#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Omicron Spreading, D.C. Police Suits, Manchin Say No Deal, Equal Act Fight, Attainable Health Goals

Episode Date: December 21, 2021

12.20.2021 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Omicron Spreading, D.C. Police Suits, Manchin Say No Deal, Equal Act Fight, Attainable Health Goals It's Monday, December 2021, and here's what's coming Up on Roland Martin Unfiltered streaming live on the Black Star Network.The Omicron variant is spreading faster and causing more breakthrough cases. D.C. is re-instated mask and vaccination mandates. Tonight, we're talking all things Covid with two doctors to give you the information you need to stay safe and healthy.The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department is facing more discrimination lawsuits. This is the third in the last four months where two Black women allege retaliation for speaking out against racism and misconduct by White officers. There are here with their attorney.The fate of the former Minnesota officer who killed Daunte Wright is in the hands of the jury. We'll take a look at closing arguments as we remain on verdict watch.West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin says he's not voting for Biden's Build Back Better Act, and there are reports that Manchin told colleagues he believed parents would use child tax credits to buy drugs, and people would abuse paid leave to go hunting.  Just as we are waiting for voting reform laws, thousands are waiting on the Equal Act. The legislation addresses how Black and brown people received harsher sentences due to the differences between crack and powder cocaine offenses. You'll meet one man who served a mandatory minimum and hear what he's doing to make a difference.The Grandmother of Juneteenth was honored over the weekend.And it's that time of year where we all start to think about those New Years Resolutions. We'll have a fitness expert tell us how to make attainable and sustainable goals in the new year.#RolandMartinUnfiltered partners: Coca-Cola | Enjoy every magical moment of the season together. Explore ways you can be closer to the ones you love with meals worth sharing, festive playlists, and more holiday magic from Coke®. 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3CQd3dXVerizon | Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband, now available in 50+ cities, is the fastest 5G in the world.* That means that downloads that used to take minutes now take seconds. 👉🏾https://bit.ly/30j6z9INissan | Check out the ALL NEW 2022 Nissan Frontier! As Efficient As It Is Powerful! 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3FqR7bPAmazon | Get 2-hour grocery delivery, set up you Amazon Day deliveries, watch Amazon Originals with Prime Video and save up to 80% on meds with Amazon Prime 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3ArwxEh+ Don’t miss Epic Daily Deals that rival Black Friday blockbuster sales 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3iP9zkv👀 Manage your calendar, follow along with recipes, catch up on news and more with Alexa smart displays + Stream music, order a pizza, control your smart home and more with Alexa smart speakers 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3ked4liBuick | It's ALL about you! The 2022 Envision has more than enough style, power and technology to make every day an occasion. 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3iJ6ouPSupport #RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfilteredDownload 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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Today is Monday, December 20th, 2021. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. Omicron variant responsible for 73% of all new COVID cases. Sir Elizabeth Warren, Senator Cory Booker, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, yours truly all tested positive for COVID over the weekend. And we'll talk with two of our experts about this new variant and why is it so contagious and why is it spreading so fast all across the country? Speaking of spreading fast across the country, the stupidity of West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin is on full display. He went on Fox News yesterday to say he was voting against the Build Better Back plan.

Well, the or the BBB plan for President Joe Biden, the White House not happy at all, lighting into him what is next for the country when it comes to this very issue. That's one of the things that we're going to be covering on today's show. Also, we'll be breaking down, folks, on today's show. Also, we'll be breaking down, folks, on today's show. What also is happening on Capitol Hill, the battle over voting rights. That continues. This battle continues for voting rights. So the question is, can you actually get a bill passed?

Senator Chuck Schumer has made it clear he is going to move forward with bringing it to the floor. The problem you still face? A Senator Joe Manchin, a Senator Kyrsten Sinema. They have both made it clear they're not going to roll back the filibuster. And so where do we stand when it comes to that? That's one of the issues we'll be talking about. Also discussing the Equal Act. That's one of the issues we're talking about there as well. Plus, the jury in the Kimberly Potter case. That is, of course, the former cop who shot and killed Dante Wright is now in their hands.

We're going to give you an update on that as well, folks. A lot we're going to be talking about right here on today's show. It's time to breathe in the funk. I'm Roland Martin, unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the biz, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the food, the fat, the fine.

And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling. Best believe he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks, he's rolling's rolling With Uncle Roro, y'all It's rolling, Martin Rolling with Roland 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 Alright folks, the World Health Organization says the Omicron variant is spreading faster than the Delta variant And is causing infections all across the world. Even folks, even those who are vaccinated, who have previously recovered from the virus. A lot of new mandates coming down. The mayor of Washington, D.C., Muriel Bowser, has reinstated the indoor mask mandate, declaring a state of emergency as a result of a record number of new infections

uh also uh they are booster mandates in dc as well uh folks uh it begins uh tomorrow and it's going to go through january 31st 2022 now here's where we stand uh in terms of the overall numbers 52 million reported cases of coronavirus folks Folks, since this pandemic started, 827,343 people have passed away as a result of COVID-19. Now, according to the CDC, 61.4% of the population in the U.S., they are fully vaccinated against COVID. Now, remember, fully vaccinated means two shots. Now, they're talking about adding the whole idea of the booster to now actually meaning fully vaccinated. When you add that in, that number drops in a significant way. So what is it about Omicron that makes this thing so different?

Joining us right now, Dr. Tyson Bell, a critical care and infectious disease specialist from the University of Virginia. Dr. Joseph L. Gray, who's junior professor of biological sciences at North Carolina A&T. Glad to have both of you on today's show. So Dr. Bill, I'll start with you. This is, what Omicron is doing is shocking. Frankly, a lot of folks who say they did not expect to see it to be this contagious. I posted this on social media. I tested positive on Saturday after testing negative on Thursday. And when my symptoms started on Wednesday, my doctors traced it back to essentially I probably was infected when I was on vacation in Hawaii. And so I want to ask you that because, again, a lot of people, we have all of these people who have thrown all kinds of stuff out.

And so let's sort of deal with that. How are you tracking when you think someone may have caught COVID? Is it 10 days back from they first having symptoms? Exactly how do you all make that determination? Well, good question because it is, you can't really tell what variant you may be infected with based on symptoms alone. And the testing very important, right?

So depending on if you have symptoms, that's your day zero, so to speak, or when they start, or if you don't have symptoms, it starts from when your test was positive. So that's when that quarantine period starts. But there's not really a symptom that would make one think that you have Omicron versus Delta. Frankly, they're both problems. So it would start from either symptoms or your test. But isn't this also part of the problem? Because so perfect example, I had a scratchy throat uh on um wednesday we did we did the show on wednesday from atlanta by 9 15 i said man give me something to

drink i said my throat is scratchy uh and then you know went back to our airbnb uh woke up uh i had uh i had some chills i took a took a took a home kit test. It was negative. Took the next test 36 hours later. We have a staffer who actually diagnosed with bronchitis. Then, of course, again, clear. But all of a sudden, over the weekend, test positive for COVID. You have some others who say they think it's allergies.

They think it's a cold. And so it's sort of like it's just difficult, folks, to understand that if that all of a sudden, if you get a symptom, folks are saying, well, OK, what do I do? Do I immediately shut down? Do I immediately isolate? If I like in my case, I had a symptom, but then I test negative. So what does the person do right and uh you actually that's uh goes to an important topic that there are some signs with some of the rapid tests that in their early days of omicron they may not be as good as picking up on infection so the pcr or the laboratory tests that's the one that you might have to go to a clinic or a doctor's

office for. That's the one that's the most sensitive. That's the gold standard. So if you have symptoms and that rapid test is negative, I wouldn't necessarily say that we're done with it. I would try to get that follow-up test. And see, and so I'll give you a perfect example. So I'm in Atlanta. I was calling all around, could not find a location to get that PCR test. Where we are right now in this country, we're seeing massive lines all across the country. We're seeing home kits being sold out. Here we are about to go into 2022. And frankly, we as a country still have not been properly positioned to confront this pandemic i mean the fact that people are i'm talking about i'm seeing videos of people 100 200 300 people in

line uh cars backed up uh you know unable to find locations i, we are still behind the eight ball on this for some reason. I mean, there's a lot of blame to go around. I would add in addition to the lack of rapid testing for everyone. We don't have the sequencing capability that other countries like in the UK have in order to even pick up on Omicron variant. So there's a lot of things that we need to be doing better. And expanding rapid testing is definitely one of them. Dr. First of all, Dr. Gray, I want to bring you in. So we had you on last year, one of the things that you made clear, you made clear was that look, you're going to have these variants. So what exactly is the Omicron variant?

And when I see this story to say the Wall Street Journal had a story right before I came on that 73% of all cases are now Omicron variant. First of all, how do you know that? And what makes this so different? The only way you would know that is by sequencing the patients. And as Dr. Bell pointed out, in the United States, our sequencing efforts are really not up to snuff. But what we do know at this point is that the Omicron variant is five times more transmissible than the Delta variant. And the Delta variant was very transmissible. And so, you know, I hate to

sound like a broken record, because you and I have been having this conversation since the beginning of this pandemic. And I have consistently warned people that unless we drove down the number of infected individuals in the United States and worldwide, we would continue to see the evolution of new variants. And in the case of the Omicron variant, there are close to 400 mutations in the spike protein. And that's why it's, on the one hand, more transmissible, but it comes at the expense of being less virulent. But that's not a reason to celebrate because it's still quite deadly, particularly for people who have pre-existing conditions. And also the Omicron variant has the capacity to continue to evolve such that it may retain its transmissibility,

but also then gain the sort of virulence that you see in the Delta variant. And so, you know, we're back to square one on some really basic things, which are people in the United States need to begin to take COVID seriously. And if we don't, if we continue to be a culture of chicken little, you know, actually, there's a wrong analogy, the ostrich with his head in the sand. This is going to continue and more and more people are going to die. It's really that simple. And okay. So what you laid out there. And so if it is, if it is, you know, and first of all, why is it five times more contagious?

And with that in the case, I've gotten text messages from people, other individuals who are prominent, who have actually tested positive, who have not gone public like I have. And I mean, I've had folks who said they've been at other events. And then next thing you know, these things have turned into super spreader events. And so for people out there, OK, what should we be doing, though? What exactly should we be doing? Well, it's easy to explain what we should be doing. And that's, again, people in public health have been making these arguments for a long time now, and that is we need to continue with mask mandates. We shouldn't be gathering large groups of people, particularly with the Omicron variant now

beginning to take over COVID transmission. We should not be gathering large groups of people in closed spaces. It's just a wrong idea. And once again, Roland, I hate to say it, but we're at a place where folks are thinking that their money is more important than people's lives. And so they don't want to face the hard truths of this is a very dangerous virus that will continue to evolve and may get even worse than it currently is, either with regard to its ability to transmit or its ability to make people really sick. So unless we are willing to say that we as a nation are going to take the political and moral courage it takes to put an end to this pandemic, we're going to keep going on this merry-go-round of things getting slightly better, and then everybody wants to open up, and then all of a sudden a new variant comes along, and then we're back in crisis mode. I mean, here in North Carolina, hospitals are already beginning to fill up with Omicron cases, and New York yesterday had over 21,000 cases. So it's this lack of a consistent policy and it's a lack of this willingness to basically do what's right with regard to the health and well-being of people in the United States and around the world, which keeps us coming back to these conversations.

And again, I feel like I'm a broken record, but this is a record that's going to keep playing as long as people are unwilling to do what we need to do to stop this pandemic. So Dr. Tyson Bell, and we talk about, okay, how do we deal with it? Okay. So I just took my temperature is 97.9 last week. It is spiked to a fever of about 103. Um, while in Atlanta, I took the monoclonal antibody infusion. Okay. So we were talking about, if we're talking about, um, healing from this, um, and I can tell you for folks, they can actually hear my voice in many ways. This feels like when I had, when I have allergies, okay. Stuffy nose, some congestion, uh, don't have fatigue, don't have any of those things and so so here i am in my luckily i got a studio in my basement uh so i'm here um wife's upstairs so i'm i'm locked off so what is this

then period so let's say okay people people all of a sudden becoming positive uh how how long then should they simply be self-isolating um what's that process? And how does one know you're getting better? What then happens? Right. So the recommended isolation period is 10 days if you're positive. So that would either be 10 days from when your symptoms started, or if you did not have symptoms 10 days from your positive test. You't have to be completely better but you should have your fevers they should be gone by that point you should generally feel your energy starting to come back again you might not be at 100 but if you're on that road to recovery if you're on the men and your fevers are gone without taking things like talanol or advil or motrin then that's that's a sure sign that you're you're kind of

kicking it the The usual infectious period is in the first week usually. So that first three to five days is when it starts, but then it goes down and the virus levels do for most people, assuming you don't have any immunocompromising conditions or on medications like that. So I would say 10 days for most people. And of course, watching out to make sure no shortness of breath, things along those lines, there's no turn in terms of symptoms. Exactly. And while we're at it, let's just make one thing clear that the vaccine, I know you've received the vaccine, it's still working. I mean, the vaccines are never perfect. We never said that they were.

They mostly are very good at keeping out of the hospital. I mean, it's not like you have antibodies that can run ahead and dropkick the virus before it interacts with you. You can still get sick. But the point is, it activates your immune system much earlier than it would otherwise, and it decreases your chances of having a serious illness so that you can actually be positive, have COVID, and you can still do a show. And the thing, I think the point that Dr. Gray, you made is so on point that the real issue that we have in this country, it has been the schizophrenic. You've had all of these people who put pressure, okay, got to open up, got to open up, got to open up. And then they say, what's the big deal? We got to move on. It's destroying the economy. It's all of that.

But then to your point, spike to the, everybody's like, okay, my goodness, we got to like shut back down. And I just think we're, I personally think that we're still operating behind, behind the curve because we had the idiots in the Trump administration who screwed this up from the beginning. You did not have massive, massive testing across the country. The initial CDC test was a joke. OK, it was problems with that. And so all of this talk, remember, people have the massive testing centers and parking lots. So from those lines, that didn't happen. Now you have people who have been saying that at the White House or the federal government should be sending home kits to every American household.

I don't understand why that's a controversial thing if you're trying to deal with the international pandemic because then what did they say? Ooh, the cost. I'm sitting going, really? We just literally just passed a $8 trillion defense bill. And you're telling me, you're talking about the cost of sending at-home kits. And so not only that, those antibodies, it was difficult. It was

difficult to find when I was in Atlanta. I mean, we were calling all over. I was talking to Dr. Ebony Hilton and others here in Virginia saying, well, what if I get it when I come back to Virginia? She was like ain't not sure it's gonna happen here as well So here we we still as a nation as our total Infrastructure are ill prepared for what is going on and it's as if it's just like a patchwork every single day Well the again, you know, protecting people from COVID is a national defense issue and it needs to be treated that way. And again, I keep trying to bring home the fact that as viruses go, COVID is not as bad as what's out there. I mean, it's bad, but we have other viruses that can be next

up in terms of their ability to become a pandemic. And their symptoms and their mortality is going to be much, much worse than COVID. So if we don't put in place the biomedical research and medical public health infrastructure to deal with these emerging pandemics, the next time around, things could be really worse. And I also want to drive home that right now, the vaccines are holding up against the Omicron variant. But as the virus continues to evolve, there is a real possibility that we're going to get a variant that escapes control by the vaccines, and then we really won't be prepared. So we're at a moment again, where we have the opportunity to try to get things under control, but it takes a concerted national effort. And folks that have

been out publicly against vaccines need to basically change their tune. They need to start coming out and telling their supporters that they need to get vaccinated so that we can get this country back on track. Dr. Bell, on that point, it was interesting when I posted on Saturday about testing positive. I had folks come on my Instagram page, others saying, well, I hope you're not sitting here mentioning that crap about vaccines. And I'm like, you damn right I am. I said, I'm like, I don't give a damn what any of y'all critics think.

I said, and I made it clear, every critic of the vaccine can literally kiss my ass. Because the bottom line is this here, there is no way in hell you're gonna sit here and tell me that I'm not going to be trying to figure out every way to be fully protected. And that means the vaccine, that's the booster. I was going to get my booster December 28th. But I still know someone who vaccinated and boosted who also got COVID. And here's the problem, Dr. Bell. I think part of it still goes back to when we first started. So many people were under the assumption or were led to believe that the vaccine

was the cure. And so I think there's this whole deal here in people's minds. Well, I had some idiot, some loud mouth who did a video on me. Oh, see, he out there promoting vaccines and he got it. I'm like, well, yeah. Like it's there. So explain. So I need both of you to please explain to these loud mouth nutcases exactly what the purpose of the vaccine is. And it was it is not a cure. There's no thing that's going to completely protect you from not getting it. It is designed to ensure, frankly, you're not going to be on a ventilator if you do get it. I think the easiest way to explain this is just to talk about what I've seen in my ICU. So if we look at last year and we were seeing the impact

that it had, basically everyone, every age group, every demographic, disproportionately African-American, Latino and underserved communities, as we talked about a lot on this show. But we rolled out vaccines to these communities. And now in my community, Black and Latino communities are highly vaccinated. So who are we seeing now in the ICU? It's unvaccinated people. I'm not seeing any more 20, 30, 40, 50, 60-year-old people who are fully vaccinated. It's all unvaccinated people. There are a few breakthrough infections and people who have these compromising conditions, but it is mostly unvaccinated people. So the face of the pandemic, at least for people who are severely ill, has changed in my ICU. Dr. Graves? Yeah, I mean, I really can't add to that because the facts and the logic of this are so clear that I'm trying to find a way to speak to someone who doesn't utilize logic at all

to understand the situation. It's simple. The vaccines are effective and safe. We are now seeing that people who have been vaccinated and people who have gotten boosters are less likely to catch COVID. And if they catch COVID, they're less likely to get very sick from it. We also have a complete opposite case of people who are unvaccinated. They're more likely to catch COVID and they're more likely to get very sick from it. They're more likely to catch COVID, and they're more likely to get very sick from it, and they're more likely to die from it. It's as clear, as I would say, the nose on my face. I don't know what else to say. There are things called facts. I mean, these anti-vaxxers are equivalent to people who are arguing, well, that actually the earth is flat.

That's the type of argument that they're making, that the earth is flat. That's the type of argument that they're making, that the earth is flat. No matter what evidence you provide for them, they will still adhere to the idea that the earth is flat. I want you to reiterate that point again, Dr. Bell, what is happening now with our hospitals. I've seen numerous reports that the hospitals are filling up and largely the people who are coming in are folks who are unvaccinated. Yeah. I mean, I have just last week, we had a couple of young people that were in. So folks who are in their thirties, they have young children, they're unvaccinated. I ask everyone, assuming they're able to talk with me, I ask them, why didn't you get vaccinated?

A lot of times as people would say, I didn't think I needed to, I'm healthy. I ask everyone, assuming they're able to talk with me, I ask them, why didn't you get vaccinated? A lot of times people say, I didn't think I needed to. I'm healthy. I take vitamins and things like that, which is, that's good to do. But this is a global pandemic that has killed millions of people. And the vaccines offer extremely good protection from being severely ill. So it's the best decision you can make right now to go ahead and get vaccinated because like I said before, what I'm seeing in the ICU were unvaccinated people who are getting critically ill. All right then, gentlemen, I appreciate it. This is one of the reasons why we made a point from the beginning to have our top Black medical experts on talking about this stuff so people understand that they're getting real information. Dr. Tyson Bell, University of Virginia, Dr. Joseph Graves at North Carolina A&T. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Hope we don't have to do this again. Well, guess what? I think we're going to have to and we're going to keep hammering it. And for every person that keeps telling me

stop talking about it and stop promoting the vaccine, I'm going to tell them shut up because it ain't going to happen. thanks a lot when I bring my pound now dr. Julian Malvo Dean the College of Ethnic Studies California State University at LA at the Oma Congo Dabinga professorial lecture school of international service American University Reverend Jeff Carr founder of the infinity fellowship in Nashville Tennessee glad to have all three of you here um look if there's somebody out there who says i don't want to take the vaccine that's fine okay everybody has an individual decision to make the issue that i have is is the spread of

misinformation uh i got these people talking about you have so-and-so on to debate this issue. I go, are they a doctor? No. Are they a scientist? No. Why in the hell

am I going to have a conversation about a vaccine with somebody who's a doctor or scientist? That's like me having a deep conversation about legal strategy with the same person and they're not a damn lawyer. I mean, it is amazing to me with these with these tick tock doctors, these YouTube scientists. People have no expertise whatsoever. I'm not debating this. I'm not debating 827,000 people are dead.

I'm not debating that African Americans have died at a higher rate than any other group in the country. I'm not having that debate. Now, again, if you choose not to do that, that's fine. But I'm going to tell you right now, I am absolutely going to encourage our folks to get the vaccine because, like I keep saying, Julian, ain't no flip side to death. Hello. There's no, there's no, look,

I don't, I mean, I'm being real clear. I don't like the fact that COVID is in my body right now. I don't like it. Okay, to think that there are 827,000 people in Americans who have died

of something that's in my body. Oh, hell yeah, that's scary, but if you think for a second I was going to be walking around here, not being vaccinated, you've got to be out of your mind, not finding that antibody and

getting it done. Okay, and again, if you want to eat some fruit and berries and vitamins and do a whole natural, again, no, no, that's his deal. There are people holistic. That's fine. But what I'm not going to do is I will never allow the misinformation and the putting on of people who are spreading that crap because too many of our people fall for that conspiracy

theory so quickly, Julianne? You know, Roland, I am so disturbed at the number of people who simply reject the vaccination. I applaud you for saying you're not going to debate these fools. And that's what I will underline, these fools. And I unfortunately have one or two of them in my own immediate family refuse to get vaccinated because it's a white man's conspiracy. And I keep telling them white people dying from this, too. But, you know, I don't talk to them about it anymore. You do what you do. Just don't do it around me. And I think that's the issue is the spreadability and the ways that so many people are infecting each other so that those of us who even been vaccinated can be unwitting spreaders. If the doctors are still there, I don't know if they are.

No, they're gone. Okay, because I got to get on the airplane tomorrow, and I haven't had the booster yet because I can't find one. I've gone to three places and stood in line. Can I fly? You know? Actually, you can i mean so first of all um there's no requirement you actually have to have the booster uh to fly uh but the

key is still uh taking all the precautions um um uh when you do fly i've i've seen some doctors who've also said hey don't even take your mask off to drink or eat on the plane. Wait till you land. I've seen that as well. Well, thank you. I will be sitting in first class sipping nothing. Jeff, this is

what is happening here. And again, it blew me away. And when we see these numbers, how the numbers just jump so quickly. New York City, how so many cities and states start reporting how Omicron just spread so quickly. And the fact that it is so contagious. Well, when you talk about contagion, Roland, first off, I want to tell you this. I'm not a medical doctor, so I won't try to speak from a scientific space, right? I won't claim that.

I will say that I am at an interesting crossroads where I have to put people in a space where they actually practice something that people seem to have lost in this day and age, and that's called common sense. When people see you and they hear you today, they hear you tonight bringing the funk. I'm glad you're bringing the funk. I'm glad we're bringing the funk today because to quote the great George Clinton, you got to let the vibes flow through because funk not only moves, it can remove. So you're showing up today, your ability to bring the funk is proof that vaccinations work. Why? Because if you didn't get your vaccine, where would you be after testing positive for COVID? When we talk about this misinformation that goes into the world, we don't take into account the true and the real life stories of what if. As you all know, I'm a healthy guy. I've been a vegetarian

30 plus years. I take my elderberry. I do not take the flu shot. And I took vaccines. My wife took the vaccines. My oldest son took the vaccine. I'm glad he did because he got COVID. Out of our five children, two of them tested positive for COVID. And it put him on his back. But as someone with a pre-existing condition, it would have put him in his grave had we not gotten the vaccine. So with all that we talk about, we have to find a way to communicate common sense to people in this day and age. One, I guess, metaphor, one picture that I like to use is a frat party on campus. And you have a party in a two-story building and somebody decides that they want to crash the party and you don't want to let them in. So somebody says, hey, close all the windows, lock all the doors, and that'll keep everybody out.

That's basically what a vaccine does. But what happens when the people do not wanna get a vaccine and they go to a second floor and they open up all of the windows and the doors on the second floor. The people who are strong enough outside to climb to the second floor and get into the window, not only are they more determined, but they're stronger, they're faster and they can cause more destruction once they get in. The lack of being vaccinated is giving an opportunity to the Delta and the Omicron strains to ravage our community even more, simply because we will not allow ourselves to build the immunity. And for people who talk about the conspiracy theory of what is coming from the white man and what is coming to destroy us, ask the question, why is it that European countries are stockpiling hundreds of millions of doses of vaccines

and only 7% of Africa is inoculated and vaccinated? If anything, the conspiracy would operate the other way around. Omokongo? That sounds about right to me. And quite honestly, I have to give you your props again, Roland, for being on the forefront of countering not only misinformation, but disinformation. We've seen that YouTube, Facebook, all of these social media sites have been so late to the game. Just within about, like, what, the last two or three months is when they started removing videos from some of these uneducated people out there spreading misinformation i've seen stories on places like cnn where people

are saying they trust this youtube virologist more than their own doctor and the like and so this misinformation and disinformation has been a large part of the problem and these networks think that they're doing us a service by putting these uneducated people on their airways and spreading out this disignorance and it's costing people their lives. And so people really need to follow your example because in this day and age where there's no such thing as a negative news story because everybody can get their 15 minutes of fame, people should be more responsible with their platforms that they allow people on who are actually going to share real information. I have not seen you one time

arguing with some of these guys on YouTube and bringing them on your show. Hey, let's talk about it and elevating them. But I've seen all of the other networks do it. I've seen it. And really, at the end of the day, they are part of the problem as well. Fox is going to do what it's going to do. But these other networks don't have to be so ignorant and irresponsible. You've had leading people every single day or at least every single week talking about this stuff and people if they don't get it now It might be too late Yep, absolutely folks gotta go to the break. We come back. We're gonna talk about DC

Why is it that you have so many police officers who really should be kicked off the force who have allowed to stay on After committing some heinous crimes. We'll discuss that next right here on Roller Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Thank you. I'm sorry. so that's kim whitley yo what's up this your boy ice cube hey yo peace world what's going on it's the love king of r&b raheem devon, and you're watching Roland Martin, Unfiltered. All right, folks. 11-year-old Nasia McFall was last seen on August 29th, 2021 in Baltimore, Maryland. She's around 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighs about 145 pounds. She has natural hair and both of her ears are pierced. Anyone with information regarding her whereabouts

are urged to contact the Baltimore Missing Persons Unit at 443-984-7385. 443-984-7385. All right, folks, two more black women have filed lawsuits against the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., alleging racist, sexism, and preferential treatment towards white police officers. This is the third lawsuit against the MPD in the past four months. Joining us right now, former and current officers Lisa Burton and Felicia Carson, along with their attorney, Pamela Keith. Glad to have all three of you here. What is the basis of your suit, Lisa and Felicia. Lisa? Hi, hi. How you doing?

The basis of my suit is basically the discrimination and I work in internal affairs and witness that some of the internal affairs agents themselves that are supposed to police the police are actually racist

in my opinion. They do and say things that they shouldn't do, and it brings into question their ability to actually investigate the officers and the members in the community. Felicia? Hello. So the basis of my complaint is discrimination for using family leave to care for my daughter, who was diagnosed with leukemia. And then also retaliation when I complained about the Nail Commander, Sean Conboy, who's my official, complained about this low performance rating, which he most likely knew would have cost me my

position as a senior police officer. When I complained about that, then assistant, well, now assistant chief Manapaz didn't like it. So he terminated me. And also I was working on a case where Manapaz covered up the officer's misconduct. So I was I was just terminated. This is, as we said, Pam, this is the third lawsuit. Do you expect more or are there plans for this to be a class action lawsuit? Where is this headed? Well, there are, thank you Roland for having us. There are more plaintiffs in the wings. It's, you know, the reason that this one is a little bit unique is because it does give us a peek into internal

affairs. My client, Felicia, mentioned Assistant Chief Wilfredo Manlapaz. He is the Director of Internal Affairs. And so what a lot of people out there don't know is that the power, the decision making power of internal affairs is concentrated essentially in one guy. He has the authority to decide who goes to a disciplinary review board. He decides whether they're going to negotiate down a discipline that's recommended or not. And so what happens is that, you know, right now the MPD is trying to say, well, oh, it's the trial board that put these bad officers back to work. And that is a misleading oversimplification. The trial board decision and the control of the trial board and who gets a trial board is really a decision made

functionally by one guy with the ratification of the chief of police. And that's why it's so problematic if that one guy is racially biased. In this case, he is. So in terms of, again, with these suits, have you heard from any of the city council members or any others weighing in on their thoughts if this is is institutional problem, how black women are being treated in this department?

Well, yes and no. I mean, we have made contact with a few city council members. We are struggling right now to try to get the chair of the judiciary committee to hold a hearing on this as a standalone issue, racism, sexism, and systematic culture of retaliation in the MPD. It's not just part and parcel of the annual performance review of the MPD. It is so important and such a problem

that we have 16 Black women who have filed suits at this point just from my firm alone. And my question is, Roland, you know, if 16 Black women with the kind of stellar reputations that my clients have is not enough, then just how many is 20, 35? Our phones are still ringing off the hook with people seeking representation. So I think city council is punting their attitude right now is, oh, the attorney general can deal with this. Well, the attorney general may be able to deal with the legal component, but you're still getting a neon sign telling you you got a management problem, culture problem at MPD. That is not an attorney general problem. That is a city council, a mayor's office problem, because they're the ones elected by the people of the city to oversee and run MPD. And they're acting like these management problems are not a big deal, because when Black women speak up about being mistreated it's just not a big deal felicia and

lisa uh have you had issues um uh first of all uh have both of you heard from other women who are considering uh stepping up uh and also filing suit yes i've heard from several women i still work there and the problem is the fear. Everyone is paralyzed by fear. People have their own reasons for not stepping up. They're afraid of the retaliation, obviously, because the command staff will bully you and they will investigate you. They'll bully you. They'll harass you. They'll do anything to keep you silent. And then the other part of it is people, you know, they have families and they just feel like that we've been marginalized to the degree that our voice does not matter.

And so, yes, to answer your question in short, yes, there's several people that want to come forward, but everybody's afraid. Felicia. Same as Lisa, not more so women. But I do know that there are men, black men that, again, watch myself be retaliated against and terminated, watch also watch Lisa be discriminated against and retaliated against. We both moved out of IED, but they're afraid. When I say the retaliation is real and it's blatant, I mean, I understand, but I don't like I get that people don't want to go through anything. But if you never stand up, then what? watched my discrimination, watched my retaliation, watched me moved out of IED, who said to me how angry she was because in her words, this can happen to me. And guess what? It did happen to her. And she feared that she will be put out of IED. So it's like Lisa said,

it's fear. It's fear. Roland, if I may, I just want the audience to understand who they're talking to. Felicia Carson has been with the NPD for 29 years. She was an IAD for 19 years, right? Lisa Burton had extensive background in Homeland Security before she came to NPD. She's an investigator with

extensive experience, and she got moved out on the whims of individuals who just didn't want to be bothered with people who would speak up and stand up and counter racist and discriminatory behavior. Now, the problem is, if they can get rid of top quality performers like Felicia and Lisa, then everybody feels like they're in jeopardy. Everybody feels like they're walking on eggshells. And that is the culture of MPD. It is a toxic workplace, especially for Black women. And people are fearful all the time.

All right. Folks, I appreciate all three of you coming on. Thank you so very much. And we'll be following this case, see what happens next. Thank you. Thank you for having us. All right, folks, got to go to break. Thank you for having us. All right, folks, got to go to break. We come back. West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, boy, he's ticked

off a lot of Democrats. They're not happy with him at all as a result of his decision to vote against the Build Back Better plan, raising the ire of the White House and being called out left and right. What happens next? We'll also talk about voting rights as well. Can this Senate dealing with Manchin, Sinema, and others, can they pass a voting bill? We'll discuss all of that next right here on Rolling Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. I'm real revolutionary right now. Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roller.

I love y'all. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be black-owned media and it's time to be smart bring your eyeballs home you dig 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. I'm out. Takk for ating med. White supremacists ain't just about hurting black folk. Right. You've got to deal with it. It's injustice. It's wrong. I do feel like in this generation, we've got to do more around being intentional and resolving

conflict. You and I have always agreed. Yeah. But we agree on the big piece. Yeah. Our conflict is not about destruction conflict's gonna happen football bands and one of the best fan experiences in the country. The Cricket Fiat Swag Challenge kickoff returns to Atlanta on August 28th

along with special guests. College game day. Then Alcorn State takes on North Carolina Central with... Alright folks, welcome back to Roller Martin Unfiltered. A former employee of State Farm is suing the company. Allegedly, she was fired for speaking out against racism. Dr. Carla Campbell Jackson worked for the insurance company for 28 years. She alleged that she experienced discriminatory speech and racist images in a letter with hateful language that targeted minority groups. Now, she was fired two weeks after reporting the incident.

State Farm denies her claim and says she was fired due to a breach of personnel information. An EEOC investigation found about 100,000 pieces of evidence documenting a culture of discrimination and racism. Two other former employees are also suing State Farm. They'll be represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump. All right, folks, let's talk about the Build Back Better plan. It pretty much is dead after Senator Joe Manchin went on Fox News yesterday saying he is not going to vote for it. This is what he had to say.

Now, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Senator, welcome back to Fox News Sunday. Good to be with you, Brett. Senator, you're at the center of this negotiation with the president over his social spending and tax bill, a bill, the Build Back Better bill that is not coming up in the Senate before the new year, in part largely because of your reservations. Without you, the leadership doesn't have the votes it needs. So today, right now, what's the state of play? Well, Brad, you know, this is a mammoth piece of legislation. And I had my reservations from the beginning when I heard about it five and a half months ago. And I've been working diligently every day and every minute of every day. I've been working on this meeting with whether it be the president,

President Biden, whether it be Majority Leader Schumer and his staff, whether it be with Nancy Pelosi, all of my colleagues, I mean, from all different spectrums of the political spectrum, if you will, from the right to the left. I've done everything humanly possible. And, you know, my concerns I had, and I still have these concerns and where I'm at right now, the left. I've done everything humanly possible. And you know my concerns I had, and I still have these concerns. And where I'm at right now, the inflation that I was concerned about, it's not transitory. It's real. It's harming every West Virginian. It's making it almost difficult for them to continue to go to their jobs, the cost of gasoline, the cost of groceries, the cost of utility bills. All of these things are hitting in every aspect of their life. And you start looking and then you have the debt that we're carrying at $29 trillion.

You have also the geopolitical unrest that we have. You have the COVID variant. And that is wreaking havoc again. People are concerned. I've been with my family. I know everyone's concerned. So when you have these things coming at you the way they are right now, I've always said this, Brett, if I can't go home and explain it to the people of West Virginia,

I can't vote for it. And I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I just can't. I've tried everything humanly possible. I can't get there. All righty. Well, guess what? That didn't sit too well with Democrats. The White House came out full blast saying that he actually reneged on his own word, saying that early in the week he presented President Joe Biden personally with a one point eight trillion dollar framework of the bill. It was a huge rebuke from the White House. It was a letter that came from Press Secretary Jen Psaki that broke it all down. Now, Vice President Kamala Harris, of course, on Friday spoke about why the bill was important. This was prior to Manchin's decision on Sunday.

So who's the real president of this country? Is it Joe Manchin or Joe Biden, Madam Vice President? Come on, Charlemagne. I really... Come on, it's Joe Biden. I can't tell sometimes. No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no.

It's Joe Biden. It's Joe Biden. And don't start talking like a Republican about asking whether or not he's president. It's Joe Biden. Do you think Joe Manchin is a problem? And it's Joe Biden. And I'm vice president. My name is Kamala Harris. And the reality is, because we are in office, we do the things like the child tax credit,

which is going to reduce black child poverty by 50% on track to do that. We do things that are about saying that our Department of Justice is going to do these investigations and require that we end chokeholds and have body cameras. It is the work of saying we're going to get lead out of pipes and paint because our babies are suffering because of that. It is the work of saying people who ride public transit deserve the same kind of dignity that anybody else does, so let's improve that system. It is the work of saying that we have got to bring down prescription drug costs because folks who have diabetes should not be dying because they don't have enough money in their pocket.

It's about saying Black maternal mortality is a real issue that must be treated by everybody, including the White House, as a serious issue. Okay? So let's, I hear the frustration, but let's not deny the impact that we've had and agree also that there is a whole lot more work to be done.

And it is not easy to do, but we will not give up and I will not give up. I just want you to know that that that Madam Vice President that that Kamala Harris, that's the one I like. That's the one that was putting the pressure on people in Senate hearings. That's the one I'd like to see more often out here in these streets. It's a silly question to me. I mean, I get it. First, it's a silly question. Is Joe Manchin the president? Joe Manchin, not the damn president. Okay. But civics are civics. All right. It's 50 50 50 Democrats, 50 Republicans. That means that any one Democrat, it could be Manchin. It could be Cory Booker. It could be Sinema. Anybody. They could say, no, no. And guess what? Nothing is happening. So this is

the problem that we're facing when you have an equally divided Senate. The real problem here is Manchin is really full of shit on Makongo. He's a liar. That's what he is. He's a liar. Because you can't give a framework and then go, oh, I've tried everything i can't they have basically allowed him to write the bill so you can't vote for the bill they basically allowed you to write really you ain't lying man look shout out to ayan representatives ayanna presley rashida talib and ilhan omar and aoc who all said from the beginning, Cori Bush, Manchin cannot be trusted. He has shown his full colors full out.

And Roland, to do this on Fox News, an outlet where he knows he's not going to get challenged, he threw out all of the stuff about the filibuster and how it needs to be, you know, we need to maintain it and all of that. But I had nothing to say about the fact that they had a carve out for it for the budget just last week, the week before last. And it's been carved out over 160 times. He's a liar. He's not out here. He's not an honest broker.

I'm sitting here looking at some stats. West Virginia, number 47 in healthcare, number 45 in education, number 48 in economy, number 50 in infrastructure. And yet the average income of people there is $26,000 a year. I know some speakers who make more than that. He has bamboozled the people of West Virginia. And I hope, but look at this, Roland, he has over a 60% approval rating by the people of West Virginia. So he understands how to hustle goals. And I'm hoping that by now, more West Virginians are starting to see that he is full of it, that he's not an honest broker. And going off of what Charlemagne just said, we need to see more of this. Vice President Harris, because this vice president Harris, when they first got into office, she went into West Virginia, went on television and talked about the importance of the COVID relief package.

But I haven't seen them do that on these Build Back Better bills or the voting rights bills. They need to get in attack mode and seriously call him out. And I believe that once all of the people in West Virginia get exposed to who he really is, they're going to have that more pressure on him and we're going to get him to do what we need him to do. I do believe that. They just don't know.

Here's the deal uh jeff joe manchin is bacon is banking on the sheer illiteracy of his own voters sure west virginia ain't the smartest state in America. When you look at the fact that the child, childcare tax credit, 93% of the kids in his state are impacted by that. So when he say, well, now go back to West Virginia.

I got to be able to explain to my people. And if I can, I can't vote for it. That because that must mean they're too illiterate because they don't believe anything that this man says. Out of all other states, he represents one of the brokest damn states in America.

They, more than anybody, are going to benefit from this bill. But Joe Manchin has corporate interests he's representing. Not people of West Virginia. 68% of voters in West Virginia support the Build Back Better plan. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tweeted that out. Well, guess what?

I need 68% of the people in West Virginia who are voters to be blowing his phone lines up saying, you're screwing over us. And see, that's part of the problem. He has not gotten enough pressure from West Virginians. And so they're just believing whatever this man says. And they're the ones who are going to get screwed. Well, if you can keep people's eyes focused on Fox News and you can keep them focused on the story, you can do whatever you want. I like to point out in a mini tribute to the great sister, Bell Hooks, who's transitioned into life after life recently.

She said what we do is more important than what we say or what we say we believe. So Joe Manchin is in this place now where he is doing things that are showing us exactly who he is. And in his action, we are seeing that he is as disconnected, as distant and as unfocused as that webcam that they put at the top of that stadium for ESPN to cover the celebration halftime show. This guy is so separate from reality when you're dealing with the party and you're dealing with America and yet so highly focused on, as you said, banking. What is he banking on? He's banking on himself. So he's advancing a narrative that draws, that comes out of the 1980s and 90s with the concept of the welfare scares. When they were saying we gotta keep people from getting on welfare cuz they're gonna take all the money. Never mind that 80% of the welfare money at the time was going to administrative costs and it was not getting to the actual people. Joe Manchin is now advancing this notion,

advancing this narrative that what people are going to spend their money on, their bill back money on is drugs. And what people are going to do with their time off and their paid leave is go hunting. All of these things that have no basis in reality. And so he's playing on the beliefs and stereotypes that are coming out of, frankly, the conservative right. So that we can continue to move toward what we're moving toward in America. And that is a space of white minority rule. Joe Manchin will benefit from that.

He's saying, look at these people over here and what they might do with the money based on a belief. But don't look at the $174,000 a year that I get of your money. Don't look at how I got $174,000 salary and yet I'm driving around on the river in a $250,000 boat. When we continue to not have this analysis and just see through this and call people out as you said, it's got to start happening in his home state we have a national voice of people who are pointing out the inaccuracies who are pointing out what is wrong the discrepancies but it's got to start coming from west virginia because people have to see that they are the ones who are going to continue to suffer and end up in the bottom of

every category as dr omicongo pointed out uh i want to bring in a guest with the Poor People's Campaign. Look, they have been doing that. They have been on top of this. They have been mobilizing people in West Virginia. They, of course, they had last week, they had a caravan uh to the nation's capital uh it and and it's been consistent uh and and and the thing is and let me just say this before i bring the guest on frankly not enough uh other civil rights groups have been doing their part there have been folks who have been more uh who have chosen to talk in private meetings

as opposed to out there on the streets. So the problem we're dealing with is we need to have, again, more pressure. This is a man who drives a Maserati. As a matter of fact, I'm looking at a tweet from Reverend Liz Theoharis. She just tweeted, so Manchin drives a Maserati to his yacht, all the while worrying that the Build Back Better plan might be too generous to poor children and falsely claiming that parents are using the child tax credit to buy drugs. He's actually said that y'all privately. Christian Olson is the West Virginia Poor People's Campaign director. Christian, glad to have you on the show. Thank you so much for having me. What this man is doing is, frankly, an abomination.

And he doesn't give a damn. And when he goes on television with this you know well if i can't explain to the people in west virginia then you know i can't vote for it to your knowledge has senator joe manchin held a town hall meeting in west virginia to discuss this has senator joe manchin had a joke no no he hasn't listened to anything. We've had actions in front of his office. We've had actions in front of his office in Charleston. We've had actions in front of his office in DC. We've had actions in front of his office in Martinsburg. I've left him numerous voicemails. We have all been leaving him numerous voicemails. We all are calling him every

day. And then he gets on the news and it's like, you can tell he's lying the way he says, if I can't explain this to my people, what does he want to explain to us is what I don't understand. He talks in that interview, that clip that you just showed, he talks about how things are going up for us in West Virginia, how the prices of things are going up. He doesn't know how we're going to pay things. And then in the same breath. So that's why I'm voting to take away free childcare and child tax credit. And I'm voting not to give you hearing aids and teeth and medical care. I I'm beyond frustrated with, with my Senator and he's saying he's not hearing from us.

We're having actions right now. I just got home from an action right before your show started. We're having actions right now. I just got home from an action right before your show started. We're having actions right in front of his office every day. Y'all pull together 10,000 a letter signed by 10,000 people or something along those lines and he refused to accept it or something like that?

Yes, or something like that. I'm not exact. That was through the Poor People's Campaign and I'm not sure how many people signed it, but we've had several. I know it's 10, it. I know it was 10,000. I know it was 10,000. Reverend Barber referenced it at last week's news conference. Yeah, and he's saying that he's not hearing from us. It's like because he's a liar, he's saying that we're liars.

Because he's lying and doing whatever he wants to do for his own good just to benefit himself and his pocket, then he's going to assume that all of us in West Virginia are liars and that we're taking money and doing dishonest things. That's him just telling on himself. That's what liars do is they blame other people for what they're doing. I'm sick of it. Christian, I mean, I think what he's doing is, again, he knows that these national, these safe spaces he keeps going to, they're not going to ask him the tough questions. Well, you know what else? Let me. I'm sorry. No, no, go ahead.

Go ahead. Let me bring up something interesting about West Virginia, something that I don't think is getting a lot of attention that's going on here. So Joe Manchin's wife is something in charge of a lot of nonprofits and their funding. So, you know, just like last month and the month prior, when we're talking about this John Lewis voting rights bill and what needs to happen, there were a lot of nonprofits here in West Virginia that were having thank Thank you, Joe Manchin rallies. So. So you're saying that West Virginia is uneducated about what's going on. I disagree. West Virginia is being manipulated and threatened and not being brave there. There there's something crooked going on in the background with that sort of thing.

So she. So let me let me go ahead and read this for you uh because the vista was pulled up uh and this is dated uh this was in april so uh gail mansion the wife of joe mansion she serves as the federal co-chair of the appalachian Regional Commission is a federal-state partnership to boost economic development across 13 states, stretching from Georgia to New York. So essentially what you're saying is that, yeah, a lot of people, the funding of their organizations will be contingent upon whether she supports it or not. Yes, sir. And that's what we're dealing with here.

And what I think it was just like the ban was against the increase in dental care. I saw one story where 25 percent of folk in the state, what, don't have natural teeth. It was some story like that. And you just sit here and you go, okay, which West Virginia is this man supposedly representing? And I'm like, who does he actually talk to? Does he actually show up to anything in the state? Or does he just go to his yacht and drive his maserati you know that we had to have a flotilla to get to his yacht so that he could even hear us at all

out on boats there were there was several days of actions where people were out on their boats trying to talk to him and yell at him on his on his yacht um and he drives you know you said mentioned it he drives a maserati, he's so disconnected. And apparently doesn't even read the newspaper because it was on the front page of our local paper. I don't have it right next to me. But how badly we need this. Here's the thing, right, that, you know,

and again, to be honest, I was very surprised at how aggressive that White House statement was. I was very surprised. But you know what? To me, this is one of those deals where President Joe Biden should go do a town hall on a cable network in West Virginia. And you know what? And he doesn't need Joe Manchin's permission. Good point. And you know what? And he doesn't need Joe Manchin's permission. I remember back in I remember I guess I was in 2016, I think, when when Senator Senator Bernie Sanders had won.

I think Chris Hayes was the host of MSNBC. President Joe Biden should do that. President Joe Biden should say, you know what? Find Joe Manchin. In fact, in fact, really throw the gauntlet down. Biden should say to Manchin, you show up at my town hall in West Virginia where we will discuss the Build Back Better plan publicly. See, to me, if you're going to throw the gauntlet down, Christian, that's what you do. And if Manchin

can't explain it to us because either we're too stupid or he doesn't understand it himself, then Biden and Kamala Harris should come down and help West Virginians understand. I agree. It'll be great if that happens. Look, you know, look, I love what y'all were doing there. I absolutely support it, support Reverend Dr. William Barber, Reverend Liz Theoharis. Y'all been putting the pressure on. And the key is y'all been showing effective people, putting their voices out there, not just people who are pastors, not just people who are organizational leaders.

And so I say keep it up because this man is supposedly representing y'all. He should be responsive to all constituents, not just those who give campaign donations. And I want to thank you really quickly because I am involved i am involved in the poor people's campaign because i found you on youtube and i saw bishop barber and i signed up last february and i joined right away and so you're the reason that i'm in activism and i just want to thank you roland martin all right christian i appreciate it y'all keep it up let us know how it goes and we'll keep putting we'll keep up spreading word too thank you thank you god bless i want to bring in, bring Julian back in. I mean, this thing right here, Jeff, again, pressure bust pipe.

And they got to stay on them. They got to stay on them. They got to stay on this man. You don't know what you said about. Oh, Julian. Jeff, then Julian. Okay, and I'll make mine really, really quick. And this is the community organizer in me. A lot of times when you take on an issue, it can be so big that it can be frustrating. You go into a neighborhood and you say, I want to just get rid of crime.

I want to take on crime. You're always going to have a problem getting people involved. Why? Because crime is a constant. It's too big to actually see progress. But if you can identify a couple of blocks and say, look, I want to stop some people from breaking in cars, because people have been breaking in cars lately. People jump in, they fix that issue, and then they say, how can we add two, three, four more blocks to this?

I think what we're looking at with this Joe Manchin issue is a huge issue because of the power that he's wielding, because of the storms that he's causing within the party and in the nation. But I think how do we target small victories so that people don't lose hope with the work that Christian's doing and other people with the Poor People's Campaign? That is what I think needs to be a new locus of focus. How can we identify, for instance, where's his money, most of his money come from? And how do we start chipping away at that so that he can recognize and

realize this may be an issue of a death of a thousand cuts. But let's start working on this right now in digestible pieces that can actually give us some tangible process, tangible outcomes. Because if not, I worry that it may be so big that the frustration may get the poor people's campaign and other groups that are out there knocked out of the game. The poor people's campaign will never be knocked out of the game. That's your pessimism, my brother. Oh, no, no. I'm an optimist. I just want to make sure they don't bleed you. I'm talking, my brother. Yeah, I'm sorry.

Reverend William Barber is the bomb, the bomb, bomb, bomb. He has committed his life to this from the time I met him in the early 2000s. He is committed to this. So, no, they will not be discouraged. They will not be moved. The issue is whether the so-called leaders at the national level, as Roland has pointed out, have the cajones to really call Manchin out. Yes, having town hall meetings in West Virginia would make a big difference. Yes, having people like our sister, who was just there with us earlier, going to his office, rolling up on his yacht. That makes a difference. This guy is

a toxic tool of the coal industry of which he owns a slice of. Let me repeat that. A toxic tool of the coal industry of which he owns a slice of. And that's important because he's protecting his self-interest. He's not protecting the interests of the people of West Virginia or, as the Constitution would state, the people of the United States of America. This is really mentioned as a slimy sludge of, you know what, alliteration. Slimy sludge of, you know what. The issue is that people have to be willing to stand up. And unfortunately, I think someone earlier in the program, Roland, talked about the will of the minority. This country has always been constructed to basically lift up the will of the minority.

And so the Senate is a minority rule situation. The Congress, in many ways, with gerrymandering is also. And we can go down the list. but this man needs to be stopped he's not the president of the United States nor can he play to be but what he is is a toxic piece of garbage he is against the American people and more importantly the people of his own state well McCongo I was, though, to see the Biden White House issue that statement and basically saying you lied. Saying

you came in here with a plan and you were supposedly working with us and I love how they detailed it. And then they detail how Biden invited him to his home in Delaware and what he told him directly. That is the kind of look.

Look, they had been they've been dancing with him. Not really one, you know, take him off. But to me, this wasn't a front. And now back now, Manchin wants to come out and say, oh, I was offended by a staffer. That's a comment. I mean, this is real here okay yep if I am engaging in a conversation with the President of the United States do you actually think I'm sweating some list alpha in fact in Only if your ego is big. In fact, allow me to go back to when President George W. Bush was there. Senator Ted Kennedy, was it the No Child Left Behind law? What was the education law?

It was one of those. Oh, yeah, No Child Left Behind. Senator Ted Kennedy pretty much wrote that law directly with the president. So, but Manchin, no, Manchin's lying. I don't believe a word that he says. What he, Manchin was going, 3.5 trillion. He kept bringing it down. He was never going to support this.

He was going to find, on the Congo, he was going to find a way to say no, regardless. Regardless, no matter what. And that's why when they had the two bills together and they gave up on one, they said, we're never going to get this bill back better because he can't be trusted. And look, one of the things that Sister Olson said, which we have to be mindful of, is when she mentioned the thing about Gail Manchin and the situation with her role over these nonprofits, we have to realize that the Manchin family has its hands in everything in West Virginia, from coal to nonprofits, his daughter with the EpiPens and the medical stuff, and his brother or his son has some other organization

throughout the energy field where they're paying him millions of dollars. And they have their hands in every single thing. And that is why he's never been an honest broker. He is about delay, delay, delay. I'm glad President Biden called him out. Now, I know people are going to be like, well, we got to be more careful because he might turn Republican and then we'll lose everything. What do you got to lose at this point? He is the man who wants to block everything. I mean, and this guy has sat on committees in the Senate that oversee the industry that his family profits off of. So at every juncture, this man and his family have been hustling the people of West Virginia. And we have

to do more to augment their voices so that and so that they can understand. So, yes, I thought the letter was deep. I thought we need to see more of it. And like you said, go into West Virginia, do that town hall. I'm a drive up there for that joint because really, at the end of the day, it has to be taken to his face right now. Great. Great. I was going to go to break. We come back. We're going to talk about an effort to help those who have been unfairly sentenced with the crack cocaine and powder cocaine disparities. We'll talk about that next. But y'all, y'all heard that coming from Chris. Chris Olson. I had no idea she was going to say that. I didn't realize that that was the case. Y'all understand the importance of this show what she just said is important here's a white woman in west virginia who came across reverend borrower on this show on you watching our youtube channel and join up that particular day and so sure on this show we target african-americans we've got folks who are of different uh ethnicities and backgrounds who watch our show that's why it's important for

you to support what we do uh so please we want want you to download our Blackstar Network app. Our goal is to have 50,000 downloads by the end of this month. Of course, we're on all available platforms, Apple phone, Android phone, Android TV, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, Xbox, Samsung Smart TV. And also, please join our Bring the Funk fan club where your dollars make it possible for us to do what we do. Cash app is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is RM Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com.

Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. We appreciate all support, folks. What we're doing is building something that's great. And, again, I mean, I was like, wow. I couldn't believe she said that. But, again, you never know who's watching. And that's why I want i mean i was like wow i couldn't let you say it that uh but again you never know who's watching and that's why i want y'all to understand you never know who is watching and that's why we are about empowering people educating people giving them the kind of

information and so chris thank you so very much uh for saying that and thank you for putting uh for calling the poor people's campaign and joining them that day and so we certainly appreciate that I've got to go to break we'll be back Roland Martin unfiltered on the black star network I'm going to go ahead and do that. Thank you. It's time to be smart. 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. We abort 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. Roland was amazing on that. 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? Hey, everybody, it's your girl Luenell. So what's up? This is your boy, Earthquake. Hi, I'm Chaley Rose and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Alright folks, we're still dealing with the disparities between crack cocaine and powder cocaine. And there's a new law being put forth that want to change that to help those who have been impacted as a result.

It is called the Equal Act or eliminating a quantifiably unjust application of law. It attempts to eliminate the federal sentencing disparity between drug offenses involving crack cocaine and powder cocaine by equalizing the sentencing time of the same quantity of drugs. Now, the Equal Act will allow those already serving time to be resentenced and apply to future impending cases once passed. The House has already passed the bill. It's awaiting the Senate. Joining us now is Najarian Echols. He was on the receiving end of a hard sentencing. He joins us now along with

the president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, Kevin Rehm. Kevin, glad to have you back on the show. Thanks. And so, Kevin, this has passed the House. What's the hole up in the Senate? I don't know. I don't know what to tell you. I wish it was easy. You can't get anything in the Senate, as you were talking about with Build Back Better. But this should be a no-brainer. This already has Republican support. There's six Republicans supporting it. We think if it goes to the floor, you'll have 70.

But, you know, it just doesn't seem to be enough of a priority for the Democratic leadership to bring it up, to find time on the floor for it. And so, you know, we're grateful to you to bring attention to this because after getting 361 votes in the House, including 70% of the Republicans and all of the Democrats, this should be a no-brainer. And our view is, you know, in the wake of George Floyd, the wake of Ahmaud Arbery, there was talk about racial justice and criminal justice. The police reform bill died. This is a common sense measure that would take out of the criminal code the most racially discriminatory piece that's left. So we gotta get this done. And you're right. This is one of those things that is not that hard. And frankly, it's not like you're gonna to have Republicans who are going to be standing in the

way. And it ain't like the Senate being that damn busy. No, you're right. And like I said, I mean, you have Senator Rob Portman, Susan Collins has joined, Lindsey Graham. So this isn't some progressive wishlist. This is common sense policy. In the House, you had the minority leader, Kevin McCarthy and Jim Jordan, Louie Gohmert. These aren't, you know, progressives. These are folks who just realize there's right and wrong in that, you know, if you want to get rid of having two systems of justice, one black, one white, you have to address things like this in the criminal code. We can't get rid of all discrimination because some of it's in human hearts of police officers and others and judges and prosecutors. But when it's in black and white in the criminal code, we have to act. And this should be a no-brainer.

Well, Najarian, if you could just weigh in and just share with folks, you know, your story and why this law needs to be passed. I think you're on mute. I'm sorry. Can you hear me now? We can hear you. Go ahead. OK, thank you for having me, first and foremost. But, you know, I think Kevin articulated it perfectly. We have to this law has to be changed and it has to be done now. You know, I remember a quote from common in one of his rap songs he said it doesn't take an entire day to recognize sunshine and likewise

it doesn't take 30 plus years to recognize injustice it doesn't take 30 plus years to recognize when a a cold a criminal code law is egregious in its nature uh the time has been passed now uh and and i'm passionate about it because i had the misfortune of being sentenced under these harsh mandatory minimums when they were uh 100 to 1 uh with regards to the ratio now being 18 to 1. uh and especially when you hear about conversations being had about the excuse me about the nature in which these it became 18 to 1. i was i heard that it was passed over a casual conversation we couldn't agree to one to one uh i'll give you 18 to one how about we do that over a basketball game so um it's unfortunate uh that we're at this state where people can be so indifferent to the suffering of others but um the time is now and we can't wait any longer and that's why you have individuals

organizations like kevin uh families against Minimums, individuals like myself who are so passionate trying to get this done. So Kevin, so the Senate, they've gone home for the rest of the year. So for the people who are watching, people who are listening, what do you want them to do between now and when the Senate returns in 2022? Well, I'm here for that reason. And again, I'm grateful to you for bringing attention to this, just like you have on other issues. They have to get involved because I know there's tons of competing priorities,

voting rights, build back better, other things that people want. But this is something that will not get done unless people demand it. And so especially communities that have been hit hardest by it need to demand it. And so we're asking people, you know, you can go through us or all the other groups that are working on that. You can reach out to FAM by texting FAM to 21333. But the truth is we also need some leadership from the president. President

Biden has endorsed this legislation, but they haven't been active on the Hill and pushing for this. And we're not seeing any other criminal justice reform pass. We're not seeing him grant any pardons or commutations. And so this is something he should call up, you know, Senator Schumer, Speaker Pelosi and say, get this bill to my desk ASAP. I don't care what form it comes in, freestanding, attach it to another bill, but I want to sign this as quickly as possible. And don't wait until we get too deep into the election year, because then everything gets harder. The Jerry on also for you, if Senator Chuck Schumer watches this, in fact, what we're going to do is we're going to tag him when we post this on Twitter.

What would you say to him and Democratic leadership about moving this bill? What would you say to them? That the time is now that they have to exercise some type of courage. They have to exercise some type of humanity and use their political capital. They have to get in the ear of Joe Biden, the president, and do what's necessary. I hate to use the word old when dealing with politicians, but Joe Biden, the president, he owes it to the black people in particular to do something with regards to this law uh and we have to do our part in demanding that he hears our voices and demanding that it gets passed but that's what i would tell our leaders the time is now we can't wait any longer you have what you need which is

uh the people behind it let's get it done all right gentlemen we appreciate it uh we're going to simply do our part push this this out to all of our platforms. And again, I didn't even realize that that this thing was just waiting for them. And like I say, it's a no brainer. Just get this done. Put it on the damn schedule and vote on it. Ain't that hard? Thank you. All right. Thank you so very much. Thank you. All right, folks. The trial of Kim Potter. She, of course, a former cop in Brooklyn Center who shot and killed Dante Wright is now in the hands of the jury. Of course, you had all of the different back and forth prosecution, the defense laying their cases out.

Both sides, of course, had one shot of convincing the primarily white jury of Potter's innocence. Now, prosecutors told jurors during closing arguments that the shooting was entirely preventable. But Potter's attorney said, look, it was just a mistake and it wasn't a crime. For the holidays. But you know who won't be home for the holidays is Daunte Wright. Daunte Wright's parents, Katie and Aubrey Wright, will have an empty seat at their table this holiday season because the defendant shot and killed him on April 11th of this year.

He was just 20 years old. He had a baby boy of his own. We're here today. We're here because the defendant, Kimberly Potter, a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center Police Department, pulled the wrong weapon and she shot and killed Dante Wright. It would have been inappropriate under the circumstances where she could and ultimately did disable the driver of a vehicle, and which could, and ultimately did, injure other people, like Elena Albrecht Payton, like the Lundgrens.

That's why those policies exist, members of the jury. That's why you don't tase a fleeing suspect. That's why you don't tase the driver of a vehicle. So what's the point of all that evidence about proper use of a taser? Well, it goes to show that even the decision to use a taser was not a wise one. It goes to show that she made a series of bad choices that led to her shooting and killing Dante Wright. It goes to her disregard of all the risks. Members of the jury, this was no little oopsie. This was not putting the wrong date on a check. This was not entering the wrong password somewhere. This was a colossal screw-up. A blunder of

epic proportions. It was precisely the thing she had been warned about for years, and she was trained to prevent it. It was irreversible, and it was fatal. She shot Dante right in the chest. There's an old expression that actions speak louder than words. You all heard that. Here, I think they both speak at the same volume. For her actions and words speak very loudly.

She did not believe deadly force was necessary. She clearly said taser over and over. I'll tase you. I'll tase you. Taser, you taser taser taser it's consistent with training training to provide notice to the subject and other officers she only pulled the trigger once your testimony that that's what you do with a taser not a handgun she immediately, and that's during, after she immediately expressed surprise that she had shot him,

she immediately said she had pulled the wrong gun. She punctuated that admission with profanity. Pulled the wrong fucking gun. She emphasized. She immediately expressed shock that she had done something so very wrong consider the real volume if you will of her reaction she is distraught she is beside herself she questions how she could have done this she collapses to the ground that admits how wrong her conduct was i'm going to prison and i killed a boy Is that the reaction of somebody who thought deadly force was really necessary?

Also important is what she did not say. She never said, I had to shoot him or somebody could have gotten hurt, like her fellow officers, her police family. She didn't even take Sergeant Johnson's offer to say that when Sergeant Johnson said he was trying to drive away with me in the car, which isn't even true. But he offered that to her, and she didn't even bite on it. She was so caught up in the recognition of the wrongfulness of her own conduct.

That says a lot right there, folks. We will let you know what happens with the jury when they come to a decision. All right, folks, I got to go to break and come back. We'll talk about not far from New Year's. Of course, you got Christmas coming up. Our Fit, Live, Win segment. That's next. Roll the button, unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. Thank you. I'm going to go ahead and do that. so so so so so

so so so so so so so so

so so so so so so so so

so so so so so so We'll be right back. All the momentum we have now We have to keep this going The video looks phenomenal See there's a difference between Black Star Network And Black Owned Media And something like CNN You can't be Black Owned Media And be Skate It's time to be smart

Bring your eyeballs home You dig? Dig? so push this thing up. So my guest, he is with Effect Fitness in Atlanta, co-chief operating officer and master fitness coach Reggie Ball. So Reggie, the previous idea that we would talk about, I'm throwing out. So I'm going to actually throw you out with something different. So here's the deal.

I'm having to self-isolate due to a positive COVID test. OK. And and so the other people, folks on my staff have to do the exact same thing. The people out there who are being impacted. So. All right. Now, luckily, I got a gym that's right off of here. But let's just say here you are. You have a self-isolate, not walking around okay really uh uh what what should a person be doing to ensure that they have mobility and they're not just pretty much sitting on the couch and laying in the bed uh for seven to ten days well number one you got to download the effectiveness app uh that's going to help you tremendously but um okay hold on hold on. Now, you say download the app. It's going to help you tremendously.

How? Absolutely. Well, you download the app. I mean, it's on the Apple, the Google Play, the Apple Store. It's available everywhere. So it's very easy to use. We're upgrading it daily. So we're steadily at work to make sure that when you are quarantining,

you're at home, you're not mobile, that you have something to do. You have something that will keep you active. But more importantly. So what's so what's on that? So what so what's on the app? So that way. OK, so you're right. If I'm sitting in here and like I am and, you know, again, I've got me. Luckily, I got a pretty large basement. but, but again, so, so you're downloading. What am I looking at? What am I doing again? I can't do nothing for the next, because, because for me, they say you got isolated for 10 days after your first symptom. That for me was Wednesday. So I'm pretty much here through Saturday. So I got six days in here. What should I be doing? So it's a very fun and

innovative bootcamp class. So you will be moving. You can actually perform these classes with very minimum weight. So if you don't have lightweights at home, you can use cans of soup, water bottles, or anything like that. If you don't have resistance bands, it doesn't matter. You're still going to feel that burn and you're still going to be more importantly active all right so um with our boot camp classes again it's with music it's fun it's very energetic and we also uh have people you know giving you live examples of uh what we want and what we expect and we're doing pretty good at it man again it's very easy and simple and fun to use okay and so we we talk when we talk about movement we talk about uh uh doing things um again is it a matter of if you don't have a treadmill are you saying hey you know what

create your own little track uh you're talking about uh are you talking about stretching are you talking about look we ain't doing no burpees i'm just letting you know right you can work yourself the burpees now roly you can do that but yeah if you have a treadmill use it you know what i'm saying keep it very simple um especially if you're quarantining and you know this thing could be rolling back around to where everybody might be bumping down again i'm not sure but stay active the most simplest thing you can do even if it's walking up and down the stairs just make it a game um every commercial break just get up and start moving um again if you have the peloton you have bikes if you have roller skates just move three to five days a week move 30 minutes just for 30 minutes you'll be amazed at how much that how much of a

difference that'll make all right then well uh look at it look look the movement is important uh that's also uh where uh uh you know the fitness watches or i you know the i watch or whatever uh the apple watch also man that's because you're gonna be able to track your your body movement and track your steps too absolutely absolutely control your dieting control your diet women 1200 calories a day man 2000 calories a day just start there start there then download that get to moving with us use your Peloton use your treadmill use your bikes use your skates whatever you got to do to start moving but please address your diet ladies 1200 calories a day million 2000 calories a day just start there start there all right then okay all right

again the name of the app where people get it effect on demand um apple stores google play everywhere you find any other app man we're there very easy to download very easy to use please come see us all right we certainly appreciate it uh thank you so very much. Thank you, bro. All right, then. We, of course, first of all, Omicongo, Jeff, Julian, I want to thank you. We have been on here. Of course, we're totally virtual, not only because it just would mean not being in the studio, but also one of my staffers also tested positive who wasn't with us last week. And the whole crew there uh also uh so yeah we're not gonna be back in the studio until january 3rd uh and so um i was hoping uh to showcase uh folks our new new office space i'll show y'all what it looks like uh today but that's going to be delayed so

we'll do that uh come january 3rd i want to thank all three of y'all for being with us we certainly appreciate it thanks so much thank you thank you, Roland. Thank you. Namaste, my brother. Happy holidays. Happy New Year. Get well. All right. Likewise. Absolutely. Absolutely. So, folks, that is it for us. We'll see you guys tomorrow right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Of course, remember, you can download the app, Black Star Network, tell a friend, tell a family member, all platforms. You can download it to your Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire Stick,

Samsung, Xbox as well. And please support us, Roland Martin, Brina Funk Fan Club, Cash App, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered, PayPal is rmartinunfiltered, Venmo is rmunfiltered, Zelle is roland at rolandmartin.com, roland at rolandmartin unfiltered venmo is rm unfiltered zelle is rolling at rolling that's martin.com rolling that rolling martin uh unfiltered.com folks uh uh thank you uh so um uh very much folks uh thank you all the prayers and everything uh i am getting better so yeah i am still suffering but it's not like uh i'm look here's the whole deal i ain't hospitalized don't have shortness of breath all that sort of stuff like that so on the men uh but i do have everything

down here uh so uh before i uh came back yesterday i could not fly uh from um could not fly from atlanta so we took the rover mobile we'd already driven up to atlanta for all about what i want a year and so there was a nine hour ride back wasn't bad i watched a couple movies while i was uh uh coming back uh but uh my wife jackie she moved a bunch of stuff down here so y'all know i was like okay i need you to read my my putting green uh so my putting green is down here uh my need for speed uh video game is down here it's the only video game that i play. That's the only one that I play. So that's down here. And luckily, I got a kitchen down here as well. This was a hangout spot for my nieces when they were here. So they're gone. So I got the 82 inch TV, the home studio down here.

And so, yo, I'm good. I'm good. So trust me, we'll get the workout stuff in as well uh and so i'm about to go fix me uh some salmon uh right now all right that's it i'll see y'all tomorrow rolling right down through the black star network peace out Thank you. 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. this is an iHeart Podcast.