#RolandMartinUnfiltered - N.Y's Gun Law, Uvalde Funerals, Gov. Abbott Canvasser Fired, 1 on-1 w/ Rep. Hakeem Jeffries

Episode Date: June 7, 2022

6.6.2022 #rolandmartinunfiltered: N.Y's Gun Law, Uvalde Funerals, Gov. Abbott Canvasser Fired, 1-on-1 w/ Rep. Hakeem Jeffries It's being called the deadliest weekend of mass shootings this year. 85 people were wounded or killed in shootings from Friday to Sunday. Four Texas families gathered to say their final goodbyes to more Uvalde shooting victims. New York Governor Kathy Hochul signs a comprehensive legislative package to strengthen the state's gun laws immediately. I had a chance to speak to New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries about gun control and what Congress needs to do to prevent war-like weapons from being sold. I also asked him about New York's new congressional maps. You don't want to miss that conversation. The Memphis, Tennessee city council says since Trump has a history of not paying his bills, they do not want the city to provide security for his upcoming rally. A Roland Martin Unfiltered Exclusive. Speaking to the media for the first time, the paid Texas canvasser who was fired for laughing when a Beto O'Rourke supporter said he wasn't supporting Governor Gregg Abbott will join us tonight. In Arizona, police actually stood by and watched a black man drown despite his pleas for help.   Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered Venmo ☛https://venmo.com/rmunfiltered Zelle ☛ [e-mail] Annual or monthly recurring #BringTheFunk Fan Club membership via paypal ☛ https://rolandsmartin.com/rmu-paypal/ Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com #RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Să ne urmăm în următoarea mea rețetă. Roland Martin's doing this every day. Oh, no punches! Thank you, Roland Martin, for always giving voice to the issues. Look for Roland Martin in the whirlwind, to quote Marcus Garvey again. The video looks phenomenal, so I'm really excited to see it on my big screen. Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. I got to defer to the brilliance of Dr. Carr and to the brilliance of the Black Star Network.

I am rolling with rolling all the way. Honestly, on a show that you own, a Black man owns the show. Folks, Black Star Network is here. I'm real revolutionary right now. Like, wow, Roland was amazing on that. Hey, Black, I love y'all. I can't commend you enough about this platform

that you've created for us to be able to share who we are, what we're doing in the world, and the impact that we're having. Let's be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You can't be Black on media and be scared. You dig? Să facem o pătrunjelă. Să punem un cuptor de 180 ° C.

Să punem un cuptor de 180 ° C. Să punem un cuptor de 180 ° C. Today is Monday, June 6, 2022. Coming up on Roland Martin on Filter, streaming live on the Black Star Network. And it's being called the deadliest weekend of mass shootings this year. 85 people wounded or killed in shootings from Friday to Sunday.

Congress is now back in session. We talked with Congressman Hakeem Jeffries about gun safety, what legislation could go through the House and the Senate and what could land on President Biden's desk to be signed. Four Texas families gathered to say their final goodbyes to more Uvalde shooting victims. In New York, Governor Kathy Hochul has signed a comprehensive package to strengthen

the state's gun laws immediately. Also, folks, in today's show in Memphis, the Tennessee City Council says that since Donald Trump has a history of not paying his security bills, they don't want the city to provide security for his upcoming rally. Makes sense to me. And also, in the Roland Martin Unfiltered Exclusive,

I'll be talking to the sister who went viral. She was a canvasser for Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Well, when a guy told her she wasn't going to vote for him and she just bust out laughing, they fired her. Now she wants to work for Beto O'Rourke to make him the next governor of Texas. We will talk with her. And in Arizona, police actually stood by

and watched a black man drown. Despite his pleas for help, those cops are now on administrative leave. It is time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the biz, he's on it.

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

It's Rolling Martin. Rolling with rolling now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's fresh, he's real the best You know he's rolling, Martel Martel From Friday to Sunday, there were 13 mass shootings in the United States. Gun violence for archive. The victim tally for this past weekend had 16 kills, 69 injured in mass shootings across the United States. Gun violence for archive. The victim tally for this past weekend has

16 kills, 69 injured in mass shootings across the country. However, two of the deadliest mass shootings for the weekend took place in Pennsylvania and Tennessee. In Philadelphia, three people were killed and 11 were injured when several shooters fired into a crowd in the city's popular South

Street district. Hundreds of people were in the area when the shooting happened shortly before midnight late Saturday. Police say an officer fired at one of the shooters, but it's not clear if the suspect was hit. Today, Philadelphia Attorney General Larry Krasner, first of all, I'm sorry, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, sent a clear message to lawmakers that they're not getting the job done when it comes to passing gun legislation.

We have come to the point where any legislator who is accepting donations directly or indirectly from the gun lobby, any legislator who has a high rating with the National Rifle Association, any legislator who is not willing to put the lives of innocent bystanders of women and children and young adults above their political future belongs out of office. In Tennessee, three people were killed in a nightclub shooting early Sunday. That took place in Chattanooga. Fourteen were hurt. Some were hit by stray bullets and others by vehicles speeding away from the scene. Police believe multiple shooters were involved. No suspects are in custody. Authorities believe the shooting was an isolated incident targeting one or more of the victims. Now, according to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 246 mass shootings this year.

Now, today, more funerals took place in Uvalde, Texas, of course, where folks are still reeling from that mass shooting where 19 children were killed, including two adults. Four of those funerals took place when it came to students. Today, nine-year-old Ellie Amaya Garcia was laid to rest around friends and family. Over the weekend, the families of Makena Lee, also Fernandez, Torres, and Aletha Ramirez said their final goodbyes. In an exclusive interview with CBS,

a parent of two students who attended the elementary school spoke about her daring attempt to rescue her children after she saw Uvalde officers standing around at the scene. U.S. Marshals started coming toward my car saying that I wasn't allowed to be parked there. And he said, well, we're going to have to arrest you because you're being very uncooperative. I said, well, you're going to have to arrest me because you're being very uncooperative. I said, well, you're going to have to arrest me

because I'm going in there. And I'm telling you right now, I don't see none of y'all in there. Y'all are standing with snipers, and y'all are far away. If y'all don't go in there, I'm going in there. Immediately, they unclogged me. I jumped that first gate fence. And once I jumped it, I went to my son's class.

And I knocked on the door, and I remember the teacher saying, I'm like, hey, they're already, they're already bulge cutting the fence to get me. She's like, you think we have time to get out? I said, y'all have time, I'm going to run for my other son. Once she's yelling and I'm being a cooperative and I'm like, well, y'all aren't doing, what are y'all doing?

Y'all need to be in here. Give me your vest. Somebody give me a vest, something. I started paying attention to how far the shots were being so that I knew the shooter was all the way still by my first son's class. So when I went to my second son's door, the teacher didn't want to open the door for me. So that's when they started escorting me out. And as I see that they're opening my son's door, I go run for my son and I get him.

I don't know, I was just thinking that they could have saved many more lives they could have gone into that classroom and maybe two or three would have been gone but they could have saved a whole a whole more the whole class they could have done something gone through the window sniped them through the window I mean something but nothing was being done if anything they were being more aggressive on us parents that were willing to go in there. And like I told one of the officers, I don't need you to protect me. Get away from me.

I don't need your protection. If anything, I need you to go in there with me to go protect my kids. And if anything, they were being more aggressive on us. They were more pertinent on keeping us back than getting into that school. Earlier today, I talked with Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, chair of the democratic caucus

about gun legislation and what democrats are going to do to address the issue all right congressman hakeem jeffries let's get get right into it uh congress uh is coming back after a break memorial day break and so much of the nation's attention focused on mass shootings in Buffalo, in Uvalde. We now have so many other places as well. Is this the moment? Is this the moment where Democrats can really go with the polling data and do something about guns in America? Well, great to be with you, Roland. Appreciate you having me on. We on the House side are certainly going to act with the fierce urgency of now. We have moved the package of anti-gun violence prevention bills that will be moving this week. We passed those bills out of the

House Judiciary Committee last week. The American people, as you've indicated, clearly want to see action. We have in this country 4% of the world's population, but more than 40% of the world's guns. That means there are more than 400 million guns. It is estimated circulating throughout America. Many of those far too easily can fall in the hands of individuals who will commit carnage, as we've seen in Uvalde, in Buffalo, most recently in Philadelphia, in Tulsa, and it's unacceptable. One of the things that jumps out is that prior to going on break, Democrats moved on a domestic terrorism bill after the shooting in Buffalo. Yet only one Republican voted for it in the House.

Now you look in the Senate, yet I then hear from people who are critical of Democrats, who are critical of the Congressional Black Caucus, saying they haven't accomplished anything. And so how do you make the argument that, look, you're the House. You don't control what happens in the Senate. The Senate does not control what happens in the House. And so you're taking action, but the Senate's not. So then nothing actually gets accomplished. to be the institution closest to the people to reflect the hopes, the dreams, the aspirations, the concerns, the passions of the people. And we're going to act and we're going to act decisively and act this week. It's important to do so because we then put the pressure on the Senate as an

institution to respond rather than simply let them off the hook by us concluding in the House that the other side of the Capitol is never going to do anything anyway. The American people want action. Now, what we are seeing, led by Chris Murphy on the Senate side, is that there are some discussions underway that hopefully are occurring in good faith to be able to do something decisively. We shouldn't have weapons of war circulating in the streets of America, putting our communities at risk, whether that's in the inner city or small town America or rural America or suburban America. This level of violence is intolerable, unacceptable, and should be un-American. You know, it is, it has to be frustrating to see the House move on so many different things and see bills stall in the United States Senate.

When the president supports them last week, he gave a primetime address. But one of the things that folks said that he did not do coming out of that was issue a clarion call for the public to call their U.S. senator, to put pressure on them as well. And now we're seeing leaked memos where Republicans are saying, wait this out, keep the focus on inflation, don't focus on guns. And so is this issue, should this issue be a defining issue for the midterm elections that Democrats cannot move off of and must pound on the table constantly between now and November? Certainly, this will be a high priority agenda item because the views of the two different parties are so different. We want to promote gun safety, protect our children and our communities all across America. The other side of the aisle is an extreme political party that is trying to protect the merchants of death and the gun lobby who want to continue to flood our communities with weapons of war for everyday Americans, not just billionaires, multimillionaires, and corporations that Republicans far too often do the bidding of,

often to the detriment of the American people. We want to build upon what has occurred under the Biden economy. 8.3 million good-paying jobs have been created, fastest rate of economic growth in 40 years during the president's first 14 or 15 months in office. Unemployment rate remains low at 3.6 percent. Wages are beginning to increase, and we're taking steps to deal with inflation, lowering health care costs, child care costs, education costs, housing costs. This will be an important part of our agenda in advance of the midterm as well, dealing with the economy, inflation, and gas prices. But we can't ignore gun safety measures that are critically important that the American people, as you pointed out, Roland, want to see in extraordinary numbers, Democrats, Republicans, independents, gun owners, and non-gun

owners alike, as well as issues like the Supreme Court's likely attack on a woman's freedom to make her own health care decisions. Instead, the extreme Republican Party want to criminalize health care in America and unleash bounty hunters on women and doctors all across the land. This is extraordinary stuff, and there will be a clear contrast that we'll be able to draw as we approach the midterm elections.

And on that particular point there, I mean, obviously you laid out a number of different things. What we keep hearing from folks is that this is going to be extremely difficult, that Democrats are expected to lose the House, lose the Senate. I'm not necessarily sold on that. But there is a significant enthusiasm issue here. You do have significant enthusiasm on the Republican side. You do have these MAGA folks who are still upset that Donald Trump lost the election. You see what they're trying to do. What are you saying to other Democrats in leadership, in rank-and-file Democrats? What are you saying to party leaders and to the White House,

what they're going to have to do to really get their supporters dialed in and get them to come out to the polls? If you look at polling data for the president, it is below 40% for African Americans, for young voters, for Latinos. It's down across the board. And so that has to be of concern to you and others. Certainly midterm elections where one party has majorities in the House and the Senate and also has the presidency at the same time are traditionally challenging elections. And the American people, understandably, are dealing with a whole lot of stuff that President Biden had to inherit. You know, a once-in-a-century public health crisis

that has caused so much pain, suffering, and death. And so there's understandable COVID fatigue that people are experiencing. A sluggish economy that was on the brink of collapse, thankful for the American Rescue Plan, where we were able to step in and turn the economy around, put shots in arms, money in pockets, kids back in school, and save a whole lot of folks from falling into a dangerous situation

had we lapsed into another great recession. We passed an infrastructure agreement, which was incredibly important, and those jobs will start to flow all across the country. But we understand that the American people are dealing with high gas prices, as well as inflationary pressures that are an outgrowth in many instances of both the economy shutting down and now demand outpacing supply, as well as the fact that some companies are price gouging and taking advantage of this moment in order to make record profits. The oil and gas companies are doing this and not increasing the supply so that prices can come back into balance. We understand that all of this

presents a challenging moment. And so what we have to do is both articulate our vision for building upon the progress that has been made in this country, but keeping it going, moving forward, and not allowing Republicans to turn back the clock and take us to a very different place. They, you know, these are people in many instances, Roland, they want a feudal economy and they want a medieval society. And we want a modern day economy that respects the rights of others, the rights of women, the rights of communities of color, the rights of the LGBTQ community and recognizes that our diversity is a strength, it's not a weakness. On that particular point, when you talk about price gouging, you know, it is interesting to watch Republicans complain about high gas prices, yet when Congress moved on a bill to target companies that price gouged when it came to gasoline,

they didn't vote for it. That's exactly right. They continue to try to talk a good game in terms of the economy. They don't want to do anything about it. In fact, many of these people, as President Biden, I think, has suggested recently, are rooting against America. They're rooting against the economy. You know, they want chaos and confusion because the only thing that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle in most instances are concerned about is power. And then what do they do with power? Well, we know what they're likely to do in the future based on what they've done in the past. Their signature legislative accomplishment under the previous presidency was the GOP tax scam, where 83% of the benefits went to the wealthiest 1% stuck the rest of us with $2 trillion worth of additional debt simply to subsidize the lifestyles of the rich and shameless. That's what they did. We passed the American Rescue Plan. We issued direct payment survival

checks, enhanced unemployment benefits, provided resources so we could deal with food insecurity, help people stay in their homes, avoid massive evictions and foreclosures, and are building upon that progress to create an economy that works for everyone. So, Roland, we're going to have to draw the contrast. We don't just talk the talk. We walk the walk. And we're going to continue to advance the ball for everyday Americans as we move forward. Let's talk about- All right, folks, we're going to continue to advance the ball for everyday Americans as we move forward. Let's talk about... All right, folks, we're going to have more of my interview with Congressman Hakeem Jeffries later in the show. It's introduced to my panel, Dr. Julianne Malveaux.

She's the Dean of the College of Ethnic Studies, California State University, Los Angeles. I'm a Congo Dabinga. Professorial Lecturer, School of International Service, American University. Reverend Jeff Carr, founder of the Infinity Fellowship in Nashville. Glad to have all three of you here. I'm going to start with you, and that is this.

If you are Democrats, you keep the focus exactly where it is. The nation is pissed off. Look at the polling data. It's all there as well. You don't move from this. Republican memos, as I asked Congress, the memos have actually leaked. The Republicans are saying, do not just run the clock out. Don't focus on guns, talk about everything else.

This is between this and when the Supreme Court likely is going to issue its decision when it comes to Roe v. Wade. Those, frankly, should be the two dominant issues for Democrats between now and November. Period, bottom line. I mean, the fact of the matter is, you know,

my mother is visiting here in D.C. and say hi to my mom. But I'm bringing my mother up because my mother always said that you have to stand on your principles. And this is the moment right now where Democrats have to say, what are our principles and what are we going to stand on, period, bottom line. I listened to a former Republican congressman today. I didn't catch the name. He just left the party. And he said after Sandy Hook happened, the Republican said, keep the talking points on issues relating to mental health and all of those other issues, anything but gun violence.

They are doing the same thing now, even blaming inflation and abortion. So they are already queuing up their talking points for what's going to happen in June with the Supreme Court and the end of Roe v. Wade. They already got the points. Where are you, Democrats? I'm seeing all of these stories where, like, some former filmmakers and authors

are joining the Democratic cause to make videos to get the message out because these Democrats apparently don't know how to message. We look, I know we have to put the pressure on the Republicans and do what we're going to do with them, not let them get a pass. But I will say, Roland, we have to fight harder with these Democrats to make sure that they do not lose this focus. Because the Republicans, no matter whether they're in the majority or the minority, they are the experts

at the messaging game. And so just like what you're doing tonight and the topics we're talking about, and even, you know, when I look at those kids from Uvalde, I mean, come on, man. Who's going to fight for them? Who is going to fight for them? And so at the end of the day, we need to hold these

Democrats' feet to the fire. Look, and we, and the last thing I'll say, for people who will say this is hopeless, things are never going to change, remember that the NRA used to give about 35 percent of its donations to Democrats, 65 percent to Republicans. Right now, it's 100 percent to Republicans. That's because we fought, re-weighed the awareness. We put the Democrats on blast, told them they can't be doing this anymore and working with them, and they listened to us. We cannot give up now and listen to all these people

who say it's useless, it's never gonna change. It will change when we make it change. If the people lead, the leaders will follow. Julianne, again, if you are this White House, again, President Biden gives a primetime speech on Thursday. That was nothing else. I'm sitting here going, okay,

are you planning any rallies? Are you planning to do anything? What are you doing? If you are the DNC, what are you doing? You got the huge rally taking place in D.C. on Saturday. Those young folks are going to be out there

protesting. And again, that's the level of intensity, but you need to have political leaders who are keeping the same level intensity on the issue. Roland, you know, I first of all bring you greetings. I spent the weekend in Buffalo where, of course, I first of all bring you greetings. I spent the weekend in Buffalo

where, of course, I was with the Black Lives Matter team who was comforting and dealing with organizing some of the survivors and their families behind what happened on May 14th. It's significant in terms of the topic because Republican Congressman Chris Jacobs has said that he will not run for re-election. Republicans have turned on him because he had a statement about

gun control. And he's a coward. He's a flat coward because what he said is, I didn't want to have an intra-party fight. I'm like, what the hell else should he be fighting on? He's a coward. At least go... If you're gonna lose, go down fighting for convictions. No, he punked out and was like,

I'm not gonna run. I agree with you fully, but it's also the talk of the town in Buffalo about the fact that nobody has the courage to stand up to these gun people. The other thing I have to tell you, first of all, you have a huge, humongous fan club in Buffalo. Uh, every person I've read,

oh, I see you on Rollie. So just know that folks in Buffalo love you. Um, but... it... You know, you could feel the pain, literally the pain, coming off the sidewalks when you saw all the flowers around that top store. And you have to ask a question from an economic perspective. Why is there one store in a whole community that has more than 100,000 people in it? What kind of monopoly, my favorite word,

predatory capitalism is going on there? But beyond that, we have to really push these people to the limit. This is so ridiculous, Rola. You know it. I know it. Jeff knows it. Oba Congo knows it. This is absurdity. We are seeing children killed because, and then they, this, okay, I've tried not to curse.

They had me preaching yesterday. So every time I preach for 48 more hours, I try not to curse. Let's see how long they last. But anyway, but this bit. OK, this bit of, you know, people have the right to carry guns when these are children, little bitty babies. It makes no sense at all. But here is what does make sense. It makes sense for people. And that's why Reverend Barber will be in D.C. on June 18th. It makes sense for people to push People need to be voting. Get these suckers, and that's the nicest thing I can say. Get them out of office. What we know is that the stuff that's

on the table right now is weak, is limp. Who needs assault rifles in the city? And there have been people who've talked about how they went and bought one, and it says for military use only. So why are they in the city. And there have been people who've talked about how they went and bought one. And it says, for military use only.

So why are they in the cities? And so I'm borderline hysterical because I still haven't come down from Buffalo. And just from what I saw, and what I saw was pain. There's just a lot of pain. It's in Buffalo. It's in Uvalde, Texas. Now it's in Philly.

And this pain is pain that has been basically engineered by our government who refuses to take the right steps to get these guns out of people's hands. Period. End of conversation. Jeff, again, you have to have... It has to be a constant state of pressure. It has to be constant. It has to be consistent. In fact, if you are Democrats... I mean, I think back to when... During the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Freedom Movement, they called it Freedom Summer.

Look, they should be branding this, you know, Gun Control Summer, gun safety summer. It needs to be a constant deal. And this White House needs to understand that because the pressure must be on there and continually to show Republican cowards how they are unwilling to stand up. You've got right now folks negotiating in Congress and you've got Senator John Cornyn on the Senate side who has made it clear he does not have plans to do anything significant and so it must be constant, consistent, sustained advocacy and pressure. Advocacy and pressure appear in different ways and

they manifest in different ways in different spaces. I think about the images that came across the Internet about three, four weeks ago from the country of Sri Lanka, where the citizens got so tired of being strangled out of food, of fuel, of the price gouging that were going on, they went down to the parliament and actually started attacking the parliament and actually started attacking the cars and the possessions of their elected leaders. They actually took the minister, I think, of transportation's car, they flipped it,

and then they threw it into the river. These are the kind of things that happen when people are oppressed. We got a crossroads now in America. If this kind of behavior continues from our government, don't be surprised if people do that. Now, if you're sitting at home and you're saying, I'm not going to get out of my house and go down to my local Metro Council building or go up to Washington and start flipping cars into the river, then the question is, what will you do? This question goes to not just average everyday citizens, but it goes to elected officials. We all know the stats. We've

seen the latest polls from everyone from CBS to every other credible pollster. And it says, and it backs up everything that we're saying. What Dr. Malveaux said, this is absurdity. What Dr. Makongo said, they are experts at messaging. This is all about messaging. Those names that you put out, those titles that you put out for those movements, the Long Hot Summer, Bloody Sunday, those are things that are etched into the memory of America. This is a crossroads. We have an opportunity to do the same thing. Eighty-one percent of Americans support some new gun control laws. Seventy-two percent want red flag laws from Congress and from the Senate to make sure that they can protect people. It's interesting that when 72 percent of the people want and support gun control, stiff,

strong legislation, isn't it interesting that 44 percent, when you break it down by party, of Republicans say, well, this is just the cost of freedom, we're just going to have to deal with shootings for the rest of our existence in this country because we're not giving up our guns? Messaging moves the masses. I'll say it again. Messaging moves the masses. It is not the masses being totally and completely educated. It's not that

they turn into five or six news sources and triangulate which news source they will trust and where they will find the truth to make their vote. It is all about messaging. The Republican Party now understands this because of the great messaging that the Democratic Party had during the civil rights movement during the 70s up until the 80s. When Reagan got in place, he understood the power of messaging. He could stand in front of a teleprompter, in front of a camera, and he could tell you a lie that was so sweet you actually believed he was an angel while he stuck it to you. Clinton may be the last person that was great at messaging. We know that Obama was great at messaging. But now we're at a crossroads where

the Democratic Party is going to have to listen to people like you, to people like the people that appear on this show, and every single strategist that has been in the streets screaming this at them for the last four years. Messaging moves the masses. It's time for us to create messaging, to create slogans, to create something that will take people away from their thumbs and move them to vote in this country. We live in a country that calls itself a democracy,

but less than half of the people actually vote. So we're not talking about being unrealistic when we say that voting matters. but less than half of the people actually vote. So we're not talking about being unrealistic when we say that voting matters. And the folks with March for Lives, again, they're going to be having their national protest taking place on Saturday. And look, they understand messaging.

This is one of the videos that they've actually put out. Students at Marjory Stone and Douglas High School experienced one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. On March 24th, they led the largest youth-led protest since Vietnam. And nothing has changed. I keep seeing so many young people, like, asking, begging politicians to just give a fuck, to just care, to just talk about it just a little bit. Since then, we've seen over 170,000 more lives

lost to gun violence. And this is your response? In this terrible tragedy, we send our thoughts and prayers. Thoughts and prayers. Thoughts and prayers. Each of these body bags represents 150 lives. That's people's families, friends, loved ones. And not a single piece of federal legislation

to end this crisis. How many more thoughts and prayers are you gonna give us until we start acknowledging the fact that thoughts and prayers in this country have become deadly? That's the kind of thing that we should be seeing. That's the sort of messaging that should be taking place. And again, they're going to be having their actions happening this weekend on June 11th. Y'all go ahead and show the graphic. Again, the march taking place in Washington, March for Our Lives. The young folks are actually leading this particular effort. And so we hope they have massive turnout here in the nation's capital for that particular event. Got to go to break, folks.

When we come back, we're going to talk about what's happening in Memphis. Donald Trump plans to have a rally there. But folks in Memphis are like, we ain't trying to pay for security. Why? Because Trump keeps stiffening cities all across the country when it comes to security bills. We talked to a member of the Memphis City Council who says we should not be paying any security for somebody who won't pay their bills.

You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network, also, folks, at the top of the hour, y'all saw the video. It went viral. Black woman in Texas who was canvassing for Texas Governor Greg Abbott knocked on the guy's door. He busts a sheet.

He says he is nowhere in hell. He's gonna vote for Abbott. She busts out laughing. Well, she got fired by the Abbott campaign. We have an exclusive interview with her. Her first interview since she got fired right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered at the top of the hour. You want to stick around for that.

Folks, support us in what we do. If you're watching on Facebook and YouTube, hit the like button. Hit the share button right now. We should be hitting more than a thousand likes. Also, download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV, and of course,

you can also support our Bring the Funk fan club with every dollar you give goes to support this show. See and check our money orders too. PO Box 57196, Washington, DC, 20037-0196. Cash App is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is R Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered.

Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. We'll be right back. We welcome you to the launch of the Mass Poor People's Low-Wage Assembly at Mara March on Washington, D.C., June 18, 2022. We are a new, unsettling force, and we are powerful. A new, unsettling force and we are powerful. A new, unsettling force and we are here. We're rising up to demonstrate the compelling power that we, poor and low-income people, have to reconstruct society from the bottom up. And we need to do it with the loudest voices possible, the biggest actions possible.

Because we know that there is no scarcity in this land. The only scarcity is the moral will to do what's right. Hold on just a little while longer. We are those with sub-minimum wage jobs who can't afford sky-high rent. People with disabilities are the fastest growing minority group. It's crazy to me that in 2021, it's still legal for workplaces to pay a sub-minimum wage to people with disabilities. There's still so much trial and tribulations that we go through as indigenous people.

We can't get a decent wage to sustain ourselves, nor can we get adequate housing. Veterans across this nation say enough is enough. We can't pat essential workers on the back on one day and then cut their health care the next day. Health is a political choice. What more do I need to do to prove that my voice is just as valuable as anyone else's? There are still forces in denial that would try to slow walk

our transition to a clean economy and a just future for us all. We have an immoral system run by immoral people. But together we walk, and we walk and we fight. It's time for a change! Reconstruyamos esta gran nación! See, we are people of resilience as we fight these interlocking injustice together. When we work together, mobilize together,

and rise together, we become a voice for the voiceless, and we become an agent of change in a time where great change is needed. We need the third reconstruction to ensure that deaf people, people with disabilities, and all people can have the right to live and to thrive. We know what they are doing, but the question is, what are we going to do?

Reconstruction begins when we change our mentality and say, it's time for you to get your foot off of my neck! I know justice is coming soon. Hey! Do you believe that? I'm today! My name is Charlie Wilson. Hi, I'm Sally Richardson Whitfield. And I'm Dodger Whitfield.

Hey, everybody. This is your man, Fred Hammond. And you're watching Roland Martin, my man, Unfiltered. We all know Donald Trump has a history of not paying his bills even before he became president. He screwed small businesses all of the time. Even after he got into the White House, he would have these rallies around the country, and cities would be incurring $200,000 and $300,000 and $400,000 and $500,000 in security costs, and he wouldn't pay the bills.

Literally. He would just ignore. El Paso was still trying to get paid. Minneapolis trying to get paid as well. Again, rally after rally. Now he's going to be going to Memphis. And so the Memphis City Council, some members of there are saying,

why in the hell should we be footing the bill for somebody who does not want to pay their bills? And so a resolution is being presented before the City Council to say that Memphis should not provide security for this event. And so joining us right now is a member to say that Memphis should not provide security for this event. And so joining us right now is a member of the city council discussing the Martavius Jones. He joins us right now from Memphis.

Glad to have you on the show, Councilman. Look, the record is clear. They don't pay their bills. Mr. Martin, that's the bottom line here, and that was the motivation behind it. To be honest with you, I cannot take credit for coming up with the idea. I received a phone call from a constituent that essentially expressed his opinion that we shouldn't do this. And I articulated this to one of the research analysts that works with me directly at the city council office. And she communicated with a research analyst that works with my colleague, Mr. J.B. Smiley. And that's how we talked about this, because Mr. Smiley, who's a candidate for governor, on his Twitter page,

he made a mention about Trump coming to Memphis. And Memphis is really not a Trump town. We have 95 counties here in Tennessee, and Shelby County, in which Memphis resides, is the most solidly blue county in this entire state. This is not a city. If anyone was coming, whether it's a former president or not, we still would expect them to pay their bills. But here's the deal, though. To me, look, I totally understand this is not a blue place,

but it comes down to green. That's what it comes down to. Now, look, if they have a history of having rallies and paying their security bills, guess what? You know what? So be it. And so, fine, go ahead and have it. But, folks, if y'all just go to my iPad, please.

This is a story that is from 2021. You see right there, Trump owes cities nearly $2 million from rallies dating back to 2016. And multiple mayors tell CTV News they were never reimbursed a dime. So this ain't blue. This ain't red. This is green. That's the reality that we're facing, Mr. Martin. He has a track record, as you talked about earlier, of stiffing contractors, stiffing small business owners. And the people that I represent in Memphis, they work entirely too hard for us to be frivolously providing security to a person who clearly does not pay their obligation

and who is on the record in numerous cities of not paying for the security that's been provided. And look at the numbers. Wildwood, New Jersey, $32,000. Albuquerque, New Mexico, $211,175 for rally dating back to 2019. Spokane, Washington, $65,124 from 2016. I mean, it goes up. Mesa, Arizona, okay, $64,000. I mean, you sit here and you go on and on and look at these numbers. Burlington, $8,464. That's going back to 2000. I mean, come on.

I mean, the numbers are just staggering and they really are like, yeah, okay, whatever. Well, one of the things I would point out, too, he actually isn't coming to Memphis. Memphis sits in the southwest corner of Tennessee, and we border Arkansas and we border Mississippi. So he's appearing in DeSoto County, Mississippi. But from a transportation standpoint, he will have to land at Memphis International Airport. airport. And so what's being contemplated here is the security details that would perhaps escort him from the Memphis International Airport to the Mississippi state line. But still, from that standpoint, he has, the bottom line is that he has not paid his obligations in other jurisdictions, and I just don't have any expectation that he would pay whatever those security costs would be in Memphis. And that's the spirit behind this.

So here's the deal. He's not a sitting president. So is Memphis or any other police, law enforcement agency, are they under any authority where they have to do this? From what I've been told and what I've read, Mr. Martin, this is more so a courtesy type of gesture. Of course, he has full Secret Service detail. And from what I've been told and what I've read is that you may have the Secret Service to reach out to local jurisdictions and ask for any type of support if necessary. And so what we're doing, Mr. Smiley and I, and I hope we have the support of my colleagues on the council, we are preemptively saying, based upon his track record, if that call is made

to Memphis Police Department to provide any semblance of that, that we refuse to do so unless we are paid upfront for those charges. And so this resolution, again, if the city council votes this way, the police department can't just make their own decision. And let's say there are some Memphis police officers

who say, well, you know, we like the guy, we'll do it free of charge. Are y'all also going to say you can't use Memphis city equipment? That would be the spirit of that. If they choose to do so using their own vehicles during their off-duty time to provide security, I think we really have no purview over that. But the main crux behind this is looking at the resources that were paid by the citizens of the city of Memphis

to provide escort to someone who's actually having a convening in a totally different jurisdiction in a totally different state. So, look, it makes sense to me. When do you think the council is going to vote on this? We meet tomorrow. So I'm looking forward to a robust discussion, and I think I'm hopeful that my council colleagues, at least a majority, will agree with this. All right.

Councilman Martavius Jones, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you for having me. All right. Jeff, sounds, makes sense to me. It makes a lot of sense to me. It makes a lot of sense to everybody, Roland. You know, we talk about a common courtesy, especially extending courtesy to the former president of the United States.

I think about the courtesies that are not extended to the average citizen. Don't pay your credit card bill and see if they will extend you the courtesy of giving you another credit card. Get evicted and see if you will be extended the courtesy to re-register with that landlord and move back in. Go down to the little hole-in-the-wall club that I go down and line dance at with my wife on Friday nights during happy hour, and I guarantee you, if we try to walk out on that tab just from that night, the six-foot-four brothers who guard the door would follow my car and make sure that I paid my bill and I would not be allowed back into the space again. So with $2 billion in debt, he's a bad investment. Memphis, which is a blue city,

an overwhelmingly blue city, which is a predominantly black city, is well within its rights to just extend the courtesy that any debtor would extend to any average citizen. If you don't pay your bills, brother, you can't come back to this place. It's interesting to see how the county and city governments in Memphis will work, because as in other cities in the South, there's also a county government in addition to city government, and those are usually set up along racial lines. So kudos to the city of Memphis for taking a stand here and for putting this on blast in the way they have because any average person would not be extended this courtesy.

Look, again, look, it's very easy, Julian, to go to Memphis being a Democratic city, being a blue city. No, this is about money. This fool ain't paid red cities. So, this is about money. If you ain't paid your bills, you tell him to move the hell on. Go somewhere else. More than that, the average taxpayer

is picking up the tab for this soft law who does not pay his bills. This is a combination of arrogance and caucasity that, uh, Mr. Trump has exhibited throughout his public life. He doesn't pay his contractors. He doesn't pay his workers. I mean, he doesn't pay his prostitutes.

He doesn't pay anybody. And he thinks he can get away with it. And his chickens have been coming home to roost. So I mean, he has security. Let his security take care of him. But the citizens of Memphis certainly should not, nor should the citizens of Tennessee, whether they're red or blue. The fact is that this man steals. He steals just like a shoplifter in a convenience store.

He steals because he can and because no one is checking him. And so I applaud the brother you had on earlier, the brother from the city council who said, nah, we ain't doing this. And there should be more who say we ain't doing this because he owes so many people. But his life is owing. I mean, he's been owing since he was born. And so what we need to know and understand about this rancid man is that he is arrogant and he simmers in the caucasity,

the whiteness of, I don't have to pay. Hell no. That is, look, I'm a Congo. I'm like, man, move the hell on. Move the hell on. Look, I ain't got no... And then I saw some story where they were like,

you know, we pay our obligations. No, you don't. No, you don't. And so, I'm with Memphis. Send the money in advance. Send the money in advance. PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, however you want it. Direct deposit, I don't care. send the money in advance.

Most definitely, man. I remember a story when he was running in 2016, and there was a father who had, like, his daughter and, like, a little dance troupe or something, and they performed at one of his events, and they didn't get paid. I mean, the guy is a hustler, period, bottom line. And we talk about the money that these cities are trying to get back from him,

but these cities are spending more money in courts and other legal battles just trying to recoup the money that's already owed. So it's like a continual process of spruing these places over. And what the councilman was talking about relating to law enforcement, if law enforcement people haven't

realized by now that this man and this Republican Party, from the insurrection to everything else, they don't give a damn about law enforcement in any way, shape or form. If they don't get that by now and are still going to offer him some form of protection, they should lose their jobs. I mean, because they are never going to get it. These guys don't care anything about law and order. This guy doesn't care anything about paying his debts. And as far as I'm concerned, he need to do something like Uber or something to get through Memphis because, you know, you gotta have

the card attached and that money gotta go through before they even pick you up. So that's how I see it. Hey, I say go ahead and cue that ideal song, Get the Hell On, Get Gone. Yes, sir. To me, that's what you cue. Alright, y'all. Gotta go to a break. When we come back, we'll talk about some Arizona cops on leave.

They stood around and watched a black man drown and said, we ain't going in to save you, causing outrage all across the country. Also, a black woman was a canvasser for Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Well, she was going door to door. Well, she went to one door, and this guy answered the door, and he was like, hell no, I ain't voting for him. And she just bust out laughing. Well,

the guy put the video out. It went viral. They fired her. Now, she wants to work for Beto O'Rourke, who's running for governor of Texas on the Democratic side. We'll talk to her in an exclusive interview right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network.

On a next A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie, we're talking all things mental health and how helping others can help you. We all have moments where we have struggles, and on this week's show, our guests demonstrate how helping others can also help you. Why you should never stop giving and serving others

on a next A Balanced Life here on Black Star Network. I'm Dr. Gregg Carr, and coming up on The Next Black Table, we're speaking with Dr. Lucius T. Outlaw Jr., master teacher and philosopher. He takes us on his journey to discover and celebrate black philosophy. From my undergraduate years at Fisk

all the way through my PhD, I was never in a philosophy class where I had a professor who was a person of African descent nor a sign or text written by a person of African descent, ever. How he pushed back at those who said there was no such thing and got us all thinking about what it means to be Black. That's on the next Black Table, exclusively on the Black Star Network.

I'm Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach and host of Get Wealthy. On the next Get Wealthy, here's the good news. Black women are the fastest growing segment of business owners. The not so good news, the average business by Black women is only earning revenues of $45,000 or less. On the next Get Wealthy, you're going to hear from a woman who went from her kitchen table to cat tables, growing her business to over a million dollars. You should start a business because your product is needed in the world, not because you hate the person that you work with. If you hate your job and you hate your manager,

go find a new job, a place that makes you feel comfortable. And I say that because starting a business is truly a labor of love and service. If you want to learn how to do it, right here on the Next Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. Hey, everybody, this is Sherri Shepherd. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. And while he's doing Unfiltered, I'm practicing the wobble. on Blackstar Network. single time. So I'm working on it. I got it. You got Roland Martin. Hi, my name is LaToya Luckett,

and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. What's going on, everybody? It's your boy, Mack Wiles, and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. What's up, y'all? It's Ryan Destiny, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. What up, Lana Well, and you are watching

Roland Martin Unfiltered. Police in East Point, Georgia, want to help find a 38-year-old Byron J. Roden. On June 2nd, he was last seen on a MARTA bus in Atlanta, wearing a multicolored polo shirt, khaki shorts, and multicolored Versace gym shoes. Byron is a wheelchair dependent and has several health issues, including a medical condition called dwarfism. Byron is about three feet tall, weighs between 70 and 80 pounds, with long black dreads with blonde highlights and brown eyes.

Anyone with information should call the East Point, Georgia Police Department at 404-761-2177, 404-761-2177. 404-761-2177. In Arizona, three police officers are on administrative leave for not helping a drowning man who was begging for help. Police were called to the scene where Sean Bickings and his wife were. Now, someone thought the couple was in the midst of a domestic dispute. Bickings and his wife told the officers nothing was going on. For some reason, Sean fled. He jumped into the lake while swimming. He began going under and pleading for help. Now, there isn't any video of the actual incident, but there is body camera footage

until Sean jumps into the lake. Watch this. What are you doing my friend? Huh? What are you doing? I'm going to go for a swim. I'm ready to go, right? You can't swim in the lake, man. You're not able to swim? You got to keep an eye. You guys stay here just in case he gets out.

I'll get that one. I wonder if all. I thought around three. Highfall 12, the subject that. Highfall 11 was running. He jumped in the lake and was trying to swim away I'm pretty sure there's, like, turbines at the base of the dam that could suck it. Oh, God. Oh, God. Now, folks, police released a written transcript of the audio where Bickings repeatedly asked for help.

You see right there, Officer 2, what's your plan right now? I'm going to drown. I'm going to drown. No, you're not. Officer, go at least go to the pylon and hold on. Victim, I'm drowning. Come back over to the pylon. I can't. I can't. Okay, I'm not jumping in after you. He then says, please help me. Please, victim, I'm drowning. Come back over to the pylon. I can't, I can't. Okay, I'm not jumping in after you. He then says, please help me, please, please, please.

Folks, these cops literally did nothing. Now, eventually, one cop tried to go get a boat to go after him. By that point, it was too late. Pickings was dead. See, this is the thing we're always talking about, Omicongo, Jeff and Julian. too late, Pickings was dead. See, this is the thing we're always talking about, Omicongo, Jeff and Julian,

afraid when the cops show up. And again, people go, Jeff, well, I don't understand, why don't you comply? It is, black people fear being killed by cops. What ends up happening here? He ends up dying.

And in this case, I believe the cops should be, both of them should be accessories to murder. They should be accessories to manslaughter. I send a spiritual libation to Sean Bickens, to his family. He was homeless, unhoused. Again, the police showed up on the scene, as you see them there, as I read about this story. I had no idea that the lake was as large as it is. But when you look out and you see these waters roiling up under this bridge, it makes you say, how could someone sit and watch a person die?

There has been precedent for circumstances and situations like this. Here in Nashville, Tennessee, an officer named Eric Mumaw saw a woman attempt to commit suicide. He and another officer jumped into the lake after her. They were able to save her life, but Eric Mumar lost his life in the process. He was celebrated as a hero. To see these officers stand by and to be callous, to be cruel, to be criminal, and to be cavalier makes you understand why Brother Bickens jumped in in the first place, because you see police not as your friends, not as people who are going to protect and serve, but as people who may potentially take your life.

And in this case, they inadvertently did the same thing. They've been placed on non-disciplinary, listen to the keywords, non-disciplinary administrative leave with pay over this incident. But if we're going to see justice here, then the city there in Arizona needs to say clearly to these officers who stood by and watched this man drown, we are not going to save you, and we are not going to jump in after you.

You will be punished. It is just certainly sad, Julian, that this man is dead. And, I mean, the cops didn't try to go get a rope, didn't try to do anything. Um, it's not... I mean, and here's the other question. Do the officers have a life jacket or something in their car? Do they even attempt to go there, toss it to them? No, we ain't coming in after you. Whatever.

You know, this is a wanton indifference to human life, a wanton indifference to black life, a wanton indifference to black life. One has to wonder if these were, if this was a white man jumping in the river, what they would have done. That's just a casual speculation. The greatest speculation is just what Reverend Jeff has said. These folks were accessories to murder or manslaughter. They stood by and talked smack to the man. I'm not coming in after you. Come on now.

And what we also know is that the presence of so-called law enforcement officers for many black people, and especially many black men who follow the news, are afraid that an officer will shoot them and jack them up and do something to them. This is absurd. I'm almost speechless at the implications of this, but the bottom line is this. They should not be working. They should not draw another paycheck. And potentially, they should be incarcerated for their role in this man's untimely death. I'm a Congo. You know, as I was reading the story, I was waiting to say, to see something to the effect of, well, when they started looking up his background, they found that he was, like,

wanted for murder or something like that. And you know that's not the case because they would have put that story out as a reason why they, this man, tried to flee. And so we're going off what Reverend Jeff said. He was homeless, dealing with some issue of mental illness, possibly. They talk so much about wanting to do things

to support people in the mental health community. Maybe he needed that type of assistance. I also read that as his wife was going hysterical watching him die, they threatened to arrest her. So you see a situation where they roll up on a couple. If the couple says they're fine, they should have left. And it should have never been a story.

But we see situations where police may intervene in particular things and it ends up being escalated. And in too many instances, we end up being escalated. And in too many instances, we end up losing our lives. And, yes, this is not a situation where somebody is unarmed and being shot, but kind of going off of what Reverend Jeff was saying there, consequences are just the same. People are just comfortable watching Black life be wasted away, and they just don't care. Whatever reason this man went over, these men's—and I don't know if there was a female officer there as well, their job is to serve and protect, and they let this man down. I don't know

who called based on what they saw, but once they said there was no problem, they should have just left about their business as opposed to looking for outstanding warrants and all of this other type of nonsense. And we've lost another black life because of it. Indeed, indeed. Roland, can I interject something real quick to this?

Because this is important. One of the things that Omikongo just mentioned, and it goes in line with what we've been saying, is clear. The couple said, there is no problem. Issue is over. The officers took it upon themselves to ask for their ID and try

to run their IDs to see if there were outstanding warrants. That is the inciting incident. Let me tell you something else. If you put that video back up that we've been watching, I don't know if you can get to it quickly, but I'll tell you what happened to me when I was, and it was the other one I think that showed the officers with the brother on the front edge, but I was canoeing down the Harpeth River. And one thing that you learn to do when you're on a Harpeth River is you put your stuff that's valuable in a cooler. Why? Because a cooler floats. If you look at that shot from the other

angle to the left of the officer, when they're showing the brother sitting on the bench, there is a blue cooler next to a crutch that obviously belonged to that couple. If you see that right there to the left, that is a cooler. A cooler is also a flotation device. If any of y'all been to the country and hung out with some good old boys, you can throw that joker in a river and it'll float. The simple act of reaching to his right and throwing it over there into the water could have potentially saved his life. You didn't have to go to your car and get a rope.

You could have thrown him the cooler. What it says is I am not willing to throw you a life raft. I'm not willing to assist you with something that even belongs to you. I am willing to watch another human being perish. And that's the irony in all of this. It is. All right, folks, going to go to break another human being perish. And that's the irony in all of this. It is. All right, folks, going to go to break. We come back.

Exclusive interview with a sister out of Texas who was a canvasser for Texas Governor Greg Abbott doing her job. And guys responded, you know, when she knocked on his door and she just naturally bust out laughing. Well, the humorless Abbott campaign fired her. She launched a GoFundMe page, joined Twitter because the video went viral,

and we have an exclusive interview with her next right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. YouTube, hit the Like button. Facebook, hit the Like button and the Share button. Folks, download the Black Star Network app, Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV.

Also, join our Bring the Funk fan club, where you can of course support us in what we do. PO Box 57196, Washington D.C. 20037-0196. See your checks and money orders. Of course, you can also support us via Cash App. Dollar sign RM unfiltered, PayPal is R Martin unfiltered, Venmo is RM unfiltered, PayPal is R Martin unfiltered. Venmo is RM unfiltered.

Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. 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. I'm Bill Duke. This is De'Alla Riddle, and you're watching Roland Martin, Unfiltered. Stay woke. Thank you. All right, folks. This video went viral over the weekend. And so this sister in the video was out and about canvassing for Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

Paid job, I believe it was $22 an hour. I think so. And so she was out and about, you know, knocking on doors and went to this house. And this guy's, I guess, ring camera recorded her coming up and this is what it recorded and this is what went viral. Hi, are you Mr. Whitfield? Yes. I'm here volunteering for Greg Abbott and we wanted to know if we counted on your support for the upcoming election?

Absolutely not. Everybody got to have a job, sir. Thank you for your support and my support. Thank you, I appreciate it. Thank you. Everybody got to have a job, sir. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it.

Have a good one. Okay. All right, y'all. So Monique Dawson was just doing her job, and she just bust out laughing. So this video went viral, went all over the place. And then the next day, Monique goes into the office, and they were like, they're looking for you. And she didn't know what the hell was going on.

She didn't realize it went viral. She wasn't on Twitter, had no idea, and then they fired her. Well, folks have been talking about this. Of course, she's been responding on Twitter, launched a GoFundMe. All kinds of stuff has been happening. She joins us now for her exclusive interview, her first interview since this happened. Joining us from Fort Worth, Texas, Monique Dawson. Monique, how you doing? I'm good. Okay. All right, Monique. So let's start here, okay, first. How long were you working with the campaign?

It was actually like our third or fourth day out. I worked with them previously from December to March for the primary, but we had just went out back on circulation. All right. And so what people don't realize is some people assume that because you're working for a campaign, you support the candidate. Your deal was it's a job. It's a job. That's it. It's a job. And what were they paying you? $22 an hour.

So $22 an hour. And you were working how many hours a day, how many days a week? Six hours a day, seven days a week. So six hours a day, seven days a week. But I do the math. So basically you were making

almost $1,000 a week. So you were like, this was a J-O-B. So the house you went to, what part of, were you in Fort Worth, were you in one of the surrounding communities? Where were you? We were either in Hearst or

Colleyville. So anybody who's listening, so basically, folks, you have Fort Worth, you have Dallas, and in between you have Arlington, but then you have these bedroom communities, other little suburban communities, Hearst, Euless, Bedford, Colleyville.

I actually stayed in Bedford when I worked for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as a city hall reporter, so quite familiar with that area. So you walk up to the house, and the guy makes the statement, why didn't you bust out laughing? It was really his face. From the moment he opened the door,

it was like he was just looking at me. He was like, why are you here? And I was asking him the question or whatever. I didn't laugh. So bottom line is, you didn't bust out laughing at the idea of him like, hell no. So basically what he gave you was, hell no, I ain't voting for Greg Abbott.

Look. I thought he was going to say absolutely. It's when he threw the naughty in like he threw me off. Y'all, roll the video again. All right. Roll the video again. Everybody got to have a job. No, no, no.

Roll it from the beginning. There you Mr. Whitfield? Yes. I'm now volunteering for Greg Abbott, and we wanted to know if you counted on your support for the upcoming election? Absolutely not. Everybody got to have a job, sir. Thank you.

Thank you. I appreciate it. Have a good one. So you just, so you were like, look, everybody can have a job, you know, support whether or not you didn't diss Greg Abbott, anything along those lines. All right, so what happened the next day?

Okay, so I showed up to work. I was out training, having a good day, getting a lot of surveys. But... All right, we're losing you a little bit there. So you said the next day you were going out, you were doing surveys, things along those lines. And then someone had called me.

I didn't recognize the number, so I called them back. And I guess one of the managers or whatever, and I guess somebody had tagged Greg in it. So they said that I wasn't going to be able to work with them. So all of a sudden, so for everybody to know, this is Greg Abbott right here. We've been seeing him. So this is the governor of Texas. So someone said, hey, you can't work.

And did you try to explain to them? Y'all, I didn't ditch the man. Sorry. I just naturally laughed. Right, because you know, like when it happened, I had no idea it was gonna go the way that it did go. I was more along the lines of, I really did want to keep my job.

You know, I wanted to explain like, hey, if they took that context, that was them. You don't see a video like, I didn't post it. But you know, like, hey, at the end of the day, everything happens for a reason. Alright, so I missed that last part again because your audio is going in and out there. And so, Evers,

you said everything happens for a reason. Then what did you say? I said I'm glad Dr. Whitfield posted the video. Dr. Whitfield, that's the guy whose house you knocked on? Say it again. All right. So it's absolutely not. So you go to his house.

And, okay, first of all, you say Dr. Whitfield, because he actually sent me a DM saying definitely wanted to get in contact with you. So this thing goes viral. And all of a sudden, man, stuff just takes off. Then you create a goal. And again, you weren't even on social media, right? No. I can tell because your Twitter handle, Lloyd, is Monique48322061. That's like one of them damn bots.

So then you created a GoFundMe, and the goal was to raise $15,000. Man, you have exceeded that. Y'all, look at that. Two days ago, created two days ago, she put her goal down there at $15,000. And so she was making $924 a week. And so you think about that in terms of if you look with the campaign, with the election, that really would have covered the next 16 weeks.

So basically would have covered you between now and the election. Right. But folks, but 1400 donors have come through and so far you've raised $25,620. How do you feel how this thing has gone and how this thing has

blown up and how folks have responded? I feel number one, blessed. Thank you, God. Because it never was my intention to like, hey, I'm going to be a garner and support for Greg Abbott.

It was more along the lines of I thought they had a list of supporters and they need to go, you know, make sure that they were going to vote. I didn't know they was having me just knock on anybody's door and ask them to support. So it's up to me. So this is it certainly has turned out quite interesting. Now, you said that you want to work for Beto O'Rourke? Yes. Okay. Is that because you want to work for him because you want a job,

or you want to see him become governor? Both. Say that again? Both. All right again? Both. All right, we're still having some issues with the audio there. And so have you heard back from the Texas Democrats or the O'Rourke campaign? I have heard from them, and we are, you know, in the process of ironing things out. So, when more details do come, I will be happy to give updates. Okay. Well, I did, so just so you know, before we

went on, I did text Beto O'Rourke to find out if he was aware of this. Oh, yeah, I got it like that, Monique. Come on now. Come on now. You better ask somebody. I called him and I texted him. Of course, he's on the campaign trail. I have not heard back from him. And I also reached out to one of his aides as well who is with him. And so hopefully we'll hear back from him. So this is, and James Whitfield is the principal who was fired at, was it Colleyville School?

Well, he was the principal of one of the schools. We had him on, and so it was a big controversy, and they claimed he was teaching critical race theory. We actually had him on the show. So that's why when you said his name, I was like, hold up, that was that Whitfield? So, yeah, he had actually sent me a DM saying that he definitely wanted to get you on the show. Now, have you heard from folk all around the country since this happened?

Hey, I've been responding to messages from people from Canada, Chicago, Bangladesh. I mean, it's just a lot further than I thought it would. Well, and so I take it also that now have you always wanted to work on campaigns? Have you always liked politics? Have you worked on other campaigns? Is this a passion of yours beyond getting paid? Beyond getting paid, I have worked on other campaigns. I was a member of the Texas Organizing Project since 2019,

and we also worked on the Beto O'Rourke Project, District, Judge, County, Jenkins. We were out campaigning for Biden. So in the past, I have some Democratic campaigning gifts. All right, then. Let's see here. I'll start with some questions. Julianne, you got a question or anything for Monique? Sure, Monique. This is the year,

it's been a couple years of the Black woman. As a sister doing this work, how did this experience make you feel, and how does it empower you to do further work in politics? It makes me feel like, you know, more so this, that I'm going to have to do something that I don't necessarily believe in, just because of the circumstances.

The availability that if I do want to actually go and volunteer for a campaign, I can go do that. Having this is what I'm having to do this because that's what I'm being paid for? Omokongo. I think it's really amazing the way that the country

and other countries and places like Canada have been embracing you. I'm wondering if you've received any backlash from people who are supporters of Abbott or the Republicans in general. Somebody compared me to Hitler. You know, I wouldn't have said that because I'm not. It's nothing near the range of what I'm doing. Yeah, somebody was definitely comparing me to the person that works the ovens for Hitler at the concentration camps. Wow, that's nuts.

Jeff. He works for Abbott. I was like, oh, well. Jeff. Wow. Yes, sir. Yes, sister. Look, it's remarkable how, you know, we always talk about we judge people for the jobs that they take without even researching many of the employers that many people work for.

I think many people would be out of a job, period, if they research the policies of your own community activism and the work that you're doing as a canvasser, outside of putting aside 24% of that GoFundMe for taxes so we don't see you get in trouble? Outside of that, I plan on continuing to spread the good word. I mean, if I do get to organize a job with Beto, fine. If not, fine. If I don't, I'm going to be in a little bit of trouble. All right, so you broke up there. So let's go ahead and start again. You said if you don't get the job. If I don't get the job, then I'm still going to be doing some phone banking

and some canvassing and just hoping that Beto can capitalize off this viral moment because it's his time to shine. All right, then. Now, I did have a question from one of our followers. Let's see here in the chat room. So Janae said, real question, is she a registered Democrat? Clearly not. Abbott hired her.

I am a registered Democrat. If they hire you, they, you know, always give you the option like, hey, are you going to be comfortable doing this? And I just look at it like I'm a paid professional actor because I'm acting like I like this job. Wait, you said I'm a paid professional actor. I'm acting like I like this job. Like everybody.

Hey, I'm not mad at you at all. Well, look, I certainly hope you hear from the Beto campaign. You know, I had somebody sit here and say, why Roland got to let us know who he got in his phone number? This is real simple. If I can help facilitate Monique getting the job, why not? Hell, if you got the hookup, it's called a hookup.

That's the whole damn point. Hello, world. Yeah. All right, then. Well, look, I'm glad folks that responded. You might want to raise the GoFundMe now to about $30,000. Go ahead and double it. But glad to see people have supported you. And so I'll ask you this here.

So with non-campaign, what do you do? Or what do you want to do? Non-campaign? I guess I'm going for my CDL, so... Your what? Going for my CDL, like, in the transportation industry. Your CDL? What's that? Uh, like, a truck driver.

My brother has a trucking company, so we just help out with that. Oh, you want to be a truck driver? Oh, okay. All right. All right. Well, go ahead then. So you're trying to get your truck driving license? Yes. Okay. All right then.

And so I saw here someone said that you have five kids. Is that what someone said? That's true, yes. Okay. So you got five kids. Well that what someone said? That's true, yes. Okay, so you got five kids. Well, look, I'm glad folk responded. And again, if you look at the math,

you were making $924 a week from them. And so the money that they, that's come from the GoFundMe can actually, if you run that, it could last the next 27 weeks, almost half a year. So hopefully, you can get that money. Hopefully, the Beto folks, the Texas Democrats will hire you, and then you can make this thing happen. Hopefully so. All right, then. Well, look, good luck. Certainly glad you joined us. And yeah, you never know when something is going to go viral.

It had nothing to do with you, but it certainly took off on its own. Thank you. All right. All right. We'll appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. Tell everybody what's up in Fort Party Worth. All right.

Take care. All right. That is one. One one that's hilarious. When she's like, look, hey, I'm like a paid actor. That that that that that one there. I almost fell out on that one, Jeff. Oh, yeah. That's a classic. And I think it's interesting because let me say this. I'm so glad you're giving us a moment to unpack this because this is important. This is so important. Listen, I've been a political activist and actionist.

I worked, worked, worked, worked, worked, been a senior advisor to a mayoral campaign in 2018. I ran for mayor in a special election. And in 2018, I led the defeat of a $9 billion transit plan that would have just crippled the city of Nashville. So I know about professional canvassers. I've hired them. My son is one of my secret weapon canvassers. Listen, canvassers canvass.

And when she said she made $22 an hour, I'm like, hey, that's not bad, because you can get canvassers from $15 to 15 to 25 and then you get poll workers. They get a C-note in a day. This is what people do. There are people who are sign makers and they make signs. I mean, African-American sign makers. They make signs for every Democratic candidate in the primary. They encourage extra Democrats to run because they want to make everybody sign. They run signs for the opposition, yard signs, street corner signs. They do radio ads for all sides because this is the business of politics. It has absolutely nothing often to do with what you believe and what jobs are available. So this sister was able to come in and say, listen, I'm a canvasser. I canvas

while I'm working on my CDL. This is what I do. We would be standing in judgment of her if she decided to go stand on a street corner and make some money for her babies, or she decided to go into a restaurant and say, I'm going to work for $7 an hour and then whiplash you with the bad attitude that I have in customer service because I'm angry at my low wages. Instead, she says, this is what I did. I love the reference to being a paid actor because it's a script and that's what you put out there. Believe me, I've seen worse. I've gotten you, buddy. I did transit. I went to a lady. She came to the door with a, uh, with a, uh, a walker on, and I was trying to talk to her about transit. She said, let me stop you, baby.

Do I look like I beep and need some beep damn transit? And I laughed harder. I said, my bad. And I laughed harder than that sister did. This is just what happens. It happens on jobs that you get in a fast food window. It happens in corporate America, and it happened to this sister on the street. So salute to you, and like I said,

tuck away about 22% to 24%, or whatever Dr. Malvo would recommend, so that you pay your taxes on that so they don't get you for that. Look, what people... First of all, a lot of people in the Congo don't understand the reality of the nuances

of political campaigns. There are people who volunteer. There are people who actually get paid. There are jobs in these. And so, you know, Jeff is absolutely right. And so, look, here's a sister who's like, hey, it's a J-O-B. I was just trying to sit here and just look. If I'm door knocking and just putting flyers or whatever on door like, hey, it's a J-O-B. I was just trying to sit here and just look. If I'm door knocking

and just putting flyers or whatever on door handles, hey, that's what the job is. Yeah, I mean, it's like both of you are saying. Campaigning is an industry, period, bottom line. If she's not out there pushing the platform, she's just giving out information.

What people do with the information is their choice. And I'm just happy to see that people are embracing her because I'm just tired of seeing so many things go viral for the wrong reasons. You know, a cat scratching his behind or some of these other more violent moments that are happening. Just seeing a sister out there.

I'm glad you asked about the children because I saw that car seat. Supporting five kids in this economy with everything going on. People are doing their good deed and reaching out and helping the sister get to that next level and can hopefully springboard her into more work with the campaign that

she wants to support because to answer that social person who's following you, she is a registered Democrat. This is a win-win for everybody at the end of the day. And hopefully she'll move on and also get that trucker's license that she's looking for as well. Just seems like a positive sister

doing the right thing. And I'm just glad that you gave her the attention she got and that other people have been embracing her like we all are right now. Well, Julianne, when I saw this story, I was like, man, we got to get this sister on the show. I say that video was just too funny.

I'm glad you did, Roland. As Oba Congo said, this sister is doing her thing sister on the show. I say that video was just too funny. I'm glad you did, Roland. As Oba Congo said, this sister is doing her thing, and she's doing the right thing. Politics is nothing but acting. Not only whether you're supporting a candidate, opposing a candidate,

or even if you are the candidate. This is theater. It's not really about the real thing. We talked earlier about guns and other things. These people know what the right thing is, but they're acting because they want to stay reelected. So if the people down at the bottom of the campaign trail, um, if they can make some money, hey, go for it.

But what I liked about this sister, first of all, her energy, her attitude, her smile, and the fact that she is doing what she needs to do to support herself. Now, Brother Jeff, I'm going to tell you, nah, 24% ain't going to get it. You got to put away about a third with that freelance money.

But... Okay, there it is. But whatever she does, what we know she's doing is she's doing the right thing for her kids. And Roland, kudos to you yet again. I mean, you are just doing it. You are doing it. And thank you for giving this sister a platform which perhaps will encourage other women and men to figure out how to get around this putrid economy.

They say the unemployment rate is 3.6%, and I guess it is from Friday. But you know what? Our people are still suffering while people are talking about a robust economy. So we have to have plan A, B, C, D, E, F, G. We have to have other ways to make money, to have multiple income streams,

and kudos to her for doing that. I just wish we could all just meet her, hug her, and say, y'all, you go, girl. Alright, folks. Gotta go to a break. We come back. A couple of breaking news stories. One out of Louisiana, one out of North Carolina

dealing with the shooting death of Andrew Brown Jr. We'll tell you about those two stories when we come back on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network Facebook and YouTube. Hit that like button. Hit that share button. We should be easily at more than 1,000. If you want to support us in what we do,

please download our Black Star Network app. You can see all of our programming at any time in real time. Download it on your Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. And of course, you can also join our Bring the Funk fan club. Our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing 50 bucks a year,

$4.19 a month, 13 cents a day. And of course, you can send a check or money order to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. The Cash App is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is R Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com.

We'll be right back. A powerful movement is rising across America. From the Mississippi Delta to the Apache stronghold. From the homeless encampments of Washington State to the coal fields of Appalachia or West Virginia. We are the 140 million poor and low-wealth people in this country, and we are building the Poor People's Campaign, a national call for moral revival.

On June 18, ahead of this year's midterm elections, while the Congress is still in session, we will hold a mass Poor People's and Low Wage Workers Assembly and Moral March on Washington to arrest the attention of the nation, to put a face and a voice on poverty and low wages in this country. This is a watershed moment for justice and democracy in America. There are those who say that transformative change isn't possible,

but history teaches us that it is precisely in times like these that people must build a broad and deep movement from the bottom up. We must compel this nation to repent, to lament, and to see the realities that have been hidden for far too long. On June 18th, we will come together to lift the voices of the poor and low-wage workers who know that change is not only possible, it

is essential for our survival. We will make the connections to show how systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, the denial of health care, the war economy, and the false moral narrative of religious nationalism and white supremacy are hurting us all. We will show the nation the faces of Americans who cannot afford to go back to normal. We will detail the policies that can move us toward a society that works for everyone and we will pledge to go home and build power for transformative change in this year's election and for years to come.

Because the question should have never been, how much will it cost to address poverty? The real question is, how much is it costing us not to? Somebody's been hurting our people. It's gone on far too long. And we won't be silent or unseen anymore. Join us in D.C. on June 18th. Build with us for a third reconstruction in America. Visit poorpeoplescampaign.org. I'm Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach and host of Get Wealthy.

On the next Get Wealthy, here's the good news. Black women are the fastest growing segment of business owners. The not so good news, the average business by Black women is only earning revenues of $45,000 or less. On the next Get Wealthy, you're going to hear from a woman who went from her kitchen table to cat tables, growing her business to over a million dollars. You should start a business because your product is needed in the world, not because you hate the person that you work with. If you hate your job and you hate your manager, go find a new job, a place that makes you feel comfortable.

And I say that because starting a business is truly a labor of love and service. If you want to learn how to do it, right here on the next Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. Hey, I'm Deion Cole from Black-ish. Hey, I'm Deon Cole from Black-ish. Hey, I'm Arnaz J. Black TV does matter, dang it.

Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your boy, Jacob Lattimore, and you're now watching Roland Martin right now. Stay woke. Folks, some breaking news out of North Carolina, where a decision has been, actually a settlement has been announced in the shooting death of Andrew Brown Jr. You might recall in April death of Andrew Brown Jr. You might recall in April 2021, Andrew Brown Jr. was pursued by a variety of sheriff's officers. This is the video that

was actually released where they descended upon his home and rolled up on him, shot and killed him in his driveway there. This is actually the video from one of the cameras there where the police were there, you know, on this truck, you know, headed to the home. Several different police agencies, the family filed a $30 million federal law, civil rights lawsuit against the various police agencies saying that the officers showed intentional and reckless disregard for his life. It took place in Pasquotank County there in Elizabeth City. Again, they were trying to serve drug-related warrants at his particular home. It was the D.A. Andrew Womble who chose not to actually pursue charges against the officers because, as he said, again, as he said, that Brown used his car

as a deadly weapon. The family, though, they of course said it was absolutely unjustified what took place there. There were a number of protests that took place there in Elizabeth City. We covered a number of those protests with various activists, and so we were there on the ground covering those stories there. And so, again, so many people come out supporting this family, demanding accountability, Reverend Barbara and others. This is one of the news conferences where we were at with a family when they were actually shown the tape. These were some of the lawyers who were there speaking as well. And so, again, there's a $3 million settlement in this case in the death of Andrew Brown Jr. Now let's go to Louisiana for other breaking news where a couple of hours ago, a federal judge ruled the Louisiana legislature must redraw its recently approved congressional district maps

to include another majority black district. Like the map used for the last decade, the new map included five of six U.S. congressional districts that lean heavily Republican, even though roughly one-third of Louisiana's population is black. Now, both the old and new maps have only one majority black district, including parts of New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Now, the judges in the 150 page ruling, they took the time to lay out if there was indeed enough time to actually redraw these maps. This is a huge decision, Julian, because right now, Congressman Troy Carter is the only black member of Congress from Louisiana. By them ordering a second seat, if this is held up, this obviously helps Democrat chances

of retaining control of the House. And what it also does is reminiscent of the decision that came out of Alabama, where the federal judges ruled there, although they were overruled, that Alabama deserved to have a second black congressional district because of the size of the black population. You know, when you look at Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, what you're looking at are large black enclaves that gerrymanderers have been able to sideline.

And so this is an important decision, not only because it will buttress a Democratic majority or whatever it's going to be, it might be a majority, in the House, but also because it amplifies the voices of those who have been the least and the left out. Louisiana, and I got Louisiana roots, you got that last name, Malvo, they have Louisiana roots. We know that what has happened there is that you have attempted

to squeeze all the black people into one district and then have pockets of them in smaller districts where they have no majorities. So the court is right here, but the question is whether with the Trump, and we have to call it the Trump Supreme Court, whether it will be further challenged and whether or not it will be upheld. It's important. There are no rights without voting rights, Roland, as you know.

There are no rights without voting rights. And so whether we talk about economic rights or, you know, even food rights, there are no rights, body autonomy, without voting rights. And so whether we talk about economic rights or, you know, even food rights, there are no rights, body autonomy, without voting rights, this is an important decision. And let me be real clear, folks, because the facts matter. This is not a majority-minority district. Go to my iPad. This is

the judge's ruling. It says right here the appropriate remedy in this context is a remedial congressional redistricting plan that includes an additional majority black congressional district. Majority black, Omicongo.

And that's some beautiful breaking news. And to be quite honest, this actually ties into our very first segment tonight about pushing the Democrats because these type of cases don't happen without people fighting. There's organizations like Eric Holder's organizations and other groups that are fighting these projects and these attempts by Republicans across the entire nation to do these particular projects. You know it better in Texas, better than anybody else. They are trying to do this.

They think that we are not politically sophisticated enough to fight this fight. But we are here for it every single day, 24 hours a day. And so I'm very happy for that news, the first part of the segment. I'm glad that the Brown family reached a settlement. It's never going to bring him back. But, you know, these are two stories that represent good news. And we have to continue to fight. We can never let up. And like Dr. Malvo was saying, we know that this is going to go higher up in the court. We have to keep pushing and keep fighting to make sure that at every juncture, we are not just giving up our opportunities to be part of this democratic process without a fight. Now, Jeff, here's what's

interesting, because normally when we're talking about these elections, normally we're talking about courts saying, hey, it's too late to make changes because the primaries have already started. Well, Louisiana is different. Their primaries are actually on election day. So they have what is called a top two primary. So the top two candidates, if they don't finish 50 plus one, they advance to a December runoff. So with this being June, the courts are actually ordering the legislature, go back to my iPad, to enact a remedial plan on or before June 20th, 2022. What they say in here is that candidates can file until July 8th.

And the qualifying period, again, set for July 22nd, said this is unaffected. So the late primary of Louisiana actually helped the plaintiffs in this particular lawsuit. Yes, it was absolutely a perfect storm. And also, when you talk about remediation of maps and prevention of more gerrymandering, we've seen a lot of gerrymandering in Tennessee with the gerrymandering lizard that our legislature passed. And of course, it was affirmed by a governor-selected Supreme Court here. But you also look at what's happening in Louisiana. And in this 150 page opinion, it also pushes back on the notion that private citizens can't come as plaintiffs

and argue or at least present alternatives and complain. That's part of Section 2, I believe, of the 1965 Voter Rights Act. So this is a wonderful opportunity to make a change. Again, the reason why they're able to do this, as it's outlined in the opinion, is because the Supreme Court has already affirmed this. As Dr. Malvo said, the question is going to be now, what will this current Supreme Court do? Will they potentially reverse it? But it's also noteworthy that to point out that I believe there were eight maps that also affirmed the need for another majority-minority district.

So the president is there. No, no, no. No, no, no. Majority black district. Majority black. No, they were very specific. Not majority-minority. Majority black district.

In fact, the lawsuit, this is what they said, that it was a violation of the Voting Rights Act because two things were happening, what is called packing and cracking. And that is, they were packing as many black people as possible into the second congressional district held by Congressman Troy Carter. Then they were then cracking the black voters,

splitting them up into five other congressional districts, thereby diluting their voting power. The courts ruled, no, there should be two majority black districts there in New Orleans. Folks, all of this, excuse me, there in Louisiana. So if this holds up, as I said, this could very well help Democrats out. They are desperate to try to hold on to the House and the Senate. Look at the polling numbers of President Joe Biden.

It's not necessarily a good thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm on the Republican side. But Democrats are saying, look, if we want to continue the policies of President Joe Biden, we must hold on to the House, to the Senate. Here's part two of my conversation with Congressman Hakeem Jeffries. We talked about the fierce headwinds Democrats are facing and what it means to have the proper messaging, the proper messaging,

and reaching out and talking to Black voters and making it clear what's important for those voters and others to turn out. Move forward. Let's talk about your state. You've been highly critical of what took place there after Democrats moved forward with a congressional map that was deemed to be gerrymandering and a violation of the state constitution and then uh maps were redrawn uh basically as you said decimating of the districts of african americans um is there any uh of those districts moving forward is there any redress uh and uh others are simply saying democrats shot themselves in the

foot by uh screwing over other Democrats, especially Black Democrats? Well, it was a very flawed process that was set into motion by Chief Justice Janet DiFiori of the New York Court of Appeals and unleashed by this runaway majority who decided that they were going to conclude first, erroneously, I believe, that the lines drawn by the New York State legislature, the elected representatives of the people of the state of New York, by two-thirds super majorities in both the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate, that they were unconstitutional, but perhaps even more problematically, Roland, then say, well, we're not going to give the legislature the opportunity to cure whatever defects we think exist. We're going to strip away that power, and we're going to send it back to

Steuben County with a Republican partisan hack judge presiding over a broken process with an unelected out-of-town special master who can't tell you the difference between Bath, New York, Buffalo, and Brooklyn. This is what happened. And so the logical result of that were five different congressional districts in and around New York City where the Black or Latino population was degraded. Now, this is why federal action is going to be necessary moving forward, because had Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act still been in effect, there is no circumstance where the lines that we're now stuck with, for at least this cycle, it appears, would have ever been signed off on by the Department of Justice because you cannot degrade the Black and Latino populations

in opportunity to elect districts that may deprive those communities of color the ability to choose the candidates of their choice. And so I know the lawyers connected to various civil rights groups and community-based organizations are taking a look at the options, which are not totally not there for folks, but have been constrained, unfortunately, because of the elimination of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act and the decimation in many cases of section two uh but there may be some uh avenues to take a look at under the state constitution that i believe are being explored you mentioned specifically in terms of what should happen with with the vra uh that is still a uh a a a point of contention uh that i've heard from many black voters that uh house passed it uh but but the Senate obviously did not move. Same thing with the George Floyd Justice Act.

And, as I said earlier, in terms of this notion of enthusiasm, I am really, really hearing that from a lot of African Americans, folks saying that they came out to vote in 2020, risked their health to do so, delivered majorities for the Democrats in the House and the Senate, and enough did not get done on those signature bills. And so, what would you say to that person who's watching and listening, who right now is frustrated and who is not happy at all with how Democrats have performed. And that person is saying, I'm not interested in coming out to vote in November. What do you tell that person right now who is not happy with your party? Well, certainly there's more work that needs to be done, but I would ask people

to just take a step back and holistically look at the record. We've provided historic help for Black farmers, historic help for Black colleges and universities, historic help for Black small businesses, but more, of course, needs to be done even in those spaces. But when you look at where the assistance went to in the context of the American Rescue Plan, it was probably more equitably distributed than certainly any other major federal intervention that has occurred in modern American history. That's an important foundation that was laid. Black unemployment is moving in the American history. That's an important foundation that was laid. Black unemployment is moving in the right direction. And we are seeing, you know, the opportunities that hopefully will continue to be created by President Biden's executive actions,

most recently in the space of police reform. Now, ultimately, we need a legislative solution to many of these challenges, particularly in voting. And that's why I think I would encourage people not to take the ball and go home, even if there's disappointment. That happened in 2010. And as a result, President Obama's legislative agenda was significantly constrained for the last six years of his presidency. And the question is, do we want to go down that road again? We know that the alternative is much worse. We've seen this movie before. Let's not have a sequel that jams up President Biden's legislative agenda or hamstrings his inability to appoint any additional Supreme Court justices should vacancies be created. That's a historic thing. Because Democrats control the Senate and have a Democratic president, Katonji Brown Jackson,

bringing all of her brilliance and life experiences, will be on the Supreme Court as soon as this current term ends. That's meaningful progress, but that only happens because people came out, Black voters in particular, down in Georgia and delivered a Senate Democratic majority, albeit a very frustrating one because it's 50-50 with Vice President Harris needing to often break the tie. And last question for you on that particular point there. What I've made, what I've said to people is that, look, I absolutely understand the frustration. I actually feel that as well. I say, one, I really do believe that President Biden should bring the families affected by police violence and bring them back to the White House and invite Senator Tim Scott and Senator Lindsey Graham and

Mitch McConnell to sit to come to a meeting and say, sit across from these families and tell them why that act hasn't moved forward. And an effort should be made to try to get the George Floyd Justice Act passed between now and November. But also what I've said is you've got to look at the possibility if Democrats are able to retain the seat in Georgia, Arizona, New Hampshire, Nevada, but then pick up in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, let's say Florida, North Carolina. I mean, now all of a sudden you can negate Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin and now be able to potentially have a 55-45, 57-43 majority to be able to get some of these bills passed. That's exactly right, Roland. And right now it takes 60 votes to do anything in the Senate. And we're at 50. And some people say,

well, does it mean that you have to elect 10 additional Democrats? And Roland, you just broke it down. No. If we can elect two or three additional Democrats, which is very possible. Val Demings in Florida, Tim Ryan down in Ohio, seats in North Carolina, in Pennsylvania, that are real possibilities. Wisconsin, potentially Mandela Barnes. We've got some exciting candidates

in districts and states that President Biden, by and large, won, where we have a real opportunity to be successful. And if we can just add two or three additional members of the United States Senate to the current majority, then you can change the rules that currently exist, which is stopping progress from being made. the filibuster, uh... that word is found nowhere in the United States Constitution. And the framers of the Constitution understood super majorities.

They used that phraseology and requirement in four different instances. They said, we want a super majority to override a presidential veto, a super majority, uh, to ratify a treaty, a supermajority to enact a constitutional amendment, two-thirds in the House and Senate, and then three president who's been impeached by the House. Four occasions they use the word, the phrase, the requirement, supermajority. Never for basic legislation to be passed. And so we believe there's a strong argument to be made once we have a functional Democratic majority to get to a much better place after

the November elections. All right. Well, Congressman Hocking, Jeffries, we appreciate you joining us and look forward to having you back and seeing what unfolds over the next few months. Thanks so much, Roland. Appreciate you. All right. Take care. As I said, it's going to be an uphill battle. As I said, it's going to be an uphill battle. And so just quickly, let's just get the thoughts of the three of you to what Congressman Jeffries had to say. I'm going to go to you first. I think that the part about the special master in a situation in New York is the part that stuck with me the most, because so many times when people talk about the Voting Rights Act and aspects of it being gutted, we always focus on

the areas that the act was created for, which was states in the South. But as we see, the need to protect the voting rights of and the Voting Rights Act, this is a nationwide issue. And people are going to do anything possible, whether it's a blue state or a red state, anywhere these Republicans can get a hold and try to just screw up a system in some way, shape or form, they are going to do it. All the more reason why we got to stay engaged and stay active. And I really commend Representative Jeffrey for what he's doing, because just like the question you asked to that person who's saying that they're disenfranchised by what's going on, Joe Biden's Democratic Party has done more for our community and can do more if we get more Democrats in. Period, bottom line.

And lastly, if we don't get it in now, we have to understand a whole boatload of Republicans are going to be coming in who will do anything Trump wants as it relates to 2024. So this might be our last chance at a real Democratic voting process if we don't get our act together and stick with the program. Julianne?

Representative Jeffries is the real deal. He's talking the right stuff. He's making it clear about the Voting Rights Act. Here's a challenge. There are two challenges. Number one, how do we make this clear and plain to Susan Q or Johnny Jones

who basically are not motivated to vote because they don't see it that way. It doesn't trickle down to them. So as committed as he is, how do we make this a conversation for the basic average voter? The second issue is, we are looking at Senate races. I'm looking at Warnock in particular, but there are others, Senator Raphael, Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock out of Georgia, who's now a point down in the polls, and we're going to the polls on him in the next week or so. But we're looking at rolling a pee uphill.

The language is not the legislative language. It's the popular culture language that's on Twitter and other places. And that's the language that seems to be prevailing. So while Roland, it was a really great interview. And I think the world of Representative Jeffries, I also think that it's a surface.

Beyond that, how do we get people involved, people engaged, people as angry as we are to say they're going to go out and vote? That's the issue. Jeff? When we think about what's at stake here, I think we have to really look at the strategies when we juxtapose the Democrats to the Republicans. I asked a Republican operative once, I said, man, what do you do to get people involved and vote? He said, listen, we have trained our people very

carefully, very strategically. Vote Republican no matter what. You show up and vote no matter what. We don't care what the media says. We don't care what the other side says. You show up and you vote. They've created a nation of zealots. And if you don't think that that's the truth, all you have to do is watch one of those videos of Herschel Walker showing you how he invented a new dance in his living room. And you will say, how is this man up a point on Raphael Warnock? The Democrats now have to recognize that, as we've said all along on this show, messaging moves the masses. It's now time to deliver

the message that came from De La Soul. Going gun control means using both hands in my land because the stakes is high. You know them stakes is high. All right, folks. That is it for us. We certainly appreciate all three of you being with us on I'm a Congo Julian and Jeff.

Thank you so very much. Also for everyone tune in as well. Hey, somebody actually commented with no. So what outfit I was wearing. This is actually one of the outfits that the president of Liberia introduced. And so, you know, former soccer star. So a bunch of the much of the brothers there. I've been wearing these.

What do you call it? A pro-po? I think that's what he called it in the interview I did with him. And so actually had several outfits made for me. Now, the cashier, they wear these with tennis shoes. Like I told him, say, bro, I can't do that. I can't do that. I can't.

You didn't bring us nothing back. I can't. I told, huh? Right, I need one of those, man. Well, first of all. I could rock that with a nice white skirt. I will be rocking. Too late.

You ain't request nothing. See, you got to put your order in before, you know, before brother go. You can't be doing it after the fact. We were there in February. That's four. You four months late. You four months late.

See, you can't. Put my order in for next trip. Right, right, right. You better think about the next trip. Yeah. You better be ahead of the game. All right, folks, that's it. Hey, do us a favor.

Download the Black Star Network app, all platforms. We're trying to hit 50,000 downloads. Of course, our goal is to get 100,000 by the end of this year. Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. And, of course, you can also support our Bring the Funk fan club with every dollar you give goes to support this show.

Send your check in money orders to PO Box 57196, Washington D.C. 20037-0196. The Cash App is DallasSide RM Unfiltered. PayPal is R Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Folks, that is it.

I shall see you tomorrow right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Until then, ha! This is an iHeart Podcast.