#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Voting Rights Laws in limbo, 10 Senate Races to Watch, Covid Nurse Shortage, Gabbybows Teen CEO

Episode Date: December 29, 2021

12.28.2021 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Voting Rights Laws in limbo, 10 Senate Races to Watch, Covid Nurse Shortage, Gabbybows Teen CEOVice President Kamala Harris believes that U.S. democracy's status as a "role model" is at risk if the voting rights laws are not passed.Currently, Democrats are holding on to a narrow Senate majority. But in 2022, Republicans seek to get back into power after a series of crushing defeats. We'll take a look at the 10 Senate races that will decide which party will tip the scale.Missouri Representative Cori Bush wants to celebrate the anniversary of the January 6 attack by expelling members of Congress who were involved.Two deaths in police custody have families in Indiana and Kansas searching for answers.Plus, a white man who admitted to driving into a crowd of Black Lives Matter Protestors will not serve any jail time because he completed a pre-trial diversion program.As Covid sends more kids to the hospitals, the stress becomes more challenging to keep nurses. If it weren't for the pay, traveling nurses would be hard to come by.  We'll talk to a nurse practitioner who will explain why the current healthcare system is 'unsustainable' as COVID infections surge again.And we'll talk to the the15-year-old CEO of Gabby-bows in our Marketplace segment sponsored by Verizon. This teen entrepreneur recently opened up her own salon in Columbia, South Carolina.#RolandMartinUnfiltered partners: Verizon | Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband, now available in 50+ cities, is the fastest 5G in the world.* That means that downloads that used to take minutes now take seconds. 👉🏾https://bit.ly/30j6z9INissan | Check out the ALL NEW 2022 Nissan Frontier! As Efficient As It Is Powerful! 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3FqR7bPAmazon | Get 2-hour grocery delivery, set up you Amazon Day deliveries, watch Amazon Originals with Prime Video and save up to 80% on meds with Amazon Prime 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3ArwxEh+ Don’t miss Epic Daily Deals that rival Black Friday blockbuster sales 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3iP9zkv👀 Manage your calendar, follow along with recipes, catch up on news and more with Alexa smart displays + Stream music, order a pizza, control your smart home and more with Alexa smart speakers 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3ked4liBuick | It's ALL about you! The 2022 Envision has more than enough style, power and technology to make every day an occasion. 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3iJ6ouPSupport #RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfilteredDownload 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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. think so. Verizon lets you trade in your broken phone for a shiny new one. You break it, we upgrade it. You dunk it, doggy bone it, slam it, wham it, strawberry jam it, we upgrade it. Get a 5G phone on us with select plans. Every customer, current, new, or business. Because everyone deserves better. And with plans starting at just $35, better cost less than you think. Hey, folks. Folks, today is Tuesday, December 28, 2021. Coming up on Roland Martin on Filtered on the Black Star Network. Vice President Kamala Harris, she says democracy is in peril in the United States if the Senate does not pass voting rights legislation.

Also, there are 10 major Senate races taking place in 2022. We're going to examine those and look at whether Republicans or Democrats stand a chance of winning those. That could very well determine who controls the U.S. Senate after the midterm elections. Also, Congresswoman Cori Bush, she says that to honor January 6th, the day of the insurrection, throws the Republicans out of Congress. Also, on today's show, a white man who admitted driving into a crowd

of Black Lives Matter protesters will not serve any jail time because he participated in a pretrial diversion program. Also, as COVID sees more kids in the hospitals, the stress becomes more challenging for nurses. We'll talk to a nurse practitioner who explained why the current healthcare system is at its capacity. Also, we'll talk to the 15-year-old CEO of Gabby Bowles in our marketplace segment sponsored by Verizon. The teen entrepreneur recently opened up her own salon in Columbia,

South Carolina. Folks, it is time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Let's go. Best believe he's knowing, putting it down from sports to news to politics, with entertainment just for kicks. He's rolling, it's Uncle Roro, y'all. It's Rolling Martin, yeah. Rolling with rolling now He's funky, he's fresh, he's real, the best you know He's rolling Martin now Martin Alright folks, welcome to Rolling Martin Unfiltered As we end 2021, the issue of voting rights continues to be the dominant political issue in Washington, D.C. On Sunday, on Face the Nation, Vice President Kamala Harris was on,

and she talked about the United States no longer being the beacon of light in the world if the United States is unable to pass the voting rights bill that have been languishing in the United States Senate, the For the People Act, as well as the John Lewis Act. Here is some of what she had to say on Face the Nation. So the president has also put you in charge of voting rights. Yeah. And I asked. Yeah. You asked it. You wanted this. I, you may know, I am a child of parents who met when they were active in the civil rights movement. Mm-hmm. There is so much about this fight for

justice and the ideals of our democracy that are part of just my DNA. And on the issue of voting, we have seen 18 at least states, over a dozen states that have passed, I'm told, 33 laws that are making it difficult for the American people to vote. You know, I've been meeting with prime ministers and presidents from around the world. One of my favorite interactions was with the now past chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel. She came over for breakfast. And we talked about everything that has to do with our relative security as nations and our priorities.

And then she asked me about voting. She asked me about voting. She asked me about voting, and she knew what was going on here. And this is not a subject that was unique to my conversation with her, by the way, in terms of world leaders, because people around the world watch what we do as America, because we have held ourselves out to be a model of the efficacy of the the the ability of a democracy to coexist with an economic strength and power we have been a role model saying you can see this and aspire to this and reject autocracy and autocratic leadership and right now we're about to take ourselves off the map as a role model.

If we let people destroy one of the most important pillars of a democracy, which is free and fair elections. You're talking about what's happening in state capitals around the country. I am. But I'm talking about that. And I'm talking about what's not happening in this capital in Washington, D.C., which is the passing of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act we have to we have to agree and this is not about saying you should vote for me or you should vote for Democrats this is about

everyone having unfettered access to their right to vote and agreeing that this is bigger than one election cycle. This is literally about our standing in the world. It's about the integrity of our democracy. And I do believe of all the things that are on the headline news tonight, tomorrow, for the next week or months, when our kids look back five, ten years from now at this moment, it will be on our watch that we either stood for and fought for our democracy or not. And that I think that is all at stake right now. But you still have the reality of a 50-50 Senate. Correct. And you have two senators who say they're not on board for changing the filibuster in order to try to push this through. So how do you overcome that democratic reality of not having

the votes and not having a clear path forward? And you're right to talk about the structure and the rules of the Senate. And that is real. And we will do and look at whatever is necessary to push for Congress to take this issue on and we have to we have to carve out to the filibuster I'm not saying that what I'm saying is that we are going to urge the United States Congress and we have been to examine the tools they have available to do what is necessary to fight for and retain the integrity of our voting system in America. It sounds like you're open though to a carve-out to the filibuster to get there. You were when you ran for president on the issue of

climate. Are voting rights as important to you? I believe that voting rights is one of the most significant issues that is facing us as individuals and as leaders today. There's no question, no question voting rights lead to every other right, every other right. And so we need to prioritize it as a nation, all of us, and understand why voting rights are important and insist that our elected leaders preserve these rights. But Margaret, realize that what's happening right now includes that the entire Republican caucus of the Senate have voted against even debating this subject, even debating it. And I just, I think it's really important that in this conversation about what's happening in Washington

DC on the issue of voting That we not lose sight of the fact that there is one whole group of people half of the United States Senate Who are refusing to even debate this issue like you can then end up where you are but Stand up before the American people. State your position. Defend your position. See if it stands up to logic and reason or your stated or supposed ideals and values as an American. But to that point, you were just in the Senate and the president spent decades there. How

come you can't pull someone across the aisle on this or manage Joe Manchin within your own party? We are not going to give up on these issues, but you're right. It's a 50-50 Senate. It's a 50-50 Senate. But it has to be a combination of us as an administration, but also everyone weighing in. And I'm glad we're having this conversation. I think we have to continue to elevate the conversation about voting rights. Given the daily grind that people are facing, this may not feel like an immediate or urgent matter when in fact it is. And the more we have the opportunity to talk about it,

the more I think people will see, yeah, I don't want an America of the future for my kids to be in America where we are suppressing the right of the American people to vote. So what do we do? Let's go to my panel to talk about this. So then Xavier Pope, he joins us, host of suit up news, owner of the Pope Law Firm, Theresa Lundy, founder of TML Communications. Mustafa Santiago Ali, Ph.D., former senior advisor for environmental justice at the EPA. Now, there were multiple interviews that went on this weekend. President Joe Biden did talk about him believing they could do a carve-out for the filibuster, but here's the whole deal. That's great. That's wonderful, but at the end of the day, Teresa, if you don't have

Democrats, namely Arizona Senator Christian Sinema and West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin agreeing with that, it's still not going to happen. It's not. And so it's really incumbent of the Senate to figure out a way around it. But honestly, I think Joe Manchin and some of the others have been very clear about their objective. And the objective is we're not going to pass this. So, I mean, I'm not sure what next steps can actually be done to get around this. But ultimately, if they don't have the votes, if the Senate is not cooperating with one another, if their own party is running a road, then it is time for another plan. There's time for another alteration of ideals, or maybe there's something else that could happen.

But I think at this time when we just don't have the votes, it's time to have that discussion on what you can do to move forward, to make sure that states have the protections they need in terms of voting rights. Again, Mustafa, at the end of the day, look, ain't going to be no Republican votes. It's not going to happen. And so this has to be done solely by Democrats. And so President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris, they're going to figure out some, they got to figure out some way to convince their own party to go along with this. Yeah. You know, and President Biden continues to have these conversations,

at least with Joe Manchin. I'm not sure if it's happening in the Senate or not. I assume that there are some conversations. You know, he has to continue to put pressure, whatever that may look like. But we also have to ask the question, when we see Reverend Barber, and when we see Melanie Campbell, and when we see a number of other folks who continue to put pressure on folks on Capitol Hill, where's the rest of everybody else? You know, all the organizations that say that they support, you know, the democracy and making sure that everybody has the right to vote. We have a responsibility also to be there and continue to push. responsibility to utilize our dollars in a more effective way of not supporting some of the entities that continue to prop up these individuals. So, you know, it is people power,

you know, being there, whether it's in West Virginia or Arizona or on Capitol Hill showing up. And then it is also about us using our economic power to let them know that we do not appreciate the actions that they have not taken and that we will utilize our own power to let them know that we do not appreciate the actions that they have not taken and that we will utilize our own actions to make sure that we're continuing to place pressure on. The thing here, Xavier, is it's really not that hard. And that is what you're dealing with is you've got these Democrats who are fearful that if they if they do this carve out, then all Republicans can do the exact same thing if they get in power. Well, they've done it. Mitch McConnell did a carve out to put two people on the Supreme Court. They've done a carve out to raise the debt ceiling. So it ain't like it hasn't been done. Yeah, Roland, just yesterday, Senator Rand Paul tweeted out how to steal an election, quote unquote,

seeing an area heavy with potential Democratic votes with as many absentee ballots as possible, targeting and convincing potential voters to complete them in a legally valid way and then harvesting and counting the results. In 2021, there have been 19 states that have passed voter restrictive bills. 49 states introduced 440 bills. We talk about selling bills to the public. Many people in the public think that Democrats protecting the right to vote is itself harming democracy when there's evidence to show this is exactly what Republicans are doing. To focus on the bills that have been passed in multiple states, what they say, how it impacts every single voter is important to sell to the American public,

as well as the dastardly deeds that have been done by the Republican Party that has to be trumpeted over and over and over again. When they've been in power, they've changed the rules to make sure they stay in power. That's the way they actually play the game. All right, folks, got to go to break. We come back on Roland Martin Unfiltered. We'll talk about

the January 6th insurrection. Of course, you have the committee doing their work. Now you have Congresswoman Cori Bush who says, hey, a great way to focus on that day is to throw out Republicans who were involved in the planning to overthrow the results of the 2020 election. What do you think about that? You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Blackstar Network. I'm sorry. Thank you. We'll be right back. We make sure that our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roland. 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? Hi, this is Essence Atkins. Hey, I'm Bianco from Blackest. Hey, everybody, this is your man Fred Hammond, and you're watching Roland Martin, my man, Unfiltered. all right folks 26 year old uh devin uh let me pull this up please uh 26 All right, folks, 26-year-old Devin. Let me pull this up, please.

26-year-old Devin Trebon Angel hasn't been seen since October 24, 2021. The Houston native is described as being 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 185 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Devin has a mark on his nose from chicken pox, a birthmark on his back, and a tattoo on his arm. Anyone with information is asked to contact the HPD Missing Persons Unit at 832-394-1840. It's 832-394-1840.

All right, folks. This tweet was sent out by St. Louis Congresswoman Cori Bush on a couple of days ago. She said we should commemorate the one year anniversary of January 6th by passing my age resolution 25 to investigate and expel the members of Congress who helped incite the violent insurrection at our Capitol. Sounds like a great idea to me. Now, keep in mind what has been going on, Mustafa. We now are hearing that Peter Navarro said he, Senator Ted Cruz, and Steve Bannon, and others have recruited upwards of 100 members of Congress to actually take over, to try to throw out the results of the election on January 6th, and then return it to six states that Republicans control.

Sound to me like they are admitting to an insurrection. Exactly. And that's why the House Resolution 5 is so incredibly important, because it gives folks not only to have the accountability for it, the accountability also has to say that if you're caught with your hand in the cookie jar, if you're caught doing these types of egregious behaviors, then you need to go. So treason is what treason is. And these types of actions definitely lead in that direction. I know to actually prosecute someone for a treasonous act has only happened a handful of times in our country, but nothing raises to a higher level than what we saw on January the 6th. And we put

our trust into our elected officials to protect our democracy, to make sure that they're following the law, if you will, and for them to take these types of actions, to play a significant role with these domestic terrorists, says that they are not interested in the positions that they hold, so they need to go. You know, the crazy thing here, Xavier, is that, look, they're just openly admitting to this whole deal. And so what you're now seeing are individuals who were very much involved to try to overthrow the government.

And look, the thing that jumps out here is that there were people right now who were in power who were involved. And that's the sort of action that needs to be taken to toss these folks out. Yeah, Roland. Navarro openly said, quote unquote, it was a perfect plan. And it all predicated on peace and calm on Capitol Hill. We didn't need any protesters because we had over 100 congressmen committed to it. That's openly saying 100 congressmen committed a terrible act upon this country and agreed to it. And now they're so

emblazoned because they're defying subpoenas, defying contempt, and just moving ahead without any accountability at all. I think it is incumbent upon us to move faster. We have a report petition that'll be maybe coming out next summer about what's happening, but that will be right in the middle of an election. And how will that be impacted in terms of accountability? There needs to be some action and it needs to happen swiftly. Teresa, go ahead. I agree with the same sentiment. about the invalidation of even Joe Biden's presidency, but we also have to look at some of the issues that has been happening since this January 6th attack

and the rollout from it. I mean, there has been an uncovering of so many conversations, so many text messages that have stemmed from the chief of staff of the White House during Trump's presidency, where it's like, enough is enough and it has to be a stop. So I think if we're not holding our members of Congress to a higher, well, really to their oath by utilizing our taxpayer dollars to do their jobs, I think we're finding ourselves in this position where if they won't hold themselves accountable, how are they able to say that

the American people should hold themselves accountable for whatever situation that we're going through? So, I mean, I think the trust needs to go back. I think Congresswoman's bill is something that we likely should probably put on the forefront. But I think, again, more pressure just needs to be given on all sides because, again, this has been a stain on our nation's capital. This is the story that is in the Daily Beast.

Trump advisor Peter Navarro lays out how he and Bannon plan to overturn Biden's electoral win. And what they did was he missed it. They were working directly with Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar on what they wanted them to do and what they needed to do to not certify the election. They placed themselves in this privileged position,

and that's why you see these types of actions playing out where they think that they can share and say and do whatever without there being any repercussions. And that's why we find ourselves in the situation that we do. It's because Republicans, the majority of Republicans, let me not just give a broad brush, have refused to take action for a number of years now when they see these types of things going on, whether when Trump was in office or now when Biden is in office. And until folks are actually

held accountable, these types of things are going to escalate. People keep talking about democracy, but yet they don't truly care about democracy, that they care about, you know, the ideal of democracy. But when it comes down to doing the hard work and holding people accountable, then they begin to take a step backwards. I mean, the reality here, Xavier, is that as far as I'm concerned, and I don't know what Attorney General Merrick Garland is doing, but I think they're moving way too damn slow arresting folks and investigating this. I mean, we're talking about approaching the one-year anniversary. I mean, for you, is Garland and his DOJ moving too slow?

Does it take this damn long? Moving absolutely too slow, Roland. A report like this is caused to trigger Merrick Garland to move along. And we talked earlier in the show about Republicans changing up the rules and one of them prevented Merrick Garland from getting on the Supreme Court. Now we're not even so sure what type of Supreme Court justice he would have been. He really has disappointed us over and over and over again. I know there's a legal process. It does take time, but democracy is at peril. And so it is requiring a nation to act like it's at war because right now that's exactly what a coup is and what it represents to our democracy. And I think we need to be urgent about what that means to the republic. You know, Teresa, look, the DOJ can their investigation has nothing to do with January 6th committee.

I mean, nothing. They can move forward with that. Do you believe that Attorney General Merrick Garland is moving too slow when it comes to prosecuting those folks involved with the insurrection on January 6th? Absolutely. I think the evidence has been pretty clear from the beginning that there has been accomplices from within the elected offices of the White House and the Senate and in the House. And I think it's kind of alarming because I feel like this was something, since it did make its mark on our Constitution, that it would be something that

would be readily and vastly investigated to the extent of the law. honestly, until we mentioned that, you know, January 6th is coming up, I didn't actually realize it. And so it's kind of taken back, you know, to that moment of where, you know, how we all felt in that crisis, how, you know, our capital that literally just got finished being refreshed and replenished has been taken over, you know, by insurrectionists, by people that we probably work with, our neighbors, you know, some of them are friends if they're not in camouflage. These are the people that we, you know, speak to on a daily basis. And this is how they act on our constitution, on other people. And again, for us not to, us as in merrick garland not to be in the urgency mode to to understand that there is a huge crisis here that has to you know come come to a conclusion but right now there it seems like there is no conclusion that is happening it seems like you know everybody is just kind of dealing with other issues at the moment and this is not um a crisis situation

that we need to deal with. But hopefully, I think they've been seeing, everybody's been seeing over time, the trickle down effect because of this, because of this, we're not getting voting rights passed. Because of this, we're getting ignored on other issues. Because of this, COVID-19 is still unfortunately unexplained and people are still not getting the vaccine. But part of it is the overall overreaching messages. People are not trusting our government at this time. This this right here, you see this Xavier Navarro writes, we see this. We told the Daily Beast, we spent a lot of time lining up over 100 congressmen, including some senators. It started out perfectly at 1 p.m.

Gosar and Cruz did exactly what was expected of them. It was a perfect plan and it all predicated on peace and calm on Capitol Hill. We didn't even need any protesters because we had over 100 congressmen committed to it. Well, guess what? That's where that's where you haul his butt before Congress and he doesn't appear. Stop him with a subpoena, stick his ass in jail and say, fine, you're going to sit in jail for contempt of Congress until you talk. That's exactly the quote I was talking about, Roland. He's openly admitting and gloating. It seems that we had some help. We had people climbing over fences and breaking

through security and all that and looking to hunt down Mike Pence and hang Mike Pence. But guess what? We did this and we pursue this as something that was lawful. I think that's the big portion of it. And also, we've had a 57 percent increase in Republicans who believe the big lie from January until now. And I think that the time that we're taking to move on it is actually turned now into a rallying cry. And now it's a political position that Republicans are taking so they can openly admit what they've done and say this is part of our strategy to win elections. Look, the thing here, Mustafa, is that these folks will do it again. I mean, let's be real clear. They're executing their strategy right now.

They have no problem throwing out the will of the voters in order to cheat to win in 2022 and 2024? Without a doubt. We saw the building of this happening around the country in state houses before it happened on January the 6th. So when people act like they're surprised, I'm like, well, where were you? How could you not be paying attention? We had individuals talking about kidnapping governors and doing all these other types of things and rushing into state houses. So we now found ourselves in this moment where, as you said, folks will do this again and again because there are no repercussions for their sets of actions. And until that happens, you're going to continue to be on edge because you're not going to know when the next time it's going to pop off.

So if you're serious, then the Department of Justice needs to step up. And if we're serious, then people need to actually, as folks have said, need to spend some time behind bars until we pull them up to testify. And if they don't want to testify, let them sit there. Yeah, I mean, I got no problem. Teresa's sitting there throwing asses in jail. I mean, think about Susan McDougal. Look how long she sat in prison. Can you hear me? Teresa, go ahead. OK, yes.

Sorry that it faded out. But yeah, I mean, look, if if if they can do it to everyday taxpaying citizens, American citizens, where, and again, this is probably Pope's lane when it comes to legal, but if you get subpoenaed and you do not want to actually testify, or I can't think of the word, but essentially, if Congress people do not want to follow the laws of the lamb, I do believe that there should be some consequences for their actions. It also should be a removal from their seat in representing their district. I'm not sure if there was actually a poll conducted where it probably should be in terms of how do we hurry up the results of this report. And I think if that report, you know, of the people was actually taken and surveyed and actually released,

I think we would have a different conversation on the urgency of this rollout. But again, no one's asking the American people that what they're asking is representatives to just take an overreaching approach and just say, hey, we're just doing our legislative duty, but they're not taking personal accountability. And I think if they did, we'd probably be in a different stance today. All right, folks, going to break, we come back, we're going to talk about a man who struck Black Lives Matter protesters not going to jail because he participated in a pretrial diversion program. Also, impact of COVID in children. We also have new regulations that have been put in place as well. And the impact on the health care industry, especially nurses, it is being stretched to the seams. We'll talk to an expert about that as well. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network.

Don't forget, folks, to download the Black Star Network app. We're available on all platforms, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, Xbox, Samsung Smart TV as well. And, of course, you can join our Bring the Funk fan club where every dollar you give goes to support this show. You can give to us, folks, via Cash App, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered, PayPal, RM Martin Unfiltered, Venmo, RM

Unfiltered, Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com, Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Go on to a break. I'll be right back. To be continued... I'm going to go ahead and do that. Thank you. When you study the music, you get black history by default. And so no other craft could carry as many words as rap music. I try to intertwine that and make that create whatever I'm supposed to send out to the universe. A rapper, you know, for the longest period of time has gone through phases. I love the word, I hate what it's become, you know, to this generation, the way they visualize it.

Its narrative kind of like has gotten away and spun away from, I guess, the I'm Will Packer. I'm Chrisette Michelle. Hi, I'm Chaley Rose, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Alright, folks. Next year is going to be a huge election year, and we're talking about a major year when it comes to U.S. Senate races. There are 10 major Senate races that we're going about a major year when it comes to US Senate races there are 10 major Senate races that we're going to be paying attention to remember right now that's in this time 50-50 and so who wins is going to

turn the balance of who controls the United States Senate that means who controls federal judges who controls appointments to the administration and so the key races we're looking at in Florida, you're going to have, of course, incumbent Senator Marco Rubio facing Congresswoman Val Demings in that particular race. A lot of money is being raised in that race. Rubio, of course, is in the lead there, but he's going to face a stern challenge.

The question is, can Democrats get their act together in Florida where they've been decimated the last three or four election cycles? Also in Georgia, you're going to have Senator Raphael Warnock running, trying to trying to keep his seat. You've got, of course, Trump supporting Hershel Walker on the Republican side. He has to win the nomination. And so we're looking at that race as well. You've got in Arizona, you've got incumbent Senator Mark Kelly, who is running the GOP, is really targeting that state. And they're looking at supporting the Attorney General of Arizona to face him.

You have, of course, in Pennsylvania, where you have an open seat there, where you have the senator who is retiring in Pennsylvania, where you have an open seat there, where you have the senator who is retiring in Pennsylvania. And so you've got Democrats, a lot of different people running on that side, Malcolm Kenyatta, the state rep, you also have Lieutenant Governor who's running, and then of course you have Dr. Oz and other Republicans who are running on that side as well. North Carolina is another huge race where you have Tom Tillis, who was Richard Burr, who is stepping down. But you have, of course, Sherry Beasley, the former state Supreme Court justice who is running. Then you have some Republicans, including the former governor, Pat McCrory, who was on that side as well.

You had Ohio where you have an open seat. Rob Portman, he is retiring. You have a congressman, Tim Ryan, on the Democratic side and others who are running. Then, of course, you have Republicans like J.D. Vance and others who are trying to run there. You've got seats in New Hampshire, again, Nevada. You've got Wisconsin. You've got the brother who is lieutenant governor of Wisconsin who is trying to win the Democratic nomination in Wisconsin. Plus, you've got Missouri. to win the democratic nomination in wisconsin plus you got missouri they're concerned there that that if the former governor gritens who had resigned in a sex scandal if he wins a nomination they can hand that seat uh to democrats let's go to our panel uh xavier looking at all of these

different races here look these are statewide races races across the board. Again, you have incumbents in Republican incumbent in Florida, Democratic incumbent in Georgia, Democratic incumbent in Arizona, open seat in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, where Trump did real well there. So Republicans hold the lead there.

You've got New Hampshire. You've got, of course, Battleground State, Nevada, Wisconsin, and then you've got, of course, Battleground State, Nevada, Wisconsin, and then you've got Republican likely leading in Missouri. And so it's going to take a lot of money. But also, you're Democrats. You should be focused right now on a ground game. They should be holding town halls.

They should be building up the momentum going towards November and not waiting until late in the election cycle to activate black voters. Bro, the reason why the ground game that you just spoke of is extremely important is because of the new voter suppression bills. And like I said, 19 states being passed is going to trust whether there's a fissure in our democracy and some of the data and polling that the Democrats are going to receive they might not necessarily be able to rely on them because they could be impacted by the laws that are currently in place and so and we still don't know what about the debate about how those voting rights will be protected and so it is they have to double their efforts to make sure there

are as many people as possible that are getting out to vote that there are any rules or regulations that may be impacting them in terms of their ability to vote, they be able to address that, see it early, find the different communities or counties where they may be an issue, and micro-target voters to make sure they're getting to the ballot box. You also got to connect the dots, Teresa, and that's what's important, and that is walking people through.

So, for instance, I saw a story today. I think it was an NBC News story where they talked about how black voters have not abandoned Biden. But they but they have some serious concerns. And of course, we've covered many of these issues. But when you start breaking down, you know, what is going on, when you look at these federal appointments, how Biden has actually made more federal appointments in his first year than any president. He's tied Ronald Reagan. They're going to be advancing a number of more appointments on Friday. And a lot of those appointments also black female judges. They have to walk through, as far as I'm concerned, the issues. You got to make it plain. And also what's going to happen if you actually are able to win. Here's what we do know. We know for a fact what is going to happen if Republicans win. OK. And then, and I can tell you right now, if Stephen Breyer decides to retire for the Supreme Court, Mitch McConnell ain't going to fill that seat as long as he is in

control of the United States Senate. They are going to shut everything down. And so, so Democrats are going to have to make the case to voters, especially black voters, why they should be elected in those states. And they really have got to activate black voters in Pennsylvania, the state that you're in. They've got to do a better job of reaching rural black voters in North Carolina. And they've got to really do well in Ohio as well, really going into Canton, going into Columbus, Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland as well, in order to try to win there. You're absolutely right. And I believe we had this conversation more than two years ago about the activation of Democrats and really the Democratic Party and releasing some of those funds and resources to states and to local

municipalities that have their own, you know, local jurisdiction prior to the midterms, right? And so now that we're gearing up for that, you know, we're starting to see this overreaching, waiting for, I think, contact per se, right? I think most Democratic parties, they're kind of just silent at this point. And they're just solely focused on some of these races. But I think what the Republicans were doing early on was once Trump had left the office, they were already in activation mode and seeing what states they already controlled and what seats they can actually win. So I'm looking for the Democratic Party to really step up, to start changing leadership that wants to do the same old thing, to really start putting forward-thinking visionaries

into position, to start spending more with Black and Latinx media, and also start bringing us to the forefront, forefront encouraging making it plain as you said I don't care if it looks like Venn diagrams and stick figures but let's make it so plain that people want to get involved and they can regurgitate some of the issues and also have solutions with it because if we don't do it now we're really going to be in a real upset in 2022? Mustafa, again, as we said, right now it is 50-50. And look, if Democrats are able to win that seat in North Carolina, now all of a sudden you go 51-49.

You win that seat in Pennsylvania. Now you're 52-48. Let's say you'll be able to hold on to Georgia as well. Then, of course, look, this is a statewide race. Republicans have tried to gerrymander Wisconsin as much as possible, but if they're able to defeat that kook Senator Ron Johnson, now you're talking about 5347. Now, remember, 5347, why is that important?

Because what you've now done is you've now taken power away from Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. Exactly. So that's why. So as I'm walking through the math here, people need to understand why these races are critical. It's going to be very difficult for Val Deming, Congresswoman Val Deming, to beat Marco Rubio in Florida because huge lead there, a lot much better Republican ground game there. And of course, Democrats have done horrible with Latino voters in that particular state. But if you're Democrats, you absolutely are looking at picking off Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and I dare say Wisconsin, those are the three critical gets for

them. Yeah, no, I would agree. It's always tougher to end up winning over top of an incumbent, but Democrats can actually win and they can expand the Senate. And a lot of folks haven't been calling that out. Republicans have 20 seats that they have to be able to protect and Democrats have 14 seats that they have to. Now to protect. And Democrats have 14 seats that they have to. Now, we understand there are a lot of different dynamics that are going on, and some of those seats are strongly held. But when it comes to Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, those are sort of those swing states, if you will. And folks can actually, if they do the work, if one, they make sure that they have a message that actually resonates with

folks and is things that folks are actually asking for, then that's a step in the right direction. If they're willing to build the infrastructure inside of these states and to make sure, as we've called out time and time again, that the resources are making it to African-American media and to those organizations that are on the ground to make sure that they have the capacity that's necessary, then you have a much stronger positioning to be able to win on this. Now, the Democrats, we know Georgia, what's going on with our brother Warnock and what's going to be necessary to help him to get across the finish line. And we also know Kelly out there in Arizona, Colorado and Nevada are the other two

that the Republicans will go after. But here's what we haven't talked about, and that is the Trump effect. Now, Donald Trump actually gets into this mix, and he begins to play around in the primaries and get some of the crazier people into those positions. And he actually still has enough influence, even though it is waning, to be able to be a factor inside of these sets of races. Then it also puts together a whole new set of dynamics and it helps Democrats to be able to win in some of these locations. Let me be real clear, Mustafa, Xavier and Teresa, real clear. The Republican Party is going to have tremendous enthusiasm on their side.

All these Trump crazies that there is no Trump party Republican Party. It's all one party. And so at the end of the day, Democrats can't play this game. Well, you know, I'm not quite so sure. No, understand, there's going to be enthusiasm, and you've got to fight enthusiasm with enthusiasm, which means you've got to build that up. And if you're Democrats, you can sit around and bitch about,

oh, we didn't get this, we didn't get that. I can guarantee you, you're not going to get a damn thing if they take over the House and the Senate after the 2022 midterm elections. The enthusiasm, Roland, is also going to play out in being deputized to go to different polling stations and intimidate voters. And we also have seen, you know, we saw in Oklahoma, we're passing a law to protect motorists who drive into protesters. We are, we also talked about the lack of accountability at one six. We are at a point where we don't know if on election day that there won't be so much enthusiasm on the right to this actual physical violence

or threatened violence at some of these different locations and where votes are being counted, particularly if the races don't go the way that they expect them to go. Well, keep in mind, we can show their polling locations too. Yeah. All that stuff, Teresa Fox News

was whining and complaining about new Black Panther Party. All right. Y'all want to do something? Show up at their polling locations. They keep passing these laws. All right. We can show up at your stuff too. Absolutely. And I think we're

just going to have to find out. Unfortunately, we're kind of at this point where we're just going to have to find out. Unfortunately, you know, we're kind of at this point where we're just going to have to see what happens. But unfortunately, I think all the signs are written on the wall early on. So it's kind of incumbent of just even on the local level to see what happens. Fox News has been doing an excellent job in getting the message out for Republicans and making sure that their front runner candidates is at the forefront and making sure that those candidates are actually off their competitors television stations so they can keep their ratings high. So it definitely is an interesting network that they have that, again, that has just been showing up. It's just been

showing up in different forms. And y'all know this. Boy, it's amazing how Fox News, the right wing, they've just stopped talking about critical race theory since the Virginia governor's race ended. Amazing. They got what they wanted. I mean, it's quite simple. We all knew that that was a part of a political strategy.

So, you know, we got to just make sure that we show up. We had a million Black men who showed up on the mall for the Million Man March. It's time for a million men to show up at the polls, polls in our communities and polls in other communities to make sure that folks understand that we have power and we know how to utilize it. And then we can also make sure that our Latinx brothers are also showing up as well, those who are interested in making sure. Mustafa and Teresa,

both of you have used Latinx. I've been talking to Latino posters. They say they hate that phrase. They say they hate it. Only 2% of people identify with Latinx even using the term. And some say it's a turn off so we should just i mean they've literally been saying it so should we we should be actually just going look i i matt

barretto is one of the top uh latino posters i asked matt about that he said dude he said that might appear to a few young people he said but frankly he said we should be using hispanic slash latino i'm black x that's all i know well i'm not just saying that's just one of the things that matter of fact i was um there was a story that came out the other day and i was specifically asking him uh about that uh and uh and he just said he said yeah he said nobody uses he said nobody uses this is what he say a 60% prefer Hispanic 30% prefer Latino Latino Florida they always use Hispanic New York uses Latino we use it interchangeable but we rarely use Latin X most people are not familiar with the term at all I've never heard a person that was that was Latino or Latin American or Hispanic called themselves Latin X this is for us

and this we're trying to be in this PC culture where we want to may be able to label them a certain way but if they don't want to be called it that they don't call them that it's not if mama call them play I'm gonna call them clay and so they wouldn't be Latin X I mean Latin X I'm going to call him Clay. So if they want to be Latinx, I mean, Latinx, Latino, they call him Latino. So if they want to be Latinx, we call them Latinx. Well, all I know is the folks who I deal with, you know, they have, especially younger people, have embraced the term Latinx. And if folks ask me to identify them that way, that's fine. I have no problem with Hispanic, Latino, Latina. I have

plenty of folks in my family who actually, you know, label themselves with those different types of terms. So, you know, again, when it gets to pollsters, you know, you just got to take everything with a grain of salt. For me, the important thing is that Black folks and those brown folks who want to stand in solidarity show up and make sure that we get the wins that are necessary because at the end of the day we understand the policies and how they're going to play out if we don't all right all right folks hold tight one second we come back uh omicron uh the numbers are exploding all across the country, and we are seeing the impact on our health care system as folks are testing positive. People who are unvaccinated are still going to hospitals and is causing serious issues with nurses.

We'll discuss that next right here on Roller Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Kjell Kjell Thank you. Hey yo peace world what's going on it's the love king of R&B Waheem Devon. Hey I'm Qubit the maker of the Qubit shuffle and the wham dance. What's going on this is Tobias Trevelyan and if you ready you are listening to and you are watching Roland Martin, Unfiltered. Folks, COVID continues to wreak havoc all across the country. Today, a few moments before the bowl game was supposed to start, UCLA Bruins pulled out of a holiday bowl against North Carolina State, citing significant problems with COVID-19 and the various protocols.

We are seeing the Omicron virus have an impact all across. This is the fourth bowl game that has happened where one team has pulled out of the bowl game. It has happened to the Sun Bowl, the Arizona Bowl, several different bowls that have been going on. We also are seeing, of course, the stress of our system. Nurse practitioners, they are in a high demand. Travel nurses, as a result of what's going on, joining us now from Hartford, Connecticut, is a nurse practitioner, Wendy Garvin Mayo.

She's CEO of the Stress Blueprint. Glad to have her on the show. Wendy, on this very issue we're talking about here, and that is, again, COVID and how we're being impacted, walk us through what's happening with travel nurses. I know several, they've been spending, I'm talking about several months, almost a year in some places because of a demand for nurses. Yeah. So thank you for having me, Roland. So what I want to say about that is that I'm not sure if everyone knows this, but the nursing shortage is a national crisis. We are definitely in crisis mode, especially with this pandemic. It's more. And this crisis actually was before COVID. So even before COVID hit, we saw a significant number of nurses who were retiring and then not enough coming into the field. Go ahead. Yes, absolutely. And because of that, you know, because of we're in the pandemic, nurses have

left the field, which has really increased the nursing shortage. So travel nurses were used to really help fill that gap. But what you're seeing now is that utilizing travel nurses, and there's many articles out there that support this, is like putting a Band-Aid over an open fire hose. And they are still having the same issues that nurses are having, nurses that are hired by healthcare institutions, such as stress, burnout, mental and physical exhaustion. So everyone is really feeling this impact of COVID-19 and it's only going to get worse. All right. So in terms of where we are, okay, are we seeing a replenishing from nursing schools? What is being

done? Is this the issue of pay? Is it an issue of just the grind? So how do we confront this shortage? Yeah, so I want to break that down a little bit. So in terms of pay, travel nurses are paid a lot more than nurses who are hired by an institution. So a travel nurse in my city can make a half a million dollars in three months. Whereas a nurse who was hired by institution can make about $94,000, $95,000 a year, right? So that's a problem that causes a divide. In terms of pumping out nurses out of nursing school, students in nursing school now are being pumped out into the workforce. But my concern is, is that we really have no infrastructure to support them. We have nurses, nursing students

who graduated in December, we have another set who are graduating in May, and they are coming into this crisis. And we are not talking about that enough in healthcare. How are we going to support these student nurses so that they can remain at the bedside and have a great career to really close this gap on the nursing shortage? All right. So you talked about that particular pay issue. How does a travel nurse make half a million in three months? Well, they are offering, you know, about $4,000 a week, right, to be a travel nurse. And this is public information. Anyone can go and look that up. And in different states, it's different rates.

And there was an article, you know, that I was reading last night where travel nurses, you know, they're verbalizing, you know, making more than doctors, making more than surgeons. So they are being paid, they're being compensated. But what that does, it causes a divide in nursing. So if I'm working at a hospital and I'm hired by that hospital and I'm making $94,000 a year, and then you come and you're making a half a million dollars in three months, because usually the assignments can be for 12 weeks. So they're getting paid. So it definitely increases stress, increases mental strain on nurses, on the profession. But, you know, travel nurses are also feeling the same thing. So just because they are filling the gap, I don't think it's going to be for very long.

Because despite how much money they're making, you can never replace your health and your peace of mind. Questions from our panel. We'll start with you, Mustafa. Well, first of all, thank you. I have a number of nurses inside of my family, and I've seen the stress. I've literally seen people age over the last couple of years, which just blows my mind. My question to you is, how do we better help to support nurses? You know, on the mental health side, the stressors are just mind-blowing. So I'm curious, do you have any tips of how we better help to support the nurses who are under just extreme, extreme stress? Yes, I think one is

recognizing it. And, you know, many institutions, I want to give credit where credit is due, do have programs in place where nurses can, you know, seek services. But again, that's taking away from work, taking away from family life. I believe that we need to actually have resources on the unit. So where nurses are on the unit, so a nurse advocate, right? And maybe someone who is a nurse. So like myself, I advocate for nurses in terms of stress management, mental and physical exhaustion, really empowering them to be advocates for themselves because many nurses who are on the front lines are there because they're advocating for their patients, but they don't advocate for themselves. So we need people actually on the unit, on the floors, in the ED, who are making sure nurses are mentally and physically okay. But how many times are we

assessing nurses for stress, for anxiety, for depression, for PTSD? No one talks about that. But nurses are silently suffering from these issues, and not to mention their physical health that comes along with prolonged stress. So we need to really be assessing and addressing these issues for nurses. And that can look different for, you know, every nurse because every nurse is an individual. So that can be personalized. Teresa. Yeah. One, thank you again for coming on. I know this is a very difficult time. So probably my question is, I think you said there was resources and programs available. So if people wanted to join the traveling nurses movement, how would they get involved? Where do they go? And if you could just clarify the half a million dollars piece, I think it's within three weeks or a half a year, that would be helpful.

Yeah. So if people want to be travel nurses, there are agencies that hire nurses to be travel, a travel nurse, and you can travel within a state, you can travel across the nation, you can travel abroad. And what happens is you get an assignment. So when I say assignment, you are assigned to an institution to work there for, you know, 12 weeks, six months, you know, a year with renewal, right? You have to get that renewed. And in terms of salary, if you actually Google this, the amount a travel nurse can make, they can make anywhere from over $4,000 to $5,000 a week. So if you add all that up, that's almost a half a million dollars, right? Yeah. Okay. Right. But that's what they're offering. And that's to entice nurses to actually fill that gap.

Right. So if they see that, then it's like, oh, that's great money. That is great money. I'm not I'm not by any means saying it's not. But how long are you able to sustain that? Mm hmm. Xavier, how will the profession address the diversity issue in terms of travel nurses? 70 over 70 percent of them are white, about 12 percent, a little bit less than are African-American. And so and also how does the politics of certain states in terms of some of the anti-vax that there's maybe some time in the registered nurse profession can be addressed in terms of moving nurses around. So that's the first question would be to how to address the diversity in tribal nurses to give them the opportunity to be able to make more pay, to be more financially mobile, and then also the politics of moving around as a tribal nurse. Yes. So in terms of diversity, anyone who's an RN, you know, African-American, white, Hispanic, doesn't

matter, ethnicity, can apply to be a travel nurse. It is a personal choice. I think what's happening now, though, is that because of the salary I mentioned, it's more appealing. So more nurses are leaving institutions to, travel nursing that whole career. In terms of diversity and nursing, it has been an issue, an ongoing issue that we don't have a lot of African-American nurses. So we do have the National Black Nurses Association who has, you know, various initiatives to recruit and increase the number of African-American nurses in nursing in general.

And then to your second question, in terms of politics and all of that in different states, I hope I'm answering your question correctly. You know, depending on your agency, who you work for, they make sure that you are equipped with the knowledge of restrictions and standard of care in order to practice safely in that state. All right, then. Well, look, we certainly appreciated you joining us and shedding light on this very important issue. Thanks so much.

Thank you for having me. All right, folks. I've got to go to a break. We come back. We'll talk with a 15-year-old entrepreneur out of South Carolina. We'll also, of course, share an interview with you that Archbishop Desmond Tutu did

in 1984 when he won the Nobel Peace Prize, one that I think you will certainly enjoy as well. You're watching Roller Mark Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. Back in a moment. It's time to be smart. When we control our institutions, we win.

This is the most important news show on television of any racial background. Y'all put two, three, four, five, 10, 15, 20, $30 on this and keep this going. What you've done, Roland, since this crisis came out in full bloom. Anybody watching this, tell your friends go back and look at the last two weeks especially if roland martin unfiltered i mean hell go back and look at the last two days you've had sitting united states senators today clovershar and harris whatever you have that you have you can bring to roland martin unfiltered to support it please do because this information may literally save your life. Watch Roland Martin Unfiltered daily at 6 p.m. Eastern on YouTube, Facebook,

or Periscope, or go to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Support the Roland Martin Unfiltered daily digital show by going to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing 50 bucks each for the whole year. You can make this possible. RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. All right, folks. Charges against a white Indiana man who drove his SUV into a group of Black Lives Matter protesters

have been dismissed. Joshua Carey completed the requirements of a pretrial diversion program and had six months to meet the following criteria. And many committed to three offenses as charged, two counts of leaving the scene of an accident and one of criminal recklessness. He did not commit a criminal offense for 180 days. He paid a $274.50 diversion program fee within 30 days and he completed 24 hours of community service at a nonprofit. Of course, he drove his car through them in September 2020.

Look, we're going to see more of this, but the problem is you've had people pass these laws in these red states, Xavier, basically saying that people are immune from being charged if they drive through protesters. Xavier, are you there? Xavier, can you hear me? Mustafa, can you hear me? Yes, I can. I'll go to you. Look, again, these laws been passed, giving people the right to run over protesters. Yeah. You know, we continue to lose our humanity and it's being driven by many of these laws,

the ones that you just called out in a number of red states. So we're going to end up losing more people's lives. You know, it has all been put in place because they saw the power that the Black Lives Matter movement generated by bringing so many folks out, bringing enthusiasm, but also accountability. And because of that power and because the huge numbers of people who were willing to get engaged, they had to figure out a way to actually sort of stamp that down. And that's where a number of these laws have come into place. So now they're just putting more people, and we all know that a car can be considered a weapon, especially if you run into somebody, you kill somebody. We saw the sister in Charlottesville who lost her life. So, you know, we really got to get this stuff in check because if we don't, more people are going to get injured and more people are going to lose their lives. Teresa? Yeah, I totally agree. I think the protesters, one, they need to be held

accountable, but also they need to ensure that when they are protesting, they are doing it the right way and the safe way. I think sometimes we miss the point when it comes to protesting. And part of it is the delivery of how the message is being handled. So I'm looking forward to more protesting, more standing in attention in order to get the right action for the issue or the solution. Xavier. A couple of seconds ago, how Oklahoma passed a law to protect motorists who drove into protesters. So you have legislators that are openly wanting to punish protesters by basically by making vigilantes out of citizens. They want to have McCloskeys over at the RNC. And then you have judges that protect people like Kyle Rittenhouse from going and shooting protesters.

That's the type of country that we're living in and then a guy gets to go through a pre-trial diversion program and throw his hands up like oh it's like it never happened um we can't that is anarchy and that is a side that is producing and and basically radicalizing a certain segment of americans to go and make black people and people who support black causes targets uh let's talk about this story out of illinois where families demanding answers uh after their loved one was found uh hanged before christmas chicago police are calling this a suicide but the family of irene chavez 33 years old they're not buying it not quite sure exactly what happened to my sister i did my best to look out i visited

the headquarters i asked the asked detectives questions. And I hit a red light, a stop sign, a door every single time. And now I'm here to just really put out there that my sister was found, hung in the 3rd District Police Department and holding while bounded, apparently. And I'm not quite sure how something like that could happen. I do know that Chicago Police Department is here to protect and serve. And that comes with taking care of the mental state of the people that they take in. I'm not quite sure what happened with my sister again. But I do feel that if she had been found at a bar and maybe had some drinks that maybe the chicago police department could have protected more uh independent investigation

is actually being held by the family to investigate uh this death let's go to kansas where the family of a black teenager they're trying to understand the circumstances surrounding his death an autopsy report released Monday contradicts an earlier preliminary finding that says 17 year old Sidney Lofton hadn't suffered life threatening injuries. Following a physical struggle with staff at the Kansas Juvenile Center, the black youth's death is now classified as a homicide.

The report reveals Lofton's heart and breathing stopped after being handcuffed and placed on his stomach. Lofton had briefly been in custody when his altercation with staff members took place on September 24th. He died two days later in the hospital. That is certainly a sad story there. So we'll give you an update on that story when we get more information. All right, folks, going to go to break. We come back.

Marketplace segment sponsored by Verizon, a 15-year-old entrepreneur. It's opening her own salon. We'll tell you about her pathway to being an entrepreneur. That is next on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network. Are the stars of the night Alexa, play our favorite song again. Okay. I only have eyes for you. Verizon lets you trade in your broken phone for a shiny new one. You break it, we upgrade it. You dunk it, doggy bone it.

Slam it, wham it, strawberry jam it, we upgrade it. Get a 5G phone on us with select plans. Every customer, current, new, or business. Because everyone deserves better. And with plans starting at just $35, better costs less than you think. Folks, she's shipping orders of barrettes and plant-based hairstyle products to all 50 states in 13 countries and now 15 year old Gabby Goodwin who is a CEO of confidence as own as launched her own salon she joined us now from Columbia South Carolina Gabby how you doing can you hear me I can, sorry I was muted.

I'm good, how are you? Alright then. So first of all, before we get to the salon, let's talk about what you've already been doing. When did you actually start your business and when did you start selling products? We started Confidence, which was originally known as Gabby Bowes, in February of 2014, when I was seven years old, and we've now been in business for almost eight years. Wow. And so how did it start?

It started, honestly, off of a Twitter rant. My mom would go to the store every two or so weeks buying different barrettes that wouldn't stay in my hair. And she was very frustrated and not only losing money, but also wasting time, not only going to the store, but also doing my hair for 15, 20 minutes before school. And then she would drop me off and I would be picked up with bows lost. And my hair just looks an entire mess. And with that, she went on Twitter to rant about how my bows didn't stay in my hair. And after her and many other moms were talking about how terrible these ruts were, our pastor actually jumped into the conversation and said, sounds like

a mark you need to break into. And my mom told me I was about five years old when this idea came up. And obviously, one, I didn't want to, you know, get in trouble or continue to get in trouble for losing my barrettes. But I've also always wanted to inspire people and especially girls. And I saw this as a way to do that. So I nagged my mom into creating a barrette and creating a business. And the rest is history. So and so. So you did that and y'all been growing the business and look you're shipping to 56 13 countries how are you doing revenue wise how many

how many employees do you have and so for the past three or so years since I was in the sixth grade our business has made six figures so I've kind of coined the hashtag of six figures by the sixth grade, our business has made six figures. So I've kind of coined the hashtag of six figures by the sixth grade. And we've right now, especially in 2021, prioritized employees and hiring people. So we just brought on about three different team members when it comes to either fulfillment or team management, or even also just dealing with customers and customer service. So we've been able to grow our team as a whole, but we also have different contracts with people, especially black owned brands who are helping us in many different areas as well. All right. So now you've opened this salon. Why? We wanted to create a space where

girls can, you know, feel, not only feel confident in themselves, but also feel confident in their hair. And I think that with the salon, we're able to not only help girls get their hair down, you know, feel beautiful, but they're also able to see the behind the scenes of the business, you know, see the fulfillment process. So even meet me sometimes if I'm walking around the office. So we really wanted to create a place where girls can get their hair done, because I know that there's not really many little girl salons because it does take a lot of work. But we were able to create a space where girls can come, you know, have fun, but then also learn about business or just see what's going on behind the

scenes and just have the whole confidence experience. All right. Questions for my panel. I will start with you, Teresa. Yeah. Hey, Gabby. I really honestly don't have a question I just want to say I'm very very proud of you it does take a lot of ambition a lot of creativity and vision being a little girl myself I know I would have loved a shop like yours other than going with my mom to her hair salon it's one of those bright ideas that I think more people should, you know, open their doors to you. So if you're looking to come in Philadelphia, please reach out. Yes, we're definitely looking to franchise and definitely that is an opportunity that we would love to take as well. So thank you so much. Xavier. Gabby, I'm so proud of you. I have a 16-year-old daughter,

so it's really great to see. I literally text them during this segment, my two youngest kids, and I say, you're never too young to start a business. You've been in business for eight years now. In your beginning of your journey, did you expect to, following your vision, would then give jobs to people and impact their families and communities and create pathways and being a great Black woman entrepreneur? Yes, I've always seen that inspiration or aspiration, I guess. I've always wanted to be able to, you know, do that and not

only, you know, be a light in my family, but also in my community around me and just around the world as well. So I definitely really wanted to be able to create jobs for people, be able to inspire girls who look like me to and help them know that they can do whatever they want to do. It doesn't matter how old they are, how you know if they're black or not, or just there's many stereotypes that I feel like a lot of black girls go through, especially in the workforce, and especially if you're a young entrepreneur, you can go through a lot. But I wanted to be able to show girls and still want to to this day that they can also be CEOs just like me. And we've not only been able to do that, you know, by selling our products, but we also have a academy, our Mommy and Me Entrepreneurship

Academy, where we have 50 or over 50 girls who are selling our products under our brand. So they have their own business and they're learning different entrepreneurship skills. And through that, we're able to help them grow out of their shell like I did through entrepreneurship and just help them learn things that they can use when they grow up and either work in the workforce or work for somebody else or even start their own businesses and work for themselves. So I definitely wanted to be able to create opportunities for many different people. And I'm glad that that's becoming a reality. Mustafa. CEO Goodwin. I like the way that sounds. What has been the greatest lesson that you've learned in the time that you've been leading your organization? The greatest lesson that I've learned is just to be confident in myself.

I mentioned before that confidence has really, or my confidence has blossomed through entrepreneurship. And before everything kind of got big or our business started to gain traction, I was really shy growing up. And I didn't really want to talk to people that I didn't know or I was just really quiet and in business you have to be the opposite of that you have to go outside your right or go out of your way and talk to people especially at you know vendor shows and

we started that route early going to vendor shows you know know, every single week. And through that, and also doing interviews, speeches, I was able to kind of grow out of my shell and really be the person that I am today. And I'm glad that I've been able to do that and learn because, you know, if I didn't have entrepreneurship as my, I guess, outlet for my confidence, I wouldn't have been able to, you know, know how to speak in front of people or how to be confident in myself, especially as a young black girl. And also just another thing that I also came up with, this is a quote that I came up with when I was probably about 10. And it is, no, it's just an abbreviation for next opportunity.

And I've been able to also learn that because, even though I may be young, I may be cute, and people wanna support me, there were a lot of no's heard in this process. And there still are no's that I hear on a consistent basis. But I've always learned that, or I've learned over time, that even if you hear no, that doesn't mean it's the end of the world or the end of your business, but it can be, you know,

a next opportunity for your big yes that you're waiting for. All right, then. Well, Gabby, certainly congratulations. First of all, where can people go online to see your products? Yes, you can go to GabbyBose.com. That's on the screen is G-A-B-B-Y-B-O-W-S.com. We are also in some online retail stores. You can go to Bloomingdale's.com, Target.com, and we'll be partnering with Macy's.com next year. But then there's also different retail stores or local beauty supply stores around the world that you can also find on our website, too. All right, then. Gabby Goodwin, CEO of Confidence. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

Thank you so much for having me. All right. Thank you so much for having me. But before that, he, of course, led the Oakland Raiders to a Super Bowl title. And so John Madden has passed away at the age of 85. Let me thank Teresa, Mustafa and Xavier for being on today's show. I want to thank all of all three of you for being with us as we, of course, been focused on today's news. I'm going to go to a quick break We come back I want to end today's show folks With the interview done with Archbishop Desmond Tutu After he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 We want to share that with you As we reflect on his

Passing at the age of 90 on Sunday You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered Right here on the Blackstar Network. Nettopp Thank you. When you study the music, you get black history by default. And so no other craft could carry as many words as rap music. I try to intertwine that and make that create whatever I'm supposed to send out to the universe. A rapper, you know, for the longest period of time has gone through phases. I love the word. I hate what it's become, you know, to this generation, the way they visualize it. Its narrative kind of like has gotten away and spun away from, I guess, the ascension of black people

for the nobel hi i'm eric nolan what's up y'all? I'm Will Packer. I'm Chrisette Michelle. Hi, I'm Chaley Rose, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. What, in your opinion, makes a good leader? What qualities? Ah, yes. It's a question that we've had to deal with quite a bit, looking at some of the leaders we have had who have sometimes led their countries into disastrous situations. I think ultimately you want a leader who is also a servant. Rwy'n credu, yn y pen draw, y byddwch chi eisiau arweinydd sy'n gweithiwr hefyd. Rwy'n credu, yn wir, mae'r arweinydd yn arweinydd oherwydd ei fod yn gweithiwr. Pan edrychwch ar rhai o'r arweinydd mwyaf, mae Nelson Mandela yn rhywun sydd ddim yn ei hanfod am ei hunain. Mae'n arwain ar gyfer, ar gyfer.

Dyna un. Yn ymlaen, mae'r arweinydd mawr yn dangos sut mae'n arweinydd am ddewr y led gan brofiad. Yr un sy'n gweithiwr hefyd. that is that is the ultimate for me yes that you you are not one who is seeking self-glorification who who wants to feather his nest i'm just look say it i mean you can look at mother teresa or any i Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, you'll see that a great characteristic is they are doing something sacrificial in a way for the sake of those they are serving and suffering. Well, the Dalai Lama has been in exile for 50 years. Nelson Mandela was in jail. Mother Teresa lives with the poor. She lived with the poor.

Mahatma Gandhi, you could go on. Martin Luther King. And then the Grisk leader is someone who is inspiring, inspires his followers, her followers, Aosang Sunji. I mean, she said nothing very much for 11 years, and yet she remains the only real leader in Burma. Why? That somehow the leader encapsulates and somehow represents the best that is in the people, the aspirations of the people. And yes, it is someone who can inspire.

What makes a good student then? And yes, it is someone who can inspire. What makes a good student then? A good student who learns all of these things. But also questions. You know, someone who is not just passive, sitting there and has things thrown at them. In South Africa, one of our big problems was that our education system seemed to tell people what to think instead of teaching people how to think and saying we want you to have questioning minds. We want you to be in a sense skeptical. dydw i ddim yn credu hynny hyd yn oed i gael ddewis sy'n fy nhygoel. Mae'n amlwg ein bod ni wedi gwneud hynny.

Mae'n amlwg ein bod ni wedi gwneud hynny. Mae'r awdurdodol yn dweud, dylai chi wneud hyn oherwydd rwy'n dweud hyn. Mae'r awdurdodol yn dweud, wel, gwneud gwirionedd a yw'n wir neu ddim. Ac oherwydd bod yna un sydd wedi adeiladu credyliad, pan maen nhw'n dweud rhywbbeth, rydych chi'n dweud, ah, ie. Pan mae'r person yn dweud,

rwy'n am i chi geisio'i ddod o hyd. Mae'n siarad yn awdurdodol oherwydd mae wedi mynd drwy broses ei hun, lle mae wedi dangos y gallai ei ddod o hyd. through a process himself where he showed that he could forgive. In the same line, what makes a good and working environment then? Ah, well I would hope, I mean, that it was a life-enhancing environment. There are far too many situations where you would say they are life-threatening, many of them. Certainly they undermine the good life. I would hope you would have an environment that encouraged curiosity, ymddygiad, bod yn ymddygiadwy ac yn ceisio ysbrydoli'r gwir. Ond mae'n rhaid i hefyd fod yn amgylchedd sy'n ymwybyddedig. Yn llawer o aml, rydych chi'n dod o hyd i arweinwyr sy'n ymddygiad o'r gallu eraill. Maen nhw'n cael eu llwyddo ar ffyrdd o'u gilydd.

Felly rydym yn mynd yn ôl at y dîm da. Mae'r dîm da'n mor hyderus ei fod yn ddim angen i ddim yn gwneud yn dda ei bwysigrwydd. i ddod i'r llaw. Mae ganddo awdurdod sy'n awdurdod morol. Felly, mae'r amgylchedd da yn amgylchedd sy'n ymwybyddu, sy'n annog eraill, sy'n adeiladu. encourages others, that builds up, not one that is forever denigrating and belittling others. When you were given or received the Peace Prize 1984, it was at the height of apartheid and you were at the stage of leadership in South Africa. What did it mean for you personally to be receiving this award?

Yes. At about that time, South Africa was virtually off the radar screen in the world. And we were feeling Roedden ni'n teimlo rhywfaint yn ddysgu, yn ddysgu. Yn ystod y dydd, roedd y Partheid yn ymddelfryd yn dod ar gyfer cymorth bwysig iawn i helpu i ail-gwneud gofnod ein bobl. Mae'r byd yn gwylio ac mae'r byd yn adnabod bod ein gwasanaeth yn gwasanaeth ddeall. It is a noble cause. And it came at a time when it was important to focus attention on our situation. And that is what it helped to do. The other thing was that it helped to open doors that previously were closed. I had been trying to get an invitation to the White House, and up to that point had

failed dismally. But as soon as it was announced that I had been awarded the 1984 Peace Prize, word came from the White House. I didn't have to ask them. They said, oh, the president will receive you in the Oval Office. And I've sometimes said to people too, one of the funniest things about getting the Nobel Peace Prize was that you were turned into an instant you were turned into an instant Oracle. Things you said before you got the Nobel Peace Prize and which people had ignored, when you repeated these things now after Pan roeddech chi'n cyflawni'r pethau hyn nawr, ar ôl cael y rhaglen yn ystod y cyflawn, roedd pobl yn dweud, o, o, o, mae hynny'n dda. Roedd pawb yn gwario ymwneud â'r hyn nad oeddent wedi'i wneud yn y blaen.

Beth oedd hi ar y lleol yn ymwneud â'r regim apartheid? were you not afraid at times that they would try to stop you being as forward as you were? Yes, but I mean that was part of, as it were, the normal course of things. That if you are involved in a struggle, you realise that there are going to be casualties Os ydych chi'n ymwneud â'r ymdrech, rydych chi'n sylweddoli bod yna amgylcheddau a byddai'r peiriant o ddim yn hoffi cymryd ymdrech â chi. to be prepared for that. But the prize also obviously increased our profile and possibly helped to some extent in protecting us. Were you born a rebel, Rouse, what do you think, as the title of the new autobiography is? I'm actually very shy, you know. People don't believe this, that in a that I was well rebellious no in fact I was quite a nice young guy you know I I mean I I look back and say when you compare us with some of the things that you young people have been doing, oh,

I was very docile. I mean, very, very docile. I mean, look at how long we accepted inferior education, whereas young people in 1976 refused. You know, no, I don't think that I have a rebellious streak in me. I'm very, very dull and very safe. ac yn ddiogel iawn. Roeddech chi'n gwneud i bobl weld beth oedd yn iawn a'i wneud yn y system apartheid. Ie. A sut... beth yw eich ffwrdd arwain? Rwy'n dweud i bobl bob amser ydw i wedi dod yn arweinydd I always say to people that I became a leader in the struggle against apartheid by default.

Our real leaders were either in jail or in exile or serving, bearing orders and so forth. I just, I mean, I really am amazed at how God can use almost any kind of instrument. And I was one of those instruments that God used in our particular situation. And it's been a very great privilege. Do you think that the Peace Prize in any way has made you, that it comes with a task for the future as well? Yes, yes, yes. It's a wonderful privilege and honour. gyda'r ddiddordeb ar gyfer y dyfodol. Ie, ie. Mae'n gyfle a hwnnw'n wych, ond mae hefyd gweithgareddau.

Ac weithiau rydym wedi ceisio adnabod nad ydych chi yn deall ei fodd yn unig eich hun. you no longer as it were belong just to yourself. You to some extent are now a servant of the world. And for instance, a few years ago, as Nobel Peace Laureates, we said we wanted to go and see Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma. And we were not allowed. We went to Thailand but it was a corporate action on the part of Nobel laureates, peace

laureates acting together on for a specific purpose. And generally we have seen that we have a voice that the world tends to listen to. When a number of us get together and make a statement about a particular issue, the world does hate it, I think, very seriously. And we have now and again done that, you know, come together as Nobel Peace Laureates and said, let us issue a statement. yn gydag anwyl yn y Pethlenni Gwladd Cymru a dweud, gadewch i ni gyflwyno ystadeg. Rydych chi wedi cymryd eich hun yn y cyfnod ymlaen yn y cyfnod y Darfur, er enghraifft.

Ie. Yn y rhan o'ch gwaith ymdrin yn y byd, mae'r Pethlenni yn y byd. Ie. Yes, as you probably know there was an initiative called the Elders that was an initiative of Nelson Mandela and Graca Marcel. We are hoping as elders to say, well this is a global village and elders in the village yw, i ddweud, wel, dyma ffordd byd yn gyfoeth cyffredinol ac mae'r mabwysion yn y ffordd byd yn cael eu meddwl yn adnoddau o ddylunio a phrofiad a efallai rhyw fath o awdurdod. Ac byddwn yn gobeithio y byddwn yn defnyddio'r holl un o'r rhain ar gyfer cyfrifoedd y dynion a chyfarwyddo ar ardaloedd sy'n broblematig, sydd â chyd-difrif, a gweld, in bringing about a resolution of the problem in Darfur. We were also going to be or are involved in Zimbabwe, Burma, the Middle East, you know. What other issues apart from the serious conflicts that we are seeing engage you today?

I believe that you are also very engaged in environmental issues. Yes, well very recently we had a wonderful service in Tromsø in Norway in the Arctic Cathedral where they had a service to mark World Environment who spoke about how global warming was already thinning the ice. And so they can't skate easily over the ice. It's too thin. So it's affecting their way of life. They cannot go hunting as easily as they used to. And then they had someone from the Pacific Islands who was saying that the level of the sea was rising so much it was flooding their islands and they were destroying their vegetation, the trees, because the salt water was seeping into the roots. And then they had someone from Africa who was speaking about about how conflict was arising in her community because of the scarcity of grazing. And of course, you know, therefore part of the reason why there is conflict there is that there is competition for ever reducing pasture.

And yes, we are very exercised by the whole question of the environment and are saying we need to impress on people that each of us can make a difference. We can reduce the size of our carbon footprint. We can each be careful that we do not litter. And people can begin to learn that you can use clothes that are less expensive and do not use as much energy as the conventional ones, incandescent globes and things of that kind, yeah. It is, in this issue, I think the children often in the poor countries are mostly affected, yet they are not the culprits of the global warming. How does that make you feel?

Is that sort of anger that I see sometimes arising in you when you see how unjust it still is. Yes, well, you are saying, I mean, something that is important, that unless we begin to be quite serious about the fact that actually we are one family, we are constantly going to be running up against problems such as this, where the wealthy might become irresponsible

and the victims are not themselves, but the victims are the vulnerable, the poor. To say, we are not going to be able to survive except together. i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tātou i tāt against terror as long as there are conditions that make people desperate. And one of these issues is the environmental issue. Absolutely, yes. But I mean if you are going to have less water, I mean people are going to be fighting over diminishing resources and the weaker are obviously going to be the ones who get the worst of that argument. The strong will be grasping all they can and we're saying there is still enough for everybody if we could have the good sense

of trying to share. I just want to say that what we have learned from South Africa is that there was a way forward by accepting the TRC and the, that you have always said there is a need to forgiveness you have to how do we as people then learn how to forgive each other what one of the things is how do you learn how to swim you don't learn how to swim by reading books. You learn how to swim by swimming. And so you learn to forgive by forgiving. And all of us have at one time or another had to forgive. We know what it means to forgive. We know what it means to be forgiven. And let's just apply what we know.

Thank you very much. God bless you. Thank you. this is an iHeart podcast