#RolandMartinUnfiltered - TN Expulsion Vote: Tennessee Legislature Expels Rep Justin Jones & Justin Pearson

Episode Date: April 7, 2023

4.6.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: TN Expulsion Vote: Tennessee Legislature Expels Rep Justin Jones & Justin Pearson Today Tennessee legislators voted on whether or not they would expel three members for peacefully protesting with constituents at the state house. We will show you what happened today and explain how unprecedented this bold move was to intimidate Republicans. The #BlackStarNetwork 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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. the 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. I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun?

Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend.

At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit adoptuskids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. Hey, folks, today is Thursday, April 6, 2023, coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. Tennessee Representative Justin Jones has been expelled from the legislature.

Republicans are debating expelling another member, Representative Gloria Johnson. They also will be debating to expel Representative Justin Johnson. We will go live to the Tennessee legislature. We'll also talk with Mark Thompson, who is live in Nashville as well. We'll talk about what is going on there and how Republicans are absolutely abusing their power. This is one of those moments that should galvanize gun control advocates, but also should be galvanizing people across the country. Why?

We should throw out Republicans across this land for what they are trying to do in Tennessee and other states. Also on today's show, we'll talk about what Republicans are doing in Mississippi. The NAACP there is going to be having a town hall tonight, and we'll talk with one of the officials about that town hall. Folks, that and more we'll be discussing. Also on today's show, Chuck D will be joining us as well, talking about the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.

Lots of stuff for us to cover, folks. It is time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin, unfiltered, on the Black Star Network. Let's go. Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling Yeah, yeah It's Uncle Roro, y'all Yeah, yeah It's Rolling Martin, yeah

Yeah, yeah Rolling with rolling now Yeah, yeah He's funky, he's fresh, he's real, the best, you know he's rolling, Martin. Now. Martin. Pursuant to Article 2, Section 12 of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee, I hereby declare Representative Justin Jones of the 57th Representative District expelled from the House of Representatives of the 113th

Assembly of the state of Tennessee. Folks, about an hour ago, that's what took place in Tennessee where Republicans with a super majority threw out one of three Democratic members who were standing with protesters last week in the wake of six people being killed at a Christian private school, including three children. Representative Justin Jones, an African-American, was again expelled by the Tennessee legislature. That has not happened, folks, in a very long time. Why was he expelled? For breaking a House rule.

No, not any other crass behavior, not taking bribes, not sexual assault, but that. When Representative Jones spoke on his behalf, he actually talked about the history and how there are members who have done egregious things and they were not expelled. Watch this. Let's talk about expulsion.

For years, one of your colleagues who was an admitted child molester sat in this chamber. No expulsion. One member sits in this chamber who was found guilty of domestic violence. No expulsion. We had a former speaker sit in this chamber who is now under federal investigation. No expulsion. We have a member still under federal investigation. No expulsion.

We had a member pee in another member's chair in this chamber. No expulsion. In fact, they're in leadership. But in the governor's administration and so once again what you're saying to us that you're trying to put us on trial I'll say what you're really putting on trial is the state of Tennessee what you're really showing for the world is holding up a mirror to a state that is going back to some dark, dark roots, a state in which the Ku Klux Klan was founded, is now attempting another power grab

by silencing the two youngest black representatives and one of the only women, Democratic women, in this body. That's what this is about. Let us be real today. Let us be real today. Colleagues, there's another part of this. This extreme measure is a violation twofold. Because it also is an attempt to silence and undo the will of over 200,000 Tennesseans whom the three of us represent. Your extreme measure is an attempt to subvert the will of voters who democratically elected us as representatives to speak

and to passionately fight for them. When I entered into this chamber, many members said, what will you do with this supermajority? I said, we will fight for you. We will not bow down simply because they have numbers, because we know that we are on the right side of history and that this body is not the ultimate safe.

Hallie. Folks, this is a live look at the Tennessee floor where Representative Gloria Johnson is giving her final comments before Republicans vote on whether to expel her from the legislature. I've spent much of my life dedicated to helping children. Appreciate you guys. You just made me get teary-eyed. And I really want to thank you for standing with me

because I know you care about children. And I hear a lot of talk about caring about children, but I continue to hear no one having conversations about things that will prevent gun violence from coming to our doors. There are so many things we could do that would change the trajectory of where we're headed. More school shootings, more church shootings, more Waffle House shootings, all of these, theater shootings. It's happening everywhere, folks. There's one common denominator.

It's the guns. It's the people that have the guns because we are not doing anything to make sure that people who are not safe don't have guns. I'm a gun owner. I have a gun. I took a class so that I would know how to use that gun. I trained with my nephews, a Marine and an Air Force member. I shoot regularly because I think you have to be responsible. It's responsibly stored. It was my father's service revolver. It laid on his

dresser every night when he came home, and we didn't touch it. And we knew not to touch it and but we grew up with that but but my father believed in things that we can do to prevent gun violence my marine nephew came home from from losing his best friend in Afghanistan went to live with his best friend's family because they were without their child in Massachusetts. And his business was manufacturing guns in Massachusetts. He told me about the restrictions that they had there. And he said, as a gun manufacturer, these are protecting us.

These are protecting kids. I sat down with him for hours to talk about what things made sense to you guys as manufacturers and what things did you think were a bridge too far. Not only did he talk to me about it, but he collectively got online with a lot of his colleagues in the same sort of business and sought agreement from all of them. This is the way we get to solutions. But we've got to have those conversations. We have got to be allowed to stand up and speak for our constituents. And we have to welcome this younger generation who might do it a little bit differently, but they are fighting like hell for their constituents. And that's what they sent them here for.

That's what they're doing. It's going to look different, you guys. The next generation always does. Respect the human dignity of every citizen in the state of Tennessee, and not just the ones that look like you, and not just the ones that agree with you. We've done so much damage up here to vulnerable communities this year, and now we're doing damage by not addressing the concerns of the families and the children. I cannot tell you how many phone calls I got from Republicans and Democrats and independents

from my district saying thank you. And from outside of my district in Knox County, from many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisles districts, Republicans I heard from. We want action. Our hearts compelled us to come up here for action. We need to allow people to speak for the 70,000 folks that sent them here. And earlier when my colleague said 200,000, he was talking about the combined total of the three of us. That's what he was talking about. So be careful about putting words in people's mouth. I have words.

We. Thank you. We are voting on house resolution 64 all those in favor vote aye when the bell rings those opposed vote no as every member voted as any member which changed their vote Has everybody voted? Does anybody wish to change their vote? Mr. Clark, take the vote. I-65, 30 nays. House Resolution 64 fails.

Wow. So with that, the Tennessee House has chosen not to expel Representative Gloria Johnson. So there were three representatives that were resolutions were put forth. Go back. Go back to the chamber. Go video there. Again, Representative Justin Jones, 72 votes earlier to expel. 65 votes, 30 against.

Representative Gloria Johnson, not expelled. Now they're going to move towards Representative Justin Johnson, the young brother, to determine whether to expel him. Mark Thompson is in Nashville. He has been there. You can hear, keep the volume up, please. You can hear the protesters. You can hear the protesters outside of the chamber. They're also there. They're also there in the chamber as well. Mark Thompson, just give us a sense of what this day has been like. Lots of drama there in Nashville. Yeah, it has been a very dramatic day. It has been a dramatic day. It's been an emotional day. It's been an historic day. The irony of trying three people on the eve of Good Friday and then expelling them or, in essence, crucifying them, they just don't see that. And this even in the same week when we, this very same state, recognized the observance of the crucifixion of three people in Memphis in 1968, Dr. King and the two sanitation workers. This is ridiculous.

I've been talking to people here. You know, I used to live here. I grew up in Nashville. In fact, I was a page in this very House of Representatives. My uncle was a chief sergeant at arms. I was talking to some people who still live here. I don't. And they say that the Republican Party and the Speaker of the House and the governor are so retaliatory that even when there were Republicans considering not doing this, they were afraid to not do it.

They were afraid to do anything but go for it because of the potential of retaliation. all because three people stood up to oppose there not being any solutions to this ongoing gun violence and that gun violence most recently visited that private school, that Christian school, on Monday, Thursday, today, that gun violence visited that Christian school. I've known Justin for years. When he came to Fisk, he joined the church that I grew up in, the church where a mutual mentor of ours, Dr. James Lawson, taught nonviolence to John Lewis and Diane Nash and Bernard Lafayette and Marion Barry during the Nashville City Movement,

Clark Memorial United Methodist Church. So it's Justin's nature to do this and to bring others with him as he has our brother Justin Pearson from Memphis and Sister Johnson from right here in Davidson County. This is a very big deal. It's a very big setback. And it lets us know just how much further Tennessee is going backwards. Here's what's interesting, Roland. When I was here in high school, this was a blue state, and there were two senators, two Democrats. Mark, hold on one second. Representative Justin Pearson is about to speak there. He is about to get his opportunity to answer to the resolution that is against him. And so we will go live to Tennessee. May it further resolve that copies of this resolution be prepared and forwarded to Justin

J. Pearson, the legislative body of Shelby County, the Honorable Bill Lee, governor of the state of Tennessee, and the Honorable Trey Hargett, secretary of state. Representative Pearson. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back.

In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man.

Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouch. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them.

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I know a lot of cops,

and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey.

We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like, he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. You're

recognizing the will. To God be the glory for the things that God has done and the things that God's still doing. It is indeed a sad day for us in the state of Tennessee with the loss of Representative Justin Jones from this body. It is a victory of this movement that still says it matters to end gun violence in the state of Tennessee. This movement that still says it is time for just action and just reforms in our state and to still have Representative Gloria Johnson serving in this house. That's the power of justice. There's been a refrain and a song going around in this movement. Power to the people.

Power to the people. Power to the people. Power to the people. Power to the people. Hosanna. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and foes who will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear. Though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.

One thing I ask of the Lord, this only that I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. To gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek God in God's temple. For in the day of trouble, God will keep me safe in God's dwelling. God will hide me in the shelter of God's sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me at his sacred tent. I'll sacrifice with shouts of joy and thanksgiving. I'll sing and make music to the Lord. Hear my voice when I call, Lord. Be merciful to me and answer me. My heart says of you, seek God's face. Your face, Lord, I will seek. Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger. You have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, God, my Savior. Though my father or mother, siblings or colleagues might forsake me,

the Lord will receive me. Teach me your way, Lord. Lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. Do not turn me over to the desires of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me. Do not turn me over to the desires of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations. I remain confident of this, that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. I give thanksgivings to Dr. Kimberly Owens-Pearson, Reverend Jason C. Pearson Sr., my fiancé Oceane, my brother Keyshawn, who stands in the gap, for Jason II, Tim Frinsonz, and Jalen, and to

everyone in District 86 in Memphis and Millington of the community who is here demanding justice. We are here because of a tragedy. Covenant School shooting victims Catherine Koontz, Mike Heals, Cynthia Peek, Evelyn DeHouse, Haley Scruggs, and William Kinney. We're here because of a tragedy, because we spoke up about the tragedy of gun violence that continues to perpetuate and persist in our state. We're here today witnessing injustice against the First Amendment. We spoke up for gun control and the end of gun violence. We're here today.

We're being sought to be expelled from this, the people's house, for speaking up about the need, the need for gun control because we broke some house rules. we're here today because of house resolution 63 64 and 65 rules i will tell you that i was never told about i learned about more rules in this house and our state constitution in the last five days than in my entire tenure and as you have seen and as we unfortunately have seen the rules can be wielded to bend to the desires of a few. And it is not sacrosanct for the protection of everybody. I do, before I continue, have a few parliamentarian inquiries. If you will indulge me. One, when is it that evidence can be presented into the record?

Evidence for our exposure. As a point of order, you can stop the time. I've got a few parliamentary inquiries before we keep going. No, this is part of your time because you're asking the clerk questions during your opening. Mr. Clerk. Okay. I'll retract those questions and then we'll ask them after. Thank you.

It said that I broke the Constitution, Article 2, Section 12, saying that each house has its own proceedings and you can punish members and things like that. Again, never informed about even these proceedings, denied due process, didn't know anything about this. I was never given an overview of these rules or informed the speaker, the chief clerk. Nobody reached out saying, hey, this is what you can expect. I've been serving officially District 86

for 10 days since I swore again. I was sworn in the day of the Covenant shooting. And now being brought up against charges, if you will, that we broke the constitution. Told in paragraph two that members of this assembly have permanent rules of order. Now when did we sit down and we talk about these rules? I think they were voted on before I got here and was appointed by the Shelby County Election Commission. Was told that we were crowding around the clerk's desk. And I gotta be honest with you, I just realized they're talking about this desk and not the one up there.

It's a lot of things that are in these resolutions that seem to assume a lot of knowledge about what I am supposed to know or what we are supposed to know without real facts about what we have been provided information about. I'm told, I'm told that I did knowingly and intentionally bring disorder and dishonor, knowingly and intentionally bring disorder and dishonor knowingly and intentionally bring disorder and dishonor when we went up between bills we walked i walked to this uh uh this hallowed in this hallowed house to that near this well went up between bills after not being called on doing welcoming and honoring to say we've got to listen to the people. We've got to do something.

We've got to take action on gun violence. We've got to elevate this issue in order that we can create the necessary change that we need because we're exercising, and I exercise our first amendment right. We're being told that that deserves an expulsion from the house because it broke a permanent house rule. And still, when we learned that a member of this body broke a permanent house rule in order for a video to be shown, there was no discussion even about what potential retributions might exist. If rules will be sacrosanct, if rules will be the end all and be all of this house, then that needs to apply equitably to everyone.

But there is something that tells me it is not the rules being broken. It was what we were advocating for that folks have gotten very upset about, that we were advocating for people who have been murdered in our communities. We're advocating for people like my own classmate, Larry Thorne, who was slain by gun violence. We're advocating for people who are suffering in our communities. We're told, we're told in this resolution that I proceeded to disrupt the proceedings of the House of Representatives from approximately 1050 until approximately 1142. And my fiance, she's a lawyer to be. And I have to tell you, if you go back, and this is one of the questions that I have, and we can start working on pulling up if you look at the video at 10 50 a.m this house is in recess and the question that I'm pondering is is it possible for house members to break permanent rules of order when the house is in recess it's's important that we unpack this. After SB 638

was passed at 1049 a.m., I walked to the well. I walked to the well. The speaker section immediately said, you're out of order. I call for a five-minute recess. Leadership, come up here. There was no disruption of any house proceedings or business. We were in a recess where members were relaxing, went for walks, left the chambers, ignoring the cries of people asking for gun reform, asking to end gun violence. I didn't disrupt proceedings between 10.50 to 11.42 because it wouldn't have been possible.

We were in a recess. But if you want to count the recess and say that our peaceful protest for red flag laws, our peaceful protest for gun control storage laws, our peaceful protest for the safety of kids like the ones at Covenant, our peaceful protest for the communities that we serve and the people that we represent deserve expulsion, then let's go through the timeline. There was a 10-minute peaceful protest on the House floor, and it was at exactly 1104 when we walked back to that room with Leader Camper. Again, in the resolution, it says that we refuse to leave the well. In fact, all of the quote-unquote protest, except for maybe the first second or two, was called during a recess. And we still finished the business for the day.

You keep going, and they say that we shouted and led chants with citizens. They said that we refused to leave the well. We had signs displaying political messages, and none of us believed that we were doing anything to deserve expulsion from this house. Speaking up on behalf of the last, the lost, the least, those who've been left out, those who've been ignored, those who've been silenced but who refuse to be silent any longer does not deserve expulsion from this house. The mic was cut off. We did use a mini bullhorn to listen and to project to the people in our community who were asking for change.

The reality is we were told this happened in the open presence of witnesses, but the gallery was cleared. The video and audio during this time, and you can see this with the chief clerk, and we can pull up that video. The video and audio during this people's exercise of our First Amendment was not even broadcast online we're told that this was disorderly behavior and it justifies expulsion well I've been looking colleagues at our permanent rules of order and if you read rule 19 of the permanent house rules that this body has voted on and have been mentioned several times today, there is a blatant contradiction in these resolutions that are asking for our expulsion and the permanent house rules for the 113th General Assembly. If you go to section 19, transgression of rules by member. Transgression of rules by member. And it reads this, and I'll read it into the record.

Any member who, in speaking or otherwise, transgresses the rules of the house, the speaker shall, or any other member may, call such transgressing member to order, in which case the member so called to order shall immediately sit down, unless permitted to explain, and the House shall, if appealed to, decide the case without debate. If there be no appeal, the decision of the chair shall prevail. If the decision be in favor of the member called to order, such member shall be permitted to proceed without leave of the House. If otherwise, such members shall not be permitted to proceed. And here's

the important thing, and which is really important for we who are being told we deserve to be expelled because of a breaking of these rules. In case any member objects and continues, stays at the well, you might say, for more than 30 seconds or something, without leave of the house. And if the case require it, such members shall be liable to the censure of the house, not expulsion. Those are the permanent house rules we voted on, or I've been told. It is not the fact that we walked up to the well. It was what we came up here talking about. That's what's at issue here. We're told that we have hurt the integrity and dignity of the house,

the house that our people elected us into. We received letters from Evan and Johanna and Evabel, Lucy, Heron, Nuseba, Lily, Makada, June, Jaina. We've had folks like the Robinson family, the Fitzgeralds and others who've come and reached out to us and said, thank you for standing up for right. Thank you for speaking up for such a time as this. And the reality is each of us have a responsibility to do so, to speak up for such a time as this. There is something I take issue with in paragraph 9 of our resolution.

It says that it's deemed in the best interest of the people of the state of Tennessee and the body for Representative Pearson to relinquish his seat as a member of the House of Representatives. I want to be clear. We are not relinquishing our seat. With this vote, you are taking it. You are disenfranchising the people of District 86. You are disenfranchising tens of thousands of people in our state. We are not giving anything away. A few of my colleagues have talked about the Tennessee state constitution in article two. But I invite each of you to go to article one section two of the Tennessee state constitution and it reads this way that government being instituted for the common benefit, the doctrine of non-resistance against arbitrary power and oppression is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind. That's what the forebearers of the state of Tennessee wrote. That's the constitution you're talking about. Where they said that to have non-resistance against arbitrary power, against house rules, not criminal acts, is oppression, is absurd, leads to the destruction of the good and happiness of mankind.

We've heard from thousands of people asking that we do something about gun violence. We must answer them, whether it be in Memphis or Millington, whether it's conversations with folks like Mama Easter Knox or Sarah Gladney or thousands of people in this chamber, outside this chamber, up top, who are saying we've got to do something. We've got to do something. It is those who are demanding and should be telling us what's in the best interest of our people. And what is in the best interest of our people from what we have heard is the end of gun violence. What's in the best interest of our people from what we have heard is the end of gun violence. What's in the best interest of our communities and of our people are folks who are willing to pass just legislation. It's folks like those grandmothers who couldn't make it today but are watching today, who want to ensure that they will be safe and our communities will be safe.

It's Jermaine, my intern who shadowed here at this Capitol, who said, I want to make sure that going to school isn't going to lead to my death. Our silence about gun violence is the antithesis of what is in the best interest of the people of the state of Tennessee. This week especially, Holy Week, we remember also Dr. King and the core bearers of the civil rights movement who taught us about civil disobedience as a way to get action. Dr. King taught us that sometimes there's a consciousness above rule, above what you might say is law,

and that the true forms of protest is nonviolent disobedience. For less than a few minutes, we and you are seeking to expel District 86's representation from this house. In a country that was built on a protest. In a country that was built on a protest. You who celebrate July 4th, 1776, pop fireworks and eat hot dogs. You say to protest is wrong because you spoke out of turn,

because you spoke up for people who are marginalized you spoke up for children who won't ever be able to speak again you spoke up for parents who don't want to live in fear you spoke up for Larry Thorne who was murdered by gun violence you spoke up for people that we don't want to care about in a country built on people who speak out of turn who spoke out attorney who fought out a turn to build a nation. I come from a long line of people who have resisted. I come from a long line of people who have fought injustice.

I come from a long line of people who know what it means to face adversity and difficult days. Who knows what it means to have words that mean something, that doesn't call peaceful protesters insurrectionists, doesn't call people who advocate for the end of gun violence the folks who would actually kill law enforcement officers, talking about children and teens who are being persecuted by the words that we speak. And I must say to you, as I wrap up this portion,

that we all have a responsibility. We all have an obligation to do what is just, to do what is right, and to do what is fair. And what I can promise to those of you who have cried today, those of you who mourn the seeming end and assault on our democracy. I can say to folks who are worried about whether or not, as one sign said, am I next? What I can say to you is that the movement

for justice can never die because the heart for justice can never be killed because it lives and it beats in each and every one of us. It cannot die because we will not let it die. I'll tell you that folks have tried to kill it. They tried to put it on a tree called Calvary. They tried to kill hope and love, but resurrection is always guaranteed after persecution.

Representative Farmer, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Representative Pearson. Representative Pearson. I'm Clayton english i'm greg glad and this is season two of the war on drugs podcast we are back in a big way in a very big way real people real perspectives this is kind of star-studded a little bit man we got uh ricky williams nfl player hasman trophy winner it's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne.

We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter. Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't

working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes

one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley

comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like, he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more.

Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. Do you know why you're standing in the well today? Representative Pearson. Yes, hold on one second. Representative Farmer. Yes, sir. Folks, you're watching live coverage of the Tennessee legislature. Yes, I'm going to have to pause my time if he's going to waste. No, I'm actually—

—debating— Representative Pearson. —whether to expel— Yeah, I'm actually not trying to pause my time if he's going to waste. I'm debating whether to expel Representative Justin Pearson. Earlier they expelled Representative Justin Jones, and they voted not to expel Representative Gloria Johnson. I came to this well using our First Amendment rights to speak up after the violent killing with assault rifles of beautiful human being Catherine Coons, Mike Hill, Cynthia Peake, Evelyn DeCowles, Haley Scruggs, and William Kenney?

Representative Farmer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, you're wrong. You're in the well today because you broke rules of decorum. Wouldn't you agree? Representative Pearson. I'm in the well today because you broke rules of decorum. Wouldn't you agree? Representative Pearson. I believe I'm in the well

today because you have put forward a resolution that says that it's more important to expel voices of dissent than do the work of justice which is fighting to end gun violence in the state of Tennessee. I believe that I'm in the well today because I, with the courage of ancestors and family

and loved ones and community, stood up and spoke up for folks like my classmate Larry Thorne who can speak no more because of the proliferation of guns in Tennessee. I believe that I'm in the well today because you have decided that it is not right to have debate. It is not right to listen to the voices of the minority. I believe I'm in the well today because on the day that we wanted

to honor the thousands of people who protested, we were denied that opportunity. I believe that I'm here because you feel in your heart that it is right to persecute someone who has committed no crime, who has only broken what you call the house decorum rule which according to section 19 of the house permanent rules of

order say that at worst the thing that should happen is censure. But instead you have brought forward a terrible resolution to deprive and disenfranchise thousands of people in Shelby county of a representative who will and can speak and advocate for them and I believe Representative Farmer that that is wrong. Representative Farmer. Thank you Mr. Speaker and I just I want to just remind you a letter you sent the members of this General Assembly on April 3rd. I recognized I did not follow decorum this

past Thursday on the house floor and I take full responsibility and accountability for my actions. What changed between the letter you sent the members and the account you just gave because either, A, you were telling a

lie here or you were telling a lie right there at that podium. What's the truth? Representative Pearson. Thank you, representative former. I did write letter, and I still stand by it. We broke, I later learned, rules of house decorum by coming up to the floor. And I do take full accountability and responsibility for my actions, because I don't want the names of Katherine Coombs and Mike Hill and Cynthia Peek and Evelyn DeHaus and Haley Scruggs and

William Kinney and folks like Larry Thorne to go into an ether of silence. You're right that coming up to the House floor without the speaker saying something broke a rule of house decorum, but it did not break a rule that deserves the expulsion of members of this body. We committed no crime. We did nothing but came to this floor to say we need to listen to the constituents who are asking for us to end gun violence. We need to listen to the constituents who are asking for us as they chanted to do something. And that is not a crime.

In fact, that is our responsibility, our obligation, and I would even say it's our calling. Representative farmer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I, as you said earlier, you have admitted that you engaged

in disorderly and disruptive conduct, correct? Representative Pearson. That's not correct. I believe the rule of house decorum that we broke was engaged in disorderly and disruptive conduct, correct? Representative Pearson. That's not correct. I believe the rule of house decorum that we broke was walking up to the well without the speaker's permission. But I think, and I'm going to ask that we do get the video

of what happened on the House floor that day, because I believe you will see, as we saw on the video earlier, that most of the things that are in this resolution, which really make it challenging, I think most of the things that are in this resolution which really make it challenging. I think most of the things that are in this resolution happened during recess. And what I'm being told now or what it seems to be happening is that you cannot be held to account to the permanent house rules of order during recess or another member of this body would have had a resolution against them or will be

having one pretty soon. And so I think there are a lot of contradictions and questions that are coming up, representative farmer. Representative farmer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Representative chisholm. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Representative pierson, what day were you officially sworn in?

I'm sorry, Representative Pearson. I was sworn in on the 27th, so Monday last. Representative Chisholm. The 27th of March. So I bet you've learned a lot about the house rules over the last few weeks, huh? Representative Pearson. Yeah, but certainly have learned a lot and we're really fortunate to also serve in an interim role to see how this house Operates and I have to say the way that operate today was quite different than what I've seen in past sessions represent Chisholm

Thank You mr. Speaker members I'm standing here to fight for our member. I'm standing here to fight for all of our members. Because we have a new member standing in the well defending his right to even be here. A member who was sworn in less than two weeks ago. A member that is just learning the decorum of this body. A member who has proven himself to be hardworking, articulate, eloquent. And although this member moves a little bit different than most of us,

matter of fact, I even go as far to say he moves different than I do. But this is a member that deserves to be a part of this body. This is a member that I've seen with my own eyes works so hard for his community, who I've seen fight tooth and nail the injustice in his community, who fought gun violence, who fought for clean water so that the state could continue to have it.

A member since over the last two weeks I've seen study more than I've seen many of us who've sat here for years. So members, many of you all know that it's rare for me to get up into this chamber and speak. But I have to speak to the humanity of everyone in the room. Forgiveness, you know, we're all taught to be forgiving. Well, let's take the opportunity to forgive a new member who maybe yes he broke a rule of decorum

a member that I believe in a short period of time will be an asset to this body who I see as an asset to this body. Who I see as an asset to this body is even now. Members, we've seen, it's been said many times that we've seen many members of this body violate rules and are still here

who violated the quorum in a much severe manner than a member just standing in the podium who are still here and members let's remember that as we talk about forgiveness and as we talk about the member in question right now, let's remember who's watching us right now. Let's remember who's in the hallway. And let's not forget about those children

that lost their lives. Let's not forget about the reason he felt like he had to get in the well. Because when a generation is penalized for telling the truth, we teach them how to lie. So members, let's be careful what we're teaching, not only the people who are here at the state capitol right now, not only the people of Tennessee, but remember, please remember, there are people all over the world who are trying to find examples of Tennessee that they can copy and use for themselves.

Folks, we're continuing our live recording of what's happening in Tennessee. A few moments ago, Representative Gloria Johnson, who they chose not to expel, was asked the question, why did she not get expelled, but Representative Justin Jones did? This is actually what she had to say. I'm going to pull up in a second, folks. My panel, Greg Carr, Department of Afro-American Studies at Howard University, Recy Cobra, founder of Black Women's Views,

of course, hosts her own show on SiriusXM on Saturdays as well. Glad to have them here. Recy, listen to what Gloria had to say. Yes, and we're going to fight hard to... Yes, and we're going to fight hard to get him back. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast.

Yes, sir, we are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice

to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this

quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouch.

What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser the revolution but not everyone was convinced it was that simple cops believed everything that taser told them from lava for good and the team that brought you bone valley

comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission this is absolute season one taser incorporated I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th.

Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like, he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care.

Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. I'll answer your question. It might have to do with the color of our skin. Recy, Representative Johnson says, what's the difference between her and Justin Jones? She's white, he's black. Point blank and a period. White women tears are undefeated, okay? We saw what Iowa earlier, even though those white girls weren't really complaining, it was all other white folks. But I mean, I don't want to diminish what she did as part of the Tennessee three, you know, protests.

She did show great bravery. And this is a prime example of why we need white people and white women who have a special superpower called white tears to stand beside us because they do have more privilege in these situations and they're not going to see the same consequences that we have but i did have ain't that about a bitch moment when she was not voted to be expelled now she still had a majority of votes to get expelled but in this case you needed two-thirds majority in order to expel the member and that's not what happened in this case. So it's really ridiculous that we're seeing this. And I just last week on the show, Roland was talking about how Republicans like to use decorum as a tool to silence dissension, as a tool to deflect away from the fact that these people are co-conspirators in the American carnage from gun violence. I salute both of these young brothers.

I think that Justin Jones will be probably reappointed back to the seat, and he will win his seat back in the special election. But what these Republicans are doing today is to send a chilling message, stay in your place, boy. Don't step out of line, boy. We can take you out of here, boy. It doesn't matter if you were elected, boy. We brought you in here and we

can take you back out. And that is a problem. I'm going back to Justin Pierce and I'm going to go to Greg Carr. Go back to the live hearing. To stand up and say the way we're doing things is wrong. That's people power.

But that's the responsibility of all of us who serve people. It is not just to go with the status quo in and of itself because that's the way that things have always been. It's actually to push for things to be better, to push for the voice of the minority. And I mean that in a couple of ways, not only politically, but today, two African-American members, one woman, one of two Democratic members had resolutions for expulsion. It's an opportunity and a necessity that this body become more democratic in order that all voices all the time are heard, so that folks don't have to stand up person after person

after person saying the way we're treating this person's bill is different than this person's and the only difference that's obvious is the fact that one is black and one is white one is a Democrat and one is a Republican those ways of operating that entrenched the status quo only lead to further division and to persecute people who are advocating to stop the proliferation of gun violence in our communities. That's wrong. That's wrong. And so while I know I do take responsibility

for coming to the well while the speaker said out of order, I also take responsibility for the people in our district and in our communities who are asking for us to do something, who are tired of going to funerals of their brothers and their sisters and their grandmothers and their cousins. Are we not responsible to them, too? I'll take any other questions. They're going to continue the question here.

Greg Carr, I want you to jump in here as well. Look, this is your home state. You see exactly what's going on. And here you have, again, one of these Republicans who are trying to jam up. Just listen to this crap, then Greg, comment. Go. It wasn't an easy thing for me to do. I'm hearing you blame this on your youth.

But just because you don't get your way and you grab a couple friends doesn't mean you can come to the well while we're conducting business in session. Other members are waiting to have their bills to be heard. They have constituents too, 60, 70,000 times another 80. Millions of people. Just because you don't get your way, you can't come to the well, bring your friends, and throw a temper tantrum with an adolescent bullhorn. It doesn't give you the right. Greg, the reason I find this hilarious, we've heard other folks talk about how there have been temper tantrums on the floor, how a former Speaker of the House was elected who had to have state troopers escort him to and from his office.

Really? Yeah, Roland, as you can imagine, I'm really not in the mood tonight. I had a visit from about 50 students from Atlanta to my afternoon class. I came soaring. And then I come in to hear this damn hillbilly, this punk-ass Andrew Farmer from East Tennessee, a graduate of the August East Tennessee State University, not, and got his JD from the Thomas Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, not worth the paper it's printed on. This hillbilly with his hair slicked back and some glasses he borrowed

from CVS or wherever, this hillbilly talking about decorum, this hillbilly pointing with his fake Burberry tire and his punk-ass shirt on and looking a little bit punkish. You see, these are not people to talk to. They must be overrun. You understand? Look at this hill, Billy. Looking at that young brother. Looking at Brother Pearson, not even 30 years old, 27 years old, out of Memphis.

Went to Bowdoin University in Maine, Bowdoin College in Maine. Now, yeah, his preacherly cadence I might find a little contrived, but I'm from Tennessee. I know what preachers sound like, and I'm not going to, you know. And Justin Jones, he's from Oakland. He's got a bit of a style himself. But you know who was given the most eloquent moment today? It wasn't even Gloria Johnson, who I agree with Reesey. She's a white woman.

She didn't have to go there. Plus, she talked about guns. Jesse Chisholm. Jesse Chisholm, who's 43 years old. Jesse Chisholm from Nashville, he went to Overton. I went to Hillsborough, right around the corner from where those six got shot, by the way, last week. Jesse Chisholm, who went to Morehouse.

Jesse Chisholm said something very moving as he defended his brother. Jesse Chisholm represents District 85. Justin Pearson represents District 86, West Tennessee. In Memphis, Jesse Pearson said, you know, he moves different than I do. He moves different than I do, but that is no reason to expel him. He said, I have to speak to the humanity of everyone in this room. That's what Jesse Chisholm said. And let me end with this, Roland.

In the words of Malcolm X, Brother Chisholm, you're speaking a language they don't understand. You see, these are the devils who worship at the shrine of Nathaniel Bedford Forrest. When those young representatives tried to get that bus removed, these are the crackers, you understand. I'm using cracker very deliberately now, not in a pejorative sense, but in the sense of class, the way the rich of Georgia and Tennessee and Alabama refer to the poor whites, the red necks, because the sun baked down on their necks and turned them red in the dirt. These are the ancestors of Andrew Farmer necks and turned them red in the dirt.

These are the ancestors of Andrew Farmer, who worshiped the Ku Klux Klan. There is no common language, Representative Chisholm. God bless you, brother, in this Easter week for you saying I have to speak to the humanity of everyone in this room. But they are not all human beings in this room. These devils are out for political lynching. And the vice mayor of Nashville has already called for a special meeting of the tenants of the Nashville City Council on Monday.

They are going to take up the District 52 vacancy of Justin Jones, and they're probably going to reappoint Justin Jones, because according to the rules of the Tennessee state constitution and legislature and the local governments, you can't be expelled from the House on the same thing twice. So they're going to be back. This is political theater. But, damn it, you ain't got to move. And I wear dashikis. You understand? I see that brother there standing in a dashiki. That's fine. But guess what? When our brother Jesse Chisholm say he don't move like I move, but we need to talk to our common humanity,

brother Jesse, you're wasting your breath. The only way you break the back of these white boys is to break their political back, grind it into dust. Now, y'all get out there and vote. And like you said, like you asked, where the damn NAACP? Where are all the street protesters? Where are the people? Break their backs. Send their asses home. Break their backs. They cannot be discussed. This is the end of any discussion with these hillbillies. The world should be watching this today. I have no idea where in the hell the Tennessee NAACP is. I ask that question.

Why are they not mobilizing and organizing? Let's go back to here, Representative Justin Pearson. To the well of this house saying we've got to do something. That's what I would like to be doing. And so you brought attention or tried to bring attention to me, but I want to turn

the attention to the people. The people who will never be able to throw a temper tantrum for gun violence. You know, the Larry Thorns, the Catherine Kuntzes, the Mike Heals, the Cynthia Peaks, the Evelyn DeKalb, the Haley Scruggs, the William Kennys, who will never have a chance to throw what you call a temper tantrum for justice, for gun reform, for the ending of gun violence. They'll never have a chance.

Because we haven't taken our oath seriously. Because we don't take people who we disagree with seriously. We tell them you just are throwing a temper tantrum. And again, these are the same folks who live in one of the greatest democracies, as we've been told, in the United States of America. A place and an institution, in fact, I would argue, that was built on protest. An institution that was built on people throwing temper tantrums against injustice and what they viewed as injustice. It isn't a temper tantrum to say that kids should actually go to schools that are safe. Neighborhoods shouldn't have to have thousands of police officers to be safe.

We shouldn't have to worry about going to the grocery store as in some cases going to the movie theater and someone coming with an assault rifle and killing us. That's not throwing a temper tantrum sponsor. That's just asking for us to do right. You said something else. You said you don't understand why you're here. I promise you, I fully understand why I am here. I am here because the people in District 86 brought me here. I'm here because the people in District 86 asked that we might fight for justice against the status quo here. I'm here because we are subversive to the status quo. One that is young, one that is diverse, one that calls into question the ways that we have been operating that are not working. Because if they were working, those kids would be alive. Larry would be alive. People in our communities and in our families, TJ would be alive. If the system

was working the way it was supposed to, because that's my cousin, would be alive. But that's not what's happening. And look, I wrote y'all a letter. I gave, I hand-delivered a letter to everybody, and I said, look, I take full accountability and responsibility for my actions on the House floor, and that it broke decorum. I told y' all that. And I also told you that there was in no world or way that I thought that would lead to us being expelled from this house that we got elected into by our constituency. Who would have ever thought that, that for 30 seconds or less before the speaker called a recess could lead to our expulsion from the statehouse.

That is anti-democratic. That is not right. That is not just. So yes, I still take full responsibility for my actions. I know exactly why I am here serving. I know exactly why I am fighting for our community, why I'm fighting to continue to be in this institution to help create change. I know exactly why I'm doing that. And I know exactly why this resolution was brought forward. And I don't think it has a lot to do with

the 30 seconds before the recess. I think it has to do with the issue that we were talking about. You said something else, that we are just criticizing folks and setting instead of just setting back and criticizing folks put forward some legislation well some good legislation has been put forward y'all i hear uh representatives on our side have legislation that can lead to protecting our communities including red flag laws and gun storage uh as well and i ask that you might I'm going to ask you to work together to fight for just legislation. I know you're going to fight for just legislation in our communities, including red flag

laws and gun storage as well. And I ask that you might work to actually pass that legislation. Because we're going to continue to fight for just legislation. We're going to continue to fight to ensure that more lives are not lost to the epidemic of gun

violence in our communities. And so, yes, if I'm expelled from this house, I will not have the opportunity to fight for that legislation as a member, but you can believe that I will continue to fight for our communities and to fight for just legislation in the state of Tennessee. With that, if anyone has any more questions or comments. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Sir, we are back.

In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means

to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill.

NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corps vet. MMA fighter. Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does.

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes,

but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad.

Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives.

Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit adoptuskids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've been trying to get the podium all day, but I've been cut off, and I know that's part of our democracy. But I wanted to just talk to y'all real quick about when I wasn't here. We've had three cases now, four of people being expelled from the House. The only one that I've been at was Jeremy Durham up until Representative Jones earlier. But Jeremy Durham, about half of y'all were here then.

I kept hearing that Jeremy Durham did not have his due process. Do you remember that, the ones who were here? Due process, due process. So let's talk about due process just a minute. Due process is under the Constitution where if we take your life, liberty, or property, there's a process that the government has to go through. And obviously, we're not sentencing him to death. Obviously we're not taking his liberty by sending him to jail. But we are taking his property. His job is his property. His elected position in this House is his property. And because of that, and we are a government entity—

Now, folks, we're going to continue to monitor this. When you heard—when you heard them say, you just heard the speaker here reference Representative Jeremy Durham. Jeremy Durham was a member of the legislature there in Tennessee who was accused of sexual misconduct. Okay, guys, sexual misconduct. So let's just be real clear what we're talking about here. Again, what you're dealing with. In fact, this is a story here. Durer was a Republican. He was expelled from the legislature in 2016, months after an investigation by the Tennessee

and the Nashville Tennessean revealed inappropriate text messages to several women. A subsequent investigation by the Tennessee Attorney General's Office detailed allegations by 22 women that Durham made lewd comments, gave inappropriate hugs, and had sex with a 20-year-old college student political worker at his legislative office and home. The Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance launched its own investigation, ultimately levying the harshest fine campaign finance officials have issued against an elected official. The investigation found Durham violated campaign finance laws hundreds of times,

spending thousands of donor money on goods and services not related to his campaign. And you had Republicans, Recy, today stand up and say this man who they expelled didn't have due process and they are literally kicking, they've already kicked out one brother. They're likely going to kick out a second brother for breaking a rule. Go to hell, bitch. This is a straight-up Klan meeting at this point, and the gaslighting is ridiculous. I mean, he was giving way, like, we lynching your boy.

I mean, you just gonna be out of a job, boy. You know, I just... It's so fucking racist and disgusting the way that they're trying to smack, be clear, the black men, because the white lady, bless her heart, Representative Gloria Johnson did not lose her job in this point. She doesn't have to go through the whole situation again. This looks like a Klan meeting. It's so racist. It's disgusting. But they can get away with it because who's going to check them?

Tennessee is one of the least voting states. When it comes to youth turnout, 13 percent of the youth in Tennessee vote. When it comes to the greater electorate of registered voters, 38 percent of Tennesseans vote. And so this is the kind of Klan leadership, not leadership, that should get the kind of fascism that you get when you keep your ass at home and vote. And there's no surprise, too, that leadership, that you get the kind of fascism that you get when you keep your ass at home and vote. And there's no surprise, too, that the people that they are targeting to disenfranchise are Black districts. Representative Pearson's district is 40-something percent more Black than the average Tennessee state district. The same goes for Representative Johnson, who was expelled.

And so they're trying to send a message to not just these particular gentlemen, but to the voters, don't send somebody here that's going to rock the boat because we'll send their asses packing all over again. And I hope that when these two gentlemen come up for a vote, if Representative Pearson does get expelled, that the voters tell them, take that message and shove it up your ass. We're going to send people in there that are going to do what needs to be done so that we get justice and we get gun control in this country for starters. Greg, if I'm the White House, you know what I'm doing? I am inviting all three of them to the White House tomorrow. I am standing there and I am calling out these

Republicans. I am putting them on blast. I am saying we stay with them on gun control. And if I'm President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, I'm also saying we will come to your districts and campaign for you. This is a moment that you use to mobilize young voters, mobilize the thousands. Listen, as these people are talking, if y'all are listening, when we run the coverage, when you hear, they are literally there outside the chamber watching this, yelling and screaming. This is an opportunity for Democrats to use this in the state of Tennessee to mobilize and organize. And guess what?

You might be able to break the super majority there in Tennessee, but if they do not take advantage of the moment, Greg, then you lose it. Absolutely. I don't know what they're gonna do. Let me tell you, my position on this is very well known. The United States of America is a criminal enterprise. It is going to implode.

The only question is when. Will it be 100 years from now, 50 years from now? And I say that as a preface not because anybody doesn't already know that, but I'm saying that because what you said is also true, Ronald. I don't walk away from the table simply because I know enough history to understand what happens to a place like this. I don't walk away from the table simply because I know enough history to understand what happens to a place like this. I don't walk away from the table. This would absolutely be the time. But here's the problem. You know, Joe Biden believes in something that doesn't exist. He believes in something called the American people, the soul of the American people.

And that's why his wife could make such a faux pas as to try to invite some white girls from Iowa to come to the White House along with LSU. They don't understand where they are. Now, can we make them understand? Absolutely. And this is getting right to the point that you're raising, Ronan. We're not caping for any political party. What we're caping for is people. People have been killed. This young brother right here, Justin Pearson, who is growing into his role as a legislator right before our eyes, has been thrust into the conduit of history. And so has Justin Jones. Now, Gloria Johnson has chosen to stand on the right side of history. Will the Biden administration stand on the right side of history? History tells us probably not unless we force them to. Now, what you saw there with Bill Black, Bill Beck, Bill Beck, Representative Beck is a white man, but he represents a district in Nashville. His district, District 51, is part of Davidson

County. And you took us through that story quite well months ago, Roland, and how this white supermajority, this white national supermajority has tried to carve up Davidson County to prevent political power. But Recy just gave us the numbers. As a person who votes in every election and also understands that this criminal enterprise is going to dissolve, those two things are not mutually exclusive. I fight because you don't have a choice but to fight in this. The brother standing there in Adashiki, we know what his politics are, but he is an elected state representative. And when Jeremy Beck, I'm sorry, Jeremy Beck, when Bill Beck said that you are taking his property, his elected position, that's why we have lawyers. Perhaps the greatest black legislator in the history of that funky ass legislature that sits literally on John Lewis Way in downtown Nashville, perhaps the greatest

legislator who has ever walked in those halls is named Avon N. Williams Jr. Avon Williams was a lawyer and a Tennessee state senator. And at one time they called him the most hated black man in Tennessee because he was the lawyer that forced them to desegregate in Tennessee. He was the lawyer that negotiated and forced them to merge the University of Tennessee, Nashville with Tennessee State. And Tennessee State took over the University of Tennessee, Nashville. He was hated,

but he fought in there with both fists. And in that tradition, we have to overrun these white boys. You've got to participate in democracy for it to work. And I'm trying to explain to people, we're about to go back to their Tennessee and we're showing you this.

I know what other networks, what they're not doing. That's why we actually have our own. We don't back to their Tennessee. And we're showing you this. I know what other networks, what they're not doing. That's why we actually have our own. We don't have to depend upon them. Folks, listen to me clearly. This is a moment. I keep telling y'all there's a through line from Tennessee to Georgia to Florida to Texas to Mississippi

to Alabama. We can keep going. This is what they're going to do. This is why I wrote this book. What you are seeing right now, y'all, is white fear. How the brownie of America is making white folks lose their minds. It is happening. And if you sit your ass on the

sideline, if you keep listening to these old yahoos, and let me go ahead and say it. Where's all the punk-ass new black media people? Are they standing with Justin Jones? Are they standing with Justin Jones? Are they standing with Justin Pearson? Do they have their back? No. Are they broadcasting right now? No, they're not.

You know why? Because they're not serious. And so what we have to understand is this is fighting for black people. When they expel two black members, they are targeting black people. When they expel two black members, they are targeting black people. Period.

Black people elected Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, and they are saying, we don't want them in our midst. You heard what one of them told Justin Jones to his face, calling him a disgrace. If we vote our numbers, we can run the table.

But you cannot be demanding you want tangibles if you do not vote because it's guaranteed you'll never get it. Back to Tennessee. When you step into the well with a bullhorn and are yelling and screaming and are sharing with the people of this state that you believe that none of us care and you shut down the ability of even a response, surely you can at least admit that that is an egregious thing to shut out other voices because only together with everybody's thoughts at the table, everybody's voice at the table, can we possibly solve the problems that plague our day. Every single voice is important, yours, mine, everyone's. Does it not matter to you that in doing so you shut down every

other voice and elevated yourself even above the very families who were going through hell because their loved ones were killed and it appeared to us as if in that broach of protocol. Y'all know that earlier when when it came to Representative Jones, they cut off debate. So he's saying that they shut off voices. They would not let everyone who sat up to talk talk because they simply called the question.

This is exactly what they do. What you're seeing is white Republican performative politics right now. That is what they're doing. Y'all, they literally walked up to the damn podium. We had other members describe fights breaking out. Fights breaking out. And they literally are bitching about, oh, my God, you walked up and you disturbed. Here's the other deal.

They broke a house rule. Earlier, they introduced a damn video showing what happened, and the shooting of that video broke a house rule. And then they said, who was the member who shot it? Come forward. Nobody came forward. Just so y'all understand the BS at play. Let's hear Representative Pearson respond to this idiot. Because this is the way that I know how to resolve things,

to talk about them and share ideas and share our differences in a way that comes to better results. What are your thoughts on that? Representative Pearson. Senator Lambert, you're wrong. I don't think that one person's voice is more important than anybody's, especially the 96 or so other folks. But what about the thousands of people who were here that Thursday who you never recognized? What about the thousands of people here who your colleagues never made eye contact with or smirked at and gave a thumbs up or laughed

at? What about the thousands of people who came here saying we need to end gun violence and we need you to do something and they were called insurrectionists by the Speaker of this House? What about the thousands of people who marched the streets of Nashville and came up to this Capitol asking that we do something but instead of getting just legislation that might protect our schools we're saying put more guns in schools I have to tell you leader Lambert I'm shocked that you would say that you care so much about debate in this moment I am because I've seen and talked with the young person today who said they came to you and they were talking with you and there was

another representative representative Jones there and he was trying to speak with you and you yelled at him, I've heard enough from you, young man. You said that to another equal member of this body. And so it is hard for me to now listen to you, a person who has yet to put forward legislation that I believe or that I think has had the true input of other members of this house and other members of this body's input that could actually help protect and save our communities. I haven't heard you talk about the red flag gun laws that you're ready to propose. I haven't heard you talk about the gun storage bills that you're ready to propose. I haven't heard you talking about those things or putting resources or money towards our

communities that are suffering from gun violence. I haven't heard you do those things just yet. And so it is very difficult for me to stand here now for you to think that I am trying to elevate myself above the people who were killed at Covenant or my own people like Dr. Yvonne Nelson or Larry Thorne or T.J. Crutcher. It's really difficult for you to look me in the eye and tell me that I'm putting myself above people who have been killed by gun violence, who I know personally and who I don't know personally but advocate for. when in this House, on that day when we returned, instead of putting forward just legislation, we moved on as business as usual.

We had only one representative to speak about the shooting at Covenant, and we moved on. So don't tell me, sir, that debate is so important to us when you didn't stand up and tell the Speaker, we need to make sure that all members can speak now. Go ahead, Leader Lambert. Leader Lambert, the first five ran out. That was his five. We'll put you back on the list and come back to you. I'm Clayton English.

I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This has kind of star-studugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.

We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette.

MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple

Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes.

But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad.

Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like, he's like my best friend.

At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. Sorry. Sorry. No, we don't. We'll come right back. It's fine. We'll be back in five minutes or less, potentially.

Now, I just want y'all to know, this little nice folksy-ass Speaker of the House, Recy, this is the son of a bitch, and I'm saying it for a reason, who went on radio and said what they did was akin to the insurrection on January 6, 2021. That's literally what he said. And so he's standing there acting as if he is this partial observer, when in fact that is not the case. He couldn't even admit to a local TV station when he accused them of inciting violence. They asked, what evidence do you have?

He literally had none. We ain't falling for this all shucks, folksy bullshit that these motherfuckers is trying to pull. Come on, we know what y'all are doing. And now you're trying to act like, oh, well, them's the rules and da-da-da-da-da and try to go by the book. Well, you know, any other time you would let him go ahead and keep digging himself into a doggone grave.

But I just want to address your earlier point about the White House leadership on this. President Biden did put out a tweet. I haven't seen anything from VP yet, but you are absolutely right. This is the time where they need to be showing real leadership on this. This is the time where they need to be showing real leadership on this. This is the time where they need to be sounding the alarm. It should not only happen when dead kids are on the news. This is literally fascism happening in front of our eyes. You don't have to wait until you can charter a gas up Air Force One or Air Force Two and get down there. Get on TV right now. Get on TV right after this has concluded and bring more attention to this

and to the celebrities out there that are going to hashtag it. Don't wait till the T-shirts arrive in the mail and the sweaters and the swag with the Tennessee Three. Don't wait for it to arrive in the mail to say something. Say something right fucking now because this is an emergency red alarm fire

that we're seeing. And it's escalating the more that we let it get away with it. Again, I'm trying, I'm trying to, I'm imploring y'all, y'all have to understand what is going on. We are seeing this in Florida. We are seeing in Florida, they're trying to change election votes. In Texas, they literally are trying to get rid of early voting locations on college campuses. We're seeing what is happening all across this country. Y'all need to understand this is real. And if you sitting around, look, ProPublica just dropped the story today how a billionaire Republican has been flying Clarence Thomas and his wife all

around the country to their private resort on their planes. He's had cases before the Supreme Court. Do you not see what is going on? Do you not see it? I'm telling y'all, there are state elections happening. There are mayoral elections happening. The mayor of Houston has an election in November, okay? You've got Virginia legislature where Democrats could take control of the Virginia House. The only reason they are stopping Glenn Youngkin right now is because they were slim majority in the state senate.

All y'all who keep saying voting don't matter, you are a damn lie. There is not a single issue any of y'all. I don't care who you are. You can call yourself HOTEP. You can call yourself ADOS. You can call yourself

FBA, B1, non-aligned, me-fi-me, any fraternity, any sorority, any group. Does not matter. You cannot name me a single issue in America that you care about that politics is not involved in. There is not one. Period. Not one. Not health. Not one. Not health, not economics, not anything. Politics has a role in it.

And if black folks use the power of our vote, our numbers, we can absolutely change the game all across the South. Absolutely. All across the South. Absolutely. All across the Midwest. But what cannot happen is when we spend so much time and energy giving a fuck about some reality show or hip-hop, I don't give a damn about no housewife, no loving hip-hop, I don't care about no ready for love,

none of that stuff, when you cannot have your children educated, when they are cutting school menus, when they're cutting free lunches, when they're cutting out things that absolutely matter, when they're not funding Medicaid expansion, when they're not carrying out the poor, when they're not doing any of those things,

then all of a sudden folks are like, oh my God, what's going on? Because your attention was on the wrong damn thing. What you are seeing live, folks, go back to Tennessee. What you are seeing live is literally Republicans in America saying, we got the power to shut you down, and I don't care what you do. And if y'all think this is the last time you just saw a Democrat go to the you down, and I don't care what you do, and if y'all think this is the last time you just saw a Democrat go to the Republican side,

now they got a super majority in North Carolina, get overrided by the governor's veto. They have a super majority in Wisconsin, get overrided by the veto. They have a super majority in Texas, a super majority in Mississippi, a super majority in Alabama, a super majority in Florida.

Come on. Y'all, this super majority in Florida. Come on. Y'all, this is happening in real time. And maybe some of y'all should be like my shirt. I'm not the right kind of black. Let's go back to Justin. We are in a movement rooted in love. The movement for justice. The movement to end gun violence.

The movement to end poverty. To ensure every kid gets good education. The movement to ensure everybody has access to health care. It's rooted in love. Because it's rooted in the belief that every person has value. And I know that's counterculture or that's subversive to some people's way of thinking. But it is rooted in love. And that is how we can and that is the way we must operate.

But I want to speak to this because I don't know what's going to happen. But I'll promise you that it's all right with me. What I will say is that those silences that my colleague is talking about, it's an institutional problem. And I see a lot of chairmen here talking and a lot of other leaders here of the party that's in positions of power right now. And I'm really speaking to the chairfolk. Y'all have a responsibility to make sure your committees still are democratic. I've watched the committee hearings, and oftentimes, again, you get folks calling the question before any other colleague gets to ask any question, even when they have valid points.

You get folks, I came up here last year fighting for this environmental justice legislation. We had six people who were supposed to speak on the committee and it turned into miraculously just two. Upholding the ideal that all of us want for democracy, the idea that folks died for and that they fought for and that they cried for and that they gave their lives for, folks like my granddaddy who fought in World War II in Vietnam, folk who have given and sacrificed for this country, the responsibility to hold together this democracy does not just fall on the hands of the people who are being persecuted.

It's actually the people who are in positions of power. Because when you don't, you abuse the power. And this resolution sponsored, this is, in my eyes and many folks' eyes, is an abuse of power. And this resolution sponsored, this is in my eyes and many folks eyes an abuse of power. But I would say to you, no matter what happens, I'm alright. But I want y'all to know who remain, that each of you have an obligation to stop turning the people's house into your own club. That the folks who sit in committees with you, who got elected just like you, who swore the same oath that you swore, they deserve a voice in these committee rooms, and we deserve a voice on this House floor.

The erosion of democracy in the state legislature is what got us here. It wasn't walking up to the well. It was being disruptive to a status quo that silences the minority. And it is wrong. And the people in this state and the people across the country and the world,

whoever's watching, are wanting to see a change just because you have power doesn't give you the right to abuse it because even if I disagree with your constituents on political issues I do agree on the principle for which my ancestors fought and died which is that they would have a democracy. A democracy, as one said, that is governed by the people and for the people, not one that's governed by ideas and principalities and beliefs and ideological divides that try and silence folk. It's horrible that someone who got elected just like you can't even get a good morning from you. Somebody who got elected just like you can't speak in committee sitting next to you.

But then you come here to persecute me and tell me you just don't understand the rules of debate when I know for a fact this house has not been a place of debate for Democrats. This house has not been a place of debate for people who are transgender. This house has not been a place of debate for people who are LGBTQIA. This house has not been a place of debate for people who are already persecuted in our society. This house ain't even been a place of debate for people who wear beautiful dashikis in honor of their ancestors who made it over. And so it's one thing to hold the ideals up in this moment, to talk about today, to talk about how good democracy is working in Tennessee in this moment

as you prepare to persecute individuals for expulsion. It is one thing to talk about those ideals, but it's another thing to actually be in this house, to see members being misnamed. Folks won't even say... That was your five. No, that was the new five. That was the second five. Sorry. We're going next. Is it part of your question?

Yes. What's the question? Mr. Clark. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way.

In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher.

Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real.

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time,

have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company

dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th.

Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent,

like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. All right. Representative Hawk.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I didn't plan to speak today. We're talking about the committee system, and we're talking about floor actions like this is something new. The super majority that we've heard about through our conversations today, that's what's new. The Democratic Party had control of both bodies of the legislature

for 140 years. And early on I couldn't get a bill heard. I couldn't get recognized in committee. I had a challenging time ever having

a conversation on the floor about... Here's the deal. I'm not about to listen to all this old whiny-ass crap from them. Folks, you're watching live coverage of the Tennessee legislature as they are... Let's keep that up. What they're doing is they are debating the third member, whether to expel Representative Justin Pearson earlier today. Probably about three hours ago, they expelled Representative Justin Jones.

Then they took a vote. They had debate when it came to Representative Gloria Johnson, the white woman. Remember, the two African Americans, one white woman. She was not expelled. Justin was expelled. Seventy-two Republicans voted to expel him. There was a 65 voted to expel Johnson, but they did not meet the threshold for two-thirds. They will soon be voting on Representative Justin Pearson.

Our panelists, Recy Colbert, Black Women's Views, Greg Carr, Department of African American Studies, Howard University. We had other guests that were scheduled. The Mississippi NAACP, they're holding a town hall tonight in Jackson, Mississippi. We had them scheduled, but we were sticking with this. We also had Chuck D on the show talking about the 50th anniversary of hip hop. We rescheduled them for tomorrow. And we're going to be rescheduling our climate change discussion as well. And so let me explain why. I want y'all, everyone understanding, watching this, and in recent, Greg can speak to this.

I need y'all to understand what you are seeing is exactly why we are fighting every day for black-owned media. Earlier today, MSNBC, they had their coverage going of this, and this was in a very small box. Sound was down, and they were just going on with other news. I don't know about y'all. I've been following the news. I don't know of anything else

that is happening in the country right today that is more important than what we're seeing in Tennessee. Because what we're seeing in Tennessee, Recy, is not just going after three members. This is a body that refused to do anything about gun control. There were people protesting six people being killed,

including three children. And Representative Justin Pearson said, you're complaining to me about throwing a temper tantrum when there are six people who cannot throw a temper tantrum, who can't express how they actually feel. What you're seeing is the abuse of power. You're seeing the same abuse of power on Capitol Hill with this idiot Jim Jordan and this idiot McCarthy and the rest of the Republicans, which you're seeing happen in Texas right now, where they're trying to play, have something called school choice, which is not school choice. What they're trying to do is literally steal billions of education, not for the poorest of

the poor, not for the kids going to the worst schools, but to allow, frankly, suburban white families who don't have enough money to send their kids to private school to take money as a voucher. Now, Greg, everyone wants to push that forward. We're seeing this in Mississippi, where they are expanding the police force in Jackson, and it's going to cover the area where most of the white folks live in Jackson, Mississippi. We're seeing these things happen all across this country. And what people have to understand is that the actions that are being undertaken, Recy,

these are not just one-offs. These are clear. This is a pattern that the Republican Party has devised. What we are seeing is the rise of the Confederacy in 2023. And Southern Democrats, those racist Southern Democrats

during that period of slavery and reconstruction, that today is the Republican Party. Period. With a T. Yes.

And, you know, this is all an experimentation to see how much rope are we going to get to do whatever the fuck we want to do without anybody coming through and saying enough is enough. And I want to point out, too, I wrote about this in my book, The Longest Road of a Guide to the 2022 Midterms Radical Republicans, about how there are Republicans throughout the country that want to call a constitutional convention to rewrite

the Constitution. And they're just a couple of states away from that. And so if they can continue to cheat and disenfranchise and gerrymander their way into super majorities or even majorities across these different states, we could all be fucked in a whole different way. Because if they get to rewrite the Constitution, don't think they

won't put our black asses back in slavery. They will not hesitate. We also talk about what's happening in terms of citizenship. In Idaho, they're trying to pass basically restricting interstate travel if you're a woman who wants to get an abortion. And so once you can restrict travel, once you can disenfranchise people, once you can get people to where their votes are null and void, you can have your way with the citizens or second class or non-real citizens of those states. And so we're going to enter a point to where the best case scenario is if you're in a state that isn't run by fascist white nationalists, you could breathe a little bit, but you're going to have to walk around with your papers because if you cross over

to the other side, you're going to be up shit creek. And so that is why this is so important. This is why Republicans cannot continue to run completely unchecked in these Republican states with these trifectas, because what they have the power to do, if they continue to gain more power, will eventually catch up to us all. So there are some people, let's go back to Tennessee, then I'm going to come back. Go. What could we do to do something better? How can we recognize that this change is something that the people in this state are demanding? And ask, it wasn't how do we listen to the parents and the children who are protesting, not calling them insurrectionists.

It wasn't what can we do to make sure this body responds to the needs of our communities? Not with just spending hundreds of millions of dollars on more war or weapons of war or doing things like lowering the age requirement for people to get guns. The idea was to now arm teachers. It was not, what do we get from the people who came to listen and to show up and be a part of the process, as you call it. That wasn't it. Your hurt continues to cause you to hurt people. And this body is hurting people. You just expelled a member for exercising their First Amendment rights.

For a House decorum rule, when the last two people committed actual crimes, 22 counts of sexual assault, bribery, is that you're having to see, address ideas and people different than you're used to. You're having to answer questions that you're not used to having to answer. You're having to see people in positions just like you that you aren't used to seeing. That's, now I understand, Representative Hawk, what Representative Farmer was getting to

about why I'm really here. Doesn't have to do with not following decorum about fighting for the end of gun violence. It has to do with an idea and an ideology that says there's only one way that we're going to allow thinking up in here if you're going to be here. It's only one way that you're going to be

if you're going to be in this house. But the news for you and for every member in this legislative body is that this country is changing in magnificent ways. That the diversity of the state of Tennessee is changing in magnificent ways. That the voices and the people who are protesting aren't just black folk and ain't just white folk, ain't just rich folk or poor folk. It is a multiracial coalition built on a solidarity dividend that can break any institution

that refuses to change. And so, because we need not cling to hurt, I suggest that this institution choose to change. Change the way that it is operating in order for justice to be possible here. For everybody's voice to be treated equitably here. I will say this. Lois D. Berry, Speaker Pro Temp, why was she never the Speaker of this House? She deserved to be Speaker of this House. She deserved to be Speaker of this House.

And the reality is, the reason that she was saying things about decorum and things like that was because she understood that the institution that she was a part of, the institution as the second black woman, I believe, to ever be elected in the Tennessee State Legislature, the way she had to present herself, the things she had to do the Tennessee state legislature the way she had to present herself the things she had to do and say and the way she had to look was so important because black folk wouldn't get respected otherwise because white folks wouldn't respect him they call them boy they call them girl instead of chairperson or speaker pro All right. Representative Towns.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, here again, and members, I'm going to say that this House right now should be in mourning. We really should be in mourning. We really should be in mourning after the incident at Covenant with the six beautiful souls that untimely transitioned. That's what we still should be doing, watching the flags fly at half-mast. Because I know that particular day, everybody was hurting, and a lot of us are still hurting. Hearts broken. A heartache is a hell of a thing.

Our hearts were cracked and broken, and you can't put it back together again. We're supposed to be in mourning. This house ought to be in mourning. It has not healed. Hadn't had time to heal. It takes time to heal a broken heart. But we've been deflected on trumped up charges for one of our members, two of our members, three of our members. Which is subconsciously denying us

the ability to heal. Greg Carr, there's somebody who's watching and they probably are saying oh, you're caping for them Dems. I heard you earlier. I want you to go. Folks, go to my iPad. When I'm trying to explain to y'all about voting, this is from yesterday's Washington Post.

After two years of freedom, a man is ordered back to prison for life. Yeah, he's a brother. And this brother, Crossley Green, has been free for two years. He's 65 years old. He was convicted in 1990 of murder, but it was vacated in 2018 because they said they kept evidence from his attorneys of the police initially suspecting the ex-girlfriend was involved with it. Well, the state appealed. Now check this out. Green has long denied involvement in the killing. No physical evidence linked him to the crime in which the victim's ex-girlfriend reported that

an assailant she described as a black guy kidnapped the two of them and shot Flynn. Green had spent decades in prison, including 19 years on death row. By the time Dalton threw out the verdict of the all-white jury saying the prosecutor had withheld information suggesting investigators suspected someone else, the ex-girlfriend. The judge ordered the state to retry him. A year later, listen to me people, the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit reversed the lower court's decision, finding that the evidence withheld was immaterial to the case. They asked for him to remain in the house of arrest.

The court said no. The Supreme Court refused to hear the case. The judge said there was no further lawful basis upon which to continue Green's release. Now those of you who are watching you might be saying well I don't really understand Roland how you trying to connect this thing to Tennessee and the voting. The 11th Circuit is federal. That's right. That means they are appointed by the president.

They are confirmed by the United States Senate. The Supreme Court is appointed. They are appointed by the president, confirmed by the United States Senate. And so depending upon who the judges are, more than likely if you have a Democratic president and a Democratic United States Senate, you likely are going to get judges who might say, my goodness, wait a minute. This man has spent all of these years in prison. There's no physical evidence linking him to the crime, and he is literally going to spend the rest of his life in prison.

The only recourse available, y'all, is if the governor of Florida, if the governor of Florida pardons him, and we know that is not going to happen. Greg, there are numerous Greens across the country. And for the people

who sit here, and you caping for the Democrats, you shield for the Democrats. What if that was your uncle? What if that was your daddy? What if that was your nephew or your brother or your cousin? I'm damn sure you would hope there are some judges

who would say, let's take a look at this evidence again, as opposed to a man being in prison. But we got folk out there who would rather listen to fools say don't vote, while this brother is going back to prison for the rest of his life. That's right.

The Klan now controls the 11th Circuit, Roland. It is one of the circuit courts of appeals that with six appointees by Donald John Trump was flipped. The 6th Circuit, which rules on cases, appeal cases from, let's see, Florida, Alabama, and Georgia. Boom.

Voting doesn't matter, folk. No problem. You're not watching tonight anyway. And you should dance somewhere with your ultra-revolutionary radical selves and spin yourselves into some type of frenzy and pray that your black ass never shows up in front of a cop in the old Confederacy, in Maryland, in California,

anywhere else where you might find yourself in front of a federal bench where the white nationalists have appointed the judges, or may find yourself with an appeal before the Supreme Court of the United States and an old-timey, yas-a-boss-type negro like Clarence Thomas, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Harlan Crowe, billionaire, paying for him and his funky wife to sit up with other billionaires while they sit in retreat, and he don't even put it down on his damn disclosure form, which is why Mr. Balls and Strikes, John Roberts, is not interested in having any form of disclosure at the Supreme Court.

Because he knows that Brett Kavanaugh, whose debt mysteriously disappeared, who sits up and smokes cigars with his white minders and his yasaboss billionaire friend Harlan Crowe. You don't want that anywhere while his wife plans open insurrections in the streets of Washington D.C. You know, Reesa, you're right. I mean, their plan is to have a constitutional convention,

but here's where history teaches us what happens next. When I say this country's going to break, it's not prophetic. It's as a student of history. It's broken before. You see, when the South tried this business in the 1850s, when the Republican Party was created, and ultimately the 1860s leading to civil war when they broke it, it was in the interest of the federal government not to let the South go. And there were 4 million of us or so in the interest of the federal government not to let the South go. And there were four million of us or so in the South who stopped working and who joined the Liberation Army and turned the Civil War into a war of liberation.

This time, I appreciate, you know, it's interesting to see a young cat come of age before your eyes. I appreciate Justin Pearson. You know, Brother Pearson is still finding his way. But what he's doing in real time is answering these questions. And when he spoke to Mr. David Hawk, another East Tennessee State graduate, a hillbilly who probably doesn't know anything outside the state of Tennessee, when he talked to the leader, William Lamberth, another white boy, a hillbilly, you see him not now reading from paper but talking from his heart and experience. When he said in this last piece that you showed, Roland, that the demographic has changed in this country, that doesn't mean that the victory is nigh. ROLAND MARTIN, Right.

JIM SHERMAN, We got some to do. But the problem is, these are not red states and blue states. You see, Nashville, where those white representatives, like your brother who worked, a white guy who works around Belmont, who came and went to Belmont, got up and spoke. The white people in Nashville, like the vice mayor, Jim Shulman, who's calling the city council into session next week so they can put Justin Jones back in the legislature. You see, it's really not red states. Georgia's not a red state. Tennessee's not a red state. It's a lot of people down there who don't agree.

Now, when you trap us behind the cotton curtain, then we do it the other way. Friends, you see West Tennessee, where you see those black representatives keep standing up, you see those black representatives like Joe Towns Jr., who comes out of the same general area as the sister that he mentioned, who I knew when I was

a student at Tennessee State. We used to come down there and protest at the legislature all the time. The great Lois DeBerry from Memphis went to LeMoyne Owen. So did Joe Towns Jr., the brother who stood up and said we should be in State. We used to come down there and protest at the legislature all the time. The great Lois D. Berry from Memphis went to Le Moyne on. So did Joe Towns, Jr., the brother who stood up and said we should be in mourning. He went to Le Moyne. You see, but here's the problem. See, what you white boys don't remember is that when the black troops found themselves confronted with the Confederates after you white boys, your friends and your worshipful ancestors, like that rug-top fool in Mississippi is where it's Confederate History Month.

When Nathaniel Bedford Forrest and them went into West Tennessee and slaughtered black women and children at a place called Fort Pillow, the black soldiers took an open they need. And they said, we don't capture Confederate prisoners of war. If you bring a Confederate prisoner of war back to this camp, we're going to beat you up and kill him.

We slaughter confederates. Here's what they're doing. Apparently, it looks like the question is being called to stop debate. Let's go live to Tennessee legislature. Mr. Clerk, take the vote. 73-23 nays. Previous question prevailed. Let the journal reflect. He-23 Nays. The previous question prevails.

Let the journal reflect. Representative Perry. The vote is to end debate. Now they're going to vote on whether to expel Representative Justin Pearson from the Tennessee House. Speaker. I just want to ask, point of privilege. Speaker.

Point of personal privilege, is it possible that Senator Ackberry could join us up here? Former State House Representative. Yeah, she can come. Thank you. Thank you. She's going to stand next to me. Leader Camper. Come on, Senator. It's all glory and honor

to God who makes all things possible, who takes the sun. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way.

Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown.

We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouch. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does.

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution.

But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated.

I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey.

We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like, he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit

adoptuskids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. Teenage parents Kimberly Owens Pearson and Jason C. Pearson and brings them to an institution built by enslaved people's hand. All glory and honor to God, who brings those who've been marginalized and excluded into this place and tells them that you still have a voice, that you still are somebody, and that the movement for love and justice cannot be stopped, because we've still got a heartbeat, because we've still got a movement, because we've still got a movement for love that needs us. We've still got people who are calling on us to act and to do something.

To all you who still believe that the best days for democracy are ahead, for all of you who still believe that our better days in Tennessee are ahead, I want to tell you that I still believe with you. And how, how is it that even now with mispersecution on this holy week, after my own brother Justin Jones, Representative Jones, gets expelled from the House, is it that we still have hope and faith and belief in the democracy of Tennessee? Faith and hope and the belief in the democracy of the United States of America. How is it that you still have hope, you descendant of enslaved people? how is it that you still have hope, you descendant of enslaved people?

How is it that you still have hope? Well, it's because even from the bottom of slave ships, my people didn't quit. Even in cotton fields and rice fields, my people didn't quit. Even when they were whipped and chained and told they had no name, my people didn't quit even when they were whipped and chained and told they had no name My people didn't quit even when they incarcerated us Locked us up for crack cocaine epidemic created by President Ronald Reagan a fond of war in South America My people didn't quit Even when they defunded our schools

Separated us and called us colored and white, even when they put us on lynching trees in the state of Tennessee, specifically in Shelby County. My people didn't quit. Even now, as our own brothers and sisters lay to rest because of the failure of people and positions of power to do something.

Because people are refusing to pass just laws to end the epidemic of gun violence in the state of Tennessee. My people have yet to quit. And so even now, amidst this vote, amidst this persecution, I remember the good news. Hallelujah, Jesus. I remember that on Friday, the government decided that my Savior Jesus, a man that was innocent of all crimes except fighting for the poor, fighting for the marginalized, fighting for the LGBTQ community,

fighting for those who are single mothers, fighting for those who are ostracized, fighting for those pushed to the periphery. My Savior, my black Jesus, he was lynched by the government on Friday and they thought that all hope had been lost. All the outside, it rained and it thundered and everybody said everything was over and it was some black women who stood at the cross. It was some black women who watched what the government did to that boy named Jesus.

They were witnesses as you have been witnesses to what is happening in the anti-democratic state of Tennessee. They were witnesses to what was going on and I got to tell you, it got quiet on Saturday. Yes, I tell you, it was a sad day on Saturday. All hope seemed to be lost. Representatives were thrown out of the statehouse. Democracy seemed to be at its end. Seemed like the NRA and gun lobbyists might win. But oh, that was good news for us. I don't know how long this Saturday in the state of Tennessee might last, but oh, we have good news, folks. We've got good news that Sunday always comes. Resurrection is a promise and it is a prophecy. It's a prophecy

that came out of the cotton fields. It's a prophecy that came out of the lynching tree. It's a prophecy that still lives in each and every one of us in order to make the state of Tennessee the place that it ought to be. So I've still got hope because I know we are still here and we will never quit. Out of order. Out of order. We're voting for the president. Out of order. We're voting on House Resolution 63. All those in favor, vote aye when the bell rings.

Those opposed, vote no. As every member voted, does any member wish to change their vote? Mr. Clerk, take the vote. Ayes 69, 26 nays. I receive the concurrence of two-thirds of the members to which the House is entitled in the Constitution of the State of Tennessee. House Resolution 63 is hereby adopted. Without objection, the motion reeks serious table. Pursuant to Article 2, Section 12 of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee, I hereby declare Representative Justin J. Pearson of the 86th Representative District expelled from the

House of Representatives of the 103rd General Assembly of the State of Tennessee. Next order, Mr. Clark. Announcements. Announcements. Next order, Mr. Clark. Roll call. Roll call. Roll call.

And with that, Representative Justin Pearson, expelled by the Tennessee House. He is the second African-American expelled today. Let's go live to the there. Mark Thompson, you are there. This is a live picture. Are these members leaving the well, Mark? I don't know if you all can hear me, but this is the chamber. The Republicans are leaving the chamber.

I'm right outside the chamber. It's hard for me to hear, but I'm sending you these pictures. I got you, Mark. I don't know if you all can hear me, Roland. I can't hear you at all. Yeah, Mark. Mark, go ahead. Just keep talking, Mark. We got you. This is right outside the House chamber.

It's very loud here. Thank you, brother. Appreciate you, brother. Appreciate you, man. We're probably... Justin Pearson is probably going to maybe hit it this way. We see Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson. No more kids, no more kids, no more kids. No more kids, no more kids, no more kids. No more kids, no more kids, no more kids. No more kids, no more kids, no more kids. Thank you. Get off the troopers! Get off the troopers! Get off the troopers!

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. This is a die-in, folks. Right out here in the rotunda. Again, I don't know if you can hear me, but this is dying people protesting right outside in the rotunda that's state capital. No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace. No justice, no peace. No justice, no peace. No justice, no peace. We gotta do it by the cameras. No justice, no peace. No justice, no peace.

No justice, no peace. Excuse me, guys. Step back. Excuse me, guys. All in our house. Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me. All out here! Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me.

All out! All out! Roland Martin is live, so you can try to say a little something, see if they can hear you. You want to say a few words? All out! All out! All out! I don't know if you all can hear Justin very, very loud in here, but we're all out here in it. We're all out here in it. We're all out here in it.

Hey, man. What's up? What's up, brother? Your number's still the same? Yeah. I'm going to hit you up. I just got in last night. Okay, all right.

Okay. These are some of the representatives, some of the black representatives in the Tennessee House. All right. All right. Okay. Our house! Our house! Our house! We need some of the representatives, some of the black representatives in the Tennessee house. Our house! Our house! Our house! Our house!

Our house! Our house! Our house! Our house! Our house! Our house! Our house! Our house!

Our house! Our house! Our house! Our house! Our house! Our house! Our house! Our house! Our house! Our house! Our house! Our house!

Our house! Our house! Our house! Our house! Our house! Our house! Our house! Our house!

Our house! Our house! Our house! I want to go to Reese and Greg. Just Greg, I just want to get your thoughts, just what we just witnessed and what we're seeing right now. I'm very encouraged, bro. I'm very encouraged, even as we see the stormtroopers there. And as we're watching there, we see some of the younger generation again. There's Tori Harris, who we heard speak from West there with the locks, 32 years old from Memphis area, Shelby County. I'm very encouraged. You see, the problem that as you write about in White Fear, the problem is that these stormtroopers, as we watch them in their progeny, they're not really having a lot of children.

Greg, hold on one second. Hold on one second. A man by the name of Tennessee. It's imperative that on this Monday, Thursday, we are seeing a betrayal of democracy in the United States of America. We're seeing that black people in this country still are not treated

as equal citizens in their own legislature. So here we are. We're encouraging everyone across the country to converge upon the state of Tennessee. Wherever you are,

come to the state of Tennessee to join these organizers and activists at the rotunda. This fight has only just begun. The fight to be able to continue to ensure every child has access to go to a school free of gun violence and living in communities without a preservation of intimidation. We will help us to build a better community. This is only the beginning. Come all across the country. Come on this Holy Week weekend. On Easter weekend, there will be a resurrection. That was Reverend Steven Green. We are here in the rotunda. Again, I hope you all can hear it as best you can. Okay, hey, y'all need to have breaking news. You need to have that. People are here demonstrating.

I don't think anybody plans to leave. We will see whether or not we're going to engage in any civil disobedience, quite frankly. Again, I'm sorry. If you all are talking to me, I can't hear. We're here with Justin Jones, my brother, and I would say that there are hundreds of demonstrators here in this rotunda. As you know, Gloria Johnson survived the vote, but Justin Pearson and Justin Jones have been expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives.

This is indeed a terrible travesty. Senator Martin, unfiltered, we'll save a few of you as you have us, but we'll share with you a little bit more about what's going on here in Tennessee. Go ahead and finish your comment there, Greg. Yeah, just very quickly. As I said, I'm very encouraged because, you see, these are the turning points. What I was mentioning earlier with Fort Pillow, when it was clear that the white Confederates were going to slaughter any black people they encountered, the black soldiers decided they were not going to play by the rules of war.

They killed every Confederate they could get their hands on, and their cry was, remember Fort Pillow. That was out of Memphis. This is a Fort Pillow moment, not physically, but politically. In other words, there are only two sides on this. You're either for our common humanity or you're for white supremacy. You have to pick now. And you've been making this point all along tonight, Roland, in every state, whether it be in North Carolina, where we saw that act of betrayal by Tricia Cottam, who knew all

along she was going to switch to the White Nationalist Party, whether it be Texas or Mississippi, whether it be here in Tennessee. What we see is you've got to pick a side. And what these devils have done is they have taken one more large step toward breaking this thing. And when it's broken, it can be remade. It can be renegotiated. But there are only two sides. So I want to congratulate them.

I think they did what they should have done with their supermajority, which is nurture their tiny dreams and aspirations and fears. And they have taken us one step closer to resolution, Roland. This is where we have to make a decision because apathy means you are with them. Recy, I remember during the George Floyd protest, there was somebody who said, look, I don't believe in the political process. I'm not voting, but I'm going out to protest. And then somebody else said, well, protesting without voting is stupid.

And so what people need to understand, what people need to understand, it all goes together. You cannot protest policies if you don't get rid of and change the policymakers. Duh. Just like you ain't going to get a paycheck unless you clock your ass in at work. Like, what's not clicking with people?

I don't understand it. Why is it only not clicking with our side, too? That's another good question I have to ask people. People need to wake the fuck up. I mean, how much more extreme does it have to get? We had Sandy Hook. We had Uvalde. We had

Buffalo. Now we have Tennessee. The list goes on and on and on. And today, it's just ironic to me that we spent a little bit of time talking about the news with Clarence Thomas, who parlayed this phrase into a lifetime appointment. What we saw here today with just the two black electeds and not the white woman getting expelled is a high-tech lynching. And I don't even like that phrase, but if you're going to use it, this is exactly what we saw here tonight. It's disgraceful. And I wonder what it's going to take for white people,

because that's what's single-handedly keeping the Republican Party alive and in power, to understand that your babies are on the chopping block. Your babies are the ones that got these people in this rotunda tonight. Your babies were the ones that were slaughtered in Sandy Hook. And I hate to sound crass, but your babies are the ones that are going down with the rest of us. Don't you give a damn about them? You're not getting the wages that you need. You're not getting the health

care that you need from these Republicans. You're not even being able to retire with any kind of comfort. Your life expectancy is going down. What are you getting other than whiteness and why is it enough? It's irrational because to be honest, whiteness really ain't that poppin'. You ain't got poppin'.

Seasonings, foods, music, nothing. It's a lot better if you don't put too much stock in that. And I hope that one day you'll wake the fuck up. But at a minimum, black people, we have capacity that we're not exercising. I'm not even talking to people who won't even bother to fill out a form

online and get registered. I'm talking about people that are registered. We have a capacity to vote that shove-a-mouth-a-motherfuck-ass, as Dr. Kravitz said, but not the motherfucker part. Taye Reeves out in Mississippi, he want to play in our face and talk about the Confederate month, the last Confederate

history month, if you vote his ass out. So we have to start using our power. If you don't use it, then you're abdicating it. And you're abdicating it to the Klan, to the people that are going to get our asses up out of here and do God knows what with us if they get the opportunity to. Yes, ma'am. The thing that I need to remind people of what's going on is that, again, today, Tennessee Republicans, because they have a super majority, use their power to expel two black House members, the two youngest members in the House.

Representative Justin Jones, 72 Republicans voted to expel him. Sixty nine Republicans voted to expel Representative Justin Pearson. Both of them are no longer members of the Tennessee legislature. We also know that as a result of this, because Representative Gloria Johnson, who was the third, let's see if we can hear part of this news conference? No, we cannot. So we're going to just continue to monitor. We'll stay with the live feed there. So Representative Gloria Johnson, 65 Republicans voted to expel her, but she survived. We don't know what the distinction is. We'll find out why.

She was asked about it, and she was like, could be our different skin color. But what we also need to understand, and this is why history matters. Folks, this is Reconstruction again. The Great Compromise of 1876 leads to the election of 1866. Leads to the Great Compromise of 1877. What do the racist Southern Democrats do? Force black members out of state capitals all over the South. Greg, let folks know what that brother from North Carolina said when he said, we'll be back.

George White. Yes, sir. The last representative in the federal legislature was in 1900. He said, like a phoenix from the ashes, we will be back. We will return to this house. He was from North Carolina. The last floor speech given by a black representative. And of course, as you know, well know, Roland, and it was a beautiful thing to see you having talking to Mayor Johnson in Chicago. When we returned to the federal legislature, it was as a result of the great migration coming out of Chicago first and then New York and other places. And now we're at a moment, a century later, where the largest number of elected officials in the Congress of African descent ever is there.

Many of them are the children of immigrants, whether it be Yvette Clark out of New York, all the way out to our brother out of Nevada, Stephen Holsford. You've got a diversity there. Now our challenge is to, in Holtzman. You've got a diversity there. Now our challenge is to, in the words of Dr. King, stitch our people together

so that we can have a compelling power. What you have in Tennessee is an example of that. For example, I mean, you have Justin Jones, Justin Jones from Oakland. You know, I see these young legislators in there and I'm reminded of when I was a young man at Tennessee State and we were going over and marching to the legislature and protesting. The legislators there, they're all gone now.

Harold Love, you see Harold Love Jr. there who fought for that appropriation for Tennessee State. His father was there, Harold Love Sr. Rufus Jones out of Memphis, Lois Deberry from Memphis. And our critique of that generation was you don't do enough. We were pushing them. They weren't doing enough. However, there were things we hadn't yet matured to understand. What we're seeing right now with these men with their little manhood on their hats as

they look around, certainly thinking to themselves that they have a choice to make today beyond that uniform, what we're seeing is young people, white people, black people, other non-white people, I won't say people of color, and they've had enough. Nashville has been blue a long time. I don't want to say red-blue in terms of Democrat and Republican. Nashville has been non-white nationalist, many pockets of it, a long time. But there are issues of gentrification, and there are class issues in places like Atlanta and in places like the suburbs of Jackson, Mississippi and Atlanta. We have to confront the fact that if we want to have a country—and I'm not talking about

the United States of America. It can go to hell. It's headed to hell, Dr. King would say as much in his last speeches and writings. If we want to have a place where human beings can thrive together, we have to reject the politics we're seeing right now. They're arresting him? Are they pulling him out? Can you tell? No, no, he's just Jones.

But if we want to have a different kind of society, we're going to have to build it. These white nationalists are not going to hold hands with us. You've got to break their backs politically. And some of the people who are going to work with them, like Clarence Thomas, are going to look like us. This is even beyond the color of our

skin. This is even beyond the color of our skin. This is about coming together in our common human interest. And if you don't pick this side, then you oppose that. And as far as I'm concerned, we're done talking. This is a live look, folks, outside of the floor of the Tennessee legislature, where the two black House members who have been expelled, Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, you see them with their hands raised. They're now joined by Representative Gloria Johnson. They are the Tennessee three. She was spared. Jones, so you see the three of them raising their hands collectively. Jones, it was 17 Republicans voted to expel him, 69 voted

to expel Pearson, 65 voted to expel Johnson, but they did not achieve the two-thirds to achieve that. So she remains there. She was asked after her vote, what was the difference between her and Jones? She said, I'll answer your question. It was likely our skin color. You can hear the protesters. They have been there, folks, all day. Remember, all of this has transpired in the last 72 hours because Republicans were angry that those three went to the well of a house to stand with protesters who were demanding gun legislation in the aftermath of six people being killed at a private Christian school. Three of those people were children.

The Republicans have a super majority there in Tennessee. They have literally done nothing. In fact, the only thing they really have done, a committee voted to allow for teachers to actually carry weapons, and many of those parents were angry with that. These three members went to the well. They addressed the protesters. Republicans said that they broke House rules. They were not acknowledged to speak. And then there was some controversy whether they were actually in recess or not. So they filed resolutions to expel the three of them. Today, they actually did that. That's what happened today. This is Mark Thompson, who is live there in Nashville.

Let's go back Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!

Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! And of course, host of Make It Plain, who is a former page there in Tennessee. You see him walking there with now former Tennessee representative Justin Jones. You see all the police. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast.

We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne.

We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things.

Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th.

Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care.

Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. Who are assembled there in the state capitol with also the protesters there as well. It appears as if they literally are exiting the Tennessee House. We're going out to the plaza this way, right? I think the press conference is out this way. This way. Are we this way?

Mark, I don't know if you can hear me. Are there plans to have a news conference outside? Outside? We're at the closet. We're at the closet capital, Justin Jones leaving for the final time. Justin Pearson is right behind us. He's coming. I believe the goal is to head over to the plaza, the legislative plaza, to talk to the press. I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you all,

but I guess you were able to describe much of what was going on. And a lot of the protests are still in. You saw all the state troopers, a sea of them, probably waiting to arrest people, but not certain that there'll be any civil disobedience tonight. But this is where we are. And we saw what happened today. Gloria Johnson, you saw her just moments ago come out and embrace both of the Justins. She survived the vote but obviously both of the Justins did not. And this is part of the tragedy. I want people to know as I'm approaching this main street, the Capitol is located on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. This is Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, the street we're about to cross now. So here in the state where the Prince of Peace was killed on the eve of Good Friday, when Jesus

lost his life in front of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, this travesty has occurred. So, I don't know, were you able to hear Justin when he spoke to you? No, no, Mark, because of the crowd, we couldn't hear Justin at all. Because of the crowd, okay. If you could go ahead and

grab him, we would love to have, like, we literally are still live. Thousands of people are still tuning in. Our numbers have been increasing literally every 15 minutes over this time. And so we would love to hear from either Justin Jones

or Justin Pearson as well. Okay. Let me see. I guess we're going back up now. We were leaving and now we're going back up. So I'm just trying to keep up with us all. Okay. And stand by for— Yeah, that's fine. Mark, go ahead. Mark, you go ahead and keep up with them. We got your live feed. Don't worry about it. If you're going to be carrying the news conference, that's fine. We'll carry that. We'll try to get them later, but definitely stay with them. Let us take care of you.

Yeah, yeah. I may need to switch phones, unfortunately. We've been on all day, and my battery may be dying, so let's see what's going to happen here. Control room, are we on with Mark via Skype? We need to wait for Gloria.

All right, so let's do this here. Mark, does your other phone have Skype? Yeah, well, let's go on. Yeah. I think that's the right idea. But how's she going to get down? Where did Gloria go? Does someone have her number?

Can you call her? Yeah, I want to leave her. Yeah, we need her. Hold on. So how do you get down? Is there a way? When she comes under the elevator. There's an elevator that brings her down. Yeah, come down through the tunnel.

Were y'all just asking where Gloria was? Yeah. She came down the stairs. She went through that. Okay, so she's going to meet us down there. Okay. Okay. So let's get you guys down here here and then we'll wait for her.

Yeah, sorry. Sorry, y'all, please. Y'all are hearing this as it's unfolding, as we try to get down to the plaza to talk to the press. This is literally coming together in real time. Just follow me, you're my last thing that I have to do. We don't want to leave Gloria, though. No, no, no. It sounds like you're taking the accessibility

out of your mouth. Oh, no, it's open. It's open down there. Press is out there with the white lights. I got my phone. And as you can see, people are still gathering out here. What is happening now is they're going to go across the street,

have a few words for the press. And they're trying to. They want to remain in unity, and they're waiting on Gloria Johnson. So we're going back. We're going to go get Gloria. So I think we're going back to get Gloria Johnson and then come down with her. Okay, Mark, we're going to stick with your feed. If you have to switch phones, do so. But we can stick with your feed as long as we possibly can.

Look, all y'all who are watching, do y'all now understand why black-owned media matters? Do you now understand why this platform matters? And I'm going to say it right now. You're watching. You should be supporting this show because this is why we do what we do. Look, other national media, they're there. Other people are going on other programming. And so if you want to support us in what we do, Cash App, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered, PayPal, R Martin Unfiltered, Venmo

is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com, Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Greg, again, you know, this, when we start thinking about, I was reading the other day, the obituary of Pat Schroeder, the congresswoman who passed away. And it was amazing reading the Washington Post. I think it was Washington Post or New York Times and how one of those white Southern Democrats, I think, how they were treating Ron Dellums and treating Pat Schroeder and said they didn't have the intellect to even talk. I mean, so many people today don't understand what black lawmakers historically have gone through, frankly, since the civil rights movement.

And we are seeing in real time in 2023 what happens when blackness is on trial in the cradle of the Confederacy? Absolutely, Roland. I mean, the technology makes a huge difference. We really don't know the full impact, and that's why everyone listening, as you say, everybody sharing this as the numbers continue to soar, you need to support the Black Star Network and particularly this show. You're not going to see this anywhere else. You're not going to get this kind of conversation anywhere else. Imagine in the 1860s and Reconstruction when Henry McNeil Turner was put out of the

Georgia state legislature, denied his seat when he said in the Georgia legislature that God himself will not come down out of heaven or send any of his angels to come down and pass judgment on my manhood. So why do you think that one of you buckras can do it? You can imagine, then, when Julian Bond was denied his seat in that same Georgia legislature. And as you say, when you mention Ron Dellums, along with Pat Schroeder, of course, who recently made transition, you're talking about that wave of black elected officials that came in after the Arthur Mitchell's, after the Oscar DePriest coming out of Chicago and after decades after which, you know, George White in 1900 said we'll be back when DePriest comes back. And then

you get Adam Powell out of New York. And then in the 1960s, Charles Diggs out of Michigan, John Conyers out of Michigan. And then by the late 60s, you've got in the early 70s, you got Shirley Chisholm out of New York. And you've got, of course, well, a number of people. You could talk about Ron Dellums. You could talk about Mickey Leland out of Texas. But my point is that that generation then is confronted with white power. And, of course, the Nixon administration and the Republicans overreach. And that is the moment when you see some progress in the 60s, in the 70s and 80s. But now we see in the 80s and 90s, there is a generation of black politicians

that doesn't come out of that struggle tradition. It doesn't make them good or bad. It means that they don't have those kind of roots. And there's almost a sense by the time you get to the early 2000s of black politicians that aren't rooted in black community in the same way, so that when you see these two young brothers, they are emerging out of another wave. They're coming literally out of the streets, out of the protest traditions. When you see Justin Pearson particularly, Justin Jones maybe less so, but Justin Pearson, because there is also the factor of these white kind of folk, white allies who are affiliated. I think one of the reasons they were looking for cameras is because many of the cameras may be around there covering those white kids in the die-in. I mean, the politics Tennessee gets real funky at this

point. But what I'm saying is that you're looking at black elected officials who are no longer coming out of what we might consider the standard way that black politicians get elected. This young generation has an energy that is reminiscent of that energy of the 1960s, and they are facing an old guard of white nationalists who, as you have written about, are reacting out of fear and hatred, trying to hold on by their fingernails to something that is slipping through their fingers. The only way we're going to confront this is that there's got to be intergenerational dialogue. There's got to be street-level organizing and combined electoral politics with the politics of protest and the politics of independent institution building.

And what knits that together finally is a space where we can have this conversation in real time, and that is the role of the independent, self-determining, black-owned press. And that is what this space is in the 21st century. This space will function as the Chicago Defender once did, as the Pittsburgh Courier once did, as the Norfolk Journal and Guide once did. This is the 21st century version of that black press that allowed us to net our power together and make our demands on power and to get some of this power in previous generations. Recy, I am going to, again, I've made this point before to people who don't quite understand

when Dr. King said there are four institutions at a prime position to liberate black America. First of all, for everybody who's watching, Mark Thompson, his one phone died. He switched to the other phone. We'll have him back shortly. Hopefully we'll do that. Again, it wasn't planned. You know, look, these things happen. It's what happens when we're talking about live television.

I know we know we're way over our time, but again, we are in the middle of history and breaking news. He said there are four institutions at a prime position to liberate black America, the Negro church, the Negro press, Negro fraternities and sororities and Negro business organizations. But this is something that he said

about black, black, the Negro press. Too many Negro newspapers have veered away from their traditional role as protest organs agitating for social change and have turned to the sensational and the conservative in place of the substantive and the militant. That's what King writes in his book, Where Do We Go From Here, Chaos or Community. And so I say that because what we are witnessing in Tennessee, this is also why we have to have our own media that frames what is going on.

We had Representative Pearson on yesterday. We, and I think we've had Representative Justin Jones on before as well. And so we can't rely on an MSNBC or an ABC or CBS or any of them to provide voice because here's the thing. Now, I'm going to use Brandon Johnson as an example. I saw an old clip of Brandon Johnson at a town hall speaking about speaking truth to power. He is now the mayor. There are places for young voices who, when MSNBC doesn't know they exist, they have to have a place to be able to talk and speak and to share their ideas.

And so what we are seeing is also what's going to happen now. Look, they're going to have to raise money. They're going to be running for office again. They're going to still need platforms. When all the other cameras are gone because the drama is gone, there still has to be a place where we are organizing and mobilizing. We're out here educating people. When I'm trying to explain to people why they got to support us in what we do. This is one of the reasons why we're going after Clorox for the lack of money they spend with black owned media. As a reason why we're targeting other companies as well who are not stepping up, because the reality is we understand where the money comes from. And so we have black folks who are watching need to understand we cannot be talking about revolution if you don't have revolutionaries.

And then if you hoping that the people who oppose the revolution and the revolutionaries actually fund the revolution and the revolutionaries. It ain't going to happen. And so we have to understand the power of our own media serves also as a focal point to mobilize and organize. And so what we're trying to get people to understand is you have to stop just sitting there commenting on message boards, tweeting, posting on instagram and tiktok or whatever without realizing that if you actually use all of that power we can throw people out we can get rid of these super majorities we can take over state house state senate governor's mansions may oral take over city hall but it does not happen if the work isn't put in.

Right. And, you know, I think it's so interesting about that Dr. King quote, too, because there really isn't a shortage of agitation, agitators in the black media space or black targeted media space. Unfortunately, it's a lot of people that are agitators and I would call it fake militants for the purposes of sowing chaos, for the purposes of dissuading people from even being involved in the electoral process. And unfortunately, their work is the stuff that gets picked up and amplified by chaos agents and disinformation campaigns like ones from Russia and other entities in the Republican Party. And so we are up against a very organized and very relentless campaign to strip us of our power,

and they're leaving no stone unturned. We're not just talking about what's happening in these statehouses. We're talking about what's happening and how we ingest our news and who we go to to get our news from. And so it's so important that we have platforms like Roland Martin or if you're somebody like me who does have the opportunity to be on a white-owned platform like Sirius, I had Brandon Johnson on my show after he came on your show, and he had the opportunity to talk to the people that find me credible. And so we have to lend our credibility to those of us who have the mic and have platforms, and it doesn't have to just be people who are political.

It can be anybody to those who need to be heard. And so when the MSNBCs and the CNNs move on to the next drama of the day, we still need to be here, and we still need to be holding each other's feet to the fire. Y'all can be mad about my language, but take that little energy and take that little kibble. Why is she cussing? Okay, well, take that and go ask why these damn Republicans

are stripping of your rights. How about that? Go take it and write them a letter. Go call your congressperson or your state person or your councilman or your mayor or your whoever. Okay, take that energy of wanting to see things done a certain way to your taste, take it to the ballot box. Because some of y'all ain't out there voting, but you're in the chat boards talking shit. So what we need

to do is keep doing the work, like you said, Roland, and keep amplifying the people who are putting those who are doing the work in front of the camera, in front of the mic. Let's go back to Tennessee, Nashville. Here's Mark Thompson. Mark, listen, we can listen. of the camera in front of the mic uh let's go back to uh tennessee nashville here's uh mark thompson mark uh let's see we can listen really listen and understand the voters in their districts

and across the state who can tell everybody in the most powerful way they speak They spoke to our members. They spoke to those hearts. I can see it. Yeah. But still, what's the difference? Don't wear my baby's room. These two young men did not make it through.

I think you're right. We know. I think we might have these two young men back very soon. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way.

In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote unquote drug man Benny the Butcher, Brent Smith

from Shinedown, we got B-Real from Cypress Hill, NHL enforcer Riley Cote, Marine Corvette MMA fighter Liz Caramouch What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real.

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.

Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibillion- dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like, he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives.

Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. The audio is breaking up there. That's Representative Gloria Johnson who is speaking. Let's see if we can hear now.

It's because of my own being in the House and everything, but I supported Justin Pearson from afar. I will continue to do that, and I will continue to ask all of you all to help make sure we get these fabulous young men back to the house. Just for the folks who are watching, you see all the crowd assembled there. Now, remember, they are not prohibited from seeking office again. And in fact, the rules also state that if they do what they were expelled for, they can actually do it again and not be expelled.

And so just understand that is the case there. Let's go back to Nashville. Good to see you all here on Monday. Yeah. Every week until this session, a new return return whether we're inside the chamber or outside. Yeah! Non-majority, non-proper racial,

super-majority that we see destroyed democracy today. Yeah. A party, a caucus that is majority white except one member was a little bit confused. Lawmakers. Yeah. a party, a caucus that is majority white, except one member was a little bit confused. We're going to register. Lawmakers.

Standing with our constituents. We're demanding that we take action on the crisis of mass shooting. Let's see if you have some difficulty hearing that. First of all, control room, check and see if Associated Press actually has a feed of this news conference, please. I'm going to go to, you see the crowd assembled there. It's not just media. It's a number of people who are out there.

Michael Steele just tweeted this. He said Gen Z is already bringing an entirely different game. When you see what's already begun with David Hogue, Victor, Maxwell Frost, just know the political class in both parties have no clue what to do with them. Nope, they ain't ready for this generation. I am not going to bash the generation.

I'm not going to criticize them, but here's what I'm going to say, and that is you have to mobilize your numbers. The reality is you can have the numbers, but if they are not mobilized, organized, registered, and then voters, all you simply have are a whole bunch of people self-identifying, Recy. Right. I mean, the bottom line is you got to get your ass out and vote, point blank in a period. You can tweet all day. You can get stuff trending. K-pop people can get stuff trending. It don't, that's really not a big deal, but you have to actually vote. And voting is only going to get more difficult if the Republicans have their way. But we see what happened in Wisconsin when the Democrats actually flipped the Supreme Court there and got a liberal majority probably likely to take to get abortion rights.

And so it's really, really important that whatever generation, we don't even know the letters at this point. But these younger folks realize that you have the power, and I know you got student loans that you upset about. I know that you maybe got to get two or three jobs at Starbucks and five guys or whatever, but you still have to participate in the electoral process

because, trust me, what your problems are really don't compare to what our ancestors went through. So it's really just throwing tantrums and just wanting to talk and not be part of the solution. Let's see if we can hear back in Nashville. Let's see. Still having some issues there.

Greg, this is what I'll say again to the folks when we're talking about mobilizing and organizing. And that is this. There's a game plan involved. And there are people out there who are millennials, who are Gen Z, who are doing amazing things. They're doing amazing work. They need more. There are Gen Xers out there who are not maximizing their numbers.

It has to happen. They need more. There are Gen Xers out there who are not maximizing their numbers. It has to happen. It has to be. Look, there are people who people who come to me and they say, man, I want to do what you do. I go, yeah, but do you want to do what I did? And so there's a plan of action. This did not this did not just happen by happenstance. That was a plan. It was organized. And then there was a strategy. And so what we're talking about, what is going on, the Republicans, they are running a playbook. They are running plays. This is about power. They want to win. They can be countered. We saw in Wisconsin, Democrats elected a woman to the state Supreme Court. Now they have a fourth-degree majority. Republicans pick up a special election. Now they have a fourth-degree majority. Republicans

pick up a special election. Now they have a supermajority. They were talking before the election about impeaching her before she even gets on there. That's right. And so again, you look at what's happening now in North Carolina. Now they have a supermajority there. They can override the governor's

veto. Folks, folks didn't vote in 2022. That's how Republicans got control of the Supreme Court. Sherry Beasley lost by 400 votes in 2018. Democrats would have had a six to one majority on the Supreme Court. It went to a four to three majority. Last election flip, now four to three. And so folk have to understand, 400 votes was the difference between a black woman being the chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, and Democrats have a 6-1 advantage 45 years later. Now it's 4-3 Republican majority, and now they have supermajority in the House and the Senate, and they are going to use that power.

People watching and listening need to understand this is how politics is played, and politics impacts every facet of this society. That's absolutely right, Roland, and this is the way politics is played around the world. Several weeks ago, we saw the election in Nigeria. Young people were particularly fired up around the candidacy of Peter Obi, the old guard, led by the current administration, backed by any number of external foreign interferers, from the oil companies on through, were able to force their candidate through to victory. And they're still suffering in terms of the violence, the conflict in the wake of the Nigerian elections.

Why do I bring that up? What does that do with Nashville, Tennessee? You know, when I look at this crowd, I don't see a lot of black people. I see elected representatives, chiefly from Memphis, although in this case Justin Jones is from Nashville, Middle Tennessee. Justin Pearson is from West Tennessee, where most of the black elected officials are from, in Memphis. And of course, Gloria Johnson, the white woman, is from Knox County, Knoxville, Tennessee. So they got all sides of the state.

But what is absent, and I can tell you this because we marched many times to the state capital as student body president. I took students down there many times. Tennessee State, Fisk, Meharry are right up Jefferson Street. It's not even a 45-minute walk. Where are the black citizens of North Nashville out there, some of the people who voted, in fact, for Justin Jones? I'll tell you right now, they are not as organized, in part because these are the people who do the living and dying. These are the people who have to be not only encouraged, but organized with and listened to and put together to go out and vote because they have lost hope in Jackson, Mississippi, in Louisiana, where Gary Chambers could be a senator, in Atlanta. These are the folk who are

not there tonight, but who are the victims, who are the brunt of this. And how does all this tie together and relate to how you're talking about the black press and the importance of this? In order to do that work, when you ask somebody, are you willing to do what I did? We are living in an age now where March for Our Lives are the ones who are doing the die-in right now, the way I understand it there in the rotunda, the Tennessee state legislation. This is a movement that has been buttressed, buoyed, in some places created by social media. And as Reesey said, whether it's TikTok or Twitter, you're on social media. But if you're going to translate that into the door-to-door work, into the house-to-house work that SNCC did and other things, you're going to have to organize with people who are now alienated,

because they see naked power. Finally, I will say this. You've said, as you said, these white masses are organized. They're organized because they have the levers of power, and they've got the billionaires, they've got the money classes that are out there trying to maintain these types of divisions because at the end of the day, they don't care about black or white. They're looking at green.

I just read an article in the Today's Financial Times. $7 billion the hedge funds made over these banking crises of the last several weeks, because they short-sold stock in all of those banks, borrowed stock, sold it at higher prices than they borrowed it for, and they made $7 billion in the last month after the Silicon Valley bank collapsed and the others followed suit. Why am I bringing that up? They have rented politicians. This ain't just about white nationalism. This is about, as you said, contracts. This is about tax dollars.

This is about revenue that they can repurpose and move, whether it be Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, wherever you want to go. In order to fight that, yes, we have to invest our funds in Black Star Networks so we can have these conversations. We have to put our money where our mouth is. And most importantly, we've got to put our bodies together. You can't beat money for billionaires. You don't have the money, but what you have is the people.

There you go. I'm very concerned about the fact that we don't see a whole lot more black people out there today. Well, first of all, I did get a text. First of all, Reverend Stephen Green is there. He's working with Until Freedom. I was texting Tamika Mallory and they've been on the ground there. Reverend William Barber said the repairs of the breach have been there. I'm still waiting to hear from the NAACP. We've reached out to them. What the heck are all their branches doing in Tennessee? Not just on this issue, but also what's happening with

Republicans trying to go after the president of Tennessee State University, Dr. Glenda Glover, them trying to get rid of the entire board of trustees. I want to know what's going on there. And so we'll be finding those things out. Let's see if we can get the audio. Let's see if it's still bad audio coming from Nashville, folks. I might be 5'5". I'll be short. But we're going to stand tall to glory, y'all. Folks, we're still having some audio issues there. We're going to wrap up our live coverage. We're about 52 minutes longer than we normally are.

That's what happens when it comes to breaking news. I want to thank Recy and Greg for staying with us as well, folks. We will continue to cover this story tomorrow. We'll see what happens. I know a little bit earlier. Give me a second. I need to find this. I know President Biden issued a tweet about what's going on there in Tennessee. I'm hopeful, like I say, to me, the smart politics would be to have those three at the White House to make this up. Go to my iPad, please. President Biden said three kids and three officials gunned down in yet another mass shooting. And what are GOP officials focused on? Punishing lawmakers who join thousands of peaceful protesters calling for action is shocking, undemocratic, and without precedent.

The reality is this here, and I'll say this here. If Democrats, if you want to understand how to play hardball, you bring those three to Washington, D.C., even though two were expelled and Representative Gloria Johnson is there. You call out the Republicans. You sit here and you tell the world exactly how evil they are and what they're doing not just in Tennessee but in Florida, in Georgia, in Mississippi, in

Alabama, in Texas, in Arkansas, in North Carolina, in South Carolina. And what you do is you specifically speak to young voters. You tell them, you tell them, remember this moment and let it serve as

fuel to drive you to get folks to the polls. I would love to see folks mobilize and organize in Tennessee who are pissed off what Republicans are doing there and go after and have some young folks run for office to take out some of these people because do understand Frederick Douglass said it best, power concedes nothing without a demand, never have and never will. But he also said, agitate, agitate, agitate. What people must understand today is that it is our turn. We have got to stop having these discussions about what Dr. King did and Fannie Lou Hamer and Diane Nash and James Bevel and Ralph Abernathy and Andrew Young and Reverend Jackson and what they did. No, there has to be a new story that is being told, a story speaking about what is happening today all across this country. There are young people there who are organizing, who are mobilizing.

We have lots of generals, but we need more troops. We need folks who are willing to put something in the game other than their tweets and Facebook posts and TikTok posts and Snapchat posts. But we need our folks to understand that if we are going to actually change this country, make it a more perfect union, or as Dr. King said, be true to what you put on paper, you got to make them. Greg always says, you must break their backs. Do you know how you break their backs? By winning. Why are they so pissed off with Donald Trump? Because he lost. Why are they so angry? Because they lost the Senate. Folks, as Greg, we may not compete with the

billionaires, but Brandon Johnson will tell you, we cannot work you and still win. This week, we saw what happened in Chicago when Brandon Johnson was elected mayor of Chicago. We saw what happened in Wisconsin when Janet was elected to the Supreme Court there. We also saw what happened with the 55th anniversary of the assassination of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. When we move as a collective, we have the ability to change this system. And what does my t-shirt say? Not the right kind of black. So you remember, that was a CNN executive.

And just so y'all know, yesterday was the 10th anniversary of me leaving CNN. It was an executive at CNN who told Soledad O'Brien that I wasn't the right kind of black. That's why I had a T-shirt made. It's a whole bunch of us have got to stop being the right kind of black. You heard that Indian American immigrant stand up and tell Representative Jones that he needed to be more appreciative. More appreciative.

And he needed to essentially assimilate. And that guy said, oh, I've never had a racial slur uttered at me ever in my life. Well, congratulations, because many have. Folks, what we are chronicling, literally, is a repeat of what took place after slavery ended. I have been telling you this. The election of Barack Obama caused folks to go, oh, my God, this thing is real. Justin Pearson said it. I am telling you, they are fearful of the changing demographics. Make them cry.

I said this when Trump was elected. This means war. We are not just in a cultural war. We're not just in an ideological war. We literally are in a war for the soul of America. And folks, let me be perfectly clear. They have never wanted this to be our country. They have never wanted us to be in power. They've never wanted us to be in control. We now have the opportunity to be their worst nightmare and that is to be the generation that they always feared.

Smarter, faster, better, more efficient and most importantly unbought and unbossed. This is our moment. The question is, what are you prepared to do? Folks, support us in what we do. Download the Black Star Network app, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Send your resources. Join our Bring the Funk fan club. Check in money orders, PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. Cash app, dollar sign, RM Unfiltered, PayPal, R Martin Unfiltered, Venmo is RM Unfiltered. PayPal, R. Martin, unfiltered. Venmo is R.M. unfiltered. Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And of course, get my book, the proceeds of the book go right back into the show, White Fear, How the Browning of America

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Thank you for being the voice of black America. I love y'all. All momentum we have now. We have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See this difference between black star network and black owned media and something like CNN. You can't be black on media and be scared. It's time to be smart.

Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? Pull up a chair. Take your seat. The Black Tape. With me, Dr. Greg Carr, here on the Black Star Network. Every week, we'll take a deeper dive into the world we're living in. Join the conversation only on the Black Star Network.

Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood-Martin, and I have a question for you. Ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders? Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Blackstar Network for a balanced life with Dr. Jackie. We're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it or not. From politics to music and entertainment,

it's a huge part of our lives. And we're going to talk about it every day right here on The Culture with me, Faraji Muhammad, only on the Black Star Network. I'm Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, and my new show, Get Wealthy, focuses on the things that your financial advisor and bank isn't telling you, but you absolutely need to know. So watch Get Wealthy on the Blackstar Network. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We'll be right back. at the 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. I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future

where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. Apple Podcasts, or wherever all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. This is an iHeart Podcast.