#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Sen. Harris stumps in FL; KY AG Cameron: Keep evidence sealed; MI absentee ballot deadline upended

Episode Date: October 20, 2020

10.19.20 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Sen. Kamala Harris stumps in FL; Florida is trying to push former felons off the voter rolls; KY AG Daniel Cameron: Keep Breonna Taylor grand jury evidence sealed; Absentee ballot deadline overturned by Michigan court; Eddie Glaude, Jr is here today to talk about his new book, 'Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own' + Patti Austin, Sheila E, Brenda Russell and Terri Lyne Carrington are here to talk about Twist 2020...a new voter initiative.Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered #RolandMartinUnfiltered Partner: Ceek Whether you’re a music enthusiast or an ultra-base lover. CEEK’s newly released headphones hear sound above, below and from multiple directions unlike traditional headphones where users only hear sound from left and right speakers. Be the first to own the world's first 4D, 360 Audio Headphones and mobile VR Headset. Check it out on www.ceek.com and use the promo code RMVIP2020 #RolandMartinUnfiltered is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. 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 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war.

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Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Today is Monday, October 19th, 2020, coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Senator Kamala Harris back on the campaign trail in Orlando. Today, we'll show you a clip from her speech and talk with Tennessee State Senator about early voting. Florida's trying to push former felons off the voting rolls.

We'll talk about it with Desmond Meade, president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, and I'm rocking their Let My People Vote shirt today. In Michigan, a court overturned an extension that allowed absentee ballots to be received two weeks after election day. And in Kentucky, Attorney General Daniel Cameron is still trying to keep evidence sealed in the Breonna Taylor grand jury case. Eddie Glott Jr. is here today to talk about his new book, Begin Again, James Baldwin's America and its Urgent Lessons for Our Own, plus new anti-Trump ads to show you. Plus, Patty Austin, Sheila E., Brenda Russell, and Terry Lynn Carrington are here to talk about Twist 2020, a new voter initiative.

And also, the Alphas have put together a great new video about voting, targeting black men, put together by Benny Boone, the movie director. Y'all, it's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Let's go. He's rolling. It's Uncle Roro, y'all. It's rolling Martin, yeah.

Rolling with rolling now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best, you know he's rolling, Martin. Martin. Vice President of Canada, Senator Kamala Harris, traveled to Orlando and Jacksonville, Florida today to campaign for the state's first day of in-person voting. It was her first public appearance since isolating after a passenger on a campaign flight and one of her campaign aides tested positive for coronavirus. She

participated in an early voter launch drive-in rally in Orlando and also made an appearance in Jacksonville for a voter mobilization event. Here is her speaking in Orlando. Oh, look at what my eyes behold. Today, I had to come here on the kickoff of early voting in Florida because y'all are going to make it happen. You will make it happen. What you will do here in Florida, in Orlando, what you will do by early voting is you will be the first to put our country back on the right track. It is you. You will do that. He knew it was airborne. But what did he do?

He kept that information to himself. I call it a cover-up. And now we look at where we are, and we are in the midst of four crises happening at the same time, in the moment where we are also witnessing the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of America. There is so much on the ballot in 2020. Justice is on the ballot in 2020. Economic justice is on the ballot in 2020. Climate justice is on the ballot in 2020.

Healthcare justice is on the ballot in 2020. Reproductive justice is on the ballot in 2020. Healthcare justice is on the ballot in 2020. Reproductive justice is on the ballot in 2020. Criminal justice reform is on the ballot in 2020. Climate reform is on the ballot in 2020. Everything is on the ballot in 2020. Joe Biden is on the ballot in 2020. We know we need a change. And a change is coming.

You know, when we see these examples of people trying to make it difficult for folks to vote and it's happening all over the country, people trying to suppress the vote. Donald Trump trying to confuse people about the integrity of our voting system, trying to suggest that you can't trust it. Right. But we know better. And we know when somebody's trying to play us. We know when someone see is trying to pull the wool over our eyes, trying to discourage us, trying to deflate our enthusiasm, trying to suggest to us that we don't matter. We can see that. We know that. That's not new to us. And in the face of these moments, we ask ourselves then a question, why are so many powerful people trying to get in the way of us voting? Why are these powerful people trying to suggest we can't trust the system, putting in place laws that are designed to suppress the vote, trying to purge the voter rolls, trying to make it difficult. Why are they doing that? And the answer, of course, we know is this, because they know when we vote, we win.

When we vote, we change things. We make it better. We know our power. We know our power. They know our power. They know our power and we know our power. And that's why we're all here today, because we know our power. And folks, that is going to be a huge part of this election. Joining us right now is Tennessee State Senator Ramesh Akbari, co-chair of Tennessee Future Caucus. Glad to have you on Roland Martin Unfiltered. This is going to be obviously, look, forget all the polls right now. It's going to be a close election. I'm looking at a New York Times story right now showing that Republicans are seeing significant gains in three critical states. What is what is that you heard Senator Harris right there? What are you also saying seeing there in Tennessee to get people to understand every vote

does count. People can't simply assume they're leading in the polls. It's all good. I can just rest. Well, we're working really hard. I think that people are excited. Over 95 percent of the folks who voted early last go around have already voted. So it's a big deal. We're letting them know, listen, it's important to vote for the top of the ticket for Biden-Harris. But there are also down ballot races that we're depending on their vote as well. And obviously, messages are important, but also I think it's critical to be very specific when it comes to policy. You heard Senator Harris there saying, this is on the ballot, this is on the ballot, this is on the ballot. And that to me, I think is really, really, really important for people to understand.

You have to link policy with voting. Otherwise, voting for the sake of it, that's not going to get a disaffected person. No, you're right. It's not enough to say, well, vote because your ancestors fought for it or vote because you are a Democrat or this is the most important election of our lifetime. You have to focus on issues. So in our case, health care is on the ballot. What real plan does Donald Trump have for Black folks? I mean, he has parted out the platinum plan, but that's not something that's realistic. What has he done while he's been in office for HBCUs? I mean, these are things that we have to focus on. A woman's right to choose. Those all sorts of things are on the ballot. Do you want someone who mocks those who protest, who stand up and say, enough is enough, I can't breathe? Or do you want to vote for a candidate that understands that our

best days are still ahead of us, that we don't need to go back to a time where folks' voices were not able to be heard. And certainly at a bare minimum, understands that you have to have integrity and honesty when you're in the office of the presidency. Obviously, we are seeing with us two weeks away, 15 days away, how this is going down. So I'm very curious to see they're in Tennessee. You got a sister who's running for the United States Senate, but you also have people who's in Tennessee. I've heard people in Tennessee and Alabama who say, you know what, look, this is a red state. It's a waste of our time. But I keep arguing, if you never make any effort to vote, never make any effort to run

candidate statewide, you definitely got no shot at winning. Exactly. I mean, if you don't vote, if you don't field a candidate, we have no opportunity to win. I'm in the state Senate. I'm the Senate Democratic caucus chair. We have a small caucus, but we have folks running in every single district. We have to show up and show out and let folks know, hey, there are more Democrats in these red states than it's been made to see. We're not as red as we seem. We're just gerrymandered that way. 44% of the folks who voted in the last statewide election in Tennessee voted for the Democrat. So our state house and state legislature is gerrymandered. But if you turn out and vote,

look in Alabama with Doug Jones, it will make a difference. You just have to do it. And don't take your own vote for granted and your voice for granted because you think other folks. Well,, speaking of that, when you talk about Doug Jones, I mean, he was on my show on Friday, showed polling data with his race 48-47. Other people said, oh my God, he's automatically going to lose down 10-12%. But again, he's running hard, exposing the weaknesses of Tommy Tuberville. That's what you are supposed to do. Exactly. I mean, he's running hard. He's saying, this is my platform. This other guy, he's an old retired football coach. He's just someone that the Republicans threw into office. And I think you see that across the South.

Look at Mike Espy in Mississippi. He's working as hard as he can. And the polls have tightened. Look at Jamie Harrison in South Carolina running against Lindsey Graham. That's a race that's winnable. So I think in the beginning, folks took it for granted, and they thought it was just almost a novelty that these candidates were stepping up to run in these majority red states. But I'll tell you, folks are fed up. I've talked to several independents just today that said, listen, I've been a Republican.

I've been an independent. I don't like what's going on on this other side, and I'm going to vote for a Democrat. And I think it's anecdotal, but you hear that across the country and across the South. So I say run as hard as you can because you just don't know what's going to happen on November the 3rd.

One of the things that, maybe you could help me with this here, and I'm just totally confused by it. Donald Trump has consistently talked about what he's done for black people. He mentioned First Step Act. He mentions these things. I don't understand why Democrats aren't embracing the First Step Act themselves. It passed by a Democratic House. It was strengthened by Democrats in the Senate. And it's as if, well, because he signed it, I don't want to campaign. I'm going, why are you giving this guy all of this runway on an issue that does not happen unless Democrats make it happen in the House?

It makes no sense to me. I mean, that's true. I think part of the reason might be because the Democrats, we don't think that it went far enough. But certainly that was a tremendous achievement and it could not have happened without it. It didn't go far enough, but it still was something that has led to the decrease in prison population on the federal level. My deal is you take advantage, you take credit for something you did. I agree. Like you said, it couldn't have passed without Democrats voting for it. So I agree wholeheartedly. And it's not embracing Donald Trump. It's embracing the concept of the legislation and the real impact that it's had on folks' lives. He's the one that's painting and parading it around as if it's something that he did. But like you said, without the Democrats in the House, it could have never happened.

Absolutely. Well, look, it's going to be a very close election. I keep telling people, don't believe any of these polls. Do what you have to do to vote. Register, vote, because that will determine who wins and who loses. Not a single poll. Exactly. Do not listen to the polls. We were all fooled in 2016 listening to the polls. You have to vote black men, black women, young, old, it does not matter if this is your first election. I tell folks in my district, in my community, take your friends, take your family, take your enemies. It does not matter. Just be safe.

Mask up. Make sure you bring your ID if you're required to do that. And cast your ballot. Have your voice heard. People, it would not be so powerful and so important. People would not be trying to block it. So do your part. Make sure that you are not ignored. All right. Tennessee State Senator Ramesh Akbar. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Oh, yeah. My pleasure. All right, folks. Here are a

new round of viral ads targeting Donald Trump as we go down to these final, final 15 days of this election. We are Latino men and women in business. We're proud to be part of the greatest country on the earth, the United States of these Americas. We pay our taxes, vato. We serve our military, our familias, and our communities. We don't dodge trabajo duro. And we don't dodge the military, you see. And we don't dodge taxes.

So why would we vote for a tax dodger? A draft dodger. And a man with no regards for our familias. This election, we're dodging you, pinche Trump. ¿Qué nos crees? Pendejos. Pues, órale. The Lincoln Project is responsible for the content of this advertising. This is the most important and crucial period of your lives. I'm watching people get involved for the first time.

Or they're waking up to the fact that I need to be involved after a very long time This moment is too important to sit out If the election were today Frank would you vote for Donald Trump? No way. It couldn't happen. No. Flection in a window and didn't know my own face Gonna leave me wasting away I saw my reflection in a window and didn't know my own face. Still get the one. Gonna leave me wasting away in the streets of Philadelphia. I walked the air. We cannot sustain this for another four years.

Felt like stone. I heard voices of friends vanished and gone. That night I could hear the blood in my veins. The opioid crisis is unrelenting in Pennsylvania. On the streets of Philadelphia. Anybody who says they want to bring steel back to life gets my vote. Anybody who says they're going to bring steel back is full of it. Ain't no angel gonna greet me.

It's just you and I, my friend. And my clothes don't fit me no more I walk a thousand miles just to slip this scheme The night is falling, I'm blinded by the way I feel myself fading away Before Trump got elected, he said, I can feel myself fading away. So receive me. Before Trump got elected, he said, this is the guy who's going to do it for us.

And now they realize it's not true. We've got to pull back and get our country back together. Go to the polls on the 3rd of November and vote your convictions. Hate crimes in the U.S. jumped again. The El Paso attack was the deadliest Remember and vote your convictions. Part of the problem is nobody wants to hurt each other anymore. More than 50 criminal cases where Donald Trump was explicitly invoked in relation to violent acts. When you see these caravans, this is an invasion. A racist manifesto posted claimed this attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas. The president and his words appearing in scores of police reports and courtrooms. The irresponsible

rhetoric of our president, who has used the pulpit of the presidency to divide us by race and color, has made America a more dangerous environment than, frankly, I have ever seen. Real American Package, responsible for the content of this advertising. Most of us never voted for a Democrat in our lives. Never thought about it. Because most of us are lifelong Republicans. But we're Americans first. We understand the character and experience and frankly, the empathy required for leadership. Because we've seen it firsthand when we all served with the 43rd president.

But come Election Day, every last one of us on this team is voting for Biden. Let's put Joe Biden in the White House. He'll be a solid 46. All right, folks, that last ad there is quite an interesting one. It's going to my panel, Dr. Cleo Monago, political analyst, Dr. Julianne Malveaux, economist, president emerita, Bennett College, and Teresa Lundy, principal founder of TML Communications. It's very interesting, Teresa, when you look at, you got these never Trumpers, these Republicans are putting out these ads,

the former folks, former staffers of Donald Trump, and this group of alumni of President George W. Bush talking about Joe Biden. I mean, it's amazing how Donald Trump is pissed off just a wide swath of people in this country. You know, I would say it's as shocking, but we also have to remember that, you know, I've always called him the marketer in chief versus the president because his actions have been one of a phenomenal advertiser. He's one that knows how to invoke a reaction. One knows how to start a war. And essentially just privilege in America. So I'm not actually surprised, but I am surprised that I probably, you know, those who have worked on campaigns for a long time allow someone like him to get into office.

But I do believe that it unraveled a lot of things that what was happening in this country. And it's, you know, showing through his actions. What we're seeing here, Julianne, is, again, when you start looking at polling numbers, when you start looking at where folks are falling, you've got Republicans who typically are strong on defense, you know, intelligence, things along those lines, who are just shocked and stunned at how this man attacks the intelligence community, blows off scientists when it comes to coronavirus. Just forget any norm whatsoever. And we're seeing how this has

been a motivating factor. People always said, oh, no, hate is not a motivating factor when it comes to the ballot box. We're seeing that in a lot of places across the country, the sort of turnout in early voting. There are people who despise this man and Republicans who have stood by and allowed him to destroy this country. If the Republican Senate had the backbone of these 43 alums, we would not be in the situation that we're in now. The fact of the matter is that the Republican Senate has allowed this man not only to trample over all of our rights, but to nearly ruin our

international reputation. Wherever you go in the world, people are laughing at us. You know, if you elect a clown, expect a circus. And that's what we are right now. This is the circus of the United States. And so these ads are very effective, but I hope that none of us get so complacent as to say, oh, Republicans are going to vote for Biden, so I don't have to. Everybody has got to vote. The real issue here is that we need everybody, all souls, as they say, to the polls. We need people to get out there. But the ads against Trump, many of them are very skillful, some astonishing, but they're reminding us that this man has been the divider in chief.

Again, what we're seeing, Cleo, here, we're seeing a level of intensity we have not seen in quite some time. We're looking at places. Travis County, Texas, announced 97% of eligible residents there registered to vote. They've never had that high of a number. We are seeing the kinds of lines all over the country. We're seeing places have turnout they have not seen ever. That again, no one can't say whether that is for Trump, whether that is for Biden, but they are able to see, again, the level of intensity from particular areas when it comes to in Harris County, for instance, 55 percent of all folks voting thus far are women.

And we look at polling data. Trump is doing much more poorly among women than he did in 2016. If you believe the polls, like you said a moment ago, we can't really rely on those polls yet. But one thing you also said earlier, Roland, first of all, hello, how are you? It's good to see you. It's good to see you, Dr. Melville. It's good to see all of you. It's going to be a tight race. And given how horrible reports are about Trump and how he actually can be, it's interesting and ironic that still it's likely going to be a tight race. Like I said on your show in 2019, and I saw a lot of this happening with Kamala Harris a moment ago when he showed that footage, beating up on Trump is not going to be enough. Talking about how bad Trump is will not be enough to sway people to be motivated to go and vote against him. The Democratic Party needs more

policies. You raised a very good point earlier when you talked about the prison reform issue that Trump takes credit for. And you asked, well, why don't the Democratic Party step up and look at the fact that they were very much responsible for that? Well, there's some timidness in the Democratic Party because the Democratic Party, in my opinion, plays PC games and paralyzes itself with trying to come out not being racist and being so aggressive that sometimes they make no sense and their message is not clear. And I just heard all those ads that you played, and the Latino ad that began was very interesting. They literally cussed.

He called Trump a pinche bendejo. That means a, well, it's a serious cuss word. They're really reaching. It's a cuss. I don't know if y'all know he called him, but it ain't no joke. I know what he said. That's why I ran it. Look, I've long

argued there should be an ad. The Democrats should have had either Sam Jackson or Jennifer Lewis do an ad called this mother... That's damn that what he did. I know that.

But I want to say real quickly and just reiterate that the Democratic Party, if they want to win with a massively, they're going to have to do some stuff because even this thing that happened with Ice Cube has created even more resentments and confusion and people not knowing what to do

because the brother said he wants a Black agenda and he was very explicit about that and he's being beat up instead by too many people instead of people honoring what he explicitly said he wanted for Black folks. And this is going to be interesting. I'm still running into brothers who don't know what to do and brothers who plan on voting for Trump.

But here's the deal, though. Here's the deal, though. You talk about the policies. They have the policies. My point is, and this is a piece that people don't seem to understand because the average person doesn't get this, Teresa. And that is, you can't say, well, Democrats, y'all ain't done a damn thing. Democrats control the House. They do not control the Senate.

They have passed upwards of 400 bills in the House that Mitch McConnell will not bring up. I'm saying to Democrats, you have to be specific about the bills. You have to say, hey folks, we did our job. We put these bills up. Senator Kamala Harris and Senator Cory Booker has to be able to say, hey, I can propose a bill all day, but as long as we are in the minority in the Senate, we can't actually get it passed. The bills are there. The policy is there. What I'm arguing, Teresa, communicate, message that. Don't just say we passed 400 bills. Say we passed this bill that will help your health care. This bill that will help the environment. This bill that will do a mass incarceration.

This bill that will deal with this. bill that will do a mass incarceration this bill that will deal with this if you don't do that the average person don't know and you know what you're absolutely right especially you know someone like me who is in the business of communication and messaging you don't know how important it is um for me to kind of tell people it's important for you to educate yourself about what the bills are i I think that is the best strong suit for the House representatives is to tout their record on a daily basis. Not just one time when they pass it, not put out one press release, but continuous outpouring so people actually internalize what they've done. And then they wouldn't have so many issues when it's time for their own re-election. Understanding that they do control the House and not the Senate should also entice people that they need to flip more seats. And thus, it goes back into the

education portion of how do we flip those seats? Who's vulnerable? Who's up for the next election? But the talking points would have already been in everyone's mindset of who's been doing the work and how it impacts their lives. So education, information is power, not just a one-time cycle, but during an entire year or even a season of, you know, not waiting to the last minute of election season, but getting to the point early on when it's needed. Look, at the end of the day, you have to speak. Look, Julianne, if somebody is criticizing you, then what you have to do is listen to what they're saying. And then you counter that argument.

For instance, that was his video of his ignorant fool who is a MAGA supporter. And she was going off on black people and blasting them saying, how dare y'all criticize Ice Cube? And then she starts talking about all the stuff that Trump has done. She was lying. She was absolutely lying. And so I called her out and I said, bring your ass to my show. I'm like, if you, if you actually believe it, bring your ass to my show and we can talk about what you said. She lied about the whole issue when it comes to HBCUs and the black unemployment issue. What I am saying, that's, that's what Democrats have to do. It's very interesting in the Democratic primary debates, Joe Biden was very aggressive with the other candidates

by saying, I did that, I did that, I did that, I did that. To me, on Thursday night, he must do the same thing. I did do this, I did do this, this and this. And when I'm president, I'm going to do this, this, this. Be very specific for those folks who are straddling the fence. Well, you know, I think that Cleo made a really important point about the timidity in the Democratic Party. And we see it all the time. I mean, Democrats are not tooting their own horn. They should be. McConnell should be getting confronted literally hourly. When you look at the HEROES Act that Nancy Pelosi has talked about, the House passed it.

The House passed $3 trillion worth of aid. So people are sitting here now saying, I don't have any money. Democrats put legislation in that would make a big difference. But Democrats somehow seem to be short on something backbone. Or, you know, I think about when President Obama was first elected and he tried to compromise with the Republicans. And what we ended up with a lot less relief in terms of the recovery bill because he tried to compromise with these people. Democrats are too nice. I mean, basically, Democrats need to take a Republican book, and as opposed to telling lies over and over again, tell the truth over and over again.

The fact is that the economy has not, the fact is that the unemployment rate still is double digit for Black people. And you can go down the list and keep, just keep saying it. But we want to, we say it once and then we think, oh, well, I've already made that point. No, you haven't because you have black people. And I wish Cleo could help me out with why these brothers, these African-American men want to vote for Trump. No, I'll tell you. No, no, I'll, I'll, I'll tell you why, because actually I've, we've heard from them. And that is this here again, when we got to stop looking at the percentage of black men in 2020. You got to go back. Twelve years. 2012, 2012, Obama Romney. There was a nine point gap between black men and black women for Obama Romney. There was a nine point gap between black men and black women for Obama Romney. Black men were saying then, you know what? That broad didn't do enough. The problem is it was just nine percent. Most folks ignored them.

I didn't. I said, y'all, that's a problem. I talked to DNC members and I said, I'm telling y'all that's a problem. 2016 rolls around. It goes up to 13 percent. There are women out there, black women. They've been on my social media saying all because of misogyny. I said, no, no, no, no. Don't base it solely upon misogyny, because that was a view that Hillary Clinton was not speaking specifically to the issues of what are largely blue collar black men. When I had my radio show on WVON radio, I'm going back to even pre-Obama, whenever the issue of immigration came up. Oh, the phone calls were real clear. They were saying, build a damn wall. I'm not saying 80% were saying build a wall.

What I was saying then was there were black men, and some black women, largely black men, who felt that there were jobs in black communities that were being taken by non-African Americans. So then all of a sudden, Trump comes up, he touts the First Step Act. Now, Trump is a marketer. He's yelling, screaming, I did this. Democrats couldn't get none of this done. You name it. While he was doing all of that, Democrats were letting him own the space. So it gave the impression, well, Trump was the one letting the black folks out of jail. First step at again without House Democrats, there is no particular bill.

When he's over here yelling, I did. I say HBCUs. It's a lie. But he repeats the lie enough that according to Terrence Woodbury of Hit Strategies, Black Polster, that messaging is literally showing up in the focus groups of black men. And listening to folks like me and folks like you, listening to the Terrence Woodberries and the Cornell Belchers and the Ron Lester, there's three black male posters, and listening to the ground, they would have understood how this thing moved from 9 to 13 to 20 and would have realized that when Trump is talking about economic policies, you have a group of black men who are small business owners who are saying also that's helping my bottom line. The point is this here, a super majority of black men are supporting Joe Biden, but that 12, 15, 18, 20 percent, White House believes they can get 20 percent, does play a factor when you look at close races, a close election with the presidency, but also Senate races and congressional races.

Go ahead and respond. This issue is complex. A lot of black men and black women are going to vote for Biden because they're in the Democratic Party. But there's some black men, and I think a lot of what you're saying, I agree with, Roland, but there's another piece here too. And I hope people can hear me when I say this, because this gets on people's nerves when I say these kinds of things. Regardless of how much it's being said that Trump is lying, et cetera, A lot of people find Trump relatable. Yep. And ironic.

That's actually, that's actually Cleo showing up in the focus groups. They actually say, I know he's full of shit, but he's strong. He's assertive. And I know where he's coming from. That's literally showing up in the focus groups. Go ahead. And I'm not in the focus groups, and I still know this

because I talk to everybody all over the country and I'm always in relationship and in conversations with Black people, Black men and women all the time. And we live in the residue of yesterday. And I say that because things that happened in the past, in the immediate past, impacts on people's current worldview. And Barack Obama, who people saw as a black man

and who identified as a black man, what he did and didn't do is steal in the psyche of black men, many who felt unseen and unprotected by him. Now, we can get into an argument about how ridiculous it might be for them to expect the president to protect them, but I'm trying to give us a contrast between Trump in terms of believability and relatability and Biden and the Democratic Party. Black men have been facing murder by police, have been facing disproportionate unemployment, have been living in the shadow of Black women rocking and Black women being

politically powerful and being ignored. And even when the Black man was president, they were ignored. And the body count is still high in terms of what's being televised around Black men being murdered. And as I said before, part of it being redundant is a growing number of Black people, particularly Black men, because of the lack of attention that's been effective and relevant, who are leaving Blackness alone and looking at power and trying to replicate power and get some power, even if it's the residual effect of power, because it's better than just being black in a society that doesn't seem to care about black men and doesn't seem to have a demonstrative articulation of even being concerned about black men. And getting back to the Trump factor one more time before I end. No, no, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

Julianne, wait, wait. Khalil finished. I'm going to go ahead. I want to reiterate that we cannot keep going for the place of logic. In fact, I mean, people keep talking about what a liar Trump is. Trump has not changed since he's become president. He's the same dude that was grabbing vaginas that most white women voted for. He's still the same guy. He has not changed up. So that he's a scoundrel is not the point. People are looking for something that looks straight up.

People are contrasting between who they think is phony and fake and who they think is real and relatable. Somebody said something the other day about Trump having COVID-19 and how he would look like a failure because he was not speaking in ways that made sense regarding protecting yourself, but that he had COVID-19 made him even more relatable to his base because he's a human being. And I'm not saying this is my perspective.

I got it. I'm not talking about how Cleo Monago feels. I'm talking about the psychosocial perspective and the nuances in this situation that are leading people to make decisions, some that might make the polls most that won't. For example, most white nationals, a lot of white people who are going to support Trump are not going to tell you they're going to support Trump. You're not going to know what they're going to do. So Julian, the point I saw you, we shake your hand, we'll make the point about

how some of these black men say, look, you know, he means what he says and I know he's full of it, but I know where he's coming from. That's real. I mean, it's literally showing up in the focus groups where black men, again, Terrence Woodbury has been doing these constantly, five days a week.

They're saying that. And so black men are also, and I go back to, I go back to, I got to go back to, again, Obama. And let me just, I'm going to say this and then you can jump in. The Republicans said for eight years, Obama, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, America's weak, weak, weak. So then all of a sudden they want the John Wayne tough guy talk big and bad. Now here's the piece. We may say, what the hell is wrong with you? Racist, sexist. But the reality is, and I need people to understand this because I have said this, I've said this specifically about one of the reasons why black men are attracted to a message from a Farrakhan versus some preachers on the point of strength.

And you can't ignore that particular point, how somebody responds to that manliness, that macho tough guy, and it's reflected in the polls. I'm arguing you don't write those voters off because they could be the margin of winning or losing. Julianne, go ahead. Well, I wasn't writing them off and I actually, I'm not saying you are, I'm not saying you are, I'm saying the party can't write them off because those are still persuadables. Go ahead. We can't write anybody off because those are still persuadables. Go ahead. We can't write anybody off. I mean, that's the lesson of this election. We wrote a lot of people off.

Democrats wrote a lot of people off in 16. Democrats didn't spend money in ethnic media until it was very late. They ignored Detroit. They ignored Milwaukee. And we paid for it. Democrats paid for it. But what I was shaking my head when Cleo talked about Black women, Black women's organizations,

Black women rising, Black women... Black women have been working very hard and have made major contributions. I was just curious as to whether he was begrudging that attention. No, he wasn't. I got a piece this morning about Black girl magic and about some of the things that are going on.

And it seems that there are many, many people who are extraordinarily threatened by the prospect of black women. I mean, when 45 called Kamala a monster, he was calling her scary. But here's what's scary. When brilliant black women do what we're supposed to do, that's scary to a whole lot of people.

Again. And unfortunately to some black women as well. I... I gotta talk to that if I can. Okay, okay. First of all, here's the deal. I'm gonna let this continue for three more minutes, and I gotta go to my next guest, so please keep your answers tight. Go. Sure. I, and a lot of men I'm talking about, Julianna, are not

begrudging black women. I wanna make it real clear that that's the conclusion to come to that's not necessarily correct. What's going on, this is a society that in disproportionate ways, some of it is on video, kills and murders black men, dismisses black men, objectifies black men, criminalizing black men. And while that's being ignored on a demonstrative level, there's all this rocking and voting and magic going on among women.

It's not simply a begrudging of women. There seems to be a lack of balance between two groups that have been oppressed that are not affirming each other or talking directly about each other or caring about each other's struggle in this society or each other's gifts. I mean, the Black girl Magic, Black Girl Vote mantra celebrates women, and I have no problem with that at all.

I want to make it clear, I don't begrudge that at all, but there's a gap. There's a gap. In terms of attention to Black men. And what Julian is saying, which I can agree with, is that Black women are saying,

get the fuck out of here. Patriarchy has been real. Black women were completely diminished during the civil rights movement. Black women have been constantly diminished. And so now all of a sudden you got some brothers who got an attitude because sisters are demanding a level of respect and attention. Now, Cleo, Cleo, I'm not done. Cleo, Cleo, I'm not done.

Cleo, Cleo, I'm not done. What I'm arguing is, is that I absolutely understand the point you just raised. I understand what Julian said and what I just laid out. What we still have to contend with is the reality of what someone says and feels. And now the question is, how do you counter that, Teresa, politically to be sure that you're messaging to multiple people? Because if you are politically creating the impression that you are messaging far more here than this group, although 80 to 85 percent of black men are fine with the messaging, that 15 to 18 or 20 percent is still significant when it comes to voting and an election. And that could be the margin of victory or defeat.

Politically, you're absolutely right. There has to be a strategy. And I've seen campaigns from statewide and federal races. They have lost the margin of error where it literally was down percentage points, where it could have been a simple messaging strictly for African-American men. Black men, I have been at some of these roundtables and community organizing events year round because they just don't happen during election day. These forums are happening and black men are consistently saying the same exact thing is we are not being represented in the numbers and there is no outreach to the small business owner most of these men are coming you

know well here in philly they're coming out of prison and they're going into the barbershop they're owning barbershops right they're picking up where they left off at and for those entrepreneurs they're like listen a candidate has never supported me. If anything, I've always been in the system. So what is that message? Right. And for those who, you know, think that Donald Trump is the only one pushing the first step back and everything else, I had, there has been a loss of messaging on who actually, you know, wrote the bill, who contributed to the bill, you know, and, and then course, the passing of the bill. But there has been so much loss in translation that, you know, not only black men, but, you know,

minority men, feels like there is no effort to ensure they vote. I think, you know, taking the vote for granted, like you said, Roland, when it came to the percentage points, politically puts elected officials in a bad space, and then they, you know, try to, you know, come back to them in the last hour. And unfortunately you might have lost it, but it has to be a year round conversation with black men, entrepreneurs, especially with their families and how they can produce more jobs and wealth

inside of the home. Julian, go ahead. Final comment before I go to my next guest. You know, we do have to... Black men and women have been ignored. Everything that Cleo listed about what had happened to Black men has happened to Black women, too. Black women get killed on the street. Black women have been disrespected.

A little Black girl was pulled by her brain. She was defeminized and dehumanized. So I'm not saying nothing has happened to Black men, but I think Black men and women have to understand that this is a struggle that we've both been fighting it. Got it. Folks, Florida, one of the issues when we talk about what's going on there are moving felons from the rolls. Florida, they're trying to push former felons off the voter rolls if they have outstanding court debts. In a surprise late-hour move that comes after more than 2 million people have already voted, Florida, a presidential battleground state, is trying to all of a sudden not make this move.

Desmond Meade, he is the president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition. They, of course, led the effort for Amendment 4 to restore the voting rights to upwards of 1.4 million incarcerated people. Desmond, there is nothing that surprises me with Florida Republicans. I remember when y'all were on the show after the victory in Amendment 4 and I said, I don't trust them Florida Republicans. And they have proven me right every single time. So explain what the hell they're trying to do now. Remove folks who've already possibly voted? Yeah, Roland, you know, I can't even defend

them right now. You know, at the end of the day, what they're trying to do is actually illegal. You know, in Florida, you cannot remove somebody less than 30 days out from an election. And for them to even attempt to do so is a blatant violation of the law. But we know that there are folks that are desperate. There are folks that are trying to intimidate folks and discourage people from voting, especially in the African-American community. But our message to them is, yeah, we won't recognize what they're trying to do, but we're letting them know that we don't scare easy,

and we're not gonna be easily intimidated. And that's why I'm on the bus right now, touring the state of Florida, getting the troops fired up and ready to go for the 24th of October, when we're gonna clap back on any types or any attempts to suppress, intimidate, or discourage our vote? I'll be with y'all on Friday and Saturday. Of course, the rally taking place in Orlando, some 24 events y'all are having across the state. But again,

I'm reiterating, this is what I keep trying to explain to people, that it is Republican Party policy to focus on voter suppression. After Amendment 4 passed, was it nearly 100,000 formerly, former felons who registered to vote? Because the secretaries, actually the boards of elections, they were trying to say, hey, we need some, we need some, you know, we need some guidance here. They're going to register people. And so before the lawsuits and everything was 85,000 to a hundred thousand. So basically all the Republicans trying to get those 85,000 removed. Pretty much, pretty much. And, and, and, and within those 85,000, ironically are people who have had their voting rights restored through clemency. And when you have your rights restored

through clemency, you don't have to pay off any outstanding fines and fees, which brings up another situation, Roland, because the governor and previous governors before in Florida have a history of restoring voting rights to people with civil rights, right, without requiring them to pay any outstanding fines and fees. And so why is our current governor fighting to stop us from actually, you know, from voting and making them pay the same fines and fees that they're not requiring people to pay when they apply for clemency. The thing that, again, there are people who have come to your effort. LeBron James and others have been raising money to help pay off some of these fees.

Michael Bloomberg, I think, was what, some 16? I heard that. So just tell me the truth. How much have you all been able to raise and how is that going to help pay these fines and fees off? And also educate our people, because here's the problem. You and I have talked before. They hear this huge number. One thing that you told me was that, well, there are some people who had massive fines or had to pay back massive amount of money. But the vast majority of the people, it's smaller amounts of money to actually have to pay off. Explain that for the people who are watching.

Yeah. So first of all, let me just make some slight corrections of what you said at the very beginning, man, when, when, when the 11th circuit decided that they wanted to reverse the lower court's ruling, because you Rowling, we won that lawsuit in the Northern District of Florida, and the judge was like, man, listen, a lot of this stuff is nothing but a poll tax and therefore unconstitutional. And even the stuff that may be legit,

a person being poor should never be a barrier to them being able to vote. And when the 11th Circuit sought to reverse that, man, we had over 88,000 people throughout the country, from celebrities like Michael Jordan and LeBron James and Ariana Grande to corporations like Levi's and Viacom and so many more, and thousands upon thousands of people who just flooded money into the organization, the average donation of over $300. And we raised over $25 million in a matter of a couple of months.

And we were able to pay that money out and to remove those legal financial obligations from at least 40,000 individuals in the state of Florida. And so, you know, we're, like, encouraged that people were able to just come together, people from all walks of life, to support democracy, because nobody, no American citizen should be forced to choose between putting food on their table or voting, or rather paying rent or their mortgage or voting. And so folks around the country stood up

and said that democracy would not be held hostage in Florida. And they're still donating and we're still paying off our fines and fees to clear a pathway for people that if they want to be able to register to vote, them being poor would not be a barrier to them. You shook your head at the Michael Bloomberg. That money's not going to y'all? What's the deal with that? That's why I shook my head because, you know, number one, I can tell you right now that we have not received one penny from Michael Bloomberg.

And to be totally honest with you, here's the deal, right? The focus, and you know, Roland, me, you go at it back and forth, that, you know, you talk about those doggone Republicans doing their dirty deeds, and I can't deny it, but I know that my focus and the focus of FRRC is to let all of the politicals get in that partisan stuff and let all the legal folks get in the litigation. And we're going to maintain focus on the people, that we know that what's lost in all of this are the lives of real people. And that's what we're pushing. And unfortunately, that Michael Bloomberg announcement

created a cloud over work that we've been doing for over a year, Roland. And it goes to show how politics, especially when people engage in partisan politics, that real people suffer. Right. Because we've been doing this work for over a year. Never any problems. The minute this announcement was made, all of a sudden it became politicized. And there's this cloud that's hanging over everything that we're doing. But we're moving forward because we didn't even receive a penny from Michael Bloomberg. The money that we got was from patriots across the country that wanted to free democracy here in Florida. I want to ask you this question here. You may have heard the conversation we had before. There's been a lot of conversation about that in terms of Democrats needing to

appeal more to black men. The Trump campaign, they believe, they told me this 2018, that they believe they can get upwards of 20% black men. What are you hearing? And granted, you're a nonpartisan group, but what are you hearing and what should the Dems be saying to these brothers? Because these are the folks who you're talking to. I mean, listen, at the end of the day, let's keep it real. We have suffered under both regimes, right? And I think that, you know, the Dems or anybody should be doing exactly what is required of people like me that have previous felony convictions. Because once we're convicted, right, when we try to move on with our lives, the whole world wants us to, first of all, do what?

Say that we're sorry for the crimes that we did, right, and we promise to be better or to do better in our lives. And I think that that's something that we don't hear from people. It happened in 2016 with Hillary Clinton, that people are not addressing the people who they have impacted most by their policies. You've seen it even with Mike Bloomberg. At the end of the day, people that have supported or created policies

that have caused trauma to the African-American community, they think that they can just give a donation to the NAACP and all of their sins are forgiven. And that's the wrong answer. Not in this day and age, that they have to have direct communication with the people who they've caused the most harm, right? And they have to apologize for that. And they have to show some caused the most harm, right? And they have to apologize for that,

and they have to show some type of remorse, right? But at the end of the day, Roland, when I look at Florida, what I see more than anything are the biggest winners are going to be people with previous felony convictions. You know, I'm telling my folks that, listen, when we go to the polls, right, there's a lot behind that, that when you go to the polls, right, there's a lot behind that. When you go to the polls, you don't go for any one man.

What you go for is yourself because it's only when we show up, right, that people will listen. If we stay at home and don't come to the polls, then politicians are not going to care what's happening in our community. They're not going to care too much about what's going on. But when we show them that we're able to show up and show up in great numbers, right, they have no choice but to listen to us. And we've seen that play out, uh, just a few months ago

during the Super Bowl, when the one, uh, uh, advertisement that Trump had, right, he could have picked immigration, he could have picked the economy, he could have picked all kinds of things. But he chose criminal justice, because even he is smart enough to know that the sleeping giant is we have enough returning citizens that's on the roster right now to make a distinctive impact on the outcome of this presidential election. So both sides have to pay attention and both sides need to speak to the needs that impact

or the issues that impact the African-American men, the African American community, and returning citizens. So I just want to be clear before I press send on this tweet, you just said it. So when the announcement was made last month that billionaire Michael Bloomberg was going to give $16 million to pay off to a fund to pay off the fines and fees of individuals who were formerly incarcerated.

That was supposed to be, I'm looking at an NPR story, that was supposed to be with your organization. You have, you're saying y'all have not received any of that money from Mike Bloomberg. To date, we have not received any donation from Michael Bloomberg. Have they contacted y'all? Have y'all heard from him or his office? Well, listen, let me tell you, I just want to be clear, but no, I want to be very clear. We have, but one of the things that I know is that we are focused on moving forward. We are

focusing on the people that have, have reached out and have given, and we have focused on the returning citizens that we're, that we have focused on the returning citizens that we're helping with these funds. That's number one priority. Right now, I can tell you right now, because of everything that's going on in Florida, don't have time to sit around and wait to decide when somebody's gonna give or if they're gonna give, right?

We only have enough time to make sure that we engage every last one of the 1.4 million returning citizens. And those that are registered, we want to encourage them to show up at the polls, especially on October 24th, right, to have our voices heard. That's number one priority to me. I got it. Desmond Meade, I certainly appreciate the band. Thank you so very much. Thank you for having me.

All right, man. And I like the shirt you're wearing. Well, of course. Y'all gave it to me. So, you know, and so I'll be looking to be rocking a new one when I come into town on a Friday. I'll be doing the show, of course, from there. And, again, we look forward to the big rally,

the social distance rally I'll be having in Orlando. We'll be live streaming that right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. We'll have the hat and the wristband waiting for you too as well. All right. Sounds good, Desmond. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. All right, folks. Got to go to a break. We come back. We'll talk more about this upcoming election 15 days away. Also in the second half of the show, we'll talk to four powerful sisters, including Patty Austin and Sheila E about the power of voting. All of that next right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. A society of male domination and chauvinism

in a society where there's been for 400 years so much sexism and racism, so much economic cruelty and oppression. The conventional perspective of history excludes too much of the history of cruelty. James Baldwin spoke about the bloody catalogue of our history. That bloody catalogue is more influential today in many, many people than any other facet of American history. And it's blind, it is invisible, it's unseen,

and therefore many people yield to it. Hey, South Carolina, it's Magic Johnson. In 2016, almost 7 million black men didn't vote in the election. And I get it. It's tough to believe in a system that keeps letting us down but we can't push for progress if we don't vote bros please vote early before november 2nd if you need a free ride to vote use promo code vote to live sc in your lift app visit vote to live.org for more information. Paid for by Collective Future.

Hi, I'm Israel Houghton with Israel and New Breed. Hi, I'm Carl Painting. Hey everybody, this is Sherri Shepard. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered and while he's doing Unfiltered, I'm practicing your wobble. I am. Because Roland Martin's the one, he will do it backwards, he will do it on the side. He messes everybody up when he gets into the wobble because he doesn't know how to do it, he will do it backwards, he will do it on the side. He messes everybody up when he gets into the wobble

because he doesn't know how to do it, so he does it backwards. And it messes me up every single time. So I'm working on it. I got it. You got Roland Martin. I got it. Under the sound of my voice, the goal to the polls on the 3rd of november and vote your conviction suffice it to say that we stand in one of the tension when the problems of the world are gigantic in extent and

chaotic in detail all men of goodwill must make the right decision whether america will take the high road of justice and peace compassion for the poor and underprivileged, or whether this nation will tread the low road of man's inhumanity to man of injustice, of short-sightedness. All right, folks, it is 14 days, 14 days until Election Day, but the reality is we are already voting.

Nine million people have voted in this country so far. They are still going to the polls. That video we just showed you was produced by Benny Boom, Hollywood director, who's also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. Fraternity asked him to produce that particular video. You're seeing a number of these sort of efforts all across the country. We're in the middle of early voting. These are the places where they're early voting. Early voting began September 18th in Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming.

Then, of course, today is already October 19th. You see it began today in Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, North Dakota, and Florida. Tomorrow, Louisiana, Utah, Wisconsin, y'all get to begin early voting. October 21st, West Virginia. October 24th, New York State. Maryland, you begin October 26th. Washington, D.C., October 27th. And Oklahoma, October 29th. Now, folks, Michigan also. Now, here are the states where there is same-day voter registration. Listen to me clearly. Listen to me clearly. If you live in these states on election day, when you go to the polls, you can actually register and vote same day. California, Colorado, Connecticut, D.C., Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada,

New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Washington State, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. And so only in those states do they allow same-day voter registration on November 3rd. Now we have voter registration deadlines. The deadlines, folks, when you can register. Today is the deadline for you to register in Alabama, California, Maine, Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Wyoming. Folks, those 4 through the 16th, we can remove those because we don't need those now. Utah, your date is October 23rd. Iowa and Massachusetts, October 24th. Colorado, Montana, Washington, your date is October 23rd. Iowa and Massachusetts, October 24th. Colorado, Montana, Washington, your dates are October 26th.

Connecticut, your registration deadline is October 27th. Now, folks, in Michigan, a court overturned a two-week absentee ballot extension. Absentee ballots must now be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day in order to be counted. The lower court ruled last month that ballots could be counted within two weeks of Election Day as long as they were postmarked by November 2nd. However, the state's appeals court decided differently. Democrats pushed to ease restrictions on absentee voting due to COVID-19 restrictions. Republicans argued that recent post office delays combined

with the expected increase in mail-in ballots this year are not enough reasons to extend voting deadlines. The court's decision also reinstated some restrictions on third party ballot collection, limited who voters can designate to deliver their ballots to election officials. And so just keep in mind all of these different things that are happening. Also, folks in California, there was a fire at an actual of an actual early mail drop in. And so I'm trying to show you that in a second. And so the ballots were severely damaged. And so folks have been talking about that. Oh, well, so now we're looking and remember, this is the same state where Republicans were putting up fake drop boxes, fake drop boxes they were putting up. And so now we see this particular fire that is absolutely taking place. And so, again, again, we're covering all these issues.

We're trying to give you as much information as possible so you are not caught off guard when it comes to voting. We want to make sure that all of our people are actually counted. Now, folks, during this election season, you have seen a number of video clips and also memes and quotes of James Baldwin, someone who was very vocal about fighting for freedom for black folks in this country. In his latest New York Times bestseller, Begin Again, James Baldwin's America and its Urgent Lessons for Our Own, Princeton professor of African-American studies and MSNBC contributor, Eddie Glott Jr. looks at James Baldwin's life and work and relates it to the world we're living in right now. Eddie Glott Jr., glad to have you on the show.

Eddie, when we think about what Baldwin said, I often say when you look at King's book, Chaos or Community, Where Do We Go From Here, Chaos or Community, that you literally, if you just listen to what he says and writes and what King writes, you swear they're talking about 2020 and not 1965, 67 or 68. Absolutely. Particularly Baldwin responding to the country's betrayal. You know, he, you know, when we talk about 63 and 64 and 65, March on Washington, Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act. But, you know, 68, as you know, Roland, this is the election of Richard Nixon. You know, by 72, re-election. What do you get? You get the hardhat rebellion. You get the so-called forgotten American, the silent majority.

You get the debates around school busing, the violence in Boston and the like. So Jimmy lives long enough to see the country turn its back. And in some ways, Roland, after the assassination of Dr. King in April of 68, he collapses. He tries to commit suicide in 1969. So he has to try to figure out how to pick up the pieces. And this is why, you know, 1972 and his important book, No Name in the Street, is so important to me because it's a book that's really centered around trauma, wound, and trying to answer the question, now, how do we pick up the pieces and roll this damn boulder up the hill again? We are engaged in a very vigorous battle here. We are seeing the results. I used the hashtag,

we tried to tell you, in terms of what Donald Trump was going to be. I have seen a lot of the social media posts where folks have been blasting you, saying, look, you argued in 2016, you were on my TV one show, News One Now, for folks to leave the top of the ballot empty because with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. And I've seen you respond to folks. So talk about that. Talk about what you wrote in your book in 2016 and what you're writing in your book now. and do you still believe that was a smart analysis in 2016, or was there a mistake because of what we now see? Right, so what I wrote in 2016 in Democracy in Black was,

look, the Democratic Party, every two, four years, they come to us, they don't really present a detailed platform, at least in my view. And they kind of take us for granted and they try to herd us to the polls like cattle chewing cut. And I was saying I thought we had an opportunity. I thought we had a window coming out of the Obama administration and the Republican Party nominating someone who was obviously not qualified. I thought we had a window to push the party left. So I said, look, if the Democratic Party doesn't come with with come correctly, we should blank out, leave the presidential ballot blank and vote down ballot. Once they nominated Donald Trump and I began to see what they were doing,

I co-authored a piece with the political theorist, political scientist Fred Harris out of Columbia in Time magazine saying, look, if you're in a battleground state, vote for Hillary Clinton. But if you're not, you can vote your conscience. And this is what this might look like come the convention time. Now, look, I did a couple of things wrong there. I overestimated white folks. That's the first thing. I never thought white folks would elect someone who was so clearly incompetent in this moment. That was a gross error. I overestimate him. Because, Eddie, here's the deal, though. I mean, look, you take history. In all of American history, white success has always been followed by white backlash.

I mean, we can go Reconstruction. We can go 19 years of Jim Crow. Uh, we can, we can go at each step, black success, economically lynching. We can talk about, uh, again, what takes place. We can go 13 years of civil rights, uh, black freedom movement. Then we go through desegregation, white backlash, black mayors in 1970s, all of a sudden success, boom, Reagan, 1980 white backlash. Uh, again, Obama gets elected eight years, black president, boom, white backlash. I mean, that's been the history of black folks in America. Right. So, so, I mean, I understood that, right. I understood that very

clearly. What I was thinking though, is that here's the Republican party nominating someone. So I think the backlash was already, well, I don't like to use the language backlash, white supremacy was already rearing its head aggressively before they nominated Donald Trump. We got the vitriol of the Tea Party. We got voter ID laws and voter suppression running rampant throughout the country. We know this, right? But when they nominated someone, you know, a reality television show, a TV actor, when they nominated someone so grossly unqualified, someone who was clearly unprepared and in some ways, not in some ways, who's too stupid to be the president of the United States. I thought we had an opening. So in begin again, what I do is I write to me. You know, I basically said I made a mistake. I made an egregious error. I should

have known better. I should have known better on a number of different levels. But the main thing is Baldwin confronted something similar that I was confronting when Clinton was running in 2016. Baldwin, remember, most people think of Jimmy Carter as this extraordinary president for black folk. But in the 1979 campaign, the 1980 election, black folk were lukewarm about Carter. He had basically turned his back on us. Some black leaders actually said he had become a, he had betrayed black people with his policies of austerity that impacted black communities, particularly in cities. And so what you saw was a depressed voter turnout. And in some ways, the fact that Black folk didn't turn out

led to Ronald Reagan being elected. But Baldwin writes a piece where he says, sometimes you don't have anybody to vote for. Sometimes you're only voting to buy yourself some time. And in Begin Again, I said I should have known, given that I'm a lifelong reader of Baldwin, I should have known that lesson. And I made a mistake, and I admit it.

One of my panelists, I want y'all to get ready to ask questions of Eddie Glaude. Eddie, and folks, again, put the book up again. We're talking about Eddie Glaude's new book, New York Times bestseller, a book that brings James Baldwin to real life. Begin Again, James Baldwin's America and its Urgent Lessons for Our Own. One of the things that jumps out at me, and this is when I listen to people talk about

this country and people say, look, it is what it is. It's never going to change um i remember reading harry bella actually interviewing harry belafonte and and one thing he said to me was he said this is the reason i have stayed he said because essentially i am going to fight to make america be the country it says it's supposed to be bald Baldwin confronted that very question. And black folks have always been the ones to save the nation from itself. Black folks have been the ones to actually show America what democracy looks like, show America what compassion looks like, show America what forgiveness looks like. And so what do you say, though, reflecting through the prism of Baldwin to young voters who say, I don't believe that my vote can make a difference. And so I'm a march for change and fight for change. But I'm going to check out of the voting process, even though

the marching I'm voting for is to get the politicians to change policy, but I'm going to check out of the very system that can elect folk who agree with me. It's like those two things are at war with each other. Right. I think this is the important point. I think oftentimes when we hear that sort of argument, there is a judgment, and it's a substantive and reasoned judgment, I think, at times, that the political system is bankrupt, that it's not really delivering anything for black and poor people, that we have politicians who we elect, who then turn around and become

captured by the political process, that we are captured electorate. I can go on and on and on. What we need to understand is that the vote is one of the most important tools in our political arsenal. It is not the only tool, though. So every two, four years, there are elections at the national level. Every year, more than likely, there is an election. Every other year, there's an election at the local and state level. And part of what we need to understand

is that politics involves electoral processes, but it's not reducible to those processes. So if we're thinking about change systemically, we need to understand that voting is a part of it. But when we overburden voting, and what I mean by that is that when we think about wholesale change being reducible to the vote, then we set ourselves up for disappointment. Voting in a democracy role, in my view, is actually the last thing we do. Prior to the election, we are engaged in the work of trying to build a society that we want to build and trying to create the conditions to produce the sorts of people we want to elect and hold accountable. So we have to see voting. This is what I'm saying to young folks.

We have to see voting within the overall strategy of our attempt to build a genuine, right, just democracy. But I understand why they're skeptical. But the skepticism shouldn't lead to a dismissal of the vote as such. It should lead to a dismissal of the vote as such. It should lead to a dismissal of a certain frame of understanding the role and place of the vote, if that makes sense. Do you also believe that we also have

a massive, massive failure when it comes to civics? That part of this issue is that we have folks who have no clue, and should the solution be look the school system is not going to do it um you're at what i call the end of the education process uh you have your your your primary your secondary elementary school middle school high school then you have college. And so should one, should black communities, black churches, black organizations be leading massive civic engagement workshops and discussions and two should and there's no disrespect to msnbc or cnn or fox news or abc nbc cbs but they're not going to do it i'm just being honest shouldn't we also be challenging and calling out black targeted and black owned media saying are y'all going to keep spending all of this damn time

on sitcoms, reality shows, award shows, uh, and, um, entertainment and gossip in sports and dedicate something to civics, to public affairs. So our folks are not only becoming aware of issues around an election. Your thoughts on that? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes, and yes, and yes. I mean, I can only say yes so many times, right? So I think, you know, whether it's in Cuomo's conscientization, whether it's political education or the like, it is certainly the case that we need to understand more fully, I think, the complexities and nuances of the political process, of the pursuit of power in the name of justice, of, in some ways, the power of everyday ordinary people.

And the example I have in my head, of course, is the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and what they did at their height and how they entered into spaces, sharecroppers in Mississippi and the like, and created the conditions under which they could become the leaders that they were looking for, as Ms. Baker would put it, right?

How they would then run for office, but understood that running for office can present the danger of demobilizing grassroots efforts. But all of this was boiled up, bound up, rather, in an idea of the power of everyday ordinary people, freedom schools, in another instance, right? I think this is really important, Roland, because you hit it right on the head. The second point I think is really important in the sense that what we've witnessed is in some ways the contraction of public deliberative space. Black-owned media, I mean, it can't just be Twitter. It can't just be social media, right?

We've reduced the kinds of spaces where there's serious conversations about us by us. And I think it's really important for us to continue to bring pressure to bear to create spaces for your show and others that are dedicated not just simply to entertainment and the entertainment industry or sport, but really thinking seriously about the conditions, material and otherwise, of Black communities in a moment, in a moment where we face extraordinary danger that's not just reducible to Donald Trump. So I think you're absolutely right on both accounts, Roland. I want to go to my panel for questions.

I'll first start with Teresa Lundy. One, I can't wait to get your book. I've been excited about this conversation. So as a millennial, I'm always curious about what we can do to further the dialogue and civic engagement and also imploring that our fellow friends and neighbors are also aware of how important our voice is, but more so important of our history. Yeah. Well, thank you, Sister Teresa, for that.

Look, you know, millennials combined with Gen Zers and Gen Xers and Gen Yers, you guys actually outnumber Baby Boomers in terms of the impact on the body politic. It is, I think it's well past time for this cohort to begin to influence and impact the direction of the country. I think there's a general consensus among your generation and younger that the country is broken. And you're reaching for languages, vocabularies, ways of thinking that offer a different direction for how we might imagine being together as a country.

Jimmy insisted that we work for New Jerusalem. And I think it is well past time for millennials to assert their power in the public domain. And that's going to have to happen not just simply in terms of election cycle, but it's happening in the streets, it's happening in the suites, it's happening in terms of your consumer power across the board. And so you you got to start exercising and exerting your influence and power at this moment, right now, in this moment, right here. Next question, Cleo Monago. Greetings, brothers. Good to meet you.

I have an analysis that I would like to get your perspective on. But I want to also just preface it with the fact that the myth of white supremacy on a systemic basis is perpetually moving the pole and working towards staying in power and doesn't have just one strategy. They have many, many strategies. And it's my perspective that we have not been equally strategic as a people so we could actually win going in the future. However, obviously, you are going into the past when you write about Jimmy, because Jimmy is a person who lived in the past. And I guess you bring in him into contemporary life to bring the relevance of that. Earlier, I'm not sure if you were around when I was talking with Dr. Malvo, and she talked about what women have gone through. And I want to get your analysis on this. It's my perspective that today's young men live in a different world. They don't live in a world that is as blatantly patriarchal and disrespectful of women in terms of the dismissal

of them as the civil rights movement was. They live in another reality where there's all kinds of different gender this and gender that and women doing things. And their reality is not the same. And they're ahistorical. Is it your perspective from your experience with these young people that they are ahistorical? It's my perspective that they're ahistorical. So they don't relate to the framework that Dr. Malvo is talking about in terms of talking about Black men now, in terms of how sexist Black men were, they're looking at their current reality, which feels and looks different, and do not have a perspective of a harsh patriarchal past. What is your perspective of that? And the strategy issue.

Yeah, I would not describe these young folk as ahistorical. I think many of them are definitely trying to connect their particular movement with a tradition that constitutes the wind beneath their wings. I think that many of the young leaders of Black Lives Matter, for example, and remember Black Lives Matter is a complex phenomenon. It's not just one thing. It's like Black Power. There were a number of different organizations that fell under the rubric of Black Power. Black Lives Matter is similar. There are a number of different organizations that fall under that label or that slogan, but it's a sentiment that cuts across all of the different political formations. But I think a lot of these young folks, especially young leaders, those who are part of this movement, understand that there has been a kind of patriarchal bias that have defined the model of black leadership, that there's been a kind of hyper masculinity that has undermined the pursuit of justice, that these gender norms kind of constrain and lock us in. So even as they're inheriting the grandness of the tradition,

they're bringing critique to bear, right? So when you read, this is not your grandma, this is not your mother's movement, sometimes that reveals a kind of ignorance, but other times it also reveals a kind of criticism, a way of distancing from a certain model of leadership that I think is really important. So, you know, in Begin Again,

I start chapter one with Jimmy in a meeting, with Baldwin in a meeting with SNCC students at Howard. And they were chopping it up until the sun came up. And Baldwin said to them at the end, he said, I ask you that you promise your elder brother that you don't believe what the world says about you. And I promise you that I will never betray you. And when Kwame Ture, Stokely Carmichael, wrote his autobiography with Michael Thelwell, he said Baldwin never betrayed them.

My relationship to the young organizers and activists is that we need to support. We need to offer our encouragement, we need to be in solidarity with them and create the conditions under which, or help create the conditions under which, together with them, we can bring about a more just world. So they're challenging in the streets. Some of them are challenging politically as they organize. But I don't think they're ahistorical, if I understand your question, Doc.

I don't think they're ahistorical, at least not all of them. Julianne Malveaux. Hey, Eddie, how you doing? It's good to see you. Hey, Julianne. Good to see you. I... You know, I'm a big Baldwin fan. Love him, love him, love him. So I'm looking forward to seeing your book. And when you talk about him chopping it up all night,

I don't have time to share the story about how I met him in a bar in New York. And we ended up getting put out the bar and sat on a park bench and continued the conversation. Because the brother really could talk. One of my favorite Baldwin things is the collection of essays, The Price of the Ticket. And the title essay, The Price of the Ticket, really talks about

what white people give up in order to be white. In other words, that they give up their nationality, they give up, well, in order to be white, they have to shrug off their Irishness or their Italianness or all of those things. And I think that he had a profound understanding of whiteness in a way that many African-American people and scholars do not. And in that understanding of whiteness, I think that that's perhaps where some of his despair actually came from. Now, he wasn't consistently despair, but you get some despairing moments in some of his essays. So my question to you, in terms of that particular essay and others, which would your top three Baldwin essays be that you would suggest every young person and not so young person read?

Wow, that's a hard one. But let me just say this, Julianne, you're absolutely right, Dr. Malvo, right? So at the heart of Baldwin's corpus is what I call this revolutionary inversion. And that is he's going to insist that the problem ain't us. The problem ain't black people, right? To put it in my Mississippi way, right?

And that is to say, he says, I never thought of myself as the N-word. You call me the N-word. And the question you need to figure out is why did you need the N-word in the first place? Come onword. And the question you need to figure out is why did you need the N-word in the first place? Come on. So I'm going to get, then he says, I'm going to give the N-word back to you. And then ask the question, who's really the N-word baby, right? So Baldwin flips it. That's really key. So the problem ain't us. It's this conception of whiteness

that's rooted in this belief that because one is white, one ought to be valued more than others. And until we uproot that, we're going to find ourselves on this racial hamster wheel over and over and over again. So the two, the essays, the two or three essays that I would suggest, you know, of course, you know, Fire Next Time is really important. White Man's Guilt, 1965 Ebony piece, is critical for his understanding of history. But let's just put Fire Next Time aside. So I would go White Man's Guilt, As Much Truth As One Could Bear,

is a wonderful essay written in 62. And then I would say Read to Crush a Surfer, which was the last essay published in Playboy magazine, where Baldwin goes at the evangelical right, the moral majority, and offers a vision of salvation and love that is so profound that it's an extraordinary sermon that I think suggests what he was thinking about as the cancer was ravaging his body. So I would say, again, as much truth as one could bear, white man's guilt, and to crush a serpent. But ask me tomorrow, I might give you three different ones. I can't read your book. Eddie, last question for you.

Sure. And that is, I want to get your perspective on, everybody's been weighing in on my interview with Ice Cube, talking about his contract with Black America, having a conversation with the Trump folks as well. I want to get your thoughts on that. And there are those who say we should not be criticizing him. There are those who say he was wrong as well. I'm of the opinion, first of all, no one is beyond criticism.

I've gotten criticized from different people as well. The moment you choose to step into the political arena, you're going to make yourself susceptible to criticism. Just your thoughts on what you've heard and all these different things around that issue. You know, Roland, at the heart of it is a problematic conception of leadership. You know, Du Bois worried about it in Souls of Black Folk. He says when leadership is chosen from outside of our community, right,

it undermines the very democratic process. He was referring to Booker T. Washington in that extraordinary essay of Mr. Booker T. Washington and others. And so part of what we need to kind of interrogate here, whether you agree with Ice Cube or not, is what is his conception of Black leadership? How is he thinking about his relationship to everyday ordinary folk? What authorizes his voice?

Who gives him the power to speak on behalf of X, Y, and Z? And so I think it's really important as we kind of step into this next phase of black politics, of black life in this country, that we really give voice to, and Roland, this echoes something we talked about earlier in this segment, we really give voice to a more robust conception of black deliberative space, where we are actually engaged in vibrant debate about what is best for black communities across the country, understanding that folks are going to come at it from different directions. So what bothers me is the hubris evident in the action, right? As if Black folk are just some homogeneous blob that anybody can just step forward and represent. What is Ice Cube's, who is Ice Cube's constituency? Who holds him to account? Who is he responsible to? It goes beyond just simply having a love for Black folk. It is tied up or bound up with who is one accountable,

who are you accountable to and responsible for? Folks, the book, please show it again, by Eddie Glaude Jr. The book is Begin Again, James Baldwin's America and its Urgent Lessons for Our Own. The final question I ask is that every book author, I can't believe I forgot about it. Every book author has a wow moment. A wow moment when they're researching a book, when they're writing it, when they're going through things, what was your wow moment when you were writing this where you just went, oh my goodness, wow, that's crazy. What was it? Wow. Wow. So many, you know, there was one, I'm in, I'm in the Schomburg. I'm in the Schomburg going through Jimmy's papers. Right. And there's this, you remember those little memo pads rolling and

Julianne where you, you could a little write you could write, they're about this big, and you could write on them? Yep. I come across a little memo where Baldwin scribbled a note to Robert F. Kennedy after his brother was assassinated. And it's a note on behalf of Harry Belafonte, Lorraine Hansberry, Jerome Smith, all the folks who met with Bobby Kennedy in 63 earlier that year, right? And Baldwin is saying to him, he's saying, let me grieve with you. Let us grieve with you. We know what the suffering is. That's what we were trying to get you to see. And it's consistent with Jimmy's notion that suffering is the bridge. And I remember reading that in the file and just going, oh, my God. This is something else.

And it sent me back to, you know, the artist's struggle for integrity. It sent me back to a whole range of essays. But it was one of the many wow moments I had, you know, working my way through over 7,000 pages of work. All right. Eddie Glott, Jr. I appreciate it, man. Thanks a lot. Thank you, Doc. Take care of yourself and stay safe. Yes, sir. Thank you very much. Real quick to our panel here, I want to get your thoughts on this very surprising decision coming down just moments ago from the U.S. Supreme Court. I'm going to start with you, Teresa, since you are in, since you are there in Pennsylvania. Republicans in Pennsylvania sued to try to block the counting of Pennsylvania

ballots. This is, I'm going to sit here, I'm going to just blow this up for a second. So control room, hold on one second. This is the tweet from Ari Berman, who covers these issues of voting rights for the nation. Big win for voting rights. Supreme Court says Pennsylvania ballots will count if received by Friday after election day. Roberts joins liberals. Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh dissented. This decision could have easily gone the other way if Amy Coney Barrett on court. Now, keep in mind, that's a four four decision, which means Teresa at the lower court's ruling to allow the ballots stands. That's what happens when there's a tie on the Supreme Court. That right there shows you the difference between a 5-4 conservative

majority, but the difference between a 6-3, where if Barrett is on the Supreme Court, Roberts' vote is irrelevant because there are only three so-called liberal justices. Absolutely. And you know what? I've, I've been getting texts this entire time about the great work that our friend and client, Senator Sharice Street, has led this effort, who is also the vice chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, along with Representative Congressman Dwight Evans and Representative Malcolm Kenyatta and the works. But this has been a collaborative effort that first started in Pennsylvania Supreme Court. So when that judgment went down and, you know, Republicans tried to make a case that obviously did not fall through,

they then decided to elevate it to a court that they felt like it was their own and that was going to be their own benefit. But I'm glad the law actually made its way through the minutiae that the Republicans were trying to do. And now, again, PA, we all know, is a battleground state. But this is part of why elections matter when it comes to picking your judicial nominees. We have to make sure that, you know, this is a, you know, four-four decision. If Amy Barrett was on the Supreme Court, now, you know, we can assume that she's not voting in our favor, but a lot of her past conversations that she had during the Senate process has shown that it probably wouldn't have been. But this is a great victory for Pennsylvania and for those who are residents.

Cleo, one of the things when you look at this particular decision here, you talk about the Supreme Court. I'm always talking about connecting the dots. There are people who say, I'm going to ignore the top of the ticket. I'm going to ignore the president. But this was a Pennsylvania decision, a decision that then went to the federal court. Same thing happened in Texas. When a federal judge ruled that to allow for the expansion of mail drop boxes, they were overruled by a three court panel on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, all Trump appointees.

Donald Trump has appointed nearly one third of all appeals court judges in America. So for all the people out there listening and watching who don't think these decisions matter. So here you have federal judges ruling on how folks vote in Pennsylvania. Don't think for a second you can ignore the top and say, I'm only going to focus on what's happening in my state. Well, this is an excellent example of the fact that voting both locally and nationally makes a difference. So that's that's clear. And this is a victory for the people who supported what just went down. But I want to reiterate that we're going to constantly run into these problems during local and national elections, these problems meaning Black dysphoria, Black confusion,

Black conflict around what to do until we deal with what Black people are dealing with and going through. Because what the Democratic Party has going forward now is the history of Black people being Democrats, not Black people loving the Democratic Party or feeling like it's really been supportive of the Black community. And Black people are falling off that party because the mantra that you keep hearing is that they keep asking for our vote without giving us anything and just taking us for granted. This problem is going to grow. Congratulations to Philadelphia for what they've done. But the problem with Black people regarding the disorientation anything and just taking us for granted. This problem is going to grow. Congratulations to Philadelphia for what they've done. But the problem with Black people regarding the disorientation

around what to do and relapsing into the wrong hands because of a lack of clarity and guidance, that's going to still be a problem for us because there's still a lack of clarity and guidance around where Black people's agenda is in concrete ways in these parties. All right. Julianne, final comment. Well, this is wonderful. Teresa, congratulations to you and your clients. This is wonderful news. But again, I mean, I agree with both Cleo and Teresa. What we're looking at now is a situation where we're about to put a woman on the highest court. She's 48. She will be there for another at least 30 years unless something else happens. But we're not going there. So she's going to be there for a long time.

And she spoke in favor of voter suppression in her Supreme Court hearing. She did not have she talked about originalism in her Supreme Court hearing. And so what we see here is the continuation of voter suppression. And so, Cleo, while I don't think all people need to be, black people need to be Democrats, nor do I think that the Democratic Party has been cool consistently with black people, I think that Democrats could make a case as to what the difference has been in terms of who were those judges who basically

said, yes, we'll continue to count the ballots. Who are the judges in Texas, as Roland said, all tribal appointees who said, no, we're not going to allow any wiggle room. And so the Democratic Party, while not perfect, let's not let the perfect get in the way of the good.

Democrats aren't awful either. And they're a lot better than the Republican Party from where I sit, economically, politically, socially, and in every other way. Julianne, Cleo, Teresa, I certainly appreciate you joining us on our panel today. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Folks, coming up next, we'll talk voting with Sheila E., Patty Austin, Brenda Russell, and Ms. Carrington. All of that next, Roland Martin Unfiltered. I think that the millennials are now beginning to understand that there's a difference with elected officials and how they handle public policy. And there's a difference between those who just want a title

and want some perks and a little upward mobility, and those who are saying, hey, this is who I am. Like me or not, I'm going to tell it like it is. And if that means I don't win my election, then so be it. All right, so a lot of y'all are always asking me about some of the pocket squares that I wear. Now, I don't know. Robert don't have one on. Now, I don't particularly like the white pocket squares. I don't like even the silk ones. And so I was reading GQ magazine a number of years ago, and I saw this guy who had this pocket square here, and it looks like a flower. This is called a shibori pocket square.

This is how the Japanese manipulate the fabric to create this sort of flower effect. So I'm going to take it out and then place it in my hand so you see what it looks like. And I said, man, this is pretty cool. And so I tracked down. It took me a year to find a company that did it. And so they make these about 47 different colors and so I love them because again as men we don't have many accessories to wear so we don't have many options and so this is really a pretty cool pocket screen and what I love about this here

is you saw when it's in the pocket you know it gives you that flower effect like that but if I wanted to also unlike other because if I flip it and turn it over, it actually gives me a different type of texture. And so therefore it gives me a different look. So there you go. So if you actually want to get one of these shibori pocket squares, we have them in 47 different colors. All you got to do is go to rolling this martin.com forward slash pocket squares. So it's rolling this martin.com forward slash pocket squares so it's rolling this martin.com forward slash pocket squares all you got to do is go to my website uh and you can actually get this now for those of you who are members of our bring the funk fan club there's a discount for you

to get our pocket squares that's why you also got to be a part of our bring the funk fan club and so that's what we want you to do. And so it's pretty cool. So if you want to jazz your look up, you can do that. In addition, y'all see me with some of the feather pocket squares. My sister who is a designer, she actually makes these. They're all custom made. So when you also go to the website, you can also order one of the customized feather pocket squares right there at RolandSMartin.com forward slash pocket squares. So please do so

and of course that goes to support the show and again if you're a bring the funk fan club member you get a discount this is why you should join the fan club hey it's kerry washington listen i know that there's a lot that has got to change in our communities and sometimes it's hard to imagine things getting better and no voting will not solve everything but it is a step forward so remember in ohio you can vote early in person between october 6th and november 2nd plus if you need a free ride to vote use the code vote to live oh in your lyft app visit vote to live.org for more info paid for by Collective Future. In a democracy, this kind of attack on voting rights where extremists are cheating to stay in office because they know if everybody

votes, they cannot win in the public square. It is seeing. Now I know you universalists don't like to use that word too much. But you better hold on to it.

Because every now and then you need to call something what it is. It is sin. The great prophet Isaiah that my Jewish friends lift up, it has a word, Isaiah 10, verse 1 and 3, says it like this. Woe unto you who legislate evil and rob the poor of their rights. Sin. Paul said it's sin when you break up

and hurt the community. It's immoral. And we should be bothered enough to fight back. All right, folks. My man, Reverend William J. Barber. If y'all want to check out that full video, just simply go to the Repairs of the Breach YouTube channel.

That sermon took place March 6, 2015. All right, folks. In Kentucky, I'm going to read this story here before we go on to our next story. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Attorney for former Louisville Metro Police Department Officer Brett Hankison combined forces in a joint motion earlier this week, asking the judge to revoke a previous order to release evidence in the Breonna Taylor case to the public. Their goal is to get Circuit Judge Anne Bailey Smith to either revoke her order to release evidence in the Breonna Taylor case to the public. Their goal is to get Circuit Judge Ann Bailey Smith to either revoke her order to release evidence in the case or seal it until the ex-officer's trial. They argue that releasing files might permanently taint potential jurors in Hankinson's trial

and claim the people involved in the case had received death threats. No, he's been trying to keep that out for quite some time. All right, folks, let's talk about voting. And that is TWIFT. TWIST, Tough Women in Strange Times is a voter engagement project by women for women. The dynamic women of TWIST, performers, musicians, artists, and thought leaders have come together to share their twisted stories. They share their stories in hopes that we will be reminded of our own story, that story, the story that leads us to the ballot box on November 3rd. Watch and listen as some of the twist women share their stories. I was a teenager when we went from Negro to black, but black is beautiful. I sported a big afro. I joined the Black Panther

Party at Michigan State University. I helped serve a big afro. I joined the Black Panther Party. At Michigan State University, I helped serve breakfast to inner city school children. One of the Panther Party's community service programs. Black power, baby. The struggle is real. It is evidenced all across these un-United States. Police brutality is increasing. Hate crimes are accelerating,

lifting the veil on systemic racism. Listen to me. If you want to change what's going on in this country, then you have got to vote. Vote for you. Vote for your family. Vote for us. But vote. Plan your vote. My mother's tears live in me.

And I've learned that it's okay to cry and still be strong. We used to sit around our old black and white television set, and I remember JFK, Malcolm, MLK, and RFK all silenced. So I honor my mother's tears by not being silent. That's why I vote. Plan your vote. Hi, I'm from Chicago, and I'm an activist. I've been an activist most of my life. I was with the Black Panthers.

I started a free breakfast for children's program there. My grandmother was a woman of the world. She was a writer. She was a world traveler. And she insisted that my mother vote. My mother also insisted that I vote. and I insist that my children all vote and if you're having a hard time trying to think of a good reason to vote think back on the people that died for us you gotta vote plan your vote twist 2020 tough women in strange times. All right, folks, joining me right now is percussionist Sheila E., also Brenda Russell, jazz drummer Terry Lynn Carrington, and, of course, Patty Austin. All right, folks, how y'all doing?

Great. First of all, how Lisa Fisher going to do her vote video in the sexy, breathy voice? I'm like, is she talking about voting? We do whatever we do to get you to the polls. That's it. Well, I just sent her a text message. I was like, come on now, Lisa. Like, damn, Lisa.

I got news for you, Roland. That's what we said, too. I'm like, yes. Lisa got her video done first, and when we saw it, we freaked out. It was just so sexy and magnificent. I voted three times because of it. I don't know about anybody else. So y'all saw hers.

Y'all were like, let me go on back and rerecord mine. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. So, Sheila E., I saw it with you. Where did this idea come from? Where did this idea come from to bring these women together? Actually, we're going to let Patty talk about it. Patty and Brenda talk about it because actually Patty actually started this whole idea.

So let Patty talk about it. Patty, where did it come from? Where did you, how did it come up? It came from just lots of drama going on and having this, many things I want to address. And one of them is that the entertainment business has gotten away from acknowledging talent and it's gotten into acknowledging youth and um we are not getting any

younger the ladies in this group but we are responsible for an awful lot of music that an awful lot of people have listened to and grown up on so and i think that there's a feeling out there that we don't necessarily get along that well that that we don't communicate, but we do. So the first job was to get everybody together to kind of prove that. There wasn't an assigned mission. And I got in a conversation with Brenda when I called to tell her, to ask her if she would participate. And it was amazing because I said, will you participate? And she said, yes. She said, what is it? I said, I don't know yet. She said, okay, call me when you figure it out. So Brenda and I started talking, and I was telling her, you know, everybody that I know that's black is going through trauma now because we're just realizing all the pain that we carry around all the time.

And we have to constantly put it in the closet so it doesn't destroy us, so we can move forward. And with that, she began to tell this magnificent story about her great-great-grandmother. And I pass Brenda on to you so she can give you the Reader's Digest version. Well, my great-grandmother actually was born slavery. Oh, I'm sorry, great grandmother. It's okay. Go ahead, go ahead. She was born into slavery in 1843, and she was a water girl for the slaves, and she was a lookout for the slaves to make sure the overseer wasn't coming while they were kneeling

and praying for their freedom in secret. That's what they did. And she would see that overseer coming back, and she would say, get up, so that it could pick cotton and act like they weren't praying for their freedom because that was not cool for them to be doing that. So she was amazing. She lived to be 101 years old, had 11 children, two died. And she was amazing. She sent four boys to university.

And in those days, it was not the easiest thing to do. So I'm very proud of my good grandmother. And that's how we bounced into this. And Patty, with her brilliant self, came up with this idea to do this. And I said, yes, we are so doing this because we could set an example for a lot of young people. Let's have this conversation.

Exactly. And the idea was to let's have this conversation with everybody because we're not talking to each other or not. This is something indigenous people had over us and that made them so self-sustaining. They communicated with each other at the end of every day. And the ultimate knowledge came from someone with more estrogen than testosterone.

So, that's another part of my mission. And the other part of the mission is to have Black girl singers spearhead this because we have a voice for real. And we work for an audience that understands not only the music that we make, but who we are because of the music that we make. So I think we can have a tremendous influence on them

and they can have a tremendous influence on their kids. And I'm done for today. You guys take it. You know, Sheila, I think it's important. I think for a lot of people, the video that I dropped last week when I voted in Dallas, where tears rolled down

and it just shocked me as well. I mean, it went viral, several million views. People have been blowing my phone up about it. And I think about that line in the song Glory where Common says, freedom is like a religion to us. And so for a lot of us, it's sacred. It's personal when it comes to voting. Yes.

Well, and that's the thing is like when I saw your post and I saw you driving, you were in tears. And I'm like, I feel you. I mean, I started crying watching the video. And it's kind of like how I felt when I voted at that time when Obama was running. This is how I feel the same way right now. Like, it's like I'm anxious. I'm excited.

I want to tell people, you've got to go and vote. I was the one who was outside in the building yelling and screaming. And I'm like, no, wait, they can't hear me because I'm not a part of the system. Let me put my name down. Let me make, they need to hear my voice. Yes, every single voice counts. And it is so important because if we don't go out and vote, there won't be change. And that's how we changed what had happened when Obama came into office. We need change right now. There's so much hatred. Our country is so divided. I've never seen anything like this. I mean, growing up in the times, you know, during the Black Panther Party and during that time, I lived in Oakland. I'm born and raised in the Bay. I lived that. I was watching it. I wanted

to be a part of it. We played for some of the Black Panther parties where they were feeding the kids. And we were part of helping some of that. But it's just like the division here is just different. And it's so blatantly in your face. And it's like if they have the audacity to be in your face like that, so do we to tell you we're not going to take it and we need to change because we need to come together. There should not be a divide. There should be people coming together to make this country supposedly a free world, someplace where we're supposed to be able to raise our kids in a community where people walk by and say, hey, how you doing? Great day. You know, instead of spitting,

I've been spit on, pulled on, beaten up, back when I was growing up. I went through that. Even though I'm kinky with the good hair, it's okay. I'm just saying. I still got, you know, beaten and beat up, I should say, and talked about because I was brown. Because brown really didn't exist.

Mexicans were the lowest of the totem pole. And when I started hearing how this administration was saying Mexican people are rapists and they steal and they cheat and they murder people, and I'm like, how dare you talk about my family? My grandfather, who came from South Mexico, came over here and raised a family, a beautiful man. He was here in this country. He worked hard. How dare you disgrace my grandfather and my family? Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Terry, Terry, Terry Lynn, go ahead. Terry, go ahead and weigh in. Yeah, Terry, please. Please, Terry.

Yeah, I hear you, Sheila. How dare you disgrace our history, our families. We're more connected than we are separate. You know, my feeling is that so many people lost their lives for this right to vote. And how dare we not exercise our right, you know, based on the history of our grandparents even. It's not that far back. My grandmother was born a few years before the Suffrage Act. And she lives to be 100 years old, and she was able to vote for Obama. And that meant

so much to her. And I was born in 65, just a few days before the Voter Rights Act was signed. So I wasn't born in a time when every black person couldn't vote. So I think, you know, the question really is to our community, do they not understand the price that was paid and that they've been paid for, as Dr. Angela would say. So I think, you know, getting the message to the younger community is extremely important. I think a lot of us, you know, our own generation, I think they understand it better, but I still run into students that say you know they don't think it affects them or what's what's it going to matter they vote or

not and then we have to really break it down more important than voting right now Brenda go ahead no I just I agree with the ladies totally we have to I think people do young young people particularly, forget what happened before they got here with music, with politics, everything. But we were inspired to bring it back and remind people why it's so important because people did die and suffer and get beaten and had to guess how many jelly beans were in a jar to be able to vote.

I'm glad we're doing this. All for you also, like a lot of other folks, where it is so much craziness politically that you have to turn the news off or you like some people who are saying, it's so crazy, I can't turn it off?

Yeah. I'm both of those people. Patty, we'll go in alphabetical order. Patty, first, I cannot turn it off. Trust me when I tell you, do not turn it off. I tell you this from the bottom of my heart and from a knowledge that I carry that is really difficult to carry, but I cannot express enough, and every time I can say this in public, I do,

that this destruction, this pitting people against each other is being constructed. It's being manifested by an idiot in the White House, but it is being constructed from a guy in Russia. And we are not fighting to keep Trump out of office. We're fighting to keep from having to learn the Russian national anthem. And I want you to believe me when I tell you this.

And I also want you to believe me when I tell you that it's a long-ass song, and I don't want to have to learn it. So, vote twice. Because that's where this is coming from. And I can send you a picture of me sitting next to Pootie Tang for two hours watching a concert in Moscow. Yes. That's part of why I know what I'm talking about. Here's the thing, Roland. I think that it's really important to get the education,

especially, I mean, I love watching your show. I'm a fan. You know, I try to watch your show as much as I can. I mean, even the information that I got earlier today, and Eddie and his book and your panel, and so well educated on information that I got earlier today and Eddie and his book and your panel and so well educated on information that I have no idea. And the only way for me to learn some of what's going on is to look at especially your format and what you're doing for the people that is. I mean, this should

be on CBS, NBC, ABC. This should be primetime television because the information that you provide for us is so important. And so at some point, I do watch what I can and then that there's a balance that I have to sit down and go, okay, I need to go outside and rest because I get, I guess,

worked up in a way that is not healthy because I want to do something. What else can I do? Well, I am. I'm sharing my thoughts and how I feel. I come out and I vote. I make my voice heard and I'm encouraging everyone that I can to do the same. Terry? Yay, Sheila. Yeah, that's's my dog there's a great uh song that really teaches um i forget the artist's name yellow what's his name there's a a rapper yellow i can't remember his his rap name but i think the song um it's called it's about us and um there's you know a lot of you of young people in hip-hop that are spreading the word. And he broke this song down with all the different divisions of the government.

And it's really educational. And I think that, you know, as artists, we have to really make sure that we're doing our part educating people. And as parents. Because I think we've been far too long in our silos and doing our struggles to just make ends meet and pay our mortgages. All of those things are great, but without our freedom, it won't mean anything. So I look at kids that are innocent

and that don't understand white supremacy and hatred or any of those things yet, I realize that it's understand white supremacy and hatred or any of those things yet, I realize that it's up to parents and teachers to really make a difference with this next generation. Well, you're absolutely right. First of all, the videos you all are doing, where are they going to be running? Are they going to be viral? Where can people actually see all of them?

Well, we are compiling them all together, and you're going to be able to go to twist2020.com that's www.twist2020.com and see them put together in a little mini series and we're also going to announce tomorrow but this is a pre-announcement on the pre-announcement that we're going to have a challenge we're starting a challenge because we want to build a library out of our sisters out there talking about not only why they vote, we plan on carrying this beyond the election to issues that are out there that we need to be discussing in-house. We need to have a family conversation. So we are asking, we're going to ask everybody out there that's a lady, that's a little bit

brown to join our challenge. And it's this is why I vote. So here's what we'll do. This is why I vote challenge. So Patty, once y'all actually have those videos compiled, what we are doing is, first of all, I hit this every single day. We are actually running various PSAs. So once y'all have that ready, what we'll do is we'll feature those every single day on the show.

And why can we do that? And why can we do that? Because I own this shit. See what I'm saying? That's right. Thank you, Roman. Thank you so much. See, so I ain't got to ask nobody, Patty.

So I appreciate what Sheila said about CBS and all of them. But the only way I do it, if I can own it. I hear you. I hear you. And we have to do so much more of that also. That's the only way we're going to take control of anything. I have to tell you this, Roland. Yes.

We've done this from the bottom of our heart. We don't have a dime. I had a friend that threw some money into this because we don't want to look unprofessional. But this is, in an odd way, a grassroots organization, and we want to keep it that way for a reason. This is not about our visibility or our stardom or how many numbers we have online.

This is about us wanting to do the best we can at this time with each other to show that we can do this together and bring everybody into the circle. Well, if you decide to do, if you decide to look, I totally understand. I lost this show. Totally bootstrapped with my own money. One sponsor. All right.

My fan base has responded tremendously by joining our Bring the Funk fan club. 13,100 people have given since we started this show. So I totally understand your particular point there. And so, look, Sheila can text me. She can share my number with all three of you. If y'all want the fan base out there to support what y'all do, just let me know. We'll push it out on this show on my social media platform as well.

So we'll do that. And we'll close it out this way. We want to thank all of y'all for being with us. And, Terry, this is also how it happens when you got your own show. I actually have an iPad that I'm able to pull stuff right here from the set. I don't

have to worry about the control room. So the video that you're talking about, Yellow Pain, while we vote, we're going to play it right now. Terry Lynn Carrington, Sheila E., Patty Austin, Brenda Russell, I appreciate it. Thank you so very much.

Thanks, Roland. Love you, Roland. All right, folks, thank you very much. Love you all as well. All right, folks, don't forget, we're going to go ahead and roll the video. Plus, you're going to have the music playing while I'm talking. Support our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar you get, go support what we do, rollingmarketunfiltered.com. Support us at cashapp.

Cashapp, of course, forward slash dollar sign RM unfiltered. Also, paypal.me forward slash rmarketunfiltered. Venmo.com is forward slash rm unfiltered. Mail the money over to New Vision Media, Inc., 1625 K Street, Northwest, Suite 400, Washington, D.C., 2006. Raleigh, North Carolina,

I'm broadcasting live from your city tomorrow. Five black women are running for statewide office in North Carolina. I will talk to all of them tomorrow, plus Reverend Dr. William J. Barber, plus Simone Sanders from the Biden campaign, plus Dr. Everett Ward, the general president of Alpha Phi Alpha. We're on the road tomorrow. Roll the bar down the filter. I'll see y'all in Raleigh. North Carolina Central, I'm coming by your law school. North Carolina A&T, I'm swinging by a voting place as well. I'll be all over Greensboro, Raleigh, and Durham tomorrow.

Closing the show out. Why should we vote? Ho! We can play enough. Let me change it up. Everything I just said, everybody I know think the same way. So they don't want to see us vote and we never do. So we see the same thing. But all our votes really do count and they never really let it show. So now I'm going to break it down because if I don't, you will probably never know. First thing first, you know, back in middle school when they taught us it was three branches of the government. We forgot it when we got older. It's the judicial, legislative and executive. But all we know is the executive. That's the mayor or the governor and the president. We forgot it when we got older. We'll be right back. The president is what they do. Okay, y'all? See, they election every two years, but we don't ever even go to those.

The Congress, they can raise minimum wage, but we ain't even really know it, though. So you know how back in 08, when we all voted for Obama, we was all supposed to go back in 2010 and vote for the Congress because they the ones make child support laws. They the ones choose if your kids at school get to eat steak or corn dogs. The statehouse make the court calls. So if the country failed, then you can't say it's them, it's your fault because y'all ain't know to vote for Congress members. That was for y'all. We'll be right back. fix the U.S. We gotta start with them two letters, me and you. Somebody told us that the government wanna keep us broke, but the only reason why those people in the government is cause we ain't vote.

And I ain't talking about the president. I'm talking about the ones we ain't know. See, they was gonna try to keep it low, but it's gonna hurt them. 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, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-away, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's that occasion. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council.

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 one taser incorporated on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts i'm clayton english i'm greg lot and this is season two of the war on drugs by sure 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 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. This is an iHeart Podcast.