#RolandMartinUnfiltered - VP Harris talks Black biz; Morgan Wallen canceled; Black cop speaks on racism, commits suicide

Episode Date: February 6, 2021

2.5.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: VP Harris talks Black biz; Morgan Wallen canceled; Ted Cruz continues to delay the vote on United Nations Ambassador appointee Linda Thomas-Greenfield; Prosecutors want a warrant for the arrest of Kyle Rittenhouse; N-word gets Country Star Morgan Wallen canceled; Black cop speaks on racism, commits suicide; NYPD fired Deputy Inspector James Kobel for posting hundreds of racist and sexist statements on an online message board; Details on the public viewing being held for Cicely TysonSupport #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered#RolandMartinUnfiltered is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Today is Friday, February 5th, 2021. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, Vice President Kamala Harris breaks the tie moving forward the critical COVID relief bill of President Joe Biden. We will show you when she presided over the United States Senate as well as hear from the president. Also, VP Harris and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen held a virtual roundtable today discussing how black businesses can stay afloat during the pandemic. Texas Senator Ted Cruz continues to delay the vote of United Nations Ambassador Appointee Linda Thomas-Greenfield because of remarks she made in 2019 at an HBCU. Prosecutors want a warrant for the arrest of Kyle Rittenhouse, who continues to ignore the conditions of his bond. He also has fired the attorney who helped him raise $2 million. Country star Morgan Wallen has been suspended indefinitely from his label after his neighbor recorded him shouting the N-word.

And also the New York Fire Department fired Deputy Inspector James Coble for posting hundreds of racist and sexist statements on an online message board. We'll also show you a deputy, first of all, who committed suicide. Man, a brother left a really, this really, really sad note. Plus there's gonna be a public viewing held for Cicely Tyson. And we'll talk with two of the co-authors who co-wrote a book about black history. It is time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Let's go. He's rollin' with Uncle Roro, yo. Yeah, yeah.

It's Rollin' Martin, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Rollin' with Rollin' now. Yeah, yeah. He's funky, fresh, he's real the best, you know. He's Roll Martel now Martel The yeas are 50, the nays are 50, the Senate being equally divided,

the Vice President votes in the affirmative, and the concurrent resolution as amended is adopted. With that, the COVID relief bill moves forward. Vice President Kamala Harris broke that tie early this morning after Republicans offered nearly 800 amendments trying to slow this process down. This particular bill, of course, would grant the relief necessary to a variety of Americans. But what it also did not do, it did not advance a federal minimum wage increase to $15 an hour. Let's talk about this with our panel. Rob Richardson hosts Disruption Now podcast.

Amisha Cross, political analyst and Democratic strategist. And Michael Inhotep hosts the African History Network show. Amisha, this is the first time that Vice President Kamala Harris has broken. Democrats held firm. There are 50 votes. All Republicans voted against this. And at the end of the day, this is real simple. If you're Democrats, you can make the argument now as a result of this bill

that Republicans didn't give a damn about the people impacted by COVID. It was Democrats who are concerned about their economic well-being. So anytime the folks like House, anytime folks like Congressman Jim Jordan try to say that, oh, we're about the, you know, the blue collar, the working class folks, not if you voted against this particular bill. You're absolutely right, Roland. And Democrats can, will, and should do exactly that. And I think we're going to see it because there was absolutely no reason for Republicans to vote against this bill. This is a bill that would advance those $1,200 checks that people need so desperately across America. This is a bill that would extend unemployment benefits, which expire in March. This is a bill that provides funding to states and localities to be able to advance what we've seen in terms of the expansion of how many people can get vaccines and the allocations therein.

And it just seems crazy to me that Republicans have gone and continue to try to obstruct and obstruct and obstruct some more while the American people are literally begging. More and more people are losing their jobs every day. There's people who can't feed their children. And this is just a very hard time for the American public. But I will say this, in terms of Vice President Kamala Harris, this is the best first vote that she could have cast because this tie-breaking vote here makes a huge difference because for her, you know, she will always be able to go back and say she fought for the American people and she fought for the American people when Republicans would not. And I think that that's something that she can hang her hat on. And to your point, once more, at the end of the day, Democrats from now

throughout the midterms and beyond are going to continue telling Americans exactly what they did. They fought for you when the Republicans wouldn't. And Republicans are going to have to come up with an answer to why they could not and why they would not. Republicans want to cut the size of this COVID bill. This is President Joe Biden speaking to reporters before he left to go home to Wilmington, Delaware. Thank you for your patience.

We had a very good but long meeting with the chairpersons and the House of Representatives in the Oval, and it went a little longer, but it went very well. Thank you all for being here. I'm accompanied by the Vice President and the Secretary of numbers came out today. And while we're grateful for everyone who found work and is earning a paycheck, it's very clear our economy is still in trouble. We added just 6,000 private sector jobs in the country last month. Overall, we added 49,000 jobs.

And this at a time when we have more than 10 million people out of work, 4 million people have been out of work for six months or longer, and 2.5 million women have been driven from the workforce. 15 million Americans are behind in the rental payments. Twenty four million adults and 12 million children literally don't have enough food to eat. These aren't Democrats or Republicans. They're Americans and they're suffering. They're suffering not because of anything they did through no fault of their own. They're suffering once in a century, virus has decimated our economy, and it's still wreaking havoc on our economy today. And so much of it is still about the virus. We're still in the teeth of this pandemic. In fact, January was the single deadliest month of the whole pandemic. We lost nearly 100,000 lives. I know some in Congress think we've already done

enough to deal with the crisis in the country. Others think that things are getting better and we can afford to sit back and either do little or do nothing at all. That's not what I see. I see enormous pain in this country. A lot of folks out of work. A lot of folks going hungry, staring at the ceiling tonight wondering, what am I going to do tomorrow? A lot of folks trying to figure out how to keep their jobs and take care of their children. A lot of folks reaching the breaking point. Suicides are up. Mental health needs are increasing. Violence against women and children is increasing. A lot of folks are losing hope. And I believe the American people are looking right now to their government for help, to do our job, to not let them down. So I'm going to act, and I'm going to act fast. I'd like to be doing it with the support of Republicans.

I've met with Republicans. There's some really fine people who want to get something done, but they're just not willing to go as far as I think we have to go. I've told both Republicans and Democrats that's my preference to work together. But if I have to choose between getting help right now to Americans who are hurting so badly and getting bogged down in a lengthy negotiation or compromising on a bill that's up to the crisis, that's an easy choice. I'm going to help the American people who are hurting now. That's why I'm so grateful to the House and the Senate for moving so fast on the American Rescue Plan.

Here's what's in that plan. First, it puts $160 billion into our national COVID-19 strategy, which includes more money for manufacturing, distribution and setting up of vaccine sites. Everything is needed to get the vaccines into people's arms. There's simply nothing more important than us getting the resources we need to vaccinate the people in this country as soon, as quickly as possible. So job number one of the American Rescue Plan is vaccines. Vaccines. The second, the American Rescue Plan is going to keep the commitment of $2,000. $600 has already gone out. $1,400

checks to people who need it. This is money directly in people's pockets. They need it. We need to target that money so folks making $300,000 don't get any windfall. But if you're a family that's a wage earner, each of the parents, one making 30 grand, one making 40 or 50, maybe that's a little more than, well, yeah, they need the money. And they're going to get it. And here's what I won't do. I'm not cutting the size of the checks. They're going to be $1,400, period. That's what the American people were promised.

Very quickly, here's the rest of my plan. It has money for food and nutrition. First of all, ladies and gentlemen, here's a thing that that's important here. Again, Republicans want to make the point that, oh, Trump was popular. He cared about the people. If Democrats consistently say just like they're right there saying, no, we're not going to provide stimulus checks to folks making three hundred thousand dollars. I guarantee you that's going to provide stimulus checks to folks making $300,000. I guarantee you that's going to poll well. That has to be, if Democrats are smart, that has to be their position consistently when it

comes to who's not going to get tax breaks, who's not going to get help. That's what you do. And so they can completely destroy any, any argument Republicans make by saying, oh, Democrats, they're destroying the economy. And here's the piece. Larry Summers, he wrote some some article saying, oh, that Biden's plan could be too big. This real simple. One point nine billion COVID relief plan repeal the Trump tax cuts as one point one billion. Yo, it's paid for. Yeah. I mean, call it a day. Look, it's nice to hear a president talk in a normal way where it's not a bunch of drama. So I just want to say that. And I acknowledge the fact that he said, yes,

he'd like there to be Republican support. We would all like that to happen, but it's not going to happen. It's never going to happen. They're not going to do it on any bill. So they should get used to this. Every single bill of any substance is going to require 51 votes. It's going to require Vice President Harris to break that vote. And Democrats need to come from that mindset and frame. And just like you said, Roland, they need to frame not only who they're helping and who they're not, but who the Republicans aren't helping. They don't want to help you. They are trying to hurt you. They are hurting the economy. They're not working with you and they don't want to work for you. They just want to take our country back because that's all they care about is power. And so we got to make sure we're proactive in that message

and not wait and expect Republicans to come along. We do have to make the attempt, but we don't have to wait on them. And I know we got Joe Manchin, one person who wants to convince Republicans. I know he's in a Republican state. But look, while you're there, get some stuff done for people and hope that they reelect you. Otherwise, nothing else matters governor of West Virginia was begging for the money. Well, he used to be a Democrat. Then he flipped to Republican when Trump was there. Don't be shocked if he flips back to Democrat while Biden is there. And so he made the point they need the money because Republicans did not like this particular bill because they felt that it was too much money for local and state governments, for them bailing them out when they really only want to target those blue cities, those blue states. Again, if Democrats are smart, every move you make is all about how you are

helping those who make less than $200,000 or $300,000 a year. If you are a family out there and you're making $30,000, $40,000, $50,000, $60,000, $70,000 grand, trust me, you don't give a damn about somebody making five times as much money as you, who all of a sudden says, well, what about us? Trust me, if you're making a combined $300,000 a year, you're doing fine compared to most Americans. Yeah, for the most part, that's true, Roland. And it's interesting you mentioned some of the governors, because you're going to have a lot. I think you're going to have a lot of Republican governors.

They have a lot of poor white people in pot than red states, than Republican states. And this is something that Governor Cuomo of New York pointed out a few months ago to Moscow Mitch McConnell, who's in a very poor state, Kentucky, Mitch McConnell. So I think what they're doing is a really good strategy to push this. I think you may have, like in the House, you may have a handful, maybe some of those 11 Republicans that voted to strip Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignments. You may have a handful of that, but we can't wait. And it's extremely important for them to connect these policies to the economy and to the economic conditions of individuals. The reason why is because 2022 midterm elections are right around the corner. And as TheGuardian.com pointed out, and I've dealt with on my show and you've dealt with on your show,

Republicans in state legislatures across the country have introduced 106 bills to make it harder to vote, especially for African-Americans and Latinos, etc. So we have to make a clear connection between these policies in Washington, D.C. and the economic conditions down on Main Street. And again, hopefully you will have an administration that actually says, let's put the money where there is most in need. Today, Vice President Harris, as well as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, sat down with black business leaders to talk about this very issue. Here's some of that one hour discussion. This is February. It is Black History Month. But I think as we all are concerned, Black History Month is every month. And so this conversation is not only for today.

It is part of an ongoing conversation we intend to have with you as the leaders that you are. When we look at our black businesses in our country, they range. We are talking about software companies. We're talking about health care companies. Yes, we're also talking about the beauty shop and the barbershop, but we are also talking about health care companies. Yes, we're also talking about the beauty shop and the barber shop, but we are also talking about health care. We are also talking about child care. We're also talking about manufacturing because black businesses, of course, are engaged in the business of keeping America running. And so in every sector, these businesses are present. And that is how we think of then

the role that you play, but also our responsibility to support you in all of those sectors. And during this pandemic, as the Secretary has said, this has been rough. We have all seen estimates that as many as 40 to 50 percent of black businesses have closed perhaps permanently. Nationally, we know small businesses, of which the majority of black businesses are, employ 50 percent of America's workforce, either because that worker is a small business owner or works for a small business. So when we're talking about the impact on the overall economy and country, it's profound. And our research also has shown that in the pandemic,

and this is something that is a lived experience for many of you and your members, the PPP program was not accessible to so many of our black-owned businesses. And it had to do with a multitude of issues, which included that those businesses were not necessarily engaged with the big banks, didn't necessarily have the familiar or the consistent relationship, if not any relationship, with a banker who could then call somebody up and say, Ms. Smith, this thing is coming down and this is how you apply for it. But what we know is those relationships do exist. And so for whom those relationships are intact, they got the benefit.

And for whom those relationships are not intact, they did not get the benefit of the PPP. So the president and I, together with the secretary, have been looking at how we can do better, knowing the mistakes that were made, and improve on what we need to do to bring relief to the businesses of our country to help our economy grow. So we are thinking of it in two ways as a general matter. There is the piece of it that is about what we need to do to get control of the public health component crisis of the pandemic. And so I'm going to talk for a minute about vaccines. And it is about getting our businesses back up and running, understanding those two points are inextricably linked. That the reason, one of the reasons we got into the catastrophe, the most recent catastrophe, I'm going to put aside pre-existing issues,

but the most recent catastrophe around our black businesses is because also we need to get control of the pandemic. So on the subject of the pandemic, we have crafted and the president has proposed the American Rescue Plan. And a large part of that plan is focused on vaccinations. And so, for example, we are putting in $400 billion to have a vaccine distribution plan. And this is the first time that the federal government has come in, sadly, since the pandemic started, to support states to do the vaccine distribution piece. But that's going to be up and running. So part of what we're going to ask is for your assistance and support for that component, not only of the American Rescue Plan, but what we need to do to actually make it work, meaning getting folks to go and get vaccinated, because it's good to have a vaccine. But if folks don't get vaccinated, it won't save the lives we intend to save.

We also have a part that is basically about bringing the economy back to full employment and and doing that in a way that we understand that black workers see the biggest wage gains when the economy is at full employment. So the way we're going to do that is, yes, by the vaccinations, but also we need to open schools and reopen them safely. So that is part of our American Rescue Plan. Also, we made a commitment for $2,000 of relief to families. There was a down payment on that in the previous bill of $600, and we intend with this next bill, the American Rescue Plan, to have $1,400 checks going out to those folks who are most in need by way of relief to help them get through this moment of crisis so that at the end of it they can get back up and recover in the way that we intend. And also, more specifically, for our businesses, we are also creating a specific package of relief that is about $15 billion. This did not exist in previous bills, in the relief bills. $15 billion going to grant programs, not loans, grants,

targeted at our smallest businesses of which the majority of black businesses are and targeted at our black and brown and minority-owned businesses. So this is some of the work we are doing in addition to as the secretary said what we are doing around the CDFIs, the community development financial institutions and as a point of personal pride what that was one of the last things I worked on when I was in the Senate together with Senator Cory Booker Senator Mark Warner and others and the ideas is basically to

put more capital to infuse more resources into our community banks knowing that those are the ones that have the relationships with our businesses and are best equipped to support them not only by way of grants and loans, but also by way of helping them grow their businesses, helping and surrounding them with the infrastructure of skills and resources they need to sustain a business. So these are some of the areas of focus. This right here, Michael, is where, again, targeted efforts need to be made, unlike where you had the Trump folks, who it was all about big business and helping those who already got money. Well, not only was it all about big business and helping those already have money, it was also removing the inspector general who watched over how the money was distributed. OK, so so and then we found out that you had like some Trump related businesses or something like that that got money as well from the first round of the I I think it was the first round of the stimulus bill.

So this is extremely good. I'm glad Madam Vice President Kamala Harris had this meeting along with Janet Yellen. And once again, this is an example of how politics is the legal distribution of scarce wealth, power, and resources, and the writing of laws, statutes, ordinances, amendments, and treaties. There are adoption, interpretation, and enforcement. It's important for us to go back and look at the article from Forbes.com from April of 2020.

41% of black-owned businesses had gone out of business because of the COVID economy as of April 2020. Now, it's probably at least 50%. So what we just saw is the example, is an example of how elections have consequences and African-Americans voting their interests. So we have to follow through on this. But what I just saw, you know, that's a good start.

I keep saying, Amisha, follow the money, follow the money, follow the money. At the end of the day, that's what has to happen. And when we talk about how do we make demands of this government, it has to be helping those people who are most in need. We have seen some reports, 40 plus percent of black businesses lost as a result of COVID-19. January 2020, we're talking about 2.6, 2.7 million black owned businesses. You lose 40 percent of those businesses. We're now talking about a massive, massive number, more than nearly more than a million businesses lost.

They were first of all, of the 2.6 million, 2.5 million will only have one employee anyway. And so you're talking about the inability to be able to build wealth and build capital because you don't have businesses. You're absolutely correct, Roland. And it has been really sad and frustrating to watch because we saw what happened with the PPP loans that were given out by the Trump administration. A lot of those went to businesses that honestly didn't need them, businesses that had many places in various different states. We saw even some NFL teams that ended up getting that cash.

I think that when we're talking about black businesses specifically, the Biden, when he was running, when he was candidate Biden, was still out talking about on the campaign trail what this could mean for black businesses, what the pandemic meant for black businesses. And he made a promise and a pledge to black businesses then that I think we're watching him follow through with now. It makes sense to look towards community banks because to be honest, as a Southsider, as a Chicagoan, when it comes to black businesses that actually took off in the community, they were businesses that got their funding from community banks. They couldn't get funding from Chase. They couldn't get funding from some of these larger banks that their white counterparts could easily. So I think that when you're talking about funding infusions there, when you're talking about

specifically targeting money towards Black businesses, not just small businesses, but Black businesses, because when you say small business, every other business seems to get it but businesses that are run by Black people. We definitely have to make sure that that targeting happens. And I'm glad that the conversation was started today and that we're seeing this policy in practice and that black businesses do have relief on the horizon. One of the things I keep talking about, Rob, is how we are to attack the needs when it comes to the federal government. I've talked a lot about this week when it comes to advertising.

And what I keep saying to folks, you have to identify specifically where you're getting frozen out. And so we're going to have next week Ron Busby with the U.S. Chamber Inc. on because that's one of the deals there. How do you confront the unbundling of contracts? How do you unlock the dollars? See, a lot of people just say, and I love these people. I see the comments on Twitter.

I see their comments on social media. I see their comments on YouTube. And they're always, like somebody right here, this guy Lamont says, reparations. Okay, Lamont, here's the whole deal. You need 218 votes in the House. You need 60 in the Senate. You need the president to sign it. Right.

Let me know how that's going. Yeah, let me know how it works, too. I mean, so again, so all these people, they could yell reparations all day. Okay, let me know when it happens. But in the meantime, how are you going to unlock the dollars right now? We're talking about billions of dollars right now. Yep, yep. Well, there are some things that can be done. I've seen my mother struggle through this process.

She has her own accounting firm, and I see how it works even on the local level. As Amisha alluded, a lot of the problem is that how they define a small business. How they define a small business is a huge business under the federal government guidelines. The federal government guidelines is 500 employees or less is a small business. You've got 500 employees. You are a big business compared to most businesses, right? But they are comparing small businesses compared to multinational corporations, which is a problem with how they even do the program.

So I think they really, really need to deconstruct that program and be more intentional and targeted too. So this is a good beginning. But if we're serious, they need to really look at how they're defining small businesses and really give small businesses as they are defined with African-Americans. Because they're not most there are there are clearly African-Americans that have businesses that are that large. But that's that's not the norm. If we want to make sure we're building more, we have to look and redefine that definition. Second, there should be some targeted policies specifically to help some of these businesses because, to be quite frank,

you and I talked about this, Roland, COVID-19 has been an accelerator of trends. Some of these businesses are not coming back. So therefore, we have to look, how can we help transition them to make sure they can get into an emerging technology business or something like that in an emerging field? That is where I think the government should and can be focused, but we need to be more innovative in how we really look at this and change some of these policies. Again, I want our folks to understand how you go after the money. That means that you're going to have to be very clear in also how the money flows in terms of who does it go to from the federal entity

and then who do they give it to, who's the person who's supposed to be distributing it what's their track record see all of those different things that's how we have to be targeting these dollars president Joe Biden does not have as United Nations ambassador yet because Senator Ted Cruz has been asked last week of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee they actually chose to delay the vote on United Nations ambassador appointee Linda Thomas-Greenfield. Why? Because Ted Cruz did not like a speech that she gave at Savannah State University in 2019. Thomas-Greenfield gave the speech at the Chinese-funded Confucius Institute on campus regarding

China's relations and investments in Africa. Now although she says she regrets her comments, Cruz and several other GOP senators rehashed the speech and questioned Thomas Greenfield's approach on the threat of China. The committee is slated to reconvene to reconsider her role. Now, here is this fool, Ted Cruz. Watch this. So you've said you were horrified by seeing firsthand what the Confucius Institute was doing. Did you

keep the money? I can tell you what I did with the money. I give a tremendous amount of my very meager resources to humanitarian efforts. So you did keep the money, though? You didn't give it back? I did. I did not give it back. It was not from the Confucius Institute. It was from Savannah State University. Now, you also described, you said you've spoken out against China's abusive practices. Perhaps you have elsewhere. But I can tell you, I'm holding the speech you gave at the Confucius Institute, and I can't find a single word of criticism in this speech.

This speech is cheerleading for the Chinese Communist Party. You praise the Belt and Road Initiative. You praise their entrapping developing countries in debt bondage. And you say the United States should follow China's model. Is it the role of America's UN ambassador to be cheering on the Chinese Communist Party at the expense of the developing world and at the expense of America? Senator, it was not my intention, nor do I think that I cheered on the Chinese Communist Party. What I recommended in that speech is that Africans need to open their eyes on how they deal with the Chinese. And I would like to see the United States government do more in Africa to compete with the Chinese. My final question, did you have even a word of criticism about the Chinese Communist Party,

about its murders, about its tortures, about its concentration camps, about its genocide. Did you have even a word of criticism in the speech you gave at the Confucius Institute? I spoke about human rights there. That's the speech, but you don't see my other engagements with students who ask questions that I answered frankly. And I don't ignore human rights. I talk about the fact that Africans like our values. But in the speech, did you address human rights? I did. Human rights is referred to as something that we promote in the United States.

What did you say about human rights? That are things that are our values. What did you say about human rights? I mean, in my with with Africans. But I appreciate what you're saying. I'm not denying this. As I said, I regret this. I, you know, this is one speech in my 35 year career and I do regret that speech. But if you look at what I have done prior to that, there is no question that I understand I am not at all naive about what the Chinese are doing. And I have called them out on a regular basis, including today.

Thank you. Sir, the court book of New Jersey did not quite like Ted Cruz keep harping on this speech at HBCU. And he had her back. So good to see you here today. I watched the whole hearing on my television in my office and was really appreciative with generous spirit on both sides of the aisle and the substance of the question. I did hear one colleague, though, refer to Biden administration's nominees as embracing China. I think that was the exact wording. And I found that just patently unfair and untrue. And then I heard one speech being taken in a way that was patently offensive

to me at a moment that we just had a siege on the Capitol. And I would actually say that of all the members here of this committee, there's not one that doesn't have something in a speech in their past that they regret doing, as this person has said, especially at a time that we see people whipped up to storm a Capitol and the perpetuation of baseless lies that an election that was won by seven million votes was a fraud and so I'm particularly galled that in the spirit of bipartisanship which we usually have that you were treated like you were recently about one speech that you had already thoroughly explained to numerous members and the generosity of some of my friends on the other side, I was pointed very clearly. You were invited to give a speech by an HBCU. Now, some of my colleagues

might not know this. I have buckets of invitations of speeches where I get speech invitations that I prioritize. If you're a New Jersey university, you got me. If you are one of my alma matas, you got me. But when I get a call from an HBCU, I would imagine to the nominee, you know the sacred importance of HBCUs. You know that they are the number one producer in America of black generals, number one producer in America of black doctors, number one producer in America of black professors, PhDs, and so forth. In fact, if there is a hope for this country ever to reach equality in all the ranks of all the professions, would you agree with me that the HBCUs are still that hope? Without a doubt, Senator. Thank you very much. Yes, and as a person

who has two generations before me going to HBCUs, the fact that you accepted an invitation from a black college to give a speech, to me, shows that you have the right priority list. Because I will tell you this, our State Department ranks are woefully lacking in African Americans. When I travel the globe and visit embassies, they are woefully lacking. We are now at a period where we've had a black vice president, first woman as well, first woman treasurer. You are one of the generations of women that are breaking down barriers and showing the way for women and African-Americans. I imagine your commitment to continue to do that is the same, yes? Absolutely.

Now, the other thing that just galled me a little bit, it was the fact that Senator Menendez, my senior senator, who was friend and mentor to me, read a whole list through your research, Senator Menendez, of examples for, I think, 10 to 20 years of you being a canary in the coal mine making warnings about China, China's activities in Africa. And so to the Senator Menendez, who I rarely ever tell him what to do, so I'll ask him, could you introduce that litany into the record in a formal way so that it is there forever? I'd be happy to. Thank you very

much. So I just want you to know I am celebrating that you are sitting before me right now because I know the challenges we still have in this country. And I watched after George Floyd was savagely murdered, how it wasn't just all 50 states of America that came out and protested, but we saw other nations, right? At least a dozen other countries, because they know that the United States of America, if we can make our values true here, there's hope for the world. Would you agree with that? Yes, sir. So I have 30 seconds left, and I apologize for using all my time, but I just want you to know,

for my ancestors, for communities of color all around the world who wonder if this nation will ever achieve itself, will ever get to a point where we can be a country where we celebrate the richness of our diversity not just in words but in positions of leadership where we achieve our potential as past generations saw when they brought hidden figures out of the shadows and sat them together with NASA astronauts and literally defy gravity, that you today, sitting in that seat, are a reason to rejoice. And your record is unapproachable in your patriotism to this country under Democratic and Republican administrations. I thank you. I celebrate you. And I will submit my questions for the record in hopes that you will give me that response. I yield to you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. So. Michael, here's why I am greatly, greatly bothered here. The first thing is the Americans love to talk smack about China and how we're so concerned about what China is doing in Africa.

And Thomas Greenfield said, I would like to see America do more. I remember when Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, and she was cautioning African nations about accepting money for investment for China. And I'm sitting here going, well, it ain't like the United States. It's coming to the table with $100 billion for Chinese nations. Now, let me be real clear. I am not defending how the Chinese in're basically saying to African nations, hey, y'all on your own. They're going to cut those deals with China.

And so, Cruz, show me where you want to put a bill forth for the United States to invest in African nations. It's not going to happen, Michael. I don't think Ted Cruz is doing that. And I think Ted Cruz is just trying to be an obstructionist. OK, I think he's just trying to be an obstructionist. But, you know, is is is not. See, Ted Cruz is a is a very interesting but unlikable person at the same time, because this is this is this is the guy who more likely to be insulted his wife donald trump insulted his wife right and but then ted cruz continues to carry donald trump's water and ted cruz was at the stop the steel rally january 6th inciting the insurrectionists he was there so you

know i'm glad you showed senator c Cory Booker putting everything in the context. And really, it was a underhanded backhand slap at Ted Cruz also with what Senator Cory Booker was saying as well. But, you know, Ted Cruz is, you know, he was reelected, I think, was it two years ago? It was in 2018. Beat one by 2.5 points against Beto O'Rourke. Right. So he has four years left. And I think maybe it's a good chance after that insurrection that took place, I think maybe it's a good chance that they could get him out of that Senate seat.

But, yeah, Ted Cruz is in no position to try to take the moral authority on this and try to check that sister like that. No, he's not. For me, Rob, is where it's problematic, where, again, if you're the United States and you want to talk trash about what some other country is doing and their influence on African nations, step the hell up. I mean, those African nations are more than happy to accept investment from America, but you can't talk trash about somebody else and then you do nothing. Yeah, it's actually reminiscent of some of our past, you know, when African nations had to rely on Cuba, the Soviet Union, you know,

South Africa just to survive. And people were saying, well, why didn't Nelson Mandela and all those people accept help? Because they were in a fight for their freedom. They don't care what the nations call themselves. It's about making sure they survive. Africa, same thing. So, I mean, it's so easy to criticize these nations, but I find it really, really hypocritical. Second, as we talk about hypocrites, I want to just, I want to criticize these nations, but I find it really, really hypocritical. Second, as we talk about hypocrites, I want to just I want to talk about Ted Cruz because this man just defended. He was defending a whole philosophy we know to be false. If you got a chance to see this, this lawsuit that was filed by Dominion, the voting machine, it's just it's just such a great line. Right. There's one of the best openings. It says, you know, the earth is round.

Two plus two equals four. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are president of the United States. These are facts. They're undisputed. The election wasn't rigged. It's just as true as the earth being round. Two plus two equals four. But you have people like Ted Cruz promoting this propaganda, getting people riled up, believing that things are being taken from him, that the nation was rigged, that they

have something to fight for. He is just as responsible as Trump because he empowered that rhetoric. He's still not going to hold them accountable. So I don't want to hear anything from a lot of these people. They've lost their right to any type of moral high ground to me for a very long time. I don't want to hear it. And that's really for me right there, Amisha. I don't want to hear a damn thing from ted cruz or any of these people because also i don't want to hear you even having the audacity the mitigated goal uh to question uh

china and their human rights abuses when you literally were going to you were supporting people who wanted to overthrow this country. That's treason. That's being a traitor. Ted Cruz has been an echo chamber for QAnon conspiracy theories for a long time now. He stood out and he helped to not only amplify their voices, but he also pushed those conspiracy theories that he himself knew were false because they helped Republicans fundraise. He also did it because it allowed for the outgrowth of those rallies and pushing people out. And like you said, the insurrection that we saw just a few weeks ago. Ted Cruz also cannot personally speak to

or engage in any level about humanitarian crises. This is the same guy who voted for and supported President Trump as he pulled out of various treaties that we've had with nations that we relied had with nations that we relied upon, not only in terms of fighting for humanitarian efforts globally, but also in terms of funding. I think that it's very upsetting when we see someone like Ted Cruz speak against a nominee who happens to be a Black woman. And I think that this is largely because she would be first, and she is a Black woman.

Let's not forget this is also Black History Month, so it's a double slap in the face. But this is the same Ted Cruz who himself has, again, stood by while America pilfered the resources of various African nations. This is the same Ted Cruz who stood by and voted for the United States pulling out of humanitarian regards for various countries in Africa. So, no, he doesn't care about Africa. He also does not. This is a Republican talking point.

All things China, China, China, China. And they're trying to link in any given way something that can dissuade voters who do not understand that Democrats have no true alliance to China. I think that somebody accepting a speech, because Republicans, if we pull out the docket, Republicans have spoken everywhere for private sector. Oh, yeah. I mean, you swear you swear Biden and Hillary, like Democrats in love with China.

First of all, how many of these Republicans are doing business in China? How many of them are selling their products there? How many of them? how many of them are selling their I guess they have to be because their policies are so bad, but boy, we need to take a class in their marketing because they know how to do this. They really do. Yeah, no, they real good with the line. They real good with the line. All right, y'all, let's talk about the white supremacist, this fool called Rittenhouse, which is kind of weird.

Prosecutors asked the judge for a new arrest warrant for Rittenhouse because he violated his bail conditions. Rittenhouse, who was charged with killing two people and injuring another during a protest last August in Kenosha, Wisconsin, moved locations without alerting the court. Mark Richards, the teen's lawyer, filed a counter-motion on Wednesday stating that Rittenhouse had no choice but to move due to receiving death threats. Richards stated he offered to give prosecutors the teen's safe house address. However, they would have had to vow to keep the address a secret.

Prosecutors refused to do so and are now asking that written houses bail be set at $200,000. Am I the only one? Am I the only one, Rob, amazed at how white folk just get to just stay out of jail and get to decide, no, we ain't going to give y'all our address. Oh, it's unsafe. Like, really? Just walk in front of a Capitol building that's guarded and just say, oh, y'all come in. I mean, this is definitely a different level of privilege. And this is what we mean by privilege because some people act like they're confused. Like if a black man shot two people with a with a semi-automatic weapon on tape and killed them for no reason,

he would be in jail right now and he wouldn't be getting out. End of story. Like this is only true if you're a white man in America and only because people want to have some sympathy and empathy for what happened to them and try to justify this. He killed black people, crossed state lines because he wanted to go promote hate, because he works for, not that he works for, he associates with white supremacists. He belongs in jail. He has no business being out here. Hopefully he will get in jail and be held accountable. But there's just a whole other level of privilege in this country if you're white, clearly.

It just reminds me, Amisha, the woman who was one of the January 6th people went to the court and asked, hey, there's a bond. My company has a bonding retreat in Mexico. Can I get to leave the country and go to that? I'll come back. But that's what this sounds like. Oh, he's getting death threats. So therefore, we

need to keep his address a secret. Really? Really? He gets special conditions? From the moment that Kyle Rittenhouse actually was arrested, he's gotten special conditions. This is a guy who should have never gotten out

on bail to begin with. One, he was always a flight risk. His co-conspirators, these individuals who supported him, QAnon folk and the like, were able to raise millions of dollars for him. He was always a flight risk. This is a guy who traveled across state lines with an illegal gun.

Mind you, it wasn't his gun. He wasn't even old enough to have a gun. And he committed murder. Not only was he allowed to drive back home meanwhile walking past officers with blood on his shoes carrying a a weapon with the capacity of multiple rounds after shooting someone he goes to jail and then he makes bail because they don't figure somehow he's a flight risk i don't know how and then guess what leaves. He's no longer in the location that he was initially assigned to. The issue here is also that in so leaving, this was a conversation that was held with police officers.

They knew the whole time that this kid was planning on running. And at the end of the day, I think that there have been so many ways that the justice system has gone wrong in this case and has protected this guy who we knew was a white supremacist, who we knew had QAnon conspiracy theories all up in his head, who we knew went on social media and talked about what he was going to do and the types of things that he hated, including Black Lives Matter and any freedom for black people. He was the type of guy who had been radicalized into terrorism. That's what he is. And he should have been locked up. And it's very frustrating to see that they allow him to

slip through their fingers because honestly, they weren't trying to do anything. They didn't consider him a criminal. Michael, what's a trip is the attorney says, oh, a high ranking cop told us to do this. I want to know the name of the high ranking cop. And was that high ranking cop at the January 6th stop at the U.S. Capitol building. But so, you know, it's important, you know, earlier in the segment, you show Madam Vice President Kamala Harris, who said this is Black History Month. But it's important for us to understand that Black History Month occurs during White Privilege Year, OK?

And this is what we're seeing right here, all right? We're seeing this is, this is the height of white privilege. Once again, where you just get to make up your own rules as you go along. Okay. So I hope they, uh, I hope they, uh, put, uh, put them back in jail. He bought, he's violating, uh, uh, terms of the, of the bail. I hope they put them back in jail, revoke his bail. Um, and you know, we'll, we'll see what happens with this. But once again, this is white privilege, once again, and they're making up the rules as they go along. The other thing is, Roland, in this article here, it's important for people to know that

assault rifle that he got, reportedly, it was purchased with stimulus check money. All I'm saying is that you just think that you just get to go ahead with, you know, I ain't telling the court my address. So, you know, if y'all want it, you got to keep it private. Everything else is public record. But no, y'all want the address, you got to go ahead and get it. I'm telling these folks, hey, I'm telling you. Hey, Trump has them believing they have all types of power hey bro they they believe it hey man these folks are straight tripping um all right y'all uh so uh country music star morgan and wallen has been

suspended indefinitely from his label after his neighbor recorded him shouting the N-word as he was coming home from a night out in Nashville. Wallen has apologized and taken responsibility. However, the fallout has been significant. Radio stations have removed the music from their playlists, and the country music industry has denounced him. Wallen's record company, Big Loud Records, put out a statement on Instagram saying, quote, It has made the decision to suspend Morgan Wallen's record recording contract indefinitely. Republic Records fully supports Big Loud's decision and agrees such behavior would not be tolerated. Now, this is theass n***a.

Take care of this pussy-ass mother f***er. Oh, f***. I encourage you to take care of this pussy-ass n***a. Well, Misha, he's just so sorry. I can't believe those things. It was just, there was no reason in the world for me to say those things. It's frustrating. And I am probably the only person on this panel who has been a longtime country music fan. You name it.

Patsy Cline, George Strait, Alan Jackson. Hold on. How are you going to just act like everybody else here? I would say probably if I was to play some records, I would say most of y'all probably wouldn't know. I say probably. But I will say this. So how many songs on your country playlist? It's almost my whole playlist.

It's my favorite genre of music. But what I was going to say was I'm serious. Yeah, but you ain't the only one. Go ahead. Praise the Lord. The issue here that is problematic is that this isn't Wallen's first time doing it. So as much credit as some people are giving country music right now, it does not deserve it. Wallen has been known to use the N-word. He is known to be offensive.

And in country music, when we have black artists like Darius Rucker, like Mickey Guyton, like Charlie Pryde, Lord rest his soul. And country music itself has long denigrated black people, pushed away black talent, hasn't necessarily listened to the cries of black people when they talked about people like this guy using the N-word, when they talked about it being an open, it's an open secret. This is the first time he got caught up, and it's the first time he got caught up because after the line that was walked by country music

and country music awards and things post the George Floyd protest last year, they made it a loud and proud claim that they were going to do so much to invest in and to make sure that a lot of the racism that was inherent in their industry that they were going to try to root out. So we're not going to, I'm not going to give them a huge amount of credit here because this guy has said this

multiple times before. I am glad that there has been a huge pushback against him, particularly because he was one of the number one artists of 2020 for country music. So he stood to make billions this year, billions with a B, because he was one of the most streamed and he was the one who had some of the most album sales.

So I think it's a huge thing that not only is he not on country music platforms, he's not on radio, they've also pulled him from all streaming platforms. That is huge for country music. And it says a lot to other artists who are known to say similar things things who right now are counting their chickens and knowing how to keep their mouth shut. In fact, this is what said here in this story here. iHeartMedia,

Cumulus, and Intercom have pulled his music. His tunes have been yanked from Spotify's Hot Country Songs and Apple Music's Today's Country Playlist. He's been barred from this year's Academy of Country Music Awards. But this is the headline, though, on this particular story. Morgan Wallen's sales skyrocket after racial slur, Michael. Sales are up 339%. Well, you know, Roland, these are some of the same people that would bring Confederate battle flags to NASCAR races

until NASCAR says stop bringing your Confederate battle flags to NASCAR races. These are some of the same people who voted for Donald Trump. These are some of the same people who were at the insurrection January 6th that stopped the steel rally. These are some of the same people who in Georgia voted for the crazy QAnon lady, Marjorie Taylor Greene. So you've talked about before how the country is nothing more than the white folks' blues. And, and, you know, this is, you're dealing with, so you have a lot of white supremacists who are upset with what happened in Georgia with the two, with the Senate races in Georgia, who are upset that Kamala Harris is vice president, upset that Joe Biden won, okay, by 7 million plus votes. And they, they, they're some of the same people who will use some of the same language that

Waylon has used. So they're financially rewarding him, just like people beat, just like you have white supremacists who are financially rewarded, just like Kyle Rittenhouse. Ricky Schroeder helped raise part of the $2 million along with the MyPillow guy, who's up here spouting more conspiracy theories on Newsmax, and Newsmax is trying to shut them down because they already got a cease and desist order from Dominion Voting Systems. So it's more Black History Month occurs during white privilege year. So we just had to keep that in mind.

This is the paragraph here, Rob. On February 2nd, TMZ shared footage of an intoxicated Wallen shouting in his driveway and using the N-word. That day, the story was wildly disseminated. He sold 5,000 total units, about 1,000 of which were copies of his recent release, Dangerous, the double album. Those numbers may have kept Dangerous on pace to be the number one album in the country for a fourth week in a row. But on February 3rd, as the backlash grew, he sold a staggering 7,000 albums and 22,500 total units. As the article says, it's disgusting, if not exactly surprising. Racism has been lucrative for centuries. Yeah, it has been.

And, you know, there is this, you're seeing this narrative play out, particularly on right-wing media, that like our voices are being denied, they're censoring us. No, we're just, we're not standing for racism. And if you call that censoring, you can call it what you want to, but we're not going to allow you to get away with it. But they feel as if they're being victimized for saying these things. And I've said this many times, you know, racist people get more offended when you call them racist than against racism. Like, I want you to be mad about racism.

You get mad when people talk about you being a racist. Get mad about racism. Imagine having to go through racism. You being called a racist is not that bad, and I'm sorry if it hurts your feelings. No, I'm not really. Like, we need to learn to get to really to grow up and stop being snowflakes. They all like they talk about, you know, the left is that they're snowflakes. These folks really do seem to be

snowflakes. They seem to have a have a have a really fragile spirit about things like, listen, no, you're not allowed to say the N word. No. And we and you should be held accountable. No, you're not allowed to make up things and facts in the world. No, you're not allowed to just say these conspiracies. We're going to hold you accountable. We should. I mean, I make no apologies for that. You should be canceled. Speaking of racism, the New York Police Department has fired Deputy Inspector James Coble

after an investigation revealed he posted hundreds of racist and sexist statements on an online message board. Between June 2019 and September 2020, Coble posted more than 500 messages on an online message board used by current and former cops to vent about politics, police matters and the media. Some of Coble's messages included comments referring to Bronx District Attorney Darcelle Clark as a gap-toothed wild beast, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie as a savage,

and former President Barack Obama as a late Muslim savage. On January 11th, Coble filed for retirement. However, the department fired him before 30 days had passed, the time needed to process his retirement. Coble will still get his pension, but he may lose his 19 months of accrued vacation time, which is worth more than $280,000. I say snatch it all. Good.

Good. This is ridiculous. I mean, there is no context where what he said could have been taken any other way. I mean, this is the most demeaning and purposefully hateful things that you could possibly say. And wait, wait, wait. Hold on, Misha. It gets better. He was the anti-harassment cop for NYPD.

How are these people getting chosen? The litmus test. The anti-harassment cop. That's the environment. They believe in harassment. They don't care. And see, look, it's just like back the other day when the cops in Georgia

who got busted because they were actually they had the body cam running and their racism was being recorded. That's the piece though. And people say it's unfair for you to call cops racist. We just call them racist. What's happening is that

a lot of people's everyday actions and everyday vernacular and sayings are being exposed and they're being held accountable. But when you hold white supremacists accountable, then they say you're picking on them.

Now, you just talked about fragility, okay, and these white supremacists. Now, Dr. Frances Cress Wilson, who wrote the ISIS papers, and, you know, that was a brilliant sister. I knew Dr. Wilson. She talked about European white supremacy and racism. But you have people like one of my teachers, Professor Kabahai Wathakamene, who calls it white fragility because they're really fragile. They're not superior. They're fragile. So you hit on something, what you said, because you you when you listen to them, they can't take out criticism like they dish out. If you look at Marjorie Taylor Greene yesterday, you know, she wasn't crying,

but she was crying, she was shedding these virtual white tears. But then today, she was defiant, saying being on a committee was a waste of time. Well, why was your ass on the committee then? Right, why were you fighting for it? Why were you fighting for it? Why were your ass on three committees in the first place? You know, so

if you sit back and just analyze this, do a systems analysis, as Dr. Leonard Jeffries would say, do a systems analysis, you would see how really fragile and weak many of these people are. And insecure.

On a really basic level, look, on social media, it's public record. It's public record. I don't understand. I don't even understand. Rob, Rob, it's public record. It's public record. I don't understand. I don't even understand. Rob, Rob, it's even worse. It's public record. This fool was using a pseudonym called Clouseau, and he was putting personal details on his post that actually they were able

to come back and it matched his. Okay. Ooh, you're always going to be matched. So I greatly appreciate it. Look, let me say it right now. I want to thank all of you bigots. I want to thank you racists. I want to thank you for revealing who you are.

I want to thank you for being so public. And I keep saying, y'all, every time one of them lose their job, I want somebody black to replace them. Every time. That's my desire. My desire. Gotta go to a break. We come back, folks. Shocking story. A cop, a black cop commits suicide

because he is angry and sickened by the racism in law enforcement and black folks being killed. Sad story we'll discuss next, the role of my unfiltered. What would you say to a young person who says, look, I'm trying to change our society, I'm trying to change this world.

Man, I ain't got time for this church stuff. I just don't think y'all legit. Oh man, I would say just because you see an artist in music that you don't like, do you stop listening to hip hop? No, it's like ridiculous. You see one artist do something that is what their choice was has nothing to do with the whole industry or the whole art form of hip hop.

You don't throw out hip hop. So the same way, if you see an artist that you don't like, do that. I would ask you, don't do the same thing with the church. Because just because you see one minister, one man or woman do something that you don't agree with, don't use that as an excuse to demonize an institution that could actually help save your life you know I am Who I am because I was raised in the church you know all the things that I'm able to do in the world are directly related to being brought up in a healthy church environment where I learned how to develop my gifts I learned how to communicate I learned how to deal with other people I learned how to lead all of those things that helped me and other people become successful in society.

You can learn in the church. So I would say to somebody that's young, I would I would challenge them. Everything that's in you, if you're trying to to get it out, get into a good church, because that church will be a fantastic incubator for all the gifts that are in you. And when you find the right church, you will find that the others that you may have been looking at were the wrong people to look at in any profession. I don't care what it is. You're always going to find people that you can point out that may not represent that profession to the best of their ability. But when you find those that do, then you begin to see what it really is about. U.S. uses more than half the world's health care resources, but we're ranked 43rd in the world for life expectancy.

How did we get here? The political determinants of health include how we structure relationships, how we distribute resources, and how we administer power. What does this look like at the individual level? Take Jessica, for example. Jessica's 19. Her dad relies on mental health and substance use programs, but when these programs get cut, he change the water source to a more polluted river. Jessica has a minimum wage job with no health insurance at a convenience store that offers free snacks while she works,

which she takes advantage of because they're free. When Jessica becomes pregnant, she can't get health insurance because pregnancy is a pre-existing condition. And she doesn't realize that the salty, fatty snacks that she eats at work are bad for her baby. Jessica gets a ride to the closest clinic for a prenatal appointment, but the doctor is rushed and rude to her. She doesn't go back. Jessica develops preeclampsia and almost dies during her son's premature birth. He's born with cognitive defects because of poor diet, contaminated water source, and lack of access to prenatal care. As he grows up, Jessica learns that her school district doesn't have the resources to accommodate her son's special needs.

He drops out after eighth grade and will repeat the cycle of poverty. Through Jessica's story, we begin to see how social determinants, environmental determinants, health care determinants, and behavioral health determinants take their toll on our lives. And Jessica's story shows us how political determinants supersede personal

responsibility. Equity in our policies is a process and an outcome. Change comes when we can identify political champions at all levels and figure out how our most pressing issues align with their policies. For more actionable solutions to close the health gap, read The Political Determinants of Health by Daniel E. Dawes. Carl Payne pretended to be Roland Martin. Holla! Hi, I'm Chaley Rose, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. A black Lafayette Parish Sheriff's deputy committed

suicide after posting videos saying he was done serving a system that didn't care about him or the black community. 43-year-old Deputy Clyde Kerr III killed

himself in front of his workplace at the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office on Monday. Before taking his own life, Kerr made a series of videos expressing his thoughts about the criminal justice system. He stated he would no longer put up with the corrupt system that resulted in the deaths of unarmed victims like Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and both of them, John. It's January 31st, a little bit after 1.30 last Sunday. So here's what it is.

I was kind of hoping to see the Super Bowl, this one especially, because we've got two Purple Knights actually playing against each other. Mr. Tyron Matthews and Leonard Fournette. Hope y'all go forth and conquer. And, you know, I don't think it's happenstance that everything is going on at this particular time. So I don't know, possibly, maybe if y'all want to, you should. Like I said, take a knee, but you need to figure something out

because this is a moment that can be seized. I think that it should be. But, yeah, man, I've had enough of all of this nonsense of serving a system that does not give a going on, especially by the police, which I am, I can't abide by this no more. I have been a stellar, stellar deputy in the five plus years that I've been there. My last email has been sent. It's copied to somebody. I can't be discredited. Never so much as one write-off, maybe reports being late no one so uh so it's not it can't be said that uh you know I was a shammer or anything like that or not I wasn't pulling my weight and just the contextual purposes I just want y'all understand where what I'm coming from.

My entire life has been in service of other people. And it's just dawned on me that this time, as of now, needs to be seized because you don't really give a damn about us. That is the truth. That is the truth. I've served with a full heart in the military. After that, got back into law enforcement and you have no idea how hard it is to put a uniform on in this day and age with everything that's going on. None. And, uh, listen, y'all entrust me to safeguard your little ones, your small ones, your thing that's most precious to y'all, and I did that well. Y'all trust me with that. I've had security clearance in the military. That's verifiable.

If I was untrustworthy, if I was a threat, would they let me guard the U.S. Embassy in Kabul? Which I did. I trained Iraqi police, Afghan national police, and that's not it. But I wouldn't have been put in a position of that if they thought I was a threat. But that has allowed me to see the inner working of things. And this is a demonic system and it's not anything I can continue to serve and want to be a part of. And this is not right. This is no form of justice. Let's go down the list. Both of them? Shotton's on the park. How'd that work? How does that work? Chillin' on his couch.

I don't give a damn if he had a weaved apartment. You gonna execute somebody for that? Oh no, y'all are good for that. You break up families for a plant. This war on drugs and this nonsense. But oh now, it's starting to get legal because big pharmaceutical companies stand to make billions off of it and they paid off the lobbyists who in turn

have started ushering the way it needs to go for them. The countless people who are doing time behind that, how do you even make amends for that? You can't. You can't. You can't. This Floyd Floyd Ray Brianna

This shit's not right. I'm telling you if this feels right to you as a person then something is wrong with you. This is the furthest thing from right. This is the manner of wickedness that I've brought. And you're getting away with it.

When is there never going to be enough of people? Huh? Seriously. Seriously. Y'all are radicalizing people, and then when they buck and they want to go against the system because it's not for them, you come down on them with a hammer. I can't, I don't understand this. That's a tremendously sad video. Kerr was a military veteran and a father who in one of his videos said that he struggled explaining Floyd's death to his son. The Lafayette Police Department and Lafayette community are mourning his loss and remembering him as an officer who was truly committed to his job. It was hard to watch that without crying. And I say that because this man devoted his life, like he said, to helping people. He'd. When you're a Black man and you have worn a badge,

you have put on a military uniform, and you continually see your people being disrespected, you see the people who are supposed to be in charge of protecting them being the ones who gunned them down with no recourse, I think that it weighs on you. And seeing this man basically pour his heart out and to know that he's no longer with us, that is extremely heartbreaking.

This man had a family. This man put his life on the line for us. And he was watching the, he's watching police across this country just not care about black people and dispense our lives like they don't matter. And he was fed up and not just fed up enough to quit, but fed up enough to take his own life. That is huge. And I think that it speaks so much to what needs to be done in terms of police reforms, but also the weight that many

of our black officers in uniform carry every single day. Michael, this is the thing is this, the duality of being black and a cop is real. And they have to deal with that. I mean, we've seen numerous stories where black cops have said, man, as safe as I am, they said the most unsafe I am was if I'm undercover. Right. I mean, they said the safest I could be is when I'm wearing the uniform because they're not going to mistake me. And so that I mean, and so to listen to in his voice and you hate the fact that, you know, he didn't just walk away, that he didn't just leave the force and find some.

I mean, he took his life. Yeah. tragedy on multiple levels because we need more officers like him who are doing the right thing, want to do the right thing, and a lot less of the white supremacist officers who reports have infiltrated law enforcement. But based upon my research, they've always been in law enforcement, but that's another conversation. When you look at the article here though, it talks about his video being, the video was a protest against police brutality. His action was a protest against police brutality, but he also called for civilian oversight of police officers, peer evaluations, more transparency of police operations to build public trust and mental health and wellness support.

And a lot of this deals with the whole effort to bring about police reform, whether you call it defund the police or police reform, you know, to address a lot of these issues. And also, it's extremely important for us to understand the relationship between who's in office at the local level, because the majority of control over policing is at the local level, okay, state and city, county. And the mayor sets the tone for policing in the city. The mayor has the police chief. He's a sheriff. The sheriff is elected, okay? So a lot of this deals with the politics also at the local level. But this is a tragedy on multiple levels. And lastly, I'll say this. At the end of the day, many, especially African Americans, are going to have to join the police forces to become, to be the type of officers we want to see and run the white supremacists out.

Okay, as they are rooted out and get fired and things like this, we've seen this happen here in the city of Detroit. Who's going to take their place? We have to be the ones to take those jobs and be the actual type of officers that we want to see. Yeah, that's a hard thing to do, though. I've seen a lot of them. Yeah, I know a lot of black officers here in the city of Cincinnati. And we have our own history like anywhere else in the United States. And just the weight of what you have to go through being an officer and being black is just a lot. Being black, period, we all know is hard. This moment was particularly hard

for all of black America. Now imagine being in the belly of the beast where you're seeing these things. I can't imagine the things he's had to see, what he's had to bite his tongue about. All of us have been in corporate jobs at some point, you got to bite your tongue. Imagine having to go against a system where you know there's white supremacists there, where you've seen it, they probably taunted him. I don't even know what he's gone through. And this is why it's real for us to really say we have to embrace uh mental health therapy it's okay to ask for help and so and i know this is hard particularly for a lot of black men but we should go and reach out for help uh and there's nothing wrong with that and we absolutely need it this is very traumatic

what's going on in this country and it's even more traumatic if you're in the middle of it like he is. And it was just hard to hear him seeing that he needed help and knowing that he has a family that's right now that he can't help anymore. It's just hard. It's just really hard to watch. And if there's anybody out there that is going through something, there are people that can help you. And if you know people and you hear them saying something, if you hear something, listen to them. People just don't say stuff like this because they just want to get attention. They usually have a cry for help and get them that help because we don't want to see this repeated. It is repeated too much in our community.

We're absolutely right. And that's, I mean, it is, it's certainly, it is, it is sad. It's unfortunate that, you know, that, that man lost, took his life and his family has to, of course, deal with that. And so that's, that's quite sad. All right, folks, I'm going to go to a quick break. We come back. I can't wait to get my panel's thoughts on this raging debate. I'll tell you what it is next on Roland Martin Unfiltered. For me, the reason I see the value. my parents um worked elections they volunteered for campaigns they ran phone banks uh i remember being seven eight nine years old it was like you had no choice not like you had a vote it was like yo go over there for the next eight hours stand there

and hand out these uh uh pamphlets anybody who's walking in and then we'll bring you lunch and then you got some water for yourself it's kind of like okay again that was that was wasn't likely my brother could say no we're all right we're gonna stay at the house i didn't work that way and so for me um that was an that was a huge part of my upbringing and look at you now and it's very interesting because for me service was a huge part of my upbringing. And that's just something that's just, you know, it's a natural thing. I don't think twice about going out and doing community service. I don't think twice about giving up my Saturday mornings, even if I stayed out late on Friday nights. I don't think twice about going to church in the mornings. I think so. I think that might be even bigger than the civics piece in schools. I mean, I think that at this point, having that in schools at least gives the children

the opportunity to go home and ask their parents, so Mom, Dad, what is this? What do you think we should do about this? This is what I learned in school today. Let's talk about it. It at least gives the children something to bring home and start a conversation with. However, if the parents start that for the children, then the children can go to school and say, hey, why am I not learning this here? Why don't I have a civics class? You know what I mean? And they'll have we'll have more Roland Martins running around here. Hi, everybody. This is Jonathan Nelson.

Hi, this is Cheryl Lee Ralph. And you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks, Super Bowl takes place on Sunday. And, you know, it's interesting to me. Every week of the Super Bowl, the NFL commissioner has a news conference where they address the state of the league. And during this news conference, Roger Goodell talked about how the NFL was just, you know, not happy at all about diversity and how the owners, how they are committed to having diversity. Except they're the ones who hire. I mean, is it a little hard to say that you have a problem

and the owners are fully committed to diversifying the head coaching ranks when they're the ones who own the team. I mean, if somebody tells me, Roland, I am absolutely committed to hiring more African Americans. And then I go, so why your office all white? And then I asked him, how many people have you hired in the last six months? Oh, 20. Ain't none of them been black. so how are you committed to diversity Rob when the owners are the ones

who do the hiring just don't just don't lie to me just say they don't give a shit next question you and I are on the same page there that same conversation can be had all across America. And people say, oh, Black Lives Matter.

We love diversity. You look at how they spend their dollars. You look at who's on their board. No, you don't, right? I mean, it doesn't. And I'm actually one that's sick of a lot of the diversity inclusion and the diversity inclusion consultants and all the diversity inclusion departments. I'm for diversity inclusion. Just all the diversity inclusion departments. I'm for diversity inclusion. Just do it. Don't pretend like you do it. And don't just have one person you have in charge of diversity inclusion and say you're about diversity inclusion. No.

Where's your board? How's your money spent? That's what I care about. I'm sick of these titles. I'm sick of these to say that you believe Black Lives Matter. Good. Slow clap. Now, what are you going to do? How your dollar spent? How's your How are the makeup of your employees, of your management? What does that look like? That's all we care about. That's it. Bring the equity. Nothing else.

See, the thing for me, Amisha, that's just utterly hilarious about this whole deal is In the Super Bowl this Sunday, there are four coordinators, one offense and one defense on each team. Sunday, the office of coordinators is supposed to be like the step below the head coach. Three of the four coordinators in Sunday's game are black. Neither one got a head coaching job. It's quizzical, Roland, and it is because at the end of the day, what we see from Roger Goodell and people like him is that they are race and equity positive as long as it is a PR campaign.

It is not seen in action at all. And it's not for lack of talent or lack of esteem or lack of, you can look left, right, and sideways and find a lot of people who will be able to fit these roles who happen to be black. It's because they don't want to do it. I think that for him, it's easy to tweet out. It's easy to issue a press release. It's easy to get one of the highest paid PR firms in the country to say these things that sound nice, especially post the George Floyd protest last year. But we haven't seen those things in action. And to be honest, I think that more Black organizations and more Black media need, and white media as well, need to start questioning not only Roger Goodell, but other organizations

and their leadership as well, who have made these pledges, who make these flowery statements on a regular basis, and we don't see any change. Roger Goodell knows how to say the good things, or his PR firm knows how to say the good things. However, rarely are those things actually seen in practice. Nothing has changed about the NFL. The NFL has not elevated any more black coaching staff. The NFL is not elevating any black owners. The NFL is absolutely fine with things as is. They just want to put out statements to make you think that progress is on the horizon. This is Roger Goodell this week at the news conference. All right, let's see if we can go ahead and get the video to play here.

Sorry, one second. I'll play that in a second. I just, again, I just, the big issue for me are these folks who act like we don't have any eyes and we can't actually see what's going on. I mean, we're literally looking at you. This is sort of like, I use this example all the time. Imagine, imagine the four of us are talking. No, imagine the three of us are talking. Imagine it's me, Rob, and Amisha.

And Michael comes up, and Michael says, man, I'm hungry. Woo, I'm hungry. Woo, I'm hungry. And I go, hey, Amisha and Rob, let's go get something to eat. Michael probably standing there like,

I know his ass heard me say I was hungry. I'm standing right here and he's going to ask two other people to let's go eat and I'm standing right here? Just go ahead and be straight. I want to say

look here. We want white boys leading our teams. Y'all are more than welcome to be coordinators. Y'all can be wide receivers coaches. Y'all are more than welcome to be coordinators. Y'all can be wide receivers coaches. Y'all can be running backs coaches. As long as you don't kneel. We ain't

hiring you as head coaches. Just go ahead and be honest with me. I mean, look, the one thing, the difference between a whites only water fountain and integration but then you don't hire me I know exactly what you staying with that water fountain ain't got the guess where you staying

it's not hitting these owners are full of crap every single one of them every single one of them full of crap you know know, Roland, I don't know if you were coming to me next. Yes, you go ahead. Oh, OK. OK. Well, you mentioned me being hungry, which I am. But OK, anyway, you know, it's interesting that last year, Roger Goodell said that the NFL was wrong about Colin Kaepernick and his protest. He came out and admitted it. You all remember that? He said Colin Kaepernick was correct.

But the league hasn't lived up to their actions don't coincide with Roger Goodell admitting that the league was wrong about Kaepernick's protest. Now it's also important to note that Roger Goodell admitting that the league was wrong about Kaepernick's protest. Now, it's also important to note that Roger Goodell works for the team owners,

and almost all of them are white. Okay? So they are, as you said, the team owners are perfectly fine with the way things are unless there's some massive protest, and then they may do some cosmetic changes because then they don't want people to stop watching the games or, you know, what have you. Now I'm one, I haven't watched the NFL game in five years because Colin Kaepernick is being, hasn't gotten hired in the NFL. So I haven't, I'm not watching the Superbowl. You know, you can watch it. You can watch it if you want to, but I haven't watched an NFL game in five years, but it's important for us to go back and look at what Roger Goodell said last year in 2020

admitting that Kaepernick was correct, but they haven't taken the proper steps to correct those actions. But also when Jay-Z got this big deal to produce the Super Bowl halftime show and do all this stuff, inspirational music

things like this, wasn't that supposed to be about inclusion and all this stuff? And we ain't heard nothing. We ain't heard not a damn thing from Jay-Z about the hiring coaches. Remember when he had that meeting with Roger Goodell and it was broadcast and he said, okay, now after you get their attention and they say, we hear you, we hear you, we hear you, then what's the next step? Okay, what's the next step? Checks.

Checks and selling merchandise. That's all that was about. That's all that was about. Checks and selling merchandise. That's all that was about. All right, y'all. We now we have got to settle what is fundamentally one of the biggest chasms, one of the biggest just me. critical in black America that divides black America. Not whether Candace Owens need a weave. Not, not whether black Republicans who support Trump are not evil. Not whether or not we really can sit here and say who's best, the goat out of Michael Jordan or Bill Russell. There is no issue I can think of that has split black America more than whether or not you should put sugar on grits.

I knew you were going there. Whether it's sugar on grits or is salt and pepper on grits. I saw this video today and I had to go. I had to go ahead and play this. Go on. Go ahead. I don't want to hear it no more. The grits folks down at the grits factory say circle here.

Eat the grits with milk, butter and sugar. OK, so the debate is over. I'm sick of it. Black folk eat the grits. That's sweet. Might as well go and eat cream of wheat. I don't it black folk and you eat the grits they're sweet might as well go and eat cream of wheat i don't like cream of wheat i want grits with sugar and some days i want grits with salt and pepper shrimp and grits i want them savory regular grits i want them sweet and the grits folk done said serve with grits with sugar now what y'all gonna say about it huh huh salt and pepper and butter people and cheese what you to say about it? Huh? Huh? Salt and pepper and butter, people and cheese. What you going to say about it now?

The folks down at the Grits said it. Now I like to have a bowl of grits before I keep your distance comedy shows. You know what I'm saying? That's my pregame meal. A bowl of hot grits and sugar. I'm going to have me one tomorrow night when we have the show. You should get your tickets. But until then, the folks said I can have it.

Now watch this. I'm going to tell you what black folks don't care. Okay? One reason. Black folks don't care what Uno said. Uno said these are the rules. Black folks said shut up. These are all rules. Y'all just make the cards. We're going to play the game. And that's how black folks

care about the rules of grits. They don't care what the grits folks say. Sugar, they say y'all don't know nothing about grits. You just make them and shut up and hush. The second thing right next to sugar it says serve with raisins. And I said, now, hold on.

Now, that's oatmeal. You know, Grits folks, who said raisins? Now, we know raisins go to potato salad. That's Karen who said that. Now, I don't know if Black folks down at the Grits factory. Because I ain't never really heard nobody say raisins. You know, we can argue about sugar versus salt and pepper. We ain't really going to argue about raisins and grits. I don't know what you're talking there.

Why does this divide the community? People judge you for the sugar and the grits when the folks down at Grits, Grits folks, said sugar. And people are going to say, I don't care what the Brits folks said go ahead let's go back to it all right what happened to Amisha? Y'all get Amisha back. Amisha was so hot, she obviously turned her doggone phone off. So, I mean, this really, really just splits black people.

Michael, where do you come down on grits? Are you a salt and pepper and butter person, or are you a sugar on grits person? Well, I may not be the best person to ask this question to. I rarely eat grits, but when I do. Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. When I do. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Stop, stop.

Did you just say, first of all, that you barely eat grits? I rarely eat grits. Then you said, but if I'm at a hotel? Yeah, like if I stay, if I spend it at a hotel and, you know, you go get breakfast and, you know, they have grits. Or if I'm eating at an event. Stop, stop, stop, stop. Hold on, hold on at an event. Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Stop, stop, stop.

What? Your black card right now is in review status. I don't eat grits a lot, but why? No, no, no, no. Your black card in review status. Because already when you said, well, I don't really eat grits. But then your ass said hotel grits? Well, you know, I'm eating what's there.

But here's the thing. Your ass, them runny ass. Dog, you might as well eat them hotel grits with a damn straw. They're not running. They're not running. They're not running. I never, I never seen not nail grits at a hotel that could not be eaten with a spoon or a straw.

Well look, when I eat at grits and politics here in Detroit, which is a, it's a black political pancakes and politics. No, no, no. a black political form. Pancakes in politics. No, no, no. That's white people. White people have pancakes in politics. Black people have grits in politics. No, it's called pancakes in politics. You mean the one put on by real-time media, Michigan Chronicle? No, no, no. Not that. I'm talking

about the one put on by Keith Williams. Because I'm for grits in politics. When we do that, I don't put salt on my grits. So what do you put on them? I just eat them. I don't put salt on the grits. What the hell

you put on them? You don't need grits, man. You don't need grits. Hold up. I'll have some grits. You eat the grits plain? Yeah. Because I usually don't put salt on grits. So you don't put salt? There have been times in the past. You don't put salt in there, but you don't put salt on grits. So you don't put salt? There have been times in the past. You don't put salt in pepper?

You don't put sugar? I don't put pepper. Just plain? I don't put sugar, no. I don't put sugar on grits. No, no, no. I don't put sugar on grits. And I really don't add sugar to anything.

Like oatmeal, I'll put cinnamon. But I don't add sugar. First of all, you can go ahead and stop. No, but I don't put sugar on grits. First of all, you can go ahead and stop. You can go ahead and stop. No, but I don't put sugar on grits. First of all, you go ahead and stop because when your ass said hotel and grits, right there, you just totally disqualified yourself from this conversation. Rob, where did you come down on grits? Well, you know, my family comes from the south on my dad's side,

so, you know, we're all the way southern. Bacon, eggs, pork chops. And so definitely salt, butter. I don't even know what – I don't understand these sugar people and who they are and where they come from. You damn right. They sitting right here. I'm going to put some damn sugar on the grill.

And my ass from Texas. I'll give a damn bite sitting – First of all, I ain't putting no damn pepper. And here's the other deal. I didn't say pepper, I said salt. I want to say to people, they want to put salt in the grits while you're cooking them. Hey, hold on, don't be messing up my damn grits. Put that salt in your own plate on your own portion.

But you ain't messing up my grits. No, I'm going to put sugar on grits. I don't give a damn what nobody got to say. I called Jemele Hill because her little country ass, she's sitting here just trying to dog folks, and she's on some Zoom call. I said, come on. She's like, oh, I wish I went on a Zoom call. She said, I'll come at you. I said, girl, bring your ass.

Bring your ass. Y'all, where am I? She left. She would have brought it to you, too. Where am I? Her Wi-Fi went down. A roller. Very quickly.

Now, my taste may be different because I'm a vegetarian. I've been a vegetarian for 15 years. Your ass black! Yeah, my black. And my parents are from the South. Stop! You a vegetarian! Grits ain't no damn meat!

But when I eat grits, I don't put salt on them. When was the last time you ate grits? When was the last time your I eat grits, I don't put salt on them and I don't put... When's the last time y'all ass ate grits? I had grits... I don't think it was last year, so it had to be 2019. Usually in the morning, I eat oatmeal.

Y'all know damn well that this Negro Michael eats chitlins probably more than he eats grits. I've never had chitlins, Roland. Those are fighting no, no. I've never had chitlins, Roland. Those are fighting words, Roland. I've never had chitlins, okay? No. Hey, all right.

Do we got Amisha back? Amisha ain't coming back? What's wrong with her? Okay. This is what Kelly Carter tweeted, and she said she don't want to hear nothing else. This is from Albers Enriched Harmony Quick Grits right here. Breakfast grits served with butter or milk and sugar. Right there. End of conversation. End of conversation. Y'all can see that's why I played that video. Y'all can get mad. Goldie Taylor was out there talking about this as well.

Goldie from the South. She countries all get out. She's like, sugar on grits. I'm like, sugar on grits. I don't care. But, like, my wife, she put the dog on pepper. I said, don't come with that damn pepper. Don't you come with that damn pepper.

This ain't no steak. This ain't no vegetables. Don't do it. I don't understand it. I don't understand y'all. But, like, salt, I guess sugar. First of all, you ain't. That actually must be an alpha thing or something.

I don't know what that's about. First of all, you ain't even from the South. It doesn't matter. My family is. You probably don't even eat. You probably don't eat your chicken with seasoning. Stop it. Come on. No, no, no. You probably don't eat your chicken with seasoning. Stop it. Come on.

No, no, no. You know, dog. Look, I can give you a run for your money in cooking, brother. Boy, I'm going to hurt your feelings. All right, let's do it one day. Rob, Rob, Rob, I'm going to hurt your feelings. Rob, let me ask you this question. Have you ever had a recipe in a real man cook cookbook?

What? Sit your ass down. Have you ever had a recipe included in a real men cook cookbook? Nope. There you go. Be quiet. Try some of our ribs and we'll see. Don't want to hear it.

Don't want to hear it. Go on over there and cook your meatloaf. Meatloaf? I'll tell you what. We're going to cook some ribs and we're going to see who can cook better ribs. Go on and cook your meatloaf. Meatloaf? I'll tell you what. We're going to cook some ribs and we're going to see who can cook better ribs. Go on, cook your meatloaf. We don't give a damn about no ribs. I cook gumbo.

We don't give a damn about no ribs. You don't cook ribs? Okay, so yeah, there you go. You cook gumbo? You cook gumbo? I don't cook gumbo. Yeah, smart move. Do you cook curry chicken?

Hell no. I cook gumbo. Jamaican curry chicken. I'm from a Jamaican background, so I cook different food. Hold up, hold up, hold up. First of all, your ass say you're people from the South. I got a mother and a daddy, dude. Now you're saying Jamaican, and you're sitting in Ohio.

That's my mom's side. Y'all, anyway. Hey, hey, some people were in Jamaica before they were taken into the office flight. Hey, look, you ain't had grits in at least two, three years. So just go ahead and be quiet. I mean, you just

stop talking, being a part of this conversation right here, okay? All right, so Michael, there ain't nothing you can do to contribute to this conversation. Nothing. Last time you had grits was before the midterm election. Don't even, don't even,

no, 2019. You can't even, you can't go to Georgia. Now, you know, I like pancakes, but not... The moment your ass said hotel grits, right there. Well, you know what? It may have been 2020.

I think it may have had grits in 2020. When my, when my girlfriend at the time cooked breakfast, she may have had, uh, we had pancakes, but she may have had some grit. So if that was the case,

then I did, but I don't put salt in them. You said hotel grits right there. You are, you are completely disqualified from a conversation. You ain't say grits cooked on the stove at my house, my woman's house,

my grandfolk house. No, your ass said hotel grits. I had to think about it. I had to think about it. 2020. So it would have been 2020. Yeah, because she did cook grits. But I still didn't put salt in them and definitely not sugar. I don't put sugar in grits. But I still didn't put salt in them, and definitely not sugar. I don't put sugar in grits. I'm looking here on YouTube.

I don't put sugar in grits. Toya Alta said, Michael, just hush. Yeah. I'll let it go. I'll let it go. She said, just hush. She's like, don't even, just hush. She's like, don't even just hush. Let's see here.

Damn, this is so cold. Diva Jones said, hotel is anti-seasoning. I think that was for you, Michael. I'm not anti-seasoning. I just don't put salt or sugar. Richard James. You don't eat grits, bro.

Hotel grits taste like hotel eggs. I don't eat eggs, so I wouldn't know. I don't eat eggs. What the hell do you eat for breakfast? Lunch? No, you know, I'll have oatmeal, fruit uh you know pineapples mixed fruit oatmeal puts uh cinnamon and oatmeal uh sometimes raisins um but uh if i and you know sometimes once in a while i have pancakes i don't cook it myself but uh kevin coles hotel grits have no place in this conversation.

Oh, well, you know, if they have like a buffet... TJ. You stay in a hotel and they have a buffet. TJ, pull his card about them hotel grits. Dog, I'm telling you right now, all these black people, all these black people

are saying, Michael, you might as well just go ahead. They killing you, though. Dwayne Whitfield, Mike, you are in Grits prison. Don't say nothing else. We're just going to end it on that one. That's it. That's it.

Michael, Rob, I appreciate it. Misha, I appreciate it as well. Y'all, when we come back, we're going to have our education segment. We'll talk about black history in curriculum next to Roland Martin on Filter. Think about the fact that 2043, we are going to be a nation that's a majority of people of color. I've really focused on this a lot on television, on radio, in my speeches. That my focus is trying to prepare us to have demographic power while also having educational economic power at the same time.

Because there's nothing worse than having demographic numbers, but then you still don't have that economic power, that political power, and education power. Well, you know, you and I, and I think most people know and understand that education is what we've got to impress on all of our people. We've got to help people to understand that if you want a decent quality of life, if you want the kind of quality of life where you're not having to worry about your food and your nutrition and, you know, being able to pay your bills or buy a house, then you've got to become educated. The more education you have,

the larger the paycheck is. And of course, we've got to be involved in entrepreneurship, taking the talent that we have to create businesses. And there's a lot of opportunity for that. Most grade schools don't have curriculum folk in place that offers students an accurate depiction of black history. Of course, this of course is Black History Month. So my next guests have created a book titled Black History 365, an inclusive account of American history. Their goal is to change that narrative. Now that's obviously critically important. This is what the book looks like right there. Joining me right now is Dr. Walter Milton Jr., Dr. Joel Freeman, both co-authors of Black History 365, an inclusive account of American history, and Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum

producer K.L. Cates, who was the founder and creator of Cool Ricklam Incorporated and the one who put together the soundtrack that accompanies the book. First, let's play this video. It is a story that makes us who we are as humans. The thoughts, emotions, and memories. And it is the storyteller who makes us come alive. In ancient West Africa, specially chosen individuals embraced the role of collecting, maintaining, and dispensing the treasured stories of individuals, families, and dynasties. They were called griots.

Through their methodical word choice, masterful poetry, and verbally illustrated stories, they provide us a solid understanding of the greatness that we were, the greatness that we are, and the greatness we are destined to be. Today more than ever, we need the power of our story to be heard, to be listened to, to be understood. And we need our modern griots to rise up to the challenge. We at Black History 365 gladly accept this challenge. At Black History 365 our goal is to equip our nation's inhabitants and the world at large with a more thorough, candid, and interwoven understanding of African American history and realities within the American and world historical

context. To accomplish this ambitious goal, we have created a textbook on African American history that encompasses the history of African Americans starting in Africa until today. Our game-changing textbook, Black History 365, an inclusive account of American history and its corresponding K-12 curriculum are designed to not only reveal the hidden, undertold, and misconceived portions of African American history, but also to cultivate an atmosphere of being authentic with each other about our nation's past with the intention to heal, not hurt.

The textbook meets Texas state standards regarding U.S. history as it provides a healthy survey of national, Civil Rights and American Justice, The Economic System, Pop Culture and Black Wealth, The Lone Star State, and The North Star, Canadian Black History 365 textbook is full of rarely told history lessons and more than 3,000 original artifacts to take students and educators on a colorful and powerful journey to embracing an inclusive account of American history. The engaging textbook entices students to think critically, using well-placed discussion points and sidebars that connect with modern societal challenges. Most importantly, the textbook meets and exceeds Texas state standards so that students can achieve elective credit. Similar to college courses, the Black History 365 textbook and coinciding curriculum can be used independently or as a supplement to existing U.S. history or elective courses. The Black History 365 textbook and curriculum are making history. Through our product, we want to empower all of the youth who get to interact with our project. Learning the powerful lessons of Black history

will uplift the knowledge, confidence, and understanding of our nation's youth so they may all be inspired to achieve. So let's fulfill the legacy of Carter G. Woodson. The champion of promoting the learning of Black history is known for saying, those who have no record of what their forbearance have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of

biography in history now is the time to act for inspiring america's children through the knowledge of their ancestors and it is up to the brave educational institutions to help accomplish this vital goal. All right, folks, let's talk about this with Dr. Walter Milton Jr., Dr. Joel Freeman, as well as joining us is K.O. Cates. All right, folks, this is whose idea was this? So how did this whole thing start? Where did it originate from? Well, I guess it was my idea, but it probably originated simultaneously with all of us. But I remember I had an experience in fourth grade where my teacher, Ms. Laudisi, said, hey, I'm going to teach black history. And she started with the benign institution of slavery. And she did it in a way that evoked

so much shame and humiliation. So that moment stayed with me all of my life. And so as a result of that, I went into my career as a school principal, as a school superintendent, and I just looked at the curriculum, and I said that there's nothing that's pedagogically sound for children that look like me. At the same time, that curriculum could help others who don't look like me.

So I contacted Joel Freeman, and I said, hey, I'm going to do this. I'm in the process of writing this book, this material, and I'd like you to join me. He came on board. Soon after, we had an opportunity to fly down to Atlanta. We met Dr. Kevin K.O. Cates and said, look, hey, man, we want to add some music to this. And you are the man from what I hear. I know that Joe and K.O., we call him, had a relationship in the past. So Joe, he thought of K.O., and here we are. So we have a textbook that's unbelievably different from what has been presented to our society and to our people.

What makes it so different, Joel? Pardon me? What makes it so different and unique? Well first of all, we started in ancient Africa and the reason why we did that is we did not want to reinforce the notion, either implicitly or explicitly, that black history started with slavery or the slave trade. So we bring out all the folkways, the mores, the values, the genius, the creativity, hunting, gathering, fishing.

We talk about industry. And then we talk about the ancient kingdoms that transcend the current geopolitical lines and then we end in canada of course we bring in uh george floyd uh john lewis we bring it all the way up through the textbook is this big it uh it weighs five and a half pounds is 1248 pages is over over 2500 images. It's like a NatGeo project. And the response we're getting from across the nation, it's like an educational earthquake we're experiencing. And we're very, very grateful for the opportunity to put something like this together. It's our love letter to the country. So this is, so we talk about it being interactive.

Let's talk about that, K.O. Are we talking about book? Are we talking about virtual? We're talking about digital. And so how are you trying to reach as many people as possible? Well, when you speak on the book, there's two ways that it's interactive. So one side, of course, the book itself has the QR, QRC codes to where you can put your phone up against it. And there's videos that come that

elaborate more on each topic in the book. But then also, of course, with the music, what I did was actually, I took the entire, each chapter and brought my team in and we actually have produced songs for each chapter. So literally you can actually just listen and learn from ancient Africa all the way to our current time through the music meeting our youth exactly where they are. So in terms of, you know, we were operating now in this space where folks are looking to gain more information, make the argument for a parent out there who says, look, okay, why should I get this book compared to other books? Why should I... There are board games out there. There are cards out there. There are all these other different things that are out there.

What makes this one special and stand out? Anybody can answer. Yeah, I think the images is one thing that makes our book stand out. It really takes our young people and also our adults. We say that it engages all ages. It takes them on an intellectual journey. We have the visualization that really supports the research. We spend laborious hours putting this together, 12 to 16-hour days for over two and a half years.

Our research is sound. It's impeccable. And we want it to reach the heart and soul. We know that there's a major gap in America's schools right now. When you look at those young people that look like you and me, they are struggling. In some cases, they are in an abyss or conundrum where they have been detached from the educational process. What this does, it hooks them and brings them in and brings the families in as well. Also, it dispels a lot of stereotypes as well as misconceptions.

One of the things that I think is so interesting when we talk about history as opposed to history, and that really is a piece here. This also, to me, is not a piece of work for black folks. It's also what white Americans should also be embracing, because that's part of the problem. They have learned his story and not history. And one of the things that we wanted to do, Roland, is we really wrestled with the whole idea of how do we deal with some of the difficult topics, topics that have vexed our country for centuries. And I'm talking about topics like should we tear the statues down, reparations, scientific racism, can a white person ever fully understand the black experience in America, Uncle Tom,

three-fifths of a human being. And we developed a process whereby people can talk about these topics rather than butting heads or talking past each other. And it's a proprietary process called the elephant experience. And so throughout the entire textbook, we have probably over 50 elephant experiences. And the first class is not even about black history. It's about the students developing the how they're going to do the what. In the second class, we have something I have in my collection.

I have a black history collection over 3,000 items. This is from the mid-1800s from the Chokwe tribe of Angola. And it's a talking stick. Whoever in a tribal council is holding this stick, that person has the authority to speak and everyone else has the authority to listen. So the students will segue from this and then develop their own talking stick for the classroom so that whoever holds the stick can, there can be order instead of chaos and it's about

healing and discussing these topics in a way that is not bringing greater divisiveness amongst the students. Folks are asking, where can they get it? Where is it being sold? Well, through the website. Walter? No, go ahead, Joe. I'm sorry. It's through the website, and it's bh365.org. B stands for black, H for history, and then 365, bh365.org. And there's the e-book version, which is on a robust platform, and then there's also the regular textbook that people can order. And what about the soundtrack? So with the soundtrack, it's also on this site.

And it's on all platforms as well. It's two CDs, it's two albums. So it's 42 songs total, volume one, volume two. So check it out on all your streaming platforms. But also, you know, we're encouraging everyone to go out and actually purchase the album as well, because our goal is to make this album not... Well, first off, it is the first and only official soundtrack for Black history and our culture.

But our goal is to make it become the number one in the country as far as billboard charts and everything during Black History Month and really make it all together. So, you know, we're encouraging people to also go to Amazon or your iTunes store and actually purchase that. And we've been starting a challenge called Bet on Black 365 Challenge. You know, so everyone posting it and, you know, and hashtagging it to us and showing that they purchased the product. And, you know, it's just a movement all together. All right, then we certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Folks, go ahead and show it again. And we'll end it with that. Black Kitchen 365, the complete story of America. We appreciate

it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. All right, Ben. And so, first of all, thank you for being a part of this week's Education Matters segment sponsored by School Choice is the Black Choice. Folks, that is it for us. I certainly appreciate all of you who are joining us. Please support what we do here at Roland Martin Unfiltered by joining our Bring the Funk fan club. Our goal is to have 20,000, at least 20,000 of our members who contribute 50 bucks each over the course of the year, $4.19 a month, 13 cents a day, join our fan club.

The best thing you can do is simply you can give right there to us to direct. If you give to us on YouTube, that's 55% goes to us, 45% goes to them. If you give us to direct, all 100% of your proceeds goes back and reinvested into the show. Cash app, dollar sign, RMUnfiltered, paypal.me, forward slash, rmartinunfiltered, venmo.com, forward slash, rmunfiltered. If you want to send us money via Zelle, send us an email. Just the email is roland at rolandsmartin.com. And, of course, money orders, New Vision Media, 1625 K Street, Northwest, Suite 400, Washington, D.C., 2006. As always, on Fridays, we end our show showing all the members of our Bring the Funk fan club.

Go ahead and roll the video, folks. If you want to support what we do, again, if you don't see your name there, let's please let us know. And yeah, folks hit me every week. They're like, you do the names too fast. Y'all, it's a lot of them. Otherwise, we'd be here for a very long time. And so if we don't see your name there, simply send me an email. Just go to RolandSMartin.com, RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Send me an email and we'll get that taken care of immediately. On Monday, I will actually, you know what, let me go ahead and do this here. Go ahead and let that run. I'm just going to do this here since I'm going to read a couple. Tell me how much longer that list is in time, and then that gives me an indication what I can do here.

Folks, let's see here. Let's see here. Tia Z. Roland, thank you for having the vision and courage to create, successfully operate your unapologetically black news program. Plus, it closes my first contribution with 2021. Continue to bring the funk. Holla, Tia Z. Tia, I certainly appreciate that. Y'all, give me the time. How much time left on the graphic? On the fan club?

Three minutes. All right. In God I trust always. All right. Let me see. Oh, y'all want to make it hard for me to get it. Y'all, they stapled this sucker and they taped it. Okay.

Let me see. It might take me all three minutes just trying to get up in here. Man. Okay. Y'all want to make up in here. Man, okay. Y'all want to make sure nobody got in this bad boy. Okay, Darlene Ward. All right, Darlene Ward. Roland, great job.

I sent 50 bucks in December 2020 and closed at $50 for the Bring the Funk fan club of 2021. Love the show. I've learned so much from your show and shall encourage others. What a blessing to see your dream vision for black folks. So pleased to be a part of this, your dream. Never, ever give up. Keep on pressing on. Always keep the faith.

Darlene, God bless you and your staff. All right, Darlene, I certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Let's see here. Shirley Williams, of course, with her Tuskegee Airman thing on the front. Let me see here. Okay, see if I can open this up. Let that keep rolling.

All right, y'all, let me open this thing up. Let that keep rolling. Alright, y'all. Let me open this thing up. Man, y'all got like gorilla glue on this bad boy. Y'all see that sister who actually the hair and the gorilla glue? Oh my lord. Lord, lord, lord. Okay, here we go.

Shirley Williams. 100 bucks. We are two of your YouTube watchers. Here's our part to support your show and keep you on the air. Keep up the good work, and thank you for being brave enough and strong enough to step out on faith. Mom, Shirley, son, is it Gary or Gabby? I can't make it out. She said $100 in clothes, $50 each.

We'll send more later. Shirley can't make it out. She said $100 in clothes, $50 each. We'll send more later. Shirley, I appreciate it. Shirley, I can't tell what your son's name is. I can't make it out. Alright, but the son of Shirley and Mama Shirley, I appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Folks, I'll read more.

Those people who send in notes, I'll certainly read some of those next week as well. So we certainly appreciate it, y'all. Thank you so much. How much time, Henry? One minute. Let me see if I can quickly do this here.

Sam Williamson, Jr., no note, but he sent in his $50. Sam, I certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. And how fast can I do this here before we run out? 45. All right then. And Jameson Toussaint. I certainly appreciate it.

For your $50 to the fan club as well. Y'all, thanks a bunch. I'll see y'all on Monday. Ha! A lot of times, big economic forces show up in our lives in small ways. Four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. Small but important ways. From tech billionaires to the bond market to, yeah, banana pudding. If it's happening in business, our new podcast is on it.

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