#RolandMartinUnfiltered - #Tulsa2021 Day 2.; Jan. 6 commission fails; Black woman phone ticket; Boo Hoo Karen meltdown

Episode Date: May 29, 2021

5.28.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Black Wall Street Memorial March; Tulsa 100-year commemoration continues; Tulsa Massacre documentary premieres this Sunday; Jan. 6 commission fails in the Senate; Meet Kathryn Garcia, the leading candidate in the New York City Mayoral Race; Black woman gets a talking "too loud" phone ticket; Crazy a$$ Boo Hoo Karen meltdownSupport #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered#RolandMartinUnfiltered is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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. Martin! Today is Friday, May 28, 2021. Coming up on Roland Martin on Field Trip, broadcasting live from Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the Greenwood District. Folks, people here are focused on the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre. Still racial differences here in Tulsa. The city commission angry that John Legend and Stacey Abrams have dropped out of the nationally televised celebration that was going to take place on Monday. They're blaming the activists here for demanding $50 million.

They say that is not true. You'll hear from Demario Simmons, the attorney for the survivors of the Tulsa race riot. We'll also talk with a number of folks here, including longtime Tulsa pastor, Bishop Carlton Pearson. Also, we'll talk with the pastor of Vernon AME, the church right here, where on that night, 100 years ago, black folks sought refuge from the folks who were murdering them. We'll talk also on today's show about Patrice Cullors stepping down as head of the Black Lives Matter organization. In addition to that, we'll also talk with one of the mayoral candidates for New York City. Folks, it's a jam-packed show. It is time to bring the funk on Rolling Mark Unfiltered live from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Let's go.

He's got it. Whatever the piss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling. 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. It's Rolling Martin. Rolling with rolling now. He's funky, he's fresh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah from the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where we are participating here in Black Wall Street Legacy Fest. And the event's taking place all weekend, culminating on Monday, which is the actual 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Just to our left over here is the Greenwood Cultural Center.

Also to our right behind us is Vernon AME, where African Americans who were seeking refuge from the white domestic terrorists 100 years ago, where they actually sought refuge. A number of different events going out here. You've got food trucks. You've got a legacy stage over there, a concert taking place. Well, a little bit later, John P. Key is going to be performing. And so we're going to be sharing that live with you here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. People are in a celebratory move, but they still are focused on demanding justice for the folks who have been impacted by this. Those survivors and the descendants of the African Americans who died 100 years ago in this area. Some 36 city blocks were completely decimated by white domestic terrorists, allowed to do so by the police.

Tulsa and Oklahoma has never provided a victim's compensation fund, and that is still being a huge controversy. We're going to talk about that in just a little second, but right now I want to talk to someone, long-time, very well known in Tulsa, Bishop Carlton Pearson. Bishop, step right on over here. Glad to see you. How you doing? Good to see you, man.

I'm good. Good to see you as well. Thanks for coming. Let's talk about this issue, what it means for this community, what does it mean in terms of this, yes, commemoration, I want to call it a celebration, as someone who has spent years here in Tulsa? Well, this is drama, what you see today.

But what we're dealing with is trauma, PTSD. We've been traumatized as a culture. A hundred years ago today, the buildings, we saw smoke and bloodied bodies. Over 300, we're still finding them, unmarked graves. That same deadly negative spirit that kept it a secret for a hundred years. It was a conspiracy of silence of how that could happen. I have relatives that moved away from Oklahoma when this thing happened in 1921, moved out to California where I was born. But that same deadly negative

energy, we saw it on January 6th of domestic white, angry, mob-minded racists, many of them hiding behind their Bibles and in their churches in this city. This is the buckle of the Bible belt. It should have happened here, but it's continuing in spirit in so many ways. There's a lot of non-black people who love us, care, and who are with us. But that same undergirding, lying spirit is still alive, and we have to not only confront it, but combat it. One of the things that we keep hearing from folks here, and that is they want to ensure that the people here are getting the economic compensation that they say they deserve. This was an area that was black-owned. There were black restaurants.

There were black hotels. There were numerous black businesses. There were all types of homes, fine homes here as well. And so here you have the city building a museum. They're going to open it, a $20 million facility, $30 million facility on Wednesday. And what you're still dealing with is the fact that Tulsa and the state of Oklahoma still refuses to provide resources, direct resources to the descendants and the survivors. And I keep saying, the federal government set up billions of dollars for a 9-11 victim compensation fund. Yeah, yeah.

Nothing for the people here, and you have actual survivors who are still with us. Alive, yes. Well, they did something for the Japanese. They did something for the Native Americans. They've ignored African Americans. Just the insurance. Most of these buildings were insured. And the insurance companies refused to pay.

They refused. If we, you don't just repay, you repair and you replace. Everybody's only thinking about money. We need to build this whole street back up with black owned and operated businesses that the government, first of this local city, this state, and of our federal government, we're building up billions of dollars right now. Why not this? This is the worst race massacre in American history. The only race ride where the Air Force, somebody so powerful in Tulsa, they could call the Air Force. That's never happened before.

It may never happen again. But it happened here in Tulsa, and they kept it quiet. The scripture refers to spiritual wickedness in high places. I say high and hidden places. There's the mystery or the missed story of iniquity. Right here in Tulsa, a Bible town. I've lived here 50 years. I preach the gospel.

I believe the gospel. But we have Christians that are anti this. You won't find a lot of white Christians coming to this. I'm very disappointed with that. I held the Azusa conference. I'm picking up Bishop William Barber. He's flying in. Reverend Jesse Jackson will be in tomorrow. We're going to confront these issues. I was on the phone with Stevie Wonder yesterday. We must confront this thing with dignity, with class, but with forcefulness and make a difference. We can repair, repay, and replace. For a long time, you were one of the most sought after,

powerful voices. White conservative evangelicals love to call you, love to hang out with you, love to ask you to sing and preach and appear on TV and others. And to your point, where are these white preachers? Where are these? And not just those in Tulsa. All around the country. Where's Franklin Graham? Yeah. Where's Ralph Reed? Yeah.

Where's Robert Jefferson? Yeah. Where's Paula White? Right. Where are all of these folks who spent all this time talking when Trump was president and, again, talking about Jesus and talking about forgiveness and talking about all these different things, silent and absent. And silence is violence.

I said to a lot of these preachers, especially those that have large or consistent African-American congregants, they can't even say black lives matter. They can say black tithes matter. I think a lot of the white evangelicals have gotten King James mixed up with King Jesus. King James, 16th century English said, go and preach the gospel to the creatures. Now, when you say creatures in English, you're not talking about human beings. Usually they said creatures,

they think we're creatures. We're just a little bit above animals, Asians, Africans, Indians, that racism. And it's the Southern Baptist Convention. There's a lot of Southern Baptist churches that are still pro-slavery to this day, pro Jim Crow. They hate what we're doing. They love Jesus and hate us. I'm as broken-hearted as William Seymour was when he died penniless after the Great Azusa Revival because I've worked and walked with white people in this city and in this country for years. I'm stunned, Roland. I'm shocked.

See, I'm not. And the reason I'm not shocked and stunned is because whiteness is not defined by a D or an R. It's not liberal or conservative. It's whiteness. And what has to happen, I believe, D or an R. It's not liberal or conservative. It's whiteness. And what has to happen, I believe, is that we also must be willing, and I got it, and love, how you want to call it, to go to them and challenge them directly. You're talking about Reverend Dr. Barber, Jerry Falwell Jr., and so many others.

They would not. They wouldn't even debate him. I know. And Jim Wallace and others. And my deal is this is where we got to be willing to say, fine, we're going to take it to you. We're going to come to you. And I dare say, imagine if a couple of hundred walked into First Baptist Church.

Imagine if walked into Robert Jeffress Church at First Baptist in Dallas and say, no, no, no, no. We won't talk to you after service. Yes, sir. See, I just think that there's no other way to deal with them because they're going to keep playing the games. Well, these are the people, it's called slave trade, but these are the people, Christians mostly. You couldn't be a member of the Ku Klux Klan unless you believe in Jesus. They say we're, we say they're burning the cross. They say, no, we're lighting the cross. These people are mentally ill.

Racism is a form of mental illness, in my opinion. When it's to this degree, it's not acceptable. I tolerated it. I put up with stuff, Roland, for many years, trying to make peace. I've changed. I'm not in that mode anymore. I want to confront it. I want to say until you people change, we're going to keep in your face.

Dr. Graham, Billy Graham, I had a long day with him when he came here for the Oklahoma bombing. He said, I was busy trying to convince people. Watch this. He said, I preached the gospel in this world for 50 years, son. And I think the world is worse than it was when I started. I'm not, he said that to me. I'm not sure how effective my ministry has been. He said, I was busy trying to convince people or convert people I hadn't convinced. I said convinced of what sir? He said that God loved them You believe God loves all of us. Yes, sir. I do and he's from North Carolina, right? He was born around racism. We talked about this. He changed his mind. Franklin doesn't say that

Oh God, oh, no, no, I think I have the same spirit Well, it is abundantly clear that the teachings of Billy Graham had no impact on his son. No. Franklin's busy serving the white, rich fundamentalists. And I know these people. I work with them, so I don't want to sound racist, but I'm a little bit upset right now. They're backing him. They're giving the money. That's right. And a lot of them are trying to pay black churches and black preachers to be quiet. Yep. They actually offered me money and backing and support if I would stay in the camp to keep the politics right so they could keep the black vote. I know what they're doing. And I'm out of the closet on that.

That's not going to work anymore. We're not going to play those games just to get money and support. They try to do that in the city of Tulsa, paying folks, making black people in this city by paying a little bit here, making everybody feel independent. They don't need the other. We don't have the unity that we need. There's too much division here because of that. And they've been doing that for 100 years or more. It's got to stop.

We're not dumb. We're not stupid. We're not unaware. In fact, we are newly awakened and it's going to change. All right. Bishop Garland Pils Pearson, we appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. Love you, big guy.

All right. Are you still in Chicago? No, no, I'm home. Oh, you're back here? My dad got sick. I came home six years ago. Okay. My 91-year-old mom is living with me now.

Okay. The last time I saw you, you were in Chicago. Absolutely. You were there, too. I know. I'm now in D.C. All right. It's good seeing you, Doc.

I love you, man. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thanks. All right, buddy. Y'all, that was Bishop Carlton Pearson. Certainly great talking with him again. This is somebody who was a darling of the white conservative evangelical movement. He knows exactly how they operate. And so some strong, powerful words from him. The History Channel. They're going to be actually airing on Sunday a documentary on the Tulsa Massacre. Stanley Nelson is the documentarian. He joins us right now on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Stanley, always glad to have you here. Always good.

I can barely, okay folks, Stanley, just keep talking. i want to make sure i can hear you uh yeah i mean it's great to be here it's great to uh make this film i'm really honored to make the film hopefully you can hear me yep i can't hear you uh stanley you've done a lot of different a lot of documentaries uh we've had you on the show before uh but but one here, you know, for the History Channel, really bringing to light one of theAmericans, single act in the history of this country after enslavement. Between 100 and 300 African-Americans were killed, and over 100 people were probably buried in mass unmarked brains.

Looks like, so Stanley, look, we always learn something interesting and new when these things sort of happen. What jumped out at you when you were doing the research on this? What was the moment for you where you said, I cannot believe what I'm seeing? Well, you know, just the massacre and the organized way that it was done. But even before that, one of the most amazing things is that, can you hear me? Yes, I can hear you. One of the most amazing things is the very formation

of Greenwood and of Tulsa. The fact that African Americans right after took their freedom and headed west in covered wagons on foot, on horseback, and to find their own communities where they wanted to live lives of prosperity and peace. And they found that in Tulsa and built this incredible community of Greenwood that was called the Black Wall Street because it was so powerful. And there were so many affluent African-Americans there, you know, with movie theaters, skating rings,

doctors, lawyers, grocery stores, barbershops, the whole thing in a very self-contained community that was destroyed because of white folks' jealousy in a 24-hour period. And that point you just made there, jealousy, that was the thing that Ida B. Wells Barnett talked about when African-Americans were being lynched. The violence that was committed against black folks was because white folks said, damn, how dare these Negroes build institutions and achieve economic power even when we are oppressing them? They were even angry that we did so without them. Yeah. Yep. And, you know, the dollar stayed in Greenwood so that a dollar earned outside of Greenwood by an African-American came into the Greenwood community and stayed there. Right. And didn't get spent back with white folks.

And that set white people crazy. I also think that one of the things that happened was that they were about to lynch a young man. A young African-American man was about to be lynched. And black folks went down to the courthouse, to the jail with their guns because they were talking about Oklahoma in 1921. So they had guns, African-Americans had guns and said, no, you cannot just lynch this guy.

And I think that was another thing that set white people crazy, was the fact that African-Americans organized to defend themselves. And that was the inciting incident that touched off this mass riot, where not only were people shot and killed, but the whole community was burnt to the ground. You know, and we're talking about 35, 40 square blocks of a community that was totally devastated. They actually dropped bombs on Greenwood, you know, and deputized the mob and gave them rifles to go kill people. Here is a clip of the documentary on the Tulsa massacre that will air on the History Channel on Sunday from Stanley Nelson.

Folks, watch this. The story of the Tulsa massacre was actively suppressed. Tulsa was the best place for African Americans. People referred to it as Black Wall Street. The Tribune published a story titled Nab Negro for Attacking Girl in an Elevator. It was a false narrative to reinforce white supremacy. At that point, this wall of white people

firing into homes. Bombs dropping from the air. It was just an all-out massacre. Not one of those men who participated in the race massacre were ever brought to justice. The reason we understand the history of the massacre is that certain survivors decided to talk about it. We need to do something about what happened in Tulsa.

There cannot be any justice till there is proper respect, restitution, and repair. Stanley, what jumps out there, Stanley, is the fact that not one person brought to justice for this massacre that took place 100 years ago? Not one person was brought to justice. Nobody was paid out a penny of insurance money. There was never an apology, never any restitution. In fact, the news, the white newspapers in Tulsa did not carry anything about the riot for 50 years. It was not taught in schools. It was not taught in colleges.

So it was people's lives were lost. People's fortunes were wiped out. And news of that was totally obliterated from all the history books. All right. Stanley Nelson. The documentary airs 8 p.m. 7 p.m central monday on the history channel uh i look forward to checking it out my man thank you so much i'll be in tulsa starting tomorrow hope to see you then all right we'll see you here we'll be here till wednesday so

absolutely uh stanley nelson we certainly appreciate, y'all. Thank you so very much. Folks, it is, again, when we talk about what is going on here. So, again, I just want to set the scene for you. So the deal here, so, Anthony, just take a shot down here. And so, folks, what's happening is this here. The street that we're on right here is actually the Greenwood Street. And so the march that we live streamed earlier, it took place in the other direction.

But down this street here, of course, they have a stage at the other end. That's the freeway we were talking about yesterday that split this community. That split this community. And so that's what that particular freeway is. And so you've got stuff happening there. The music that you actually hear is coming from the Black Wall Street Legacy Fest stage, which is on my right. That's taking place over there. And so we got that happening. And so all these different things are happening. People have been coming up here. You've got your vendors as well. Then, of course, you've got all these things that are

happening here. And so people are going to be here. Folks are coming in, dignitaries and others are coming in, civil rights folks, politicians. I talked to Congresswoman Maxine Waters, and she told me that she is going to be arriving here tomorrow. Other members of Congress are going to be here as well. President Joe Biden is going to be here. President Joe Biden is going to be here on Tuesday meeting with the survivors. And he's going to actually be also, I understand, sharing a few words. And so that's what's going to be happening here. And so, folks, a lot of different things happening here. Again, there are people here who are happy to see folks care about Tulsa, care about Greenwood, care about Black Wall Street. Earlier, they had various panels. I

moderated one of those panels. If you go to our YouTube channel, you actually see that live stream, and so you can actually check that out. And so, you know, the thing that people want all of you watching and paying attention to, they want you to understand that your voice absolutely matters, that your voice is critically important because they don't want to be forgotten. They want to actually restore what took place. One of the places that black folks sought refuge 100 years ago was this church right here. This is Vernon AME. It was in this church basement right here. We'll get this church right here. This is Vernon A.M.E. It was in this church basement right here. We'll get a shot right here. Let's go to this camera right here, folks.

Stay right. Let's go to the other camera. This is Vernon A.M.E. right here. And as this at this church, in this church basement where African-Americans guys wrong shot. Come on. They were in this particular basement here when those white domestic terrorists were descending on Greenwood, pillaging this area, killing people, beating them. I told you the story of Tim Madigan, a writer with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, who wrote his book, and he said he was just shocked to read about elderly black couples on their knees praying and white moths putting guns to the back of their heads and blowing their brains out. Those were some of the stories that actually took place. And like so many other places across the country, during the days of Jim Crow, the black church

certainly was a refuge for African Americans. Pastor Robert Turner is now the senior pastor of Vernon AME. He joins us right now. And so certainly glad to chat with you, Pastor. How are you doing? Well, how about you? Doing great. So I got to ask you, first and foremost, you know, share with the audience what this church has meant for this community since its inception. This church, Historic Vernon Emmy Church, and first of all, good to be on your show.

I love your show. I watch it all the time. But this church is considered to be the grandmother of Greenwood. We are the oldest continuous landowner in the entire Greenwood district, and we've been here at this location since 1908. And during the race massacre of 1921, our superstructure was destroyed, but miraculously our basement survived. And after the massacre, we rebuilt our sanctuary

and we still worship in the same one of folks who rebuilt the entire Greenwood community. And today she still stands as a remnant of what was once here throughout the whole area. And we were talking earlier, share with folks again, in terms of what happened on May 31st, on the early morning hours of June 1st, the role that this church played in being a safe haven for those who were trying to escape these white domestic terrorists. Yeah, so during the massacre, when they destroyed over 1,256 homes and 600 businesses and 300 people killed and 10,000 folks made homeless in less than 18 hours, the first time bombs dropped

on American soil, people sought refuge in the basement of our church. They came and they huddled up in our basement in the room that was not burned, and we still have that room today, and it's called our refuge room. And since then, once we rebuilt, our church was utilized by the local high school because that principal was a member here at our church, and we have been a place of refuge and safety for our entire community ever since. After COVID-19, we had a feeding program ministry that we just started on March 18th, and we've been feeding people every day ever since, and we just surpassed 370,000 meals out of our church doors, one of the few places in the whole state that have not closed since COVID-19. There continues to be a lot of tension

here in Tulsa between the black community and the white community. Whites make up 62 percent of this city, African-Americans 15 percent. And this city and this state, of course, they created the commission in 2001, but they refused to deal with the economic aspect. In many ways, that mirrors what this nation has always done, and that is it wants to deal with everything but the economics. And talking to the only black city council member yesterday, she said that she's tired of trees being dedicated, benches being dedicated. She said if we don't deal with the money, then there's no real conversation. And so from your perspective, where does this city stand? And I keep hearing people who say, until that happens, we are not going to stop. Yeah, I agree.

And I think that what we need from our city is some legislation and some ordinance passed. We have not had anything as far as reparations since the massacre, right? And it is past time that we stop, you know, just saying apologies, and we start having some advocacy and action behind that. And we have, I think right now, people in office that are willing to do that. We just need them to exercise that courage and to vote for reparations. And we need our mayor to sign off on that as well. And not just even locally.

I'm a part of National African American Reparations Commission, so I support H.R. 40. And I'm a huge proponent of that. This nation has yet to repair the home from her original sin, which is racism. But you also have though, uh, folks within the black community where you have a lot of disagreement where you have dissension. Uh, there are some who say, uh, they are in full support of the museum that the city has built. They'll dedicate on Wednesday.

The other African Americans say they will not step foot in that museum. There are others who say some black folks have sold the community out. Some folks are standing with them. And so how are y'all dealing with that as well? Because, I mean, look, if you have internal dissension and black folks fighting one another, then you do not have a unified front in trying to fight a majority white city like Tulsa. That's right, and that is problematic. I'm one that believes we can walk in true government at the same time.

We can honor history and advocate for justice for history at the same time. For an example, when we had the Smithsonian African American Museum placed in D.C., as beautiful as it is, nobody was saying that that money should be used for reparations. It was used for the museum, and we should have that. I think history is important. When the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity chose to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, nobody said, well, that should just be for reparations.

No, we need to honor Dr. King for what he has done. And so we can do both. We can honor our history and advocate for justice for our history at the same time. And I think that the more people that know about our history, to me, that is a way of evangelizing about the need for repair from our history. But should the city also be mindful of, in essence, marketing this? And what I mean by this, and I said this yesterday and I said it on the panel today, black pain was created 100 years ago by the city now wanting to profit off of black pain. It's now black porn. And so it's problematic to me for them to

now promote tourism, to come to Tulsa, to come see the museum, to experience all of this and telling the story. They've traveled to Alabama and visited those places, Birmingham and Montgomery, where they've also marketed

civil rights as well. But when you have, so you're making money. So hotels will make money. Restaurants will make money. Limousine companies, tour buses will make money. But this community not getting any of that money. That's right. You get no argument from me.

I vehemently agree that we, if this city is going to do right by the taxpayer dollars of black folks, not just today, but in 1921, the folks who had their houses burned down and the fire department didn't put out one fire, they paid taxes to the same fire department that watched their houses burn. They paid taxes to the same police department that didn't make not one arrest. We still pay taxes to support our district attorney's office that has yet to investigate the worst crime in our cities, in our state's history. And so I absolutely agree that black people have been paying taxes in the government and in the country that has yet to given us full benefits of our tax dollars. All right, then. What do you hope happens for for for Wall Street Black Legacy Fest? Their events end Monday, March 31st,

news conference on Tuesday. What do you hope happens June 2nd? I hope that, to go back to your original point, I hope that when people come here, even for the Legacy Fest, people come here for the museum opening, I hope when they come here that they realize this is not just a

tourist site. This is not Disneyland. This is still the largest crime scene in America that has never been investigated. So the ground that people are walking on, people are buying clothes and eating food and dancing to music right now. Blood is right here. And I'm reminded of the story in the Bible where after Cain killed Abel, God came and met them, met Cain, and said, the blood of your brother cries out to me from the ground. And the blood of the people who were killed right here on Greenwood is still crying out. So as folks are enjoying themselves,

I hope they realize that all of this is sacred ground and it's been made sacred by the blood of the martyrs. So when they come here all of this is sacred ground and it's been made sacred by the blood of the martyrs. So when they come here, realize this is sacred ground and behave themselves in accordance. And on June 2nd, I'm going to be still here protesting. I go out to City Hall every week, going to City Hall with my Bible and bullhorn, demanding that this city repent and repair for what she did. Recognize the harm, confess the sin of racism and white supremacy, and repent from it and repair of it.

And not just tomorrow, not next week, not next year, but now. Reparations now. All right, Pastor Turner, we appreciate it. You sound like an alpha man right there. No, please. I just want to let you know. I just want to let you know. I just want to let you know.

You sound like an alpha there. You're all right for an alpha, by the way. I'm just saying. I'm just saying. You know, that's just what you sound like an alpha man right there. Oh, please. I just want to let you know. I just want to let you know. I just want to let you know. You sound like an alpha there. You're all right for an alpha, by the way. I'm just saying. I'm just saying. You know, that's just what you sound like. So, you know, you know when you emphasize the alpha before kappa inside? Well, you know, I got a good kappa man preaching for me on Tuesday night. Who's that?

Jamal Bryant. Yeah, he all right. He coming. He coming. I think I got some alphas coming, too. Matthew Wattland. Yeah, you do. He's old as most.

I guess he is. Oh, my. And his daddy. Oh, my goodness. Yeah, don't get it twisted. Oh, too. Matthew Watt-Lynn. Yeah, you do. He's old as most. I guess he is. Oh, my. And his daddy. Oh, my goodness. Yeah, don't get it twisted. Oh, my. Yeah. Uh-huh.

You might have security, but don't get cut. All right. Pastor, I appreciate it. Thanks so much. I love your show, man. Keep up the great work. I appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you very much. All right. All right. The pastor there, Vernon A.M.E., certainly glad to have him, Pastor Robert Turner. I want to go to my panel right now. They've been patiently waiting. I certainly appreciate them patiently waiting. Mustafa Santiago Ali, former senior advisor for the Environmental EPA.

Glad to have Mustafa on today's show. Michael M. Hotep joins us, host of the African History Network show. Brittany Lee Lewis, she is a political analyst. Michael, I'll start with you. The point that Pastor made right there, that this is sacred ground. I look at how America treats the World Trade Center grounds. I look at how America responds every year to the anniversary of 9-11. I look at how America created a 9-11 victims' compensation fund. I look at how this nation still every year, this national, if you will, this national memorial that takes place, you do not have the same energy

when it comes to black folks when you think about this massacre but it's not just this massacre uh you had more than 20 other cities that had massacres where black people were killed communities uh pillaged and destroyed as a result of white supremacy and white domestic terrorists well ro, Roland, you know, first of all, brother, thanks for the work that you're doing down there on the ground in Tulsa, number one. Number two, you know, brother, what this show right here, man, is so important because so many jewels have been dropped. So let me just try to capsulize it like this. The way that America, white America, and especially white people in Tulsa, are treating this 100th commemoration of the Tulsa race massacre that they suppressed the

history of for years because they did not want to admit what happened. This is the way African Americans are treated, period, in this country for the most part. I mean, wasn't it Donald Trump who thought he invented Juneteenth? Wasn't it Donald Trump who thought he invented Juneteenth? And we've been celebrating Juneteenth going back to, you know, the year after it happened, 1866. You have right now, Governor Kevin Stitt, the governor of Oklahoma, he just signed a bill that bans the teaching of critical race theory in Oklahoma because they don't want to teach about systemic racism and real history in Oklahoma because you're going to let the cat out the bag, okay? When you talk about the 20 towns, the race riots that take place, things like this. You had 25 racial explosions in 1919 alone.

It's called the Red Summer. The Red Summer is tied into 1921 Tulsa, because that's right after World War I ends. And a lot of these white men came back home. They could not find jobs. And African-Americans filled a lot of those jobs that white men came back home. They could not find jobs. And African Americans filled a lot of those jobs that white men left behind and immigrants. So you had 25 racial explosions across this country. The racial massacre in 1921 is

a continuation of that, and it was instigated by the Ku Klux Klan. Okay? So you have to understand the chronology of this history. It's a deep history in Tulsa, which also, lastly, and I'm going to shut up, but it ties into also the Indian Removal Act of 1830, signed by President Andrew Jackson, which pushed the Choctaw, Chickasaw Creek, and Cherokee Seminole Indians off their land in the southeast United States. They go over 1,000 miles into Oklahoma, what's known as the Trail of Tears.

Oklahoma is U.S. territory at that time. They take their African slaves with them because all five, what are known as the five civilized tribes of Native Americans, they all own African slaves. Tulsa, Oklahoma was founded by Creek Indians around 1834. Tulsa comes from the Creek Indian word, T Tulasi. A lot of the early landowners, black landowners in Tulsa, they got land from what's known as the Black Freedmen Indian Treaties of 1866. It's a deep history there, but we have to teach this history, and this history has to be taught in every school across the country. What you saw January 6th, that insurrection, that's a continuation of the

insurrection, the destruction that took place in 1921. We can't let that happen again. This history has to be taught. Absolutely. Brittany, when we think about what's going on here, let's talk politics. Senator John Lainford, who was a member of the Tulsa Massacre Centennial Commission, resigned from the commission. He felt the commission has gotten too partisan because he voted along with the folks not to certify the election on January 6th. Black folks here said, you've got to get the hell off this commission. This is the same state where the governor just signed a bill proclaiming a highway in this state named after Donald Trump. And so even though we are here in Tulsa, even though we are here in Greenwood, even though we are here talking about black success, even though we are here in Greenwood talking about black African-Americans want to rebuild Wall

Street, this is still a deeply red state. Yeah, absolutely, Roland. And it's so interesting, something that really stuck out from the last interview that you had that just really didn't sit with me right is thinking about black folks, you know, having paid taxes and continue to pay taxes to a city that refuses us to give the full benefits of our tax dollars. And until we get those reparations, those apologies, those acknowledgements, those benches, those trees, really, quite frankly, amount to very little. And I just hope, I pray, that the state of Oklahoma and the U.S. government do the right thing and provide reparations. I mean, you know, we talked about it.

You've been talking about it. It's mass murder. It's arson. It's looting. It's 10,000 left homeless, you know, 40 blocks obliterated. There needs to be justice. And I do want to take a moment to just thank God for the survivors and their determination to tell the story both then and now, because we know that the Tulsa Tribune refused to write anything about this massacre for more than 50 years. And the only reason why we understand the history of the massacre is because of these survivors that decided to talk about this and never forget, even as they and we know they faced intimidation and were told to remain silent. So I'm grateful with them. And I just really pray that the government does right by us.

I mean, I'm not holding my breath. I'm not holding my breath. But I pray that they do right by these survivors in our community. But, Mustafa, they're not going to do right until they are forced to do right. Exactly. I mean, you knew Greenwood was going to be powerful. It was founded in 1906. And then, you know, for 15 years, what happened in 1921? So how do we make sure that we hold our federal government accountable? Because we know that the

state is not going to do the right thing. So President Joe Biden is going to be there. So he should also, in those remarks, be sharing about those federal resources that they are going to utilize to revitalize the Greenwood community. He has the ability to actually redirect federal funds, to make sure that housing dollars are going there, to make sure the transportation dollars are going there, to make sure that we...

make sure that they have the right types of healthcare facilities in place, to make sure that there are the job programs, the right types of health care facilities in place, to make sure that they're the job programs so that we are building wealth once again inside. And we can actually redirect those dollars around the state if the state doesn't want to do the right thing. But you can build accountability into that process to make sure that real restitution and reparations makes it to the areas that need them the most. So if we want to really talk about addressing systemic racism, then we got to make sure that we are also building the wealth inside these communities so that they stay strong enough

that even if they are in a state that you may label as red, that they can continue to thrive. They've already had to deal with the survival aspect. We need to move them from surviving to thriving. Folks, there still is controversy here. We told you yesterday that Stacey Abrams and John Legend, the event featuring them on Monday has been canceled. On Monday, they planned a nationally televised event that would feature Stacey Abrams and other speakers, and there will be entertainment from John Legend. Well, that event was canceled. Abrams and other speakers, and there would be entertainment from John Legend.

Well, that event was canceled. The city of Tulsa, they released a number of statements where they were critical of the lawyers for the Tulsa survivors, saying that they made unreasonable demands at the last hour, demanding a $50 million fund be set up. They said that is simply not true. Earlier today, when we covered this morning's march from Carver Middle School all the way down to the Greenwood Cultural Center, I talked with Attorney Demario Simmons, who talked about what the city has been saying,

blaming them for the event. He says, it's not us, but they still haven't done right by the folks, by the black folks here in Tulsa. Here's that conversation. Hey, what's up? Attorney Gamario Solomon Simmons, Justice for Greenwood Foundation. We're out here honoring our ancestors, our three living survivors, descendants, and the people here in Tulsa who have been oppressed for 100 years. Here in Greenwood, the most prosperous black community ever was destroyed, 40 blocks decimated, hundreds of people killed, tens of millions of dollars of destruction.

And in 100 years, not one penny has been paid, not one person has been arrested. The city will not even admit their guilt. But today, it comes due. That is what we're here for. Justice for Greenwood Foundation. Support us at justiceforgreenwood.org. Thank you, Roland. We love you.

Thank you for being out here supporting us, bro. Tell us about, so the city released this statement about John Legend, Stacey Abrams, and they claimed that y'all had an agreement on what? Yeah, well, first of all, we've been trying to meet with the city and the commission for months, and they would not meet with us. And then at the 11th hour,

they said they wanted to sit down, and we said, fine. And we gave them a list of seven requests to make sure that the $30 million that they raised, that some of that went to these three living survivors in our community. And they didn't want to do that. We had no agreement.

We also asked perhaps... So again, they claimed there was. There was no agreement. Absolutely no agreement. And they continue their level of deception and deceit that has been part and parcel with the city and the commission from its inception. And so for the people who don't understand, you have these sort of parallel events.

What y'all are doing, what the city commission is doing, and y'all have made it clear that this is about the community. That's right. We're all about the community, Roland. It's all about the free living survivors. It's all about the people that suffered the harm. It's all about reparations and justice. Where for the city and the commission, it was about making money. That's their own words, cultural tourism. And they were not about trying to do reparative justice. They were not trying to put their people first. That's why they weren't even given one penny of the $30 million.

They were not going to give back to any of the community. And so what's next? What do you want folks who are watching to understand what they should be doing, what they should be saying? Absolutely. They should be saying justice for Greenwood. They should be going to our website, justiceforgreenwood.org, signing up to support our survivors, donating to our cause, because we're trying to seek financial compensation, accountability, and making sure the stories of these descendants are known. We have descendants throughout the world. We call it the Greenwood diaspora.

But what people don't realize is that 10,000 people became refugees, and they were spread out across the country. Absolutely. 10,000 people at any time, Roland. There may be 15,000 to 20,000 people in Greenwood. Greenwood was the city for all the black towns around Oklahoma. Greenwood was the crown jewel. And these people lost everything and were dispersed to Kansas City,

Dallas, Oklahoma City, New York, Baltimore, California, everywhere. And we're trying to capture those stories and get resources to those people. All right, then give us the website. www.justiceforgreenwood.org. That's justiceforgreenwood.org. Roland, we always appreciate you. I appreciate you. Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told our way and we cannot be silent.

Support Roland Martin. Get down with the Bring the Funk fan club. I appreciate it. I am a proud member. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it. I appreciate it.

Let's go to my panel here. I want to start with you, Brittany, on the point you just heard there. So here we are, and the city is trying to save face. They're now trying to blame them when DeMario actually released a letter that showed that they did. They requested $1 million going to each one of the survivors, and then they also requested a fund. But at no point did they say, you have to do this or we will not have the survivors show up. And so the city is trying to blame Justice for Greenwood for their big event being canceled on Monday. They really wanted this nationally televised event. But the people here say, show us the money. But so you still have the game still being played here in Tulsa.

Wow. I mean, everything is just really coming full circle. And it just goes to show you, Roland, that literally nothing has changed, right? It's the changing same. It's unfortunate and it's embarrassing that they don't actually care, even a hundred years later, about the survivors, right? And to care about the survivors is, again, it's not just about, oh, we recognize them, we're sorry. It's about putting money in their hands. It's about so much more than that. So, I mean, I wish I could say I'm surprised, Roland, but I'm not. The thing here, Mustafa, again, you've had these competing events, the City Commission, Tulsa 2021.org. They've been having events for several weeks. I mean, they were trying to have this huge event take place on Monday.

President Joe Biden coming in Tuesday. Then on Wednesday, unveiling the Greenwood Rising Memorial. But even that, they're labeling that museum Greenwood Rising. But who's rising? Well, you know, we still got these folks and we got them right there in Tulsa who continue to want to pimp people's pain. I'll say it again, pimping people's pain and making money, as was said before, off of the trauma. If you really want to help someone to be able to move forward, to heal, then you make sure you do the right things. You make sure that the resources go to the community. You make sure that

decision-making is happening in collaboration with the community. And you make sure that you also call out the injustices that you were a part of. They've made huge amounts of money from 1921 on out for this community. So it's time for them to make the change. And if not, people should call it out. People should be making phone calls and sending emails and letting them know, all the folks across the country, what your expectations are of how you are going to better support this community and how you're going to make them whole. Michael. Brother, you know, they should call that exhibit getting over on Greenwood. That's what they

should call it, because that's exactly what they're doing. Personally, I don't think, see, from my understanding, the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial commemoration is controlled by white people and Republicans. That's my understanding of this, okay? I don't think they wanted the survivors there in the first place, because if you have the survivors there, then the survivor is going to talk, okay? And is really going to expose what's taking place. So then you have a contrast, okay? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, Michael. No, Michael. They want them there because they want they want the picture. They want the visual. They want the photo op. They want the photo op.

Like Trump wanted photo ops with black people. Right. Yeah. They want the photo op. Right. So when Mother Fletcher testified in front of Congress, the House Judiciary Subcommittee, she talked about how $30 million has been raised, right, for this whole commemoration, and none of it is going to the survivors. So they still don't want to address the issue, still don't want to deal with any type of reparations. But it's not—I want to make this very clear. It's not just reparations to the three survivors. It's not just reparations to their descendants. It's to the entire Greenwood community because we rebuilt Greenwood after

the race massacre, but the expressways, the U.S. interstate highways come through and destroy it again in the 1970s. That's federal dollars that destroyed it the second time. Okay? So it's not just, you can't just get off paying reparations to three African Americans who are 100 years old, 106, and 107. It has to be to the entire Greenwood community. That's where the reparations have to go as well. All right, folks, got to go as well.

All right, folks, got to go to a break. We come back. We're going to have more from Tulsa and Greenwood. But coming up next, we're going to talk with one of the leading candidates who wants to be the next mayor of New York City. We'll be back on Roland Martin Unfiltered, broadcasting live from the Greenwood District in Tulsa. Back in a moment. Hello, I'm Nina Turner.

My grandmother used to say all you need in life are three bones. The wishbone to keep you dreaming, the jawbone to help you speak used to say, all you need in life are three bones. The wishbone to keep you dreaming, the jawbone to help you speak truth to power, and the backbone to keep you standing through it all. I'm running for Congress because you deserve a leader who will stand up fearlessly on your behalf. Together, we will deliver Medicare for all. Good jobs that pay a living wage, and bold justice reform. I'm Nina Turner, and I approve this message. When you study the music, you get black history by default. And so no other craft could carry as many words as rap music.

I try to intertwine that and make that create whatever I'm supposed to send out to the universe. A rapper, you know, for the longest period of time, has gone through phases. I love the word. I hate what it's become, you know, to this generation, the way they visualize it. Its narrative kind of like has gotten away and spun away from, I guess, the ascension of black people.

Black women have always been essential. So now how are you going to pay us like that? And it's not just the salary. I mean, there are a whole number of issues that have to support us as women. Yeah. That's what we deserve. We shouldn't have to support us as women. Yeah, that's what we deserve. We shouldn't have to beg anybody for that. I think that we are trying to do our best as a generation

to honor the fact that we didn't come here alone and we didn't come here by accident. I always say every generation has to define for itself what it means to move the needle forward. Black TV does matter, dang it. Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your boy, Jacob Lattimore, and you're now watching Roland Martin right now. Eeeeee! All right, folks, welcome back to Roller Martin Unfiltered here from the Greenwood District in Tulsa, where folks are commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre.

We've talked about public officials and why they matter, why it's important who is in office. Well, that's also the case in New York City. We've been talking to a number of mayoral candidates. Right now, we want to talk to Catherine Garcia, who is also running to be the next CEO of New York City. Glad to have you on Roller Martin Unfiltered. Catherine? I'm so thrilled to be with you this evening. First, I'm going be with you this evening. First, I'm going to ask you this here. I'd love for you to comment on what's happening here. Look, you want to be mayor of New York City.

If elected, what would you say to your Republican counterpart? What would you say to the mayor of Tulsa when the people here are saying you need to create a victim's compensation fund for this community and not have the city be focusing on tourism dollars and being able to generate revenue. What would you say to him? The thing that I would say to him is you have to actually address what happened 100 years ago in a real way in partnership with communities? And if they are saying, I need you to still fund some of these things and make sure that this community is really taken care of, that's what you need to do. Your job when you're an elected official is to be listening to your electorate about what they need so that they can have a better life. Speaking of that, that's one of the things that folks in New York City have been saying. You're running to replace Bill de Blasio, the next mayor of New York City. And so what would you say to African-Americans there in New York City?

The largest New York City is the largest collection of black folks outside of Africa. What would you say to them as to why they should be voting for you to be mayor of New York? And my brother is one of those members of the African-American community because I was adopted, as was he. What I would say is I am about delivering for communities. I'm about making sure that this is a more livable, more affordable city where everyone has economic opportunity in a very intentional way, and that we are making investments in community, whether or not that is free child care so that women who have taken such a hit in this pandemic can get back to work, whether or not that's affordable housing. New parks, taking care of the current ones in all

communities equally, making sure that there's education that is funded in the same way across the city. But the real piece of it is not only my vision for New York of the future, but also the fact that I have a track record about getting it done. And so one of the things that is critically important that we've been talking about on this show with our segment, Where's Our Money,

is a lack of investment that goes to black firms. What will you do to ensure that African-Americans are receiving their fair share of the billions of dollars being spent on legal contracts, accounting contracts, investing money in black banks, ensuring the black-owned media in New York are getting city advertising contracts, really looking at race equity and how the billions of dollars being spent at City Hall go to a wide variety of people. And again, to ensure African-Americans in New York get their fair share. We have a 90 plus billion dollar budget.

I mean, we'll decide in June what next year looks like. And that means that we have to be doing investments in black businesses and particularly black women owned businesses. They really don't get a fair share of those contract dollars. But making sure that we're also helping them grow, helping them to go from small companies to big companies and continue to be profitable going forward. And the way that you do that is identifying the opportunity for them to participate and really challenging every single buyer in the city of New York about where their numbers are.

I wanna go to my panel, questions for Catherine Garcia, Brittany Lewis, I'll start with you. Yeah, so I would love to learn. Can you guys hear me? Awesome. I would love to learn a little bit more about your stance on policing. Do you believe in defunding the police? My feeling is that we have to have a police department that is keeping everyone safe, regardless of the color of their skin, we are going to have to deal with the fact that we have a very large uptick in gun violence, as well as in hate crime and subway violence. That means we need a police force that is working,

particularly around the investigative on the gun violence piece, and that we all feel safe, regardless of the color of our skin. But that means reform. You know, you get what you measure. If you are measuring community engagement, you get community engagement. If you measure arrest, that's what you get. And I know what good, transparent, tough discipline looks like. I've done it as a uniform manager. But we also need to make investments in things like cure violence, diversion programs from our criminal justice system, making sure people

have a home, not a shelter, but a home so that they can thrive. And then we're also dealing with the issues of food insecurity. Next question, Michael Imhotep. All right, Commissioner Garcia, thanks for coming on today. I know Roland mentioned some issues pertaining to the African-American community, but do you have an African-American agenda to address these issues? And if so, what are three or four top issues or top items on that African American agenda? And foremost is about education and making it so that four-year-olds no longer take a test and that we are giving gifted and talented resources in every single school, that we are expanding high schools and using admissions that look at your grade point average.

So if you're the best in any school, there are no bad schools out there. We want to make sure that you are getting the best education going forward. But it's also about investing in our small businesses and supporting them and supporting those entrepreneurs. We actually saw some decent data recently about new small black businesses in the city of New York. And you know what was driving it? The fact that people got stimulus checks. They had enough capital to get them over. And we can do that in the city of New York as well. Thank you. Mustafa, your question for Catherine Garcia. Commissioner, good to be with you. Have you given any thought to the addressing the environmental

injustices that still continue to happen in New York City? Asthma rates are about 10 percent across the city. We know that in African-American and Latinx areas that the rates are even higher, and we understand that when folks are dealing with that significant public health condition, that it extracts opportunities for education, folks being able to go to work, a number of other things. So how will you address the environmental injustices happening there in New York?

I am very aware of the environmental injustices that have gone on. You know, I banned number six fuel oil, particularly problematic in upper Manhattan and the South Bronx in our asthma belts. You can see the difference in the air quality. Also making sure that we had waste equity, that there weren't transfer stations in only poor brown and black neighborhoods and capping those permits. But it is also about creating a more livable city. And by that is, how do we green those neighborhoods, change that air quality, make sure that their housing stock

is safe? This is what changes the health of people on the ground. But I also have a robust agenda around ensuring that they have access to healthcare. All right, then. Well, Kathy Garcia, we certainly appreciate you joining us at Roland Martin unfiltered. Good luck. It's a lot of y'all running. And so it's going to be a tight race to the end. And also, New York, you have ranked choice, correct?

Ranked choice, yes. It's going to be a totally different race this year. So you get to pick your top five. Top five, got it. So I absolutely got it. Well, I got it well i appreciate it uh good luck all right then we'll see what happens next month thank you much great to be on thank you very much folks let's talk about what happened on capitol hill today where republicans uh filibuster the creation of a january 6 commission uh and uh falling six votes short

uh you had democrat christian cinema who didn't even show up for the vote i guess she figured it creation of a January 6th commission and falling six votes short. You had Democrat Kristen Sinema, who didn't even show up for the vote. I guess she figured it wasn't going to get 60, so why show up even though you're paid to show up? And it is clear, it is clear, Mustafa, that Republicans don't care about this country. Democracy is in order. And I would hope Joe Manchin now realizes all that talk about bipartisanship is all BS, because if they wouldn't vote for this, even when you had the mother and the wife of a Capitol Hill police officer who died, and they still voted against it, these people are scared to death of Donald Trump. And they don't want the truth to come out about how other Republicans were complicit in what took place on January 6th. No, I agree. I mean, it's completely hypocritical.

That's the only way to define the actions of the Senate Republicans today. And of course, as you said, there were a couple of Democrats, too, who get paid to show up and to vote and they didn't do it. So they need to also be held accountable for that. But it's interesting because the Republicans keep telling folks that, you know, you should just move on and don't worry as much about what happened on January the 6th. But yet they refuse to move on with the fact that Joe Biden actually won the election on November the 3rd. They really don't want folks to unpack and really have a deep dive into what's going on, even though we see hundreds of people have been arrested or charged at least and arrested for their participation in this.

As they begin to unpack and see if there were also some additional sets of actions and relationships by some of those folks who work up on Capitol Hill, it's going to get really interesting. And the other thing is they just don't want folks to continue to pay attention to this issue as they move toward the midterms, because then people are going to start to make better informed decisions about individuals who care about democracy and those who don't. You know, the thing that's crazy here, britney is you see what happens you see what happens uh when republicans don't care about the truth they will suck up to donald trump regardless of uh what i mean these people have no shame oh yeah i mean we knew that they had no shame when they when they ousted liz cheney i like, this is one of the most conservative people.

Like, she's part of a conservative dynasty, and you're going to let her go? I mean, they really completely bowed down to Donald Trump at this point. And, you know, I wish I could say I'm surprised, but I'm not. And it is also another reason why it's very clear that we need to abolish the racist filibuster, because we can't hold, you know, we can't hold the Republicans accountable. And moreover, we can't put forward more progressive legislation, which is deeply problematic. And it's clear, Roland, that the GOP just doesn't really give a damn about this country. They claim to be the party of law and order. They are not. It's really a shame what the Republican Party has essentially gone into, which is a party of chaos, conspiracy theories, lies. And as was mentioned earlier, the hypocrisy is just so blatant

because we all know what would happen if the people rushing the Capitol looked like us. It wouldn't even be a conversation. Oh, and that's why Michael, and I don't care what people say, if you are a Republican and you support Donald Trump and you're a MAGA person

and you believe the election was stolen, I want every single one of them to lose. I don't care what anybody says. In fact, Matthew Dowd basically tweeted. He said, there's only one party in America that cares about democracy. He said, no Republican who supports this should get supported from anybody. And so y'all can sit here and yell, holler, scream, oh, you saying vote Democrat. I'm saying right now, Republicans in America do not care about right and wrong.

They care about power. They care about electing evil people. I want all of them to lose. Exactly, exactly. It's not about the political parties, it's about the policies. But, I mean, you can vote independent. But we're talking about these traitors that refuse to vote,

that voted against having this commission after Republicans negotiated with Democrats. Including Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina. Yeah, including Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, who also voted against Kristen Clark heading up to the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. OK, so, you know, brother, we really have to pay attention to these votes that are taking place. You had 212 Republicans in the House of Representatives that voted against the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act

after crying about George Floyd and talking about how bad it was, what happened to him, things like this. They voted against that. You had no Republicans in the House or the Senate that voted for the American Rescue Plan, and now they're voting against it with the exception of six Republicans in the Senate, including Susan Collins,

six Republicans in the Senate voted for the commission. But now you have Republicans in the Senate voting against this commission, and these people tried to overthrow the government. Okay, January 6th. So this is an example of how elections have consequences and how dangerous this is. It's not about a political party. It's about policies. These traitors have to go. They violated that oath

to the Constitution. These traitors have to go because they're going to keep doing it. Indeed, Mustafa, they're not going to change. They're going to keep doing what they've always done. They do not care. They do not care. They are all about Donald Trump. They're all about what this man cares about. That's all they care about. And I keep telling people, you can't negotiate with terrorists. You can't negotiate with the people who have no shame. They all need to lose. And y'all can sit there all y'all want to. Y'all can sit there and talk about, oh, is that the other? I'm telling you, Pat Toomey is not running for re-election.

Democrats should take that seat in Pennsylvania. Burr is not running for re-election in North Carolina. Take that one. Ron Johnson in Wisconsin needs to be booted out of the United States Senate. Look, right now it's 50-50. There's no reason in the world Democrats next year do not have a 54-46 majority as what should happen

because these people are evil. And if they are willing to still fight for Donald Trump and they want that man to run in 2024, the hell with all of them, Mustafa. Well, you know, it's that old adage when someone shows you who they are, believe them. They've shown folks time and time and time again. Donald Trump showed folks for four years time and time and time again that he didn't particularly care about the majority of the country.

So if you know that, it's foolish. It's almost like walking down an alley, somebody punch you in the eye, and then you decide to walk down it every day for the next year and expect them not to punch you in the eye. We know what needs to be done. The Democrats need to do it because it's best for the country. And that means that you've got to get rid of the filibuster and you've got to get people motivated and interested in voting in the midterms in even larger numbers because we've seen all these actions, these Jim Crowish sets of actions to try to eliminate percentages of folks from being able to vote. So if you know all this stuff,

then you got to go ahead and do what you need to do in the moment so that you can protect the future. Absolutely. All right, folks, got to go to break. We come back. I asked the pastor what happens on June 1st, June 2nd. I'm going to talk to a man next who's going to talk about the uncovering of the mass graves. That's next. Roller Barton Unfiltered broadcasting live from the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma, site of the 100th Centennial Commemoration of the Tulsa massacre. We'll be back in a moment.

Racial injustice is a scourge on this nation, and the Black community has felt it for generations. We have an obligation to do something about it. Whether it's canceling student debt, increasing the minimum wage, or investing in Black-owned businesses, the Black community deserves so much better. I'm Nina Turner, and I'm running for Congress to do something about it.

When you study the music, you get Black history by default. And so no other craft could carry as many words as rap music. I try to intertwine that and make that create whatever I'm supposed to send out to the universe. A rapper, you know, for the longest period of time has gone through phases.

I love the word. I hate what it's become, you know, to this generation, the way they visualize it. Its narrative kind of like has gotten away and spun away from, I guess, the ascension of black people. -♪ Black women have always been essential. Mm-hmm.

So now how are you gonna pay us like that? And it's not just the salary. I mean, there are a whole number of issues that have to support us as women. Yeah, but that's what we deserve. We shouldn't have to beg anybody for that. I think that we are trying to do our best as a generation to honor the fact that we didn't come here alone

and we didn't come here by accident. I always say every generation has to define for itself what it means to move the needle forward. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm.

Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm.

Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. to sing the Waffle. All right, folks, welcome back to Roland Martin Unfiltered. This Black Wall Street Legacy Festival is taking place right now. In a few hours, John P. Key is going to be on the main stage. You hear the music. There's some acts performing right now.

Then, of course, you have some to be on the main stage. You hear the music. There's some acts performing right now. Then, of course, you have some local acts performing at the stage. That's much further down. So all these different things are happening here, all up and down this street here. But these events for them end on Monday, May 31st. There will be a news conference on June 1st. But something else will be happening on June 1st, and that is the beginning

of the process for dealing with the mass burials. Officially, they claim 37 people were killed 100 years ago. Other estimates put it at more than 300. Scientists believe that they have uncovered mass graves of African Americans who were simply dumped by these white domestic terrorists 100 years ago. Kevin Ross is actually working with the group that will be doing the analysis of that. He joins us right now. How's it going? Doing well.

How about yourself? Doing great. Welcome to Tulsa. I appreciate it. So first of all, tell folks your family history as it relates to this Tulsa massacre, this commission, this cultural center. Let's go right ahead.

Okay. Like I said, my name is Kevin Ross. My father is State Representative Don Ross, who not only created the Greenville Cultural Center, but he authored the bill that led to the creation of the State Commission that studied the Tulsa Race Route of 1921. Now his grandfather, Isaac Evett, owned the Zulu Lounge. That overpass that severed our community is where the footprints of that business. He was not able to repair, rebuild, reopen. He was part of the devastation. And basically, like other survivors

who I interviewed numerous times for the Race Riot Commission, recording their stories, who told their stories to the world before they left this world. Poignant times that gave me a sense of what happened to my people by their words or what they shared with all of us. And so it is that legacy of I'm so proud of, I'm only proud of our legacy as an entrepreneur spirit here in the Greenwood area, but I'm also tragically disappointed of the latest developments and our unwillingness to get the things that are owed our survivors,

owed to our families here in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tell us about the mass graves and what's going to be happening on June 1st. Yes. I am the chairman of the mass graves investigation. And on June 1st, and we picked a day specifically to go back in that grave where we had sat down, dug into the earth, eight feet into the ground, and we found these tombs, those coffins, side by side, stacked like you see in a case of dominoes. And I had to make it very sure that, are we sure these are the ones? And said, now only do we know that these are the ones we believe that underneath that set that we can see with our eyes, if we go

further, they yet might be more underneath that set. And so June 1st, we're going to get them. How did y'all arrive at that? How long did that take? What was the process? Because 20 years ago this was supposed to take place. Right. My understanding, the then mayor of Tulsa stopped it.

And others stopped it because they did not want the truth to come out. Basically, that was it because here we are, just like today. We've got the world media was all around us at that particular day. And Tulsa really wasn't ready. Even in the Race Riot Commission, those members were infighting. Then you had the Republican-led legislature that really didn't want to happen anyway. And so at the last minute, somebody calls, oh, I think my loved one is buried. That's the excuse that they gave. And then everybody else is blaming all kinds of things. The reason why they stopped at the last minute. And so at

that time, the legislature said, look, we're gonna come back and deal with the mass graves and deal with that later that we got to finish the final report. But they did not. They basically lied. And so that disbanded the commission that was established with the authority to go in there and bring them out of the ground at that time. And anybody forgot about it. But I did. I kept on doing my own investigation. And that's where we are here today.

And so on June 1st, that begins. Who are you working with? How many folks are going to be involved? Yes. And how long do you plan on going? I'm going to be involved? Yes. And how long do you plan on going? I'm going to be there every day, starting 7 o'clock in the morning. We also have members of our oversight committee made up of community activists, made up of senior citizens, made up of all folks from our community, as well as politicians, and, of course, the mayor of Tulsa being on that committee.

So what time are y'all starting on June 1st? 7 o'clock. 7 a.m. And where is the actual location, if you will? We are located right off the so-called historical Route 66, 11th and Peoria, at the Oaklawn Cemetery, which is just a stone's throw from downtown. It's like on the other side of the freeway. So that's where y'all will be on June 1st? June 1st.

Okay. Yeah. All right, then. It's time for us to make some new history. All right. Well, Kevin, we certainly appreciate that. Thank you. We probably, it's a good bet, we'll be joining y'all out there.

Please do. To mark that very important moment because there has to be closure. We got it. We got that. And that's one thing that's been haunting our city because of the fact that survivors talked about it. A lot of their loved ones they never saw ever again.

It was not just a case that they just ran away and never came back. There was too many stories of bodies being tossed, not just in Oak Lawn, but several spots around the city. And then we had, once we started talking about opening up the investigation, white folks come telling the story what they heard from their great-great-parents and telling that story that they've been keeping quiet because we're dealing with a situation called the conspiracy of silence. The white folks didn't want to talk about it because it made the city look bad. Black folks didn't want to talk about it because the same people who committed these atrocities were still around and was threatening another riot.

So everything just came hush-hush, and it kept quiet. And so a lot of the stuff that happened to my great-grandfather and my great-grandmother, it was dormant. We would ask my great-grandmother, what happened to our land? She would get mad and frustrated and shut down and be stuck with anger. And when I started finding more things about the truth of my family's role, I, too, became angry. We need closure. Until you do right by us, everything you do is going to crumble. We're in a color purple moment.

All right. Kevin, we appreciate it. All right. Thanks a lot. All the best. All right. Thank you very much. Mustafa, I want to start with you.

The point that Kevin just made about closure is an important one. And when you talk about these mass graves, these stories have been passed down from generations. And they do believe that they have found anomalies under the ground that they believe are indeed mass graves that are unexplainable. The only way to find out is to start digging. Yeah. You know, I've been given some thought to this. You know, usually when we're talking about mass graves, we're talking about war crimes. And actually, if you look at the pictures

of the Greenwood community after the bombings, it actually looks like a war zone, like bombs like you would see in those different types of locations. So there has to be this deep analysis and this investigation. And I would even say since folks have been timid or folks have not necessarily been supportive, and when I say folks, I'm talking about the state and the city there, then there may be a need also to have the United Nations to also take a look at these war crimes that have happened,

these mass graves that are part of the process to make sure that there's real authenticity in the fullness of the story. Because we have no problem in calling out things that happened in Cambodia, those things that happened during the Holocaust. Sorry about that. I was, a couple of folks walked by. See what this stuff happens. You grab folks, they walking by. I'm going to, I want to get Brittany's comment on that. We're going to prepare.

We need to get our handheld microphone. And I want to interview a couple of people from Selma, of course, who have been involved in the Bloody Sunday event. So I want to talk to him in just one second. Brittany, go ahead. Yeah, I mean, Mustafa, you put it so excellently. It's quite frankly, I just don't think we're ever going to have closure until reparations are given, until the story is a national headline everywhere. It's taught in schools and given the necessary respect. And it does, it is a war site as far as I'm concerned. It's a war on our community that continues to happen. And it's interesting how everything is really coming full circle,

because not only are we really trying to emphasize, you know, the story of 1921, but in 2021, we're still emphasizing that story, but by finding the people who have died here and allowing them to have the proper recognition and burials that they deserve and allowing their families and their descendants to have closure in that way. Michael, your comment. Yeah, brother, you know, I've been following these graves for a few years now, and hopefully this is it. Hopefully they can dig up these, find these remains. And also, there were probably at the bottom of the river, their bodies there too, because there were reports of seeing black bodies being dumped into the river as well. And then you had people, you had African Americans who fled Tulsa who were

wounded, who go into surrounding cities and die there as well, brother. So, you know, this continues, but I'm with Kevin. Till you do right by us, everything you do is going to crumble. Everything. We need to, brother, we need to call on all the Orishas, all the ancestors. Till you do right by us, nothing you do is going to succeed. Folks, I want to now introduce you to former state senator in Alabama, Hank Sanders. We talked about the Selma Jubilee. He and his wife, they were the founders of that.

Every year we commemorate Bloody Sunday, and he's here. So, Hank, good to see you. Good to see you. What was important for you and your wife, Rose, what was important for you all to be here? The Tussa massacre had a profound effect on this entire country, and it's only now beginning to come to life. And so on this 100th anniversary, we wanted to come and...

I'm just going to fix the microphone right here. There we go. You're good. Go ahead. We wanted to come and share in the commemoration and contribute in every way that we can because our history is just so important. And this is a prime example of an important historical event that impacted African-Americans that they tried to get rid of. Actually, they didn't just massacre people.

They massacred businesses. They massacred churches. They massacred schools. They massacred businesses. They massacred churches. They massacred schools. They massacred history. And so we wanted to come and participate. I often talk about these events. And what I often say is that when we commemorate them, we have to understand that black blood has always been spilled in pursuit of freedom. Yes. We talk about Bloody Sunday is called Bloody Sunday for a reason. Because blood was shed.

Blood was shed. Yeah. I tell people all the time, we can't talk about the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act, without realizing that blood was shed. Absolutely. Here we are talking about in 2021, trying to get Congress to pass a George Floyd Justice Act. Blood was shed. And the same thing here. And so it's been off before we interviewed many people and they keep saying that we are literally

standing on a crime scene. Yes, absolutely. When you think about that, when you think about and yes, people are sitting here. As a matter of fact, if we can sit here, turn that GoPro camera around that

direction there and control room won't try to get a shot As a matter of fact, if we can sit here, turn that GoPro camera around that direction there. And Control Room won't try to get a shot of that. I mean, again, you see the people who are walking all down the street, folks. You see, y'all can go and take the shot. You see the food trucks that are down there as well. But the land that we are walking on, I mean, black folks were murdered on this entire area. 36 blocks was completely destroyed. You know, Faya and I came here with our children years ago, but we didn't come to TUSSA because of the Wall Street massacre.

We came to TUSSA because of the Trail of Tears dealing with Native Americans. We should have been coming dealing with this event, because I've looked at a lot of history and a lot of massacres, but none have been done to the extent that the Tussa massacre was. And so if we don't know our history and if we don't share our history and if we don't lift our history, that's why I'm so glad you're here lifting it. You lift history where our history, wherever the opportunity presents itself. And we should know about it. We should tell the story. We should pass it down.

And we should be whether whether people who are not from here, we should be standing with the people of Greenwood or Tulsa and fighting to ensure that they get what they deserve economically from this city and from this state. But, you know, out of all of the histories that have been massacred, who have been covered up, to me, none were covered up to the extent of the Tulsa massacre. Right. Because even black folks were scared to mention it to their children. They were scared to mention it in churches. They were scared to mention it in community.

And we can't pass on history that we won't mention to our children. Hank, it's always good to see you. Good to see you. I still appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. You take care. Thank you very much. Folks, we are here.

So many people, appreciate it, so many people are here in Tulsa. Many people are on the way. They'll be traveling here tomorrow, traveling here Sunday. Members of Congress, civil rights folks, others, activists are on their way. I've been texting with many of them saying they're coming here. Again, folks want to be here to commemorate this because this is American history. This is African-American history. And so we're going to go to a break next. We have our weekly Education Matters segment. And so we'll have that and then we'll come back and hear from Tiffany Crutcher.

I had the opportunity to talk with her earlier. We'll also talk with some descendants of survivors of the Tulsa massacre here. Folks, you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered here live from the Greenwood District. We'll be back in a moment. When you study the music, you get black history by default. And so no, no other craft could carry as many words as rap music i try to intertwine that and make that create the whatever i'm supposed to send out to the universe a rapper you know for the longest period of time has gone through phases i love the word i hate i

hate what it's become you know and, to this generation, the way they visualize it. Its narrative kind of, like, has gotten away and spun away from, I guess, the ascension of black people. Black women have always been essential. So now how are you going to pay us like that? And it's not just the salary. I mean, there are a whole number of issues that have to support us as women. Yeah, but that's what we deserve. We shouldn't have to beg anybody for that. I think that we are trying to do our best as a generation

to honor the fact that we didn't come here alone and we didn't come here by accident. I always say every generation has to define for itself what it means to move the needle forward. Hi, my name is Latoya Luckett. Yo, it's your man Deon Cole from Black-ish, and you're watching... Roland Martin, unfiltered.

Stay woke. All right, folks, welcome back to Tulsa, where we, of course, have been here since yesterday, focused on the 100th commemoration of the Tulsa race riots. Events have been taking place all day earlier. We, of course, participated in various sessions. We will live stream that if you want to see that. You can go to our YouTube channel to actually see that. Also, this morning, we kicked it off with a march and parade that took place down this Greenwood Street. Again, you can also go to our YouTube channel and you'll see that full event as well. Of course, we have our Education Matters segment that takes place every single

Friday. Right now, I want to welcome Kevin Chisholm, Executive Director of the Junior Wall Streeters, Inc., as well as Kamari Chisholm, co-founder of Junior Wall Streeters. Kevin and Kamari, glad to have you here. So, first of all, we're talking about Black Wall Street here in Tulsa. So, explain to our folks exactly. So, first of all, we're talking about Black Wall Street here in Tulsa. So explain to our folks exactly what is Junior Wall Streeters. Yes, it's Keevon, Mr. Martin. I'm sorry. Okay, sorry about that.

No, no, no, that's okay. Yeah, it's such an honor to be a part of your show. And it's interesting, ironic that we're talking about Black Wall Street commemorating them because that's where we got our name. Black Wall Street Consultation Services is how we started. And we wanted to pay homage to our community when we started our business. And Junior Wall Streeters is our educational component, and we provide our primary mission is decreasing the wealth gap between African Americans and whites and by providing education, financial literacy, and investing classes. And this year, we are also providing real estate, introduction to real estate,

and we are also offering forex and cryptocurrency in our summer camps. And, again, our primary mission is decreasing that wealth gap. And Kamari can tell you what those statistics are. I'm sure you probably already know, though. Well, it is, first of all, this is one of those things that's important, again, teaching our folks financial literacy. And because too many don't know, and look, you've got to start young. So, Kamari, go ahead with how important that is. Yeah, part of our business, we want to help the African-American community. And recently, me and my dad were looking at some African-American net income.

And in Boston, the average net income for an African-American is $8 compared to whites. It is $247,000. And in the U.S., around the U.S., it gets better, but not by much, as the average net wealth from an African American is $17,000 compared to whites, $171,000. Well, first of all, that speaks a lot. So how are you trying to close that? So what specifically are you doing? Are you doing online classes, in person? What are you actually doing?

So what we're specifically doing is we're offering online, virtuous online summer financial literacy camps. There are two weeks. It's financial literacy and investing. And we teach the kids our campus about banking investing in the stock market budgeting what is it we're understanding credit ratings and we do this for two weeks and many of us are not familiar with investing in the stock market and we want to start our young people as

early as possible Kamari has been investing since he was 11. So we want to share that knowledge with other kids. And last summer, with our first year offering the camp, and we had over 100 campers. And this summer, my goal was 200 campers. And we started off a little slow. So far, we have 50 campers, but we're going to move forward and provide the basic financial literacy education that our community needs. And again, last summer, we had some great results. And we're just trying to change that. So we know that many of us don't have bank accounts. So we start off, our first lesson is teaching kids about banking, what is a checking account, what is a savers account, what is a money market account, what is a credit union. And we've been very successful in introducing our campers to this information.

So you talked about the camp. First of all, is it in person or virtual? And how can folks sign up? The camp this year will be online, virtual, and they can sign up by contacting us via our website at www.theblackwallstreeter.com. They can go there and register. We do have limited scholarships, and they can email me, Kevon, K-E-V-O-N, at theblackwallstreet.com,

and I will forward a scholarship application. And we're trying to give anyone an opportunity that is interested, regardless of their financial situation, to attend our two-week summer camp this year. Kamari, final comment I love the camps and I love working with my dad I'm hoping that during these camps and during our business that we can help the African American community by

building wealth through the stock market and other financial incomes Alright Gentlemen, I certainly appreciate it, thank you so very much Thank you Thank you so very much. Thank you. Thank you for having us. All right, folks.

We want to thank, of course, the School of Choice is the Black Choice for being the sponsor of our Education Matters segment. AFSCME, of course, is also a sponsor of Roland Martin Unfiltered, and we have our American Workers segment. We're going to share that in just a moment, but right now I want to talk to a few descendants of folks who survived the Tulsa massacre 100 years ago. So I want to bring them over right now to chat with us. See, she's over here bugging me. Now she's over there talking. So we're going to grab the microphone right there.

So y'all just stand right here. Step on in. Step on in. Over here. Over here. Over here. Yeah. We got the camera right there.

So see? See? We got the camera here. All right. So don't, no, no, no. Stay right there. That camera's on me. That camera's on y'all.

So y'all good. All right. Tell everybody who y'all are. We are the descendants of A.J. Smitherman, the founder of the Tulsa Star and one of the co-founders of Black Wall Street. He was indicted for inciting what they wanted to call a riot, which we now know was a massacre. He did not indict that. He did not incite that riot. There was not a riot. There was a preconceived massacre that occurred. And fortunately, our family escaped with their lives from a burning house that had been set on fire by the mob who literally came into our family's house while they were hiding in the basement. Not our great grandfather who was out fighting the riot, but my big mommy and her family, our grandmother and her children had to literally escape a flaming, burning building of their house. And everything that we had as a family was destroyed in the massacre. So we are here to represent, not only to commemorate the people who lost their lives during the massacre,

but also to represent and to celebrate what had been built before that, which was Black Wall Street, which is something that we all need to recognize as one of the biggest feats in black history. No, you got to let everybody know what your name is. See, you forgot that part. You just went right to it. It's not about me. She just went right into it.

But you still got to tell everybody what your name is. Okay. My name is Raven Mejia Williams, and I'm the great-granddaughter of A.J. Smitherman, and This is my cousin. Seth Bryant. Pass the mic. Pass the mic. I'm Montique Williams.

My name is Marshall Taylor Fenty. I'll start with you and then we'll bring the mic back down this way. What does all of this mean? Being here, seeing this, but also seeing the folks here still demanding the city and the state atone for what happened 100 years ago? Absolutely. And for me, it's important to be here, to be here,

to really step into this history and feel what it feels like, and just kind of take it in and vibrate with this history that's going on here. And to also just kind of represent the displacement that our family has had as a result of what happened. And it's a beautiful thing, honestly, to see all these people out here, like-minded, just trying to be together right now. One of the things that folks keep saying is that we're literally standing on a crime scene.

We're standing on a sacred place where black blood was spilled. You know, I think we have a lot of that across this country, but I think what's special about this place is that it was built by people who saw collective vision for their families and they wanted something better for their families. And they built it. They didn't talk about it. They built it. And then I was taken from them.

I was robbed of them. And so what's different, I think, here is that, you know, we're back, right? And we're trying to make it right. And we hope others will join us in trying to, as you said, atone for what happened, what occurred. And I think sometimes you hurt somebody. If you don't acknowledge it and say you're sorry and mean it and move on, it's very hard for that relationship to be healed. And what we want to do is be a part of the healing. So I ask you, this city is going to be dedicating the museum of Greenwood Rising on Wednesday. There are a lot of differing viewpoints. There are some African Americans who say they will never step foot in that museum

because they feel as if the city, by building the museum, they think that's enough. And folks say that's simply not enough for the descendants like yourself and for the three remaining survivors? I wholly agree with the community residents who feel that way. I think that, you know, as we have been coming closer to this time, we've been hearing a tension between the community and, you know, those that are profiting from what's happened. And it is, you know, it's despicable, frankly. I think that what happened here is a known atrocity on the scale of the Holocaust in terms of devastation and just a total genocide of a community. And so you have to, as my cousin was saying, repair that.

And offering up a museum as the recompense falls way short. The museum should stand, they should remember, but that should be the very first thing. And repairing the people that were harmed, the generations who lost everything. Our great-grandfather lost his business, burned to the ground, he lost his home, had to flee as a wanted man. And so he never got a penny for that. And we're not here to be grabby about a money bag or anything like that. The principle of the matter is so profound and strong that you just have to repair the situation by some actual demonstration of not just remorse but responsibility and making that community whole. And as a descendant, not only losing possessions and losing home and losing businesses,

this city refused. I mean, the local newspaper did not print a word of it for 50 years. So the folks here, you're talking about what happened in 1921. That means that it wasn't until the 70s where they even talked about it. They acted as if it didn't even exist. I think that's even worse than just the massacre itself to then completely obliterate it as if these people never even existed. It never happened, as if just no big deal. So it's been a seven-year discovery on my part of digging up the truth of this story.

And in my research, I found that there was an absolute intentional committee that hid it from history. Their job was to hide the massacre from history, to make sure it wasn't in the schools, taught in the schools, to make sure that people thought maybe 20 people died when we know that it was over 300 people that died, to literally cover up this genocide, as my cousin called it. This is a holocaust that happened in Oklahoma, and it has been intentionally covered up. And the saddest part to me is not just the covering up of the largest government-sanctioned massacre on American citizens in the country's history, but we didn't even know the legacy of Black Wall Street and the powerful people that built this community.

People talk about pulling yourself up from bootstraps. We didn't have boots. We got our boots from the West Indies, African Americans or Africans that literally West Indians loaned black people in this town money to build it out. That's history that people don't know. People ask us, you know, well, how come you haven't pulled yourself up from your bootstraps like other immigrant groups? Well, we weren't immigrants. We came from slavery. There's the post-traumatic stress.

But also those boots were burned. Absolutely. Well, I slavery. There's the post-traumatic stress. But also, those boots were burned. Absolutely. They were destroyed. Yeah, yeah. Well, we didn't even have boots. We built boots from thin air and pulled ourselves out of those boots that we built. We weren't given our 40 acres and a mule, and we weren't given anything. We were not given what immigrants were given.

And there were so many myths associated with what made black Wall Street. Even to this day, some people think it's land that they were given. No, they weren't immigrants. These black people weren't given land in Oklahoma. They came from other places. O.W. Gurley, J.B. Stratford, they came from other places in America and bought land and they just only sold that land to black people. And that's how Greenwood was built. So there are so many myths that need to be dispelled about our people. And, you know, there's just not the understanding of knowing that we not only pulled ourselves out of the ashes, but they put us back in the ashes a hundred, you know, a hundred years ago.

But we appreciate it. to remember and to say that, listen, we're here, and we want to participate with this community, and the generations keep going, and here we are to reflect that. All right. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you so much, Roland. All right. Thanks a bunch. Mustafa, there are a lot of powerful stories, what we just heard. And I don't think anyone who is watching this and listening to this is unmoved by any of these. Well, there are stories of survival. Of course, there is the trauma and the tragedy that is a part of the impacts that we continue to have to deal with, whether they're in Tulsa or in Rosewood or in East St. Louis in Illinois or Elaine, Arkansas, or a number of the other locations that are a part of the Red Summer. But we also

understand that if we are given the opportunity to rebuild our communities, not with things that, you know, that we deserve to have the resources to be able to make our communities whole. We deserve the opportunity to make sure that our communities thrive. And both the federal government, the state government, the city government there in Tulsa, along with those corporations that may still be around that made money, those insurance companies or the subsidiaries that came into being afterwards, all have to play a role in the restitution and the reparations that are due to this community to allow them to be whole. Brittany, and again, I've talked to so many people and we've talked to folks who are natives

here. And when you talk to someone here who's black black, who's from here and they say, we were born and raised here, went to school here, and we never even knew this existed. Yeah, Roland. I'm not surprised, right? That's the United States game is to purposely omit information. It's as if they do us two forms of harm. They literally and materially remove things from us, kill us, you know, brutalize us. And then they also try and erase our memory of those things.

It's a shame. And it's part of a larger narrative and attempt by the U.S. government to ensure that our community and the larger community doesn't know the atrocities that they've committed on a federal level, on state levels, and continue to commit as they fail to give us reparations and true acknowledgement for the damage that they've done and allowed to be done to us. Michael. You know, brother, thanks for that interview, brother, with the descendants. That was powerful, what the sister just dropped on us and the brothers as well. You know, Dr. Tiffany Crutcher talked about having grown up there and the twin sister of Terrence Crutcher, who was killed by Betty Shelby

there in Tulsa, a police officer. Dr. Tiffany Crutcher talked about growing up in Tulsa and not knowing about Black Wall Street and the Tulsa massacre until she went to college. And she said, people asked her, where are you from? She said, Tulsa. She said, oh, that's where Black Wall Street was. And then, in talking to her family about it, she found out, I think it was her great-grandmother or something like that, was a survivor

of the Tulsa Massacre. Okay? And they didn't know about it. So it was a concerted effort not to teach this history, but at the same time, brother, this ties once again into the history with Native Americans and Creek Indians. Because see, the Creek Indians, and you interviewed a sister yesterday

that talked about this. She's of Creek ancestry, Black Creek ancestry. The Creek Indians kicked a lot of the descendants of the Black freedmen out of the Creek Indian Nation and took their land that their ancestors got through the Black Freedmen Indian Treaties in 1866. All this is connected. Okay, so we really have to deal with this history, man, and tell the truth and then have the reparations to repair the damage. It's not about a check. It's about repairing the damage that was done, and we still feel the effects of the damage. It's not about a check. It's about repairing the damage

that was done, and we still feel the effects of the damage today. Michael, you talked about Dr. Tiffany Crutcher. She was one of the folks who we talked to along the march path today. So here's my

conversation with her as we march down Greenwood from Carl Virginia High School to the Greenwood Cultural Center. We have the first black police chief, Wendell Franklin, marching with us today. And man, that's amazing. You all know my sentiments on Tulsa's police department. I've been fighting them to change their policies since my twin brother, Terrence Crutcher, was killed in this community back in 2016 with his hands in the air unarmed. We've yet to receive any atonement. And so I've drawn parallels. I always say that the same state-sanctioned violence that burned down my great-grandmother's community, the ground we're walking on,

it's the same state sanctioned violence that allowed my twin brother to be killed with his hands in the air but now i don't know where we go from here but they're marching with us uh but i'm still being their butts pushing for change so i just want y'all let me let me make it very very clear i was just at the nation's capital a few weeks ago uh with the of George Floyd, who will be here tomorrow on a panel with both of John's family, with Eric Warner's family, fighting to get the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act across the finish line. We're still working hard. We want it to be meaningful.

We want qualified immunity abolished. We want accountability. We don't want to water down buildings. So hopefully they're working hard to make this happen. We met with Senator Chuck Schumer. He said that if we didn't want it, he wouldn't put a half-baked deal on the floor. So we're going to hold him to that. And it's just so much bigger than money. We wanna make sure that what happened to George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Terrence Pritchard, both of them, that it never happens again. And that means we need real reform, real policy change,

legislation change. It's gonna take an act of Congress. Action is to reclaim what was taken from us. You'll see a highway right through our us. You'll see a highway right through our community. You'll see a university right in our community. You'll see a ballpark that we don't own. We want our land back. We want our land back. So we're going to keep fighting. And right now we have the secret sauce, and that's these survivors right here. Mother Randall, Mother Fletcher, Uncle Red, who served this country,

to come back home and be treated less than. But guess what? He's better than me. He still believes in America. He still believes that he can get justice. And I haven't lost hope. I'm still believing that I can get justice for my twin brother too. So that's why I'm here. That's why I put on the only community-led event

because I wanted to make sure that we centered what was important and that was the people. The people and the three last known survivors. So I'm just honored that everybody's finally hearing about this story because there was a conspiracy of silence erased from the history books you know and and i didn't learn about it i went to carver junior high right there they didn't teach us about it in oklahoma history they forced these survivors into silence i was so thankful that they are finally speaking speaking out and saying before we leave this earth at 107, 106, 100, we believe we deserve justice. All right.

Appreciate it. I'm repping out of shape, y'all. Getting the steps in. Getting the steps in. I'm checking the watch. We're getting the steps in. I want everybody to know this evening John P. Key will be in town to kick us off. Amen.

Legendary gospel artist, my father, Reverend Joey Crutcher, who is an inductee of the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame for gospel music, will be gracing us on the organ, the B3. Reverend Joey Crutcher, father of Terrence Crutcher. So, hey, this is our city. These are our streets. All right. We appreciate it.

Our streets. Right. Right. Appreciate it. Cool streets. Hot streets. Right. Right. Appreciate it. Folks, let me thank Brittany, Michael, and Mustafa for being on our panel today. I surely appreciate it. Thank you so very much. And, folks, being here is an example of Black Wall Street going beyond Greenwood and Tulsa.

This being a Black-owned show, a Black-owned media company, for us to be able to live stream that march, for us to be able to mount the camera on the back of our vehicle, have the drone flying overhead, be able to mobile as well. That is all important, folks, because we have to, in the words of the first Black newspaper, Freedom's Journal, which wrote on March 16th, 1827, we wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us. And so that absolutely matters.

And so your support for what we do is also important. The dollars that you give makes it possible for us to do what we do. If you are not a member of our Bring the Funk fan club, you heard DeMario say he is, you you need to join you need to do so because we We don't just come out just for these events. We were in Fort Worth on Wednesday. There are people She's running for mayor and we broadcast live from there There are other events that we want to be able to travel to across the country to be able to be amongst the people Reporting on the ground for you the opportunity to hear them and talk to them

And so we have our crews and ability to be opportunity to hear them and talk to them. And so we have our crews and the ability to be able to pay them. And look, there are other networks out here. You know, right down there, NBC is going to be on Tiffany Cross' show tomorrow. And so I'm going to be broadcasting from there. I'm going to be with Ali Velshi on Sunday. And so these folks are here. But for us, a black-owned company, to be able to come here and be able to broadcast not just the show for the last two days, but for us to also be able to live stream these events taking place. We're going to be live streaming every single day until we leave on

Wednesday. And so the John P. Key concert, look for us to actually show that tonight as well, for us to be out here tomorrow doing more interviews, talking to people out here, getting their thoughts and perspective of what all of this means. This is why black-owned media matters. This is why we are fighting so hard to get the advertising dollars. This is why I keep telling people I don't worry about what the rest of these people out here are saying. I don't care what the haters say. I don't worry about what the rest of these people out here are saying. I don't care what the haters say. I don't care about what they do. This is why we must be sharing this information.

This is why we must be doing these things because by us owning this, me owning this, we don't have to seek permission for somebody to be able to do what we do. We can tell our own story. And if others show up, that's fine. If they don't, well, that's on them. And so we want to thank all of you for what you do. Again, y'all can go to our cash app, dollar sign RM unfiltered, venmo.com forward slash RM unfiltered, paypal.me forward slash rmartin unfiltered. Zelle is rolling at rollingsmartin.com or rolling at rollingmartinunfiltered.com

You can also send a money order to 1625 K Street NW Suite 400, Washington, D.C. 2006. Folks, that is it for us. Again, we're going to be live broadcasting tomorrow morning. I'll be on MSNBC at 1035 tomorrow. We'll be

bright and early, live streaming and more events from Black Wall Street Legacy Fest. Go to blackwallstreetlegacyfest.com for more details on the various events. You can also go to theblackwallstreettimes.com as well for more information. And as we always do, we end our show on Friday showing you members of our Bring the Funk fan club. If you have given and don't see your name, shoot us an email. We'll get it taken care of. Don't forget,

YouTube, hit that like button. Same thing on Facebook as well. Folks can see this here. Share this stream and come back in a couple of hours where we're going to be jamming with my man, John P. Key. Y'all know he's going to turn Tulsa out. So we certainly look forward to it.

Folks, we'll see y'all tomorrow on the show. We'll see you on Monday. It is Memorial Day. We're not going to have a normal show, but we will be live on Monday here from Tulsa. So, folks, thanks a lot. Y'all take care. Holla! A lot of times, big economic forces show up in our lives in small ways. Four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up, so now I only buy one.

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