#RolandMartinUnfiltered - SCOTUS First Step ruling; Where's Nancy Pelosi; MD cops taser vaping teen; Protestors rundown by SUV

Episode Date: June 15, 2021

6.14.21 ##RolandMartinUnfiltered: SCOTUS First Step rules it won't extend reduced charges to low-level crack cocaine offenders; Republican Congressman Byron Donalds speaks out about his CBC ban; COVID-19 still a major threat, most in hospitals with it are unvaccinated; Where's Nancy Pelosi; Director Bill Duke talks "No Sudden Move"; MD cops taser vaping teen; Protestors rundown by SUV; Crazy a$$ woman explodes in a North Carolina store.Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered#RolandMartinUnfiltered is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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at taylorpapersilling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. Thank you. Today is Monday, June 14th, 2021. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, the Supreme Court ruled that it won't extend reduced charges to low-level crack cocaine offenders. We'll talk with Congressman Bobby Scott about that very issue. Republican Congressman Byron Donald says the Congressional Black Caucus is blocking his admission. We'll talk with him right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered.

Most of the people in hospitals with COVID-19 are unvaccinated. Well, there's a correlation. They're in the hospital, they didn't get vaccinated. Dr. Ebony Hilton will join us with those details. Also, actor and director Bill Duke will be here. The preview of his new film, No Sudden Move. And why won't speaker Nancy Pelosi

talk with black-owned media like Roland Martin unfiltered? I'll break it down for you. Plus, today's crazy ass white woman explodes in North Carolina store. And we have a bonus crazy ass story. But this time out of San Francisco, but this guy ran up against the wrong brother. It's time to bring the funk

on Roland Martin Unfiltered, let's go. He's got it. Whatever the mess, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine And when it breaks, he's right on time And it's rolling, best belief he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks

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He's funky, he's fresh, he's real The best you know, he's rolling, Martin Now All right, folks, in a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled a revised federal law does not allow prison inmates to seek a reduction in their sentences for possessing small amounts of crack cocaine. The First Step Act passed in 2018 made sweeping changes to the criminal justice system, but this ruling means the law does not apply to low-level offenders, even though supporters say that they intended it to do so.

Joining me now is Democratic Congressman Bobby Scott of Virginia and Arthur Ago, director of the Criminal Justice Project. Glad to have both of you on the show. Congressman, I want to start with you. And so this is a unanimous decision. Conservatives and liberals on the Supreme Court all agreed. What happens now?

Because these individuals were seeking lower sentences based upon the First Step Act. Now what do they do? Well, the First Step Act, I think the court was technically correct, but if you read Justice Sotomayor's concordant opinion, it clearly shows that we can correct the opinion because it was based on statutory construction. This First Step Act was designed to eliminate the draconian effect of mandatory minimums, and Mr. Terry was sentenced not by mandatory minimums but by the sentencing guidelines uh he was um a low-level offender but he had an extensive apparently an extensive criminal record which significantly enhanced his punishment it wasn't because of

mandatory minimums it was because of his criminal background. Still, as Justice Sotomayor mentions in her concurring opinion, the fact that there was a hundred to one crack powder disparity wrongfully influenced the decision to give him all of that excessive time. That kind of draconian penalty, I think, just shows that we're going in the wrong direction in criminal justice where we focus more on prevention, early intervention, and rehabilitation and not in draconian sentences for low-level offenders. Arthur, this was called the First Step Act. Hello, that means it should be a second step? Well, yeah, the first step, because it was a first step.

There's a lot more we need to do. One of the first steps modified the mandatory minimums. It didn't get rid of them. That's what we really need to do. We need to get rid of all of the mandatory minimums throughout the code. You can't pick and choose which mandatory minimums there are because if you have a mandatory sentence for violation of a code section, the judge is compelled to oppose the mandatory minimum whether that sentence makes any sense or not. Sometimes it's just an absurd, the sentence is overly punitive, but he can't do anything about it.

And if it violates common sense, he still has to impose that decision. I think we've selected the judges. We need to let them do their jobs. And the mandatory minimums only inject an element of absurdity to the process because sometimes they are just not appropriate. The code section you violated often does not accurately reflect the seriousness of your crime, particularly in drug offenses where conspiracies may be involved, you may have a very minor role, but if you're part of the conspiracy, you are accountable for the entire conspiracy. That's why low-level offenders are getting five, 10, 20 years to serve for very negligible involvement in criminal activity. The judge would instantaneously recognize that as some of the mandatory minimums that require 20 years would recognize that as absurd in this case and apply and oppose the sentence that makes sense. But the mandatory minimums, which we need to get rid of all of them, compels the judge to oppose the sentence.

Well, it makes any sense or not. Arthur, is it this again? First of all, this goes back to the problem of having a disparity in crack cocaine and powder cocaine. And this needs to be repaired. And again, we kept talking about the first step, saying to Republicans, OK, what y'all going to do about a second step? And, of course, Donald Trump tried his best to take credit for this. But the reality is, if it wasn't for Democrats like Congressman Bobby Scott, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, it doesn't pass the House, even get to the Senate. Yes, and I think that your question was a really good one concerning what to call the next step. I think that the First Step Act was actually

appropriately named because what we're talking about here is just the most recent attempt to solve what amounts to a 35-year-old problem. The original sentencing disparities, which disproportionately affected black Americans in terms of crack cocaine versus powder cocaine were eventually revealed after the passage of the act in 1986. And we saw how severe those disparities were. The Sentencing Commission, as early as 1995, was trying to get Congress to fix this. And so they went through a series of reports that were sent to Congress, culminating in 2010 with the Fair Sentencing Act, and then finally in 2018 with the First Step Act that made the Fair Sentencing Act applicable to everybody, not just everybody going forward, but everybody who

was previously sentenced under the 1986 crime bill. And so what we have is the most recent version of trying to fix this 35-year-old problem. And what the Supreme Court has done today has indicated, look, this is a problem that's out of their hands. The way that the statute was written, specifically the way that the First Step Act was written, reveals to the court, and in particular, to Justice Sotomayor in her

concurrence, that there is a big gap in the First Step Act. The gap is ironic. It is that the First Step Act was meant to address these disparities, and what it did was affirmatively address the folks that were effectively the ones that were the most serious violators of criminal drug laws. So the ones that were alleged to and ultimately were convicted law that didn't require any mandatory amount of crack cocaine. In other words, and Congressman Scott is exactly right, the folks that were the least culpable, the ones that had the least amount of drugs on them, were the ones that are not eligible to benefit from this act. And so by at least Justice Sotomayor acknowledging this problem, the gap in the First Step Act is now revealed to Congress for Congress to fix. The ball is in Congress's court to make that fix and to continue on this path of correcting this 35-year-old problem. Congressman Scott, how fast can Congress move to fix this?

Well, I think we need to be clear. He's right. It's at lowest level, and it's so low that it is not subject to the mandatory minimum. What we were correcting in the First Step Act and the Fair Sentencing Act were the problems where the judge had to oppose an inappropriate mandatory minimum. This was below the mandatory minimum. Mr. Cherry's sentence was high not just because of the drug use, but because when you look at the sentencing guidelines, they consider a lot of things, including your criminal record. And he had a bad criminal record, which gave him the enhanced penalty. It wasn't the mandatory minimum that was his problem.

And the First Step Act and the Fair Sentencing Act were aimed at mandatory minimums. What we didn't suspect were that there would be people sentenced because of the effect of the influence of the 100 to 1, which suggested that crack offenders needed to be sentenced much more severely than powder cocaine offenders. he got 15 and a half years, whereas maybe if it had been powder, he wouldn't have gotten as much. He ought to be able to make that case in court. So we're right, I think, that he was to be considered, but I think the court was right. I think that he was to be considered, but I think the court was right. Technically, he was not subject to a mandatory minimum and therefore not covered by the law. So that is something the court said. And Justice Sotomayor said very specifically that since this is a matter of statutory construction, you can change the statute and fix it.

Well, look, we look forward to that actually happening. Again, there's so much that needs construction, you can change the statute and fix it. Well, look, we look forward to that actually happening. Again, there's so much that needs to be fixed when it comes to our criminal justice system that too many people who are sitting in prison for long periods of time, it just makes no sense whatsoever, especially people with weed convictions, when you got people right now trying to earn billions of dollars from making, where weed has been made legal. So we can be focused more on prevention, early intervention and rehabilitation anyway. I think if we made more investments there, we wouldn't need to be talking about

mass incarceration and other problems. I agree 100 percent. Author Argo, Congressman Bobby Scott, gentlemen, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you so much, Roland. Thank you. All right, folks, happening right now in Charleston, West Virginia, the Poor People's Campaign led by Reverend Dr. William Barber. They're holding a protest there where, of course, so we can turn the volume up, where they are protesting Senator Joe Manchin demanding that he step up and do more for poor people there. You see Reverend Barber right there with them. We're going to try to get him on the phone and see if he can talk to us live from the march.

The march has been going on for the past hour and a half. It started around 5 p.m. Eastern. And so, again, you can watch the full march there on their YouTube channel as well as on their Facebook page. Again, so my folks will let me know if we're able to get Dr. Barber to come on the show. But they are trying to send the message to Joe Manchin. And these are folks in West Virginia.

You see that group right there. These are mostly people who are from West Virginia, a group of white folks, black folks and others in West Virginia. You see they've got a large crowd out there. They're outside of the offices of West Virginia. Senator Joe Manchin, he is a Democrat who's refused to support the For the People Act. He is he has refused to support a number of $15 an hour. In fact, Reverend Barbara had tweeted over the weekend that they ordered that they could not have loudspeakers or even make noise near the office. But you see what they're doing is they're actually blocking off

a street there. And so that's what's happening right now in Charleston, West Virginia. They made it perfectly clear they're going to continue this. We can stay on them, please. I'm going to bring my panel in, Dr. Julian Malveaux, economist, president, emeritus at Bennett College. Dr. Omokongo Dabenga, professorial lecturer, School of International Service, American University. Michael Brown, former vice chair, DNC Finance Committee. Julianne, I'm going to start with you. This is important because, as Dr. Barber said,

they wanted Senator Joe Manchin to hear from West Virginians. He's always talking about West Virginians and West Virginians and him doing right by them. But if you look at the polling data, they support many of the policies of President Joe Biden that he is unwilling to step up and support. You know, Senator Joe Manchin wants to have it both ways. On one hand, he wants to kiss Republican hind parts because his state is primarily Republican. On the other hand, he wants to get courted, if you will, by the Democrats.

What we're seeing out here with these people, bless their souls, and of course we know we love us a Reverend Barber. But what we see is them telling him, don't do this for us, do it for you. We want voting rights. We want a mandatory minimum wage. We want the things that you say you don't want. Look out your window, dude, and see your constituents. That's what people are saying. And it's unfortunate that they have to go to this level. But on the other hand, this is the redemption of democracy. The previous four years under Rump were basically the destruction of democracy. And now we were basically the destruction of democracy,

and now we're seeing the redemption of democracy. Look at that crowd. Look at those white folks, black folks, other folks. These people are not willing to be racially divided. And this right here, Michael, I mean, this is a mostly white crowd that's there in West Virginia. Reverend Barber made it clear they wanted to pull from West Virginia. Manchin's always talking about he votes according to his constituents. Well, they wanted to say, okay, here are your constituents. Yeah, and politically, Roland, I don't understand the whole calculus of Senator Manchin anyway. I mean, it's a little bizarre.

I mean, okay, I understand, as Dr. Malmo mentioned, you know, whose butts he's kissing and wanting to get courted by the White House. Okay, I get that, and she's right. But politically, he just won re-election. So you have – so let's say you say, you know what, I'm going to support everything that Biden wants, or certainly the big stuff, whether it's an infrastructure bill, whether it's voting rights. Of course, you know, I'm going to mention Boosie's statehood, whatever the three or four or five things are. He has four or five years to fix with those Republicans whose asses he's trying to kiss to fix that. So the political calculus, I don't get anyway. I don't know why you'd want to be on the bad side of a White House that's going to be in power for, obviously, at least four years. So I just don't

get it unless he really is undercover. He's a Dino, Michael. He's a Dino. Democrat at Dave Olin. I'm a Congo. Again, what you have here, let's just be clear. Joe Manchin, he's Dave Olin. On the Congo, what you, well, first, again, what you have here, first of all, let's just be clear. Joe Manchin, he's still a Democrat.

The reality is Democrats control the Senate because it's 50-50. If he became a Republican, Mitch McConnell is Senate Majority Leader. That's one of the reasons why Democrats are dancing, tap dancing real slow around him. But this is important because they are sending the signal,

okay, you keep talking about West Virginia, okay, you're going to hear from West Virginia. They're having that particular protest today, then they're going to be here in D.C. on June 24th doing the exact same thing. I think it's incredibly powerful. And there are two signs that I saw there that were really telling. One said, which side are you on? And we spoke a little bit to that. But the other one that a white woman was wearing, it said, let us vote. It wasn't let black and brown people vote. It's let us vote. These West Virginians see that the policies that the Republicans are seeking to put in place are also going to harm them.

They realize that when you come for one, you're coming for everybody. And I think that is very powerful to have this multiracial movement out there. And Reverend Barber, with his genius work and his tireless work, is showing that, again, there's a multiracial movement to make sure that this democracy is maintained. And so, yes, he'll stay a Democrat and make sure Mitch McConnell doesn't get in power, but we need much more. He talks a good game about what he's for, but he doesn't show it. When you look at what Cory Booker's doing as he relates to prison reform, he's actively fighting,

putting things forward, putting papers forward. Manchin does none of that. Like Dr. Malvo said, he wants to be courted. He was mad when Kamala Harris came there early on in their term because no one quote unquote called him first. We gotta get past that. He needs to start putting some stuff on the table. And I'm so happy that West Virginians are putting this pressure on them. And I stand with them 100 percent. We're going to stay on this here. We're going to talk about what's happening

that we discussed off the top, Michael, and that Supreme Court decision, unanimous conservatives and liberals, what that means is Congress, fix it, fix the problem. I mean, I think as Congressman Scott mentioned, that the decision was technically correct and that the legislative body has to fix the statute. You know, the problem is, as every problem we have in the country now, are the folks on the right going to do anything that helps level the playing field? Or I know what they presume of people of color, but, you know, there are other people in jail besides just black and brown people. But nonetheless, that's what that's the daunting political. I mean, keep in mind, obviously, grateful that the First Step Act was passed in the first place, as it was the First Step Act. And I think folks, Congressman Scott and Congressman Jeffries, got what they could,

knowing that the Trump administration was only going to do and support so much, and that obviously Republicans on the other side of the hill didn't want to support anything in particular. Because as you and I have talked about, Roland, I mean, I get criminal justice reform, but until you deal with mandatory sentencing, mandatory minimums, first step, second step, third step, none of that. I mean, yes, pieces matter, but that's the biggest piece. That's the thing that matters the most. That means that somebody with a little dime bag of weed may not go to prison

at all. Forget 10 or 15 years, and that's what has to be fixed. That's the Super Bowl of criminal justice reform. Well, obviously, but that on the Congo impacts people who are going through it now, but there are people who have already been impacted, who are sitting in jail people who are going through it now.

But there are people who have already been impacted, who are sitting in jail, who frankly have been there for far too long. Absolutely. And Congress does need to act on this. You know, before Trump came in, we actually saw that there were some on the Republican side who were actually starting to have conversations with Democrats after reading books like Michelle Alexander's and New Jim Crow. And, you know, they were focused more on the cost side of prison. They weren't really concerned about lives, but they were thinking about the economic impact of what happens when you keep so many people in prison for so long. And then Trump came in and just smashed that. And so really, at the end of the day, we have people who are rotting away in these prisons

who've been exposed under the pandemic and have suffered for that, for these small possessions of any types of drugs and the like. And when we're talking about weed, and you talked about this earlier as it relates to people who are coming and taking advantage of this economically, now this is what, a multi-billion dollar business, we need to make sure that we are talking about a restorative system and we can't have people rotting away for the rest of their lives who can still be productive members of society. And we need to keep the pressure on Congress to make sure that they make those changes that Justice Sotomayor mentioned. That's the thing here, Julian, that, you know, what we're all of these things, whether we're talking about health care, voting rights, justice reform, the people demanding, elected officials, frankly, do more to fix these problems.

All too often, in many of these cases, Republicans are opposing these efforts, which is why people are demanding Democrats use their power. Absolutely, Roland. The situation is dire for so many people. We have not seen the minimum wage increase for more than a decade because, again, of Republican obsequies. They refuse to deal with this issue. So we have not seen the minimum wage rise. We have not seen health care for all. And with the decriminalization of marijuana, I just came back from California where I was able to indulge in a few gummies. And you could just walk in the store and get marijuana. I mean, you don't have to have a medical card or anything.

You have to leave your name. But you don't have to do anything like that. So when you look at something like that and look at the variation across the country, there are people who are, like, smoking their behinds off. And there are people who are, like, smoking their behinds off, and there are people who are basically suffering. And so one of the things with medical marijuana, however, that I noticed is that the beneficiaries tend to be melanin deficient, if you will. In other words, we may have set this industry up. We certainly use weed as frequently as other people do. But guess what? We're not benefiting from it economically.

So there's a lot of work to be done. And Justice Sotomayor, of course, is a brilliant woman who basically is saying, don't pass the buck to the Supreme Court. Congress, you fix it. And that's what needs to happen. Absolutely, absolutely. And so we are, again, folks, what you're watching right now is the Poor People's Campaign.

It is March live there in Charleston, West Virginia. You're seeing there to our control room. We're trying to reach Mark Thompson. Of course, we're making a plane. Folks, if y'all could hit Barbara Arnwine. You're seeing there to our control room. We're trying to reach Mark Thompson. Of course, we're making a plane. Folks, if y'all could hit Barbara Arnwine. We just saw Barbara. She's marching as well.

You see, that's a pretty good crowd of marchers out there in Charleston, West Virginia. They're there to try to get the attention of West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin. This started at 5 o'clock and so you know they want the message to go out and so we are of course all with the support of what Reverend Dr. Barber and the Poor People's Campaign is doing. Their goal is simple that is to get put together a multiracial coalition of folks addressing the issues of the poor. And so that's one of the things that you're seeing with this particular march that's taking place out there. We're going to continue to watch this. We're going to try to, again, go live

there, trying to reach Barbara Arnwine or Mark Thompson or Reverend Dr. Barber from West Virginia. Let's talk about folks in Maryland where white police officers tased a black teen for vaping on the boardwalk. This video went viral over the weekend. Watch this. Resisting. I'm not going to tell you what you arrested me for. You never heard. You never heard. I'm not going to tell you what you arrested me for. Back up.

Back up. Back up. Back up. Back up. Back up. That's what we're here to talk about. For no reason. Bro, put him in here because we're going to vape. He was literally standing there. He wasn't arresting her. He wasn't nothing.

He was... Folks, you saw there where the Ocean City cops tased 19-year-old Brian Everett Anderson, which is crazy. You saw those two videos. They were kneeling on him on the ground. And folks, there's a ban on vaping on the boardwalk. Ocean City officials are pledging to review the officer's actions. However, they released a statement in part saying, quote, our officers are permitted to use force per their training to overcome exhibited resistance.

Including Anderson, two other teams were charged with disorderly conduct. A fourth was charged with interfering with an arrest. OK, let's go back to the first video. Okay, the first video. Now, play the first video, please. Come on, folks. Hold it. Hold it. Stop. Pause it. Pause the video. Now, this is the statement from Ocean City. Quote, our officers are permitted to use force per their training to overcome exhibited resistance I'm sorry folks this is literally this is literally I want you to go back to the beginning of the video okay this is the video of this young band of this young man

right here now you see it right here hands are are up. Okay. He's not. Now we're going to play the video. You don't hear him cussing the cops out. So I'm trying to understand exactly where's the resistance. Press play. back up he was literally standing there he wasn't arresting her. He wasn't nothing. All right, play the second video, please. The second video. Now, you can see them. They're kneeling on him.

Now, this is after they'd already tased him. Now they're kneeing him. Now he's driving his knee into him. Oh, Makongo, I'm just trying to understand here. What the hell? That sounds like the right terminology to be using. I mean, he's kneeing him as he's telling him to stop resisting and to show his hands or something. I don't know if anyone has ever been in any type of martial combat or fighting situations.

I have. Your hands aren't going up while somebody's kneeing you five times. And this goes back to something Dr. Malveaux talked about last week when we were talking about George Floyd, which I just never forgot about how these cameras and these killings have not stopped, given everything that has happened with Floyd and the Chopin case. As a matter of fact, it's almost as if these officers are becoming more emboldened and not caring.

But something with that, with the second video of the guy kneeing him, this is something that the cops need to really start paying attention to. I believe it's only a matter of time before some folks in these crowds start to turn on these police. Because people are tired. They've had it.

And we're seeing it far too many times. And, again, these are just the incidents that are being caught. And that particular crowd, they were pissed off. And so if they want to have real community relations, real policing, they need to double-check their training, double-check what they talk about as it relates to this thing called exhibited resistance. And they really need to make sure that they have officers who really know how to work with this community, because sooner or later, folks are going to start turning on these guys. Look, I guarantee you the lawyers are getting ready, Michael. And this is you're vaping on the boardwalk. I mean, seriously.

I mean, we're not talking about you're committing this major damn crime. Seriously? Like, it requires you tasing someone for vaping on the boardwalk. Before I get into sounding like a broken record, Roland, that you and I have talked about before, I mean, where's the de-escalation? I mean, folks are obviously walking on the boardwalk without Twitter Sports, a social environment. I have no idea if there even is a law against vaping, but that's not even the point. Where's the de-escalation?

Where's the, hey, man, you know, you can't smoke, you can't vape right here. You know, if you can go down the street where it's legal or whatever he or she would say. But it gets to these, always these confrontational, adversarial situations. And clearly it's mostly with black and brown people. But here's where I'll sound like the broken record. Until you put pensions on the table with the police union and qualified immunity. We're going to continue to see this, whether it's like that, whether it's being tased, whether it's being whether it's gunshots, whether it's illegal holds, whether it's knees on necks, whatever it is. They know that their pensions are protected as long as they say that they were in danger. And obviously the same with qualified immunity.

Until those two things are dealt with, I think really we're going to see a lot more of these videos, unfortunately. Absolutely. The thing here, Julian, again, when you sit here and you look at these actions, you just go, really? I mean, vaping, vaping. Now, now, now the video we're showing right now, this was one of the teens who was pushing with the cops. And then it got taken down. But I mean, this is just you're vaping on the boardwalk. I'm sorry. That's not enough to tase somebody, especially a guy who's sitting in there. I mean, look, he's hands up. He's like, I would love to know if those officers were, it looked like they were wearing body cameras. I would love to see the body camera footage of what precipitated all of this to cause him to say, yeah, let's pull a taser out.

You know, the first of all, the fact that the young man was vaping, they did pass a law in Ocean City about vaping, which is a stupid law. They want to pass a law. Why would they pass about white folks drinking white wine on a boardwalk? You know, you want to pass a law. So the law in and of itself, frankly, I think is stupid. But secondly, the number of officers for this one young man has to be considered excessive. I mean, what is it, five of them, six of them? And he's, that's the third time he's, ooh, four times he's need him. Roland, I don't even have words.

Michael Brown is absolutely right here. Put their behinds on the line, put their pensions on the line, put their assets on the line and their asses on the line, and maybe they will behave differently. This breaks my heart, because, you know, this, I mean, first of all, this is a law that's targeted towards young people.

So these are now a group of embittered young people who, regardless of race, don't think that vaping is that big of a deal. Then you see the white folks. And some of them are going to turn. But Brother Opa Congo is absolutely right. People are going to have enough of these fools one of these days. Look at how close that white woman is in that video you just showed to that white woman police officer. They ain't scared. You know, they are basically saying we have to fight back. And so that's what has to happen. But, you know, the

Republican Party is so emboldened and the police are so emboldened that it's going to take a revolution to get this to change. Yeah, well, and there are folks who, of course, try to lead the revolution as we speak. All right, folks, got to go to break. We come back. Essence Festival is virtual this year.

We're going to have our Coca-Cola Essence Fest moment, throwback moment for you to check out. Also on today's show, you know, a couple of crazy as white people. Unbelievable, y'all. Y'all don't want to miss this video. Trust me. One, you know, San Francisco, dude got really checked by a brother who's a liver man. And a woman in a Ross dress for less just loses her mind. Has she lost her job yet? Yeah, all that and more next on Rolling Button Unfiltered.

I believe that people our age have lost the ability to focus the discipline on the art of organizing. The challenges, there's so many of them and they're complex and we need to be moving to address them. But I'm able to say, watch out Tiffany, I know this road. That is so freaking dope. Racial injustice is a scourge on this nation, and the black community has felt it for generations. We have an obligation to do something about it. Whether it's canceling student debt, increasing the minimum wage, or investing in Black-owned businesses,

the Black community deserves so much better. I'm Nina Turner, and I'm running for Congress to do something about it. George Floyd's death hopefully put another nail in the coffin of racism. You talk about awakening America, it led to a historic summer of protest.

I hope our younger generation don't ever forget that nonviolence is soul force. Right? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. What's up? I said, what's so special about and unique about all the black folks, the black love here at Essence?

That it's fun. That it's fun. That it's all black love. That's what's significant. And different. That's what's special. That's what's special. That's what's special.

That's what's special. That's what's special. That's what's special. That's what's special. That's what's special. That's what's special. That's what's special. That's what's special.

That's what's special. That's what's special. That's what's special. That's at Essence. That is mine. That is mine. That is all black love. That's what's significant and different about it. You know, it's pure. And of course, you got all the sisters. I'm sorry? And of course, you got all the sisters as well. Exactly.

And brothers. Oh, yeah. Things are going well for you? It's going real well. My guys are real good to me. It's going to be real good for me. God's been real good to me. Still being good to me. I'm just doing what I got to do. There's always good sin.

Thank you so much. I love this. We got to mix it up a little bit. I feel you baby. If you ain't regular, you can't get regular boxes. Uh-huh. I'm just saying it, darling. I'm not saying it. All right, folks.

Each and every single day here on Roland Martin Unfiltered, we're going to feature that Essence Festival Coca-Cola throwback moment leading up to, of course, this year's 2021 Virtual Essence Festival. Because of COVID, they're not having the big gathering in New Orleans, but they will be virtual. And so on June 26th and June 27th, two weekends, June 26th, June 27th, July 3rd, July 4th, Essence Festival will be virtual. You can simply go to their YouTube channel, their Facebook page, and go to Essence.com to actually watch it. You're going to have the workshops in the daytime beginning at 2 p.m.

And then, of course, the concert's beginning at 6 p.m. Eastern every single night going until 10 p.m. And so we look forward to sharing with you some of our throwback moments that, of course, with Chaka Khan from the 2016 Essence Festival. So we've got some great stuff dipping into my archives to show you. And we're going to do that every single day right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. And we're going to be sharing photos on my social media. So go to Instagram, go to Facebook and Twitter, Snapchat. You'll be able to see those throwback moments as well.

And so we're gonna also, we're gonna give you guys an email to share some of your Essence Festival throwback photos and video that we're gonna be sharing with the audience. And we certainly look forward to doing that. All right, folks, let's talk about this story out of South Georgia.

Well, a city there has agreed to pay a black man $350,000 for an excessive force case caught on police body cameras. Folks, remember this story? Valdosta City Council out of Valdosta. The city council voted unanimously on the settlement, which includes creating a citizens review board. Police officers wrongly identified Antonio Smith as a suspect on February 8, 2020. Roll it, please. Body cam footage shows Smith being body slammed to the ground, breaking his wrists.

Now, Smith and his attorneys sued the mayor and the police chief and two officers, and he was asking for $700,000. The settlement, however, terminates the existing lawsuit and releases all claims against the city of Valdosta and the officers in the case. And again, y'all might remember this video where we showed you last year. Brother was just walking down the street. Brother's just walking down the street, just chilling. And all of a sudden, all of a sudden, the cop rolls up against him.

The cop rolls up against him. The cop rolls up against him. And then all of a sudden, they tackle this brother, throw him to the ground, and I remember, I remember, Julian, when we showed this video, we all said, he gonna get paid. He's gonna get paid. Watch it happen.

He's gonna get paid. Turn the audio up and listen to the conversation and watch what happens. Oh, my God. What are you doing? Put your hands behind your back like you told. Put your hands. What are you doing? Put your hands behind your back like you told. Put your hands. What are you doing?

Hey! Ow! Jesus. Oh, my God. Oh, Jesus. I wasn't doing anything. Oh, my God. Jesus.

Oh, my God. You broke my wrist. Oh, my God. You broke my wrist. Oh, my God. Yeah, he might be broke. Oh, Jesus. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Yeah, he might be broke. Oh, Jesus. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

Oh, my God. Relax. Relax. Relax. Oh, Jesus. Oh, it's hurt. Oh, my God. Yeah, hold on.

Relax. We're going to get you squared up. Oh, God. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh.

Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh.

Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh.

Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. You hear that pain there, Julian.

Again, this is why you got to target the pensions. Because them getting the wrong guy has now cost taxpayers $350,000. That brother is writhing in pains and they broke his wrist and they did. And it's stupid. I mean, this is just how idiotic these folks are. What happened to effing civility? Sir, can I see your ID? There was a mistake and they thought he was somebody else. Sir, can I see your ID? You know, not just jumping on the man, breaking his wrist, having him in that kind of pain. Civility has left policing for a number of police officers, not all, but for many. It has left policing. They treat us,

especially black folks, but others, as less than human beings. None of them would have liked to be in that position, not a one of them. And so why would they do this? Answer. Because they could. And now the citizens are paying three hundred fifty thousand dollars. And and these guys basically, I assume they're all still employed because they tend to keep the abusers on. But I mean, they need to be up under somebody's jail. Somebody needs to walk up on them and snap their wrist. I'm in a vengeful mood today.

It's just crazy, Michael. And I'll tell you, I remember when we showed this video, and we were like, yeah, he's going to get paid. Yeah. And it's just unfortunate. I mean, as Dr. Malvo says, she's exactly right. There's nothing wrong with the police coming up to you.

I mean, some people think it's wrong even for them to ask for ID. But nonetheless, hey, they're looking for, they're searching for an alleged criminal. It's fine to say, hey, can I see your ID? But it's just, again, it's just being done with impunity now. It's just, it doesn't matter. Okay. So the city has to write a check. But I like black people and he looks similar to me. I was in danger or whatever their excuses. And they threw him to the ground, broke his wrist. But now the citizens pay, he's keeping his job. Boy, but it certainly would be different if he had to write that check or he had to sell his house

to satisfy that settlement. Things would be a little different. I agree. And I'm a Congo there in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, almost five years after Alton Sterling was shot and killed by Baton Rouge police. His children will receive a $4.5 million settlement ending their wrongful death lawsuit against the city. Sterling's five children will receive $1 million up front, the remaining paid in equal installments over the next four years. The white officer, Blaine Salamone, who shot Sterling outside a convenience store in 2016, was never criminally charged in the incident.

But again, the city is having to pay taxpayers $4.5 million because of the wrongful actions of these police officers. Trust me, when they start having to pay themselves, things will change. Absolutely. And that's why a lot of the work that Johnny Cochran was doing, God rest his soul, was so powerful because he was going after them directly like that because he knew, as Joe Madison says, he hit people in their pocketbooks and their hearts would follow. Look, when we look at that $350,000 settlement and we're talking about these review boards, these review boards, they need to make sure

that they're looking into the history of all of these officers before there are even any incidents. Because I remember a story a teacher once said. She went down to the precinct once and she saw so many of her former students. And she said, I never saw any of the students who were bullies. I saw officers who were my students who were bullied.

These guys are coming in on power trips, thinking that they're big and bad, that they got all the authority in the world, and they don't care. And as long as we continue to dole out the money for them, look, $4.5 million for the family of Alton Sterling. How many graduations are going to be missed because he's not there? How many of those kids are not going to have their parents at the wedding, five of his children? Our lives matter. And at the end of the day, they can't keep throwing money away at this. And on top of that, let's also talk about the fact that those officers are not facing any charges, including federal charges for the killing of Alton Sterling. So we have that financial issue that's just never going to be enough to replace a Black life.

We have these issues of these review boards that need to dig in deeply into the histories of these officers. And then we have to remember at the end of the day, these officers are not only getting away with our financial penalty, but they're also not being charged criminally in a state level or at the federal level. This just

has got to change. Real quickly, if I might, Roland, the other thing is those police officers, something's got to change. Roland, real quickly, real quickly, if I might, Roland, the other thing is those police officers do not live in the cities. Most of them do not live in the cities

where they're police officers. So they're not even, their tax dollars are not even going for these settlements. But increasingly, I mean, the police unions

have gone to the Supreme Court to say it's illegal to force police officers to live in the cities that they police, that they, you know, but we have to change that too, because if they live there, they're going to have to pay at least their portion of the tax bill. Um, I want to do this here, folks. Uh, I want to go to, uh, give me OCPD. Uh, so I'm gonna go back

to the Ocean City story, uh, because information on their Twitter feed a little bit ago. Give me one second. I want to pull this up. This is what they say. The information associated with the video describing a juvenile being tased for vaping is inaccurate. The video is from June 6th during an arrest of an 18-year-old male. Officers stopped the adult male because he was violating the city's smoking ordinance. They then say when stopped, he became disorderly and began yelling

at officers and threatening to kill them. At that time, officers drew their conducted electrical weapons. He continued to make threats on officers, spit on them, and resist arrest. Officers also located a switchblade knife in his book bag. He was arrested for multiple charges, including assault, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest. He was held on bond in the amount of $3,000. Well, here's the thing then, Ocean City. Release the body cam footage. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. This is real simple. Release the body cam footage. Release all of the body cam footage so we see the beginning of the incident to see why that young man was tased, and then we saw the other video of folks being taken down. So this is just real simple.

Release the video. Release the body cam footage. See, this is where the body cam, I keep telling everybody why the body cam footage matters. If the body cam footage exonerates you, then it does. But if it doesn't, then it doesn't, then y'all got a problem.

Okay. All right, folks, let's go to North Carolina. First of all, this week is a Juneteenth. Saturday marks Juneteenth. Of course, that is the day that people of African descent who were enslaved found out that they were actually free. Two years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed. General Granger came on the shores of Galveston to deliver that particular news. Texas became the first state to actually make Juneteenth a national holiday. It has now spread all across the country. All week, we're going to

be sharing with you various stories tied to Juneteenth. So when you see this, you know what's coming up. But some folks did not quite understand. In North Carolina, a history museum is under heavy criticism for the racist description of an event it planned to host on Juneteenth. Lotta Plantation. Okay, right there. If yo ass got a plantation

and you're calling the plantation, my suggestion, don't you sponsor shit on Juneteenth. Well, Lotta Plantation promoted a $25 event called Kingdom Coming, promising to tell attendees the story of, quote, white refugees. The event description read, Swing low, sweet chariot, coming to carry me home. Come out to historic Lotta Plantation for a one-night event Saturday, June 9th, 2021.

You will hear stories from the massa himself who is now living in the woods. Federal troops, Yankees, have him on the run, and his former bondsmen have occupied his home and now living high on the hog. Hear how they feel about being freedmen. The overseer is now out of a job. What will he do now that he has no one to oversee from? Can't see. Which white refugees have been displaced and have

a story to tell as well confederate soldiers who will be heading home express their feelings about the downfall of the confederacy reservations can be made for this guided experience starting at 7 p.m 7 38 8 39 9 p.m okay space is limited to 20 people per time slot the tour is over rough terrain and is not recommended for people with mobility issues. Well, Mecklenburg, well, let's just say y'all, uh, when that thing went around, um, didn't go over well, the event has since been canceled. Mecklenburg County released this statement regarding the incident. It says, quote, Mecklenburg County has zero tolerance for programs that do not embrace equity and diversity. Park and Recreation was not aware of the planned event and lot of plant nature preserved until it appeared on social media. We immediately reached out to the organizers and the event was canceled. As a

result of this incident, Mecklenburg County is looking at its contract with the facility vendor regarding future programming. I'm proud to say, Oma-Congo, they about to lose their job. They about to lose their job. As well they should. I mean, goodness gracious. These guys will do anything to try to minimize and deny the history of slavery in this country. We see them doing it in the textbooks. We see them doing it in the textbooks. We see them doing it on the job.

I saw an interview where this one woman was saying, slavery wasn't that bad. You know, mama taking care of all the slaves like she would her children. They are going to do this at every juncture possible. And thank goodness for social media so we can call these people out where they're doing it on the job in their community centers

and quote unquote plantations for real in 2021? Yo, I just think that this is amazing and I really commend the city for taking the steps that it did because they really need to demonstrate that zero tolerance. But these guys are just going to try to do something else. They're probably

going to start a GoFundMe campaign, do some type of virtual event. That's how bad they want to get out their story about their ignorance. It's ridiculous. Again, if it's set at a plantation already, Julianne, we got a problem. Absolutely. I mean, brother, don't make me laugh. The only thing I will say, you may have heard my news. I'm going to be the dean of the College of Ethnic Studies at Cal State L.A. starting July 1st. And this is why, because we need information in our schools. Thanks to Secretary of State Shirley Weber, all students who go to a Cal State must take at least one ethnic studies class. I will have the departments of Pan-African studies, Chicago Latino X studies, and Asian American studies reporting to me with a charge to start a new department of Native American studies. But the fact is that, I mean, I took the gig. I mean,

I love Washington. I love my house. But this was like a serious challenge. How do we infuse this knowledge into the general population? And the fact is a lot of people just don't want to know it. I sat last week in my mother's house where this white man, who's her friend, told me that enslavement was not that bad because we got fed, we got clothes. Excuse me? And only because it was my mother's house, and I am respectful to my mother, did I not call him all of the names that I want to call him. I'm just like, however you feel, sir.

Just however you feel. Just please don't articulate that around us anymore. This is a movement to take history back. This is a movement to say enslavement didn't happen, or if it happened, it wasn't that bad. It's a movement to erase the post-Reconstruction period where black people gained so much. And so we really, this is a fight.

This is a fight, and we've got to fight it. Michael, these folk have lost their mind, but that's why, you know what? We've got to just shut them down. Shut them down at every turn. Absolutely, and I'm glad you run these videos so people can see kind of what it's like out there. Folks hear about stuff, but your show obviously gives it the time it deserves. But there's been a tone that's been said.

And, you know, me, I have no love lost between, you know, me and 45. And the tone was, there was a tone before him. But he's really elevated it relative to divisions and white supremacy and the history of our country and what happened. They're all, you know, the reason why, you know, obviously, whether it's Wall Street, whether it's insurance companies, as we know, all that started because of the slave trade and obviously moving through not just building of our country for free in some parts of the country, but obviously some of our monuments and memorials country for free in some parts of the country, but obviously some of our monuments and memorials built for free. And so there's just folks, you know, there are folks that don't,

if they do know that that's true, don't want to acknowledge it. And for the folks that want to raise, like Dr. Malbeau is going to be doing at West are folks that want to raise the levels of awareness about our history. In some cases, and I'm glad California is not one of those places, but you know, in some cases where there's the 1619 Project, where they won't even let people talk about, you know, Black history. So we're just in a place, it's just very difficult and very unfortunate. Absolutely, our folks. Reverend Dr. James Forbes, he wanted to honor Juneteenth, and he decided to put together this poem.

He gave me a call, and he said, you know, I got this. What can I do with it? I said, record it, brother. And so my alpha brother did. so check this out. A Juneteenth meditation recalling the day General Granger delivered his order number three in Galveston, Texas, indicating that all slaves are free. This declaration was made two and a half years after President

Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. On June 19, 1865, now referred to as Juneteenth, that was the first day all Americans were free. So I've written a poem, All Americans Together. I'd like to share it with you now. Newly freed slaves were ecstatic on that great day. They thanked God for liberty despite the delay. God said, though you are free from chains of slavery, you're still captives of murderous bigotry. Slave owners were grieving for their lost property, people they had whipped and lynched from many a tree. Though African slaves from bondage were now set free, slaveholders were still slaves to white supremacy. God spoke to those called white down from heaven on high. Your tribe has been disgraced by a demonizing lie. As slavery ends, so must each barbaric

crime. Repent, repair, accept forgiveness while there's still time. From whence that vile delusion came, it has to go. Never forget, you shall surely reap what you sow. The true abundance your soul so dearly craves can't be found if fear and falsehood make you slaves. While the Spirit spreads truth and love across the land, depraved sick minds suppress justice on every hand. We must decide the convictions we will embrace regarding the shameful brutalities of race. If it matters to you to have truth on your side, racism in this nation cannot be denied. From its beginning, this country was not for all.

Before it was founded, there had been a great fall. When all of God's children can finally breathe free, we can celebrate being a true democracy. Imagine the joy and delight we will share when we recover the oneness already there. Now let us prepare for a benediction for going forth to make this a better world. Go forth in the name of the Lord to spread glad tidings abroad. The love that you share and the witness you bear will bring honor and glory to God.

Go forth with a joyful amen until we gather again. Remember the word your spirit has heard. God's love is the hope of the world. Amen. I always really appreciate that, my Reverend Dr. James Forbes. And so all week we're going to be, of course, having a segment dedicated to Juneteenth.

And so we look forward to sharing that. It is the Juneteenth is the only, the only holiday that officially record that actually speaks to slavery ending in this country. And, you know, I mean, look, the people always made jokes. Julianne of us into us native Texas. Oh, y'all found out two years late. But it was the late Representative Al Edwards, who was called the father of Juneteenth, who led that effort to make Juneteenth a state holiday.

And since that effort, Juneteenth has actually spread all across America. And there are Juneteenth celebrations happening all across this country. And we were that close last year to actually making Juneteenth a national holiday, but it was that ignorant damn fool out of Wisconsin, Senator Ron Johnson, who objected.

And so that still needs to happen because this nation needs to have a day where it acknowledges what took place with slavery in this country. More important in terms of collective knowledge than having Juneteenth as a national holiday, because it would then require folks, whether they are in Idaho, Mississippi, Oregon, or wherever, require folks to think about what enslavement meant to this country. It would require folks to put together curricula or programs around Juneteenth. People would get

a day off. And you know how Americans are about that day off. People get a day off. So why do we have the day off? So, I mean, I hope that members of Congress are putting this very high on their list of priorities. Of course, we have other priorities. We have H.R. 40 reparations now. We have a number of other things. But this really ought to be a very easy pass, at least of the House. I don't know about the Senate. But here's what we do know. When you think about Juneteenth, what I tell young people

is that you have to think of Black Americans as philanthropists. We were not people who had our hands out and our mouths open looking for handouts. We were people who built this country foe free. Excuse my ebonics, but foe free. And so given that we did that, we need recognition for that. Reparations is one thing, very important, but the knowledge piece is also the really important thing. And so if we had a national holiday, Roland, I will be in fool's heaven with a blanket. You will see me churning out stuff from Cal State LA about how the program needs to look. I'll be bugging you and everybody else. This needs to happen. You know, there are people who, on the Congo, who will say, well, you know, here's another useless event. No, it's not useless in that if it forces this country to deal with real,

it's history. We say it's our history. No, it's American history. That's right. That's right. And as Dr. Mavu talked about this collective conscience, we have to, well, first of all, that poem was amazing. And I was thinking about writing a poem myself, but I couldn't say anything better. That was so powerful. And as a message coming from our elders down to the rest of us, when I see your program, you know, We Got Next honoring the next generation, we have to make sure that we continue that fight. And going back to this conversation as it relates to Juneteenth, when we talk about this collective consciousness, a holiday, looking at the work Dr. Mapp was doing at Cal State, we have to fight to make sure that we get this recognition because we see what's happening in lieu of that. I remember just a couple of years ago where a history textbook coming out of Texas, where most of these textbooks come out of, referred to enslaved people as migrant workers, which

makes me think about going back to the early 1900s where one book referred to it as a peculiar institution or the late 1800s so if we don't actively fight to make sure that our story and history is remembered we are going to have it be destroyed and lost and that is what they want and so every single day we have to remember that we represent the dream of our ancestors and we have to make sure this country never forgets it and honors it mich Michael? Agreed. I mean, I agree with both of my fellow panelists on this particular subject. I mean, I don't know if it was Senator Johnson or which senator it was that made this comment that, oh, well, if we give Juneteenth this holiday, so do we have to give one for Latinos? Do we have to give one for the GLBT community?

Do we have to give? And he did this litany of, and to me, my first thought was, but why is that a problem? We're a melting pot. That's who we are as Americans. So what if we're recognizing different ethnicity groups? I'm not suggesting I said this to him. I didn't, but I remember when he said it, that's what I was thinking.

But that's where we are, where the soon-to-be minority of this country, which is now the majority, has a problem with the browning of America. That's just all this is about. And the browning of America is a problem for many people in power, and as long as they're still in power because you go to the ballot box and you can vote people in or out, hence why they want to make it tough for people to vote. I mean, that's why, obviously, they packed the court. So even if elected officials change over the next five, ten years and get browner, you have the Supreme Court there to block anything that they do anyway. I mean, they have executed the days, have executed their plan, I don't want to say to perfection, because we can still fix it by voting people out,

but obviously some of those Supreme Court folks are gonna be there for the next four decades. So we have some challenges, and that's where, uh... That's where it... The ballot box is where it lies. That's why folks here right now in Charleston, West Virginia, they are protesting. They are Senator Joe Manchin. Let's go live to Charleston, West Virginia.

Let's hear what they have to say. Come on, right! Run for office! Register people to vote! Make sure they know their rights! Come on, West Virginia! Kentucky stands with you! Go, West Virginia!

No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace! Justice, no peace! No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace! How things have been going there in Charleston, West Virginia?

No justice, no peace! OK, we thought we had Barbara there, so Barbara, certainly let us know. Let me know when we have Barbara there. Folks, let's go to this story next story. Research shows that nearly all hospitalized COVID patients, folks, nearly all of them are not vaccinated. This trend is occurring in hospitals throughout the country.

Because of COVID-19 vaccines, the number of hospitalizations has decreased from more than 125,000 in early January to 15,000. Joining us right now is Dr. Ebony Jade Hilton, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, University of Virginia. Doc, Ebony, glad to have you back. Look, I crack up laughing when I see your Twitter feed.

You're like, damn it, these folks don't want to pay attention. They don't want to learn. I mean, honestly, it's one of these things where what my greatest fear is because people are not getting vaccinated. We're going to end up having a pandemic within a pandemic. And what I mean by that, if we look at the UK right now, what we're seeing is that this Delta variant that originally was kind of isolated in India is now spread throughout our globe, as all other mutants have done. And we're seeing

that 90% of their cases now is this Delta variant. And even 30% of those, of the persons who've died, 30% of those were fully vaccinated because these mutants will eventually try to outsmart our vaccines if we're not careful. And the way we stop mutants will eventually try to outsmart our vaccines if we're not careful. And the way we stop mutants from being able to develop is to have everyone vaccinated so the virus can stop spreading from person to person. So here we are. You know, and I saw one study upwards of 30 percent of Republicans say they're not going to take the vaccine no matter what. You've got these NFL players who are saying this here. You've got some NBA players.

People have asked LeBron James about it. They don't want to answer the whole question. And a look is obviously it's it's up to the people if they decide to take the vaccine or not. But the bottom line is this here. Like you take even the golfer who tested positive and he had to withdraw after the third round. He was leading by six shots. Well, he didn't get vaccinated until after he came in contact with somebody. If he had actually gotten vaccinated, they would have never even tested him, would have been no contact tracing. So that decision

cost him $1.3 million. Cost him $1.3 million. Right. I'm sorry. It cost him $1.67 million had he won. It was $1.6 million. You know I looked it up. Yeah, of course, because he was playing there in your home state of South Carolina.

Yes, he was. And the thing is, is that it's the selfishness of this, how do you say it, this defiance of trusting science in this matter. Because, yes, he lost $1.6 million, but it could have potentially infected how many people that showed up to that golfing event. And then those persons then go from, you know, they travel to Charleston in order to see this game. And then they go back to their towns and their cities.

And this is how pandemics continue to spread. And what we're seeing is that our patients in the hospital are younger and younger and younger. We have vaccinated over 60 to 70% of our 65 and older population. Those persons are staying pretty safe at this point. It's the 50-year-olds and below that we really are starting to see an uptick in those who are hospitalized, including our children, and it's just not worth it. Well, and what gets me is, you know, the folks are being hard-headed, and you got the people

out here, you know, these anti-vaxxers, they spread stuff. Oh my goodness. No, it's going to kill you. All different things along those lines. Well, I can tell you right now, there are still people who are dying from COVID. Oh, for sure. Last week, someone asked me on Twitter why I was quiet and it was because I was covering the ICU. And when I go into ICU, I kind of shut down so I can focus on my patients. And unfortunately, in my ICU right now, the youngest patient I have that is literally pushing, trying to stay alive are in their younger 20s. I'm about to hit 40 years old next year. And I'm thinking when I was in my younger 20s, I was thinking about, I was in med school. I was thinking about life and what life could be. And this person is literally struggling to try to stay alive.

And it doesn't have to be you. Everyone thinks it won't be me, right? Everyone thinks it's going to be the next person or, oh, it's only the old people or only the sick people. These people were completely fine. And then they met COVID. And COVID does not care. And so when you try to weigh risk benefits, and especially with the weather getting nice, I know everyone wants to go out and travel.

Everyone wants to go, you know, have cookouts, and the Fourth of July is about to come up. If you have not been vaccinated, stay at home. It is not worth the risk. So how do we deal with this here? Because, you know, the CDC issued their guidelines saying that if you've been vaccinated, I mean, no problem for you to go out about doing your things, but there are those who say, yeah, but what about wearing masks? You don't know around you who has been vaccinated or not.

So what is your advice? Right. And what I challenge, you know, I've gone back and forth with the CDC on a number of different issues. But what I push them to say is, what's your definition of sick? Because what we know is that there are breakthrough cases of COVID-19. And although if you are vaccinated, you're less likely to die, you can still be like my patients as an ICU. They're not dead. Right. So they are technically in that we didn't die group, but yet they are waiting at the age of 20s, waiting for a lung transplant, that they will have to be on agents to keep their body from rejecting this new organ. If they get one, if they can actually be healthy enough to deserve a lung transplant, and they will have been, quote unquote, a survivor of COVID. We know that there's people who have long collar symptoms where they cannot taste or smell.

And we're wondering if that means that the virus has infected your brain cells, what does that do to your development of Alzheimer's at an early age, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's? We don't know. For people, we are seeing these accounts of this myocarditis and we're hearing a lot with what about these vaccines causing myocarditis?

Well, we're seeing only 200 cases of the myocarditis and we're hearing a lot with with what about these vaccines causing myocarditis well we're seeing only 200 cases of the myocarditis for the younger kids that have been vaccinated if you look at people who have covet 19 we're looking at that number jump upwards of one out of every six persons having blood clots for instance with um with covet infections we're looking at one in every 20 or so are presenting with these signs and symptoms of chest pain. And what is that chest pain if it's not one of those myocarditis or inflammation of the lungs? And what does that do to your development of heart failure at a younger age? What does that do to your development of needing to wear oxygen

when you're 50, 60 years old because of the scarring that has already happened to your life? We don't know. And so why is it worth going out and saying, oh, I only had loss of taste and smell? Okay, well, when you get to 40 and 50 and you're struggling to be able to think clearly because of the scarring that this could potentially

have on your brain, was that party worth it? And that's what people have to think. We can't think so short-sighted. You have to think, what does my life look like? And right now, people are just being reckless. So what you're saying is that even if you've been vaccinated and you've been around a bunch of other people, put a mask on. What I'm saying is I have a friend who I know has followed protocols to a T.

What I know is that she had her last dose of the Pfizer vaccine on February 12th. She went on a flight. And in this flight to Georgia, she was, unfortunately, two weeks ago now, two and a half weeks ago. She now has COVID. And she cannot smell and taste. She also had to go to the hospital for having chest pain. And so now she's on anti-inflammatory. And she tells me to tell her story because, again, it's one of these things of when you have the vaccine,

you feel like you have this layer of protection and that you don't have to necessarily be as hypervigilant. But she said that she, you know, was eating. And so she took off her mask to eat. And she now regrets that wholeheartedly. And it's scary. What do you do? There is no second chance with it. And so whenever you're weighing risk-benefit,

just know that every interaction may be your chance. And just make the smart decision. It may not be the coolest looking thing, but if you see me out in public, you see me with a mask because I don't have time. Well, trust me, if y'all could see some of the chats that Ebony and I have and the conversations,

she is straight up a hardcore gangster when it comes to the mask, the goggles, the gloves, the hand sanitizer. People are nasty. I mean, but honestly, it just because, again, why would I risk my life when I don't have

to? If it's simply wearing a mask, and I do, if I'm going to travel anywhere in public that's highly populated, I'm going to have an N95 because, again, I don't have time. But it is one of those things where I see where you don't get a second chance. I see that it's not just sick people, that it's young, healthy people. I see that it's people that are trying to take every precaution. and it can still happen to me even though I'm trying to do the very best I can do, but I will give

my damnedest to try to protect myself and protect my family so they won't have to make the decisions that families in my ICU last week were being forced to make. That's a very hard thing to do. Yeah, and it doesn't have to be you. All right. Dr. Ebony and it doesn't have to be you.

All right. Dr. Ebony Hilton, always glad to have you on the show. Good to see you. It's been a while since we had you on the show. Good to see you. All right. Thanks a bunch. I appreciate it. All right, folks. I usually hear what the doctor said. Put your mask on. Put your mask on.

All right, y'all. Let's go to Charleston, West Virginia. Do we now have Barbara Arnwine? Yes. Hi. Hi, Roland. Barbara Arnwine with the Transformative Justice Coalition. Barbara, give us a sense of you've been out there.

Describe for us numbers of folks and what was it like and the points they were making out there in Charleston, West Virginia. Well, hundreds of people showed up. Bishop William Barber and the Poor People's Campaign of West Virginia was one of the big sponsors of this march and rally today. And I want you to know that people came out in this hot heat, almost 90 degrees, and marched for several long blocks. And we are actually still out here in front of Senator Joe Manchin's office. We've been here for more than two hours. People are so fired up. They don't want to leave. They're so angry about his betraying them as West Virginians. They elected

him because they expected him to vote and to represent the people, and they feel betrayed. And they're angry, and they are still here. In fact, I see that they've actually brought out a podium because they want to rally some more, even though we've been here for two hours here at the actual office of Joe Manchin. Now, of course, he ran and left, but his staff are here. We're here, and nobody wants to talk to the staff because we want the senator to make a pledge to the people of West Virginia that he's going to vote in their interest and vote so that they can be freed of the voter suppression that was done here in this state this year and that the nation can be free of the voter suppression

that's happening all over. So it is imperative that we change his vote, that whatever he wrote a couple weeks ago, he's got to take every bit of that back. All right, then. Barbara Arnwine, we really appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Well, thank you for having me.

And just everybody, you know, be ready, because we're coming to D.C. the week of the 21st during the vote for the Florida People Act that we are going to turn the heat up. We will see everybody in D.C. on the 23rd and on the 26th where we're going to have major marches. So be right on the outlook. All right.

Barbara Arnwein, founder and president of Transformative Justice Coalition. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you, sir. Folks, go on to a break. When we come back, we'll talk with Florida Congressman Byron Donalds, a Republican who says that the CBC is keeping him out from joining. He joins us next on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Hello, I'm Nina Turner.

My grandmother used to say, all you need in life are three bones, the wishbone to keep you dreaming, the jawbone to help you speak truth to power, and the backbone to keep you standing through it all. I'm running for Congress because you deserve a leader who will stand up fearlessly on your behalf. Together, we will deliver Medicare for all. Good jobs that pay a living wage and bold justice reform.

I'm Nina Turner, and I approve this message. White supremacy ain't just about hurting black folk. Right. You gotta deal with it. It's injustice. It's wrong. I do feel like in this generation, we've got to do more around being intentional and resolving conflict.

You and I have always agreed. Yeah. But we agree on the big piece. Yeah. Our conflict is not about destruction. Conflict's going to happen. Before Till's murder, we saw struggle for civil rights as something grown-ups did. I feel that the generations before us

have offered a lot of instruction. -♪ Organizing is really one of the only things that gives me the sanity and makes me feel purposeful. When Emmett Till was murdered... Yeah. ...that's what attracted our attention. -♪ Black TV does matter, dang it.

Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your boy, Jacob Lattimore, and you're now watching Roland Martin right now. Yee! There are two black Republicans in the House of Representatives, one in the United States Senate, and one of them out of Florida says that the Congressional Black Caucus is keeping him from joining. Joining us right now is Congressman, first of all, Byron Donalds.

Congressman, glad to have you on Roller Martin Unfiltered. Of course. Anytime. Thanks for having me. First and foremost, and so you said you wanted to join. When did you last communicate with the Congressional Black Caucus? What was the process and what was said to you? And who did you talk to? Actually, it was really the first week I was up here on Capitol Hill after swearing in. I talked with a couple of members.

I know Joyce Beatty and I, we had a brief conversation on the floor. You know, the question was asked, you know, would I be interested in joining? I said I would be interested in joining. When I was in the Florida legislature, I had joined. I was a part of the legislative black caucus for four years. And so at that point, it was just, you know, she was like, okay, well, you know, we'll be in touch. I said, okay. And we didn't hear anything. So I had my staff reach out, you know, a couple of times over the last few months. We never heard anything. And then last week, the story drops on BuzzFeed, which, you know, shocked me, shocked us here, you know, in my office. And then, you know, here we are. So we say it shocked you. And so they, of course,

BuzzFeed did a story saying that you were being blocked from joining the CBC. You reached out, you had not, you had not joined them. So that was not a story that your staff put out? So you're not aware where the story came from? No, we never put anything out. In my office, my staff understood that we weren't going to talk about it. We were going to just have those conversations quietly. So when you see an article drop, you're kind of like, well, where did this come from? And I mean, let's keep it real.

If I was going to drop a story, I wouldn't drop it in BuzzFeed. That doesn't make any sense. I would have dropped it on FoxNews.com, but that's not where it dropped. Obviously, they've covered it. CNN has covered it. A lot of people have. But I'm not in the business of dropping leaks to reporters.

That's not how I operate. For me, if I feel a certain way, I'll come and meet with you directly and tell you. I'm not going to use media to do it. Why do you want to join the CBC? I think actually it's important to have the conversations that affect, obviously, the black community and the different policies that will. You know, my politics might be different from a lot of the members in the CBC, but that's

no different than how it was when I was in the Florida legislature. But I think those conversations from all sides of the political spectrum are very, very important because it can help actually distill a lot of these ideas down into ways that will be most effective, not just for the black community. Because you got to understand that when you legislate, you can't just write a bill for the black community. You have to write legislation that impacts the entire country. So obviously you want it to have positive impacts on the black community, but you also have to understand in the back of your mind, it's going to have impacts for all of the country. You want to make sure that those things operate for everybody so everybody

can thrive and succeed. Secondarily, I think it's important that you have these relationships that exist in the legislative process because it changes it from just being Congressman Donald or the new black Republican to being, well, that's just Byron. And so let me sit down with Byron and figure out what he's where he's coming from. I can share with him where I'm coming from and maybe we can find a way forward. When it came to the passage of the House Bill one dealing with the issue of voting, how did you vote? I voted no on that bill. and I'll tell you why. Because, first of all, in Florida, we actually have, in my view, the best election law in the country. We have massive access points to the

ballot. You can get your absentee ballot anywhere about, really about two to three months before election day. It's really like three months before Election Day. You have really good opportunities to vote through early voting, some of the best in the country. And then, of course, you have Election Day. We do have voter ID laws. We have things like that that have been in Florida law for more than 20 years. And so, in my view, representing a district in Florida, why would I support the federal government taking over election law

when I know my state and the area I represent already has great election laws where people have the opportunity to go vote and nobody challenges them? Because the reality is that it's not just a question of what happens in your state. It's what's happening in other states as well. When it came to the certification of electors, how did you vote? I actually voted not to certify in Pennsylvania and Arizona. Why? But the other 48 states were never contested. Why?

Well, because it was actually clear, based upon the information I was looking at, that in Arizona and Pennsylvania there were violations of election law. And so you have a situation where under the Constitution, state legislatures write election law. And I know the argument is, but there was a pandemic, so adjustments had to be made. But let's be very clear. It is not the role of a supervisor of elections or the state elections officer or any judge to change election law. But I thought Republicans believed in the rule of law and judges ruled. And in fact, I say I thought Republicans believed in the rule of law and judges ruled. Secondly, you also had more than 60 court cases where it was challenged in the courts.

Donald Trump and his team lost all of them. The point is not whether the court cases were won or lost. The point is that when you're looking at electoral college votes, you have to look at what the law was and what the actual implementation of law was at the time. The judges and the courts, they have their role. They did whatever they felt was necessary. But Congress also has a role as well. Congress does have the responsibility of certifying electoral college votes. And it's important for people to understand that this is not the first time electoral college votes were challenged.

They were challenged in 2000. They were challenged in 2004. There was a member of the Democrat conference who challenged in 2016 and that went away. So these things have happened in our past in our country. So just saying now with with with the election of Joe Biden, that because you challenged in 2020, now that creates some dynamic where now you're not basically you're to be ostracized or punished or whatever. So I'm curious. So that's very curious because you just said that you did not want federal law change

to impact voting there in Florida. But you in Florida are forming an opinion on voting in Arizona and Pennsylvania when the elections in Arizona and Pennsylvania

were actually certified by Republican officials and others in those two states. And so how do you know what's better in Arizona and Pennsylvania when you're in Florida? Because there's a process where Congress certifies and ratifies electoral college votes. But you're not. You're asking my question. How do you know? You're asking my question. How do you know what's better?

How do you know that there were irregularities when there are officials in Arizona and Pennsylvania who have said there wasn't? The difference is, is that H.R. 1 actually goes against most of the way the Constitution is actually written. No, no, that's not what I asked. That's not what I asked. Congress, that's not what I asked. H.R. 1 and election laws. No, no, no, that's not what I asked. What I asked is, how do you, you stated that there were election irregularities, but there are officials in Arizona and Pennsylvania, even of your own party, who said that the elections were fair, the elections that you did not have a violation, that you did not have fraud. How are you a congressman in Florida to know what actually

happened in Arizona and Pennsylvania when the officials there stated what happened in their own state. But listen, first of all, you're assuming that I can't read as well. Of course, I'm not assuming I'm not assuming. But if there are people of your own party who have publicly stated, I'm just trying to understand how do you know what happened there when they say it didn't happen? Let me answer your question. Let's take the state of Pennsylvania, for example. It is crystal clear, no matter what anybody wants to say, is that the state Supreme Court changed election law unilaterally.

Under Pennsylvania's law, you're not allowed to accept ballots after the polls close on election day. The state Supreme Court of Pennsylvania unilaterally changed that to accepting ballots three days after we're elected. Are they the highest court in Pennsylvania? Can I finish my point?

If you change the law at the court level, but knowing that under the Constitution, state legislatures are the ones who write election law, you're changing the rules at the end of the game. That's the reality. That's what happened. Is the Pennsylvania state Supreme Court the highest court in the land? We have a decision to make at the level we have when it comes to certifying electoral confidence. Let me ask you this question. Did the United States Supreme Court...

I got to ask you a question. ...not to certify based upon the reasoning that in those two states in particular, laws, the actual implementation, the actual practice of elections were not followed under law that was passed, the actual implementation, the actual practice of elections were not followed under law that was passed by the state legislature, which is the law of the land under the United States Constitution. Did Donald Trump and his people sue and did the Supreme Court reject the

argument that you just made? The Supreme Court chose not to take up the case, but that is- That's a rejection. They did not take up the case. That's a rejection. But the not take up the case. That's a rejection. But the Supreme Court is a separate branch of government. But so is Congress. I'm trying to understand. If you're making an argument in front of us, we have the opportunity to cast that vote as well. Just because a court says something or the Supreme Court says something, when the matter comes before Congress, you still have to cast a vote, yay or nay. They didn't lock the voting machines and said, well, this is all over, and so there's no vote

for Congress to take. There is actually a vote. There is a constitutional process that happens. Got it. It's a constitutional process that has happened multiple times before. And so to distill this whole entire argument down to certification votes on January 6th, that's not even, that's really far afield from the full conversation we're even having right now about membership in the black community. No, no, no. I'm asking, but you talked about, you talked about. This is why I'm going to make that point. Because if what you're going to, if what, if the premise of this conversation we're having right now is that my intellect, my past, my road from the inner city

to the halls of Congress, my policy beliefs, if all those things are now irrelevant because my vote on certification. I didn't say that. First of all, who said that? Who said that? That's the argument that you're actually, actually, you're wrong. No, actually, no, Congressman, Congressman, you're wrong. Congressman, you're wrong. I am asking you, I'm asking you a series of questions in terms of how you voted on particular bills that, for the black community, in terms of where issues are. George Floyd Justice Act, how did you vote? Wait, say that again. You broke it. George Floyd Justice Act, how did you vote? Oh, I didn't vote for that bill. I voted against it. And the reason why I voted against that bill is because of qualified immunity. I think the qualified immunity provisions in that bill are actually going to be very harmful to police

forces in urban corridors because the reality of qualified immunity, in my view, and having talked with many officers in law enforcement, is that if you change qualified immunity standards, you're actually going to have less officers on the street. If you have less officers on the street, it's actually going to lead to higher crime rates in our cities. We're already seeing that right now with the elements in different cities where police budgets have been shrank down, or you want to call it defunding police or whatever you want to call it. The correlation effect is real. If there's less officers on the street, crime rates have gone up. Well, first of all, first of all, their example, first of all, their examples,

Congressman, their examples where police in Chicago and Baltimore chose not to actually do their job because they were angry when one of their own actually were indicted by the D.A. And then also crime went up because they chose to slow down. Let me ask you another question. So, OK, so you saw the John Lewis Act. How did you vote on that? This is the bill about John Lewis Act dealing with voting rights, but also bringing back preclearance. Yep.

Is that what we're talking about? Yep. I voted no on that bill. I don't believe that we need preclearance. The COVID bill, how did you vote? Oh, that bill is trash. I voted no on that bill. On the American Relief, how did you vote on that? Say that again?. On the American Relief, how did you vote on that?

Say that again? On the American Relief plan, how did you vote on that? Wait, what? Say that again. You had the COVID bill, and so you said that bill was trash. So here's my question. Out of all the bills that have come through the House, where African-Americans have that, first of all, the COVID hate crime bill. How'd you vote on that?

The Korean, the Asian-American hate crime? Actually, it's not the Asian-American hate crime bill. It's actually Asian-Americans, not even in the actual title, but to paraphrase it, it's been called the anti-Asian hate crime bill. How'd you vote on that? I voted no on that bill because

we don't need to have that bill. That bill is not necessary for what's happening right now in the country. Is, do you have an issue with what's said to be Asian hate that may be rising? Potentially, maybe. It's not potentially, it may be. The facts are there. The data is there. It was even documented under the Trump DOJ. When you had the shooting that occurred in Atlanta, Georgia, every element of law enforcement came out and said at that point in time and several weeks after that there were not, it was not a quote unquote hate crime. There were other things that were- That was one shooting. That was one shooting. It was supposed to pass that bill. So that's what happened. So I voted

no on that bill. Gotcha. If making Juneteenth becomes a national holiday, comes before the House, how would you vote? I'm sorry, we were talking over each other. If it comes before the House, how would you vote? I'm sorry. We were talking over each other. If it comes before the House to make Juneteenth a national holiday, how would you vote? Oh, I would vote yes on that. I think Juneteenth should be a national holiday. Okay, so if H.R. 40 comes to the House floor, how would you vote?

Which one? Which one is H.R. 40? H.R. 40 deals with creating to study the impact of slavery. It's called the reparations bill to create a study of it, not actually to grant reparations, but to actually study the very issue. How would you vote?

Actually, I just finished reading that bill. I would vote no on that bill. Gotcha. So out of all the things I talked about, the only one that you said you would vote for is Juneteenth. And so if you did a poll of the issues that black folks care about, where do you line up in the interest of African-Americans? I think if you're talking about the interest of African-Americans live, the first one is having quality access to education. Actually, that's not number one.

Can I can I talk about the issues actually impact people and families in their community? No, I actually talk about polling data has been done, and that actually is not number one. The criminal justice reform is number one. So, but go ahead. Education, health care, a quality economy, and yes, of course, criminal justice policies. If you actually know my history and my record, when I was in Florida's legislature, I worked on criminal justice policies. It's one of the things I worked on, and I support actually having quality reforms to make sure that our criminal justice system actually recognizes and comes into the 21st century while also making sure that we keep communities safe. That's something that I do believe in. I think that's important to do

with respect to what Congress has passed up here. But I would also say that you also can't take the baseline of what this Congress has passed or this Congress has put forward and say, well, you didn't vote on these bills, so now somehow look this window into what your ideas are. Because the truth of the matter is there's been no discussion about the measures that have come before Congress. These are things that have gone directly to the floor from the Democrat Party, from the majority party up here on Capitol Hill. So there's been really no discussion. There's been no ability to make amendments. There's been no ability for debate.

And so you're asking me to vote yes or no on policy ideas that I disagree with for portions of those policy ideas. And that's the way I vote. So, but again, when you're talking about, again, speaking to those particular issues, if you poll African Americans in the George Floyd Justice Act,

it will poll very, very high. You voted against that. If you poll African Americans on in the George Floyd Justice Act, it will poll very, very high. You voted against that. If you poll African-Americans on the issue of COVID relief, the bill that was passed would poll very, very high. You voted against that. And so we can go down the line. And so, again, when you're talking about speaking to the interests of African-Americans, the Congressional Black Caucus is called the conscience of Congress. Yet you also supported Donald Trump, someone who viciously attacked many members of the Congressional Black Caucus, especially women, never apologized to any of them.

And you would you would you would support him again. I take it if he ran 2024 that you would you would actively campaign for Donald Trump and support him. Again, I must say to make the same point I made earlier, my support, my point and my support. No, I'm just, I'm just asking. I'm asking if Donald Trump runs a 2024, would you support actually campaign for him? Yes or no? I said earlier, which is already now the tone of this entire interview. And I don't want to get on your interviews. How you do it is how you do it. No, no, no. I'm just, no, no. Congressman, Congressman, Congressman, understand. I'm just asking a series of questions. I'm just asking a series. Congressman, Congressman, understand. I'm just asking a series of questions. I'm just asking a series.

Congressman, Congressman, I'm going to let you finish. I'm just asking a series of questions to know where you stand. Go ahead. Let me make my point. No, go ahead. Go ahead. Here we go. So all I'm saying is, is that if you are going to distill down who I am in my entire journey to get to Congress and the thoughts and the ideas and the principles that I do have to a vote on a series, a series of bills, which are highly partisan bills and my support for president Trump. I don't think that's actually a good thing for our politics.

But Congressman, that's not what I did. My art, Congressman, Congressman, it's not what I did. It's not what I did. Congressman, my audience, Congressman, here's the deal. Congressman, my audience doesn't know who you are. They don't know who you are. No, no, no. They doesn't know who you are. They don't know who you are. No, no. No, they don't know who you are. I simply brought up, Congressman, I brought up a series of bills that we have talked about on a significant basis on this show, and I wanted my audience to know exactly how you voted if they're not familiar with you.

Go ahead. Well, Roland, every time I start to make an example, you ask another question and give me an opportunity. No, you actually, I've actually let you finish a number of questions. I just had another question. Go ahead. Now to the question about President Trump, if he ran in 24, would I support him? Yeah, because I'm a Republican.

I'm going to support the Republican nominee. I'm going to be out in front to make sure that a Republican takes the White House. But the real question is, why would I do that? Because my viewpoint is, go ahead, put the picture nominee. I'm going to be out in front to make sure that a Republican takes the White House. But the real question is, why would I do that? Because my viewpoint is, go ahead, put the picture up. My viewpoint is... That's what we do. It's called a television show. We produce it. So, yeah.

I ain't got no problem with that. Yeah, so I'm saying, that's what we do. Go ahead. My point is, is that I believe that conservative principles, that limited government, that lower spending from that conservative principles, that limited government, that lower spending from the federal level, that a lower base tax policy that leaves more hands in the hands of more people, especially small business owners, actually promotes an economy that can grow and

thrive, where even people who grow up poor like me, they can actually earn more money and have more ladders of opportunity in our economy. I believe that parents should have the same purchasing power, poor families, as wealthy families do, and that they shouldn't just be put into an educational system because of where they live. I think they should have access to those educational opportunities wherever they may be. And if government funding follows that child, they should do that. I believe that in health care, we should have a robust health care, health care, health insurance economy so people can find a policy that suits their needs. Because what happens right now is that when you factor in deductibles

and you factor in premiums, people are spending more money just to have the policy itself and don't have the disposable income to fully access the care under the policy. Those are Republican ideals. That's what I support. Well, actually, to be honest, it would actually be helpful for the black community, whether they're poor members of the black community, middle-income members of the black community, upper-middle-income members of the black community, or even rich black people. And that will also be helpful for all of America at the same time. But the Affordable Care Act actually played a significant role in decreasing the number of African-Americans who had no access to health care. Second of all,

that was actually a Republican plan because it came from Mitt Romney out of Massachusetts. And thirdly, Donald Trump had four years and not one time to even present even remotely a health care plan. And not only that, let's just also be clear. Donald Trump loves to play footsie with white supremacists. So you, after what we experienced for four years, you would welcome having that back in the White House. You can be Republican, a lot of Republicans out there who are Republicans, hardcore Republicans, but who did not support, who did not support that man. But you would willingly stand behind him after what all he did for four years, including the newest revelations regarding getting the

access to phone records of Democrats, even even his own White House lawyer. You would you would want that back in the White House. First of all, let me say whatever Mitt Romney passed in Massachusetts is not conservative policy. Just because Mitt did it doesn't mean that I was— But Mitt's a Republican. I'm a conservative, Roland. Just because Mitt Romney did it doesn't mean that I would support it because it was bad policy in Massachusetts and it's bad policy for the country. But you just said that you would support Donald Trump because he's a Republican. He would be the Republican nominee, but Mitt's a Republican.

So you support some Republicans, not all. I let you speak. Can I speak? Yeah, go ahead. I support conservative ideals. Just because a Republican puts something up, if it's not conservative, I'm not going to support it. Because it has to matter, it has to align itself with the principles that I just outlined

about 30 seconds to a minute ago. The second thing I will tell you is this. What I fully support is an economy that grows and thrives, where income levels for all socioeconomic groups can actually rise, for all ethnicity groups can actually rise. What I do support is not having an economy that should be basically racing out of the gates, but is actually being stalled out because of massive overspending, talking about the COVID relief bill, that was not needed. That is actually holding our small businesses back. And our small business owners are white, black, and Hispanic. They're across the spectrum in our United States. So I support an economy and policies that come from elected officials that are going to allow for all of us to thrive and not get caught up in these ideological arguments of what we believe higher taxes and more regulation work when we already know you take more business out of small business, you take more money out of small business. Who does that really hurt? It's not

going to hurt rich people. It's going to hurt middle income people and poor people who work for said small businesses. It does it every single time. Well, I'll tell you what's actually hurting small businesses and poor folks. When you have the rich in this country not paying their fair share, the ProPublica stories breaks that down. So I would love to see I would love to see Republicans actually. Hold on one second. I'm a finish and that you finish. I would love to see Republicans fully fund the IRS. So they're not auditing folks who are in the middle class but they're actually auditing the super rich

in this country. Even they admit they don't have the funds because they've been cut by Republicans. Republicans have cut their funds and not allowed them to do their job. It'd be nice if that happens. Let me ask you this question. Would you support that? Do you know when the most tax revenue

was ever raised in the history of the United States adjusted for inflation? Tell us when. It happened in 2018 ever raised in the history of the United States adjusted for inflation? Tell us when. It happened in 2018 and 2019. I sit on the budget committee, so I know the facts. The facts are the most tax revenue ever in the history of our country, both in dollar amount and as a percentage of the economy, happened in 2018 and 2019. What did the deficit you sit on the budget committee? No, no, no.

Since you sit on the budget committee, did, no, no. Since you sit on the budget committee, did the deficit under Trump increase in those same years? I said 2018 and 2019. I didn't even raise the name of who's president. No, no. I'm asking that also that a federal deficit increase in 2018, 2019. They did, but I'm not talking about tax policy. That's your question. You're talking about tax policy, right? But the tax policy, that tax cut actually contributed to the deficit increasing. And I thought Republicans are fiscal conservatives. That's not true. That's not true.

And you know that because, and here's the deal. Are you serious? Hold on. I'm very serious. Hold on. I just want to be clear. You're saying that the tax cut, the $3 million tax cut did not increase the federal deficit. You said that that's not true.

I'm going to make my point to you. Go ahead. If you look at what the estimates for what tax revenue were from the Congressional Budget Office under the Tax Cut and Jobs Act versus what tax revenue actually was from under the Tax Cut and Jobs Act, the federal government raised more money in revenue than CBO projected. So if you're going to project that tax revenue is going to be $2 billion, for argument's sake, and tax revenue is actually $2.5 billion, how is that a cut? Can you explain that to me?

How does that add to the deficit when you bring more money in than you expected to? This is a piece right here, a couple of things I want to show you that I think is critically important, where the folks at Forbes, not the most liberal publication, talked about the federal deficit and how the Trump's tax cuts did lead to an increase in the federal deficit. But also when you mentioned the issue about conservative and Affordable Care Act, this is what Forbes also said on more than one occasion. President Obama has said the core idea behind Obamacare came from the Heritage Foundation, and PolitiFact raised the claim as mostly true. Heritage Foundation ain't the most moderate group. That's a very conservative foundation. And so it looks like Democrats also took a Republican idea and made the Affordable Care Act.

So it's kind of conservative. Like I told you before, just because somebody puts their name on it from my side of the aisle doesn't mean I'm going to support. No, no, no, no, no, no. What you say it is you say it is just because a Republican put their name on. I'm not going to support it. You said, but I am a conservative. The Heritage Foundation is also a very right conservative foundation, right? I don't agree with the policy because I've actually worked in insurance for my career,

17 years, finance, banking and financial services and insurance. And if you run an insurance market that way, what you're going to have is what we do have. You're going to have policies and premiums that are too high for a lot of people to afford. So where is the Republican health plan? Where is it? Let me just finish it. I'm just asking, where is it? I've been looking for it. And then what you have is you have people who are trying to get the same insurance. They don't have the ability to afford it. So government has to come in with subsidies. When government comes in with subsidies, those are the things that actually add to the deficits that you were so concerned about from under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Also, this is again from the folks at Bloomberg who laid this out, that the Trump tax cuts did take a bite out of revenue in this country. And that it said in the two years since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 took effect on January 1st, 2018, the annual U.S. federal deficit has grown from $681 billion to a bit over $1 trillion, according to the Treasury Department. But those are the numbers there. Here's the deal here. I still would like to know, again, when you talk about being a part of the CBC, we'll see what they say. But what my audience is also asking here is they want to know specifically, not broad, not broad education. They would know specifically what things that you will support

that specifically has a direct impact on the black community. That's one of the things that they also want to know. If you're talking about police reform, criminal justice reform, health care, education policy, all those things have impacts on the black community. And the policies I support reforms that actually unleash education, unleash health care to be more vibrant, to have far more options, far more choices, and actually help black families or, frankly, any family for that matter, with respect to education specifically, have the purchasing power to go and find the environment that best suits their kids. If that doesn't help improve the lives of black families, it most certainly does. Because when you give a family a choice, or let alone a black family a choice, where they can actually find the environment that best suits the needs of their children, that's going to help their children thrive and succeed.

And I know you and I both want that. Well, first of all, I'm Sabant who co-founded School Choice is the Black Choice. That's not an issue for me. But what I also understand is that one of the fundamental problems that I do have with Republicans when it comes to education is what I'm seeing when it comes to textbooks, when it comes to this ridiculous thing they're doing, the attack on critical race theory, that's not even being taught in elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. It makes no sense. Even the bill that was passed in your state made no sense whatsoever because critical race theory is not taught in Florida schools. But again, we know critical race theory has become the boogeyman

for all issues dealing with race in education. And so, yeah, I got a whole bunch of issues when it comes to the Republican Party on education. And let's be real clear. I've also been very critical of Democrats when it comes to the issue of charter schools, magnet schools, school choice as well. And so, frankly, I think in a lot of ways, both parties are full of shit when it comes to education and they really don't care about the people, their agendas. You have the right who wants to take down teachers unions. Then, of course, you have the left who wants to support them. But it all comes down to what's right for the child. And I'm not I'm not I'm not sure that people are real about that.

Well, Congressman Donald's glad to have you on the show. Certainly welcome you back again. Unfortunately, a lot of your your white colleagues are too scared to come talk to a black owned media. I've offered a platform for more than a decade. Very, very few have actually accepted the opportunity. And so we'll see if they want to actually communicate with black folks and listen to them, they might want to come talk to black on media.

Listen, it was my pleasure to be here with you. Been watching you for a while. So, you know, I know you've been following a little bit of your career is my pleasure to be on. I know I'll be back on in the future. All right. Thanks a bunch. We appreciate it.

All right. You take it easy. Real quick, I want to go to my panel here. We have them back. And that is this here. Julianne, Makongo, and Michael, should the CBC allow Congressman Donalds into their ranks? That's the way it is hot monkey crazy. There's a nicer way to put this. Hold on. Hot monkey crazy? What is that?

That's the first. I ain't never heard that. What is that? What the hell is that? You're doing the interview. He's instructing you on how to do the interview. He doesn't answer any questions. He starts out by saying he doesn't believe in race-specific legislation. And he ends up by talking about the black community. Well, you know, enslavement was race-specific.

Let me be clear. It was very race-specific. Like I said, hot monkey crazy. You know monkey crazy. Heat it up a little bit. Hot monkey crazy. Very well spoken, obviously. They do train their Republicans well. But I can see why the Congressional Black Caucus don't want to fool with him. Because all he's going to do is come in there and throw a monkey wrench into operations. As it is, they don't all get along, which is fine. We don't expect them all to. But you've got, you know, the Blue Dogs, and you've got, basically, on the other end, the squad. Got it.

He's, like, to the right of the Blue Dogs. Go away, dude. Just go away. Omicongo? Nah, they shouldn't let him in. I mean, look, the question of Black Caucus has even had white members before, Senator Bill Cohen, if I'm correct. And so... No, actually, no Bill Cohen, if I'm correct. And so...

No, actually, no, no. Congressman Steve Cohen. Steve Cohen has tried to join, but he said by representing a mostly black district, but they told him no. Sorry. Thank you for that correction. He should not be brought in because, period, bottom line, he wants to come in and be a disruptor. And in a Republican Party where Mitch McConnell is focused on blocking anything that Democrats are trying to do, then he has no place there.

Michael? I mean, it's hard to want somebody in your organization that supports, basically, Mitch McConnell, Donald Trump, Speaker McCarthy, Congresswoman Taylor Greene. I mean, that's who he stands with. He's thumbs-upping with 45. I mean, that's who he stands with. He's thumbs-upping with 45. I mean, that's who he stands with. It's not about the Democrat-Republicans, because CBC has had Republican members, including the congressman from Connecticut, Congressman Frank. So they have had Republican members. That's not what this is. But he is so far out there. And it'd be hard, I'm sure, for some of the women members of the CBC to watch somebody walk in that supports 45 who is extremely disrespectful to some of the women CBC members.

It's just, you know, yeah, no, I don't think he should be part of the organization. If they don't want to have him, he shouldn't be in until he – I mean, the only – I mean, Roland, you laid it out. You gave him every opportunity to say which bills were important to him or how he voted. until he, I mean, the only, I mean, Roland, you laid it out. You gave him every opportunity to say which bills were important to him or how he voted. And the only thing he said he would support is Juneteenth. And I question that, because if Majority Leader, Minority Leader McCarthy called him and said,

look, I don't want you to vote for that, I don't think he has the backbone to stand up to the Minority Leader and say no, and I'm going to vote for it. So he's a bunch of baloney. All he is is he's too far, right? He's a Trump supporter that exit. Well again I don't kept talking about interrupting I gave opportunity to explain himself and answer the questions and so I won't have a baseline so people can actually hear Well themselves high and voted on those issues and so We'll see the CBC allows it. And so we'll see if the

CBC allows it in. And so we're certainly having back again to your point. You're right. Congresswoman Mia Love was a member of the CBC. You also had Gary Franks, as you're speaking of, who was a member. There were others who chose not to join. Congressman J.C. Watts chose not to join when he was there. Senator Tim Scott also chose not to join. So we'll see what happens. All right, folks, let's go to my man, Bill Duke. Set in 1955 in Detroit, his new movie is called No Sutton Move. It's about a group of small-time criminals hired to complete a heist when something goes terribly wrong. Take a look. You said a man wants to see me. Allie, I'm back. Can't come in here?

What, is he white? Oh, boy. So what's the score? You're sending a man that works in an office to pick something up. You are part of a babysitting team watching his family while he does that. Good morning. Everything is normal, except... What do you want?

Is that something you'd say, normal Monday? I'm gonna shoot you right now. Can I go home now? Wait at the house after. What do you mean after? Right off the yacht. What is going on? What's going on, big guy?

Yeah, what are we doing? We're following instructions. Are you helping me or are you not helping me? No, no, no, no. No, no, no, no. Thank you. Good setup, man. A guy called me, offering me $10,000 to turn you in.

15 for the white guy. Think you're the only one that can make a move? I can make a move, too. I have the keys. I'd like to listen to the radio. Oh! I'm gonna shoot you right now. Organized crime, like the mob.

Well, I guess that's the $64,000 question. Knock it off of your paychecks. It's been a long day. I'm gonna put this over you so I can relax. Thank you. You're welcome. You're having a good time. So, how'd it go?

We had a little slip up at work. I don't think that's the end of that. You chickened out? Oh. I'm gonna shoot you right now. The problem is you're not smart enough to know how not smart you are. Which makes you unpredictable. Which makes you untrustworthy.

Why are you doing this, man? Because I'm going to get what's mine. I'm sorry. I'm going to punch you now, sir. I'm punching you. This is going to be a punch. Boom, boom, boom. All right, folks.

It's great to see, of course, Don Cheadle joining us right now as the award-winning director and actor Bill Duke. Bill, what's up? Hey, my brother. How you been? Man, always glad to see you. Your movie, of course, made its debut at the Tribeca Film Festival. It was the centerpiece of the festival. It's going to be released on HBO Max exclusively on July 1st.

And so what made you interested in this script? It's a murder. It's like an action, a mystery. It's well-written. And when I saw the cast of people that were going to be with Don Cheadle and Matt Damon and all the rest of the great actors, I mean, I just wanted to be a part of it. That's all. And so, again, to be a part of it. And's all. And so, again, to be a part of it.

And so let folks know, Bill Duke ain't retired. You know, look, when it comes to acting, directing, you're still handling your business. Thank God, man. I'm still doing it. And, you know, God's been good. I mean, I'm still working and directing and acting. And as a matter of fact, I'm launching my own network online called Unite. I think I told you about that,

which is all you hear on news is bad news and dividing us as a culture and as a country. We report all the good news that's happening around the world. There are a lot of good people doing great things and we want to put that up. And with this particular move, you got a chance to also work with Steven Soderbergh. It's my third time. The first thing was the limeade, then High Flying Bird, and now this film. We did High Flying Bird, man. It's like really showed me a lot. You know, he filmed the entire film with

five iPhone 7 pluses. No, I remember. I actually talk about that movie a lot, and I actually watch it at least every couple of months to study it, because I tell people, again, what he did with that movie just using iPhones. And so I'm always looking at camera movements, lighting, all those different things. And like literally, I talk about that movie all the time. When he did the dolly shots, they rolled him around in the wheelchair, man. Yeah. I read a back story on it where he said that if I did not shoot this with an iPhone, I could not have gotten those shots, especially coming down the hallway as he was backing up

and then the character moves to the other side. I'll tell you, I read the stories. Then, of course, you have a line of that movie that's one of the best, which is that they invented a game on top of a gang. That's right. Exactly right. Exactly right.

But it's like, it's about gangsters. It's 1954. It's about gangs, and I play the OG of the black gang and our negotiations in terms of how not to kill each other but at the same time get what we want. All right then, I got questions from my panel. Julian, you're talking to the great Bill Duke. What's your question for him? Bill, first of all, congratulations on your film and all your work, your very story, career, and all that you've done. Roland asked you early on about why you are attracted to

this particular script and this particular film. How much of it is true and how much of it is fake? I mean, is this a real true story that occurred? And is the racial aspect of it the same as it was in 1955 when the story allegedly took place? Yes, it's based on a true story and you'll see the racial factors in it. But the thing is, I like the mystery of it. I like the fact that he reveals different aspects of it one little bit at a time. So he hooks you and carries you through, not only in terms of the story, but emotionally in terms of caring about the character. So it's well-structured.

It's got great character arc, great story arc, and that's why I wanted to be a part of it. Michael. Mr. Duke, it's an honor and a pleasure to talk to a legend. I have, and congratulations as well on your new film. I have an economics question. For us lay folks who are not involved in Hollywood, we obviously, when we go to a movie theater, pay whatever we're paying,

we understand how a film makes money. But now in this, obviously after the pandemic and films are being streamed, how do folks make money that way? Well, are you talking distribution-wise? Either way, how do you make money? How do the actors make money? Because again, folks aren't walking into a movie theater and laying their money down. I know. But they're laying their money down for, you know, memberships to different online networks. And so that's how they're basically making their money.

Also through ads that are being streamed on the networks also that are online. But, you know, in terms of actors, they pay us our, if you're a DGA member, they have to do DGA. If you're a DGA member, they have to do DGA. If you're a SAG member, they do SAG minimum or whatever. And whatever your agents can negotiate, it's the same game. In terms of negotiating salaries and your participation, that game has not changed. It's always been – it's called show business. And the business of it is not changing, my brother, believe me.

And so are you making the same amount that you would if movie theaters were open? More. Oh, wow. Okay. You know, because you know, the thing is, a movie theater is one thing, right? But check this out. Global distribution now is a push of a button. You know, remember before you had to open domestically, you know, and then international, and then DVDs or CDs or whatever it was, right? Now with the push of one button, all that's cleared,

and everybody can see it all over the world. When I first came along, you know, there was no Internet, brother. There was no social media. Do you guys remember the first cell phone? Yeah, that big ass brick. That big ass brick. Roland, do you remember how I thought I was so cool. I had one of the first ones and it was like a foot

wide, long, and then you had to get with a box. Remember those days? Yeah, yeah. Like damn near a tripod case. Well, things have changed, guys. You know what I'm saying? Absolutely. Omokongo, your question for Bill Duke. Mr. Duke, thank you

so much for everything you've done in your legendary career, most recently with Black Lightning, which I truly loved, And your work inspired my brother to become a screenwriter because he loves what you do. One of the questions that I have is, what do you think about the state of Black Hollywood coming out of, one, the pandemic, and two, the Oscar So White movement? Do you feel like coming out of both situations that there are more opportunities for black people in Hollywood or less?

That's a very good question. The total infrastructure has changed to a certain extent, but the ratio in terms of the number of films that come out with black folks in them, et cetera, it's changed to a certain extent, but it needs to increase. But I'm not concerned as much as that about that as because, you know, there are young people still coming to Hollywood waiting to be discovered. There are other cultures that are in Hollywood and because of social media, they're discovering themselves. If you look at Issa Rae, for example, she started

with webisodes. Now she's got her own programs on, you know, different TV stations, et cetera. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, been out for nine years, started off with webisodes. So what's holding us back is us. We're not understanding the business of the industry, how it's changed. We've gone from film and television into media. We need to study what are the opportunities global for us in media. And we need to really understand that the business has changed. It really has. All right, then. Bill Duke, we certainly appreciate it, man. I'm going to be coming to L.A. in August. And so

we'll hook up and then sit down and do a longer one-on-one interview with you. We'll talk about your book. Yep, I got it. We'll talk about that and some other stuff as well. And why are you wearing that Sigma hat? Because I knew you would ask a question.

Well, why? I mean, so is that like Phi Beta Sigma? Is that what that is? It's Sigma, brother. Come on. No, trust me. I don't hate on youth groups. Okay.

Let me ask you a question. One time you tried to tell me that you played bit of this. Is that true? No, to ghetto. No, I did not play bit with my parents. My parents love to play bit with. They told us we were young. We were too young to learn.

They never taught us and I know I know, you know, you think you you think you think the bit with Godfather, but don't let me have to remind people that ass-whooping you took at Vanessa Bell Calloway's house from from Brandi's mama and her daddy. I let them win because the students I teach, I encourage them. That's why they won. I just want everybody to know,

I had one of my famous dinner parties at Vanessa Bell Calloway House. And when we did the one at the Farquhar's house, Bid was over there. He was the Bidwist master. I'm going to teach everybody how to play. And, y'all, he was going through this sort of stuff. But then we got to Vanessa's house for the next dinner party. All I know is I heard a loud commotion outside.

And all I heard was Brandi's mama. Like, just popping cards. Just like, bam. And Bill was silent as hell. She cheated. Bill sounded just as silent as hell. Bill looked... Bill sounded just as silent as Sigma and Omega silent

and Alf was winning the step show. That's how silent he was. Next time I'm going to beat it until she confesses the things she didn't do wrong. Right. Okay. All right. All right. Don't let me have to go and do a throwback and say, you know you fucked up, right? Oh!

No, you didn't. No, you didn't. Yes, I hit you with one of your top five famous movie lines of all time. You know you fucked up, right? Gotcha. Gotcha. No, you got me that time. That's okay.

Payback is horrible. You walked right into that one. Gotcha. Payback is horrible you got me that time. That's okay. I'm going to pay back because it's horrible. You walked right into that one. Gotcha. Pay back is horrible, man. All right, Bill. I appreciate it, my man. Thanks a lot. God bless you, man.

It's my pleasure, man. Thank you so much, okay? Thank you very much. All right, y'all. No Sudden Move will make its debut Friday at the Tribeca Film Festival at the centerpiece of the festival. And as I said, it's going to be released on HBO Max exclusively on July 1st. Y'all know what time it is!

No charcoal grills are allowed. I'm not a new girl. I'm white. I got you, girl. Illegally selling water without a permit. On my property. Whoa! Hey! Hey, grandpa!

Give me your eyes! You don't live here. I'm uncomfortable. All right, if y'all don't know that Bill Duke line, just go on to YouTube and type it in. All right, y'all. When, Lord have mercy. So y'all know how these black delivery drivers have been being accosted by these crazy white people

all over the country. Well, let's just say when this white guy in San Francisco rolled up on this brother, he learned real quickly he done rolled up on the wrong bro. Please get out of my face. Put your mask on. There you go. I'm outside.

I don't need a mask. What the fuck do you want? I want identification. Who are you? Who the fuck are you? Why do I why do you think that I have to answer your fucking questions? Why do you think that I have to answer your questions, dude? So who are you with? It's none of your business.

It's none of your business. Get out of my way. Who are those address? Don't worry about what the fuck I'm doing. Get out of my face. Every time I come around here, motherfuckers like you make my job harder. Please get out of my face, dude. But you haven't identified your side. That's none of your business. Why do I have to get? Why do you think that I have to identify myself? You ain't seeing nothing. You ain't seeing nothing. Don't worry about who I'm with. It's none of your business.

Who are the boxes addressed to? You really going to do this? What's your name? Let's see some identification. What's your name? What's your address? Pull it out. Come on.

You live right there, right? Let's go over there and see what your address is. Since you got something to say about it. Right? That's what you want to do? You want to ask for identification? You're the one in the neighborhood. Yeah, that's right.

So what? It's a free fucking tree, ain't it? You did this. Don't start shaking and crying. What's your name? What's your name what's your name buddy John John what that's all you get John what John what you come over here asking for identification John John what I don't give a fuck fuck you and you're missing packages you think I'm crying over that shit John what you want to ask for identification?

Where's your fucking identification? Nah, it's good. I'll one-up that. Good. Go fucking look for a police officer, you pile of shit. Don't think I don't know why you came over here and stopped me. Because you think I belong in another neighborhood, right? Fuck yourself.

You're why. You are why people get killed and end up on the fucking news. You pile of shit. You're the fucking reason why. Fuck you. Oh yeah, me? Go in there. This is where this asshole lives. When I first came on this street, he hollered at me from that window right there. He asked me what I'm doing. I told him none of his business, and he came down here and wanted to talk to me. So now we're going to talk. 2255 Clay Street. Bit off more than you can chew, didn't you?

Good. Good for you. You heard about the Karen Act, right? So good luck with that. Who's really breaking the law? Good thing you did this, huh? Good thing this is how you woke up in the morning and decided what to do. This is what you decided to do with your day. What's your last name, John? Hey, John, what's your last name, John? Hey, John, what's your last name?

What's your last name, John? Call them now. You should call them. For what? Tell me what you're calling them for. Oh, now it's harassment. Before, it was because I was walking down the street. Now I'm harassing you. Didn't you call for me from that fucking window right there?

Didn't you call mine? Didn't you call for me? I was across the street. You called out to me. I didn't come over here looking for you. Don't harass me, okay? Hey, no, no, no. Call the cops.

Call the cops, please. Please, call the cops. You fucked up. No, because you're an asshole and this is why people fucking die. Motherfuckers that look like me die because of motherfuckers that look like you. Have you not opened up a fucking newspaper? Can you not look around and see what the fuck is going on because of this bullshit right here?

Fuck that shit. Fuck that shit, man. And now motherfuckers like me, ha ha, got little fucking handhold recording devices in our pockets. So bullshit assholes like you can't get away with the bullshit you'd be pulling anymore. So go ahead, call the fucking cops. Call the fucking cops, man. You already said you're going to call them, right? I'm not evading. I'm not leaving the scene of a crime. That's what you said you're going to do, right'm not evading i'm not leaving the scene of a crime that's what you said you're gonna do right so call the cops it's none of your business you shouldn't have stepped on my toes in the first place and a younger me would have beat your ass but i'm not gonna do that call the cops call the cops

call the cops man that's what you said did you call the cops that's what you said right you're threatening the cops? That's what you said, right? You're threatening the police on me. No, I'm telling you that if you don't stop threatening me, I'm gonna call the police. Threatening you with what? With words of truth? Does the truth get on your fucking nerves? Look at my face.

Look at my face. Yep, that's me. We already got your fucking face on camera. You scared you're going to lose your job now? Your fucking billion dollar funding? Don't nobody feel bad for you. Don't nobody feel bad for you. Fuck out of here, man.

You're living up in your fucking mansion bothering me. I'm a hardworking man. What the fuck do you do for a living? You sit on your ass and type behind... You sit on your ass and type behind a computer, huh? So then why, why is it your business? Because I ordered something. Oh, now it's because you ordered something. A second ago it was because I was, I might be a pork pirate, but now it's because you fucking ordered something. You came out of your fucking living room across the streets of

where the fuck I was at. Fuck that. You called the cops, right? Did you call the cops? Did you call the cops? Are you going to call them? Fuck out of my face, man. You mean you fucking clown. Dear Pack Heights. Hey, everybody.

I'm not here to steal shit. You fucking happy now? I'm not here to steal shit, you fucking rich assholes. You ain't got nothing fucking better to do. Why don't you go for a fucking hike? Go do something fucking, go do something good with your money. Huh? How about that? Go do something good with your fucking money, man. Go do something positive instead of sitting in your sitting in your castle recording me making an ass out of yourself we didn't have to do none of this we didn't have to do none of this at all i've been here all my life 30 years i've been in this city

right here and every time i come around here a that looks like you got a problem with a that looks like me you think that's that's that's coincidence you ain't got nothing to say now do you do you you gotta bother me while i'm doing my fucking job a hard honest work living like you assholes always hey get a job i got a job right you motherfuckers still fucking with me so what now now i know a lot of y'all look a lot of curse will go on that video there but michael bomb liners is here this is this is how you turn that thing oh now all of a sudden you want to come at me now all of a sudden you want to check my packages uh and so that brother there went at that at that bigot he knew exactly what he was doing he was trying to challenge that brother there went at that bigot. He knew exactly what he was doing. He was trying to challenge that brother,

why are you in the neighborhood? And then let me look at the packages, say what? He went all in. Good for him for doing so. And one question I have, Roland, relative to usually on your videos, the white person who's acting like a clown gets fired or loses his job. Do we know if that happened to him?

Don't know. We're still waiting to find out what happens here. But Julian, my boy put his address out there, showed the building. He let everybody know. But I love how John wanted his information, but then didn't want to give up his own information. Oh, 2150 Clay Street, y'all.

Part of the most, one of the most affluent neighborhoods in San Francisco. Flood his mailbox. Send him letters saying, fool, what wrong with you? I was just cracking up. Brother man was time enough for it. You talk about time enough. He was time enough for him. He was not backing down. He was not taking anything. And that's how it's supposed to be. All too often, what we do as Afro-descended people is that we fade. We don't necessarily give it back like we got it for obvious historical reasons. But this brother was totally, he was Roland Martin unfiltered.

Yeah, he was unfiltered. I'm a Congo. He said, a young of me would have beat your ass, but I ain't going to do that because I'm older. He also got that Bill Duke line as well at one point. And so this goes back to what we were talking about with the police in the first segment. Folks are tired, and they're going to start turning on these folks and giving it right back as good as they're getting.

And these guys need to be exposed, and they need to all be put on blast to let them know that we are not having it. You can only deal with so much of this, Roland. And he spoke for so many of us in what he did in that video. Period.

It's crazy, folks. In Tennessee, we got another crazy story. In Tennessee, when two teens painted a rainbow on a bridge, this was called Pride Month for folks who are LGBTQ. This is a space where the community uses it as a free speech space. Well, this white woman here, she was not happy. She just let loose, not just with a spray can, but a mouth.

Okay. Okay. Go. Goodbye. Oh, no, you're going to stay here. Okay, good. No, I'm taking over. Nice. I got just as much right as you no you do actually i have more damn right because you know what i work i pay taxes we paid for the spray paint yeah we were born here too pretty sure my english is better than yours. Oh, yeah.

I think my English is just fine because you're understanding exactly everything I'm saying, right? I'm sick of you all's shit. Y'all are just constantly, it's constantly something. Always trying to stand out. Make a big freaking scene. If y'all would shut up. We're making a scene. We're making a scene. We're making a scene. Just like when I passed.

We bothered no one. Why? Look, because all you want to do is express. These bridges have been tainted for how many years and now you're going to come over here and ruin our stuff? Why? You don't like each other? Are you confused?

Yeah, this is my girlfriend. Yeah, it's your girl. Well, the woman is Tabitha Dardot-Travis. She's an employee of Blount Memorial's Wellness Center in Maryville, Tennessee. She also teaches aqua aerobic classes for the Maryville-Alcoa-Blount County Parks and Recreation Department. A lot of folks have been tweeting Blount Memorial for the last few days, and they really have not addressed this issue.

We are talking about Tennessee on Macongo. We are talking about Tennessee on the Congo. We are talking about Tennessee. I mean, this is the place that when Dr. King was assassinated, people were celebrating. JFK was assassinated. People in Tennessee were talking about the N-word lover is dead. So as we see that,

this ignorance is just ridiculous. And when it's directed at teens like that, this is sad. And Blunt Memorial needs to be put on blast because you can't have this. This is abusive. And people just think that just because people may not use their fists in certain ways,

this is verbally abusive. This is abusive to who these young people are. And the ignorance is at such a high level that everybody in Tennessee should be embarrassed and they should all be put on Blunt Memorial on blast because she has no business being employed there or as an Aqua anything instructor. She has no business around people.

This is monstrous. I'm just like, y'all, seriously? You got that much time? You mad because they painted a rainbow? Really, you that mad? Really? Right. Julianne? She's that ill.

What it is is she's that ill. It's not about being mad. It's about being ill. What you have, what that previous president did was unleashed a whole lot of hate. Michael Brown was right in the previous segment. He said he didn't start it, but he definitely exacerbated it. And so you have people who don't mind using the N-word. You have people who don't mind making anti-gay GBLTQIA comments. There was one case very recently where a woman did pride cookies, and one of her customers then canceled a very large order,

which had already been prepared, because she said that she was promoting gay propaganda. So we've got people who just, they feel like they can say anything out of their mouth. And Omicron goes right. This is abuse. This is abusive. These are young people who are developing sexual identity and don't need to be shamed because of who they are.

Okay, first of all, it's like, Michael, for me, it goes beyond even just the young people. Y'all, you tripping on, it's like, Michael, for me, it goes beyond even just the young people. Y'all, you tripping on... It's paining. Really? I got a lot of stuff better to do for me than run around with a can of spray paint painting over stuff. Really? That's what, like, the dumbass people

are sitting there trying to paint over Black Lives Matter signs. Man, take your silly ass on. Well, I think one of the teenagers even mentioned during the whole incident that you've probably, you've walked, they were saying to this lady, you've walked by this wall a million times and it hasn't bothered you at all. Now all of a sudden it's bothering you.

Because again, as America is changing, folks like her can't handle it. They don't want it, don't like it. And as long as they feel emboldened, because now you're right, now that they've said, now I can do these things, what can happen? Yeah, I could lose my job, especially if Roland Martin puts it on his little video show. That's what they're, of course, thinking, and that could be a deterrent. But the only real deterrent, that's a main one, of course.

You don't want to lose your job. I'm sure they don't. But the culture of who we are as Americans have to change, and acceptance of America, not necessarily that it's being browned, but what America is. It's always been a melting pot. And for whatever reason, a lot of white folks don't see it as a strength. They see it as a weakness.

And until that kind of turns, and obviously the last four years had a lot to do with that, I think we're going to see more and more of these instances. Lord, people are absolutely out of their minds. All right, y'all, that's it. I appreciate it. We're a little longer than normal, but thank you so very much for sticking around with us.

I'm a Congo, Julian, Michael, Julian. Again, congratulations on your new gig. Heading out west. First of all, what city is that? L.A., California State University at Los Angeles. Okay. It's only the second school of ethnic studies in the country. So it's an exciting opportunity.

All right. Well, congratulations. They should be paying you enough to get a big-ass house, so we'll be looking for a house party. We're letting you know right now we're coming to L.A. Don't even try. I don't want to hear it. A house party.

But, Roland, what I want from you is a lecture. I want you to come to my campus and give me a lecture. I don't want you to charge me them Speaker Bureau fees. Oh, well, see, you clearly just messed up. You better go to the... Wait, but hold it. You the damn dean. You over the budget. I'm the dean, but not the president. Well, go to the president and say,

Mr. President, I'm going to need y'all to set some money aside for Roland Martin to come on through because that's how he got to pay for Roland Martin unfiltered. That's all I'm saying. Hey, y'all, y'all out there, y'all want to support

what we do, please do so. Join our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar you get goes to support this show. Makes it possible for us to be able to broadcast from Henry, give me a wide shot. Y'all can already see

we are breaking down our space. Just zoom the camera out. So normally, y'all, I got monitors over here. No, literally, we are breaking the office space down. We are moving out of this studio, moving to a new studio. Of course, we will be moved in July 1st. We got to be out of here in the next 17 days. And so we're going to be real busy doing that.

Again, y'all can support us in what we do by joining our Bring the Funk fan club, Cash App, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered, PayPal.me, forward slash RMartinUnfiltered, Venmo.com, forward slash RMUnfiltered. Zell is Roland at RolandSMartin.com, Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Folks, thank you so very much. I will see you guys tomorrow right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Oh! I know a lot of cops.

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. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated I get right back there and it's bad.

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that in a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios.

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. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers,

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