a white investor. He didn't partner with Disney or Fox or any of those networks. He built. There was a video that was also shown when they were creating that.

At the center of that studio, they cut a hole in the center and he placed a Bible in that hole, and then they covered it up. This is a black man who lived in his car, who was homeless in New Orleans, who when he did his first play, nobody showed up, but he didn't give up.

So I'm saying all of that because when we sit back and criticize, oh, his movie isn't this, and it isn't that, do understand what they also did. He created his own Hollywood Walk of Fame for the black people who he gave a shot. That he gave a shot. He said that Taraji Henson now gets her full fee

because he was the first one who did it. No one, Idris Elba, first played a gangster. Margie Henson now gets her full fee because he was the first one who did it. No one, Idris Elba, first played a gangster. Every movie role he got was a gangster, but it wasn't until he played a daddy in Tyler Perry's movie that he started getting different roles. I'm saying all of that because as black folks,

we have got to stop playing this silly game of trying to have white validation. Hello. I got no disrespect if you are white or Asian or Latino and then you appreciate what somebody does. But what I'm trying to say is, when you believe that your stuff is less than. I'm going to close with this. I was on

a panel in Cincinnati a couple months ago. And the brother who was sitting next to me thought that he was speaking for me when he was, he said, you know, we've, this is what he said, y'all. We gotta support Roland Show, Roland Martin, Unfiltered. He then said, the quality may not be as good as CNN's. I said, stop.

I said, stop. It is. And they all just clapped like Derrick is laughing right now. He literally did that, y'all. He literally said that. And I had to stop him. Because see, what he was doing was mentally and psychologically saying that what I'm doing is actually less than. I had to stop him.

I'm like, no, it's not. It's not less than. I had to stop. I'm like, no, it's not. It's not less than. Quality is quality. Content is what matters. And so every single one of us should be celebrating Tyler Perry Studios. If you ever bought a ticket

to a Tyler Perry play or movie or soundtrack or a T-shirt or a mug, you a soundtrack, or a T-shirt, or a mug, you made Tyler Perry's studio possible. That is black excellence. It is the largest in history black-owned major studio. But I will be remiss if I did not mention that Tim Reed and Daphne Maxwell Reed

opened their own studio in Virginia more than 20 years ago. This is not the first black studio. Oscar Michaud had his own studios as well. So learn your history. But in terms of major studios this size, nobody black has ever done it. That's because of faith in your God,

faith in yourself, and faith in black people. That's how it happened. So, with that, congratulations Tyler Perry. We were, I got a chance to briefly speak to him yesterday, and he said, he said, I got a bunch of people I gotta speak to,

he said, but I'm sure you're gonna put these thoughts into a text and send it to me. I said, nah, I said, he said, got a bunch of people I got to speak to. He said, but I'm sure you're going to put these thoughts into a text and send it to me. I said, no. I said, I'm going to send it to you, but I chose to do this here because, folks, walking on those grounds, knowing full well that they used to be the grounds of a Confederate base that a black man now owns, yeah, that's called black power.

It's called black excellence. And not a single person who was there, more than a thousand folks, walked away not blown away and now thinking about how can I take my thing to the next level? But it requires you to, again, faith in your God, faith in yourself,

and faith in your people. So all the people out there who keep asking me, why am I doing this show? What are you doing next? It's to create something that's for our people, that's by our people. But we don't have to ask permission.

I don't have to ask anybody, can I go cover a story? I ask myself. Tyler doesn't have to go ask anybody what kind of show to make because he can actually make it himself. So that should empower each one of you. If you want to support Roller Martin Unfiltered,

do so by going to rollermartinunfiltered.com. Every dollar you give goes to support this show. This week, perfect example, Thursday, I'll be broadcasting from Atlanta. Reverend Joseph Lowry will be having his 98th birthday. One of our civil rights warriors. I will be there. I'll be hosting the program. We'll be having his 98th birthday. One of our civil rights warriors. I will be there.

I'll be hosting the program. We'll be broadcasting our show from there. Denver, I'll be there at the Potter's House, Denver, doing the show. And, of course, we'll be live streaming. My school choice is the Black Choice Town Hall there as well. And so you can pay, of course, via Square, PayPal, as well as Cash App to support what we do.

And trust me, me and Tyler are talking. That's all I got to say. Holler! Holler! Thank you. this is an iHeart podcast