#RolandMartinUnfiltered - TX Teen Taunted For Being Black, Title 42 Stays, Gangs of Haiti, Whoopi's Holocaust Comments

Episode Date: December 28, 2021

12.27.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: TX Teen Taunted For Being Black, Title 42 Stays, Gangs of Haiti, Whoopi's Holocaust Comments   She was the new black kid at a Texas school for her senior year.  Instead of being welcomed, she was bullied for days with racist taunts until she couldn't take anymore.   Her mother and several civil rights activist are here tonight to talk about what Autumn Roberson-Manahan had to endure, how she's coping, and what's being done to curb such behavior in schools.  What happened to Autumn Roberson-Manahan was not the first incident in Lubbock, Texas.  A non-profit organization has filed a racial discrimination complaint.  I'll talk to the civil rights lawyer with the Intercultural Development Research Association about what they want the Slaton Independent School District to do. The Supreme Court will allow U.S. border officials to continue expelling migrants under a policy known as Title 42 indefinitely. We'll look at how the growth of gang violence in Haiti contributes to the country's political dysfunction and deteriorating economic conditions. In tonight's Marketplace, a mother figured out a way to capture her son's dream on a Colorfull plate.  She was the new black kid at a Texas school for her senior year.  Instead of being welcomed, she was bullied for days with racist taunts until she couldn't take anymore.   Her mother and several civil rights activist are here tonight to talk about what Autumn Roberson-Manahan had to endure, how she's coping, and what's being done to curb such behavior in schools.  What happened to Autumn Roberson-Manahan was not the first incident in Lubbock, Texas.  A non-profit organization has filed a racial discrimination complaint.  I'll talk to the civil rights lawyer with the Intercultural Development Research Association about what they want the Slaton Independent School District to do. The Supreme Court will allow U.S. border officials to continue expelling migrants under a policy known as Title 42 indefinitely. We'll look at how the growth of gang violence in Haiti contributes to the country's political dysfunction and deteriorating economic conditions. In tonight's Marketplace, a mother figured out a way to capture her son's dream on a Colorfull plate. Support RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered Venmo ☛https://venmo.com/rmunfiltered Zelle ☛ [e-mail] Annual or monthly recurring #BringTheFunk Fan Club membership via paypal ☛ https://rolandsmartin.com/rmu-paypal/ Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com #RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. right now. Back up. Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roland. Be black. I love y'all. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scape.

It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? It's December 22nd, 2022. I'm attorney Robert Petillo, sitting in for Roland Martin, who's on vacation. Here's what's coming up tonight on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network.

Autumn Roberson Manahan, a 17-year-old student in Lubbock, Texas, endured months of racist bullying at the hands of classmates. And when she took things into her own hands and responded when administration officials would do nothing to protect her, she took things into her own hands and responded when administration officials would do nothing to protect her, she was placed into alternative school

and suffered a mental breakdown. We'll speak with her mother and civil rights activists on what is being done to help young Autumn and what is being done to the school system to prevent events like this from happening again in the future. Also, what happened to Autumn Roberson Manahan is not the first time that this has happened

in Lubbock, Texas. Indeed, there is a civil rights lawsuit filed against the city. We're gonna talk to one of the lawyers from the Intercultural Development Research Association about what's being done to the Slade and Independence School System to try to stop this type of racist bullying

from taking place going forward. Additionally, it just came down, the Supreme Court is blocking the Biden administration from ending Title 42. Title 42, of course, being the Trump-era immigration policy, which allowed the immigration services to deport people faster based on coronavirus fears. Now, of course, we have long since moved on

from most coronavirus regulations. We're not wearing masks. We're not getting tested every day. We're no longer having mandatory vaccinations. But 19 Republican governors are suing the federal government, demanding that this process stay in place, fearing that there will be a wave of migrants flooding the United States. And the Supreme Court has agreed with them. We're going to have a conversation about what exactly this means going forward and why the Supreme Court is so important. In this case, you had Neil Gorsuch,

the conservative justice, actually writing a concurrent opinion in dissent with Katonji Brown Jackson. And you also had the two other progressive justices voting against this. However, because Donald Trump was able to steal that seat from Merrick Garland after Mitch McConnell blocked even a hearing. They have enough of a majority to even take Neil Gorsuch's defect into their side. We're going to have a conversation about that tonight. Also, we're going to have a look at how Western powers

and international capitalist corporations have caused more political instability in Haiti, leading to death and destruction in the streets. These multinational corporations and these Western powers have been interfering in the goings-on in Haiti for over 200 years now. We're going to talk to civil rights and human rights attorney Anastasia

Sanat about what's being done to help restore justice to that nation. Additionally, tonight in our marketplace, a mother figured out a way to capture her son's dream on a colorful plate. It's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network.

He's got it. Whatever the biz, 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 Roland. Best belief he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics, with entertainment just for kicks.

He's rolling. Yeah. It's Uncle Roro, yo. Yeah. Yeah. It's rolling, Martin. Yeah. Yeah.

Rolling with rolling now. Yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real. Yeah, yeah, yeah Rollin' with Rollin' now Yeah, yeah, yeah He's funky, he's fresh, he's real The best you know, he's Rollin' Martel Now Martel Autumn Robertson Manahan was a 17-year-old student at a Slater Independent School District near Lubbock, Texas. She was a straight-A student and actually in line to potentially

be valedictorian of her class. However, while at her new school, she endured constant racist bullying from white students because she was only one of about a dozen black students at the school. When she complained to administrators, nothing was done. When she took into her own hand to prevent the racist bullying, she was placed in an alternative school that forced her to wear an orange jumpsuit and derailed her future. Because of this, Autumn Roberson Manahan ended up in a mental facility to treat the mental breakdown that she suffered. Here to talk about this and what's being done to hold this school district accountable, we're joined by the mother of Autumn Roberson Manahan, Jaquetta Manahan, along with civil

rights activist Dr. Candace Matthews, as well as state representative from the state of Texas, Ron Reynolds, and Judge Morris Overstreet. How are all of you doing tonight? We're doing well. It's good to be on with you. Thank all of you so much for joining me. So, Ms. Manahan, I wanted to start with you. Can you talk a little bit about your daughter, kind of the background of her?

Because often we read these headlines. There are so many things come through our news feed that we forget the humanity and the personage of this young woman. Can you talk a little bit about who your daughter was before we even talk about what happened to her? Absolutely, sir. Autumn Robertson Minahan is the daughter of Broderick and Jaquetta Minahan. She is very family-oriented, just a beautiful soul, a delight.

She is truly one of a kind, a gem. She is truly a pillar of her community. And most importantly, she's our baby, just all the way around the board, a great individual, my baby, my child. Absolutely. And so kind of detail for us some of the things that happened to her that led to these events, because I want you to kind of read the headline.

It sounds outlandish, but it's a lot deeper than even what's being reported in the media, I understand. Can you talk a little bit about that? Oh, absolutely, sir. Thank you all for the opportunity. From August until late September and the beginning to the end of October, not only that my child experienced racial discrimination, being discriminated against not only for her nationality, her race. She was told that she was smart for a Black girl when she used her choice as an exercise for her rights to not stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. She was challenged when bringing it to the administrators, as in the superintendent,

the assistant principal, the head principal, about the verbal threats that were being made and the N-word with the hard ER being chanted in class to where this behavior wasn't, you know, here and there. It was from the beginning of school up until the end of September. And, you know, we reported it, reported it, we recorded it, and nothing was done about it. Even though we made them aware of our daughter's disability, they didn't care. They blatantly expressed it. On several occasions, my child had, you know, what I would call mental breakdowns to where, you know, the day got the best of her. Not only when reporting, we dealt with retaliation even after reporting that.

You know, they liked seeing my child broken. You know, it's very all unfortunate, you know, because, man, there's no one like Autumn. She truly is a gem. And can you talk a little bit about the nature of the bullying that she was subjected to? Because it really is outlandish, particularly in 2020, to believe that this could happen for such a prolonged period of time, for two months, and nothing be done by teachers and administrators given the nature of the bullying? Oh, yes, sir. Absolutely. When dealing with slighting administrators and people that are in charge, African-American children are taught to tolerate, as in deal with racial discrimination. So Autumn was called names. She was treated a certain way.

Not only did she deal with one young man, it was several different occasions, as in, sir, we're talking about seven different young men that bullied and harassed and hazed my child, and none of them were African-American. We're talking about Caucasian and Hispanic Americans, you know It's just all unfortunate sir They called her out her name They taunted her as an you know, they called her the n-word Porch monkey, you know You know, they call her the N-word, porch monkey.

You know, I'm sorry. Be here with me. Trying to remain whole where I feel broken. So please forgive me. Well, take your time. Absolutely. It's just a lot to take in because, you know, the administrators, the teachers, not only did the administrators, as in the teachers, the principals, the assistant principals, as well as the superintendent, you know, when dealing with African-American children, you have to have facts. So that's the unfortunate part.

But I had facts. You know, I had recordings of threats being made. I asked for immediate removal when I heard the words, when my daughter had the recording, hey, we're going to hurt you. If being called the N-word, that word is used to deprive us, to insult us as a race, as a nationality. So for it to be reported to administrators, the retaliation, the breakdowns, for them to call us and ask us for assistance as parents and nothing be done and then all be reported, it was like they were waiting for that to happen.

They were waiting for a reaction instead of trying to be pre-active with a situation absolutely and you talk a little bit about what that breaking point was and what the administration's response was because they were completely uh recalcitrant when it came to dealing with the the problem proactively but they did react very quickly i'm sorry sir can you elaborate, can you talk a little bit about what the administration's reaction was once you finally did have an encounter or altercation with the students? Absolutely, sir. You know, we're firm believers that warning comes before destruction. And, you know, again, from August, just September to the end of October, the reason I say the end of October, because the end of September, she dealt with it with the seven individual individuals, the young men.

But then we had to deal with racial discrimination being shown blatantly with the administrators, as in the principal, assistant principal, and the superintendent, because we gave them warnings. I was very attentive. On a day-to-day base, if it wasn't a phone call, it was an email. It was me showing up in person. And when I say me, I speak on the behalf of my husband and my family, you know, as a whole. We showed up collectively. We moved strategically. We expressed our concerns. And, you know, as a whole. We showed up collectively. We moved strategically. We expressed our concerns. And, you know, we expressed, you know, about, you know, the hostile environment that they were creating for our child, a child that loves, you know, learning because we were taught that knowledge is power. They wanted her to be the angry black child because my children, again, have never dealt with disciplinary. They have all been, from the oldest to the youngest, been straight-A students.

We take pride in that. They work so very hard. With her getting a dimeric, as in dealing with disciplinary, it would disqualify her from being valid Victorian. So dealing with this demerit automatically, they wanted to give her 45 days, you know, to teach her self-discipline. They felt like she needed to be punished when my personal opinion, when dealing with my child's disorder and just all the torment, the harassment, the bullying that she dealt with. I mean, my God, when do you say enough is enough? Because me as a person and

as her mother, I can't say I would have held out that wrong. So it was like intentionally they meant to break her. And can you talk a little bit about what the punishment was that she received? You talk about the 45 days suspension. They also put her in an alternative school. Can you talk a little bit about what that was and how it affected her?

Once they passed down the disciplinary, as in the placement, it was on October 31st. Mrs. Page actually sat in as a support group with me and my husband. Me and my husband, we didn't agree. We completely said unacceptable. You know, you will not punish my child, not saying that she's a victim, but you know, we'll be accountable for our part, but this is unacceptable. So from the beginning, we didn't accept the 45-day punishment. I wanted them to use discretion, as it says in their policy, but I realized when dealing with them, their decision is already made. It comes from the superintendent, And, you know, it's like the chamber, it comes from him. It moves down from the principal. We didn't agree. So on the 31st, Autumn actually ran away from home. The November 2nd, she attempted to commit suicide. So we had to admit it. My child didn't

experience the DPA program because we didn't agree to it. And our son, Tristan Manahan, actually went through the program. He was told that guilty by association. You know, being, I personally feel like the only time committed was him being black. But he was told guilty by association, made him guilty. So my son, with my husband's guidance and with God being the head of our life, we endured them challenging his manhood. We endured the physical and mental abuse from Caucas uh from uh caucasian um administrators uh i believe uh my son being asthmatic and you know uh him taking pride in his books and not just athletics he hadn't

played in six years you know when we moved away from texas because we're originally from texas um the young men on his team his slayton teammates, they made comments and referred it, you know, to the camp breathing as in the George Floyd instead of, and then when we brought it to the administrators' attention, when we brought it to their attention, you know, the young men were able to redeem themselves due to the nationality of their skin and them being being football players. They were able to justify their comments by saying that they were referring to his nationality. They were referring to his genes. So, of course, our word against theirs when reporting and fouling against them and stressing our concerns. Of course, no teacher

acknowledged that this was occurring, but one teacher slipped up and wrote my son an apology note because she said sometimes your character can hold more than someone's title, and she wanted to apologize. Absolutely. Let's take a break right here and we're going to keep this conversation on the other side of the break. I also want to bring in Dr. Candace Matthews, Representative Riddles, and also Judge Overstreet to talk about what's being done to stop this from happening going forward and hopefully repair the damage that's been done thus far. I'm Attorney Robert Patel sitting in for Rolling Mart on Rolling Mart Unfiltered, streaming

live on the Black Star Network. We'll be back after the break. I love directing. It's a different kind of piece. I do believe that the 30 years I was acting was to prepare me for what I'm supposed to be doing and that what I'm really good at. But when you were acting, were you even thinking about directing? Nope. So what the hell happened? If you had asked me 15 years ago, I probably would have said, no, I don't know. I was doing Ava DuVernay's

first film, I Will Follow. And during that process, I think because it was her first film, maybe I... Did she self-taught? Absolutely. I probably gave too many suggestions. And at some point, Ava said to me, I think you're a director and you don't know it. On the next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, it's time to tie up those loose ends. Setting yourself up for balance, success, and even prosperity in the new year. Financial expert Pamela Sams joins our panel. She will give us a checklist of things that we need to do

before the calendar turns. We develop our money mindset by the age of six. And so we have our sometimes six-year-old self still operating in the background of our money scripts. That's next on A Balanced Life on Blackstar Network. Hey, what's up, everybody? It's Godfrey, the funniest dude on the planet. I'm Israel Houghton. Apparently, the other message I did was not fun enough. So this is fun.

You are watching... Roland Martin, my man, unfiltered. We're still having this conversation with regards to the young 17-year-old teen from Slade in Texas, Autumn Roberson Manahan, and the racial discrimination she experienced at the hands of classmates. We're still having a conversation with her mother. So, Ms. Manahan, you were talking before about the harassment and bullying that your son experienced as a result of this. How are your son and daughter now? How are they doing after all they've endured? I'd like to touch base on my oldest, Autumn Robertson Manahan.

She's not in our care. After being released from the hospital, we were informed that due to her age, she has the right and the choice to not come home. So we're just staying encouraged and praying that she gets back in school and she uses time to heal. And she always remembers that her family is fighting for her and we love her unconditionally. As far as my other two children, as in my son, he's learning to turn his pain into purpose. So he's striving for excellence and he's actually doing quite well at Estacada High School in Lubbock, Texas. So he did leave the Slayton school, or is he still at the same school now? No, sir. We actually got him out once his DEAP sentence was over.

We actually removed him his first day back in school. Absolutely. And Judge Overstreet, I wanted to bring you into the conversation. Can you talk about how the community has reacted to this? Because from what I understand, this is not the first time something like this has happened, but what has been the reaction in the community to how these young people have been treated?

What we were able to determine is that the Manahan family was isolated and singled out by the school district and made to feel like they were in this all by themselves. Once it came to the attention of myself and other spirit-led leaders in Texas, political leaders in Texas, we decided because we were so offended by what happened that we were not going to let her stand alone. And so we have compiled a group of folks from all different walks of life, the spiritual community, the political community, like Representative Ron Reynolds, who's going to look at the legislation and tweak the legislation so that this doesn't happen, so that it's not permissible for the school district to have a policy but make it mandatory. Going to include language that can't be used. And from the political activist side, we brought in Dr. Candace Matthews. As Ms. Manahan told you, this filters down from the administration, the superintendent.

And these board of trustees are elected. And so we're going to get involved in this through change legislation. We're going to change the composition of the board. We're going to make sure that the families in Slayton Independent School District are not isolated and that they're not out there by themselves, that they have all of Texas and all of America behind them and with them to promote change so that this doesn't happen to anyone else. Our goal is to make Autumn and her brother whole. Absolutely.

And Representative Reynolds, can you talk a little bit about kind of what the legislative response to this has been and what it can be? Because if it's on a case-by-case, situation-by-situation response, then of course it's going to keep happening because they can always isolate the individuals, as was mentioned by Judge Overstreet. What can be done to really make systemic change within the district? Well, it's all inclusive. There needs to be litigation, and there needs to be agitation, and there needs to be legislation. I'm looking forward to, as chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, filing legislation that Judge Overstreet was just referencing to make it no longer permissive, to make it mandatory, anti-bullying in schools, that they have policies in place within the schools. We've seen an escalation in the rise in suicide from students because of bullying

in this post-COVID era. And we need to do something to address it. We can't ignore it. We can't put a Band-Aid on it and hope and pray it just goes away. We need to address it. We can't ignore it. We can't put a Band-Aid on it and hope and pray it just goes away. We need to address it. We need to make sure that there are policies in place over all of our school districts, including those in the Lubbock and Slayton area. Texas, unfortunately, is a state that has some of the most conservative laws and lawmakers. It's going to be an uphill battle. But hopefully, this shouldn't be a partisan issue. This should be about what's in the best interest of our students. Our students are our future. They're our most precious commodity as a father. My heart goes out to you and what you had to endure with your children. You never should have had to endure that. But we see this all too often,

these disparities within our school systems between the way that Black children are treated. And we are simply saying enough is enough. So, yes, come legislative session starting on January 10th, we will have a bill filed, and we will vigorously pursue that. We look forward to having the support. We've had national support from Reverend Jesse Jackson, local support, like Judge Overstreet just said it from our clergy, and activists like Dr. Candace Matthews with the Texas Coalition of Black Democrats. So we letting Ms. Manahan know

that they're not in it by themselves. We're her villagers and we're gonna stand in the gap and we're gonna speak truth to power and fight to make sure this never happens to other children in the future. You mentioned agitation, and when we're talking about agitation, we're talking about Dr. Candace Matthews. Dr. Matthews, can you talk a little bit about what the activist community is doing to make sure we're able to push this type of legislation through, but also what's being done

with the school district to try to make sure that they are held responsible for what they've done to these young children and what can be done to stop it going forward? Well, first of all, what we had to do, we had to identify and expose that we have educational assassins that are designed in key areas in the education system. And so what happens is that what Ms. Monaghan and her children experienced was at the hands of an education assassin which promotes white supremacy in the school system. So what we do to agitate it is by holding them accountable

because accountability breeds responsibility. Therefore, it's our responsibility to let them know that this is not going to be normalized, this is no more, and we're not going to play this game. So then what we plan on doing is a call to action, which would be on January the 12th, and we're going to let them know that we are not going to take this sitting down.

We are in full support of the Monaghan family and all the families that are of color. Because if you sit back and just let them do this, then we will be complicit. And that's not what we're going to do. We're going to agitate it. We're going to shake it up. And we're going to let them know, baby, not today.

Because this is what we're not going to do. You are not going to do this to our children. We're not going to do. You are not going to do this to our children. We're not going to have it to where this is normalized. And we are going to terminate every education assassin that's in any type of key position. And this is why the Texas Coalition of Black Democrats is so vital, because guess what? You have a lot of education assassins that are in elected positions. We are going to put people in their race and we're going to take them out. Can you talk a bit about what's going on on January the 12th? You know, time, place,

location, information, those sorts of things. And what we're trying to advocate for on that date, just kind of details on what people need to do if they're in the area and do want to attend. Well, I'm going to send that over to Judge Overstreet because they're doing that part. I'm just going to bring the voice and let them know, and I'm going to bring that hammer and let them know, y'all come here with that stuff. I'm letting you know now, I'm going to slam

every last one of you racist white supremacists up in here because you're not going to come in here and do this to our children, and we're not going to allow it. You see, Dr. Matthews got the energy. Now, Judge Overstreet needs you to direct that into a location. So give us that information on where to be at with the energy from Dr. Matthews. We're going to do it. We're still working on it. But one of the most important things, historically in the African-American community, change has always started with the religious community. And so we have our religious leaders backing us. And we're going to start this in the church.

OK, we've not decided on the church yet, but we will have a rally prior to that school board meeting in Lubbock. Because it's one thing for us to sit back and talk and to be on talk shows and to be on the radio, be on the TV. But what the families in Slayton Independent School District need to know is that we're willing to come where they are, stand with them, stand for them, and stand in the gap, just as Representative Reynolds said. So one, we're going to Lubbock en masse. Two, we're going to hold a press conference. We're going to hold a rally. And we're going to be at that school board meeting to let those school board members know that the light of the whole world is shining on them. And as the old folks used to say, you know, when you got a bunch of roaches scurrying around in the kitchen and you turn on the light, they just break and run. And so we're going to put the light on their actions so that the whole world can see it.

Now, we don't know the place. We're not announcing the place yet, but we are announcing the date. And that's January 12th. That's the date that the school board meeting occurs, and it will be prior to the school board meeting. And we'll go from the rally and the press conference to attend the school board meeting. And quite a few of us are going to be signing up to address the school board. So what else have we done? I've written the school district freedom of information to ask for the policy that they have in effect.

And they had the lawyers write me and give me what they had. I don't think it's enough. I'm going to share that with Representative Reynolds because we can tweak this legislation to make sure that it's mandatory that every school district in Texas. So what we're going to do in Lubbock is going to affect everybody in Texas. That's the way we operate. That's the way we roll. We're not just doing it for the Manahan family. That's our focus right operate. That's the way we roll. We're not just doing it for the Manahan family. That's our focus right now. And we're going to make them whole, but we're going to

create an opportunity for every child in Texas, no matter what school district. They're not going to have to suffer what the kids in Slayton Independent School District and some of the surrounding school districts have had to suffer.

That's what we're going to do. You know what, Robert? Yes, Dr. Matthews. I was just going to leave you with this note here. In fact, the real message that we're trying to send is this. When you mess with one of us, you done stepped on an ant bed, which means we're coming in droves to address this whole issue. So you mess with one of us,

that means you gonna mess with all of us. And I'm bringing the hammer too. Absolutely. Representative Reynolds, we've seen for the last couple of years, you know, Tea Party and MAGA people storming school boards to get, you know, gender policy changed, to get school books changed, et cetera. What has been the response to this legislation you have on anti-bullying? Is there any bipartisan support? Is the entire Democratic coalition on board co-sponsoring it? Or what needs to be done to make sure that this is, one, voted on, but, two, to ensure that it's passed on the state level? Well, that's a great question.

And certainly to get anything done in Texas, for any Democrat to get anything done, you need bipartisan support. And it is my good faith, hope, and optimism and prayer that I'll be able to get some bipartisan support, because this doesn't just impact Democrat or black kids or Hispanic kids. This can impact all kids. And all kids should be safe and secure at schools. Republicans haven't been wanting to do anything to address gun violence, other than maybe talking about mental health.

But maybe this is something I can get some bipartisan support for, because when you talk about bullying, you steal the statistics about the rise in suicides, the rise in dropouts. That impacts all Texans. And so it's in our best interest as a state to address this issue head on, to tweak the law. This doesn't cause a ripple. It doesn't impact the NRA or the conservatives shouldn't get into a tizzy fit about it. This shouldn't impact anybody's conservative agenda. So this is something good, common-sense legislation, a small tweak to make sure that we protect our children so that they can be safe from bullying,

and that administrations that don't have it, they can be held accountable. And that's what this, like Dr. Matthews said, this is about accountability. And this is to make sure that this is a, all schools have a policy in place so that you don't have to worry about whether you're in Slayton or Houston or Amarillo or anywhere in the state that you're protected in all 254 counties.

So this is something that should be passed. I'm optimistic that we could get this done. I don't think there's a whole lot of other good things that can get done, but certainly this will be a step in the right direction that we can get this law passed this legislative session. You know, it's an interesting nexus that you connected there because the research has shown that there is a connection between bullying and school shootings. I think if you look back, the Columbine shooters, for example, were bullied. The Virginia State shooter was bullied. Recently, the football player who shot up the bus that he was on, he was bullied also. Has there been any attempt to connect this legislation with the Uvalde's legislation,

for example, to have one comprehensive school reform bill where we can address bullying, we can address mental health, in order to also ameliorate school shootings at the same time as protecting the rights of students against racial bullying. Robert, you raise an excellent point, and the answer is no, not yet. But we're having all hands on deck. I'm going to be reaching out to the experts to look at what should be in this comprehensive package. This, what Judge Overstreet has already mentioned, is one aspect. There's already other legislation that's being filed. There's going to be another emphasis on mental health, because that's what

the Republicans' comfort zone is, addressing mental health. But also, and I don't want to divert the conversation, but we are also filing legislation for common-sense gun reforms, to raise the age, to purchase these semi-automatic weapons, to create red flag laws, and to close the gun show loopholes. So we're looking at all of the above. More than likely, there will only be some small aspects of legislation that will be passed, but we will not yield to not filing the legislation because we won't pass it. We're going to file it and try to get it all passed, and then we will be optimistic that we will get some of it passed. Realistically, all of it won't pass because of Governor Abbott and some of the NRA above the needs of Texans. Even

Uvalde, even at the Sulphur Springs, even at the Sandy Hook, even after we have had Texas leading the nation in the number of mass shootings, there's no appetite from my Republican colleagues to address gun reform legislation. So I think that they will be more eager to focus on this anti-bullying than they will focus on other comprehensive things to stop and mitigate these mass shootings. Absolutely. Does Overstreet want to talk to you before we close up? This is not one of those hot social issues, you know, those hot-button issues like abortion and gun reform, those hot-button issues for Republicans. This is about our children. Our schools should be a place when parents drop their children off. It's a place of love and learning, and it's safe. And that's what all parents want when they drop their kids off at school,

that they're going to be in a safe environment, free from harm. And I think it's not just the N-word, but, you know, you have all kind of misogynistic words that kids use based on race or religion or gender or sexual orientation. This is just making our schools safe. And that's why I believe that working with Representative Reynolds, the Legislative Black Caucus. We're going to get bipartisan support. You know, how can you be against legislation that says kids shouldn't treat other kids bad to the point that they want to drop out of school and commit suicide? How can you be against something like that? You just can't. You're going to be for it. And so we know that Ron Reynolds, Representative Ray, he's going to lead the charge and we're going to get this done.

Well, as you know, politics makes for strange bedfellows. So I can never put anything past a Republican legislature to oppose. But it seems like if there's going to be any bipartisan legislation, this will be the type that people should be able to get behind. For Ms. Manahan, before we go, I wanted to talk a little bit about what other steps the family are taking to try to reform this system. As you mentioned, you have other children in the system who are able to get out of the school. What other steps is the family taking currently to, one, try to stop these things from happening, but two, to make sure that the people responsible are held accountable? We're working with Mr. Overstreet and Dr. Matthews, O.L. and Mr. Ronalds and so many other community activists, along with our family. like we continue to voice, you know, to voice the facts that, you know,

racial discrimination and racism will not be, racism will not be tolerated. You know, as far as my children, you know, we continue to fight and stand as one so that we can keep Autumn encouraged again, allow her time to heal. I've been working with my cousin, Phyllis Gantant and a few more activists to get her the proper resources that she needs for her disability as well as so that she can move forward, whether it's homeschool. The goal and the key is to finish high school so that she can move forward with college because she's a brilliant individual. And the other two, again, we just continue to move

forward with turning our pain into purpose. And are these same administrators still in place? Are the same teachers, principals still there? Has anything been done from the state to remove them or to at least investigate what's happened thus far? They're still there in full effect. Well, you know, this is just the start. This is just the beginning. This is not the end. We're closer to the beginning than we are to the end of this. And, yeah, there's probably going to be some changes.

Absolutely. And, Dr. Matthews, what are some groups for people who are in the area who want to be involved, some groups that are leading this charge on making these sorts of changes? How can, where should people be signing up to work with you and other community groups if they really want to be part of these groups that are creating change in the community? Well, one of the groups is the Texas Coalition of Black Democrats. It's a good one. And then also you have the New Black Panther Nation. It's a good one. And then also you have the New Black Panther Nation is a good one. You have Pure Justice is a good one. I mean, they have different organizations that specializes in

different deals that you can actually become a part of. Because at the end of the day is that period when your child goes to school, your child is not supposed to go to school and come home traumatized. Absolutely not. Education's supposed to be free of racism. It's supposed to be free of any taunting. It's supposed to be free of bullying. And I'm going to say this again. You step on one of us, we all come.

So I want to leave a message to even these white supremacists that's looking at this. You step on one of us, we all coming. And Governor Hot Wheels, I ain't playing with you either. Absolutely. And Representative Reynolds, can you talk a bit more about the legislation and what the community needs to do to support this when you get back into session? Because I've been at the state capitol, and after about the first week, it's just you and the lobbyists there all the way until crossover day, basically. So what's the pressure the community needs to bring to make sure that this legislation is considered and passed? Well, that's a great point, And we need it all hands on deck. So, when the legislation is filed and a hearing is set in the committee, we want people to testify in support of the bill, because that's the first step, is to get it out of committee to the House

floor. We're going to be hoping there won't be a problem to get a Senate sponsor. I think Senator Boris Miles will be a great person to carry the bill in the Senate. But, ultimately, we want people to advocate. We want people to call their own state representative, their state senator, to say, hey, are you in favor of House bill whatever the number is? Do you support anti-bullying? Don't you believe that anti-bullying, all schools should have anti-bullying policies? So that is what people can be an advocate. They can be a citizen advocate. You don't have to be a high-paid lobbyist or someone with any specialized degrees. Everyone has an ability to use their social media to pick up the phone to make a visit to Austin. And that is what we encourage people to do, to be engaged. Don't be on the sideline.

Get in the game. Be in the trenches. None of us were there to be able to walk with Dr. King, and none of us had the ability to do some of those things. But now this is your civil rights moment. This is your ability to be a part of something special, to make a difference in the state for our future generations. And I encourage people to be engaged and involved. Dr. Matthews indicated different organizations that will be rallying, and everyone can be a part of those grassroots efforts. So that is what we're going to encourage people to do.

We're going to be disseminating that information via social media and email, and we hope that people will be engaged and involved. Starting on January 12th, the information that Judge Overstreet and Dr. Matthews has mentioned in the Lubbock area, and then going forward in Austin throughout the legislative session when this bill moves throughout the process. And Judge Overstreet can come to you next and just say that.

Go ahead. It'll be easy. You know, there are 150 state representatives and there are 31 state senators. Everybody doesn't have a black state rep or a black state senator. But it's a letter-writing campaign. You write your local rep, ask them about supporting the bill that Representative Reynolds is going to introduce. It's a letter-writing campaign. It's a calling campaign. The local chapter of the NAACP right there in Lubbock is going to be involved. They're involved. And so folks can always connect with the NAACP, the Lubbock chapter to get involved. They can call their clergy because

the clergy is really engaged. And, you know, it's not like, you know, we're not going to go in there and try to destroy the place. We're going to go in there to make changes. Some folks are going to have to go. Those who are not supportive, we're going to put the pressure on, and they're going to go. It's all about voter registration, voter education, and voter participation about that school board election

in May in which you have two at-large seats up. We have one brother on that board, and he needs some support. And we're going to show the people in the Slayton Independent School District that they're not standing alone. And we have a plan. You know what? We're not announcing all of it, but we have a plan of action. We have planned our work, and we're going to work our plan until we achieve success in the Slayton Independent School District. And that's going to help every school district in Texas. All right. Well, I want to thank all of you for joining us.

Judge Overstreet, State Representative Reynolds, Dr. Candace Matthews, and of course you, Ms. Manahan, for everything you've gone through. Please keep us updated, and we'll have you back on for our update once we get some resolution to this. I thank all of you for joining us. We're gonna be back right after the break.

You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. . hatred on the streets a horrific scene a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence white people are losing their damn minds there's an angry pro-trump mob storm to the u.s capital we've seen we're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history.

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Hey, I'm Deon Cole from Blackist. What's up? I'm Lance Gross and you're watching It was really important to have this conversation with the mother of Autumn Roberson Manahan, as well as civil rights activists and legislators who are working to bring a remedy to this situation. We see far too often that these end up simply being statistics, part of the white noise of the news cycle. Things that we see happen, but no one ever does anything about. As long as we allow that to take place, we create a situation where these will only proliferate and metastasize. We did not get to a place of January 6th on January the 5th. It took years of buildup before those people got to that breaking point. And when we see these things growing within our community, there has to be a response whereby we can hopefully bring these things to a peaceful resolution. But right now, we see the over-criminalization of our students, the overuse

of disciplinary processes against Black students in many school districts around the country, as well as a rise in this white supremacist bullying on campuses, both on the secondary and post-secondary level. We're going to go to our panel. We're going to start bringing in Mustafa Santiago Ali. Mustafa, what did you think about that conversation we had with the mother of Autumn Roberson Manahan and the activists who are working to create the change of the community to stop this from going forward? Well, I could feel the pain that she's dealing with and wanting to be able to make sure she's protecting her daughter, but at the same time also figuring out a pathway forward to address these injustices that have happened to her children.

If they've happened to her children, then they've happened to other black children that's there in the area. We should understand the dynamics, Robert, that's going on there in West Texas. We got 4 percent African-Americans that actually live in West Texas. About 46 percent are white, about 44 percent are Latin or Latinx, however you want to label it. And there's a number of dynamics that have been going on there for a while. If you remember back in June of 2020, Black Lives Matter folks had to come and actually deal with some of the injustices that were happening there. We've had injustice happening at West Texas A&M, where students have also had to deal

with these racist types of things that are going on. So in this moment, we really need to rally around that family and others with the steps that will be laid out as folks move forward if we want to make sure that there's real, true transformation. Because it's not just about one case. It is about making sure that there is a transformation that stops these types of things from being able to have fertile ground, as you mentioned earlier, with January 6th as an example, and that everyone can actually be protected so that they can learn and thrive there in West Texas. You know, there was a period of time where many of these types of bullying and hate crimes were on the downslope. You know, we saw for years the information tracked by Southern

Pottery Law Center, saw a number of white supremacist organizations taking a nosedive in the mid-2000s. We saw reports to the FBI and to the Justice Department of police brutality and hate crimes taking a nosedive. But they've been on the uptick, particularly since the Obama administration. But more so in the last two to three years, we've seen a massive uptick in white supremacist activity. Why do you think this is happening right now? What do you think is that cauterizing moment that is leading so many of these extremists to be more open and brazen to the point of simply calling this girl the N-word in the middle of school with everyone around out loud and just assuming nothing is going to happen? Well. Oh, sorry, sorry, Teresa.

Go ahead. Yeah, go ahead, Teresa. Sorry. Yeah, well, unfortunately, this is, you know, kind of where we are in our country. We have had a very tumultuous, you know, last couple of years as we, you know, even on the second day of Kwanzaa is trying to figure out how we figure out how to unify and how do we figure out what our next steps are. But I think in this country we have really had a bad taste of dysfunction and also just misorganization of how politics was actually supposed to be reconstructed. What do I mean by that? I mean that democracy right now is now being determined by the ways of how some of these elected officials utilize, you know, either social media or their own little blog posts to try to figure out, you know, how they define what the Constitution is, which is already is written. And so I think we have a lot of these, you know, individuals that are, you know,

either making different publications or are, you know, trying to figure out, you know, how they want to define what the country is. And we're seeing it actually, you know, not only come into our schools, but it's also, you know, coming into, you know, our home life. And that's why I think there has to be a restriction on a lot of some of these issues, you know, our home life. And that's why I think there has to be a restriction on a lot of some of these issues, you know, where we have to kind of get back to bases when it comes to tradition and politics. And Mustafa, you know, there was a period of time, there was a quote from Oprah from maybe a decade ago, where someone asked her about racism. And she said, well, a lot of old white people are going to have to die, kind of this concept that the older, older generations were more racist and that as they kind of died out,

we'd be having a more egalitarian society. But we're seeing more and more situations like this, where you're seeing young kids, teenagers, high school students exhibiting the same racist behavior that Jerry Jones was doing in the 1950s. So why do you think more young people now seem to be buying into the white supremacy of the online community, the white supremacy that's invasive in our media? And how do we go about ameliorating this of all these decades of efforts that still lead us to the same place? Yeah, well, you know, racism is a result of your environment, the environment of your family,

where you grow up, what you hear them saying, what their values are, whom they don't see value in. And it is also that greater environment, if you will, the folks who you hang out with, what's being done in your schools, and spoken about unofficially or officially in your churches and other types of organizations that you might be a part of. It is also a reflection of, you know, the former president who, you know, embraced racism and racist individuals as a part of his administration and those who came into the White House. But you can bring it even further home. You look at the things that Governor Abbott has done, you know, moving forward on a critical

race theory bill to ban it there in Texas, therefore making sure that students, young people don't know the true history of what black folks in this country have gone through and other folks of color as well. So you have all these compounding factors that are going on, along with some of the things, of course, that folks might see both on TV and also in music. So we've got to make sure that we're understanding all of these different ways that folks are being influenced and the way that they see others. Now, what do we do about it? Well, there are a number of things that we can do about it. When we see these injustices happening, we continue to put a spotlight on it. We continue to utilize the policies that are on the books. When I was watching, you know, the previous set of folks who were sharing, the first thing

I thought about was Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. You know, it says that it prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, and programs and activities that receive federal assistance and funds. So the Department of Education has given dollars to the state of Texas, and then the state of Texas has moved those dollars down to the counties and the local governments. So the Department of Education plays a role in making sure that folks know that this type of behavior will not be accepted. The Department of Justice has a role to play to also step in and make sure that folks are being held accountable to the letter of the law. There are a number of things that we can do to make sure that we're helping young people

to understand that these types of behaviors is not acceptable. But we can't just leave it on young people. I heard so many people talking about them. And yes, they are part of the process. But it is also about those adults who allow this type of actions and behaviors to go on for a considerable amount of time. And they have to be held accountable also. So we just, you know, we just got to continue to push forward. But for me, accountability is real big.

And that accountability happens by hitting people in their pocketbooks, by holding people to the laws that are on the books, and then for us to make sure that we are also holding the culture also accountable for the things that sometimes we continue to pump out there that's not beneficial to our people in any form or fashion. I want to bring Attorney DeMario Simmons or Solomon Simmons into the conversation. So let's just talk about this from a legal perspective. Your parent, your child is being bullied at school. They're victims of racial threats. You report them to the administration. Absolutely nothing is done by the administration to address the racial taunts from the students. Your child gets into a fight with one of the racists and they punish your child

with a 45-day suspension and sentenced to alternative school. She runs away from home and attempts to commit suicide. What sort of remedies are available to a family in a situation like this? Is there a cause of action that they can file suit against the District 4? What can be done if another family finds themselves in a situation like this? Yeah, good to see everybody. A couple of things. I'm out of doubt with this situation on many occasions, unfortunately, for parents and students. Number one, you want to file a complaint with the Department of Education, a Title VI complaint. I heard my brother Mustafa looking good in that pink jacket, by the way, mentioned that. So that's certainly something you can do. Number two, you can file a Title VI lawsuit. Let me tell you about

this Title VI lawsuit. I have tell you about this Title VI lawsuit. I have several that I have done. I have a big one going on right now with the University of Iowa. You know, this is so systematic, because our Supreme Court back in April of this year, they gutted Title VI, and they made it where you cannot get emotional damages related to Title VI claims. And what does that mean? That means that this young lady who's

suffering from this mental and emotional strain that caused her to commit suicide, those type of damages may be barred under Title VI based upon the United States Supreme Court decision. Because as Mustafa stated and Teresa stated also, this country systematically is racist, and they're systematically trying to erode civil rights laws and other policies and laws that have been put in place for decades to try to make this country less racist and more equitable. But you still got to bring the lawsuit. And then in the state of Texas, there may be some type of state-based lawsuit. If this was happening in Oklahoma or I had a case similar in Seattle, Washington, you could file a tort claim. Now, in Texas, they do things with tort claims a little

different, and I'm not really up on that, so I want to speak about it. But if I'm a parent or if I'm an advocate or if I'm a community member, you've got to do everything you possibly can to push this type of case alone. And then we got to reach out to our federal officials. I mean, I like to call it my congresswoman, because I don't have one here in Oklahoma, Representative Sheila Jackson Lee. I would say reach out to her office. She's someone I found anyone that reaches out to her, she's going to, her officer will respond. But we need to have federal intervention. We already talked about the Department of Justice. We continue to give billions and billions of dollars to the Pentagon and for wars overseas, but barely, barely,

barely funded the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice needs to be quadrupled at minimum to deal with these type of cases because, as Mustafa stated, Trump unleashed what was underneath the surface, what was always there. Trump unleashed it and allowed people the opportunity and the cover to come out and be that full 100 racist self. And we're going to need a full 100 anti-racist policies, laws, and practices to put it back to just where we were just eight years ago. You're absolutely correct. And after the break, we're going to talk to the attorney who's filed a complaint against the Lubbock School District, Paige Dugans-Clay, civil rights attorney with the Intercultural Development Research Association, to talk about exactly what you and Mustafa and Teresa were just saying about the legal remedies that are available and the legal actions that are currently taking place to stop this school district from harming more black children. We'll be back after the break on Rolling Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Sur Network. I'm Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, and my new show, Get Wealthy, focuses on the things

that your financial advisor and bank isn't telling you, but you absolutely need to know. So watch Get Wealthy on the Black Star Network. On the next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, it's time to tie up those loose ends. Setting yourself up for balance, success, and even prosperity in the new year. Financial expert Pamela Sams joins our panel. She will give us a checklist of things that we need to do before the calendar turns. We develop our money mindset by the age of six. And so we have our sometimes six-year-old self still operating in the background of our money scripts. That's next on A Balanced Life on Blackstar Network.

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It's the love king of R&B, Raheem Devon, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Paige Dugan Clay is a civil rights attorney in Texas, was part of the Intercultural Development Research Association. Her organization has filed a criminal complaint, or sorry, filed a racial discrimination complaint against the Slayton Independent School District. She joins us now to talk about the complaint. Ms. Clay, how are you doing this evening? Good evening. I'm doing very well. I've enjoyed some rest from the holiday and really grateful for the opportunity to continue to share these family stories with y'all.

Well, thank you so much for all that you're doing. Can you talk a little bit about the lawsuit that has been filed? What was the basis of it and what are the remedies that are being sought? Thanks, Robert. Just to be really clear, so my amazing organization, IDRA, we're a nonprofit, nonpartisan civil rights organization dedicated to educational equity. proud to work alongside the Lubbock area and the NAACP and the families that you heard from earlier and several other families in the Lubbock area to file complaints with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, seeking exactly what you just heard this last panel talking about, really seeking the Department of Education to take a look at the practices that are happening both in Slayton ISD and in its neighboring district, Lubbock Cooper ISD, and to investigate and determine

whether these school districts are following the law of Title VI in terms of preventing hostile environments, preventing and responding appropriately to racial discrimination and harassment, and not engaging in discriminatory disciplinary practices, which you heard the Manahan family, in addition to so many other families in the area, have really been experiencing. And so what we're really looking for is the department to take a look and to help facilitate these districts coming to the table, taking steps to make changes so that this doesn't happen to any family again. How pervasive is this issue of racial bullying and racial harassment in this region that clearly is not just the Manahans. There are other students enough to necessitate both legislation on the state level and this

lawsuit. How pervasive an issue is this? Yeah, unfortunately, you know, this is an issue that we're experiencing not just in the Lubbock area, but across the state, indeed across the nation, as you've heard about from other experts. Even since filing the complaint, our organization, along with our partners, the Texas Civil Rights Project and the ACLU of Texas, have been receiving other complaints from communities in San Antonio and elsewhere, and as far as El Paso. So this is not just limited to one district. I'm very grateful for the many members of the state House of Representatives and the state Senate who are considering legislation to address this issue. What I can tell you is that our partners at the Elwinger Law Firm received calls as far back as a year ago in the Lubbock Cooper community,

and they've been working with the families out there to try to get accountability for, by my last count, 10, 12 different students who've been impacted just in this small sort of West Texas town. And so we know that it's happening. We know that the broader culture of suppressing truthful conversations and dialogue about cultural, racial histories of differences is not helping matters and, in fact, fanning the flames in that. You heard mention of some of the legislation that's been passed in Texas and is sweeping really across the nation that's really censoring our educators and our school leaders' ability to address this effectively and really would urge the legislature to consider taking steps to make sure that educators know that we really shouldn't tolerate and we should

make sure that kids understand the history, the deeply harmful impact of this sort of language and give educators and kids the tools to learn from this and to not continue to repeat these really shameful behaviors. You know, I can hear the conservative response now saying, well, this is just woke liberal cancel culture trying to criminalize students, just playing games on the schoolyard and trying to turn everything into a big racial grievance card. What's the response to the opponents of this who, of course, want to maintain the status quo, which is white supremacy? What is being done in order to deal with those things? And also, how can we get actual bipartisan legislation done or even a civil judgment when you have a good portion of the population that feels that issues like this do not affect them and therefore not a big deal? Yeah, thanks so much for the question. I think the reality is that the families in Slayton, the Manahan family, the other

really brave families in Lubbock Cooper, they're not asking for special treatment. They're not asking for anything outrageous. They're just asking for a safe, supportive, non-discriminatory learning environment for their children. And that's what every parent wants for their child. I don't know. It was said earlier, I don't know who could possibly oppose, you know, any kind of policy change that would ensure that educators have the tools that they need to respond effectively to prevent and then eliminate, once it does occur, racialized bullying and harassment, in addition to other forms of bullying and harassment, which we know is on the rise. And for those who would oppose it, I'd ask them to have a conversation with Ms. Manahan

or other families, the Kemp family out in Lubbock-Cooper, about the really horrific impact that these current policies and the current failure to follow law under Title VI and school policies, the impact that it's had on their children. I think you should talk to Autumn and see how it's derailed and impacted her life. And if you still can have a conversation with those folks and with those parents and those students about how this has impacted them and feel that the status quo is okay, then that says more about you than it does than any of the other advocates just looking for high quality education for their kiddos. Where is this racial discrimination complaint at currently? How close is it to actually getting a decision or ruling on it?

And what can be done from other organizations who might want to file an amicus brief? What can be done to help support it going along? Yeah, thanks so much for the question. At this stage, it's just an administrative complaint with the Department of Education. And so folks can show their support by supporting the organizations on the ground doing this work. The most important organization you can reach out to is the Lubbock Area NAACP.

They are providing direct on-the-ground support and resources for the impacted families. They're trying to provide counseling and other mental health and other tutoring and academic support, career and mentorship to the kiddos out there who've been impacted. Not all of them can leave these schools, right? And so having that direct on-the-ground support is really, really important. And I'm super proud of the great advocacy and support that Lubbock NAACP has been doing. In addition, I think the previous panel did a very excellent job of laying out the need for both state level and federal legislation to address the gaps in our current civil rights law. We need to make it clear that

when this sort of behavior happens, educators have an obligation to respond, and not just by kicking kids out of the classroom, not just by, you know, calling an assembly, which is what happened in this case, and suggesting that, oh, we don't do this. It has to be meaningful. It requires deep education. It requires investing and training so that people can recognize and have the, really facilitate these difficult conversations so that kids can learn to respect each other and to not engage in this harmful behavior. And it requires investing in support for kiddos who are experiencing it.

We know that these have, the impacts of bullying can have horrific challenges and roadblocks for our kids, mental health-related challenges, career and developmental challenges. And so really investing in supports for kids who are the victims and helping them stay on track when they are impacted. And so really going to the state house, raising their voice. and supports for kids who are the victims and helping them stay on track when they are impacted.

And so really going to the statehouse, raising their voice. You can follow IDRA.org and sign up for our updates. We'll be sure to provide opportunities to how to testify in the state legislative session and to connect you with other folks on the ground in the Lubbock area and beyond for those who want to reach out to the families that are directly impacted. If this complaint is successful, what's the next step? What are the remedies that are being requested? What are the changes that can be made as a result of this complaint that may work in conjunction with the state-level legislation as well as the potential litigation on behalf of the families? Absolutely. So the really, really powerful thing about complaints with the

Department of Education is that they, in many ways, not quite maybe the impact of this legislation, but in many ways they can have this really wonderful systemic impact of creating guidance, not only for the districts that are the focus of the complaint, but putting other school districts on notice. And so if you look at the summary of the complaint that IDRA and our colleagues put together, you can view that on our website, we've made a number of requests for the department to facilitate a resolution. They include training and education for educators so that they respond appropriately, not only in response, but to prevent racialized bullying from happening at all, to provide that supportive measures, to eliminate the use of discriminatory discipline practices like DAP, which you've heard so much about and which is

disproportionately foisted on Black children and children with disabilities. And so we're really hopeful that the department will look at those requests. We think the facts in these cases speak for themselves. Unfortunately, as with many types of legal action, these complaints can take time. And so we think we've done a good job laying out the information to the department along with our partners. We have really wonderful counsel at the Elwinger Law Firm that has been assisting with this, and I know will lead negotiations on the complainant's behalf. And we're really hopeful that in the next couple of months, the department will help facilitate a resolution that everybody can be really proud of. And we're really hopeful that in the next couple of months, the department will help facilitate a resolution that everybody can be really proud of. And I'm really hopeful

that the districts involved will view this as an opportunity to make positive change. Well, when you talk about a resolution that everyone can agree upon, what would that look like? What would be kind of the ideal resolution that you think can come out of this complaint that would really help to ameliorate the problem? Yeah, I think the number one thing that these families, you know, we've been meeting with them for the last several months in sort of a community setting. And what I'm hearing from those families is that what they want, first and foremost, is an acknowledgement that the way that they have been treating is not right, it's unfair, and that it needs to change. And then sort of creating those opportunities for the community

to be involved in crafting the resolution. And so one of the requests that we've made at the department is that they ask the school districts to convene a community-based groups where parents and students and other community groups can have input on the school's policies, can have an opportunity to provide feedback, to have direct access to school leaders so that they can hear directly from parents and they can no longer be ignored. I think that's a really critical component of any agreement. And then, you know, just getting back to basics, Title VI is really not that complicated of a law. You've got to prevent racial harassment in all its forms, and you cannot engage in discriminatory discipline. And here, just the reflexive use of placing Black children in DAP is just sort of per se questionable,

and we're really hoping that the department will urge these districts to stop relying on DAP to have clarity in its policies that we consider in accordance with school policies, progressive discipline policies, in terms of looking at restorative justice options, in terms of looking at alternatives to exclusionary discipline, and really things that will help make the whole school community better instead of just using this form of punishment, which we know hurts kids. Absolutely. Thank you so much, Paige Duggins-Clay, civil rights lawyer from the Intercultural Development Research Association. Please keep us updated on this complaint and what's being done to changing things going forward.

We really appreciate all that you do in the community. We're going to be back after the break on Rolling Modern Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. I love directing. It's a different kind of piece. I do believe that the 30

years I was acting was to prepare me for what I'm supposed to be doing and that what I'm really good at. But when you were acting, were you even thinking about directing? Nope. So what the hell happened? If you had asked me 15 years ago, I probably would have said, no, I don't know. I was doing Ava DuVernay's first film, I Will Follow. And during that process, I think because it was her first film, maybe I...

Did she self-taught? Absolutely. I probably gave too many suggestions. And at some point, Ava said to me, I think you're a director and you don't know it. hatred on the streets a horrific scene white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence violence. White people are losing their damn minds. There's a manly pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting.

I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. We're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it or not. From politics to music and entertainment, it's a huge part of our lives. And we're going to talk about it every day right here on The Culture with me, Faraji Muhammad, only on the Black Star Network.

I'm Angie Stone. Hi, I'm Teresa Griffin. Oh, Roland. Hey, Roland. I am so disappointed that you are not here, first of all. Where's our dance? It's like we get a dance in every time I see you. And so now you're not here for me to dance with, sir.

You and your ascot. I need it. I need that in my life right now. Okay. I love you, Roland. What's up? I'm Lance Gross, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered.

Ever since last year's assassination of the president of Haiti, Joyce Moyet, we've seen increased international attention on much of what's going on with Western intervention there on the island and the increased political instability that has resulted. As many of you know,

for the last 200 years, there's been a open war on the island nation of Haiti by the Western powers since they achieved independence as the first free slave and free African nation in the Western hemisphere. Here to discuss much of what is going on to try to reestablish political leadership there on the island is from the Illinois Haitian American Lords Association, Ms. Anastasia Sanat. Ms. Sanat, how are you doing this afternoon? Good. Thank you so much for having me. Well, thank you so much for joining us. And can you talk a little bit about what is going on on

the island? Because much of this has fallen out of the news. But what we have seen is there's an absolute need for all of us who live within the diaspora to monitor what Western powers are doing there and also to make sure that we are establishing basic human rights and self-governance on the island. Yeah, basically, I've heard a lot of different things from the news, but I also have some family that live in Haiti. And what I've learned is that a lot of the children are not going to school, particularly in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. The reason why they're not going to school is because of the violent, brutal gangs that exist in Haiti. There's about 200 gangs throughout the entire country of Haiti. About 95 of them are in the capital city. They've controlled the roads.

They control the fuel. They control walkways and pathways for people to go to work, from work, to school, from school, and of course, just everyday living. So we've got a situation in which they've crippled the influx of regular treatment for those that have health concerns. Particularly, there's an increase now of cholera, about 15,000 cases. A batch of vaccines just arrived in the country, but at the end of the day, we still have people that are not getting educated, that are people that are not working, people are unable to eat because they're unable to produce the food that they need in order to survive or even purchase the food that they need to survive. We also have a situation where we have a lot of political unrest. There's a current person in leadership, which is Ariel Henry, but he's been unable to get the international

community to assist him or at least come to a common goal that the Haitian people can support. That is the trouble with being able to get them back into, I guess you can say, balance. You talk a lot about the international community and what they can do to help, but I think many Haitians are very wary of international assistance because it seems like every time the international community helps, things get worse. Can you talk a little bit about what is actually needed to improve things there without any of the situations such as after the earthquake, when the UN came in and basically fathered an entire generation of children and left the island, or when the United States went in in the 90s to help and ended up launching their own political coup and replacing the president? How can they actually have assistance without Western intervention trying to actually take over?

Well, that's about education, because the international communities that have gone there in the past, as you've identified, you know, we've had a successful slavery vote, and that's why Haiti has been a target for so many centuries from the international community, because of their resources. But then you also had the occupation of the United States back in the early 1900s. And then, of course, you've had various natural disasters in which the international community, especially charity organizations, have provided assistance. And then others like the American Red Cross did not provide sufficient assistance. So first of all,

those charity organizations are needed, but they've been quietly leaving the country, number one. Number two, we would need, in order for this to occur, is then to learn from the mistakes. You can't go into a country and destabilize the country with your actions and then expect it to be stabilized after you leave. So it's important that the international community understand the mistakes of the past and not repeat them. What kind of guarantees can the international community give to the Haitian people? I'm unsure. We hear a lot in the NGO community about the idea of Haiti fatigue, that they feel like there's always something bad going on in Haiti,

and therefore the international community is simply tired of hearing about it and tired of helping. People have grown numb to the crises after crises. What can be done to try to restore the same type of international assistance as we're seeing, for example, in Ukraine? Ukraine seems to have an infinite well of good, of well wishes and money coming to them. How can we have that same sort of support and communication and assistance without the soft version of colonialization that we've seen in the past to actually help the people on the island? And the distinction between Ukraine, obviously, and Haiti is that Ukraine is just facing their situation now. It's recent. It hasn't been ongoing like Haiti. Haiti has had an ongoing influx of conflict,

not only from the people, but from the international community. They've constantly had to fight for what it is that they have. So in order for people to stop being weary, it's for them to understand why these things have occurred for so long in Haiti. It is for them to educate themselves on the Haitian history and the Haitian condition is a result of that history. It's not like something that came overnight. This is something that's been going on for years and years and years. So if you are strong in your character, strong in your mind, then you have to understand that dealing with gangs without any weapons, dealing with gangs without any police, dealing with gangs without any police, dealing with gangs without any body that's there in order to protect you,

then that is why not only the citizens are tired, but I can understand why the community, the international community that wants to help is tired. But you can't be tired. You have to be vigilant. You have to persevere and maintain your strength. We're seeing a kind of friction between, one, the need for democratic rule in Haiti, but then secondarily that that democratic rule has to be at the acquiescence of the U.S. and the other Western powers, that when the Haitian people have elected leadership that the Americans disagree with, the Americans seem to find a way to get rid of that Haitian leadership just magically, just out of nowhere. What can be done to actually install or to elect the type of leadership that can be representative of the people, but also not simply under the thumb or under the dictates of the American government? Because we've seen now both Canadian and U.S.

troops taking up residence on the island, ostensibly to protect the embassy and to establish order. But we know that normally leads to further conflict and colonization. So in order to, quite frankly, have a free and fair election, you're going to need the opportunity for people to feel free to leave their homes. And right now they don't feel free to leave their homes. So security definitely needs to be a common goal in order to be established by the international community. The second thing I would say that the international community can do, like here in the United States, we have a different way in order to hear the voice of the people with our vote. And in order to make sure that their votes are secure, we would have to provide them with that opportunity. And in order to provide them

with that opportunity, sometimes services are going to be needed. So electricity would need to be restored. Water would need to be restored. There would have to be opportunities for people to set up shop without having the fear of being raided by those that are political allies of the wrong party, so to speak. So in those situations, when you put those three things together, you know, one, security, two, free and fair elections and support of the community in order to bring those equipment, things that we have here in the United States there, that will allow people to get a political powerhouse that they've selected. At this point, I believe the second Monday is the last of the 10 elected Senate members' terms. There's supposed to be about 30 Senate members, and right now there's only 10. So there's going to be a dire situation in Haiti for sure.

And, you know, we're over a year out from the assassination of the previous president. But has there been any updates on the investigation into exactly who killed him and what was behind the plot behind that? Because normally when a head of state is assassinated, it lasts for more than one news cycle. It seemed that it just happened and then disappeared from the international press and media and nothing ever came out of it. There was Colombian mercenaries that were arrested, and that's something that we do know. We also know that there were some Haitian people out of here in the United States that helped to organize and finance that. But again, it goes back to resources. They're trying to destabilize the country in order to get at their resources.

So obviously there's people in the international community that want this to occur. And that is why it's been over a year since they've had an elected president in office. So in order to satisfy that, it goes back to what I've said. You need to make sure that the international community does not repeat its mistakes. I don't see colonization occurring again. I don't believe that the 11.4 million people that are on the island will allow that to occur. But in the end of the day, you do need to make sure that you're doing agreements and making treaties that work for the people that are there. Absolutely. And you talked a little bit about organizations that are really reaching out and doing the right work. We've seen some of the larger NGOs, they'll raise a bunch of money,

they'll spend it on CEO salaries, plane rides, airing commercials, telethons, all that stuff. And the amount of money that actually gets to the ground where people need it is minimal. What are some organizations that people do want to donate and people do want to make a difference that they should be reaching out to that are actually doing the real work on the ground?

Well, there's about three or four different organizations that are currently on the ground. One of them is Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. They're actually about 95 miles away from Port-au-Prince, and they have an elementary school, and that is still operational. However, you have to think about other organizations like Jeremy, they have an organization that's based out of Fort Lauderdale, and they go into Jeremy, which, again, is not in the capital city. And then you have other organizations that you'd have to look into in order to find out if they're truly on the ground. One organization out of Illinois called the Concerned Haitian Americans of Illinois, They used to do medical mission trips to Cape Haitian, but they're unable to do that at this time

because of the insecurity that exists. So we do need to make sure that we're supporting these organizations before they even get back on the ground because it's going to be imperative for them to not only get the food, the medical supplies, as well as the fuel

in order to do the service that they're going to be doing. So if you can't actually get to an organization on the ground, think of the organizations that are here in the United States prepping up to get on the ground as ways to help. Absolutely. I want to thank you so much for joining. Also, so it's almost New Year's. Have you started shopping for your soup yet? You know, my mom has already got her stuff together. The soup julep, for those that don't know. You can't lean on your mom. You've got to make it this year.

Yeah, I go to my mama's house. No, no, you've got to make it yourself. You've got to pass that baton on forward. I will. I've got to do a Zoom call with my mom to make sure that I have mine up and running because she makes fun of mine every year that I make it. How about you just teach me how instead of just laughing at me? I'm just thinking that I can see how hard it is sometimes for the gentleman to get it together. But I, on the other hand, have learned that I can just wait until I have

to get it together. Until I have to get it together, I'm okay not getting it together. But I, on the other hand, have learned that I can just wait until I have to get it together. Until I have to get it together, I'm okay not getting it together. Look, I've learned that it is not optional. For some reason, whether I want to make it or not, I just kind of start making it about two days beforehand. It just kind of shows up in my refrigerator. So there's something about that DNA that's very powerful. How can people get in contact with your group, particularly their lawyers in Illinois that want to participate and want to be involved and to make sure we are actually getting the type of support on the ground that we need? Well, we have a website, h-a-l-a-i-l dot o-r-g, hollaillinois.org. We also have an email address. You can email us directly at holla.illinois at gmail.com. Address 321 South Plymouth Court in Chicago, Illinois.

All right. Well, thank you so much for everything that you've done. We're going to get updates from you, of course, as things progress. And we just want to make sure that we are keeping an eye or having to our brothers and sisters in the diaspora the same way everyone else uses their media to highlight what's going on with their people around the world. We've got to make sure that we're doing the same so we're getting the needs of the system. And everybody, this is the point of having black media so that we can cover stories about ourselves. This is why it's important. You've got to make sure you like on the YouTube page. As Roland always says, we need to be at 1,000 likes before the end.

And look, some of the shows from last week are right around 100,000 views. Share the clips. I want Roland to get back to be able to throw things in his face, like 100,000, 110,000, 150,000. So make sure you're doing that to support and make sure you're helping them grow here at Roland Martin Unfiltered. Thank you so much, Attorney Sinat. Thank you. Thanks. We will be back after the break. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered streaming live on the Black Star Network. Next on the Black Table with me, Greg Carr.

We welcome the Black Star Network's very own Roland Martin, who joins us to talk about his new book, White Fear, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds. The book explains so much about what we're going through in this country right now, and how as white people head toward becoming a racial minority, it's going to get, well, let's just say, even more interesting.

We are going to see more violence. We're going to see more vitriol. Because as each day passes, it is a nail in that coffin. The one and only Roland Martin on the next Black Table, right here on the Black Star Network. There's an angry pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting.

I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the rise of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources,

they're taking our women. This is white fear. Hey, I'm Amber Stevens-West. I'm Avery Sunshine. So this is Roger Ball. I got a message for Roland Mascot. Oh, I'm sorry, Ascot Martin. Buddy, you're supposed to be hooking me up with some of these mascots. I'm sorry, ascots that you claim to wear. Where's mine, buddy? Where's mine? That's all I got to say to you, okay?

Mascot, goodbye. Hi, this is Essence Atkins, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. A child's dream inspired a mom to create a business to show her sons how to visualize what he could be in the future. Colorful Plates is a specifically designed children's tableware and lifestyle company with diverse characters portraying children doing things they imagine doing in the future. Joining me from Houston, Texas, is the founder and CEO, Robin Oloyoye. Robin, how are you doing today? I'm good. How are you doing? Thanks for having me. I'm outstanding, and thank you so much for joining us. So tell us a little bit about

Colorful Plates. What was the idea about it, around it? Because it's something that's not really intuitive, the idea of having diverse and inspirational tableware for children. Yeah. So I started it because my son told me he wanted to be an astronaut. And I looked up and down for an astronaut that represented my son, and I couldn't find anything at the stores. And I was really mulling over how do I create something for my son and, you know, help him spark his dreams. And I happened to be in the kitchen that day and I was really hungry. And I ended up with children's tableware. So it worked itself out really well. But the whole purpose of Colorful Plates is to be able to put something in front of your child on a daily basis that is not a toy,

that can spark these internal family conversations at mealtime and really help with the trajectory of, you know, their future. You know, that's great. And I find it interesting how when people kind of take these ideas that they have and turn them into companies, you know, one of my mentors called it divine inspiration. Where did you go from simply having this thought and this idea with your son to formalizing it, turning it into a company and turning it into something where you could spread this message throughout the community? Yeah. So what happened was I started putting my plate in front of my son and he would have friends over or I would send him to school with his lunch and he

would say, I want to bring my plate with me. And it started getting around other children. And then I realized that not only my son needed this, but all children needed it. And then more specifically, you know, our children need it because internally in the home, that's where you really learn and find out who they are. It's a safe space. And you're also there to encourage them to be the best person that they can be. So it ended up turning into a really big business, basically out of an intrinsic need as a parent for me to help my child. And I don't think I can think of any parents out there who don't want to help their child at all. So it just turned into a business. And I love it because that's my passion is helping children see themselves like they imagine and dream to become.

Now, how does it go from kind of the idea to the first place? You know, it's not intuitive for most people to be able to make children's tableware. How did you get the prototypes put together? You know, what was kind of the shark tank of it all? Were you able to bring this to market? You know, I literally had to Google for it took me a few months to figure out how I could even do this. And there is a market out there. There are manufacturers here in the United States that do help people manufacture these products. And I ended up working through quite a few different manufacturers

to get to have a working prototype. So I went through somebody in China and I was like, this is not going to work because I really wanted a good product. I wanted a high-end product, something that parents can toss in the microwave or put in the dishwasher if they're having a really busy day. But at the same time, the child has an heirloom product that they see themselves, you know, and it's not a Paw Patrol or a character. It is actually themselves. And they end up staring at themselves and just loving the idea of seeing themselves on a plate. So it did take some trial and error to get a manufacturer, but it was a good process to have.

You know, it's interesting. During the pandemic, my wife brought a cricket machine. I'm like, well, what's that? She said, I'm going to make a couple of mugs. We have an entire floor of our house now dedicated to that. So I've seen these things start to snowball

from I'm just going to make one to now I'm running an entire sweatshop where my husband is the chief manual labor there working on it. So can you talk a little bit about how many different plates you have or products you have currently and what's kind of the growth idea where you want to take this in the next five years or so? Yeah, so we focus on professions first and then of course, imaginary dream things. So we have astronauts, we have ballerinas, we have doctors, dentists that we're actually gonna be putting out.

And then from there, we have mermaids and all different types of fun play things for children to use their imagination while they go through meals. In the next five years or so, I honestly, I have so many ideas for colorful plates. I the next five years or so, I honestly, I have so many ideas for colorful plates. I can't talk about all of them right now, but I just know that I want to continue to grow. I want to have as many plates as possible. I'm

going to say it here first. I want a million plates on tables so that way children can basically change their trajectory. I definitely know that there has not been one person that I've met in my life that has not had a meal that has been metamorphic for them and a positive outcome has come from that. And because of that, that's why my passion is behind Colorful Plates, because I think if you put this down in front of a child, it's basically going to help them confirm who they feel that they are. I want to bring the panel in because I think this is an absolutely outstanding idea. And the fact that it's not, you know, as you said, Paw Patrol or another one of a Marvel character or cartoon or something, it's inspiring them and giving them

these messages that you can be a doctor, a lawyer, an astronaut, a engineer, et cetera. Teresa, did you have a question? Yeah, well, thank you so much for this wonderful place. I'm an entrepreneur myself, and I am always looking for other opportunities to support. So I think my question is, you know, as you were looking at, you know, different characters and you saw the reaction with, you know, I'm sure your kids behind it, what made you, you know, say, you know, I have to, you know, do this project and want to make sure that it gets on everybody else's table? That's a great question. And I'm not going to lie to you as a, as a fellow entrepreneur, there's been plenty of times

and I'm like, this is not the right one. Let's just stop and start over again. There's just something so powerful about having meals as families. I think a lot of people actually learned that during the pandemic that, you know, sitting down together and having these conversations was something that they were missing. And so it really just fall right in line to what my passion was. So I just said, I just have to keep going. And honestly, tableware is an essential, right? And it might not be an essential for somebody who may not have children, but when you actually start investing in your child, you realize, hey, this is worth it. This is worth it for me to put this down on the table. It's worth it for me to have these conversations because you never know what could come from it. Even just saying, what do astronauts eat can turn into, well, when I go to space, can you pack a plate for me? I want to take it up to space. You know, you never know what's going to happen. So. That's outstanding. Mustafa, did you have a question? Yeah, well, first of all, this is such an incredible tool, both for educationally and psychologically. I'm curious, you know,

there were a number of our businesses, businesses of color during the pandemic that did not survive, did not thrive. I'm curious, were there lessons learned from, you know, from you when you were going through that, that's going to help your business to be stronger moving forward? Oh, absolutely. So one of my manufacturers, actually the first one, when the pandemic started, we were still really small and we were starting to get orders in and the manufacturer told us, you're too small. We're putting you at the bottom of the barrel. So our customers were actually taking a hit, right? And I'm all about customer service, making sure that our people are taken care of. And I literally had to say, if they decide not to manufacture my products,

what do I need to do? So from there, I decided to create another branch of my company. So if you were to go to our website, which is colorfulplates.com, you would see that we also have ready-made sets that I've had imported over, but those are available at any point in time.

If you talk about our plates that are on our website, like for example, this is my son, this is the original plate right here. You can customize this with the name. This is with our current manufacturer in the United States. But I wanted to provide myself with an opportunity to be able to pivot always and be able to have a product on the market that is not waiting on somebody else to fulfill it for me. That's outstanding. And Demario, did you have a question? Yeah, I wanted to know, how can you get these plates?

Is it just through your website? Are you selling at any retail opportunities? And then that's number one. And number two, has schools, it seems like schools or daycares with black children and brown children will be wanting something like this to help bring into the school system, to bring up the self-esteem, et cetera, of these kids? So those are my two questions. Okay. Well, the first question, I'll go to the second question first. So

when it comes to the schools, we're actually developing a school tray. So be on the lookout for that because we will be able to approach school districts and basically have all of our astronauts out there or different professions that they can use inside of the schools and also paper goods as well. So that is one area that we are expanding into. And then you'll have to say your second question again. I'm just so excited. I left my mind. No problem. We're excited to have you. We're excited to expose you to our magnificent Black audience and others who are watching. I was wanting to know, you could tell us, how do we get the product? Is it just through your website, or can we go to some retail establishment, et cetera? Yeah.

So our website is colorfulplates.com, and you can purchase our plates on there. And you can see anything that's on there can be customizable. It's a nice product. It is microwavable, dishwasher, freezer, and oven safe. And actually, if you can look right here, you can see that that's the name on there. And that's actually my son as a president. In addition to that, we are in museums across the United States. And we do have a few online retailers as well. And we have our ready-made sets on amazon.com. And you can order those through our website website or you can order them directly through Amazon

and type in Colorful Plates, Colorful, F-U-L-L, Plates. Good deal. And also, I understand there might be a discount from Roland Martin viewers. Absolutely. So if you use the discount code Roland, you get 15% off at checkout and it's available through January 1st.

You can see on the screen right there, that's our Instagram at Colorful Plates. Feel free to follow us on Facebook as well. And again, ColorfulPlates.com. So that's ColorfulPlates.com. You can customize your plate. They're great heirloom products. We have a Medicaid to this day that doesn't love their plate. And can you talk a little bit about this kind of customization process? Do I kind of go to the website and say, look, I want my kid to be Tiger Woods or something, and you guys can create a plate of that nature?

Or is it kind of like a set number of things that they can choose from? You can kind of customize it with a name or face. This walkers through the process of how people order these. So it's a pretty simple process. All of our characters are proprietary. So I developed all of them. So any character that you see is modeled after a child that I know. And you can go on there and you can look through the professions,

find a child that resembles the child that you're searching for. And then you add a name on there. So you can choose from different fonts to add that on there. And then you press purchase and then we create your product for you and it comes to your door personalized. All you have to do is wash it and put it on the table and be ready to have a great experience. And what's the turnaround timeline

from the time they order to when the plates are in front of their children? Yeah, so it takes about three weeks because every item is a custom item that we create for you. It is made directly for you. Nobody else will have the same plate as you. During the holidays, it took a little bit longer, but the average time is up to three weeks. We try to get it to you earlier if possible. And just when it comes to growing this, because I can see this being, as Mario said, you know, in every daycare around the country, every school or even on the shelves at Target.

What are the plans to kind of ramp this up to that next level so that we can all be sitting here like I knew her when? What we see on the cover of Essence and all those other magazines doing your TED Talks and stuff. Hey, it's starting right here, right now. Just being able to talk to my community, making sure that everybody knows what's available to them, being able to understand what the investments are. The next year,

we're really going to be focused on ramping up with retailers, getting to know them. It takes a while to do that process. And we are in big competition with a lot of big characters out there, but I'm really confident that our characters stand out on their own

and they represent so many good things all the way around. So look for us in retailers in the next year. And if you happen to be in any of the museums across the country, the Baltimore Museum of Art is one of our big, big partners that we work with. Just walk in there and you'll see us in there. And before we run out of time, I wanted to just talk a little bit about the importance of something like this, because there was a study done recently that said for kind of the first time ever, more young people wanted to be social media influencers than wanted to be astronauts. If you look at the top professions for children, it used to be teacher, fireman, police officer,

something along those lines. And now it's turned into influencer, entertainer, rapper, athlete, et cetera. Can you talk about the importance of exposing our children to these images of themselves and a form of success that isn't necessarily about singing or entertaining or influencing, but actually having these careers that are really going to rebuild our communities? Yeah. So if you didn't know this, children eat about 17,000 times between the ages of 2 and 11. And that's just in the United States. And a lot of times children say, I want to be a singer or whatever it may be, and they don't understand all the work that goes behind it.

So being able to say, hey, you know, in your history, your ancestors, you had engineers, you had mathematicians, and they were the people who were able to create some of these cool products that you see today. You can still have that path, but you may be able to do it and get there in a different way. So having those conversations, again, is why it's so important to be able to place these things down at the table, because somebody might say, well, I want to be a singer. And it's like, OK, well, that's great. But what are the components to getting there? And even just starting that conversation is one part of it, right? So even in terms of an artist, artists don't understand that you don't have to have a starving artist's life, but they might want to be that, but you can have that conversation with them. So that's a really great question that you've asked. And I think it's important that, you know, we

start these conversations early and we can tie it back to our history because we are people who have invented many things. We have started many things that, you know, haven't been able to stop across the world. I mean, we have light, you know, so we started early and we started consistently and they will understand that they can do anything. Well, I want to thank you so much for joining us tonight. One more time, where can people find information on this? How can they follow you on social media? Yeah, so it's colorfulplates.com. That's color, F-U-L-L, plates.com.

On Instagram, our colorful underscore plates. And then you can also follow us on Facebook as well, Colorful Plates. Also keep in mind that we do have a discount code, Roland, enter that in at checkout through January 1st for 15% off of your order. I appreciate the time that I've had to be on here today. Just being able to talk to y'all is amazing. And if you need a plate, let me know. We really appreciate you coming on. Thank you so much. Make sure you go to colorfulplates.com.

Brand consistency when you're choosing a business name is an underrated strategy. Make sure you go to colorfulplates.com. Brand consistency when you're choosing a business name is an underrated strategy. Make sure when you pick a new business, you get everything, all the URLs, and you own them. And make sure you get all the variations also. I had a brother call into the radio show this morning, and he told us what his YouTube name was. And it ended up with something Millionaire X. But if you put a space there between Million millionaire and X, it goes to his page. If you don't put a space there, it goes to some lady's only fans page.

Make sure you lock down all, being real, make sure you lock down all variations when you are starting your business. This is great business sense. We really appreciate everything that you're doing, everything you're doing to help children and help the community. It's been outstanding speaking with you. All right, that will do it for us tonight on Roland

Martin Unfiltered. I want to thank our panel, Mustafa Santiago, Teresa, and Demario. Got to thank everybody in Control Room for coaching me through this and making sure that we have a great show. Got to thank Roland for letting me be here. This is an iHeart Podcast.