#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Trump asked Ukraine & China to investigate the Bidens; #BothamJean's brother forgives #AmberGuyger

Episode Date: October 10, 2019

10.3.19 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Trump asked Ukraine and China to investigate the Bidens; Botham Jean's brother forgives convicted killer Amber Guyger. Why are we so willing to forgive white people? D...omestic terrorist Christopher Hassan pleaded guilty to four gun and drug charges + We're broadcasting live from the MGM from the National Harbor in Maryland at the Leaders and Legends Award Ceremony. - #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: Life Luxe Jazz Life Luxe Jazz is the experience of a lifetime, delivering top-notch music in an upscale destination. The weekend-long event is held at the Omnia Dayclub Los Cabos, which is nestled on the Sea of Cortez in the celebrity playground of Los Cabos, Mexico. For more information visit the website at lifeluxejazz.com. - #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: 420 Real Estate, LLC To invest in 420 Real Estate’s legal Hemp-CBD Crowdfunding Campaign go to http://marijuanastock.org Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 This is an iHeart Podcast. Thank you. Thank you. Martin! Thank you. Thank you. Today is Thursday, October 3rd, 2019. Roland Martin here broadcasting live from MGM National Harbor in National Harbor, Maryland, site of the Leaders in Legends Award Ceremony with the Capitol National Minority Supplier Development Council. We've got a packed show today. First of all, from here, I'll be talking with the lieutenant governor of Maryland. I'll be asking him about the HBCUs and that funding settlement. Also, Marilyn Mosby, of course, state's attorney in Baltimore. She is one of the honorees here as well, so we'll chat with her.
Starting point is 00:04:39 But on today's show, Donald Trump asked China to investigate the Bidens. This man does not care about the Constitution. We'll break that thing down. Also, lots of conversation about the judge yesterday who hugged Amber Geiger. Now we are hearing that she actually led Amber Geiger to Christ. Was that something that she should have done? I can't wait to talk about it with our panel. Also, folks, domestic terrorist Christopher Hassan pleaded guilty to gun charges.
Starting point is 00:05:11 We'll give you all the details, folks. We've got a packed show. Can't wait to have this conversation. We're live here from MGM National. It's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the miss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact on the filter. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the piss, he's on it.
Starting point is 00:05:26 Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the find. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling. Best believe he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks. He's rolling. It's Uncle Roro, y'all.
Starting point is 00:05:48 It's Rolling Martin, yeah. Rolling with rolling now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Roland Martin now. Martin. Hi, folks. Roland Martin here broadcasting from the Leaders and Legends Awards with the National Minority Supply Development Council, the, of course, D.C. region here.
Starting point is 00:06:27 We'll be chatting with the leader of that as well as some other guests from here. But first, let's talk about what's happening in the nation's capital. Donald Trump continues to ask foreign governments for their assistance to investigate a campaign rival. Today, he publicly called on China to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. What in the hell is this guy doing? House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff said this is shameful conduct by Donald Trump. Once again, we have the President of the United States suggesting, urging a foreign country to interfere
Starting point is 00:07:02 in our presidential elections. It's an illustration that this President, who's learned anything from the two years of the Mueller investigation, is that he feels he can do anything with impunity. The President of the United States encouraging a foreign nation to interfere again to help his campaign by investigating Iran is a fundamental breach of the president's office. It endangers our elections. It endangers our national security. It ought to be condemned by every member of this body, Democrats and Republicans. What do you think?
Starting point is 00:07:44 Keep in mind, this all started when Donald Trump had a phone call with the president of Ukraine, asked them for their assistance to also investigate Joe Biden. Let's talk about this with our panel there in D.C. Dr. Greg Carr, chair, Department of Afro-American Studies, Howard University, R.C. Maxwell, Republican strategist, and also Mustafa Santiago Ali, senior advisor, former senior advisor for environmental justice at the EPA.
Starting point is 00:08:08 RC, I got to start with you. If a Democrat had asked a foreign government to investigate a Republican campaign rival, there is no way in hell conservative radio, Fox News, the RNC would find that to be perfectly fine. What is wrong with your guy, Donald Trump, in asking foreign governments to investigate political rivals? Shoulder shrug. I mean, I know that the goal here is for Democrats to sound the alarm and act like this isn't normal and everything is going to flames. However, Donald Trump has said since last year, hey, I really think Ukraine should take a look into the corruption that I've heard about Biden.
Starting point is 00:08:53 I really think China should take a look into X, Y, Z. So he's been calling for this publicly for a long time. The Democrats are acting like this is an important... R.C., where's... Let me finish. There is no proof. I'm almost done. I'm almost done. The Democrats are acting like impeachment now is a big issue because right before we were talking about this, we were talking about reparations and Epstein.
Starting point is 00:09:11 So what you see is Democrats wanting to pivot away and weaponize outrage once again and act like impeachment is something that the Americans want to see. Reparations and Epstein? No. This is Donald Trump asking foreign governments to investigate a political rival. Are you saying you're perfectly fine with that? I'm perfectly fine. I want my president pressuring foreign governments to divulge information about corruption that they know, whether the corruption is a Democrat or a Republican. So, yes.
Starting point is 00:09:44 Do you not want your president pressuring foreign governments and asking for them to divulge information about corruption? Do you know our government is massively corrupt? That's very interesting, Greg Carr. Greg Carr, that's very interesting because it was Joe Biden when he was vice president who called on Ukraine, Greg, to file the prosecutor because the united states and all of the western governments uh the imf and others felt that that prosecutor was not prosecuting corruption so now all of a sudden so republicans so this is i'm trying to understand greg you hear
Starting point is 00:10:17 rc say oh i want my president doing this yet they are criticizing criticizing Biden because that's what he did, which was also not just him, but all of the West who were saying this guy was not investigating corruption. Yeah, well, you know, I don't necessarily have a dog in this fight. I think it's very amusing, really. What I really think is this is why all public schools and private schools should have basic civics in their curriculum, beginning elementary school. You take a presidential oath of office and senators and congresspeople take an oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. And Donald Trump is doing, I think this is one area where he's not crazy. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. Greg, Greg, don't leave the last half off.
Starting point is 00:11:02 Against all enemies. Foreign and domestic. Foreign or domestic. Foreign or domestic. Go ahead. Right. Well, no, you the last half off. Against all enemies, foreign or domestic. Foreign or domestic. Go ahead. You're right, Roland, and that's why I say I don't think Trump is being, in this particular instance, that he's being crazy. He's playing the only card he has,
Starting point is 00:11:14 and he's relying on the partisanship in the current political climate we have for the Republican Party to basically show that they don't give a damn about any piece of paper, U.S. Constitution or any federal law. Donald Trump realizes that he has committed an offense, a breach of his oath of office, and that by any playbook, this is like a mathematical equation, I don't care what your political party is, this would constitute a high crime and misdemeanor. So his only play is to try to normalize it by getting on television now and go extremely absurd, calling every country to investigate domestic issues in the United States.
Starting point is 00:11:51 Now, I say all that to say this. Since when I said I don't have a dog in this fight, what I'm saying is what's being tested now isn't a D or an R. It's the basic notion of separation of powers. It's the basic idea that there is a constitutional form of government in this society that's bigger than any political party. And what we see right now is a structural failure. Now, the question becomes what happens in the wake of that structural failure. And it's very interesting now, because if the shoe were on the other foot, I think I expect that both sides will be calling for an impeachment.
Starting point is 00:12:21 But I can't be can't say that for sure. The only other thing I would say is the only side that's been tested in this regard is the Republican Party, because when it was Richard Nixon, the Republicans came around to support impeachment. When it was Bill Clinton, you had some Democrats that said he should be impeached. But in this case, they've been lockstep, and I think they're probably going to march the U.S. Constitution right off the cliff that it's probably been teetering on for the last 200 years. Mustafa, what is quite interesting, again, is to look at the so-called party of law and order.
Starting point is 00:12:49 See, it's perfectly fine what Donald Trump is doing. And then what we had is they were hiding the actual full transcript. What was released wasn't the actual transcript. That was a partial understanding of the transcript. But to Greg's point, right, he wants to normalize this. He wants to say, oh, no, it's perfectly fine because this guy has no problem with foreign interference in a U.S. election to help him. Well, I think the president actually needs foreign assistance to be able to feel that he can be competitive. I mean, if you're going to be real about it and all due respect to the other panelists, but no one, I didn't hear the president
Starting point is 00:13:30 asking, you know, Russia to go out and look in a different way than they did. And then the founders were very clear about this in the sense of making sure that there were not a foreign government interfering in our elections. And that's exactly what this is about. And unfortunately, what we are moving toward is an autocratic system of government. I've heard people use the word dictatorship. And the president wants to have full power. He does not want to have checks and balances,
Starting point is 00:14:03 which every other president has followed since the founding of our country, because he knows that if there were truly checks and balances and what we really have to do, as the professor said, is that as we're moving forward, folks are going to have to strengthen this process so that when folks are doing these types of egregious behaviors, that there is actually repercussions for these types of things. So what's interesting to me, R.C., again, so you don't care. So you don't care if Donald Trump asked Ukraine or China or Putin or Russia to investigate rivals when, in fact, there's absolutely zero evidence, there is zero evidence of corruption of Hunter Biden or Joe Biden. I think that's a separate discussion, but I think that there is obvious evidence of corruption.
Starting point is 00:14:53 No, that is a discussion. Yeah. That's a discussion. Okay, well, Joe Biden literally pegged money, federal dollars, to whether or not Ukraine would fire a prosecutor who was investigating a company his son was working for. He wasn't investigating. He wasn't investigating. He wasn't investigating. R.C., that is a lie. R.C., the investigation, that is a lie.
Starting point is 00:15:12 No, no, it's a lie. It has been reported and proven. That is a lie. You are promoting a lie. I am. So you're telling me the clip where Joe Biden literally describes exactly what I just talked about on camera, you're telling me that's what? Is that a lie as well?
Starting point is 00:15:26 No, no. What Joe Biden did was, what Joe Biden did as vice president, along with the International Monetary Fund and numerous other Western governments, they said this Ukrainian prosecutor was refusing to actually investigate corruption,'s known for being one of the most corrupt international entities. Oh, now the IMF is corrupt. I know that you're a super Democrat and you're like a Democrat Party mascot. No, no, no. Actually, R.C., you're a lie. Actually, R.C., see, this is the game you play.
Starting point is 00:16:02 First of all, R.C., I'm not a super Democrat. That's first. Two, I'm not a Republican. I'm a black man. Now, here's the piece. Don't go down the wrong road. No, actually, that's a lie. Don't go down the wrong road, brother.
Starting point is 00:16:13 So here's the piece. No, no, R.C., R.C., R.C., I operate by a set of facts. There are no facts, none, zero zilch that show that there was corruption, Joe Biden or his son Hunter. I'm asking you again, are you perfectly fine, R.C., are you perfectly fine with Donald Trump asking China, asking
Starting point is 00:16:36 who were embroiled in a tariff war, asking Ukraine, using his authority as the president to ask foreign governments to investigate political rivals. You're cool with that? No, I care very much about this entire situation. Specifically, I care about the fact that the CIA whistleblower is working directly with Adam Schiff,
Starting point is 00:16:53 who has no credibility at all and who shouldn't be leading this impeachment inquiry. Pivot, pivot. CIA is working with Adam Schiff. You think that's going to get, if the Democratic Party think that's what's going to get voters off of their ass to back a CIA whistleblower and Adam Schiff on an investigation that we know is a sham, I mean, you're lying to yourself. This entire investigation is self-referential and there's nothing illegal that's happened. Greg, here's what I find to be what is so cute about the conservative lying machine. The whistleblower goes to the committee.
Starting point is 00:17:31 The committee makes it perfectly clear. This is the process by which you must go through, the established process. You have an inspector general who said the whistleblower properly followed the process. Now Republicans want to try to switch it and say, oh, he was somehow colluding with Adam Schiff, but R.C. also never bothered to answer my question. And Greg, that's really what we have here. What you have here is the conservative machine and Donald Trump. They want to throw so much stuff out here to confuse people to go, oh, it must be something else, as opposed to dealing with the most basic fundamental thing that happened here.
Starting point is 00:18:07 That's the game they're playing. Yeah, I think these words, these labels have become virtually meaningless. Conservative, I mean, Republican equals conservative. Well, it depends on what you mean by conservative. If we're talking about busting the budget to pay for the military, that's not conservative politics. That's certainly not a conservatism that would have been recognized. We're talking about a
Starting point is 00:18:25 form of race nationalism and nativism that, frankly, it's quite disappointing to hear anyone non-white try to make this thing stand up and run it up the flagpole to salute. But I will say this about the contemporary issue. It's very clear that the Russians interfered in the previous American
Starting point is 00:18:42 election. It's also very clear that Donald Trump, as he told the ambassadorial contingent that was in the White House, we, meaning the United States government, interfere with other people's elections. So this isn't anything new, but this is what I would do if I was Xi Jinping, who just celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Communist Party in China. If I'm Xi Jinping, it's very simple. I simply say this. Hey, man, Don, since you asked for this, I'm going to look into some things. This is what I'm going to need for you. I'm going to need you to knock those tariffs all down a little bit. And the minute that Donald Trump does that, because all he has done in all of his actions, whether it be this one or everything preceding
Starting point is 00:19:16 it, has been to do things to enrich himself and to protect himself politically. The minute those tariffs come down, when the Chinese say they'll investigate, well, then, you see, we'll see whether these quote-unquote conservatives or Republicans or whatever you want to call them will defend that. And if they do, then I think it's very clear that they're putting everything ahead of anything called the United States of America, and we can drop all
Starting point is 00:19:37 pretenses and finally get about the business of the political transformation of this country. Mustafa, at the end of the day, what we're looking at here is a party that will defend anything that Donald Trump does, because frankly, they're weak and scared. They're scared that he is going to come after them. And to literally watch individuals defend asking a foreign power for help, it's utterly hilarious when these were the same people who accused Hillary Clinton, and it was a lie, of selling uranium to foreign entities. That's how crazy the politics
Starting point is 00:20:14 are today. The House is on fire. And, you know, when you look at folks like Lindsey Graham, who you would never have assumed would take some of the positions that he has, when you look at someone like A.G. Barr and a number of these other folks who are now being pulled into this investigation, it just goes to show you that, unfortunately, the president cares about himself. He's willing to throw anybody under the bus who will, you know, take some of the attention away from what's going on. And the president knows that he was wrong. That's why the impeachment inquiry is so important to go through the facts, to go through a process, and then folks can vote and make a decision. And the other part of this is that the president also knows that he's had a set of failed policies. And we can debate any of the policies if folks really want to get down to it
Starting point is 00:20:59 and unpack them. There are farmers who are losing their farms. There are folks who are dealing with the floods that are happening. There are manufacturing jobs that are disappearing because there was not a well-thought-out set of policies that got everybody around the table and worked the process. So the president knows that his only chance is confusion and chaos, and hopefully he'll be able to squeak through in the next election if he can make it through the impeachment inquiry, and then if there are full impeachment process that goes forward. All right, folks, got to go to a break right now. When we come back, I want to talk about the poll that came out earlier this week
Starting point is 00:21:39 that shows that Donald Trump has 2% support among black folks, folks like R.C. We'll also talk to Dr. Cornel Brooks, former president of the NAACP. Lots of conversation about this forgiveness given towards Amber Geiger. That was the judge who, of course, hugged her. Now we hear that she supposedly led him to Christ. Others say both of John's brothers should not have extended, should not have hugged her in the courtroom as well. We'll talk about all of that next.
Starting point is 00:22:07 Roland Martin Unfiltered broadcasting live from MGM National Harbor, site of the Leaders and Legends Awards Gala, back in a moment. You want to check out Roland Martin Unfiltered? YouTube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. And subscribe to our YouTube channel. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. It's Roland Martin Unfiltered. See that name right there?
Starting point is 00:22:28 Roland Martin Unfiltered. Like, share, subscribe to our YouTube channel. That's youtube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. And don't forget to turn on your notifications so when we go live, you'll know it. All right, folks, you've heard me talk a lot about marijuana stock.org because I want to keep you informed
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Starting point is 00:23:55 To invest, go to marijuana stock.org. That's marijuana stock.org. Get in the game and get in the game now. All right, folks, social media has been on fire talking about, of course, yesterday's decision by jury to give 10 years to Amber Geiger. But that's not really what folks have been focused on is that is a couple of things that took place where the judge of that case came off the stand, embraced Amber Geiger and handed her her Bible stories to say today, say that that judge led Amber Geiger, and handed her her Bible. Stories today say that that judge led Amber Geiger to Christ. Others have been talking about the brother of both of them, John, coming off the stand and also embracing her as well. So I want to talk to bring in Dr. Cornel
Starting point is 00:24:38 Brooks, former president of the NAACP, ordained minister. He actually had a tweet about that let me go ahead and pull that tweet up folks i want to show that tweet uh where he uh talked about um what we saw and again a lot of people have been focused on this and talking about uh what this means and so i want you to pull the graphic up dr brooks um explain that you, I have preached forgiveness for 25 years, but using the willingness of black people to forgive as an excuse to further victimize black people is sinful. America should ask black people forgiveness for serially asking African Americans to forgive sanctioned police brutality. Now we hear that the judge also did it and extended Jesus Christ's tour. So just your thoughts about that as well.
Starting point is 00:25:29 Do you still believe that that should not have happened in the courtroom? Well, first of all, let me say it's good to be with you. And I just want to be clear here. for the magnanimity of his spirit, the generosity of his spirit, his willingness to forgive in the context of deep pain. That being said, it is wrong to praise his forgiveness, willingness to forgive, and use that as an excuse to serially ask black people to forgive again and again and again without taking any responsibility for preventing families from going through with the John family went through. In other words, black people are demanded to extend forgiveness to people perpetuating crimes against them. And frankly, it's just unconscionable. This happens again and again and again. That is to say the country praises the victims extending
Starting point is 00:26:33 forgiveness to the perpetrators of a crime. And we declined to do anything about preventing the further victimization of black people. You know, we talked about this one yesterday. And again, it's been very interesting how raw this conversation has been among black folks. And I think you're right. I think black folks are sitting here. I think black people are not necessarily mad at Bojan, although many say the judge, which he did, was improper. But it's this whole embracing of, oh, my God, look at that. Look how they and like I said, that was a conservative talk show host in Texas, Mark Davis, who was like, oh, that's forgiveness as opposed to racial revenge. It was as if, you know, that if you don't forgive, the only reason you want to Amber Geiger to go to jail is because of racial revenge.
Starting point is 00:27:22 That's right. Let's be clear about this. What we have in this country is people literally participating collectively in an individual act of forgiveness, but they're not collectively participating in an act of redemption, right? So in other words, we commend Bolton John's brother for this individual act of forgiveness. But when it comes to redemption and restoration as a country, we're not calling for consent decrees to hold police departments accountable. We're not calling for more police officers to be charged, indicted, tried, convicted, and punished. The same people amending both of John's family have done nothing, have been stricken with a case of moral laryngitis in terms of calling
Starting point is 00:28:16 for the police reforms that would prevent these kinds of tragedies from happening again and again and again. So of course, the emotions in our community are raw and rightly so. This is absolute outrage because why should black folks be called upon serially to extend forgiveness without anyone questioning whether, I should say, why it is we who are being called upon to forgive as opposed to others being called upon to be responsible. RC, your thoughts on what Dr. Brookshire said? I agree in a lot of ways with what he had to say. The only thing that's kind of unfortunate
Starting point is 00:28:57 is that we're still kind of doing this analysis, you know, black people think this, black people think that. Based upon my own sample size of social amplification, I've seen a wide variety and a diverse amount of opinions I THINK IT IS A DIFFERENT OPINION. I THINK IT IS A DIFFERENT OPINION. I THINK BLACK PEOPLE THINK THIS AND THAT. BASED UPON MY OWN SAMPLE SIZE OF SOCIAL AMPLIFICATION, I HAVE SEEN A WIDE VARIETY AND DIVERSE AMOUNT OF OPINIONS AND REACTIONS TO THE SITUATION. I THINK EVERYONE HAS A DIFFERENT
Starting point is 00:29:21 OPINION. I DON'T THINK THIS IS NECESSARILY CAUSED FOR US TO SIT AND OVERANALYZE, ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE ARE THINGS. I REALLY JUST HOPE BLACK You know, there are things, I don't know, I really just hope black families aren't sitting at home and overanalyzing this when, you know, black families aren't, you know, owning homes and black wealth isn't doing what it should be doing. You know, I just feel like sometimes we overanalyze situations like this. Well, actually, I think that I'll say this here. My social media platform is a hell of a lot bigger than yours. And so we look at, I got 2.5 million followers. And I can tell you there's been a whole host of reaction to this Folks have been talking about it and Greg but if we can do multiple things at one time
Starting point is 00:29:51 We can analyze this and also care about home ownership Greg You put a tweet out that people really cracked up about this very issue And so I would love to get your thoughts on this. Well brother. I mean wrong. That's funny, man Yeah, we laughed at that. In fact, that's one of the benefits of teaching in a black space. I made the decision to work in black spaces and black media. That's where we're having this conversation. First of all, white opinion, I have no use for any of it at this point. They have nothing, and there's nothing to be said that I would really think about seriously because this is racial.
Starting point is 00:30:21 But within the black community this morning, one of our students asked, you know, I was in class, and she said, why did he hug her? And the other young sister who happens to be from Nigeria, parents from Nigeria, she's actually from Texas, she said, well, anybody knows that in order to get a good curse, you gotta get close, because you gotta get something off their person, off their body, and everybody cracked up.
Starting point is 00:30:41 Now this is a black conversation, let's be clear. These are Haitians. First of all, you're talking about a teenager. Now, you know, I had a brother come in, a South African brother, a professor on our faculty, Brother Nyandu, this afternoon, and we continued to talk about this in this context. He said, first of all, when you have a family,
Starting point is 00:30:57 you don't let the children speak in public like that. There should have been an elder. And if you listen to what Allison John said, you really got a better sense of how this kind of forgiveness thing operated within a larger context. That's number one. Hold on, Greg. I want you to finish that thought because I want to read what she
Starting point is 00:31:14 said. This is what she said. What Brant did today, Brant is both of them John's brother. What Brant did today was remarkable. It's one that we are taught to do. It's one that we must do. But I don't want the community. Hold on one second. I don't want but I don't want the community to be mistaken of what happened in the courtroom. Forgiveness for us as Christians is as is a healing for us. But as my husband said, there are consequences.
Starting point is 00:31:42 It does not mean that everything else we have suffered has to go unnoticed. We're leaving Dallas this week, but you all must live in Dallas, and you all must try to make Dallas a better place. What you saw and what you heard in the courtroom really showed what your system is, and you must seek to do something about it. You saw a contaminated crime scene. You saw deletion of evidence by persons in high office. You saw turning off of body cams and cameras in the vehicles. You saw investigations
Starting point is 00:32:11 that were marred with corruption. And throughout the trial, what I kept saying to myself is Botham was a child of God, and we know that he did not deserve what he got. The most hurtful part is for me that even after he was shot, he was left to die. That was both of John's mother and a church last night in Dallas. Greg, go ahead. Yeah, I was going to say very quickly, what Brother Brooks said is very true. We're talking about forgiveness, but we're also talking about justice. And so that's why I said white opinion has no place in this conversation as far as I'm concerned. We have two things operating here. When you hear Sister Jean say, John say, your system, I'm with her.
Starting point is 00:32:46 Whether she was born in Haiti or not, I'm with her as an African. That's a very African thing to do. In other words, we're not going to hold on to this. What you saw in that hug as well was a transfer. This white woman killed a black man in cold blood. And guess what? She didn't get forgiven by that brother.
Starting point is 00:33:02 The forgiveness can't come from him. That was an act of healing for himself and the family. And his mother interpreted that. For this white woman, she'll carry the burden of this, and now the thing has been transferred. That's why the young people are laughing in terms of a curse. A curse ain't no Hollywood thing. We're talking about a transfer
Starting point is 00:33:17 of a moral, of an ethical, ultimately of a much larger principle of responsibility. The only other thing I would say is this. When we see Judge Kemp, Tammy Kemp, talk about tell this young lady to, you know, read John 316 and she's going to hug her. That is the other thing that's in play here. And I think that is, too, a black conversation. The effect of Christian slavery on Christianity. We're not talking about African Christianity. We're not talking about African black Christianity, the black church. We're talking about the
Starting point is 00:33:45 slavery type of Christianity. They can have whiteness never displaced as the center of attention. That judge, as far as I'm concerned, gestured toward a form of slavery Christianity that we've got to exercise from our being because the Africans around
Starting point is 00:34:02 the world who embrace Christianity on their own terms may look at the American nigger and say, no, this ain't what we talking about. Mustafa, your thoughts. My thought on it is, has the judge ever come down before and hugged any of the other folks who have been convicted of murder or of another serious crime?
Starting point is 00:34:21 For me, I feel that the judge, if she felt it was necessary to help to lead this lady to Christ, she should have went to the jail and done that after the trial was over. And then she could have lived out and done her missionary work. I'd be completely fine with that. The other part of this conversation that we need to also recognize is the fact that there still is not fairness in the justice system. There's not fairness in the sentencing system. We've had conversations on this show about folks getting significant time for being accused of voter fraud, of people having these charges from marijuana
Starting point is 00:35:00 being much more significant than 10 years. So, and the last point is, is that you have three African-American men who are on this, uh, stage right here today. And if any of us, any of us had murdered someone in their apartment, and then didn't even try and help them through CPR, and then for just a little while covered it up, waiting on some
Starting point is 00:35:25 other help to come. We all know that we would not have gotten 10 years and we would have been lucky if we would have made it out of the apartment if the police came. And what may have happened on the way through the transport system. And of course, we know what would have happened, unfortunately, in the courtroom. Cornell, I got to ask you this here. As somebody who has been a longtime decision counselor at my church, the Church of Thought Walls in Houston, Reverend Ralph Douglas West, I can tell you when I heard the story
Starting point is 00:35:56 that the judge led Amber Geiger to Christ, I mean, I can let you know that that process takes a little bit longer than whispering a few things in their ear. And again, I'm just being very serious. And so where you literally have to ask that person a series of questions, do you accept Jesus Christ? And then you take them through multiple scriptures. And so when I heard that that's what she did, I was kind of like, I don't know about.
Starting point is 00:36:22 I mean, as a Christian, I understand leading folks to Christ. That process take a little bit longer than just send a few words and hand them, say, read one scripture and here's a Bible. Your final thoughts. Listen, I don't believe in nanosecond Twitter moment conversions. Conversions are a matter of seeking forgiveness and engaging in redemption. And that means making a commitment to turn one's life around. And so making a decision like way beyond a courtroom moment of stress and anxiety at the point at which you're about to go away for 10 years as opposed to for life in terms of murder.
Starting point is 00:37:16 And so I'm not going to question the judge's sincerity, but I'll simply say this. That's the kind of conversation that should have occurred in jail. It should not have occurred in a courtroom. And it's just not appropriate for judges to do that kind of thing. Or in a conference room, whatever, because you have to be mindful of those things. Dr. Cornell Brooks, I certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. It's good to be with you. All right. Coming up next, Donald Trump is polling among 2% among black people. We've got one of them right here on the set.
Starting point is 00:37:49 He can explain why. Coming up next, Roland Martin Unfiltered. You want to support Roland Martin Unfiltered? Be sure to join our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar that you give to us supports our daily digital show. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. As Roland Martin Unfiltered support the Roland Martin Unfiltered daily digital show. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real as Roland Martin Unfiltered.
Starting point is 00:38:06 Support the Roland Martin Unfiltered Daily Digital Show by going to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing 50 bucks each for the whole year. You can make this possible. RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. All right, folks, that's my homeboy there, Gerald Albright, one of the folks performing at the Life Lux Jazz Experience in Cabo,
Starting point is 00:38:49 November 7th through 11th. I'm going to be there as well. Weekend-long event held at the Omnia Day Club in Los Cabos, nestled on the Sea of Cortez in Los Cabos, Mexico. Folks, it's going to be an amazing time over those four days. We're going to have lots of great food and drink
Starting point is 00:39:03 and golf and spa, health and wellness, you name it. The second annual Life, Love, Jazz Experience. Of course, some great people, entertainers are going to be there. Comedian Mark Curry, Gerald Albright, Alex Bunyan, Raul Madon, Incognito, Pieces of a Dream, Kirk Whalum, Average White Band, Donnie McClurkin, Shalaya, Roy Ayers, Tom Brown, Ronnie Laws, and Ernest Quarles. I'll be broadcasting Rolling Martin Unfiltered for that Thursday and Friday there as well. And so we want you to be in the house. It's going to be a great time. Go to lifeluxjazz.com, L-I-F-E-L-U-X-E-J-A-Z-Z.com
Starting point is 00:39:35 for more information. Packages are going fast. You also want to book it soon so your airline tickets are not crazy high. So go to lifeluxjazz.com. All right, folks, welcome back to National Harbor MGM. We're, of course, here for the Leaders and Legends Awards gala. So I'm going to be talking with some folks here in just a moment. But earlier this week, we talked about a new poll out showing that Donald Trump is polling 2% among black people. Remember, he thanked black
Starting point is 00:40:06 folks for not voting in the last election. And so what does it mean? Can he actually get even higher than that? It was interesting seeing that poll, seeing those poll numbers. He's always touting black unemployment, always saying how much he's done for the blacks. But the question is, will black folks say yes to Donald Trump? RC, Ewan and Candace Owens and a few of the black folks, y'all are having a black summit this week. MAGA supporters for backing Trump. Do you actually think Donald Trump has a shot at getting black votes? I'll start out by saying that I'm very dismissive of this poll
Starting point is 00:40:43 and how credible or legitimate it is. You saw from 2016 and even from 2018 that polling continues to be I'll start out by saying that I'm very dismissive of this poll and how credible or legitimate it is. You saw from 2016 and even from 2018 that polling continues to be not a legitimate way to kind of analyze elections. Now, beyond that, I do think that the RNC needs to do a better job reaching out to the black community because I think they have a message that should resonate in their community, which is, look, you guys want school choice. I'm sure you're not supporting these full-term abortions. And also, the economy is doing well. And I think that's a message that will resonate with black families if they can get their butts to those neighborhoods to do black outreach.
Starting point is 00:41:16 But you're talking about the RNC. Greg, we hear all you talk about the RNC and black outreach. It ain't like Donald Trump has actually done black outreach. And again, you can talk about the unemployment rate. I got you. But we also know when that actually started to come down. What we also know is that, in fact, I'm here at the capital region of the National Minority Supply Development Council, Greg.
Starting point is 00:41:37 And in the last two and a half years, Donald Trump has been trying to eliminate the National Minority Supply Development Council from his budget. Of course. Well, I mean, let's be fair to the president of the United States. He's an equal opportunity shifter and stiffer. I mean, as a businessman, he didn't pay anybody. But that having been said, here's several things that we should just set aside and get rid of at the beginning. Number one is that we're not going to debate whether Donald Trump is a racist or not. All we have to do is as they were saying in the old commercial, roll that beautiful bean footage of all the things he
Starting point is 00:42:09 said. So we can set that aside. When we look at him in terms of his policies, you're absolutely right. He doesn't just support, not to support minority business, he doesn't support business, period. This trade war with China, this foolishness with Wilbur Ross at the Department of Commerce, the way he's crushing, we heard Mustafa walk through what he's doing to the farmers, so we can kind
Starting point is 00:42:27 of set that aside. But let's look very specifically, finally, at race and when it comes to black and brown people and policy. When Donald Trump has been running around these last few days coming unglued and finally getting his strategy of throwing everything against the wall to see whether it will stick with this whole notion of foreign interference, one of the things he said before yesterday was, look at them, they're attacking us because look at our judges. Pause.
Starting point is 00:42:47 You've been making this point over and over again. Any black person that would vote for Donald Trump at this point is probably beyond convincing because they don't understand that it is the appointment, the replacement of the federal bench that's the single most important thing that's going to impact black lives for the next two generations.
Starting point is 00:43:05 So anybody black voting for Donald Trump now, when he comes back around and these district court judges and these courts of appeal judges and these Supreme Court judges tear this country apart with a theocratic view of the United States Constitution, those very same American Negroes are going to have nothing to say.
Starting point is 00:43:21 You can put that down in black letter, brother. Nothing to say. If I can. It in black letter, brother. Nothing to say. If I can. It's very interesting. Hold on one second, R.C. Hold on. R.C., I'm going to come back to you. I want to hear this. Mustafa, I got to ask you this here. When I look at the judges, nearly 90 percent of the judges that Donald Trump has appointed are white men. Very few African-Americans. First, when you look at Department of Housing, Health and Human Services, HUD, Department of Education,
Starting point is 00:43:52 the rollback of civil rights protections. In the Department of Justice, Jeff Sessions, continued by Bill Barr, want to roll back consent decrees, increase the use of private federal prisons. And so we could go on and on. And so I'm just saying it's interesting. So if there are two things Donald Trump has done supposedly as good for black folks, I can count about eight or ten things. That's a legend. It doesn't look too great.
Starting point is 00:44:16 Your thoughts on this poll and what R.C. had to say. As I've shared before, this is a very apartheid system that has been put in place. And I don't use that in a very flippant way. I mean, you can literally look at the pieces that have been put in place. We'll stop there. Look at the positions that have been filled inside of the 17 agencies and departments that I worked with in the past. You very rarely see a person of color in an influential position. Ben Carson has an influential position. But then we go a step further and we look at the rollbacks that
Starting point is 00:44:52 have been happening around housing, around affordable housing. So we know that disproportionately a number of our people live in that space. And yes, we want to get folks into home ownership. That is an important part of the process. But there have been, unfortunately, moves in the negative direction in that space. If we look at medically underserved areas, we also have seen a rolling back. The president, when he pushes his budgets through, he's telling you exactly where he is placing his priorities. In civil rights, in the Department of Justice, a number of the programs that were there in the past to help people to not get caught up in the system, to help them to be able to move forward, unfortunately have, you know, fallen to the wayside. So I don't have to get into,
Starting point is 00:45:37 you know, some of the things that the president says, although they are egregious. Let's look at a person's works. Let's look at the policies that they're putting forward. Let's look at the budgets that you're putting forward and see if these folks are actually a priority. And as John Conyers used to say when I worked for him, you'll know everything you need to know based upon where people are putting their money. RC, go ahead. If I can just quickly rebut the fact that Donald Trump's policies has not been policies that favor African-Americans. We can start with the Department of Justice, which you mentioned. President Trump was the one that passed the largest rewrite
Starting point is 00:46:12 in Department of Justice history in order to pass criminal justice reform. That, we know, disproportionately helps the African-American community. And just beyond that... I'm sorry, you called it the largest what? Hold on one second. No, no, no. I'm going to say, hold on. I just want to clarify. You call it the largest what hold on one second I'm gonna say hello I don't want I just want clarify the look hard to the largest what
Starting point is 00:46:26 rewrite of a criminal justice framework and federal of a federal framework and that's that's what Donald Trump's first step act was now just getting beyond that we're doing the largest yes don't don't don't let them keep talking bro it was you you okay go ahead go ahead largest thing that substantial shit and he's a federal criminal justice policy, you won't find one bigger than the first step down. Okay, go ahead. What about them judges, bro?
Starting point is 00:46:50 Going beyond that, we're talking about housing programs, like affordable housing. These are some of the worst housing that you can offer to a person. You might as well make someone homeless at this point. So what Donald Trump is doing is he's transitioning. Whoa, whoa, whoa, hell no. No, R.C., R.C., R.C. He's transitioning to opportunity zones. There's a difference between being homeless and a public housing.
Starting point is 00:47:10 Are you crazy? He's put billions of dollars into federal opportunity zones. So he's trying to come up with a dynamic framework to increase the quality of life of individuals who are living in so-called low-income areas. So you may say, so I know we think different ways. My thinking is any program that was a developmental program to help the black community that's existed for the past 10 years. I say cut it because I say that's a program that has failed us, literally failed us. So I say cut all these, cut all these terrible programs and we'll make something innovative. And that's what Donald Trump's doing. I don't have any problem with what you're saying, R.C. There's a brand new book out on Clarence Thomas. It's a white law professor who is reading Clarence Thomas as a black nationalist and that's something that black legal scholars have been saying for 20 years. Not a black nationalist in the sense that we think about black
Starting point is 00:47:57 nationalism traditionally. This very rugged individualism, pro-second amendment to the point where Clarence Thomas would argue in his opinions in many ways that the Second Amendment was the biggest gift that the Civil War Amendments allowed black people to have. And so I get that. I don't have really much a problem with that. My challenge is with the fact that these doctrinaire black conservatives don't seem to
Starting point is 00:48:18 have enough of a command of American history to understand that nothing in this country's history is theoretical. In other words, what we're dealing with is a white nativist nationalist who doesn't even enact the policies that we just heard R.C. talking about. So if you're saying withdraw the subsidies from everyone, we can disagree or agree on that, but here's what Trump is not doing. Here's what Republicans are not doing.
Starting point is 00:48:39 They are not withdrawing the subsidies for everyone. The subsidies for billionaires and the tax cut is enough evidence. But we can set all that aside for a second. Like Mustafa said, you can go through it and you say it. You can go through chapter and verse all these policies. I got one question for RCN, Candace Owens, and anybody else. Defend the judges, brother. Defend the judges? Yeah, defend these judicial selections, including the stolen Supreme Court seat that Neil Gorsuch has, including the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh, who has credible sexual assault... No, no, no.
Starting point is 00:49:08 Defend the judges, brother. Defend them. Defend them. Fingers crossed, the way things are looking, President Trump should be able to put two more judges on the court, which will swing the court... Yeah, and then what? ...which will swing the court into a heavy conservative... You guys have to look. All these major...
Starting point is 00:49:22 Who are you guys? You guys as in, like, you guys that are brainwashed by the black liberal establishment. I said judges, brother. If you can't do it, just say... I know you read a lot of Frank Wilder saying that you're probably a black pessimist, but there are people... You see, this is a man arguing with himself on television. There are people who are black optimists. And my thinking is that the history of civil rights expansions that African Americans have been able to reap the benefits of, they've been passed by conservative judges. Wait a minute. You guys are constructing this threat as if Brett Kavanaugh... I'm not arguing with you, brother. I just need you to give me the example. And this is what the Democrat Party has done successfully. They've put people in front of cameras who will lie straight face to the camera and tell black people, these conservatives are coming. They're going to take your to take your rights viewers this is a man arguing with
Starting point is 00:50:07 himself he hasn't given one example is this the civil rights act of 1964 is this voting rights act is the fair housing act of 1968 that these judges are going to eviscerate so so you're telling me in 1965 when these judges no no i asked you a question i asked you a question were these conservatives were these who i asked you a question. I asked you a question. Were these conservatives? I asked you a question, bro. Or were these woke ivory tower liberals? No, are you saying? You have to recognize that conservatives who are on the court have no reason to vote against or vote down anything that extends civil rights. Here is what I know.
Starting point is 00:50:38 Gentlemen, gentlemen, here's what I know. Here's what I know. This is what I know. He's a man arguing with himself. Here is what I know. This is what I know, very simple. Numerous Republican judges appointed by Trump would not even affirm before the Senate committee that Brown v. Board of Education was appropriately decided. Exactly. That's what we know, R.C. You can deny it, but we have it on record. It's not true?
Starting point is 00:51:01 R.C., R.C., here's the deal. I'm just going to give you some advice, R.C. R.C., R.C. Here's the deal. They did not. I'm just going to give you some advice. R.C. R.C. No, no. R.C. They would not answer the question. It was not what they would not answer here. Here. They would not answer the question. He was specifically asked. Here is the fundamental deal. OK. All right, y'all. Here's the piece. That's all nonsense. We'll see what happens,
Starting point is 00:51:26 but I'm still waiting to see Trump's so-called black plan because it don't exist. All right, y'all. I got to go to a break right now. Thank all of y'all for being on the panel today. I'm going to come back. We're going to talk from the National Bananas Product Development Council here at National Harbor MGM. Back in a moment, Roller Mark unfiltered. You want to support Roller Mark unfiltered. You want to support Roland Martin Unfiltered? Be sure to join our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar that you give to us supports our daily digital show.
Starting point is 00:51:52 There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. As Roland Martin Unfiltered support the Roland Martin Unfiltered daily digital show by going to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing 50 bucks each for the whole year. You can make this possible.
Starting point is 00:52:10 RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. All right, folks, we are here, MGM Grand National Harbor at the gala here. Of course, leaders and legends, National Minority Supply Development Council, the Capital Region. And so we are here for this award. The number of people who are being honored, Lieutenant Governor Boyd Rutherford of Maryland, also Marilyn Mosby, the state's attorney. She's one of the honorees as well.
Starting point is 00:52:39 And so in a moment, we'll be talking with both of them. Right now, though, I want to chat with a woman who leads the NMSDC here. How you doing? Okay, how are you? I'm doing great. Does everybody know who you are? Well, I'll tell them just in case. I'm Sharon Pender, president and CEO of the Capital Region Minority Supply Development Council.
Starting point is 00:52:57 All right, so folks who don't know, what does the National Minority Supply Development Council do? Okay, for the last 47 years, it's been the premier organization in the country that certifies minority businesses for the supply chain of corporate members in this country. And so when we talk about that, I mean, what does that impact on African Americans? Well, let's talk about why it was even created. Created on the heels of the civil unrest of the 60s, and it was, the thought there was to make the private sector accountable
Starting point is 00:53:29 for its minority spend. Because you hear about government contracts, and some of that is done by regulations, et cetera, but it was a way of being able to penetrate corporate spend. And so what we're looking at now is that y'all have been
Starting point is 00:53:46 frankly fighting for your survival, though. Especially with the administration trying to cut it out of the budget. Yeah, particularly our council also has two MBDA centers. We have the only federally funded federal procurement center in the country. We also have the MBDA
Starting point is 00:54:02 center for Washington, D.C. And those funds were threatened. And we spent a lot of time on the Hill in terms of making the case for that. And one of the things that people don't realize is that when we talk about being able to access these federal contracts, African-Americans have been shut out for a long time in corporate America. And so when you look at black businesses, they have been able to, frankly, grow and thrive largely being able to access federal, state, county, and city contracts. Absolutely. And quite frankly, if you look at the programs, it was built on the backs of blacks. And unfortunately, you know, I'm talking 47 years later, but the issues are still the same. The
Starting point is 00:54:40 problems are still the same. But now the pie is divided and double divided for other ethnic minorities. And so moving forward, what should our audience, what should they be talking about, what should they be focusing on? What help do you need from them when it comes to this particular issue? And trying to make sure that Supply Development Council is still around. Unfortunately, we're still having the conversation, and that's why it's still viable. But I think the difference is going to be the fact that the numbers are now switched. When we look across America and we look at the changing
Starting point is 00:55:13 and the minority population becoming the majority, and you look at particularly African-American women are the fastest-growing segment in terms of entrepreneurship, then you're going to have to do something about the numbers. And so often people don't pay attention until it impacts them. And so if it has that economic impact, because our businesses have to survive in order to be contributing to our economy, then we have to pay attention to begin to support those businesses now for the future. All right then. How can folks reach out to you? Let's say, so first of all, are businesses a part of the council? Do they
Starting point is 00:55:52 become members? How do they get involved? The council, all across the country, I'm one of 23 across the country, we are individual 501c3s. And so the members are our corporate members. But in this market, you know, we have federal, state, and local government ass. And so the members are our corporate members. But in this market, we have federal, state, and local government as well. And suppliers, which are minority businesses, are a part of it in terms of, from that perspective. But it's primarily made up of those corporations. All right. Well, actually, I'm going to be in Atlanta in a couple of weeks doing an event there. I heard you were. I saw that. And so that's our national conference. And so we're looking forward to that as well.
Starting point is 00:56:26 All right. Well, we certainly appreciate it. And, of course, you have the Leaders and Legends Gala here. And, of course, there are a number of honorees here. And so why is it important to also represent them, showcase them to this audience? We have the top 100 minority business awards. The only one of its kind in this region I can tell you. And the reason we do it is that when I started it 12 years ago people would say to me, well where are
Starting point is 00:56:52 these businesses you're talking about that you advocate? We have such pride around the accomplishments of our businesses and so they are no longer, you can no longer relegate them to mom-and-pop. We have very successful businesses with revenues ranging from less thangate them to mom and pop. We have very successful businesses with revenues ranging from less than a million to over 50 million. And so we celebrate them tonight. All right. Well, look, we're looking forward to it. Glad to be here. I would appreciate it. I know I'm about to chat with, I think Marilyn Mosby next or the Lieutenant Governor. And so about to get this show started in a few minutes. We look forward to seeing you in the
Starting point is 00:57:24 theater. All right. Thanks so forward to seeing you in the theater. All right, thanks so much. Thank you. I appreciate it. Again, folks, Roland Martin here. We at MGM National, where this is taking place. And so, we're certainly glad to be here. And so, in a moment, we're going to be chatting with, again, a couple of more guests and honorees here at the Leaders and Legends Gala.
Starting point is 00:57:43 I'm going to be presenting the award to Marilyn Mosby, so we're looking forward to that. And you heard me make this point, and again, you heard when the ROC was on. Donald Trump has been trying to cut the budget of this organization. When you talk about how we grow black business, see, that was amazing. See, on one hand, you can't be out there touting and talking about all of touting and talking about all of these numbers and talking about how black unemployment has gone down if you're not also
Starting point is 00:58:10 touting black folks owning businesses. R.C. also talked about, oh, the billions Trump has poured into opportunity zones. We also know what we saw in Baltimore, where Under Armour was getting some of those resources. We know, dogg and wheel, they are not a struggling business. And so they weren't even qualified. They weren't even located in that. But Governor Larry Hogan's office made sure they got it. When you talk about how we've been able to grow as a black community in terms of our businesses, again, let me say it again, on the federal level,
Starting point is 00:58:40 it is because we've been able to utilize more fairness on the federal level when it comes to accessing these contracts, when it comes to being able to grow our businesses. There are individuals in this room who have been able to grow their businesses doing $20 and $30, $50, $100 million when you talk about the size of those businesses. That means employing African Americans as well. And so we cannot act as if this is not a big deal. It is a big deal. It is extremely important because we have to make sure that corporate America is doing right by us when it comes to our dollars. There are folks out there who want us to spend our dollars with them, but do they want to reciprocate to ensure that black businesses
Starting point is 00:59:27 are being able to get those contracts? That's why we must continue to do what we do. That's why we must continue to press this issue and not allow Donald Trump and his administration to slash the budget. In fact, we should be increasing the budget here. But let me also say this when we talk about where we are. I keep telling you about 2043 and where we're going in this country when it comes to this nation becoming a nation majority of people of color. What we do not want to see is a nation like South Africa where white folks are 9% of the population yet can own 72% of the land and control the mines, that control the resources, that control the dollars.
Starting point is 01:00:06 That is the issue. And the thing that's also important for us as African Americans that we have to confront and deal with. And look, I totally understand. And let me say it again. I totally understand when we as African Americans put our attention on police brutality, put our attention on civil rights, put our attention on social justice. But what cannot happen is when we are so focused on police brutality and social justice that we leave out the economic piece. We must have our economic leaders leading us when it comes to the economy. I've said this to Ron Busby, the U.S. Black Chamber, Inc. I said it to other business leaders, other chambers of commerce across this country, that we cannot be in a
Starting point is 01:00:49 situation where we're having an economic conversation and we have civil rights leaders leading the economic conversation. No, the people who should be leading the economic conversation in black America are black people who own businesses, black people who actually have P&L's responsibility. That's who must be doing that. We've got to have not just even more black owned businesses. We've got to have black owned businesses with scale. You've heard me talk about this here. Ten years ago, actually about eight, actually eight years ago, we had one point nine million black owned businesses in the United States. One point eight million of those blackowned businesses only had one employee. Here we stand today, and we have 2.6 million black-owned businesses,
Starting point is 01:01:31 yet 2.5 million of them have just one employee. That means that we have increased black-owned businesses by 700,000. 700,000. But here's the deal. When we had 1.9 million black-owned businesses, they were doing an average annual revenue of about $110,000. 700,000. But here's the deal. When we had 1.9 million black-owned businesses, they were doing an average annual revenue of about $110,000. Those black-owned businesses today are doing an average revenue of $54,000. So they're really only surviving by themselves.
Starting point is 01:01:57 So here we have 700,000 more black-owned businesses, yet we're doing half of the revenue. What has Donald Trump also done to hurt black-owned businesses? What they did is they went back to actually creating the larger contracts, the large blocks of contracts, meaning if you were a smaller black-owned business, you can compete for those contracts. Under the Obama administration, they were able to break those up. That was something that Maynard Jackson understood. Maynard Jackson did the exact same thing, breaking up the size of those contracts because he understood that black businesses were not able
Starting point is 01:02:28 to compete for those contracts. We will not be able to move forward in the future of this country if we are continually locked out of the economic success of this country. That's why we've got to ensure to put pressure on our political leaders, to support members of the Congressional Black Caucus who stand with the National Minority Supply Development Council to make sure that we are at the table and we're getting our fair share. It's one thing to yell we need access. It's another thing to actually be able to get it. And so what I implore all of us to do is that when we're having these conversations, we are talking about ensuring that black owned businesses are being able to grow and thrive. Again, that's what Maynard Jackson did. That's what Coleman Young did in Detroit. That's what Marion Berry did in Washington, D.C. Yes,
Starting point is 01:03:17 times were different. Yes, you had the initial area of affirmative action. But the only way we're going to be able to grow and prosper is if we ensure that we are growing our businesses. And let me say the last thing, which is critically important, and that is black-owned businesses have also got to understand mergers and acquisitions. We cannot be living in our silos so focused on just having our own individual companies that we don't understand how we must also partner together and work together and collaborate to be able to grow and thrive. I've said this in media. There are too many black-owned businesses in media
Starting point is 01:03:52 that are operating in their own sort of scale out there who are not out there working with others. We can't live in silos. We must be able to collaborate to grow and build. Folks, it is one thing to say we need more black-owned businesses. What we really need is black-owned businesses with scale. What is the point of continuing to having black-owned businesses doing $54,000 and $55,000 and $60,000 a year when they can't hire anybody? No, what we need are black-owned businesses that are doing $5 million and $7 million and $10 million
Starting point is 01:04:28 and $50 million and $100 million and $250 million and half a million and a billion dollars. That's what we actually need. Some people, and I'm just going to end this way because I need you to understand this here. There were people who told me, why, man, when TV One canceled my show, man, you should go to MSNBC. You should go to CNN. Let me help y'all out. I told y'all that there are 2.6 million
Starting point is 01:04:55 black-owned businesses in America, and 2.5 million of them only have one employee. I have 12 employees. Let me repeat that. 12 employees. I told you that the average black-owned business right now does $54,000 in revenue. Last year, we did $700,000 in revenue. Now, do we need more? Of course we do. But see, if you don't start somewhere and actually build it and grow it, it will not be able to grow and thrive. I am employing black people with this show. In fact, there are more. I guarantee you there are more black people who work on my show than work on any show on broadcast or cable.
Starting point is 01:05:42 I would be shocked if you in terms of in terms of the number would be shocked in terms of the number of people, in terms of the percentage. I guarantee you that. What does that mean? Because when you create small businesses, 65% of America is a small business. They actually hire people in their communities where they actually are.
Starting point is 01:06:00 We have been frozen out of the process for far too long. That cannot continue in the future We must be about the business of business Which means we must demand our fair share I'm not interested in crumbs I'm interested in slices or the whole damn pie Folks, we appreciate all of you watching
Starting point is 01:06:24 Unfortunately, two of our guests have not arrived yet, but we've got to go ahead and shut this thing down. Let me also thank Conscious Thought for contributing to the show today. Don't forget, folks, all of you are watching on YouTube right now. It's nearly 2,000 of you. You can contribute to Roller Mark Unfiltered by giving right there on YouTube
Starting point is 01:06:39 or you can actually go to RollerMarkUnfiltered.com, join our Bring the Funk fan club, and that is every dollar you give goes to support this show. Tomorrow I'm going to be broadcasting back in the studio, but, folks, we're going to be on the road in the next three weeks broadcasting from Denver, from Atlanta, from all over the country because we are about telling our story, controlling our narrative.
Starting point is 01:07:02 And so, please, we need your support. You can pay via Cash App, you can pay via PayPal, controlling our narrative. And so please, we need your support. You can pay via Cash App. You can pay via PayPal or even Square. Every dollar you give goes to support this show, goes to support and grow a black business, goes to actually us being able to hire more people and more African-Americans to make this show possible. That's why we did it,
Starting point is 01:07:21 because we don't just talk about black empowerment. We actually do it. All right, folks, from MGM National here in MGM Grand Inn National Harbor, I'm Roland Martin. I'll see you guys tomorrow. Y'all have an absolutely great day. Holla! Thank you. This is an iHeart Podcast.

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