#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Roland On The Road in PA Talking 2024 Elections, VP Harris Home Health Proposal, Project 2025
Episode Date: October 9, 202410.8.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Roland On The Road in PA Talking 2024 Elections, VP Harris Home Health Proposal, Project 2025 LIVE in Philadelphia at Mount Carmel Baptist Church for a town hall abo...ut the presidential election in 28 days. Vice President Kamala Harris laid out her plans to help those caring for aging parents by broadening Medicare benefits to cover home healthcare. The Harris-Walz campaign dropped an eye-opening ad featuring former Trump aides who exposed how he handles getting relief to states hit by natural disasters. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, the co-founder of the Stop Project 2025 Task Force, will join us tonight to discuss MAGA's plan to dismantle democracy if Trump returns to the White House. Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox http://www.blackstarnetwork.com The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Oh, no punch.
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Thank you for being the voice of Black America.
All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going.
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You dig? Thank you. Today is Tuesday, October 8, 2024.
Coming up on Roller Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network.
We are live in Philadelphia, 28 days until Election Day.
A lot going on.
Vice President Kamala Harris today was on The View.
We'll show you some
of that. She also did an interview with Howard Stern. Lots to talk about to break down what's
going on. We'll talk about what's happening here in Philadelphia, how Republicans are doing all
they can to target black voters here, but also to suppress the black vote. So we got a number of
panelists to talk about. So lots, lots of ground we want to cover, folks. It's time to bring the
funk. I'm Roland Martin Unfiltered
on the Black Star Network. Let's go.
He's got
whatever the piss he's on it.
Whatever it is, he's
got the scoop, the fact, the fine.
And when it breaks, he's right on time.
And it's rolling. So what? So why
is that not?
Putting it down from sports to news
to politics. With entertainment just for kicks, he's rolling. Why is it not? Rolling with rolling now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best.
You know he's rolling, Martel.
Now.
Martel. Hey, folks, we're live in Philadelphia.
Glad to be here.
Mount Carmel Baptist Church.
How y'all doing?
All right.
Glad to see everybody out.
And so we are looking forward to a great two-hour broadcast talking about what's going on in this election.
It's a whole lot that's going on,
28 days. Of course, Vice President Kamala Harris, Minister of the Government Tim Walz against that
orange dude and the crazy dude who don't like women with cats, Trump and Vance. Again, a lot
going on. This is a crucial battleground state. We're here in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania
has often been described as Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and the rest is like Alabama.
But the reality is this here, and we know this, whether we're talking about Michigan and Detroit,
how Philadelphia goes, so goes this state. If black folks vote our numbers in this state,
it will be a victorious election night for
Vice President Kamala Harris. And so lots we want to talk about. She continues
doing a variety of media interviews today. She made her first appearance on
The View since becoming the Democratic nominee. Here is what some of what was
talked about in that appearance.
I took care of my mother when she was sick.
She was diagnosed with cancer. And so it is a personal experience for me as well as something
I care deeply about. You know, taking care of a parent, you know, that means trying to cook what they want to eat, what they can eat.
It means picking out clothes for them that are soft enough that it doesn't irritate their skin, right?
It means trying to think of something funny to make them laugh or smile.
And there's so much about that that really is about giving folks dignity.
And to your point about being in the sandwich generation, there are so many people in our
country who are right in the middle.
They're taking care of their kids and they're taking care of their aging parents.
And it's just almost impossible to do it all,
especially if they work.
We're finding that so many are then having to leave their job,
which means losing a source of income,
not to mention the emotional stress.
And so what I am proposing is that basically what we will do
is allow Medicare to cover in-home health care
we're talking about these kinds of things where it's just about helping an
aging parent or person you know prepare a meal, you know, put their sweater on.
And it's about dignity for that individual.
It's about independence for that individual.
I mean, people are of declining skills to some extent,
but their dignity has, their pride has not declined.
They want to stay in their home.
They don't want to go somewhere else.
Plus for the family to send them to a residential care facility to hire somebody is so expensive.
Yeah. Wipes you out. And I'll just say, well, here's the other
thing about it. So, you know, people say, well, how are you going to pay for it here?
Here's the thing. Here's how we pay for part of what I also intend to do is allow Medicare
to continue to negotiate drug prices against these big pharmaceutical companies,
which means we are going to save Medicare the money because we're not going to be paying these high prices.
And those resources are best then put in a way
that helps a family like the one you are describing.
Which you have already done.
Which we have already done with insulin.
So it can be done.
It absolutely can be done.
And it has to be about just seeing what's happening.
And it's such a burden that's emotional, financial, physical.
Care is about physical work.
Yes.
And helping people do what they rightly want and need to be able to do.
Are we?
Before I go to the panel here, let's go to my panel back there. Dr. Mustafa
Santago Ali, former senior advisor for environmental justice at the EPA, joining us out of D.C.
Teresa Lundy, principal founder of TML Communications out of Philadelphia. Also,
Dr. Larry J. Walker, assistant professor at the University of Central Florida out of Orlando.
Teresa, I want to start with you. You have a lot of folks who have been pining, complaining,
the Andrew Mitchells of the world with MSNBC,
others saying that she should be doing more serious interviews
and taking tough questions and talking more about policy.
What's interesting to me is you've seen her talk about policy,
but it's not covered in the same way.
Donald Trump talks about concepts, and he could just go on and on and on.
There seems to be this double
standard that somehow she should be laying out policies and deep proposals, and then he could
just sit here and banter and talk about Hannibal Lecter. I love the live studio audience. You're
absolutely right, Roland. Kamala Harris has actually been talking about policy the entire time.
She has been in office, but also on the campaign trail.
And it shows that, you know, who's paying attention, who's writing about some of the plans and the policies that have been laid out, not only by the campaign, but by various commentators and various economics and
analysts that has been focused on, you know, what has Kamala done as our vice president.
And so, you know, when we see the double standard taking place here, it's not surprising, but it's
also very intriguing to watch and very interesting. But I think, you know, again, people are not slow.
We're not jaded in any way, shape or form, knowing that Kamala has put in the work.
And, you know, she's I mean, you know, she's winning.
So it's nothing else that we can really say outside of the interviews that she is doing, they are serious.
She is being invited. She's not, you know, doing paid interviews here. She's actually doing earned
media with, you know, shows that actually have ratings and views into homes, into neighborhoods
and communities that are watching the most. So I think it's a very great strategy. But again, the double standard is real clear here in this campaign.
Howard Stern, some 10 million listeners, you look at the view, the reality is they get far more number of viewers and listeners than MSNBC, CNN, Fox News.
So it makes sense to also go to places that are not traditional news outlets to be able to reach those type of consumers.
You go to where real people are.
So whether it's Howard Stern or a number of other shows, and of course, you should also be right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered.
You got to go talk to everyday people.
You got to share with them how you're going to help to make their life better. You know, folks inside
the Beltway, they want pundity talk. They want to be able to, you know, unpack policy to the nth
degree. And that's not what Mrs. Ramirez or Mr. Johnson is interested in. They want to know how
are you going to make my life better? How are you going to help to lower these health care costs? How are you going to help me to make sure that I have a job
that's going to pay me a livable wage? How are you going to address the climate crisis that's
going on with these hurricanes and the floods that are taking people's homes away and shortening
people's lives? So she's going to the exact right places that she should be. She's going and having conversations with the American people through these media opportunities that actually speak to what they're looking for.
So I say kudos to her for actually being wise enough to know who's actually touching folks and who isn't.
Larry.
Yeah, first of all, I'm excited to share my hometown of Philadelphia.
So secondly, listen, let's call this what it is, misogyny.
When I talk to black women in corporate America and various other industries, they talk about this consistent double standard, you know, throughout their lives.
And so what we're seeing with VP Harris is the same thing.
Other thing I want to know, Rowan, is that the media hasn't learned anything from years ago, you know, a few years ago when Hillary Clinton was running for president.
We still hear some of the double standards that you just described.
And, you know, it's not fair to hold a VP Harris to a certain standard.
As my colleagues noted, she's come out with very comprehensive plans in terms of helping those first-time homebuyers, issues relating
to price gouging. And not only can we talk about that, we've talked about other of the issues the
Biden-Harris administration has done to support veterans. We talked about the infrastructure bill.
So she can really talk about some of the successes that the Biden-Harris administration
have actually accomplished. And then as she, you know, hopefully transitions to president
of the United States, some really clear policies that will impact middle class, not only middle class, but also individuals from underserved communities who also need to talk about.
But these policies, once again, we talk about dealing with elderly parents. Millions of Americans are dealing with this issue.
So this is really an important policy. I'm glad she released it today. And I'm hoping, like I said, over the next several weeks that Americans understand what's at stake here.
Let's talk to a panel assembled here to my far left, Pastor Marshall Mitchell, Salem Baptist Church, Jasmine Sessions.
Y'all go and clap. Jasmine Sessions, Pennsylvania Black Women for Harris statewide chair and also uh pastor donald moore uh here at my carmel
very wise of him to wear his fayetteville state uh shirt as opposed to wearing any cap of gear
i got cap on my wrist i got cap on my wrist oh that's that's cute
here we go that's cute well you think i wasn That's cute. What, you think I wasn't going to say anything?
I'm just saying.
If this is what we're going to do, we can do it.
I'm just saying.
First, remember.
If this is what we're going to do.
Remember, look, you get paid to talk.
I get paid to talk, but I'm still an alpha.
And I promise you, I can talk way better than you.
You can't.
I promise you.
You can't, because remember, without alpha, y'all just cap aside.
Y'all need our name in your name.
This guy, this guy, this guy.
See, when they start saying this guy, this guy, this guy, that means I ain't got no response.
Oh, no, I have a response.
I just can't utter it in the house of the Lord.
Oh, see?
See, Alphas can do this in church, outside of church.
No, you can't.
Y'all just can't control yourself. No, you can't. Let's get at it. No, you can't. Y'all just can't control yourself.
No, we can't.
Let's get at it.
Let's get at it.
Y'all want none of this.
Trust me.
Because I really don't do this with people.
Well, anyway.
See?
I was going to say I don't do it with people who have not been doing it longer than me,
but go ahead.
It's all good, though.
I mean, but listen.
Y'all are a youth group.
But it's all right.
You are a Cub Scout group at best
I'm going to set it down this way
always remember when you're the president of Alpha
kiss the ring
listen man let me start
I ain't going to finish that
because you can't
let's get this started
you can't escape it you're an Alpha
you have my deepest condolences
what will the group you in?
Ain't no little group.
What's that? It's the only one to cap out.
Oh, please. Right in the 1911.
Y'all dressed like
deltas. Let's get this thing started.
Let's get this thing started.
I told y'all
I cut deep.
Michelle Obama said when they go low, we go
hot. No, I go lower. I go to hell. I go deep. Michelle Obama said, when they go low, we go high. No, I go lower.
I go to hell.
Let's get out.
I go low.
I go to hell.
I go low.
I'm an AKA, and we are the first.
You hit below the knee, I'm going to hit you in your ankles.
All right, let me ask y'all this question.
In terms of.
Y'all crossed a red line for me when you said y'all go to hell.
I'm not going there for anybody.
There you go.
Precisely.
But that is the cap of home.
Let's go.
Let's talk.
Y'all, we can do this all day.
We can do it all day.
All day.
Let's get right down to it.
Because I got two alphas in the studio, Mustafa and Larry.
That's how we do it.
So here's the thing that when you look at what we're just talking about,
it is amazing to me how often I keep hearing from these folks.
We need to hear more, more, more policy, more policy, more policy.
Listen, Hillary Clinton dropped all kind of policy in 2016.
And then Trump, his stuff wasn't even on index cards.
And so what is happening in this state?
What is happening in this city?
What are you hearing?
And are you being inundated with data and information?
I'll start on the far left.
No, I'm not being inundated with information.
I'm being inundated with text messages.
I don't consider that information.
Text messages from?
From anyone who has a phone.
It literally is overkill.
I don't even read them now.
I think what has to happen, running a campaign in the black community cannot just simply be done digitally.
It's not done through analytics.
Black people want to love, but we love viscerally.
And we have to actually cut through the code of Democratic
Party politics. The vice president has been to Philadelphia 16 times. She has visited with the
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I always had to be so good no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive.
But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations
from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers
skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak
for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersceiling.org,
brought to you by Opportunity at Worklorpapersilling.org brought to you by opportunity at work and the ad council but she's got to come to the black church which is still the arbiter of black people's conduct
opinion and behavior and i hope that people from the campaign are listening i'm certain a few are
here but we do politics very differently you can do some of it digital it's just like church now
i would i love having digital members but it's my analog members who show up every Sunday who pay the bills and get it done.
And so the politics of our community has to look different.
Well, we're living in a world where you actually have to do both because the consumers have absolutely changed.
But the question is, what is actually happening? What is happening
on the ground? Are there town halls? Are there these conversations? So what is happening
in this city, in this state specific to African Americans? Go ahead. Go ahead.
So I think that Marshall is absolutely correct. There does need to be a stronger ground game,
but you also have to take into account the digital, right?
Because as a woman of a certain age, right,
my younger students, they want text messages.
They want to go on social media.
That is how they get their information, right?
But also, I do feel like the campaign is swelling.
The DNC energy was amazing, and they're capitalizing and riding that wave.
I, too, am not being inundated by information, but I do think that Vice President Harris is coming to the people right now.
So she is being very selective about the interviews that she's doing because she is trying to reach the people.
She wants to talk about pocketbook issues. So the home health care, my mother-in-law, before she passed, God rest her
soul, me and my husband took care of her. We took her in. That resonates with us. We as black people,
we are caregivers by nature, right? Our parents are now aging. And so I do think that she is
taking it to the people, communicating in the way that is really effective.
And here in Pennsylvania, you are absolutely right.
Philadelphia, the birthplace of democracy.
She has been here 16 times and she will continue to come here and we have her back.
Philadelphia has Vice President Harris's back.
So of those 16 times, how many of those have been community driven?
Well, community, which community?
You have to define that.
I'm talking to black people.
It's a black show.
Not a lot.
No, no.
First of all, this is a black show.
So when I say community, I ain't talking about nobody else.
So in that case, then not a lot.
I don't think there's been enough intentionality to have points of contact with the black community.
And to a certain degree, I think the campaign has taken for granted that the votes are there.
But we have to be cognizant of the fact that in the last presidential election,
16% of black males in the city of Philadelphia voted Republican.
And so if we if we pay attention to that, I think there has to be some intentionality to make points of contact with black voters,
not black and brown, not with black voters, because as go Philadelphia, so goes Pennsylvania.
And we are the ones that move the needle. But one of the things that we've talked a lot on the show, and a lot of people have had this
conversation about what's happening with black men, but many of them aren't even understanding
historically what has happened. The reality is, if you look
at men and women, men historically, whether you are white,
black, Latino, are more conservative than progressive
or liberal.
If you look at the data, we had Christopher Tola with Black Voter Project on showing those
numbers.
If you go back from 1972 up through present day, you had anywhere from 10 to 23 percent
of black men voting Republican.
What you're seeing now, and this is, and I've been looking at this since 2012,
that people don't want to understand, the issue is not even just black men.
It's how do you now micro-target African Americans?
Because the further you get away from the civil rights movement,
people less self-identify as democrats
and so part of this part of this is uh how do you reach those voters if you look if you look at the
polling data uh she's a vice president harris has seen significant increases among young black women
but those young black women also were lagging behind because they were saying, hey, I'm not hearing the issues being spoken to me.
And so what this forces, Jasmine, it forces, again, campaigns to have to now think differently, operate differently,
because if you now you have to now do more work to reach black voters than you used to do because they don't self-identify.
And that's, I think, a part of this, when you talk about this strategy that you're seeing,
that they've implemented.
Y'all can speak to that.
And also, are you hearing that?
When you're having these conversations, when you're having these conversations with people,
what are they actually saying?
Are you hearing them talk about that?
And are you seeing this divide among ages?
I'm definitely seeing it among ages and genders.
I think one of the things the Democratic Party has struggled with, and trust me, I don't
have a plan B other than Vice President Harris.
So there is not a fallback position.
But I think with the Democratic Party, I think... Well, no, there's not a fallback position for you, but there not a fallback position. But I think with the Democratic Party, I think...
Well, no, there's not a fallback position for you, but there is a fallback position,
which is the couch. Well, I think the couch is actually the leading candidate. The couch is
going to get more votes than either of the other two, right? And so what I think the Democratic
Party has to do, people talk about learning love languages. The Democratic Party has not learned black straight men's love language.
And that's economics and that's family. And so I think if you can pierce that bubble, you get a
better, more alert audience. For me, it's not about getting 90% of the black male vote. In fact,
in Philadelphia in 1983, when Wilson Good ran, he got 393,000 votes.
When Sherelle Parker ran the last time, she got 193,000.
And so that diminution of 200,000 is what we've actually got to start shooting for,
not just the universal people who are coming out.
And I think it's speaking a love language to people who are not explicitly feeling the love.
They want to be loved.
It's the right place for them to be loved,
but they're not communicating well with them. But also, if I may, I agree with you. The Democratic Party has not learned black women's love language either. It is just that black women vote often.
We bring our mamas, our daddies. We have just a sense of responsibility.
But be clear, the Democratic Party,
they have not learned our love language.
It is wonderful that we have VP Harris.
Look how long it took us to get there.
That is owed to us.
Let me be clear.
Supreme Court Justice Jackson, that was owed to us.
Y'all still in the negative.
But we know our civic duty as black women and we carry it as a burden and we
carry it all the
time. And the Democratic Party knows that.
They have to do something
different. Well, I think we
also, I think we make a mistake
when, whenever this conversation
happens, I think the mistake that we
make is we
act as if there is a separate entity. First of all,
the largest group that votes Democrat are black women. The second largest are black men. So when
we say the Democratic Party, that is us. But again, so there's a difference, though, between the classes that run campaigns, that fund campaigns, and the ones that actually vote.
And so the decision has to be made, how do you shift from being a sharecropper to an owner?
And which also means what types of demands are made in off years.
So it's not just a presidential year.
Okay.
What then happens next year,
then the midterms and then the 27 and 28.
And so that,
that's sort of how,
how,
how I approach this.
And it also,
and it also makes,
makes clear to folk that if you're not making the proper investments,
then you're not going to see the return.
And I think that's what
you also are seeing. And the struggle that we're seeing right now really is not a Democratic,
Republican issue. The struggle is people say, I don't believe that my vote can make the difference.
But what I keep saying to folk pastors is,
yeah, that means that we can't,
after the election is over, then just go home.
You then have to keep that same mobilization
and organization in place to now push the very people
to then do what we want to do,
because otherwise, if we just vote and then go home,
you're right, nothing will change.
I agree. You would ask about if we just vote and then go home, you're right, nothing will change. I agree. You would ask about if we see differences between the ages. I'm looking at one of my
members in particular, younger demographic, and he and I, we've gone back and forth
because he shared the number of people that were voting for Republican,
positioned themselves to vote for Republican.
And then when I ask why, the explanation and rationale, it's just not there.
So what was it?
Well, for some of them, it was the, I think it came out the 70 cents a day,
whatever the stimulus check was that they received.
Like for them, I mean, that resonated with them.
They didn't understand the politics behind the timing of those checks or anything.
But for a large number of younger black Philadelphians, I can only speak directly for that, it was that a stimulus check.
And so I said, so basically you are selling your vote for 70 cents a day.
Well, wait, hold up. Okay, all right. No, no, no. That's because my whole deal is you meet with folks where they are.
But was it was it explained to those very same people that there were actually two stimulus checks?
That was a stimulus check in 2020 under Trump. That was a larger one under Biden-Harris in 2021. In addition to that, you saw an increase in unemployment insurance under Biden-Harris.
You saw the expansion of moratorium on evictions, and you saw an increase in child care support.
And they also expanded the PPP loans targeting black businesses.
So what you're talking about, part of this is also a failure on the part of political leaders to properly explain what they did.
I agree 100 percent.
So similar to what both Jasmine and Marshall were saying as far as the communication, the languages. But in the midterm elections, those off years, the off elections where it's not a president's election, what are they doing for voter engagement, voter points of contact? And they're just not consistent.
So I think as a result, both on the elected officials, they've not done a great job of communicating what they've done between 2020
and now 2024, because something is being missed. Historically, you know, we had the mantra,
well, you owe it to the ancestors. That doesn't work for this generation anymore. It just doesn't
resonate with them. Whether it's you owe it for your grandmother, you owe it for those that died
for you. This generation really could care less. And I mean grandmother, you owe it for those that died for you, this
generation really could care less.
And I mean, they've said it to me that they could care less.
It's not about what happened 30, 40, 50, 60 years ago for them.
It's just not.
Yeah, but also, so it should have been a focus group.
We're going to go take a break.
We come back.
Teresa, I wanted you to speak to that because although we are 28 days away the reality right now is uh if any politician you
don't have a lot of time uh trying to explain to folk because uh you know listen the runway
is short but that is still a significant thing that has to happen uh so folk uh who are deciding
between voting and the couch can all understand this is i'm going to go to a break folks we'll
be right back on Roland Martin Unfiltered
on the Black Star Network, live from Philadelphia,
Mount Carmel Baptist Church.
Back in a moment.
Thank you.
He told us who he was.
Should abortion be punished?
There has to be some form of punishment.
Then he showed us. For 54 years, they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated, and I did it, and I'm proud to
have done it. Now Donald Trump wants to go further with plans to restrict birth control, ban abortion
nationwide, even monitor women's pregnancies. We know who Donald Trump is. He'll take control.
We'll pay the price. I'm Kam Donald Trump is. He'll take control.
We'll pay the price.
I'm Kamala Harris, and I approve this message.
In 2016, Donald Trump said he would choose only the best people to work in his White House.
Now those people have a warning for America.
Trump is not fit to be president again.
Here's his vice president.
Anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be president of the United States.
It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year.
His defense secretary.
Do you think Trump can be trusted with the nation's secrets ever again?
No. I mean, it's just irresponsible action that places our service members at risk, places our nation's security at risk.
His national security advisor. Donald Trump will cause a lot of damage.
The only thing he cares about is Donald Trump.
And the nation's highest-ranking military officer.
We don't take an oath to a king or a queen or to a tyrant or a dictator.
And we don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator.
Take it from the people who knew him best.
Donald Trump is a danger to our troops and our democracy.
We can't let him lead our country again.
I'm Kamala Harris, and I approve this message.
I get it.
The cost of rent, groceries, and utilities is too high.
So here's what we're going to do about it.
We will lower housing costs by building more homes
and crack down on landlords who are charging too much.
We will lower your food and grocery bills by going after
price gougers who are keeping the cost of everyday goods too high. I'm Kamala Harris,
and I approve this message because you work hard for your paycheck. You should get to keep more of
it. As president, I'll make that my top priority. Bob and I both voted for Donald Trump. I voted
for him twice. I won't vote for him again. January 6th
was a wake-up call for me. Donald Trump divides people. We've already seen what he has to bring.
He didn't do anything to help us. Kamala Harris, she cares about the American people. I think she's
got the wherewithal to make a difference. I've never voted for a Democrat. Yes, we're both
lifelong Republicans. The choice is very simple. I'm voting for Kamala. I am voting for Kamala Harris.
IVF is a miracle for us because it allowed us to have our family.
After having my daughter, I wanted more children.
But my embryo transfer was canceled eight days before the procedure.
Donald Trump overturning Roe v. Wade stopped us from growing the family that we wanted.
I don't want politicians telling me
how or when I can have a baby.
We need a president that will protect our rights,
and that's Kamala Harris.
I'm Kamala Harris, and I approve this message.
...of 100 Republicans who worked in national security
for Presidents Reagan, both Bushes, and for President Trump, now endorsing Harris for president.
She came up as a prosecutor, an attorney general, into the Senate. She has the kind of character that's going to be necessary in the presidency.
Vice President Harris is standing in the breach at a critical moment in our nation's history.
We have a shared commitment
as Americans to do what's right for this country. This year, I am proudly casting my vote for
Vice President Kamala Harris. Former generals, secretaries of defense, secretaries of the
Army, Navy, and Air Force, CIA directors directors and National Security Council leaders under Democratic and Republican presidents,
Republican members of Congress and even former Trump administration officials agree there's only one candidate fit to lead our nation.
And that's Kamala Harris. I'm Kamala Harris.
Hello, I'm Marissa Mitchellell a news anchor at fox 5 dc hey what's up it's sammy roman and you are
watching roland martin unfiltered all right folks uh welcome back to my...
I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time,
have you ever had to shoot your gun?
Sometimes the answer is yes.
But there's a company dedicated to a future
where the answer will always be no.
Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution.
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It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated
on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st
and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th.
Ad free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.
I'm Clayton English.
I'm Greg Glod.
And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast.
We are back.
In a big way.
In a very big way.
Real people, real perspectives.
This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.
We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.
It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves.
Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne.
We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man.
Benny the Butcher.
Brent Smith from Shinedown.
We got B-Real from Cypress Hill.
NHL enforcer Riley Cote.
Marine Corps vet.
MMA fighter Liz Karamush.
What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things.
Stories matter, and it brings a face to them.
It makes it real.
It really does.
It makes it real.
Listen to new episodes of
the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content,
subscribe to Lava for Good no one could ignore me.
Carve my path with data and drive.
But some people only see who I am on paper.
The paper ceiling.
The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars.
Workers skilled through alternative routes routes rather than a bachelor's
degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through
barriers at taylorpapersilling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council.
Carmel Baptist Church here in Philadelphia. Glad to be here. We'll continue our conversation.
Teresa, I want to throw it to you because we've talked a lot on this show about messaging, lack thereof, things along those lines. But this is where I still believe
we have to have community-driven conversations. What I mean by that is, if you wait for, first
of all, the way campaigns operate, they don't, campaigns don't operate 365, seven days a week. They only operate,
hey, if a congressional campaign, they're going to start focusing on that a few months before the
primary. And then, okay, you got the primary and then you go to the general. This is where I still
believe you've got to have community driven conversations. We've got to have black organizations
that stay like all the organization
we do around voting. Those groups must stay together. So when the election is over, we're
going back to those same people telling them this is the bills that are coming up in Congress. This
is what's happening in the state capitol. This is what's happening with county government and the
school board and the city council. And now how do we keep folks mobilized and organized because what then happens is we're hoping a campaign is telling folk what has happened
when this is ownership of ourselves trying to tell ourselves no what has actually happened
that actually benefit us your thoughts you're absolutely right you know conversations are so
important now more than ever i think when
we start talking about what the communication strategy is for um especially presidential
campaigns digitals are great tv is very expensive but hitting those doors um and having these
community conversations having roland martin in your church and your community helps the dialogue. And the reason why is because sometimes, you know, there's so many mixed messages.
There's so much fake news.
There's so much positive news that is happening during our cycles each and every day.
Sometimes it just it gets overwhelming.
But other times, you know, do I have a friend that can just tell us a few messages about the person that they want to vote
for? Are we having those community kitchen table, soul food dinners after church or, you know,
during a community meeting and just talking about current events? So if we're not doing,
I think, you know, look, we have 28 days left. And so with 28 days left, you know, I want to see
less digital and more in-person rallies. I want to see dialogues. I want to see, you know,
different groups collaborating. You know, I think I've just joined probably three other
text messaging groups of just, I'm in the business community, so I am now in the business for Harris in a whole
other state.
So it's great, but these are the type of things that, you know, again, it's new, it's nuanced,
but these are the messages that have to happen today.
Larry, it also means how do you communicate?
Because I think what also happens is um people who are
regular consumers of news and information uh think that everybody else is just like them that's not
the case uh and so it's also combating a lot of misinformation disinformation that's being
targeted to us so people understand like i said when somebody says Trump gave us the stimulus check,
first of all, it was a democratically
controlled Congress that actually
passed it first.
That's a fact. If it doesn't get through the Democrats
in the House, ain't a bill.
Then it goes over to the Senate. He
holds the checks up so he can put his name on it.
But again,
and so that also requires,
Larry, where it's not a Democrat-Republican conversation.
It's a this-is-what-got-done conversation. And so
because it's a lot of folks who have problems with party, and I keep
saying, I don't look at party, I look at what got done, then I look at
who did it.
Roland, I'm glad you hit on the point.
I was just about to talk about misinformation.
And the reason why I was going to do that is
I've had some conversation with Black men,
and sometimes when I hear them,
they're repeating the same
talking points.
BP Harris for Black men in jail,
et cetera. And so
I want to focus, particularly focus on Black men,
because you talk about
focus on specifically certain because you talk about micro focus on specifically, you know, certain communities and black men being hit with a lot of misinformation for the last several years.
And to be honest with you, it's been quite effective. I think it was Senator Kelly just the other this past weekend was on one of those talk shows.
And he talked about a lot of the misinformation in China, Iran, some other countries are, you know, involved in and particularly targeting Black men. And we know that we saw that the last several
years. But we do have to do a good job of explaining to Black men about the infrastructure
bill, the Chips and Signs Act, and various other pieces of legislation, student loan forgiveness,
all these other issues, you know, insulin capping, insulin, all these other issues
that are critically important as it relates to when, like I said, when we talk about Philadelphia in terms of how it's going to impact, you know,
your grandmother, your mom, or you, or these other individuals, in contrast to the, you know,
the Trump Project 2025 plan, getting rid of overtime, coming after unions, all these other
issues that will hit the, you know hit your pocketbook and obviously have a
major impact on the Black community. But once again, the amount of misinformation that Black
men have been exposed to is like nothing I've ever seen. And not only concerns me for this election,
but it concerns me over the next two, four, six, eight years.
Well, if you look at 2019, out of all the candidates, the one candidate that was a target of the most Russian troll farmers was then Senator Kamala Harris.
And so, again, that's just understanding what was going on there.
Mustafa, when we talk about, again, understanding facts, we've seen what has happened over the past week,
where you've had Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, and all these conservatives lying about the federal government's support for people impacted by Hurricane Helene in Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina.
I mean, just flat out lying, just making stuff up.
And then you hear folks sitting here trying to trash President Biden, Vice President Harris.
So he's a perfect example. You've got this hurricane bearing down on Florida right now.
Go to my iPad.
These are the members of Congress, Republicans, Mustafa,
that voted against funding for FEMA.
And I can guarantee, including Byron Donalds, you see him right there,
you see one of the biggest loudmouth, Matt Gaetz, and Ana Paulina Luna, also another loudmouth.
You may have seen that video when the incentive hairs was a cost in an airport,
and that was actually Luna who was yelling at her about something dealing with immigrations and Latinos.
I can guarantee you, after the devastation, these six folks are going to be begging the federal government for money,
and they're the ones who voted against FEMA.
So, Mustafa, look, you deal with environmental issues.
When we talk about climate change, we know which party actually says it's a hoax
and which party says it's real.
And so when we're having these conversations and people get caught up in,
well, man, are you a Democratic shield?
No.
You need to make a decision when it comes to the issues that matter to you.
There is a clear difference between a person in one party or the other.
There are very few people who are moderate.
First of all, there are virtually no moderate Republicans.
You do have moderate Democrats because of how districts
are drawn. And so that's also part of the conversation, explaining to people issues,
and then who supports those issues. Yeah. You know, one of the ministers there talked about
intentionality. So there is intentionality by the individuals that you put up there on the screen to
make sure that there's still chaos and conspiracy theories, because they know that then folks won't be able to make the right moves.
They'll just get mad at somebody, and folks usually get mad at whoever's in power.
There was intentionality also by the Biden-Harris administration to address issues inside of our
communities. And I like facts, and I like policy. So we know that we had a serious—and we still
continue to have a serious issue with lead in the water.
So look at which party actually did something about changing out those lead lines that are impacting our children and causing neurological damage.
Look at which party actually decided to not just deal with climate in words, but to actually put real dollars behind that. So Larry had mentioned,
you know, the bipartisan infrastructure bill, the climate bill that put real dollars out there.
And for those who say that folks don't make investments in our communities, and as somebody
who's worked on environmental justice and climate justice for a while, we now literally, before we
were lucky, we had a few million dollars. Now we have billions of dollars to be able to help to
strengthen and heal our communities. When we look at the business side of the equation, there have been significant
investments that the Biden-Harris administration has made that the Trump administration did
not make in relationship to the new sets of opportunities around a clean economy.
So we know that brothers care about making sure that they can have a job that pays more
than just a livable
wage, if I can say it that way. And we know that there have been numerous opportunities that are
now out there. But it's not just about having a job. It's about also being able to create your
own business, because brothers want to be able to create generational wealth. They want to be
able to take care of their family in this moment and make sure that they're leaving something for
the future as well. And the Biden-Harris administration has actually put real dollars, contract opportunities, subcontract opportunities,
and grant dollars that are out there to help people to be able to do that.
So often, we have these larger, overarching conversations instead of drilling down.
Like my people who are in Westminster and 48th right there in Philly, you know, they want to
know, can I create my own business or can I keep my business going?
They want to know about home ownership also, which party and which administration has actually
created more home ownership in the black community.
And it was the Biden-Harris administration that had better numbers than the Trump administration
did.
And then, of course, black unemployment is lower under the Biden-Harris administration
than the Trump administration.
So if we want to have a conversation about economics, all we got to do is look at the
facts. That by no means means that we still don't have a lot of work to do because we know we are
still the ones that get hit first and worst from the climate crisis and environmental injustice.
And we are the ones that are still struggling to get our numbers right in relationship to
owning businesses and to be workers in spaces.
But we've got to give credit to the folks who have actually done intentionality and understanding the gaps that existed
and actually did something instead of the people who continue to create chaos and hear young brothers say I had some brother who was in Compton.
He emailed me and he was like, man, you know, we have money in our pockets when Trump was there.
And I'm going, OK, I'm like, so let me ask you this question.
Did he support a living wage?
No.
Is the federal minimum wage still $7.25?
Yes.
How long has it been there?
Dang near 20 years.
Which part is against $15 an hour?
It's real clear who.
But what you have is, I think you have this fantasy world that some people are living in when they say, oh, my life was so much better under Trump in 17, 18, 19.
But then I got to remind folk, he was handed an economy by Obama, Biden that Republicans fought.
And so this is where this is where I think we have to also be willing to challenge folk on these falsehoods and literally force them to which what you were saying as well, force them to have to defend the position.
Otherwise, the lie just keeps getting repeated.
Lies have longer legs and they are faster than the truth and public policy decisions.
So I think we've actually got to do something radically different.
You have made the tragic mistake.
I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time,
have you ever had to shoot your gun?
Sometimes the answer is yes.
But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.
Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution.
But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.
Cops believed everything that
Taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about
what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission.
This is Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad.
It's really, really, really bad.
Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated,
on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th.
Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.
I'm Clayton English.
I'm Greg Lott.
And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast.
We are back.
In a big way.
In a very big way.
Real people, real perspectives.
This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.
We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.
It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves.
Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne.
We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is.
Benny the Butcher.
Brent Smith from Shinedown.
We got B-Real from Cypress Hill.
NHL enforcer Riley Cote.
Marine Corvette.
MMA fighter Liz Karamush.
What we're doing now isn't working,
and we need to change things.
Stories matter, and it brings a face to them.
It makes it real.
It really does.
It makes it real.
Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two
on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.
I always had to be so good no one could ignore me.
Carve my path with data and drive.
But some people only see who I am on paper.
The paper ceiling.
The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars.
Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree.
It's time for skills to speak for themselves.
Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersceiling.org. rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves.
Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersilling.org,
brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council.
I'm trying to be reasonable and rational
in a time when people are irrational,
emotional, and visceral.
Donald Trump's people enjoy the lies. They thrive and prosper on the
lie. The worse the lie, the more ecstatic they are to support it. But it's not just his people.
We have black chaos agents. But hold on. So I don't think the problem is misinformation. I think the problem is actually
misinformers. And there are more misinformers out there. And what we have, the challenge we have,
the black pulpit is more muted today than it has ever been in its history. And black elected
officials are also in many ways doing the work is not posting on Instagram.
That's fun. But actually beating the pavements and doing the stuff that actually works.
Right. We seem to be allergic to it. Well, that's that's why that's why that's why when I said earlier,
I love what Charlie Wilson said. he knew school and old school.
I think the problem with new school is a new school thought believes everything that old school no longer applies.
And so when I said we have to go back to having those community conversations,
one of the biggest things is you've got to have schoolhouse rock 2.0. You got to literally have civics 101.
There are people right now who literally have no clue the difference between a city council member,
a school board member, and a house member, and a senate member.
But in 28 days, we're not going to change that.
Right, right, right.
So we have to become visceral, emotional, and we have to actually manipulate what we know is the truth.
So the 28 days, how I operate is when someone tells me, Jasmine, man, I don't know.
I go, give me three issues you care about.
I force them to give me three.
Then I say, this is where Trump stands on that.
This is where Harris stands on that.
All right, now what you going to do?
Because see, now they are confronted with, but see, what you have is, when you talk about the misinformers,
what you have is you have people who are, Democrats
ain't done nothing for us. It's been 50, 60 years. Our communities
have not improved. Very broad statement.
Okay? And then if you try to drill down, they don't want to hear it.
But by forcing them to have to put some skin in the game.
No. What are your three issues?
And I will tell you what these folks have done, which means that the person asking the question got to also be well informed.
Very much so. I guarantee you, if you ask the average citizen about those three issues, they might have one.
They might have one. They might have one. They
are so misinformed, they don't even now know what's important to them. And how do you combat
that, right? How do you create a strategy around so much misinformation? I mean, I got to tell you,
the Republicans are ruthless at this point. The Democrats are still trying to be demure. Okay. They still want to be
a lady and polite. It is time to get ruthless because our lives, our freedoms, they are all
on the line. I'm willing to go there. You can see how we were all bantering about our sororities
and fraternities. I'm willing to go there for Kamala Harris right now because I got JMJs watching me.
I plays no games.
Well, when I passed, when I talked about, like, I love this, when I hear these brothers
say, well, all the black men he let out of jail.
Again, that's what I say.
First of all, the First Step Act first got passed in the House.
That was led by Hakeem Jeffries.
That was a democratically controlled House.
If it don't go through the House, it don't get passed.
When it goes to the Senate, Democrats, Senator Harris,
Senator Cory Booker, Senator Dick Durbin, and Republican Chuck Grassley said
it ain't good enough.
They forced it to be improved before it went to Trump.
But here's the flip side that folk don't talk about,
which, again, drives me crazy. And I keep hitting this.
So every brother who tells me that, I then tell them, okay, which department of justice,
Trump, Pence, Biden, Harris investigated more police departments,
12 under Biden, Harris, one under Trump, Pence, which one said said we're going to pull back on consent decrees?
Trump Pence.
Which one has actually put more cops and jail warden, the corrections officers, in prison for violating civil rights of people?
Biden Harris, not Trump Pence.
And I had a brother, he was going off because he said, well, why didn't Kamala Harris, why did she call the governor of Missouri when Marcel Williams was executed?
I said, well, first of all, it was Democrats in the state that were trying to stop the execution.
It was a Republican attorney general, Republican governor, Republican state Supreme Court Harris and you just ignored all of the Republicans who said kill him.
Then I hit him with this, that there was there was there were in 60 years, there were three federal executions in 60 years, three federal executions.
Trump killed 13 in six months.
So again,
this is where, to your point, oh, y'all want to swing?
Let's swing. And that person says I don't care, that's fine, but I just simply can't allow
the lies to simply stand. And it's not just the lies
that bother me and get me. It's the degree of
spectacle that certain people have become accustomed or have an appetite for. It's almost
over these next 28 days, the Democrats, not false spectacle, but they're going to have to do something to generate a shock, generate deep engagement.
Because in 28 days or 29 days, all these conversations won't matter.
And not that they won't matter because we still need to continue the conversations.
But in 29 days, we'll be sitting around saying, wow, what happened?
Wow, how did we can't believe?
And then the puppeteers will have to answer these questions
well pastor how did god allow something to happen like this well no you you have the right to vote
you have to be registered there's a part you have to play but there is a certain level of spectacle
that i think society as a whole not just republican not just, not just Republican, not just Democrat, not just black, white, BIPOC or whatever the case is.
I think it's a certain level of spectacle that people have come to be enticed with.
And that's what feeds them way beyond facts.
Well, look, he's an entertainer and folk fall for the entertainment.
They fall for the reality show.
I just believe when you were talking earlier about about preachers, Look, there are preachers I know all across the country.
My wife is an ordained minister.
And I think what has happened is when you talk about being muted,
I think what you have is you have so many people who are scared to death,
thinking they're going to lose their IRS status, not realizing that.
They can't name one church that has lost their IRS status.
Precisely.
And you got conservative pastors literally in the pulpit saying,
Democrats are demons.
And just one dude is like if you one guy literally said, if you voted for Biden, get out of my church.
And so and he still got his R.S. status.
But the thing that I keep trying, I keep saying you have to go old school.
I can't I can't listen to preachers continue to say folk need to go through the black church.
And I'm like, yeah, but how am I going to go through you if your church door is locked?
I mean, again, I'm going to go back to, you have to start asking some real questions.
Where are you seeing these conversations?
Forget the fact that we are here with the cameras.
And here's what's, no, I'll give you this one here.
I should have been inundated with requests from preachers this year
to bring my show to the church.
You will be.
No, no, no, no.
But what I'm saying is, what i'm saying is what i'm saying is yeah even take the show out
are you seeing these community conversations no no and so we have folk who literally are only
talking on sunday maybe in bible study and not doing anything else, but they want to claim the mantle of the black church and Dr.
King and,
and some of the Christian leadership conference.
And that to me,
if the black church wants to truly be relevant in the 21st century,
then it has to make itself relevant to that point.
Right.
For those community conversations,
I can't speak for one, all 2,700 places of worship in the city of Philadelphia,
but I can speak for the Mount Carmel Baptist Church.
I can tell you that the case ministry, case ministry.
And can I say Mount Carmel Baptist Church?
Okay, for the person at home, they don't know what case ministry, no, no, no.
What is it?
It's our civic and community engagement ministry.
Got it.
And so the sole purpose for our case, civic and community engagement,
is to do just that beyond Sunday morning because there are only 52 Sundays.
There's 313 days left in the year.
So what are we doing?
So at Mount Carmel, since the third week in September,
every Monday we have volunteers that do phone banking.
We've reached out.
The case ministry identified in the immediate area around the church, in the 19139,
which happens to have a 20-year less life expectancy than all the other zip codes in the city of Philadelphia. There were 9,000 registered voters around the church demographically that had not participated in the last three elections.
There you go.
So we wrote personally handwritten postcards to them.
We're going out to them.
So it can't be Sunday morning.
So all of us.
But see, again, I want to walk through that.
First of all, you had to get the data.
Right.
Right.
And we got that from the commissioners.
There you go.
That's correct.
So the reason I say that is because I can't tell you how many people I've talked to around the country,
when I tell them that that data is public, they go, really?
And I go, yes.
And I was in Cincinnati, and I was with a brother.
He's an alpha. He was talking about their voter. I said, bro, I said, y'all doing it wrong.
He was like, you know, we had a football guy said, no, you're doing it wrong.
He's like, what do you mean? I said, go pull the data of the 10, 15 most heavily concentrated black precincts and then look at the data and see how many voted. And then focus your resources on that area.
Because elections are now margin elections.
That 9,000, Obama, excuse me, Biden-Harris wins Georgia by just 12,000.
The 9,000 you're talking about, that's the, it was 10,000 in Arizona.
And so what you're talking about is exactly how it should be done.
I'm saying a lot of folk aren't doing that because they're talking a good game as opposed to actually putting the plan of action to reaching those people.
Go ahead. We did exactly that. Our church is in Montgomery County.
Most of the people who are in Montgomery County who think they've arrived came from Philly.
So they're from Germantown originally.
So a sense of really who we are and where we started, we didn't really start in Germantown.
We started in North Carolina, but Germantown is where we landed, right?
And so what we did in Germantown is we looked at every single district in Germantown
and took people through the district where they used to live. And what we found is in the midterm election, we found in Germantown and Mount Airy, 10% of the eligible
voters in districts all across wards. We also have to remember that our black elected officials who love incumbency have a vested interest in keeping new, inspired, enlightened and inspirited voters out of the polls.
They want to remain honored and humbled and on Instagram.
And we've got to break some of that appetite while we while we're fixing ourselves and understand where we are and where we can make a difference.
And what happened in our congregation is
three or four women in Germantown
have now sent out
4,000 letters and
postcards telling people who they are
trying to move the needle there. So we've got to
remember where we've come from to make sure we get to where
we're going. Which is why
what I keep getting at, even though it's 28 days, these things can be happening over the next 27 days.
What I'm trying to get our folk to understand, Jasmine, stop waiting on a campaign or a party to do this because the issues that we're talking about still impact us.
That's so that's trying to get people to understand that you don't have to wait.
The reason the phone call blew up.
First of all, when with black women started four years ago.
First of all, people say it started four years ago.
Well, why did they start?
The sole purpose of them starting was to get then Senator Harris the VP job.
That's how it started. Then it was like, OK, she got it.
Then it was like, now we got to get me elected. Then when the election was over, they were like, well, we don't keep meeting.
That's how they were still meeting for years. That call that Sunday night when Biden decided not to run.
That was their regular call. That wasn't in response to him dropping out.
Then it blew up because people were like, yo, that's a call, that's a call.
And then that's how 44,000.
Well, I was at a golf tournament in New Jersey when Biden drops out.
I then hit Mike Blake, Mike hits me like, yo, we're going to do a call tomorrow with brothers.
Next day we had 55,000. And so because of what black women did on Sunday, black men on Monday, on Tuesday, Latinas met.
On Wednesday, South Asian women met.
On Thursday, the white women met.
On Friday, the black gay folk met.
On Saturday, the Caribbean folk met. Then the white men met, white dudes.
Then all of a sudden, like, y'all think I'm lying.
A sister, no, no, understand.
A sister hit me.
She is a horror writer.
Y'all think I'm lying.
I'm telling y'all. Hold on.
Let me plug it up.
Y'all think I'm lying.
No.
She hit me up.
Hey, Henry, do you see it?
Do you see it, Henry?
So on October 15th,
it's called, pull it up,
it's called scare up the vote.
These are horror writers.
So what happened was all of these groups, I'm telling y'all, she hit all of these people
realize, yo, we ain't got to ask nobody to do a call.
We can just do a call. And so what I'm suggesting is if we have that amount of energy that came in that moment,
this is where our folk nationally, statewide, locally should be saying,
well, we can replicate that every single year in every community,
but you have to care enough to actually make the call, organize it, and then follow through.
Final comment before I go to break.
So did you hear me previously when I said black women will save the democracy?
Oh, okay.
I didn't know if anybody heard that.
So to be very clear, I am the chairwoman of Black Women for Kamala Harris.
We have been organizing, correct? We had a statewide
call, 2,000 women in a day. The next call, 3,000 women in a day. We are ready. We lead already.
And then everyone else follows. Here's what we need, Roland. We need y'all to continue to follow our lead. End of story. Because we don't take
our foot up off that gas. We understand that we have to do it for our families, our babies,
our aunties, our friends. We don't take our foot up off the gas. So just follow our lead.
So Marsha, the thing that I, that again, although it's 28 days, the point that I'm making is every single person.
If you've got social media, what means are you sharing? What are you posting?
You can grab you can go to Kamala Harris's Twitter feed, grab the graphic, put it on yours.
I'm just saying that people have to be thinking that way in terms of how can I move the
needle because this is going to be a margin election and every vote truly will count. Final
comment. So I'm moving like I'm scared, but I'm thinking like I'm going to win. I really, I really,
I really have to actually believe that. And I want the campaign to believe that. And I'm hoping that
all of these estuaries
turn into streams, streams turn into rivers, rivers dump into a bay and then we have an ocean of votes.
Final capacity, I just for me at this point I can't even wait on a campaign
because for me I'm looking at the fact that if Trump wins Clarence Thomas
and Alito are going to retire
and that is going to guarantee
a hard
right Supreme Court
for another 40-50 years
so my deal is
and I get it but right now
I ain't waiting on nobody
I'm going to use everything I got at my disposal to make it happen.
And to that point, I know there's a number of pastors in here.
I think what I would impress upon your viewers and listeners moving forward for all the clergy who are scared to say something on Sunday.
That's not me. You can utilize your personal social media platforms. You are still
an individual citizen that has freedom of speech and things of that nature. Use your platforms
to meet your congregations, to meet and contact other people, because we have to do things
unconventionally because there's only 28 days left. Absolutely. Is my panel there?
Have they been dismissed? They're still there? Let me get a final comment from them because
of the next hour. We're going to be just here at the church. So again, 28 days, Mustafa.
And folk who are watching and listening, they need to understand you got to be in this game.
Just you just voting is one thing.
But you should be saying, looking at your state right now, what's the registration deadline?
How many people can I register before the deadline?
That's the first thing.
Then the second thing is, does my state have early voting?
How can I get folk to vote early?
And then if they don't, then how many people can I move and activate to get to the
polls on election day? Mustafa, you go. My grandmother says you have power unless you
give it away. We can utilize our power to make sure that we are making the investments inside
of our communities, making sure that we are putting the right people there that we can hold
accountable and who actually understand the dynamics that play out in our neighborhoods and inside of our families.
But the only way that that happens is if we use our power to make sure that we're electing those individuals
who won't let, you know, who will make sure that they're there for us.
So in the words of James Baldwin, he said that if I love you, I have to make you conscious of the things you don't see.
Let's make sure that people see our community.
I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time,
have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to
a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser
the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.
From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company
dedicated itself to one visionary mission.
This is Absolute Season 1.
Taser Incorporated.
I get right back there and it's bad.
It's really, really, really bad.
Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1,
Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st
and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th.
Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. three on May 21st and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th, ad free at lava for good.
Plus on Apple podcasts.
I'm Clayton English.
I'm Greg Glott.
And this is season two of the war on drugs.
But sir,
we are back in a big way,
in a very big way,
real people,
real perspectives.
This is kind of star studded a little bit,
man.
We got Ricky Williams,
NFL player,
Heisman Trophy winner.
It's just a compassionate choice
to allow players all reasonable means
to care for themselves.
Music stars Marcus King,
John Osborne from Brothers Osborne.
We have this misunderstanding
of what this quote-unquote drug thing is.
Benny the Butcher.
Brent Smith from Shinedown.
We got B-Real from Cypress Hill.
NHL enforcer Riley Cote.
Marine Corps vet.
MMA fighter Liz Karamush.
What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things.
Stories matter, and it brings a face to them.
It makes it real.
It really does.
It makes it real.
Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two
on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.
I always had to be so good, no one could ignore me.
Carve my path with data and drive.
But some people only see who I am on paper.
The paper ceiling.
The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars.
Workers skilled through alternative routes, rather than a bachelor's degree.
It's time for skills to speak for themselves.
Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersilling.org,
brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council.
And that they see the brilliance that exists there and that we actually vote for individuals
who care about us. Teresa.
Here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the battleground state, we need to know that there are two opportunities for in-person voting, which is October 21st.
And then, of course, you can request your mail in ballot by October 29th. So October is going to be a very good month for us.
Make sure you tell your friends, neighbor, local congressperson, local neighbor, anybody that you fall into,
that it's time to vote and it's time to do it now.
But, Teresa, but you also, isn't there something weird here where you got to sign the outside
and that you got to follow a procedure with that ballot, correct?
Yes, you do.
And you know what?
I don't have it in front of me.
I wish I could,
but our Philadelphia City Commissioner's Office,
you can go to philadelphiaboots.com
and they will be willing to help
with that process.
It is hard, but it is not.
Actually, when you get your mail-in ballot,
it'll show you a step-by-step on how to do it.
But if you need further questions or support, feel free to go to PhiladelphiaVotes.com to help you out.
After the break, we're going to have somebody here explain exactly what that is, because the last thing we need are votes actually being tossed out.
Larry.
Well, what I want to note that Philadelphia has a strong Black radical tradition. We talk about Reverend Leon Sullivan, Reverend Gray, among others, whether you talk about
inside or outside the church.
It's critically important that Black folks go out and vote.
I know they will in my home city of Philadelphia.
But once again, we do have to have a conversation about how the kind of information that Black
men are being targeted as it relates to information.
But we have to realize that our lives are on the line with this election.
And if we don't vote the way we need to,
we could bring some serious consequences
over the next couple of years.
Indeed, indeed.
All right, Larry, Mustafa, and Teresa,
I certainly appreciate it.
Thanks a bunch.
Folks, we're going to go to break.
We come back.
I'm going to have another panel here
at Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Philadelphia.
Roland Martin Unfiltered,
broadcasting live on the Black Star Network.
Folks, I say this all the time, support the work that we do.
We don't have these conservative billionaires.
They're funding conservative media.
We don't have any of that.
And so our fan base has been tremendous.
Some 31,000 people have donated to our show since we launched six years ago.
Some of the folks in the audience, I've met some of you already.
I certainly appreciate that. If you all want to support the work that the audience, I've met some of you already. I certainly appreciate that.
If y'all want to support the work that we do,
I told y'all Cash App is still tripping
with tenure their rules, so we're still dealing
with them on that. But support us.
And yeah, a bunch of y'all are still old
school. They send check and money
orders. Trust me, it's still cash the same
way. It's a little bit more work,
but PO Box 57196,
Washington, D.C., 20037-0196.
PayPal, R. Martin Unfiltered.
Venmo is RMUnfiltered.
Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com.
Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com.
We'll be right back.
Never back down from a challenge. Thank you. Enforce the law and step up technology. And stop fentanyl smuggling and human trafficking.
We need a leader with a real plan to fix the border.
And that's Kamala Harris.
I'm Kamala Harris and I approve this message.
The overturning of Roe almost killed me.
I had a blood clot in my uterus that caused my labor to have to be induced.
Because of the overturn of Roe v. Wade. I wasn't able to get life-saving treatment sooner. I
almost died and that's because of the decision that Donald Trump made. I was
able to get Roe v. Wade terminated and I'm proud to have done it. The doctors
and nurses were afraid that if they treated me in the incorrect way that
they would be prosecuted for that.
And that's appalling.
Donald Trump says that women should be punished.
Do you believe in punishment for abortion?
There has to be some form of punishment.
For the woman?
Yeah.
I believe that women should have reproductive freedom to make the choices about their own bodies.
Four more years of Donald Trump means that women's rights
will continue to be taken away one by one by one by one.
This has to stop because women are dying.
I'm Kamala Harris and I approve this message.
Here's a 78-year-old billionaire
who has not stopped whining about his problems.
Oh, she had a big crowd. Oh, the crowd.
This weird obsession with crowd sizes.
It just goes on and on and on.
America's ready for a new chapter.
We are ready for a President Kamala Harris.
I'm Kamala Harris and I approve this message.
There's nothing socialist about Kamala Harris.
Trump says Harris is a radical. I don't buy it.
Conservatives have a super majority on the Supreme Court.
With a likely Republican Senate, those checks and balances will keep our country sane.
If Trump wins, he could end up with total control.
I'm a conservative. I don't agree with Harris on everything.
But she was a tough prosecutor and she put bad guys in prison.
I voted for Donald Trump three times. I'm voting for Kamala Harris in November.
I'm voting for Kamala Harris this fall. He told us who he was.
Should abortion be punished? There has to be some form of punishment.
Then he showed us. For 54 years, they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated, and I did it. And I'm proud to have done it.
Now Donald Trump wants to go further with plans to restrict birth control, ban abortion
nationwide, even monitor women's pregnancies.
We know who Donald Trump is.
He'll take control.
We'll pay the price.
I'm Kamala Harris and I approve this message.
I get it. The cost of rent, groceries, and utilities is too high.
So here's what we're going to do about it. We will lower housing costs by building more homes
and crack down on landlords who are charging too much.
We will lower your food and grocery bills by going after price gougers
who are keeping the cost of everyday goods too high.
I'm Kamala Harris, and I approve this message because you work hard for your paycheck.
You should get to keep more of it.
As president, I'll make that my top priority.
When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture,
we're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns.
This is a genuine people-powered movement. A lot of stuff that we're not getting, you get it,
and you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us.
We cannot tell our own story if we can't pay for it. This is about covering us. Invest in black-owned media.
Your dollars matter.
We don't have to keep asking them to cover our stuff.
So please support us in what we do, folks.
We want to hit 2,000 people.
$50 this month.
Rates $100,000.
We're behind $100,000.
So we want to hit that.
Your money makes this possible.
Check some money orders.
Go to P.O. Box 57196.
Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. The cash app
is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is RM Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered.
Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com.
Hi, my name is Brady Ricks. I'm from Houston, Texas.
My name is Sharon Williams. I'm from Houston, Texas. My name is Sharon Williams.
I'm from Dallas, Texas.
Right now, I'm rolling with Roland Martin.
Unfiltered, uncut, unplugged, and undamned believable.
You hear me?
All right, folks, we are back.
Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Philadelphia.
Glad to be here.
We'll continue our conversation. We're talking about, of course, the critical election in about seven minutes.
We'll also be chatting with Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley.
She'll be joining us on the show virtually as well.
Also look forward to that conversation.
On my far left, Napoleon Nelson, the Pennsylvania State Representative.
Glad to have Napoleon here.
We also have Michael, Mike the Poet.
Where's Mike?
Which one's Mike?
Okay, we got Mike.
All right, cool.
We have, let's see here. Ryan Boyer.
Okay.
I'm sorry.
I'm looking at who else we have.
Morgan Wilson.
Gotcha.
Manny, 215.
Gotcha.
Actually, I thought that was all at once.
We got Manny as well.
So glad to have four of y'all here.
Y'all go ahead and clap.
Y'all go ahead and clap.
As I said, we'll be jumping a congresswoman
in a bit as well uh you heard what we're just talking about here so i just want to get a sense
from each one of you again what are you hearing on the ground you're having these conversations
you're running people in grocery stores uh neighborhoods in your own families um what are
you hearing are people engaged are they focused on this election or are you hearing? Are people engaged? Are they focused on this election? Or
are you hearing, whether it's brothers or sisters, folks talking about sitting this out?
Anybody wants to kick it off? Hold on. Grab the shit. There you go.
Let me get the mic. Let me get the mic. First of all, thank you, Roland, for doing this.
Really appreciate all the work you're doing. For sure. Clap it up for Roland.
One of the things I wanted to talk about, Roland, was in the previous segment,
was what's happened to the black man and why they're not engaged.
And my question is, instead of talking about the how and what,
we've got to really understand the why.
Dig deep.
Pull back the layers.
One of the things I think about is why are these young men not engaged why
do they believe in this this thing uh the hype over and i call it the john wayne mentality
john wayne mentality is all about manhood machismo all that stuff he's strong he's
the image the perception and i think that's one of the things that Democrats don't understand.
You know what black men don't feel?
They feel like Democrats are, I'm going to call it, whether they're in church, like they're wussies.
They don't have any real strength behind it.
They're always counter-punching.
When do you, in the sweet science of boxing, it's getting off the first punch first.
We're always punching back. And so I don't think
that the black community or black men are frustrated by that. So if you feel as though
you don't have power and that you're not engaged or you're not feeling like you're really taking
control, that's the image that Trump projects. Right. First of all, what you're saying is correct. I remember in 2000, actually I think it was an Associated Press story
and it was a Philadelphia barbershop.
The same thing was stated about President George W. Bush, the in-governor George W. Bush.
And so I totally understand that.
The only reason I think we have to teach folk
why that's crazy is because Trump can sound strong, he can. Oh, man, he talk tough.
He going to do, you know, even though I disagree with him,
he going to do what he say, but is that hurting you?
Because, and so, again, I understand this
because that actually applies to this notion of toughness, of manhood,
but manhood is also winning.
No question. And I think that that is an issue which again requires us to have to walk folk through okay you like him
talking tough but are you actually hearing what he's saying and then how is that going to impact
you got it and what marshall mitchell said rev marsh Mitchell said the last segment was
they're believing the lie
they are drunk on the lie
they're drunk on the perception
and this is what I think the message that Democrats don't understand
they have to change their messaging
and their approach
you have to have a very aggressive
approach to go about this
you can't take this passivity kind of approach
and that's what's
wrong. Listen, if it's a lie, they don't care about it's a lie. It's what they see. And it's
the image that he projects. He said in 2020, Hey, listen, how's your life feeling? If they're not
working for you Democrats all these years, Hey, what do you say? He said, well, he first said,
what the hell do you have to lose?
And then it resonated.
It resonated
and they lost a whole lot.
And so
that right there, I think
is what we have to deal with
because, listen,
he is, Napoleon,
he's an entertainer. That's what he does.
And he doesn't care.
That's correct.
He doesn't care.
Go ahead.
And I think it's really important that you end on the he doesn't care.
There's a moment that we're in right now where folks are going to have to make a decision.
And that decision isn't going to be policy-based.
It shouldn't be, you know, did I get a check with his name on it.
To some degree, that decision needs to be at your core, who cares?
Who cares for you?
Right?
And even with our churches, with our elected officials, you can walk around here,
and if you see an elected official who is showing up and doing the work,
if you see folks who are in the communities, if you see folks who, if you need help and you go to your state rep,
your congressperson's office, in our communities, most likely it's a black person.
The mayor.
We've got a wonderful mayor in Philadelphia right now.
First black woman.
And we celebrate as we should. We celebrate all of that. I'm chair
of the legislative black caucus in Pennsylvania. We've got 38 African American and Hispanic
American and Asian American folks in Harrisburg who represent communities throughout this
commonwealth. 38 of us, including the first black female Speaker of the House,
we've got African American men who are leading our Appropriations Committees in the House
and the Senate, then that's not, the 38 doesn't include the alumni of the Legislative Black
Caucus, the Mayor of Philadelphia, the Mayor of Pittsburgh and Ed Gainey, the Lieutenant
Governor in Austin Davis, Congress folks, Dwight Evans here
in Philly, a Congresswoman, Summer Lee, the first black woman to be Congress out in Pittsburgh area.
We've got this space where if we go through that and those folks walk through this building,
we would celebrate them because we know that they are from our community. We know that they are us. When they leave and somebody talks about what are black elected officials
doing, we're gonna say nothing. And it's not true, right? There's a whole, I
appreciate all the work that you're doing and trying to explain to folks
what it is to be an African-American elected official in Harrisburg, an
African-American elected official in Washington. I an African-American elected official in Washington.
I'm telling you it's hard.
I'm telling you, for a candidate, it's really hard
because not only do you have to run around this country
trying to raise dollars, and Kamala has done the thing,
you know what I mean, because we showed up.
We showed up, and we have never seen that before.
There are some amazing elected officials running around right now who are trying to raise money.
And the reason why when with black women and all of these amazing efforts started is because when Kamala is running for president,
when Coyle is running for these folks, they couldn't raise the money to be able to compete.
So what what they have to do now, what Kamala needs to be doing right now,
if we're talking about it, what she needs to be doing right now
is running to somewhat rural parts of Pennsylvania,
certainly coming back to Philadelphia, certainly coming back to the church,
but then she needs to understand to when we have a job to do, and she has a job.
So, Savannah, the thing for me is, again, what I a job to do. And she has a job. So,
the thing for me is, again,
what I like to focus on,
I like to frankly remove party from the conversation.
I like to remove even
personalities. At the end of the day, what did you do?
And when I
hear brothers talk about, well,
Trump's going to put money in my pockets,
my response is, okay, but what's going to happen when you get sick?
Which I then go back to, the Affordable Care Act completely changed health for black people in this country.
And then some cats are like, yeah.
Then I say, well, who tried to kill it 60 times? See, I think what has to happen again here is we have to be, if we get caught up in a party debate, then we're losing it.
It has to be what got done and how did that specifically impact you.
When we have that conversation, then I think we can educate some folks.
Just again, real quick, what are you hearing?
When you're talking to people, what are they saying to you?
What are you hearing?
Listen, I think everybody's excited.
I think everybody's tired.
I promise you that.
But I think we're realizing that this is our
moment it's going to be close it's going to be close it's going to be it's going to be a very
tight election and we know it michael what are they saying to you what are you hearing um i hear
excitement um first give an honor to god to be able to hold space uh. I'm hearing that we need the help of the enlightened to be light.
I had no, I had no, I'm from South Philly, born and raised veteran. So I appreciate and love
America in a different way. I was introduced to policy because I realized from Rep. Nelson and Jordan Harris and all that,
there were so many people that looked like me in the statehouse that I felt energized enough to donate my time,
my energy, my money, my platform to a cause.
Because it is my responsibility to leave this city, this commonwealth, this country in a better place than I found it.
And I've watched people, some people who have larger platforms in mind,
they all put it on the party to do something.
And then I watched Michelle Obama at the United Center tell me to do something.
And what I have done is done something. And what there are people that are unsure. And there are people in this
room that I believe that know. And it is not Kamala Harris has seven battleground states to cover in 29 days after only being nominated 100 days.
Unprecedented.
Unprecedented.
Now, it's on us as the enlightened to be a light.
Did you know that down the street at that Popeye's, you can take somebody every day from now until early voting closes
and vote for them, vote with them, take them to take them to the water.
And I think that's how far the Popeyes, the Popeyes, the Popeyes is on 56 and Lancaster
Avenue, right?
There is an early voting shout out to Omar Sabir.
Right?
Tomorrow, early voting right next to Omar Sabir. And tomorrow.
Early voting right next to it or in?
I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time,
have you ever had to shoot your gun?
Sometimes the answer is yes.
But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.
Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution.
But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.
Cops believed everything that taser told them.
From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley
comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-dollar company
dedicated itself to one visionary mission.
This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated.
I get right back there and it's bad.
It's really, really, really bad.
Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated
on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th.
Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.
I'm Clayton English.
I'm Greg Glod.
And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast.
Yes, sir. We are back.
In a big way.
In a very big way.
Real people, real perspectives.
This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.
We got Ricky Williams, NFL player,
Heisman Trophy winner.
It's just a compassionate choice
to allow players all reasonable means
to care for themselves.
Music stars Marcus King,
John Osborne from Brothers Osborne.
We have this misunderstanding
of what this quote-unquote drug man.
Benny the Butcher.
Brent Smith from Shinedown.
We got B-Real from Cypress Hill.
NHL enforcer Riley Cote.
Marine Corvette.
MMA fighter Liz Karamush.
What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things.
Stories matter, and it brings a face to them.
It makes it real.
It really does.
It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeart
radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early
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The Popeyes.
That's adjacent.
So you can get you a three.
You can go vote and you can go get you a three piece.. You can go vote and you go get you a three piece in Jesus name.
OK. In Jesus name. See what I'm here. What I'm hearing is that as much as we need Kamala Harris to speak to us.
I stand I stand with my black brothers who say we have not yet heard a message specific to us.
But ask not what you can do. Ask not what your country message specific to us. But that's not what you can do. That's not what
your country can do for you. What can I do for Ms. Harris?
But see, but here's the thing that I've heard folks say that, and the reason I disagree
with that, the reason I disagree with that is because when the vice president is talking about black maternity issues, that's black men.
Because boys are being born.
That's not her talking to women.
Black women dying or having issues in childbirth, that's a black male issue.
Health care, that's a black male issue. Health care, that's a black male issue.
Housing, owning a home, that's a black male issue.
I'm just, so it baffles me when I hear folks say,
I need to hear a black male agenda when I'm going,
every single one of those has a direct impact on.
I did not ask for a black male agenda.
No, no, no, no, I'm not meaning you.
I'm saying I've heard that all across the country.
And when I hear that, I challenge them by going, okay, can you name me what that is?
And typically they actually can't.
But what are you hearing?
What are you hearing? What are they saying to get you, what are you hearing? What are you hearing?
What are they saying to you?
And what are you responding back to them?
Bismillah.
Alhamdulillah.
Salatu wasalam.
Rasulullah.
Salatu wasalam.
So real quick, raise your hand if you was born in the year 1997 or below.
No, I'm talking about sooner from 97.
You mean 97 to present day?
The present day.
Right, because you said below.
That was me.
I'm 68.
That was below.
No, below.
Gotcha.
So raise your hand.
Not 97 present day.
Raise your hand.
97 to present day, right?
Okay.
I'm the only one raising my hand.
No, you're not.
No, you're not.
It's about four over there.
I see you right there, sis.
I see you.
It's about three or four over there.
Go ahead. You got my man right here, right? No right there, sis. I see you. It's about three or four over there. Go ahead.
You got my man right here, right?
No, no, no.
Hold on.
Hold on.
Hold up.
Hold up.
He asked the question.
He got the answer.
Now, go ahead.
Now, the question was, if you blow a 97 forward, raise your hand.
And they raise it.
You weren't 97 forward.
It wasn't talking to you.
If you premature gray, 97 Ford.
Go ahead.
Go ahead, man.
No, you know, I just wanted to make that demonstration for you guys to understand, like, who I'm speaking for and what I represent.
You know, for those who don't know, I do a lot of community work here in the city of Philadelphia
I got a non-profit called the What I Wish I Knew
Foundation
and also like I strategically advise
the number one gun violence
organization in the country
Everytown for Gun Violence
as it relates to their strategy
with Gen Z and
connecting with Gen Z and Millennials
with gun violence in the black community.
So when I speak on what it is that I'm going to say on this panel, I'm speaking for a specific
group of people who don't get spoke on a lot, right? My cousin once said something to me a
minute ago and it changed my life. He said, you know, if you wake up on the edge of your bed and
you think about what you got to do, you already lost because the day happened.
It's already here. Right. So I think the conversation we the election is here.
Right. We got to look at the statistics of data when we talk about what Gen Z did for Biden's campaign and him getting elected.
Right. Gen Z, we are a very,
very, you got to show us something.
It's an eye and ear game.
It's an eye and ear game.
You want to know why? Me born in 97,
I was the first generation of kids
raised on this right here.
So our
view on stuff is different.
Our view on stuff is different.
And every time I'm in positions like this and I'm in rooms, I always love to echo and mimic.
Because for me, right, and you know, by the grace of God, I got a good track record.
But for a lot of people, that's not good enough in spaces.
You know what I'm saying?
So when we talk about connecting with the people that's not being connected, Cheryl Parker, she won, right? About 200,000
votes. That's 10% of the city.
What somebody spoke about earlier, let's talk about that
90% margin that we're missing out on that can relate to what's going on
right now. So what I'm hearing in the city, right,
and I'll pull this up this analytical
data um just the other day on my timeline somebody posted said who y'all voting for
they put both of the candidates but the thing is 41 said neither this is people from my generation
right so what i'm hearing is our voices is not being heard. You got what I'm saying? We get in
rooms and we get, I talk to organizations all the time. Oh yeah, you're doing great work. What's
your budget for social media? They don't have one. Hold tight one second because I'm a little
congresswoman shortly, but here's what I, here's what I also say when, because I was just at Alabama State just on Thursday.
And I've been to other college campuses.
And what I said to them was, I said, Millennial and Gen Z, they actually make up the largest demographic in the country right now.
Yes.
And what often happens is they say, I'm tired of all these old people running.
My response to them is, but the group that actually votes the highest in the country is 65 plus.
And so the reality is politics works by who shows up.
That's just fact.
The squeaky wheel gets the most grease.
No, no, one second. And so what I'm
often, when we're having these conversations,
what I'm often saying to
Millennial and Gen Z when we're having this discussion
and that is, if you
want to see something
change, the rally is, you have
to be in the game.
And so
what's happening is, there has to be
more conversations directly with,
is that what you're talking about, with folk to understand this is the game.
If you don't vote, if you do sit out, you're guaranteed not to have anybody pay attention to you
because that's just how a political game works.
I had some young folks came to Jesse Jackson Jr. when he was in Congress,
and they said, man, if you ain't doing this, we're going to throw you out.
He's like, no, you're not.
He said, you see that high rise right there?
He said, election day, they're going to come out there in their walkers,
in their scooters.
He said, and they're going to vote early, often, and they'll call everybody.
And he said, the day y'all show up like they do, then I'll listen to you.
And then he walked off. And they were all like,
did he just do that? And he was like, yeah.
And so that to me is also,
but that's walking people through
how this process works.
But I want to put a pin in that right now
because, again, we finally got, we have some
technical issues with the congresswoman. I want to get her.
I'm coming back to this. Just hold that point.
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressler of Massachusetts has really been one of the voices talking about Project 2025
and its impact on our people, on this country.
She's with the STOP Project 2025 Task Force.
Congresswoman, glad to have you back on Roller Barton Unfiltered.
Good to be with you, Roland.
Congratulations on the Hall of Fame, by the way, brother.
We're so proud of you.
I appreciate it.
Thank you so very much.
But you've really been sounding the alarm at Project 2025,
and that really took off when Taraji Henson called it out on the BET Awards,
and it blew up.
Then all of a sudden, when you sort of got to the convention, when Taraji Henson called it out on the BET Awards and it blew up.
Then all of a sudden, when you sort of got to the convention,
there hasn't been the same level of intensity.
The Trump folks have been trying to deny that it has anything to do with them.
They're like, oh, it has nothing to do with us. But the fact of the matter is the agenda of the Heritage Foundation
is absolutely going to be what Trump will do if he wins in 28 days.
Absolutely, Roland. And bear with me a little bit because there's a little bit of a delay on my end.
But listen, Project 2025 is institutionalized Trumpism.
It was written by Trump's friends for a Trump White House
to advance Trump's agenda.
And what is institutionalized Trumpism?
It means harm to every person
who calls this country home.
They want to control
every aspect of your life
from your womb to the bedroom
to the classroom.
They want to ban bodies.
They want to ban books.
They want to ban words.
It is anti-blackness on steroids.
When you're talking about eliminating the Department of Housing and Urban Development, eliminating that, eliminating those civil rights protections, guarding against discrimination, eliminating the Department of Education.
I was the lead negotiator in the House on student loan debt.
I want to say something to that young brother.
You know, you are powerful.
The reason why an issue like student loan debt cancellation is an issue that has been mainstreamed into the discourse,
and we were able to push Biden on that, is because we held him accountable to the coalition,
multi-generational, multiracial coalition that pushed him on this issue,
especially black borrowers, because it is a racial justice issue. They want to privatize these loans. They want to stop the public service loan
forgiveness program. They want to eliminate Head Start. They want a national ban on abortion,
a nation of forced birth. Do you know what that impact would be on black women when we have a
black maternal morbidity crisis where we're still three to four times more likely to die of childbirth or post-birthing complications.
They want to fire massive firings and hiring freezes and budget cuts when it comes to dedicated
civil servants by using the executive action of Schedule F. You know, when we talk about
black jobs for real, you're talking about some three million federal jobs,
one in five of which are held by black folks. So 600,000 black folks at least who stand to
be impacted and to have their livelihoods threatened if they're not Trump loyalists
or sycophants. We're talking about the Department of Justice going on a murdering spree.
I'm not being dramatic. The final days
of Trump's presidency, he executed more people on death row in those weeks that had been executed
for the last six decades. And we know that disproportionately we have wrongful convictions.
And one in 25 of us are innocent that are on death row. And again, I'm thinking of the brother that
we just lost in Missouri. So this is anti-blackness on steroids. Project 2025,
it ain't a blueprint. It is a playbook. It is a playbook for harm because what these
extremists have taught us is that they do not make threats. They make promises. the um when you when you talk about project 2025 almost a thousand pages one of the things that
i keep trying to explain to people that's in there uh they want to target anti-white racism
they believe that racism against white people is much bigger and broader than anything regarding
black people even though hate crimes impact black people every year more than anybody else.
The other thing is when you look at what they're trying to do here,
they literally, and Trump just the other day in Pennsylvania,
he wants to go back to rename those military bases after Confederate heroes.
It got a huge applause the other day.
That's what they want.
They want to go back and remember,
they also removed Confederate flags,
emblems from these military bases.
These folks want that to return.
So when they say make America great again,
they really are saying make America white, white, white again.
Roland, Project 2025 is about taking us back to Jim Crow and then some.
And again, it is about the gutting of our freedoms, the dismantling of the federal government as we know it.
And not only does it implicate the federal government, Roland, it implicates the courts.
Because as we see, the bench is stacked. That Supreme Court has been weaponized, and they have been enlisted as co-conspirators
in this extremist march, which includes a national ban on abortion.
And look at the other rulings that they have made, dismantling a 50 years of precedent
affirmative action in higher ed, denying minority business development agencies, saying it's
constitutional overreach to say that we have inequitable access to capital.
So, you know, this would just be a scary movie if it wasn't real life.
But what is our response to Project 2025?
We have to stand in the gap.
We have to be the firewall because this far right wing 922 page manifesto does not become manifest if we stand in the gap.
We don't sing, I will overcome.
We sing, we shall overcome.
And I'm asking people to not be complicit in the tsunami of harm that would come to black people.
Because although this document and Trump and J.D. Vance mean harm to everyone. We know that when white America gets a cold,
black folks get pneumonia.
And we definitely see that in black and white
in this document.
And that is exactly why I am working, organizing,
mobilizing, agitating, and plan to vote
as if lives depend on it for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz,
because it does.
And listen, I'm going to invoke the words of Stacey Abrams.
As someone who knows the Lord and grew up in the church, we don't elect saviors.
We elect partners.
And part of partnership is accountability.
So there's not perfection on the ballot, but partnership is and progress is because Kamala
Harris and Tim Walz are about our freedoms and are about our future.
When you talk about increasing access to capital, tax breaks for entrepreneurs,
what that young brother's talking about, most young people, they don't want to work a job.
They want to create a job. They want to create their own. She supports entrepreneurs. When you
talk about our freedoms, bodily autonomy, you know, prior to 2025, they're assaulting our
intellectual freedom. They want to ban black books, ban black authors, our representation.
They want to ban words, Roland, like reproductive freedom, diversity,
equity, and inclusion. The stakes cannot be higher. The contrast is more
clear. All right.
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you, Roland.
Thank you, Roland. Thank you, Roland.
All right, going to go to break.
When we come back, we'll pick up more of the conversation here at Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Philadelphia.
Folks, Roland Martin unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network.
Back in a moment.
He told us who he was. We'll be right back. done it. Now Donald Trump wants to go further with plans to restrict birth control, ban abortion nationwide, even monitor women's pregnancies. We know who Donald Trump is. He'll take control.
We'll pay the price. I'm Kamala Harris and I approve this message. In 2016, Donald Trump said
he would choose only the best people to work in his White House. Now those people have a warning
for America. Trump is not fit to be president again. Here's his White House. Now those people have a warning for America.
Trump is not fit to be president again.
Here's his vice president.
Anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be president of the United States.
It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year.
His defense secretary.
Do you think Trump can be trusted with the nation's secrets ever again?
No.
I mean, it's just irresponsible action that places our service members at risk,
places our nation's security at risk.
His national security advisor.
Donald Trump will cause a lot of damage.
The only thing he cares about is Donald Trump.
And the nation's highest-ranking military officer.
We don't take an oath to a king or a queen
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And we don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator.
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So here's what we're going to do about it.
We will lower housing costs by building more homes and crack down on landlords who are charging too high. So here's what we're going to do about it. We will lower housing costs by building more homes
and crack down on landlords who are charging too much.
We will lower your food and grocery bills
by going after price gougers
who are keeping the cost of everyday goods too high.
I'm Kamala Harris, and I approve this message,
because you work hard for your paycheck.
You should get to keep more of it.
As president, I'll make that my top priority.
Hi, everybody. I'm Kim Colson.
Hey, I'm Donnie Simpson.
Yo, it's your man, Deon Cole, from Blackist.
And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered.
All right, folks.
We are back. Mount Carmel Baptist church in philadelphia glad to be here
this is our last segment so uh let's get right back uh into with our panel i was talking about
again uh you know what have you been hearing uh what have folks been saying um we have 28 days
uh and so um what do you what do you think needs to be happening community-based um
individual-based group-based uh to drive our folks out so we don't have these low numbers because
when you when you look at all across the country depending upon how black folks vote the rally is if we actually voted 70 percent
of our numbers we sweep elections city statewide so part of this issue uh is us not look i don't
care what white folks doing i don't care what latinos are doing but if you look at our numbers
in certain states we vote at 70 percent of our capacity.
Literally, that's the margin of victory.
So what what is necessary for us to change that to get us to that particular point there?
What do you think? First of all, I want to just piggyback on something that Manny 215 said in the last segment.
And one of the things I want everybody to understand, he said we're not being heard. They're not
hearing us. Martin Luther
King said that rioting
is the language of what?
The disunheard.
The disenfranchised. I will add
to this, not just rioting,
it's also rebellion.
These folks are rebelling, and
one way you can
show your rebellion is not show up.
Disrupt the system.
This man will blow it all up.
And so for them, disruption or not showing up is a real thing to show their frustration that they're not being heard.
We have to understand that, and you have to deliver it in a different way.
Manning 215, he gave you the formula.
Nobody's talking to us on the medium by which they are gaining information.
So if you want to engage them, you've got to go where they are.
Social media is huge.
You can't run away from it.
I'm not saying throw your baby out the bag.
So we're going, okay.
You've got to throw both hands.
So I get frustration.
But frustration still has to lead to results.
And in a political game, in the political world, no one is going to deliver results if you don't show up.
It's just, that's, go just that's go ahead go ahead go ahead
the the issue of showing up right is because they don't even know we don't even know we we don't
even know we my organization we did or we did uh an called Voices of the 215, right?
And it was just about engaging people, letting them know what is the role of the city council person?
What's the role with a mayor?
You know what I'm saying?
I asked a young boy in South Street, I said, yo, what council district do you live in?
You know what district he gave me?
The police district.
Right?
Right.
Right. But when I say we don't even know, it's like shout out to Meatball, right? district do you live in you know what district he gave me the police district right right no right
but when i say we don't even know it's like shout out the meatball right she got locked up
during a riot right we're super viral she got locked up boom and my drink was this it's like yo
we we wanna we i get it i get it judge should have been held accountable the the the the
officer should have been held accountable but we don't even know when we talk about gen z and that
relates to us as black people we don't even know at the core of our progression and future
the youth the core of our progression and future right that the judge that bangs the gavel is
voting into their position right so when we talk that the judge that bangs the gavel is voting into their position.
Right.
So when we talk about the energy that should be there, it should be poured into educating our youth.
So how, okay, all right.
So if the school, so if we don't, because the reality is, I keep telling people, you're not going to have a school do that.
Absolutely.
So which goes back to, which goes back to, if it's not going to be school-driven, it has to be community-driven.
Community-based, yes.
No, you.
No, you.
You.
I think Manny's point comes from a community and a home where voting wasn't top of mind and the elders might have to take some accountability
because man you are you're how old 27 27 years old um you've been able to vote
nine years yeah twice twice 2016 was like the first election. Well, no, no, no, no.
Hold on.
Twice in terms of presidential.
Twice as far as like what we talk about.
Presidential.
Presidential.
There you go.
Yeah, mostly and all of that.
There you go.
A plethora.
There you go.
There you go.
All right.
So maybe not to single out many.
It's systemic.
I think it starts at home.
And, again, it goes back to the knowledgeable.
Now, the plight of Philadelphia specifically is different.
Every church that I grew up in in South Philly is gone.
And the people in my neighborhoods don't look like that anymore.
And the community centers that I used to attend don't exist in the same ways anymore. There you go. So when it comes down to voting, it's a
microcosm of a larger issue that has separated this generation, Generation Z, from its elders
in a way that disenfranchises them from everything from voting to education
to community activism.
And they feel isolated.
And if they feel isolated,
it's on their elders.
The praying grandmothers need to be the educated
grandmothers.
Because we can't pray
our way to victory in this sense.
Which is why Napoleon,
and how i started this
conversation i don't believe in complaining about a problem i believe in saying no how do we drive
a solution the only way this changes is you have to create community-based, community-driven, I'll call them really what we saw doing Jim Crow era, freedom schools.
Where it's literally every Saturday or every other Saturday or whenever somebody wants to do it in multiple places where they literally are teaching civics.
Where they're walking people through.
Because, and so,
so when I said earlier that when elections happen,
we put massive amounts of energy
into mobilizing and organizing.
And what I'm saying,
28 days, 28 days from now,
it's going to be an election.
November 5th. Whatever election. November 5th.
Whatever happens on November 5th, we breathe on November 6th.
And then on November 7th, we go, okay, time to get to work.
What happens is, on November 5th, depending on what happens,
all of that infrastructure just goes away.
And I'm saying the text groups,
the text chats, the fundraising, all of that stuff has to stay in place because that's how you build
to what he's talking about to go from six. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time.
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And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast.
Yes, sir. We are back.
In a big way.
In a very big way.
Real people, real perspectives.
This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.
We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.
It's just a compassionate choice to allow players
all reasonable means to care
for themselves. Music stars Marcus
King, John Osborne from Brothers
Osborne. We have this misunderstanding
of what this
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Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real
from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer
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I always had to be so good no one could ignore me.
Carve my path with data and drive.
But some people only see who I am
on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding
back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree.
It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers
at taylorpapersilling.org.
Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council.
15% to 25% to 40%. Otherwise, we're going to be having the same conversation in 2028,
in 2032. And then when the numbers drop in the midterm elections, when we say what happened,
because that's just simply where we have to be. So we have to commit to doing that between now and the next cycle.
Go ahead.
And it's not just commit to doing that.
Yes.
We have to commit to speaking up amongst our peers.
You all being here make you more politically engaged than most of your neighbors,
most of your family members.
State Rep, Roland, like you all being here have more political connections now than
most folks in your area. So if you have that family text chat, that group chat,
you are the politically connected and informed one. And I'll tell you this,
right, so Roland says regularly, he's already
said several times, right? If you don't vote, you don't get a say, like the solutions aren't coming
for you. That's not true. Because I will tell you that even if you did not vote, I promise you in
this area, I know your reps, I know your senators, I know them. Like we care. Sherrell was mayor. Parker was elected by
10% of the city. Um, even lower percentage African-American folks, but, but know that we
care. The reason I started with, you have to understand who cares about you. We care.
Governing is hard. It is, it is to call chess, is underestimating what happens in government.
But follow me here.
Follow me here.
The reason I made that point is because when you run for re-election, you know what you're going to do?
You're going to go back and look at who won it last time.
Yes.
And so I'm just trying to get people, I'm trying to get our people to understand
because we saw this when Obama was elected.
This is what I said in 2008.
That was an inauguration parade.
Everybody else left the parade,
but we stayed.
For eight years, we were like,
oh my God, we got a black first family.
Yeah.
And everybody else left and was executing an agenda.
In the first 60 days, people complain about LGBT community.
In the first 60 days, they presented him with a 54-page agenda.
I'm telling you, I was there.
Black organizations met his fifth year. I was at the hotel in dc it took them nine months to put
all their ideas in a in a in a in a proposal and i was like uh we waited five years and so what i'm
saying is what we have to understand is when we talk about politics, you are going
to listen to those that show up.
What happens when there's a shooting or a protest?
I covered city council.
All of a sudden, 100 people show up.
The council goes, oh, oh, my goodness, that's more people we normally get.
What do they want?
What are they protesting? How can they
go away? Because a hundred showed up. Then the next week when the shooting dissipates or whatever,
we did, we disappear and it's back to business. But what happens, and this is what I'm talking
about. I need people to understand what I'm talking about organization. We were joking earlier at the outset, Alpha's
Kappas, okay?
So let's take black infrastructure.
Let's just take Divine
Nine. That's fraternities and sororities.
Now you take
Prince Hall Mason,
Eastern Star,
Lynx, all these different
church groups. So
let's just say the city council meets 10 times a year.
They vacation, let's say, Christmas or whatever.
Y'all, this is very basic what I'm about to walk you through.
If Alpha said all Alphas in Philadelphia are going to roll to the city council meeting in February,
Kappa's going to go in March.
Delta's going to go in April.
Zeta's going to go in May.
Omega's going to go in June.
All I'm asking you to do is go to a council meeting one time a year.
Now, what do you think the reaction of the city council is going to be if two, three, four, five hundred alphas, deltas,
ak's and omegas are showing up every single month with an agenda. Now add the other black groups.
Now y'all that's just saying pick one month and then here's a county meeting, here's a school board meeting. So what I'm saying is we have black infrastructure that's not being used properly.
And I agree with that.
I'm sorry.
Real quick.
Your point, and then I'm going here.
Go ahead.
Go ahead.
I don't disagree with that at all.
Show up on the regular basis.
Show up.
But what I'm arguing, especially 28 days out, out is tell folks here's the game
and when we show up I know
we're going to listen
legislative black caucus in two weeks
we got NCNW the National Council of Negro Women
they're coming up to Harrisburg
we got the Omegas they're coming up to Harrisburg
we get folks coming up to Harrisburg. We got the Omegas. They're coming up to Harrisburg. Like we get folks
coming up to Harrisburg on a regular basis.
But those folks when they come up should not only meet with the Black Caucus. They should
be meeting-
Everywhere.
Right, right, right.
Everywhere.
Right.
I agree. The reason I say it's chess is when we are fighting to have the votes. When we've
got folks in Harrisburg who are doing the work, we're doing the work right now. Right
now. I'm going back to Harrisburg tomorrow are doing the work. We're doing the work right now. Right now.
I'm going back to Harrisburg tomorrow morning to try and get more funding for mass transit.
Philadelphia sends more money to Harrisburg's takeoffers than any other metropolitan.
Okay, hold on, hold on, hold on.
Hold on, hold on, hold on.
You just said, I'm going to get more money for mass transit.
No. But what you also need is you need an army behind you so it's not just you.
Correct.
Correct.
And that's what I say.
So wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
No, no, no, wait.
So have you told the people how much you're trying to get?
How much you're trying to get?
Everybody understand. We're trying to get $ How much are you trying to get? Everybody understand.
We're trying to get $270 million.
Okay.
All right.
So you, okay.
This is basic politics.
So you're trying to get $270 million.
Okay.
So all of the groups that I'm talking about, how are you communicating with all of those groups saying this is the plan, this is the agenda, I need y'all
to help me get the $270 million.
Is that happening?
No.
No.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, that's my point.
You can't get the $270
by yourself.
But if a thousand folk are rolling
through, so all of, so,
so, so, now, now, now, what I'm saying, now this is where the two-way street comes in.
I need you communicating with all the groups of what the play is so we then can say, all right, you trying to get 270?
You a state rep?
What you trying to do?
What you trying to do?
So now when we roll up, we know we fighting we fighting for we're not having a general conversation so so
your homework your homework is to commit no yeah I give homework your homework is
to communicate with all with the pan hell with a group of clergy or whatever and say this is what
i'm trying to get i need y'all support to make it happen man 215 then i'm gonna go to you yo uh
hey roland i appreciate your point so much because it's a perfect segue into what i've been holding
holding my tongue on um again my organization is called the what i wish i knew foundation boom
right what i wish i knew right and just real real quick right the reason why it's named that Our organization is called the What I Wish I Knew Foundation. Boom. Right? What I Wish I Knew, right?
And just real quick, right, the reason why it's named that, it's built on, I got two friends that separately told me at different times that,
yo, I know your whole name because they always said your name on a loudspeaker and it was on the posters around the school because you always got the highest test scores, right?
So it was rare if I got lower than advanced on a on a state test right
but dig the move right fast forward life happened i get locked up i get a chance to sit down i said
dang i fell victim to this what does it say for my folks who got below basic thus started the what i
wish i knew foundation on the idea that in
order to get a stampede turned around you got to start from the front we got to lead by example
right so again when we talk about my my first point of proactiveness towards the core of the
progression of our people which is gen z right now right and the alpha generation right now right when we talk about them right we got
to understand that we need proactive thinkers that's in these elected official positions yeah
because when you are one thing about our community we hold elected officials here when their job is
to serve us if i'm if i'm am i wrong you're right you're right why are they waiting for us to come
to them when they should be going to us?
Right? We need people that's going to say
yeah, y'all voted for me. Again,
10% voted for
Sherelle Parker. Why are we not
talking about how do I engage that
90? How do I go out
and the 10 I got y'all.
Nine times out of 10 y'all going to vote for me again.
How do I go engage that
90 so that 200,000 turn to maybe four?
Or half a million?
And before I go to you, and for me, I don't focus on the 90.
I say, let me get five of the 90, then 10 of the 90, then 15.
Because what happens in these conversations, we like to go macro when I go micro.
And I'm just going to, again, people said, people literally said this show was not going to work.
I was like, good.
And I literally said, we're just going to build.
Folks, people were like, man, more people should be watching your show.
I'm good.
I'm a service.
Who's watching?
So we launched 157,000 YouTube subscribers.
Six years later, it's 1.42 million.
Only because we did the work every single day.
We planned, we focused, we did the work,
high quality, people said
I love it. Our fan base is
giving more than 2.5 million.
I'm saying all of that is
because leaving here, I need
us to stop trying to think
macro and think
micro. If I can just impact
5 or 10,
then ask those 5 or 10 to go
get 5 or 10, and ask those 5 or 10 to go get five or ten and ask those five or ten to go get five or ten.
That's how it builds.
Go ahead with your final comment.
Go ahead.
In the spirit of homework, I know we talk about 28, 29 days, but our first number is 13 because we've got 13 days left that a person in the state of Pennsylvania can still register to.
There you go.
There you go.
Okay.
And the homework for the people,
for the woke in the room
is to go through that group text
with your homegirls and your bros
to see how many of them haven't even registered.
There you go.
We've got a QR code in the back
that you can send them and say,
hey, can you check this room?
No, no, no, no, no.
See, we don't do that.
Bring the QR code up here. Okay. First why first of all is more people watching than who's
in the room all right we're gonna put it on the screen so bring the qr code here but the and then
go ahead and then the second thing is again you know each one reach one you know so i guess i
guess uh now that we know that there's a bonus center in the Popeyes, how many people can you get to Popeyes? Even if you've got to sweeten them up with a biscuit.
OK, OK.
Because as a as a political enthusiast.
Now, hold up, hold up, hold up.
There are laws.
There are laws.
About buying votes.
Yes, yes, yes.
So do this.
So do this here.
Let them go vote.
And y'all get a biscuit after.
Yes, yes, yes.
OK, go ahead.
And then my last part is I definitely want to shoot some bail
because I've been a friend to that 38 special, I like to call them,
those 38 members of the Congressional Black Caucus leadership in Pennsylvania.
And I understand in a real way because I've been to Harrisburg
and I see what they're up against.
38 is only, what, 25% of the whole thing?
So their fight starts
when we press that button to get them there.
Right.
And when you want knowledge,
you go to the library and get the book off the shelf.
The library don't come like the Uber Eats do.
So the challenge is, is I believe the shelf. The library don't come like the Uber Eats do.
So the challenge is, is I believe in Napoleon. I believe in Austin Davis. I believe in Joanna McClinton, Jordan Harris, Senator Shreve Street, Anthony Hardy Williams. I mean, I can name most
of the 38, but I know I need to work for them first because there are more of us than there
are of them. And now my last bit of homework is everybody knows
Amani and Beloir, Gen Z, Gen A. And it's different when Napoleon says, I need you. It's different
when Kamala Harris says, I need you. But y'all need to tell them that you need them. Because they're going to be the ones to save your Medicare. If we
can mobilize those 18 to 40 year olds who feel disengaged, who feel disenfranchised,
who feel unheard, and say, you know what, if you do this for me, I will bring you along.
We don't have time to educate people on the importance of politics. Right. We need to, as the knowledgeable, we need to say, hey, I need you to do this for us.
Yep.
And then we go from there.
Right here.
Go ahead.
Listen, Manny, I want us not to forget what he said.
He said I'm not, my generation's not being heard, and he said they don't know.
His program is, what's it called again?
What I Wish I Knew Foundation. What I Wish I Knew Foundation said they don't know. His program is what's it called again? What I Wish I Knew Foundation.
What I Wish I Knew Foundation.
They don't know.
So we have to do an education.
It's a both and.
You can't be one on a table and not the other.
So for me, you've got to really educate the future
to help them understand legislative process.
Listen, you had a presidential candidate.
I don't remember what the election was.
And the man could not say
what the three branches of government is.
He's running for, who was that?
Oh, the first one, Jill Stein.
She didn't know how many members of the Congress were.
She was like, 600? No, it was not.
But that's my point. If you got a person
running for high elected office,
what do you think these young folks don't understand?
They don't understand civics.
So you have to give it to them back to the old school.
And for all you old folks, you know what I'm going to tell you.
I'm old too.
Got it.
What was the saying?
I'm only a bill sitting here on Capitol Hill, right?
Remember that?
Remember that?
Yeah, it's called School Rides Rock.
Exactly.
But that's how we, but they don't understand that.
That's what I'm talking, you got to really educate them to really understand what's in it for them.
Yep.
And the process.
So, this was a QR code.
And so, I know it's real small, but it's all good.
I understand technology, baby.
Take a picture of it.
Load a picture up.
That's it right there.
So, if y'all are in Philadelphia, you're in Pennsylvania, point your phone right now to the screen. That's the QR code right there.
And he's absolutely right. 13 days left to register to vote. Let me say it again. This
is a margins election. Polling is very clear. The polling is clear how tight it is in Pennsylvania, in Michigan,
in Wisconsin, in North Carolina, in Georgia, in Arizona, in Nevada. Those are the seven
battleground states. That's the presidential race. You also have an Ohio Senate race,
okay? Montana Senate race, Arizona, Nevada, West Virginia, Florida, Texas. You also have
critical state Supreme Court races, okay? Those matter in Ohio, in Florida, in Michigan. And so
what I need our folk to understand, and I'm glad that the panelists said this here,
again, y'all, micro, if every person in this room says leaving here i'm gonna commit myself
to texting or calling 10 people and ask them the question are you registered if anybody replies
no i'm not registered your next question should be are are you going to register? And if they say to you,
hey, I ain't really feeling this, I'm not really interested, then I want you to ask them,
what are the three things that you care about? And then explain to them how politics has a direct
impact on those three things.
Now, I know somebody watching,
and I guarantee you somebody's saying,
yeah, all right, man, but I don't know about all that.
Come on, give it here.
I don't know about all that.
Come on, pass it in.
I got it.
Yeah, we do the show a little bit different, okay?
We just go ahead and do it.
I know somebody's sitting here watching,
and they're saying, okay, all right.
So let me explain to you. few years ago in virginia there was a race it was a tie the same number of
votes they had to draw the name out of a hat whoever's name was drawn it was a democrat and
republican whose ever name was drawn determined which was a Democrat and Republican, whose every name was drawn determined which
party controlled the statehouse.
Y'all think I'm lying.
This was only five, six years ago.
Literally, it was a tie.
They had two names in a hat.
The Republican name got drawn.
The Republicans control the House of Delegates in Virginia by pulling out of a hat.
Trayvon Martin's mother, Sabrina Fulton, ran for county commissioner in Maryland, lost by less than 300 votes.
Sherry Beasley, sister ran for chief justice of North Carolina Supreme Court, lost by 401 votes. I posted something earlier.
Trump won Michigan by 11,000 votes in 2016.
277,000 black people in Detroit did not vote.
Beto O'Rourke, when he ran against Greg Abbott in Texas,
75% of all Texas voters under 30 did not vote.
So, don't think for a second that if each person in here hits 10 people,
now you multiply the number of people in here, that has no impact.
Last piece of homework for everybody else in here.
All of y'all on social media,
you have on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Fanbase, LinkedIn, what is it again?
Threads. Right, that's new. So, Threads, Spottable, Spill, all of those. Y y'all this is real simple all you got to do is go
to kamala harris's twitter page click it save photo repost it that's all you got to do you
ain't got to go sir i'm just helping y'all you ain't got to go google nothing you can just go
right there and say okay if you go if you go joe biden's
twitter account he has a graphic that says how many but matter of fact i'm just gonna show he
has a graphic give me i'm just gonna show y'all how easy this is if you go to twitter all right
uh pull it up pull it up pull it up y'all okay so if you just type in kamala harris
all right you see kamala harris hq you do kamala har, all right, you see Kamala Harris HQ?
You do Kamala Harris right there.
Then you click media.
All you got to do is then scroll down.
And you say, oh, Kamala Harris will cover home care for seniors.
You click that.
Y'all see right there?
Hold that down.
Save photo.
Boom.
Now I'm going to go over here to Instagram I'm gonna take that same photo
right there click next let's go
click okay click share boom guess what Kamala Harris is right there.
Y'all see that?
No, that's Instagram.
I don't care.
Instagram.
That's Instagram.
Instagram will show you all kinds of stuff.
So y'all saw what I did?
Y'all saw what I did?
I see that.
See Trump's party 2025?
I pulled that.
Y'all see that?
This is a graphic.
I'm going to go here.
I'm going to pull all kinds of stuff.
Okay, you see this here?
You see what Instagram just pulled up?
Rollin S. Martin, request a ballot for Virginia today.
Okay?
So, y'all, you can grab anything off of social media.
That's how simple it was.
And so all you got to do is just simply utilize the technology.
You do that, now all your followers are seeing the information.
Your followers are seeing the registration deadlines.
It's how simple this stuff is.
And so we just have to understand that it's not hard, but you have to now amplify the messaging.
And you can't wait on the representative.
You can't wait on the preacher.
You can't wait on an influencer.
You can't wait on the podcast.
Every person in here can change the game.
Every person.
Let me thank all of y'all.
We certainly appreciate it.
Thanks a lot.
Pastor Moore, thank you so very much.
Let me thank all of y'all who showed up.
Tomorrow, tomorrow, pull the graphic up in control room.
We're going to be at Sharon Baptist Church tomorrow.
Sharon?
See, I was checking. I was like,
because, you know, some people are not from Sharon.
Y'all know black people.
I ain't never went to a
Sharon Baptist Church.
I'm just saying.
Most times it's Sharon. Come on now.
That's how y'all
do the feeling? Okay, all right.
Y'all know. Anywhere else in the world is called the Church of Sharon. Yeah, y'all know. Come on now. That's how y'all do in Philly? Okay, all right. Y'all know. Anywhere else in the world is called the Church of...
Yeah, y'all know.
Come on now.
That's the Church of Patty.
Okay, all right.
So we're going to be there tomorrow, 6 to 8.
And then on Thursday, pull the graphic up.
We're going to be at Lincoln University broadcasting from the chapel there.
Control room, pull it up, please.
Thank you very much.
We'll be at Lincoln on Thursday, and so we appreciate it.
Again, don't forget to support the work that we do.
Join our Bring the Funk fan club.
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Get the audio version on Audible.
All right, folks.
This here, general election dates right here.
It's a last day to register in Pennsylvania.
October 21st, last day to apply for a mail ballot.
October 29th, election day is November 5th.
And completed mail ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on November 5th.
And you can get more information by going to vote.pa.gov.
If you're not in Pennsylvania, go to your state secretary or state's website, or just simply go to iwillvote.com.
iwillvote.com to get all the information that you need.
Folks, thanks a bunch.
I appreciate it.
Pastor, thank you so very much.
Glad to be here.
I'll see y'all tomorrow.
Holler! Black Star Network is here.
Oh, no punches.
I'm real revolutionary right now.
Thank you for being the voice of Black America.
All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going.
The video looks phenomenal.
See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN.
You can't be Black-owned
media and be scared.
It's time to be smart. Bring
your eyeballs home.
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