#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Roland in Texas; Rev Barber, activists march against voter suppression; Jan 6. commission begins

Episode Date: July 28, 2021

7.27.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Roland in Texas; Rev Barber, activists march to Austin against voter suppression; Lebron James' voter organization, More Than A Vote launches Protect Our People; Mayoral candidates India Walton of Buffalo, New York, and Judge Karlos Finley of Mobile, Alabama speak out; National Council of Negro Women filed suit against Johnson and Johnson; Jan 6. commission begins + The Marketplace with Sistahs in the Business Expo.Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered#RolandMartinUnfiltered is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Today is Tuesday, July 27, 2021. Roland Martin Unfiltered broadcasting live here in Georgetown, Texas, where the People's Propaganda Campaign, Reverend Dr. William J. Barber, as well as numerous other groups, including Federal Award, Black Voters Matter, and religious leaders. They're going to be leading a march for democracy protest march beginning tomorrow. It kicks off today. Just behind me will be live from the news conference and the prayer service. They begin tomorrow at 8 a.m. Eastern.

We'll be broadcasting all week live right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Also today on Capitol Hill, explosive testimony from police officers explaining the white domestic terrorists who were attacking the U.S. Capitol, calling black officers the N-word. It was a stunning day. Republicans are trying to blame Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Nope. This one is on them. Also going to be joined by two mayoral candidates, one out of Buffalo, one out of Mobile, Alabama, as black mayors try to move forward black politics in leadership.

The National Council of Negro Women and Attorney Ben Crump have filed a suit against Johnson & Johnson for deliberately selling powder, that's right, baby powder that got black women sick. We'll tell you about this particular lawsuit. Also on today's show, two Atlanta cops have been suspended without pay as a caught on video viciously beating a black woman. Plus in our Next Door Marketplace business segment or Marketplace segment sponsored by Next Door, we'll talk with a sister who, the creator of Sisters in the Business Expo. Folks, it's a jam-packed show. It is time to bring the funk in this Texas heat right here on Roller Barton Unfiltered.

Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the miss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the find And when it breaks, he's right on time And it's rolling Best belief he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics

With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling Yeah, yeah It's on, go, go, go, yo Yeah, yeah It's rolling,oro, y'all It's Rollin' Martin Rollin' with Rollin' now He's funky, he's fresh, he's real The best you know, he's Rollin' Martin

Now Martin Martin! William J. Barber, Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., many others with the Poor People's Campaign and a litany of other organizations, they are here to kick off a march for democracy. They will be leading these various protests today through Saturday, culminating in a massive protest on the grounds of the state capitol. Behind us, the news conference is literally just starting. Guys, let me know when we can go live to the podium so we can take that live. Let me know when we're ready to do that. Reverend Arthur William J. Barber, Reverend Freddie Haynes out of Dallas, Reverend James Dixon out of Houston, they are mobilizing. And you know, the House Democrats left Texas, went to Washington, D.C.,

to keep Republicans from this state from passing a destructive voter suppression law. We are seeing this happening all across the country where Republicans are doing this. Well, here they are mobilizing. They are expecting thousands of people to participate in this march on Saturday. What they're doing, though, is every single day they will be actually marching each day from Georgetown, Texas to Austin, Texas. We're about 26 miles from the core of Austin, and they'll be marching each day on the way. So tomorrow it will be from Georgetown to Round Rock.

The next day, Round Rock, Texas to North Austin and then North Austin into the city. Are we ready to go to the podium? All right, folks, so let's do this here. So let's go live to the podium right behind us where they are announcing the kickoff of this March for Democracy here in Texas. And as you see, folks, that is Reverend Dr. William J. Barber. You have Reverend Liz, who is there as well. There are a number of folks who are gathering. We are here again at a Lutheran church here in Georgetown, Texas. This is where everything is going to, again, be starting tomorrow.

They're going to begin tomorrow at 8 a.m. Eastern, marching, 8 a.m. Eastern tomorrow. We'll be live streaming the entire march. They'll begin in early afternoon, and so we'll be doing that each and every single day. And so that's what we are going to be focused on tomorrow, Thursday and Friday. Then, of course, at 11 a.m. Eastern on Saturday, a massive march in the state capitol in Austin, Texas. Republicans in this state are doing all they can to follow the big lie of Donald Trump. That big lie says that somehow the election was stolen. It was not. The former Secretary of State, appointed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, certified that this election was secure, it was fair,

it was just. The crazy thing is is Donald Trump won Texas. The Republicans are angry because Democrats have been winning in suburban areas in this state, and they want to further rig the election following in the footsteps of the folks in Georgia, Florida, Arkansas, and some 30-plus states across the country, Republicans, are putting forth various voter suppression bills. They want this march to put pressure on Democrats in the United States Senate to end the filibuster and to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Act. They also are pushing for a $15 an hour living wage. And so this march is not just about voting what they're saying is

this has to be done in order for Democrats to move this forward let's go back live to the podium River Dr. William J Barber come up at this time we got our three tri-chairs. All right, so we're working on the audio issues from the podium, and so we'll actually go through that. Okay, now let's go to the podium, Reverend Barber. I want to ask... You can hold a banner right here. All of the speakers come up on the stage. Somebody else needs to hold the sign.

Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Can I get three people up here other than speakers that will hold this placard? I need to get me some. Bring it over this way. Bring it over. I'm going to stand him right in front. Go keep him. You need your mask on, sir. I can't help it.

Only because he's the signer, I want to make sure because I don't help it. Was he going to stand? Only because he's the signer, I want to make sure because I don't want people asking. Stretch it out nice and wide. All right. Members of the press, are you keyed into the microphones? All right, hold that nice and tight, Norm. We can invite other people that want to come. We do our press conferences. We don't like people to stand at the podium by themselves,

so I know it's a little warm, but come on up, audience. We really rather you be in the press than sitting out as the audience because we're all one family. And so grab a placard, pass people a placard. Where's my brother from the United Methodist Church I was with on Sunday? Hey, there he is. Come on down around. Now some of these preachers, I'm going to call on y'all.

Don't be, you know, like they used to do in church when they call on the deacon to pray. So I know you're ready. No, you come on here and we need diversity shown black, white, brown, native, fat, skinny. Somebody said young old. This is a people's thing. If you hold your placards up so the media can be clear what our messaging is, we want folk to know. So hold them up right in front of you. We need some placards over on this side real quick. Come on, team. Y'all are beautiful down here.

Look at you. Look at you. All right. This is our press conference. It's not a rally. So we want everybody to listen up. Need everybody on the stage to listen up. Shh. Shh. We can fellowship a little bit later. All mics are hot. If you say anything, they pick it up.

I learned that too many times. All right. All right. Thank you. We want to welcome all the members of the media. I'm Reverend Dr. Bishop William J. Barber II, co-chair of the National Poor People's Campaign, a national call for moral revival, standing here with Reverend Dr. Liz Theoharis. And we were asked to come here by the Texas Poor People's Coalition, Texas Poor People's Movement, and their coalition partners. We're not here for fun or for fancy.

But we're here because we're in a moral fight, not only for the soul of America, but in many ways possibly the cause of the world. Because when you start undermining people in a democracy that says it's meant to lead the world, it can have cosmic and international implications. Maybe it's a poetic irony that on the day of the first hearings of the violent insurrection on January the 6th, that we are here today to start this march for democracy and not to be an insurrection but to be a moral resurrection. Maybe it's poetic irony

that on the day after Bob Bozis passes, who dared to go into Mississippi when other folk told him he shouldn't, that we are daring to march through Texas. Sometimes we've got some ugly notes about us wanting to march through Texas. I won't elevate those today in this press conference, but I will say we are clear that everybody doesn't want us here. Doesn't want all Texans to stand up. But this land is our land.

And God has called us in this moment to stand. And stand we shall. When Governor Abbott decided to get behind the extremism regarding voting and so much other extremism and then decided to call a special session to push the legislature to do something that really is wrong, he became the latest leader and the devotee of the political insurrection that's being mounted after the violent insurrection. See, January 6th was a violent insurrection. But now what we're seeing across the country

is an attempt to engage in a political insurrection. Because what Republicans are trying to do, and let me say extremists, because I don't even call some people now Republicans, because my granddaddy was a Republican, but he was an Abraham Lincoln Republican, an Eisenhower Republican. There's something different here.

And what we see happening here something different here. And, um, what we see happening here is happening all over the country. And Texas is like the canary in the mind. And that's why we're in Texas. Just like Alabama was the canary in the mind of 65. Texas is the canary in the mind in 2021. And we must nationalize Texas in order to change the whole country. What they're trying to do here has already been done in 18 states, according to the Brennan Center. Over 300 bills have been passed to not only suppress the right to vote, Brother Beto, but to retrogressively suppress the right to vote.

In other words, take away what 56 million people used in the past election to participate. And here we are. And what we know is that the same extremists who want to suppress and retrogress the right to vote are the same ones that block fixing your utility problems. We got something to tell on this march. The same people that block 5 million people in Texas from having a living wage. The same people that block health care that makes Texas one of the most uninsured states in the country. That's why we are not separating the issues. We recognize that the poor people's campaign and all 50 of these coalition partners that you may see on one of the banners over there. I want you to get a good picture of that.

It's marching to Austin this week with five demands because we declare that all of this suppression of the votes and suppression of living wages, suppression of health care, suppression of immigration reform, all of it is constitutionally inconsistent, morally indefensible, politically insidious, and economically insane. And if you think it's good, you're also historically inaccurate. Retroaggression has never been good in this country. And so that's why we march for democracy as a moral resurrection.

And we have these demands for the Senate. We're not so much focused this week on the Texas legislature. We're focused on the United States Senate, because just like the March from 7 to Montgomery demanded federal action, then we must and demand federal action now in the filibuster. And on Saturday we're going to talk about what a filibuster really is. It's never been used for good. It's name tells you what it is, filibuster.

It's meant to bust stuff. Number two, pass the real John Lewis Act, which is the For the People's Act. That's the bill he wrote, and that's the only game in town. And then when it's written, and, Meedy, you need to make this, because some people say, well, I'm for the Voting Rights Act, but I'm not for the For the People's Act. There is no Voting Rights Act restoration. It hasn't been written. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

Manchin and Sinema signed off, well, Manchin did, as co-sponsors of the For the People Act. But he did it when McConnell was Senate leader, and he knew it would never get to the floor. Now that it's come to the floor, all of a sudden he wants to remove his signature. There is no Voting Rights Restoration Act passed yet. So the only John Lewis bill is the For the Peoples Act. And then we need to pass $15 minimum wage now. We'll lift 32 million people and we need to do all of this. We need to protect our immigrant brothers and sisters and their rights. Take a lot of darker students and we need to do it all by

August the sixth, the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. When a Texas Democrat who was the president signed the Voting Rights Act in to being Act into being. LBJ. And we can do this. It can be done now. And any person, politician, who's not committed to this is a part of the political insurrection. You're an accessory to the crime. I don't care if you're a Democrat or a Republican. You're an accessory. See, we're preachers. We're going to say some things other folk can't say. You're an accessory to the crime of retrogression and political insurrection. There is no moderate position when it comes to voting rights and living wages and protecting immigrants. And there's no moderate position. Nobody swears on the Constitution to be moderate. You don't even swear to be liberal. You don't

swear to be conservative. You swear to uphold, to establish justice, promote the general welfare, ensure equal protection under the law. That's no moderate position. Go tell other folk to be moderate, but when it comes to these things, we will not be moderate. We will mandate that change must be. And not only that, as I close in this opening statement, an overwhelming majority of Americans want expanded voting rights.

They want living wages. They want universal health care. They want common-sense immigration reform. But none of these policies are supported by the corporately funded extremists who have hijacked the Republican Party and even slipped into some parts of the Democratic Party. And when Senate Republicans lock arms to block debate on federal voting rights, they made clear that they are willing to run roughshod over the people.

What they're saying is they are more comfortable with this country being moved and guided by the greed of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce than the vision of the United States Constitution. And we cannot have that. This bill is not Jim Crow. This is also not Jim Crow. It's James Crow Esquire. It's not just that black people. When you look at the bills that are being written now in media, please look at this.

It will hurt white people and women and black people and Latinos and Asians and native and poor and low wealth people at most. The 140 million poor and low wealth people in this country, 12 million that stay in Texas, 5 million that make less than a living wage right here in Texas. This is James Crow Esquire that wants to shut down the voice of progressivism in this nation. And whoever it is, Democrat or Republican, if you stand for this kind of retrogression and suppression, you are threatening not only the existence of a party, Republican or Democrat,

you are threatening the existence of the democracy and the possibility of America. Now, some so-called Democrats say they want us, they don't want to push forward, you know, even though we use 51 votes to put Supreme Court justices on the bench for life. You mean to tell me we can't use 51 votes to save the life of the democracy? Something wrong with that. And some Democrats are saying, well, we don't want to push forward because if we pass this and the Republicans take over, they might overturn everything. Well, first of all, maybe if you pass things, they won't take over.

Talk to me. All right. Why do you have to have a losing attitude? Why is your attitude if I do right, I'm going to lose? Come on, Bishop. Why don't you just do right but then more importantly that sounds like what folk actually told the abolitionists don't push too hard because the slave masters might get better or they told LBJ that don't you sign that because if you sign that, then the extremists are going to get, but he did what was right. And the right time to do right is right now.

The poor people's campaign and our allies in Texas are clear that this is not a time for compromise. It's a time to end the filibuster. It's a time to fully pass every provision of the Voting Rights Act. Excuse me, of the For the People Act. It's time to be prepared to pass the Voting Rights Act Restoration Act when it is ready. It's time to pass $15 minimum wage. And it's time to protect our immigrant brothers and sisters.

And it's time to do it right now and if we don't we fail those who will come after and if we do not stand and demand now then we are unworthy of the inheritance of sister ames from georgetown a white lady who stood against the Klan in the 1930s. We are unworthy of the legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer and Dr. King and Rabbi Heschel and Rosa Parks and William Lord Garrison, the white evangelical in the 1800s that was an abolitionist, and Frederick Douglass.

We are unworthy of those three young men, one black, one Jew, one white, who were killed down in Mississippi. We are unworthy of the legacy of Bob Moses. We are unworthy of all of the people that came together to push this nation forward. And they did it with less. They did more with less. We will not do less with more. We have more than they have. And we will fight harder in this moment. But going backwards is non-negotiable. That's right. Amen. is non-negotiable.

At this time, I'm going to ask our three tri-chairs to come. Each person will come for a minute and a half and make remarks, and then we'll take questions from the media. So at this time, Stephanie, Stephanie, and Danita will come. And because she's moved to Texas recently, Danielle, and she has roots in Mississippi, we're going to ask her to come as well with at least a one-minute comment. Would you all come at this time? Can they get up?

Thank you all for being here today. I am Danita Jones, a co-chair of the Texas Poor People's Campaign and also an impacted person. We are here to announce that a more reckoning is upon Texas. We are here joining across racial, gender, and economic lines to say we are tired, we are worn, but we are not weak. Understand that the good trouble that will take place this week in Texas is only the beginning. Understand that we are here to stay. Understand that our demands will be heard, understand that now is the time. We are the people. We demand to be heard. We demand a fair democracy. We're going forward together and not one step back. I have too much at stake here. I'm the mother of five.

And to tell my five children that two of you can go get your checkup and the other three will have to wait till next payday is unacceptable. That should not be. To have my home turned into an impromptu shower station for our neighbors during the snowstorm should not have taken place. To go three weeks without clean water is not acceptable. To go unheard is not acceptable. So hear this. We are here, we are mighty, and we will stand strong with everyone here in this fusion movement. If you do not have time to stand strong, I ask you in all humbleness, get out of my way. Because I am not here to play.

I am here to do what's right for my fellow Texans, for my children, my son that stands here. I am here and I am not going anywhere. I don't have them on. But these boots I have are made for walking. Come on. Come on. Yeah. And I'm gonna walk all the way to the capital to have my voice heard. Thank you. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Good evening. My name is Reverend Stephanie Wilkins. I am a United Methodist deacon, and I'm also a part of the Texas Poor People's Campaign. I have watched in my community people in food deserts.

I have watched people who are looking for employment, looking for a way to survive, not have what they need because they are the working poor. They're either the poor or the unemployed. not have what they need because they are the working poor. They're either the poor or the unemployed. I have been on many phone calls when people are distressed because they don't know how they're going to make it, how they're going to live, how they're going to pay their bills. Then we have the pandemic hit, and it hurt a lot of us, but it hurt the poor and the unemployed even more so.

And then on top of that, you have a situation with a grid. We didn't even know that we were not a part of anybody else's grid. And we're in some sub-freezing temperatures. It hit us all. It hit us no matter age, status, race, gender. It didn't matter. And now you're going to tell us somehow that we need to wait on you while you board a plane for warmer climates? That ain't right. Then you want to suppress our vote, our voice?

Instead of doing that, why don't you work on fixing that grid? Stop. Stop. Stop suppressing our voice, our vote. Everybody has a right to live. Everybody has a right to a living wage. Everybody has a right. That's right. Everybody has a right. So we're going to march. Our purpose is clear.

We may be tired, but we're not going to give up. We're frustrated. You're doing all kinds of things, all kind of trickery, but we're not going to stop. We're going to march, because we're on the side of right. Justice is on our side. What side are you on? On the people's side. REP.

What side are you on? On the people's side. REP. What side are you on? On the people's side. REP. Thank you. Hi, everyone. I'm Stephanie Swanson. I'm a tri-chair of the Texas Poor People's Campaign. I'm going to keep mine a little shorter.

This March is a proud moment for our state and for our community. We are honored to walk alongside one another, people from all faiths, creeds, races, and religions. We hope to send a very clear message to Congress that these voter suppression bills that are being passed in states across the nation have a deeper meaning than just the franchise. This voter suppression is preventing Texans from accessing health care. They're preventing them from accessing affordable housing, living wages, and decent schools. This voter suppression is actually a form of economic oppression that has kept 12.6 million Texans in low wealth and poverty, and that was before the pandemic. And when the governor vetoed the legislator's budget, he sent a clear message across the state that he cares more about the culture wars

than he does about the health and well-being of his constituents. These voter suppression bills cannot be stopped at the state level. We must have federal action to break down these barriers to the ballot box. We must have federal action now so we can shift the moral narrative and improve the lives of all Texans. That's right. Thank you. Hello, Texans.

My name is Danielle Holmes. I'm national organizer with the Poor People's Campaign, a national call for moral revival. And as the saying goes, we only get what we're organized to take. And we have been organizing across this country. And we're going to demand, and not only demand, but take back everything that the enemy has stolen from us. I'm from Mississippi, where the cliche is the Bible Belt State. Mississippi is the belly of the beast. See, the rights that you all are fighting for here in Texas, we don't have those rights.

So we don't have a fight to fight. We have the bare minimum voting rights. You all are don't have those rights. So we don't have a fight to fight. We have the bare minimum voting rights. You all are fighting to retain the rights. But I've always had a vision, even before coming to the Poor People's Campaign, of organizing the South. And I've studied the Southern strategy. And what has happened now is that they have nationalized the Southern strategy. So now it's time for us to nationalize our movement and organize in every state in this country, march across this country, and we don't stop until we win. We demand that organizations, social justice organizations, I'm a troublemaker, so I may say some things that my leaders won't say, but I'm here to tell you personally that I'm going to challenge

every organization that says that they look like us, say that they represent the people, but are going behind back doors compromising and making deals. Not only must we challenge lawmakers that are blocking us, but we must challenge every organization that does not stand on the side of right and in the best interest of our people. We're here to fight, and we're going to fight like hell. The President of the United States. The President of the United States.

The President of the United States. The President of the United States. The President of the United States. The President of the United States. We thank God for our three tri-chairs, our national co-chairs, and ain't much she's going to say that I won't say and we won't say. Because the truth is just the truth. And we want the media to get this. If you notice how we're not just talking about the voting, we're connecting the dots. All week long we're going to connect it. Dr. King connected that at the end of the Selma to Montgomery March,

he said that the great fear of the Selma to Montgomery March, he said that the great fear of the Southern aristocracy and the greedy was when the Negro masses and the white masses joined together and vote in ways that changed the economic architecture of the country. Yes, sir. He said that's why there was such an issue with the Voting Rights Act, and that's why there was such an issue with suppression. It's not just about skin color. It's about power and money and who gets what, when, and where.

And we're going to be very clear about that. That is why we have no compromise in the filibuster past the full provisions of the Florida People's Act. When the Voting Rights Act is ready, restore it, pass 15, and protect our immigrant brothers and sisters, do it now. It's a shame and disgrace that in a week we'll be 56 years after the Voting Rights Act of 65, and we got less voting rights to date than we had August 6, 1965. Somebody say that's a shame and a disgrace. Now we've got some Latino young people who want to make sure that they're clear on how we're united. We want to invite them to come up.

And those of you there in the back, if you want to come on around, I know it's warm, but you want to join us and getting a little tan. Come on around so the cameras can see you too. Come on, young folk. Where are they? Let's give him a big hand. Are they here? Come on. Yeah, yeah. Come on, all of them. Tell us the truth, young lady. Hi, my name is Sienna, and voting rights matters to me because my family is considered lower class. So taking away our voting rights is taking away our voice. It's already hard enough to vote, and making it harder is even worse. My stepdad has to work a hard job, and my mom has to take care of her two kids at home,

which makes it harder to vote, meaning two less votes and two less opinions. Wow. Thank you, young lady. Thank you. Let's go, Brian. Be loud, Brian. Be loud. What's that? I just got to say that the government should listen to everybody, regardless of race, citizenship and how much money they have. I'm only 13, but I'm here today because I want to create the opportunities for my people. What's your name? Brian.

Brian, I want you to do me a favor. Because I get tired sometimes when we ask our Latino brothers and sisters to speak in English. Because they're smarter than us. They can speak in two, three languages. So can you say that in your own tongue? Not right now. Not right now? Can you? Okay. Lee can do it. How about I want to hear I want the world to hear it in your own tongue. Come on. In Georgetown, Texas, this is the kickoff news conference of the Poor People's Campaign March for Democracy.

And so they're having this particular news conference here. And so we're going to keep monitoring. This is going to be a prayer service after this. I want to bring in my panel right now, Faraji Muhammad, radio host and TV host, Teresa Lundy, principal and founder of TML Communications, and also Mustafa Santago Ali with the former senior advisor for environmental justice with the EPA. Mustafa, I'll start with you. What this is about, what this event is about, this week is about, is continuing to put the pressure on Democrats in the United States Senate to move on the issue of voting. And so they want to dramatize this.

And so this is really sort of a recreation, if you will, or taking off of Selma to Montgomery. So Georgetown, Texas, about 24, 26 miles outside of Austin. And so they're going to have a daily march to Austin culminating in a massive rally at the state capitol on Saturday. And it's also used as an opportunity to mobilize and organize people in Texas, something that, frankly, the Democratic Party has really failed to do on a consistent basis. Yeah, well, we know the Democratic Party hasn't invested enough in Texas, although I believe that will change. You know, this is a transformational moment. You know, we've got to get this right. And by humanizing the issue is so critically important, by showing everyday faces of individuals who are standing together in solidarity, you know, Black and white and Latinx and indigenous, LGBTQIA. Everybody coming together is so critically important, because if you do not win on voting

rights, if we don't make sure that the For the People Act is passed, then all these other things that are so critically important, from housing to health care to transportation to job creation, will be so much more difficult, especially for those who are often unseen and unheard. So this is the moment. And Reverend Barber and the Poor People's Campaign and so many other organizations are coming together to push and to put a spotlight on these issues. And no better place than Texas to make that happen. And the reality, Teresa, what this also does is it puts a face on this various issue. So much attention in the last few weeks has been on the House Democrats leaving this state in order to keep the Republicans from having a quorum to pass many of these destructive bills.

This is now regular, ordinary people speaking out and letting their thoughts be known. Teresa, you're muted. Teresa, you're muted. We do this every week, Teresa. Go ahead. Absolutely. I think there's a lot of times people also misconstrue when there is just elected officials that is just standing in the camera and saying, you know, this has happened to everyday people, but we don to see Democracy Matters with everyday people, children from all colors

and shades and from all backgrounds and religious aspects, standing to the podium saying, look, this is me, this is who it's hindering, and this is why action needs to be had. So I think there's a lot of opportunity here. I think that is a phenomenal opportunity to do. But I also think there's more that has to be done. But like the People's First campaign, it is just one step of many in order to get to the solution. A lot of people, Faraji, they say these things don't matter.

It's, you know, these protests don't matter. But the fact of the matter is they do. They serve a purpose, not only bringing attention to the issue, but as I said, mobilizing and organizing the people. Because, look, the folks who are fighting for $50 an hour, the folks who believe in these voting bills, they are going to need to turn out in big numbers next year to stop what Republicans are doing. Absolutely. Let me just say this real quick, Brother Rowland. I truly appreciate you. And I

was just talking to some of our watchers on Facebook. This is for you to be down in Texas and to show us that this is a big, big moment. And personally, I've been so inspired to hear from Reverend Barr about me. I just love this brother. And I'm so happy that he took the mantle that Dr. King started to give. And I think that it's important that we understand the very foundation of this conversation about his moral resurrection, which is a moral revival. Now, here's a couple of things. When the sister said we only get what we are only organized to take. I want everybody to just let that sink in for a moment. We only get what we organize to take. That is something that means that this is the time for us to unite, to put away our differences, set aside our egos and personalities, and let us figure out the common cause, and most importantly, identify the common enemy of this whole fight and i think

that's the important part but there's also another part which i think we need to just put this on the table we should not be organizing to appeal to the moral sensibilities of those who don't give a damn about us but we should be organizing to show this country and the next generation that enough is enough. And so at this point, what I love to see, and I'm so happy to see it right now down in Georgetown, Texas, is the fact that even white people,

Latino brothers and sisters, folks are saying enough is enough. When they're talking about this moral resurrection, when you're talking about a resurrection, you're talking about, you know, awakening from a state of death into a state of life. And so this country, what this does, it puts the ball in the country's court,

in the leaders of this country's court. It causes them and it will compel them. And I think that the voices of the people of goodPLE OF GOOD INTENTION, GOOD WILL, GOOD MIND, HEARTS AND SPIRITS NEED TO GROW LOUDER. BUT WHAT IT WILL DO IS IT WILL FORCE THIS COUNTRY TO CONFRONT THE UGLINESS OF ITS POLICIES,

THE UGLINESS OF THE LEADERSHIP AND IT WILL FORCE THIS COUNTRY TO DEAL WITH THE UGLINESS OF OUR HISTORY WHEN IT COMES TO VOTING RIGHTS, WHEN IT COMES TO INEQUITIES DEALING WITH WAGE force this country to deal with the ugliness of our history when it comes to voting rights, when it comes to inequities, dealing with wage discrimination and all of the things that we're talking about here. This is what needs to be done. There has to be a moral resurrection. But the last point about that is if there is a resurrection, how will America deal with the voice of reason, the self-accusing spirit, the voice that is really a very spiritual and divine voice? How will America deal with the

voices of Reverend Barber? How did America deal with Bob Moses? That's the fight that we need to prepare for as we're having this fight. There needs to be an army of young people and next generation leaders to get prepared for that fight because the enemy of our rise is not going to stop right now. They're going to go after the young and the next generation. Folks, it is, just so y'all know, this is one of my, one of the fans

that I got when I was in Ghana. Just to let y'all know, it's 90, just so y'all know, it's 95 degrees out here, but the feel light is 99. So me being a native, so, yeah, it's 610 local time here in Georgetown, Texas, and it feels like 99 degrees right now. So, yeah, that's why we got this fan. I ain't crazy. I want to bring in my next guest.

We're going to talk to her about her winning the Democratic primary in Buffalo, India Walton. If she wins the junior election in November, she'll be the first socialist mayor of a major U.S. city since 1960. I want to get her thoughts on what we're seeing here in Georgetown, Texas, the mobilization going on? Because the reality, India, the way you won, the way you beat an incumbent African-American mayor there in Buffalo who was so upset that you ran, he's now running as an independent telling people constantly, look, you can change things in this country if you organize and mobilize. That's how many folks have come into office. Yeah, am I supposed to talk now? Yes, yes, you are. Okay, great. So that's exactly what we did.

We organized. I am an organizer. And after the murder of George Floyd last summer, we saw uprisings and young people, young, old, black, white in the streets really protesting injustices. And the response we got from our city government was nothing. And we decided to really turn that protest energy into political power. And that's what we've been able to do here in Buffalo. My opponent is not running as an independent. He's running a write-in campaign. So he's really now a long shot candidate in all signs point to me being able to bring it over the finish line in November. I'm so excited about it. When you look at, when you look at what's happening here in Georgetown,

folks, if y'all can in studio, give me a shot of the stage. We'll talk over that. You know, this is about the poor people's Campaign with a lot of local organizations. Ella Baker, one of our greatest organizers, she always talked about local, local, local, local, local, local. And it gets frustrating to me when I hear people complain about politics and politicians. But then they don't understand that the way you beat people is if you go out and get more votes than they got. And that's how you throw them out. Yeah. Politics is a numbers game. Right. And I think that especially in local politics, what's missing from that is that ground game.

We had a really strong field campaign. We were out knocking doors, having those one-on-one conversations. I think that now more than ever, people want leaders and elected officials that they can relate to, that they see in the grocery store, who they feel are accessible and who are just like them. And that is what our campaign represents. And that is why we won the primary. We defeated a 16-year incumbent. He will sleep at the wheel because he believed that he didn't have to work for the vote. So we worked hard for the vote. We knocked on the doors. We'll do the same thing going into November. And I think that we will win again. And I think that what's going on right now is this moral resurrection, this moral revival is taking it back to the

message of Martin Luther King. And that democratic socialist label is being used against me now, but that's what the people want. We want affordable housing. We want universal healthcare. We want a basic standard of quality life. And we feel that all people are deserving of that. And so talk about that. So you say you are a socialist. What does that actually mean? Because obviously in this country, when someone, I mean, Republicans label anybody a Democrat, a socialist, what does that mean? Being a Democratic socialist means that I put people first, right?

When the segment began, you talked about me being potentially the first socialist mayor of a city in 60 years. Well, the last socialist mayor of a major metropolitan area was called a sewer socialist, and they used that again as a term that was supposed to be disparaging, but it was because they provided indoor plumbing and, you know, cleaned up the waterways. And that's what our platform and our policies are centered around is around uplifting people. It's about co-governance, it's about putting resources where they matters, and that is into the pockets of working class people,

into communities and into neighborhoods to lift the standard of living for all Buffalonians. And hopefully this wave will continue and we'll see city by city really stop making rich people richer and stop prioritizing those that already have more than enough and really begin to put resources where it matters. Questions from my panel, Teresa Lundy, I'll start with you for India Walton. Hi, India. Well, congratulations again. So I know there has been a and I think you just explained it very well about the difference between socialism and the Democratic process.

Well, and being a Democrat. So what changes do you plan on making than your counterpart that, you know, was the incumbent? That is one of my favorite questions. You know, I often say I think that our current mayor has done the best that he knows how to do. And at a certain point, we have to stop doing the same thing and expecting different results. He is a person that's very corporate and developer friendly, large developer friendly. His writing campaign right now is being funded by Republicans, members of the far right, and corporations. And I think that what we're going to do is the opposite of that. There are no patronage positions in my administration. We are going to put well-qualified experts into position to make the changes that we really want and have wanted in Buffalo for a long time and we are going

to usher in a new era a new era of progressive leadership that includes every everyone no person in this city will be insignificant in my administration mustafa santa gali your question walter sister Walton, thank you so much for what you're doing. I got family in Buffalo, so I know that they're going to support you. You know, there are literally trillions of dollars that are being discussed in relationship to infrastructure. When those dollars begin to make it through New York State and to Buffalo, how would you utilize those to help uplift people? One of the things that I'm most excited about as we look toward the investments and infrastructure coming is correcting some of the mistakes that we've made in the past. Just like a lot of other midsize cities, we have a scar riding down the middle of Buffalo's east side that's primarily occupied by poor people and people of color. And it's called the Kensington Expressway.

All over the country, we've seen these highways be put through neighborhoods that cleave them, that have made horrible health outcomes, increases in asthma and heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. So I'm looking forward to finding a solution to removing the Kensington Expressway in Buffalo and restoring our beautiful parkway with green space and neighborhoods and restoring the fabric of the Eastside neighborhood in the city of Buffalo. Faraji Muhammad. Ms. Walton, thank you. Congratulations on getting this far in your campaign.

I just had a question. I know that you often talk about the disparities that black and brown communities of Buffalo have been facing. Talk to us a little bit about what are you going to do specifically to help those communities and, of course, the next generation of those communities? Yeah, our platform focuses a lot on building alternative structures, right? A lot of times we want to reform the current system, but I know from experience that reforming the current system doesn't go far enough because the current system has been designed to exclude black and brown people from participation. So we are going to go in and we are going to make sure that we have alternative means to making capital available, to extending flexible financing so that people can get mortgages and become first-time homeowners and really begin

to close that racial wealth and home ownership gap. And the way we do that is with resources. When we talk about reimagining public safety, the way that we increase public safety is by providing resources in the form of good jobs and training and a quality education and safe, affordable, stable housing, looking toward the future, jobs and green energy, looking at New York State recently legalizing adult use cannabis and making pathways into that industry that's going to create the next generation of millionaires and really have an eye toward creating not only generational, but community wealth so that people, especially black and brown people here in Buffalo and poor people and working class people that have been left out of the systems and processes for so long,

now have a sense of pride in where we live, and we continue to build from there. And I believe that when the least of us does well, we all do better. And that's what we intend to do as an administration. All right. Andrea Walton, Democratic nominee for mayor of Buffalo. We certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thanks for having me. Thank you very much, folks.

Let's now go to Judge Carlos Finley. He is running for mayor of Mobile, Alabama. Judge Finley, glad to have you on Roller Martin Unfiltered. Great to be here, Roland. Thank you. First and foremost, what is your goal if you are elected mayor of Mobile, Alabama? Well, we need a more safe city, Roland, first and foremost. We have more homicides this year, year to date, than we've ever had in the history of our city. In fact, we're up to 34 now. They may not seem like a lot for larger cities. For a city of our size of 186,000, that's a lot of violent crime. Our robberies are up. Our assaults are up as well. Last year, this time, we were right at 20 homicides.

And we understand that that's unfortunately a track that's going across the country. But we want to lead for once in Alabama as opposed to coming up to the rear. Economics obviously is an issue. For Mobile, what's the percentage of African-Americans who live in Mobile, Alabama? So we're a city of 52% African-American, seven other minority races, and 41% white. And of course, unfortunately, like many cities in the South, there's a terrible wealth gap between minorities and females in our city, even though we are a minority African American, excuse me, a majority African American city. So we've got to work towards that end. Fortunately, as a city, Mobile came through the COVID-19 era fairly well because most of our economy is based on our industry and our waterfront.

We make planes here. We make ships here. So those things didn't necessarily stop. And then our sales tax, which is the largest base of our taxes here in Mobile, went well because of the people who were going to grocery stores, big box stores. And we have a 10 cent sales tax that primarily finances our city government. So that made us fair. All right made us feel quite well. Okay. Questions from our panel. I'll start with you, Mustafa. Judge Finley, good to see you. I'm curious. You know, we have places like Africatown, which was founded, you know, by folks who came across illegally enslaved and built that community, which is three miles right there next to Mobile. These smaller areas, how will you help to

revitalize them and move them from surviving to thriving? So, Africatown is a great challenge, as well as a great opportunity for our city. I'm actually president of the African American Heritage Trail here in Mobile, and we've been giving tours of not only Africatown, but all of the other areas where African Americans have made significant contributions to our city. So Africatown, as you stated, is the landing of the last slave ship, Clotilda, to come into the United States, indeed an illegal act. We are looking at how we can make that a transformative part of our city through our tourism industry. You may be aware of the Legacy Museum that's in Montgomery, as well as the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham. Both of those two attractions attracted more people to the state of Alabama from outside of Alabama than our

beautiful sugar white beaches. And that's a testament to how strong and how powerful the cultural heritage and ecotourism aspect of the tourism industry is. Cultural and heritage tourism is the fastest growing segment of the tourism industry across our country. We recently had a visit from Costas Christ, who is the father of ecotourism here in Mobile, and we were able to give him a tour. And along with developing our riverfront, we see those as areas that will not only boost Africatown, but boost the entire city of Mobile. Africatown is an amazing story, and it's like none other across our country. And fortunately, we've been telling that story. When I say we, I mean

the Dora Franklin Finley African-American Heritage Trail since 2005. So we've been giving cultural and heritage tours for the city of Mobile since 2005, and we're poised to take that to the next level. Next question for Rajiv Mohammed. Judge Finley, thank you so much for being with us today. I wanted to get your take on when the Brookings Institute put out a report about manufacturing, how the city of Mobile must address racial equity in the manufacturing sector. Talk to us a little bit about, I mean, you talked about making planes, building planes and ships in Mobile, but talk to us about the manufacturing

sector. What is being done to uproot that racial inequity that exists in Alabama? And everybody knows, I think we all are familiar with that Alabama is probably one of the hottest spots in terms of racial injustice in this country. How is that being changed? How's that changing? Or what's your plan to change that? Well, thank you so very much for that question, because you're spot on. I actually had discussions with both Airbus as well as Austal, which is our shipbuilding company here, on last week. And they recognize the inequities in their businesses and, unfortunately, how they are still much like the plantation, where you have most of your workers underneath,

the laborers being African-American, and the management being white or Euro-American. I myself am a union guy. I worked in a paper mill here for 10 years while I got my undergrad degree, starting at Bishop State Community College and University of Mobile. So we've got to have those frank conversations so that they understand that we've got to have equity and we've got to do away with the wealth gap that I spoke to earlier in the conversation. Now, just last week, I had conversations with two young African-American men. One was a graduate of the Citadel. The other one was a veteran who worked in tech services for the U.S. Army. And these young men just need opportunities.

Here in Mobile, unfortunately, oftentimes it's more of who you know as opposed to what you know. So leadership in the mayor's office can have those conversations, can bring those things to the forefront. We've got a community college here who's developing workforce in industry, and we've got young people who are willing and able to serve in those positions. Unfortunately, we lose so much talent every year to cities such as Atlanta, Nashville, New Orleans, who are right around us. And we need to work to maintain that talent because at the end of the day, the city as a whole is losing when we lose our homegrown talent to other cities. And we can see that those cities are in many ways thriving. And so we must have those conversations. It takes leadership that's willing to have those conversations and ensuring

that the leaders of those companies understand the importance of diversity at every level of their company. And not just that it's good for people it's good for their company because now they're getting the best individuals in leadership positions so those conversations have to be had but they're only going to be had if you've got someone at the helm leading the way ensuring that those um matters are discussed. All right, then. Judge Carlos Finley, running for mayor of Mobile, Alabama. We appreciate it.

And that's a very smart color combination you're wearing today. Yes, sir, brother. This week we will be celebrating 82 years of Beta Omicron Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha right here in Mobile, Alabama. Well, Mustafa is a fellow Alpha, so we certainly appreciate you rocking the crest. Thank you so very much. Good luck in your race. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. All right, folks.

Got to go to a break. When we come back, breaking news out of Los Angeles. Ed Buck, the white Democratic donor accused of giving drugs that led to the death of two black gay men found guilty. We'll tell you more about that when we come back, broadcasted live from Georgetown, Texas, where the kickoff of the March for Democracy protest is happening as we speak. We'll be back in a moment. With us right now is a fight, the good fight in Washington, D.C. So look, I close with this.

In a government, if it truly is of, by and for the people in this great democracy, there are no sidelines. There are no grandstands. There's no paying witness to what's happening right now. You are in this fight, or all of us will be out of it. So I encourage you to join us on this march, and most importantly, be with us in front of the state capitol this Saturday, 10 a.m. Will you join us? All right. Good to be with you. Thank you, Bishop Barber. Yes, sir. Brother Beto, you don't even know in some ways how prophetic you were because Thank you. Thank you, Governor. Thank you. GOV. RONALD REAGAN, Former U.S. Secretary of State for the United States of America,

Thank you. GOV. RONALD REAGAN, Former U.S. Secretary of State for the United States of America, Brother Beto, you don't even know in some ways how prophetic you were, because enforcing one of the people that's going to be here, that are trying to pass these bills across the country, but here in Texas, to, yes, suppress, to stop, to undermine the vote. The same folk that block you from having living wages are the same folk that fix your utilities problems.

AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. Attorney General of the United States of America, In this time, when our voting rights are under attack and economic justice is being denied— DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States of America, We're launching a season of nonviolent moral direct action to demand four things by August the 6th, the 56th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act. Number one— AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. Attorney General of the United States of America, End the filibuster. DONALD TRUMP, Former 56th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act. Number one. Yes.

End the filibuster. Right. Right. Number two. Yes. Pass all provisions of the For the People Act. Fully restore the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Yeah.

Yes. And number four, raise the federal minimum wage to $15. Pass the For the People Act. That is the last best hope for voting rights, not just in Texas, but Georgia, Florida, and about a dozen other states. Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Bill and the For the People Act. Let our people vote.

The Latinx community is the rising electorate in Texas, and our representatives are threatened by these shifting demographics. Our pathway to citizenship, to a living wage, depend on our access to the ballot. This is not just a black issue. That's right. This is a moral, constitutional, and economic democracy issue. Poverty is reinforced by public policy. And what happens in Texas, as well as in America,

we create policies that perpetuate poverty, and then we criminalize the poverty that we create. There's only so much we can take, and it's time for us to stand up and speak loudly against what's happening here. I think in Texas that it is time for a Selma-like. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think we ought to run from Georgetown to Austin.

And we ought to come to Austin, but we ain't coming to Austin just for Austin. We come to Austin to save the Washington, D.C. Which side are you on? And don't tell us you can't do all of this. You must do all of this. You can't do all of this. You can't do all of this. You can't do all of this.

You can't do all of this. You can't do all of this. You can't do all of this. You can't do all of this. You can't do all of this. You can't do all of this. You can't do all of this. You can't do all of this.

You can't do all of this. You can't do all of this. You can't do all of this. You can't do all of this. You on? And don't tell us you can't do all of this. You must do all of this for the soul and the heart of this democracy. Forward together! Forward together! Forward together! Our age have lost the ability to focus the discipline on the art of organizing. The challenges, there's so many of them and they're complex. And we need to be moving to address them. But I'm able to say, watch out, Tiffany.

I know this road. That is so freaking dope. . I don't know. filter usually, but we can be on filter. Folks, we're here in Georgetown, Texas again, where they are kicking off the March for Democracy protest taking place today through Saturday. We're at Christ Lutheran Church in Georgetown, Texas. This is where the kickoff will begin tomorrow. More than 100 people are going to be marching literally from Georgetown to Round Rock tomorrow, where they're then decamped. Then, of course, they will then travel another step on Thursday, another step on Friday,

then culminating marching into Austin, Texas on Saturday. And so this is the kickoff that's happening right now. There is other news happening across the country as well. We were one of the first national outlets that gave voice to folks like Jasmine Kanick, who was trying to get the attention about white Democratic donor Ed Buck, who would invite gay black men to his home and then feed them drugs. Jamel Moore, Jamel Moore was the first young man, 2017, died in Ed Buck's apartment. But media, other folks did not want to pay attention. So they continued.

Then Timothy Dean died in 2019. And so it was finally with that where the attention then began, they got picked up. Jackie Lacey, who was then the DA in L.A., would not prosecute. Ed Buck was moving way too slow. Well, he was indicted on the federal level. Today, Ed Buck was found guilty of multiple crimes for the death of these two brothers in his West Hollywood apartment. He was accused again, giving them drugs during sexual encounters. He was found guilty on nine felony counts, including two counts of distribution of controlled substances resulting in death folks

the charters carry a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison that means the 66 year old ed buck who had given uh a ton of money to bear as democratic uh candidates in california he is going to spend the rest of his life in prison as a result for the death of Timothy Dean and Jamel Moore. Here's the deal. He had given more than $53,000 to Democratic candidates and to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee since 2008. It was after he was arrested that Democrats, several of them, began to give money back. Folks, y'all let me know if we could get jasmine mechanic on the phone or or the mother

of jamel moore as i said a lot of national media outlets did not cover this story i put jasmine on time during a morning show on my tv1 show as well to get the attention a lot of folks uh in uh various lgbtq uh media organizations would not cover this story as well. But finally, finally, justice for Timothy Dean and Jamel Moore with Ed Buck being found guilty on nine counts. Again, will spend the rest of his life in prison. This is a this is important, Mustafa, because the attitude that existed, that also this was a defense they put on, that basically these two black men, hey, didn't matter. You know, Ed Buck hired Christopher Darden, another prominent black attorney in L.A., paid them lots of money. They tried to suggest these two men died of AIDS.

And so the family was mystified with this. But the fact that Timothy Dean, a second man, died because authorities would not do anything about Jamel Moore's death, that is what is so shameful about this case. Most definitely. You know, it's always interesting that our lives don't seem to have much value to folks, sometimes not even to the folks that we have supported and sometimes not even to our own communities, depending on, you know, what our particular affiliations might be and those types of things. You know, $53,000 for, you know, three men's lives who are now gone. We don't know if there were more. And, of course, I know for this particular case, we're talking about two men who are a part of this who lost

their lives to this murderer, a mass murderer. So, for me, I'm always real clear with folks. I don't care if you're Democrat, Republican, or independent. If you do evil, if you do injustice, then you have to be called on it and you have to be held accountable. And we just got to make sure that folks are willing to do that who are in these elected positions, in these enforcement positions. And, again, thank you to you and the show for making sure that you put a national spotlight so that this individual was eventually brought to justice. Here is one of the mothers speaking after the conviction of Ed Buck.

Hello. My name is Letitia Nixon. I'm Jamel Moore's mom. I want to say thank you to everybody that believed us. Thank you to everybody that reported correctly on my son, because my son was more than an escort, more than a prostitute, as many of you guys said. It's more than a movie or documentary. This is my baby, my son, who is a human being, and he's loved by lots of people.

But today is bittersweet. Today is the day that my son was murdered when he left my house four years ago. But we got victory today. We got victory in the West today. So I'm grateful and I'm happy. And thank you guys. This, again, Teresa, folks, you know, this first brother, Jamel Moore, dies. Nothing.

I mean, Ed Buck discontinued and it wasn't until Timothy Dean died and the pressure was ratcheted up that then folks took action. But two black men have to die for them to do something. Yeah, Ed Buck is, you know, an epitome of a serial rapist and murderer. Again, for him to either get away with his actions, and then we have to see another strong black woman giving thanks, you know, that justice was served. It's disgusting in itself. I mean, you know, praise to was served. It's disgusting in itself. I mean, you know, praise to God for her strength. But, again, this is an ongoing occurrence when it comes to justice for Black people. It's not only, you know, we're getting shot down by cops, you

know, for sometimes listening to their direction or getting understanding for their direction or just for not saying anything. But then, you know, we then have to go into this case and see the evidence that is right before us. And it takes Black media news outlets to put this information out there and continuously make sure that justice can get served. Because even, you know, Buck's financial records that was going to congressional elected officials who likely knew his story way ahead of accepting those financial donations for their campaign, but then even for them to give it back but not do anything about it, even when they did get elected, it's just horrible.

And, again, this is these are the track records when we start looking at those who want to represent individuals and people. That doesn't mean a specific type of society or a specific type of individual. That means representing all people. And so we definitely have to take a look at those who are in these higher positions. But again, Ed Buck found guilty. I'm glad he's this out, and I had to retweet it. She said, where is it? She said, dear Jackie Lacey, today aired Buck, the man you said you didn't have enough evidence to prosecute was found guilty of nine counts in federal court.

I'm too much of a lady to tell you what I really want to tell you, so I'll let this gift do the talking for me. Jasmine, black DA in Jackie Lacey, she literally said, I don't have enough evidence to prosecute Ed Buck. Thank God the federal attorneys saw there was enough evidence and he was convicted on nine counts. First and foremost, Ed Buck is a savage beast. I mean, just out of the fact of, if you start to look at the nature of the crimes that he committed, you really understand that this man is way out of the realm of being a human being.

But more importantly, like you just mentioned, I mean, why are we having the conversation, like, if the evidence is there, he can get prosecuted on a federal level. He should have gotten prosecuted much sooner and much quickly where two men, two black men didn't have to die. But I think something to Teresa's point that needs to be said, people knew the type of individual that Ed Buck was, and they still took his money. Politicians, political leaders. This is the same type of savagery we saw when Jeffrey Epstein was killed, that he was in those circles of influential people.

He gave money. He advised people and counseled people. But people knew exactly the type of individual he was. And so it makes me go back to what we started this conversation with, which is the moral resurrection that is needed in this country. This is not just about voting rights and dark money, but this comes down to how do you get human beings to be human beings? We're at this point now in our country's history where you can deal and have bids go to business with individuals who are just spiritually and morally bankrupt, but you still feel like they're a good citizen. And some people, in the eyes of some citizens, they might say, oh, he's a Democratic donor. He's for the people. He's good. Because they even classify him as an activist, an advocate. Can you believe that? And then just not even,

let's just look at the fact that Christopher Darnton, this is the same Chris Darnton, folks, that was a part of the O.J. Simpson trial. Okay? But Chris Darnton decided to take on the case. A black man, two black men taking on a case of a crazy-ass white man that has sexually assaulted and killed two other black men and they're defending him. So when we're talking about all of this... You know what?

Here's my whole deal. The reality is this here. The Constitution says that everybody's entitled to a defense. Fine. They want to represent him. Guess what? They lost. They got their asses kicked. Now, the check cleared. Here's my whole deal. is entitled to a defense fine they want to represent him guess what they lost they got their asses kicked now the check cleared but so here's here's my whole deal people can rep as people can get anybody to represent them and so there are defense attorneys this is what they do

but the bottom line is they lost their arguments had no merit whatsoever the court the jury found ed buck guilty hopefully the same thing is going to happen to these white domestic terrorists who destroyed or tried to destroy this country with the insurrection on January 6th. Today the special committee began their hearings with explosive testimony from police officers who were impacted. Here is some of what took place today in the nation's capital. As an African-American law enforcement officer, can you give us, this committee and those who are watching,

how you felt defending the Capitol on that day, being called that and seeing the symbols of the Confederacy going through the Capitol at the same time yes sir thank you for your question um to be frank while the attack was happening I didn't I was just trying to survive that day and get home. When I did have a moment to process it, I think that's in the rotunda where I became so emotional because I was able to process everything that

happened. And it was just so overwhelming and it's so disheartening and disappointing to see that happening. I was just trying to get home. I was just trying to get home. I was just trying process everything that happened. And it was just so overwhelming and it's so disheartening and

disappointing that we live in a country with people like that. That attack you because of the color of your skin. Just to hurt you. Those words are weapons. Thankfully at the moment it didn't hinder me from doing my job. But once I got out of prison, just to hurt you. Those words are weapons.

Thankfully, at the moment, it didn't hinder me from doing my job. But once I was able to process it, it hurt. It hurt just reading it now and just thinking about it, that people demonize you because of the color of your skin. When my blood is red,

I'm an American citizen. I'm a police officer. I'm an American citizen. I'm a police officer. I'm a peace officer. I'm here to defend this country, defend everybody in this building, not just the members, all the staff, guests, everybody. It just hurts that we have people in this country that result to that regardless of your actions and what you desire to do and to make a difference out there. It's disheartening. We came close to the terrace. Our line was divided and we came under attack. A man attempted to rip the baton from my hands and we wrestled for control.

I retained my weapon after I pushed him back. He yelled at me, you're on the wrong team. Cut off from our leadership, which is at the front of our formation, we huddled up and assessed the threats surrounding us. One man tried and failed to build a rapport with me, shouting, are you my brother? Another takes a different tack, shouting, you will die on your knees. I was at the front of our group and determined we had to push our way through the crowd in order to join the defense proper. So I began shouting, make way, as I forged ahead, hoping that I'm clearing a path for others

behind me to follow. However, as I looked back, I saw that the rest of the group came under attack and were unable to follow. The crowd attempted to physically bar the rest of the platoon from following. I backtracked and started pulling the terrorists off my team from their backpacks and their collars. Around this time, one of the terrorists who had scaled the scaffolding that adorned the Capitol at the time threw something heavy down at me and struck me in the head, disorienting me. I suspect this resulted in the likely concussion I dealt with in the weeks after. Another man attempted to disarm me in my baton. And again, we wrestled for control.

He kicked me in my chest as we went to the ground. I was able to retain my baton again, but I ended up on my hands and knees and blind. The medical mask I was wearing at the time to protect myself from the coronavirus was pulled up over my eyes, so I couldn't see. I braced myself against the impact of their blows and feared the worst. Thankfully, my platoon had repelled their own attackers and got me back on my feet. The crowd started chanting USA at us, and we struck out again for the West Terrace. Of course, Republicans were complaining about the committee, saying there was no bipartisanship. Keep in mind, they're the ones who refused.

They voted against a bipartisan panel. Nancy Pelosi, she appointed a couple of Republicans, Representative Adam Kinzinger, as well as Representative Liz Cheney. They eviscerated the folks who were making excuses what took place on January 6th. But man, I sure wish Congressman Jim Jordan, who Nancy Pelosi refused to accept on the panel, had to sit there and listen to those cops and then deal with that. But that's what you're dealing with. And so great job by Congressman Benny Thomas of Mississippi, who was the chair of the committee. Also, he's the chair of the Department of the Homeland Security Committee.

I was going to be going to our panel and discuss this here, but we've got to hold tight here. Joining us right now here in Georgetown, Texas, Reverend Dr. William Barber. Of course, co-convener, Repairs of the Breach, and also with the Poor People's Campaign. Reverend Barber, glad to have you here. It is a – I started – I was showing people with the fan. I told them, I said, you know, I play golf in this.

I'm used to this stuff. So I came prepared. Yeah, it's hot in Texas. But it's also hot politically, brother. And I'm telling you, now, Roland is the cause of all this junk. He wakes me up at night. Doc, we ought to do this. And we think about it.

But in reality, isn't it ironic, Roland, that the same day we have the first hearing ought to do this, and we think about it. But in reality, isn't it ironic, Roland, that the same day we have the first hearing on the physical violent insurrection, on January the 6th, we are here tonight preparing to march tomorrow to challenge the political insurrection and the policy insurrection that's going on all over this country, where these extremists who hijacked the Republican Party and Democrats, some of them that joined them, want to hold on to the filibuster, want to block the true John Lewis bill, which is the For the People Act, all of the position,

want to block the coming, because it's not been written yet, Voting Rights Restoration Act. And then earlier, they blocked $15 minimum wage, impacting 32 million people, 40 percent of black people. And now they want to even hurt immigrants. Let me tell you, the people behind us, they are fired up, brother. We actually are being overrun. We had to stop accepting people for the march because of COVID. So what people are doing is they're going to march legs, and then we're going to the Capitol on Saturday. And this march is saying, like Selma did, we have to have federal action. And black folk are saying it, white people are saying it, brown, Asian, native, poor people, even business people with a conscience, gay folk, all are saying, uh-uh, no, no, no. This is what we have to do in this moment.

And then, you know, lastly, it's a part of our season, a month long of actions. We were in Arizona yesterday, 27 states, and almost 40-some-odd Senate officers, Democrat and Republican. We had people sitting in, demanding action. And then, next Monday, after Austin, on Saturday, clergy and low-wage workers are coming to D.C. for direct action. We then next Monday after Austin on Saturday, clergy and low-wage workers are coming to D.C. for direct action. We're not playing, brother. And if it doesn't happen by the 6th, we win if

it does. If we don't, it intensifies. I talked to Melanie Campbell. Black women, they're going to have another protest taking place on Thursday in the nation's capital. We're going to be live streaming that event as well. And Reverend Barber, the thing that I keep explaining to our audience is that for the people who say protest doesn't matter, these things don't work. Look, you just had Senator Mark Warner out of Virginia

finally come out and say he believed in a narrow ending of the filibuster specifically for voting rights. All of these things, the constant pressure, not just on those senators, but also on this White House to get President Biden moving, because the reality is Vice President Kamala Harris As opposed to, you know, just sort of just, you know, giving nice speeches. No, you got to mobilize and organize your people. Right. And you got to show in this moment, this is James Crow Esquire. It's not just Jim Crow. Don't let the Republicans get away with just being a binary issue, just black or white. It is race now. Don't ever suppress race. But the racial piece of it also has collateral damage. And then the other thing I hope to meet with—I got a word about meeting with the vice president and some clergy next week. But here's the thing. We have to have federal action. We

have to stand strong. If we go in compromising, you're going to get worse. You got to stand strong. Secondly, we have got to say—you're right, to the president, come to Texas and talk to this diverse group. Come to Arizona. Go to West Virginia. You got people that voted for you there. And then go to the well of the Congress, just like LBJ did, and say you cannot fix physical

infrastructure while you're letting people destroy the infrastructure of the democracy. It's both-and. It's not either-or. And we don't need to play the either-or game. This is too serious. We need to have people come together. And then we got to connect the voting rights to economic justice and the economic prosperity of the country.

A brother was just telling me from Methodist Church. I preached for him Sunday. And he said, Bob, we got to let these folk know, when we say pass voting rights, stop suppressing the vote, pass 15, he said, let them know, those of you out of the fighting 15, fight vote, don't you know that it's economically insane to do that? If we had 15 right now, 32 million people would be raised out of poverty, $380-some billion would be pumped into the economy right now. But because of the filibuster, you can't get passage on the voting rights, passage on the

Florida People's Act, or passage on 15, or even protecting our immigrant brothers and sisters. This is a moment, I call it a cosmic moment, that can have international impact. If we keep retrogressing—now, I'm going to go Bible on you for your order. The Bible says only a dog returns to his vomit. Every time we go backwards, we go backwards, we go back, we go a little far and go backwards. The Bible says that's like a dog returning to vomit. We've got to stop to return into the vomit of racism and suppression and economic injustice and decide to go forward, forward to the good food and the good prosperity of justice for all people.

And the thing that what I keep telling the folks, the reason you have to link the voting issue with policy, because that's how you get policy. If you lay out all the things that Republicans have blocked in this state, if they're blocking in other states, if they're blocking in Washington, D.C., you cannot say, I want to march on an issue, but then not realize public policy is involved. I said on my show last week, to every white person who was out in the streets demanding justice for George Floyd, where you at?

Got to come now. You can't just, last year can't just— That's right. Last year was last year. That's right. Now, where are you marching for the federal, the George Floyd Justice Act? Where are you marching for all of this? Climate, climate, LGBTQ. You've got to get in, because as you said, Roland,

voting is the bridge to progressive policies. So if you build bridges for infrastructure, but then you undermine the bridge of democracy, you cut off the bridge that gives us the public policy. And you have got to recognize the same folk in—for instance, in Texas, that wouldn't fix the utility grid are the same folk blocking voting rights, same folk that block living wage, block health care, blocking voting rights. Make the connection.

Same people that come after the LGBT community are the same people that are going after voting. Fifty-six million people in the last election used the kind of voting laws they are trying to take away from. I don't know if people get that. We're not talking about folk trying to block new laws. They're trying to retrogress what's already on the books. And that ought to be disturbing to all of us. So we need every... And I like what you said about Melanie. We ain't got to all be under the same banner. This needs to be a movement. Get into battle. Right.

You don't got to get permission. You have folks here in Georgetown that are going to be marching to Austin, taking place on Saturday. You got the black women who are doing their thing, the mass action in Thursday. You should have groups in West Virginia doing their thing. You should have people in Arizona doing their thing. You should have people in Connecticut saying to Chris Coons, people in Delaware doing their thing. It's not about getting permission. I've been saying to all different groups who went to the White House, NAACP,

Derrick Johnson, same thing. How are you taking your chapters? Mark Morial, National Urban League, how are you taking your chapters? Reverend Sharpton, National Action Network, how are you taking your chapters? You don't have to. If you all of a sudden, every day, they're seeing here and here and here and here. The same thing Black Lives Matter did when you had folks who weren't even affiliated with the people who created Black Lives Matter, but they said, we can do something ourselves. And the difference this time is this doesn't, for instance, if you're white or otherwise, you don't have to be altruistic. This is not about you helping black folk.

They're going to take your democracy. Right. First of all, there was a county clerk in 2012 who admitted that she moved an early voting location off of a college campus because too many of the young folks, white folks, were voting Democrat. That's right. Moved it to a way out place with a small parking lot hard to get to. They moved from early voting locations in North Carolina. I was on a CBC panel, and it was a Sherilyn Ifill, Christian Clark, Vanita Gupta,

the guy who was the Secretary of State in California. I said, y'all have got to challenge white folks and say, hey, this ain't just us. They don't like tech. And here in Texas, I'm still registered here. They are mad. They've been getting their butts kicked in the suburbs. Because Georgetown, folks,

everybody who's watching, Georgetown is the suburb of Austin. Austin is Travis County. This is Williamson County. In Houston, Harris County. Dallas, Dallas County. San Antonio, Bexar County. They've been losing in the suburbs. That's what they're trying to stop.

Even though in Georgetown 30 years ago, I mean in the 1930s, the first successful case against the Ku Klux Klan happened in Georgetown when a white woman stood up. So my point is we need everybody, brother. And what I'd like to do, I hope we can do it as the march goes on. I want to come on one evening and you and I just read the For the People's Act. Because I think most of our people don't know. Right.

And I'm going to say this to all groups, civil rights. Don't you go in those places and compromise with Manchin and let him say, well, I'll support the Voting Rights Act, but I'm not for it. And you say, well, that's good. Right, the John Lewis Act. Yeah. The hell with that, because, first of all, ain't no John Lewis Voting Rights Act. It hasn't been written. That's the truth.

Second of all, the John Lewis Act is the act—the Poor the People Act. He wrote that. Right. OK? Thirdly, the Voting Rights Act won't fix this, because these bills are passed. You cannot retrogressively preclear. Secondly, thirdly, fourthly, if you pass the For the People's Act, everything they're doing in these state colleges becomes illegal immediately. So we don't need no—and plus, he signed to say he would support the Florida People's Act, Joe Manchin signed it, but he signed

it when McConnell was majority leader, because he knew it wouldn't come to the floor. He ran on it in his state. So did Christian—I'm going to tell you it all. I'm sorry. Christian Sinema said she would support it when she was running. She said she would support 15. Manchin never said he was against 15 while he was running, because he knew if he had said it in the primaries, the Democratic

challengers would have whooped him. He waited until afterwards. And after Warnock and our brother from... John Ossoff. Ossoff won, running on for the People's Act, running on voting rights, running on liberal rights. He waited until that, until they got a majority, and then all of a sudden, now he's not for it. Don't let these folks play games, and don't go in a room and cut a deal. Well, we won the voting rights act. If we don't win this For the People's Act right now, every bill that goes in place, you won't be able to undo it.

You can't out-litigate out of this. You can't mobilize. I mean, because it is going to have, look, what they're doing by trying to cut drastically the drop box ballots, what they're trying to do with matching signatures. I mean, they are, and the ability to be able to overturn election results, this is by design. This is all about Donald Trump complaining about losing, even in the state that he won. They are trying, and what I

also keep trying to tell people, this is not about presidential politics. This impacts every single election, school board, city council, county commissioner, state rep, state senate, governors, all of these races, water district, if it's the elected

DA as well, that's why people have to recognize we ain't playing games with this. And it's about fundamental, as you say all the time, power. These folk are wanting blatant power. They see the demographic shifting. They know the South is really not red. It's suppressed and unorganized. They know that. And many of these other places.

So they see the demographics shifting. They want to control the power. And, lastly, this is about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Why is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce celebrating Manchin and Sinema and the Republicans? Because they don't want expanded votes, because they know that undercuts their ability to control elected officials that can then pass tax policies and other policies that fill their pockets. And so, if you're in an organization, and even if you had conversations with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, you got to cut ties.

You got to cut ties, because either you're on the side of—you're going to treat corporations like people and people like things, or people like people and corporations like things. That's why you—for instance, you—Jeff Bezos did something last year. I'm going to tell on him. On July 1st, he said, I'm going to give $10 million to a certain social justice organization, which is no money for him. On the next day, the 3rd of July, he cut all of the pay for his workers, the pay that they were getting because of COVID. We cannot let the corporate interests have more power than the power of the people.

Eighty percent of Americans want this. Do you know in that Florida People's Act, it says a president must show his tax returns? And so we know. It says that early voting, same-day registration are all law. It says that you cannot change a precinct without giving a seven-day note. That's just—we're going to talk through it. REP. JOHN BARRASSO, Right.

REP. JOHN BARRASSO, But the point is, brothers and sisters, this is not a time for capitulation. And any compromise in this moment is capitulation and allowing the forces that win that have no concern for us. Lastly, if you're going to do infrastructure, do what Lyndon Baines Johnson did. He used to tell folk, you don't vote with me, you don't get no money. REP. JOHN BARRASSO, Right. REP. JOHN BARRASSO, You don't vote with me, you don't get no money. Right.

You don't vote for me, you don't get no money. And people are saying, well, you know, if we just get this now, we can get this later. We're going to be in the midterm soon. And here's the whole deal. Biden, you ain't getting Republican votes. No. Okay, this whole deal, oh, I think I can pick up. You know, this Democrat's been trying to get that Republican suburban white woman for the last 18 elections.

You ain't getting them. Not this group of Republicans. What you can turn out, you can turn out more black people, more Latinos, more young people. You can turn out more women. And poor folk. Because 55 percent of poor and low wealth people voted for Biden and Harris. That never happened before. But it's because he said living wage 15. And, see, there's a shifting happening, but the politics is rooted in the old.

This is not the Eric Derrickson Republican that came over with Lyndon Baines Johnson, who Lyndon Baines gave the first pen when he signed the voting rights act. No, this is an extremist group of folk that have hijacked the Republican Party. They are trying to put the hopes and dreams of the Southern strategy into law. This is a political insurrection. January 6th was a physical insurrection. This is the political insurrection.

This is the insurrection. Right. Politically. They are weaponizing policy. They couldn't get what they want on January 6th. Exactly. So then they're doing this. And they're weaponizing the filibuster like never before. And everybody in this democracy better stand up and stand up. In fact, Reverend Jackson

and I and some others, I was talking to a lot of people today. They said, you know what? We ought to support whatever happens on the 28th, and then we ought to say, but if you can't get there every state, you need to be marching on your capital. Yeah. That's what I want to say. In fact, I have long said, I've long said, y'all, I appreciate August 28th.

I said, but if you mobilize in multiple states, you're going to have more people participating. I'm, as I told folk, I'm supporting everybody trying to do right. But I do know in 1963, see, I was born two days after March on Washington. My dad used to tell me the story because they said I was supposed to be born on the 28th. My mama went into labor and I said, hold up, let's see what happened. And my dad has said, I went to the other marches. He didn't go to 28th because he was waiting for me. But he always remind me, Bob, Billy, that's what he called me, Billy. Don't y'all call me that. That's what he called me, Billy. He said, listen, nobody came to March on Washington to hear Dr. King speak. That wasn't the purpose. They were mobilizing, and Dr. King said,

go back to Alabama, go back to Mississippi. But he said also why it happened, because it was between Birmingham activism, Mississippi activism, then Freedom Summer Follower. But on that day, that week, there were more than 200 actions in 200 cities. Lawson, who was one of King's main supporters, was in jail. He was in jail in Louisiana.

Jesse was in jail in Greensboro. That's what was happening. Diane Nash was in Selma planning. It's not all of us coming under one banner. I support everybody that's doing everything, but we've got to do a whole

lot of a lot to push what needs to happen in this moment. All right, Reverend Dr. William Barber, we appreciate it. We're going to be live streaming. The march is taking place beginning at 8 a.m. Eastern tomorrow. So as they walk in, we'll be live streaming. Come on. You can come around. Beto, come on over. So that'll be happening. And of course, we'll be there Saturday as well. So because look, I told you when we were going to be here because we got to have media driving this message out because, you know, there are a few local cameras here. Everybody watching.

CNN not here. MSNBC not here. They might be here Saturday, but this is something that has to be getting out constantly. Got to get out constantly. Thank you so much, Roland. I appreciate it, Frank. And, look, I'm going to give your fan fromer, your fan from Garnaback to tomorrow.

I got four of them. So I have one for you. I bought one tomorrow. I have one for you. Get some spray on this for Beto. You know we're trying to be COVID safe. Who got some spray real quick? Get some spray.

Beto O'Rourke is going to step over. He has been one of the folks involved in the planning of this as well. And so we certainly. Huh? You know, we got this thing. He has been one of the folks involved in the planning of this as well. And so we certainly. Huh? You know, we got this thing. The Lord works in mysterious ways. Right.

I think we prepare people for other things. So, like, if he had got elected, he couldn't march with us. Because, you know, in the poor people's campaign, we don't let elected officials come on. Democrat or Republican, that undercuts the moral argument. They say it's partisan. But he didn't. I don't know what God is planning. But for right now, in this season, he's free. Right.

And so we're so glad to have this brother. He could be playing a gubernatorial matchup. We'll see. I don't know what's going to happen. I'm just going to leave that alone. Thank you. All right, Frank, glad to see you. Take care, man.

All right. Take care, brother. Beto, good to see you. Good to see you as well. Absolutely. Thanks for being here. This thing came together real fast. Explain to folks why Texas right now is ground zero for this fight. This is already the toughest state in the nation in which to vote.

And, you know, folks in other parts of the country may not know this, but you cannot register to vote online in Texas. We've closed 750 polling places, which is twice the number of the closest state. And most of those polling place closures are in the fastest growing black and brown neighborhoods in the state of Texas, probably in America. And so when you see a line stretching six hours outside of TSU next election, that's not by accident. And it's not just because folks are hungry to vote. It's because polling places have been closed, making it hard for people to exercise the right. On top of all that, Texas is trying to make it even tougher on even more people. And so this truly

is the front lines in the fight, so much so that you have more than 50 Democratic state legislators literally leave the state to grind the wheels of suppression to a halt. And they've been able to keep that coalition together in D.C. And they took that fight there because it's the one place that it can be won in our nation's capital through the Senate. And with some more leadership from President Biden pushing those senators to amend the filibuster and get the For the People Act through. So I think Texas has played, is playing, and will play a critical role in the right to vote in America this year. Well, folks may not realize, and I remember when I was campaigning for those sisters who were all running for judge in Harris

County, the Republicans that year, or was it the year before, in 2017, they got rid of straight-ticket voting. Now, as somebody born and raised in this state, still votes in this state, I'm still registered in Dallas County, Republicans historically cleaned the clock of Democrats' straight-ticket voting. Now, all of a sudden, Democrats figured out, hey, we may want to do this thing. So they completely flipped Dallas County, took over most of Harris County. Then they said in Austin, oh, wait a minute. Oh, we got to change the law. So people should be thinking about each choice. That's the kind of tactics that they have been doing here because they have been angry where they have been losing. And they are ticked off with how Trump lost in 2020. So they said, we're going to sit here and we're going to rig this

sucker. So in 2022, we're guaranteed to win. That's absolutely right. And what you just described in changing the rules of straight ticket voting, it sounds maybe relatively innocuous to some. Some folks may say, well, so what? Maybe that doesn't make that much of a difference. Or maybe it makes a little bit of a difference, but not enough to count. But if you add that to voter ID, to polling place closures, to racial gerrymander, to one ballot drop-off location per county, including for Harris County, which has more people in it than the entire state of Nevada, that begins to add up. And then you understand why in 2020, the most important election of our lifetimes, 7 million eligible Texans didn't vote. And they didn't vote not because

they don't love this country or they didn't have a candidate. They didn't vote in large part and very often because they couldn't get to the polls or new rules had been in place that made it confusing for them. And they said to hell with this. I'm not going to vote this year. That's what they're trying to do again for 2022 and 2024 and beyond. That's why this is the front lines of this fight. You raised a lot of money when you ran against Ted Cruz for the United States Senate. Galvanized a lot of people, energized a lot of people. But one of the things that I've said, and I saw it the night that Hillary Clinton beat then-Senator Barack Obama in Texas, I mean, this state was on fire.

And people in the state Democratic Party was excited. They were thinking, man, what the future's going to hold. Obama wins and just ignores the state. Comes in, picks up a big check, raises money, and goes back out. And folks were frustrated that there was no mobilization in this state for eight years. And then you run. How important is it for President Biden to come to this state and give a speech on voting rights? It's critical.

And in that speech, which I love your idea of him making it here in Texas, not only must he talk about what's at stake in this state, including, by the way, now 40 electoral college votes after this last census and apportionment, but the fact that there are more black voters in Texas than any other state in the country, those same voters who throughout America propelled his victory in 2020. And if the great sin of the Republican Party has been to try to stop black and brown and

poor voters from exercising their right, then the great sin of the Democratic Party has been to take those same voters for granted. President Biden cannot do that. And he can't do that if he wants to win in 2024. can't do that if he wants to win in 2024. He cannot do that if he wants to preserve democracy in 2021. And so, yes, make that speech, make it in Texas, and then call for the specific political courage necessary to win this, which is we've changed the rules of the filibuster before to pass fast-track trade deals, budget reconciliation, Supreme Court justices, federal judges. Do it one more time for democracy.

Do it one more time for democracy. The reason I keep making this point about President Biden himself coming, and again, the Obama people never liked it when I said it. I don't care. When he comes, what that also does is that energizes your county party chairs. It sends a signal to your volunteers in Texas that Texas matters. So it goes beyond just coming for a fundraiser where you're sitting to big money folks and raising dollars. No, it is the point of organizing and mobilizing because if the Republicans are successful, if the Democrats in

D.C. don't act, then you're really going to have a very tough road to hoe to organize people, to register people, to make sure they have the voter ID, to jump over all of those hurdles, which means you've got to be starting now for November 2022, not waiting until August of 2022 to say, OK, let's ramp up our voter efforts. National Democrats love to talk about Texas being in play. It's only a matter of time or it's a matter of demographics or, you know, we're going to go down there and campaign and really hustle for you. And then what they do, as you pointed out, is they come down here and use this state as though it was an ATM and fund, you know, campaigns in Ohio. Look at what they spent in Ohio, which they had no hope of winning. And what they spent in Texas.

They spent zero here and they spent many, many, many times more than lost by a wider margin in Ohio. That's it. Then in Texas. That's it. And I can tell you, 2012, I was waiting to go on CNN with then-representative Chris Van Hollen, who at the time was over the DCCC. I said to him, Georgia and Texas can be in play if you invest. He literally said to me, no, I don't see it.

I said, what are you talking about? There are 800,000 eligible but unregistered black people in Georgia. I said, there are 2.1 million eligible but unregistered Latinos in Texas. I said, if you put a plan in place like SNCC and CORE and progressive groups did in the South in the 1960s, I said, it can happen. So what happens in 2020? Georgia flips. I'm sitting there because they did it. And I'm like, Van Hollen, eight years ago, dude,

if you'd done something, but that's the thing. You can't just That are trying to pass these bills across the country, but here in Texas to yes, suppress, to stop, to undermine the vote. The same folk that block you from having living wages are the same folk that wouldn't fix your utilities problem. In this time, when our voting rights are under attack and economic justice is being denied... We're launching a season of nonviolent moral direct action

to demand four things by August the 6th, the 56th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act. Number one— AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. Attorney General of the United States, Yes. AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. Attorney General of the United States, Yes. AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. Attorney General of the United States, Yes. AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. Attorney General of the United States, Yes. AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. Attorney General of the United States, Yes.

AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. Attorney General of the United States, Yes. AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. Attorney General of the United States, Yes. AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. Attorney General of the United States, Yes. AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. Attorney General of the United States, Yes. AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. Attorney General of the United States, Yes. AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. Attorney General of the United States, Yes. AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. Attorney General of the United States, Yes. AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. Attorney General of the United States, Yes.

AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. Attorney General of the United States, Yes. AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. Attorney General of the United States, Yes. AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. Attorney General of the United States, Yes. AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. Attorney General of the United States, Yes. AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. Attorney General of the United States, Yes. AMY GOODMAN, Former U.S. And number four, raise the federal minimum wage to $15. Pass the For the People Act. That is the last best hope for voting rights, not just in Texas, but Georgia and Florida and about a dozen other states. Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Bill and the For the People Act. Let our people vote. The Latinx community is the rising electorate in Texas, and our representatives are threatened by these shifting demographics. Our pathway to citizenship,

to a living wage, depend on our access to the ballot. DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States of America, This is not just a Black issue. TAMIKA TAYLOR- That's right. DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States of America, This is a moral, constitutional, and economic democracy issue. That's right. This is a moral, constitutional, and economic democracy issue. Poverty is reinforced by public policy. And what happens in Texas, as well as in America,

we create policies that perpetuate poverty, and then we criminalize the poverty that we create. There's only so much we can take, and it's time for us to stand up and speak loudly against what's happening here. I think in Texas that it is time for a Selma-like. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think we ought to run from Georgetown to Austin.

And we ought to come to Austin, but we ain't coming to Austin just for Austin. We come to Austin to save the Washington, D.C. Which side are you on? All right, folks, sorry about that. Someone unplugged the power. So we're back. Beto, finish your comment there that you were making before.

We were talking about Chris Van Hollen and the Democrats, you know, again, not putting the resources in, playing the long game, only focusing on the next election. Let me ask you, how much do you think Democrats, and I don't know the answer to this, spent in Georgia between the Ossoff, the Warnock campaigns, President Biden's campaign, DNC, and outside groups? If you had to guess. I can tell you, it was a minimum 250 million.

Yeah, I was going to say maybe twice. A minimum. Yeah, maybe twice that. Whatever it was in Georgia, it was a fifth if it was that much in Texas. To give folks an idea of the difference in size, the same number of people voted on the first day of early voting in Harris County, just one county of Texas, as did in the entire state of Georgia. If we as Democrats would invest in this state where roughly 40 percent of the population is Hispanic or Latino,

where you have more potential future black voters here in Texas than in any other state, where you have the most diverse city in America, in Houston, Texas. This state would perform so well for the country and certainly for the Democratic Party, but it's not going to happen if you just leave us as so many national Democrats have done to wither on the vine and just hope that those 254 county chairs are going to be able to do it on their own. They can't do it on their own. They need the kind of help that the parties poured into Florida, into Ohio, into Georgia now. Put that into Texas. And Texas is more than ready to meet

you halfway on this, or more than halfway for that matter. So, yes, this state's ready. All right. Beto, always good to see you. Thank you. I will ask, people keep asking you, are you thinking about running for governor? I'm focused on this fight, fight for the right to vote. Let's win this and then let's see what's next. Okay. All right.

I appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks a bunch. Adios. We'll be with you all week. Let's do it. Thanks a bunch. All right, folks.

Again, we're here in Georgetown, Texas, where we will be live streaming tomorrow morning, 8 a.m. Eastern, as they're marching from here to Round Rock, and then on Thursday, then on Friday, then into Austin on Saturday. All right, folks, nowplace segment sponsored by Nextdoor. We appreciate the partnership with them. We talked to a assistant who is utilizing the Nextdoor platform to really expand her business, which is really helping other female entrepreneurs with her national tour of expos. Here's our conversation. All right, Aisha, glad to have you here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. So tell us about your Sisters in Business Expo.

Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me, Roland. The Sisters in Business Expo is the country's only multi-city small business expo and community created specifically to celebrate and educate entrepreneurial women of color. We launched back in 2017 with the mission of creating an affordable and accessible platform where women of color could showcase and grow their businesses. And we've been doing that ever since touring cities across the country. Most recently we added to our brand the Sisters in Business University which provides teaching and training for women of color in business as well as the Sisters in Business Foundation which provides grants, cash dollars to women of color in business. And in April, our COVID pivot was to open a retail

location, over 5,000 square feet at a beautiful mall here in Northern New Jersey, where we have over 85 Black women-owned brands featured on our shelves every single day. And so our whole mission is really about providing a space and opportunity where women of color can succeed as entrepreneurs. So let's talk about this in terms of how did this start? So what was the Genesis of this because they have been exposed for years. In fact, it was Rainbow Push then Operation Breadbasket that really developed the concept of these Black business expos. And upwards of 700,000 people were going through these multi-day events. And then we started having these expos across the country where Black businesses were able to come together. People

were able to see the products of all the different Black businesses. So how did you start? So, you know, it really started out of a need that I experienced as an entrepreneur myself. This is not my first stab at entrepreneurship. My sister and I have owned a career-building business for over 15 years. And over the years, always wanted to participate in, you know, many of those large-scale expos that you referenced, but always found as a micro to small business just starting out that the costs were prohibitive or that they were specific to certain industries or certain business types. We, in particular, were a service-based business and weren't necessarily

selling a product. And so over the last few years, there's been so much talk about women of color being the largest and fastest-growing demographic of entrepreneurs in the country. But when you dig a little deeper, you find that we're also the least funded, the least earning, the least supported. And so this expo was created to really have a specific niche in terms of being an affordable option. So while other expos, you know, the vendor fees might be around $1,500, $2,000 hours, average around $300 to $400, but still high quality, and also being open to all business types, both services and products. And then even more specifically, narrowing it down to not just Black businesses, but women-owned Black businesses. And so as you travel around the country, first of all, how many cities are you hitting on an annual basis?

So we average about four cities, Newark, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Columbia, South Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia. This year, we also are adding the DMV area. So we'll be at the University of Maryland College Park on August 7th. And we're also slated to add Houston, Texas in 2022. So those are the cities we've been going to. And each year we plan to add about one or two more cities to our roster. And obviously for these women entrepreneurs, it's an opportunity for people to be able to obviously meet them, see their products, try their products. How has it actually helped businesses grow? You know, the bottom line. And so there are multiple ways. So the fact that you're just in a room, in a space with thousands of people, we average about 1,500 people

per city, with other like-minded entrepreneurs, as well as those who are specifically intentional about supporting Black women-owned businesses, it's a win-win situation. So whether you're a product business who's able to, you know, increase and generate substantial revenue as a part of being a part of our events, or if you're a service-based business and are now able to expand your market and make many others aware of your services who can utilize them later down the line, we've seen significant growth in the businesses that participate in our events. Many of them travel with us across the country because we are a lower cost option,

they're able to have a higher profit margin by participating. And so we're really just helping them to generate revenue, but also giving them the tools and the skills that they need to succeed. And so that's where the university and the foundation come into play. How have you utilized the app Nextdoor to actually grow this expo?

Yeah, Nextdoor has been an incredible tool and resource in order to connect with other black women-owned businesses in certain communities. Anytime we go into a new market or are returning to a market and we want to reach another audience or larger audience of women of color entrepreneurs, Nextdoor has an excellent resource for that. Their commitment to spotlighting and supporting Black-owned businesses and small businesses is really, really helpful. And so we utilize it in that way to really expand our reach and also be a support to businesses that are in the areas where we go and you know the thing that um i'm always telling entrepreneurs take advantage of free marketing resources and really maximize social media uh and and it's amazing to me how many people don't do that they don't take advantage of Twitter, of Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, Tumblr, but also, you know, next door. And I'm always trying to explain to people, you know, build your following, if you will, build up your ability to reach folks

at a lower cost as opposed to trying to run commercials on radio or television or billboards or things like that. Absolutely. You're 100% right. You know, in this day and age, there are so many resources and opportunities available that, you know, we didn't have when we started our career consulting business back in 2005. The resources are limitless and you really don't need a whole lot of money to get started because of these many platforms and opportunities that you mentioned. And Nextdoor is right at the top of the list. You know, we're really doing ourselves a disservice as entrepreneurs when we don't take advantage of the resources that are out there. And while there might be a learning curve for some, or it might be something that they're not used to, you really just have to do the work to learn or connect yourself with others

who already know how to do it and can help you because the sky is the limit when you utilize these resources. And have you also then been working with these other businesses to get them to expand how they utilize apps like Nextdoor to connect with customers and then to be able to grow their businesses in a smart way. Absolutely. That's one of the many topics that we cover in our Sisters in Business University, where we provide our training and resources through various webinars and courses. We really, really try to focus on the utilization of the various marketing options out there, because like you said, so many people feel discouraged or like they don't have skin in the game when they can't afford to run ads or they can't afford radio and TV commercials. And we make it very clear that you don't have to have that to get started or even to sustain. It's really just about becoming

familiar with and becoming knowledgeable about how to use the many free and even low-cost resources that are out there. And so we really are intentional about including that in our curriculum for our sisters in business university. Five, 10 years from now, what do you want your business and expose to look like? Yeah, we, you know, our goal is really to become the premier resource for women of color entrepreneurs in the country and even internationally. We've already been affected and exploring options internationally in other countries, but we want to be the space that is safe for women of color to know where they can come and participate in an expo, but not just in there, really provide them

with the resources and the tools that they need to succeed. Social media has created such a smoke screen and it makes it look like this thing is easy, and it really isn't. And we want to lessen uh the difficulty and lighten the load of our sisters who are really serious about entrepreneurship who really want to succeed but feel like it's not possible we want sisters and business Expo to be the resource for them uh and so in 10 years from now we plan to be doing that in major cities all across the country as well as in some of our neighboring countries. Well, it's certainly glad to have you on the show. And what this does really is important because, again, especially I think with the university piece, because so many folk simply they want to own the business, but they really don't understand all that goes into actually being the boss.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. It's one thing to want and it's another thing to actually do it and to execute it well. We've seen it done, but it's really a matter of getting close to those who can help you make it happen. We don't want it to be something that people see as an intangible goal, but something that they really can accomplish. And so we're going to keep working and making sure that our sisters know that it is possible. You can succeed as an entrepreneur. You don't have to be miserable on your nine to five. Or if you enjoy your nine to five and you really want to grow your side hustle, wherever you find yourself, we will meet you there and help you to reach your goals. And so that's what we're really committed to. And we're really grateful for platforms like yours and others that support the work that we're doing and provide platforms to share information with our entrepreneurial sisters. All right. Where can people get more information with regards to

your expo? Yes. Everything can be found right on our website at SIBExpo.us. That stands for Sisters in Business Expo. So SIBExpo.us, you'll be able to apply there for vending, for sponsorship, for speaking, and all the other opportunities that we provide for our sisters, our pitch competitions, as well as being able to participate in our retail location. All right. Aisha, I certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

All right, folks. Aisha, thank you so very much. And, folks, be sure to download the app from Nextdoor. You can connect with people who live in your community. It's based upon zip code. It's really a great way to connect. So we certainly appreciate featuring these black-owned businesses who utilize Nextdoor to grow their business. And so we'll talk to one more next week.

Folks, let's start with a truncated show here. Let me thank Faraji, Mustafa, and Teresa being on our panel today. When things are live, sometimes you've got to change things up. And so that's what we did here. And so we'll let everyone know that beginning tomorrow at 8 a.m. Eastern, we will be live streaming the march from this church and this Lutheran church in Georgetown to Round Rock. We'll be live streaming as they're marching down the highway. We'll be doing that tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday.

And, of course, the big rally taking place on Saturday. We will be live as well, a full-fledged show. And that's going to be starting at 8.30 a.m. If anybody told me 8.30 local, I'm still getting the schedule. The rally is supposed to start at 9.30. Excuse me, at 10 o'clock central time. So we're still working on that. But, again, we're probably going to be live around 9 a.m. Eastern on Saturday.

We'll certainly let you know that. And so that's what we're doing here. This is the March for Democracy. We'll be talking to a lot more other folks over the next several days here in Texas as we put the spotlight on the fight for voting rights here and across the country. You want to support what we do. Keep in mind, folks, your dollars make all of this possible. In fact, if whereas do we still is the is the mobile camera still up or do we take it down? I would love to show you all in terms of what our setup is here. As a matter of fact, Henry, see if you could grab one of these cameras and just give folks a shot. I just wanted to let you all know how we roll.

And so we've got our roll-a-mart unfiltered tent set up here. I told you all, I'm from here. I know about heat, and so that sun was blazing. It is still, let me check to see what the temperature is right here. I told y'all, I'm from here. I know about heat. And so that sun was blazing. It is still, let me check to see what the temperature is right here. Let's see. Let's see. Let's take it back there. So I want to show them the tent.

And so this is, you got it here? Let me show y'all. So it is right now. It is still 91 degrees. It feels like 93 degrees. And it's 736 here. And so we've got our 10 by 15 tent set up to show folks where we are. Yeah, go ahead and switch that.

And so your dollars supports all of this. Our Roro Mobile is here. We're going to be, again, we're going to have the cameras mounted on our vehicle tomorrow broadcasting the march. And so this, as you see right here, this is our tent that we have set up. And so as Anthony goes around, you will see what it looks like in terms of we've got sidewalls and everything. So we let folks know that we are here. And so your dollars, your donations make all of this possible for us to do what we do. So when somebody's trying to figure out where we are, how can I find you for the interview? I tell them this is where we go. And you know what?

It's always really stupid people who comment. You know, folks are like, I got some fool on YouTube talking about big and poor people. But here's the whole deal that some folks don't get. That is, we've got people who have given to us $1, $5, $10, $25, $20. We've had other people give us upwards of $30,000 because they believe in what we do. They support independent black-owned media. But you can do so by giving Cash App, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered,

PayPal.me forward slash rmartinunfiltered, Venmo.com is forward slash rmunfiltered. Of course, Zill is rolling at rollingmartinunfiltered.com, rolling at rollingmartinunfiltered.com. And for the whiners on Facebook and YouTube who are complaining, y'all are freeloading because you clearly are watching for free. And we thank the people who are donors to our Bring the Funk fan club because they make this whole thing possible. And so we really appreciate it.

As a matter of fact, I'm not even going to sit here and entertain or even give you the name of the troll who's running his mouth. But you know what? This is what we do, and we're going to keep building this thing every single day. That's what we're going to do, and we got these things. We got this going. Like I said, we're going to be broadcasting tomorrow. So we want to thank folks here, also back at our home office in D.C. That's it.

I'll see you guys tomorrow right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered 6 p.m. Eastern on YouTube. Hit that like button. Facebook, hit that button as well. That share button. And we will see you tomorrow. That's it, folks. Holla! One of the most stressful days of my life was when this one got out.

I chased after her as best I could, kind of fell over and broke my wheelchair. I was able to get back home and make a post. Within about five or so minutes, I had three or four different people come into the rescue. One woman stopped traffic, just drove her right back to the house for me. It was a very emotional day. Over a period of 10 years, my neighborhood went from being almost 98% Black to being 98% White. So all of a sudden, oh God, I'm the suspicious looking Black man. I posted on Nextdoor that I no longer felt comfortable walking in this neighborhood.

The response I got was hundreds and hundreds of neighbors offering to walk with me. This experience moved me and changed the way I saw humanity. At Nextdoor, we come to work every day to help cultivate a kinder world. We wanna make sure that everyone has a neighborhood to rely on. When we started this company, we felt that technology had an important role to play in bringing communities and neighbors together.

We knew that having the support of your neighbors was critical. When I found out I was becoming a father, I panicked. What am I going to feed this kid? I posted, hey, any other gardeners who might have extra soil, seeds, equipment, and they came up from everywhere. As human beings, we want a sense of safety and anything that gives us that sense of connection. You drive through a neighborhood,

and you see houses and bricks, but really what you have is people, business owners and entrepreneurs. We know that the locals are what keep our restaurant going. When somebody says that they enjoy our restaurant, it brings us business. It's been really cool being able to cheer on your neighbors as they open up the next coffee shop. When Hurricane Harvey first hit Houston, I realized that Nextdoor was much more than just a day-to-day utility. It was a lifeline to the community. The neighbors have been using that Nextdoor app to coordinate evacuations.

When the pandemic started, people did have the urge to help, but often they didn't know who to help or how. Our Nextdoor group took off explosively. Just after a year, we had over a thousand members. Nextdoor evokes a sense of pride in your neighborhood, and we know that people globally are craving for that. We posted our music video on the Nextdoor app. A lot of people in the area liked it.

People are beautiful. Let's go see the beautiful. Keepin' rhythm for the vibes we got. Stay on the drums. I think the video meant a lot to our neighbors because it portrays the Cascade area in a positive lighting. At the end of the day, this is a business model about people and neighborhoods and communities. Wouldn't it be beautiful to connect Wall Street to Main Street and to do well and do good

at the same time? It's going to be the legacy of 2020 that Nextdoor put neighbors together for a cause and then forever. Thank you very much. It often starts online, but we know that it continues into the real world. And that is the superpower of Nextdoor. This is an iHeart Podcast.