AFL-CIO Bus Tour vs Big Beautiful Bill, Ivey on Trump, Trump Africa Gaffe, Couple Trespass at Home

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Today's Wednesday, July nine, twenty twenty five, coming up of
Roland Martin Unfiltered streaming live of the Blackstar Network. The
fl CIO is launching a nationwide bus tour next week
to raise awareness about how federal government policies that day
only impact working families. Also, the Supreme Court decision lying
Donald Trump to fire thousands or hundreds of thousand federal

(00:49):
workers is going to be hitting hard. We'll be talking
with the national president of the Service Employees International Union
about this very issue. Maryland Congress and Glenn Ivey would
join us talk about Donald trump treacherous bills and his
shameful policies today. How embarrassing was it for African leaders
to have to beg Donald Trump for resources, not only
that he looked like a complete dumbass by talking about

(01:12):
the English and how well the Liberian president spoke. Yeah,
I'm gonna have to educate this idiot on the history
of Liberia and the United States because you know, he
literally clearly can't read. So I think I have a
pictorial with me. He may be a learned from a
black Florida couple gets accused of trespassing on their own property.

(01:34):
We have a Bodycom footage plus Tonight's tech Talk segment.
The Digital Equity Capacity Program, a federal grant initiative aim
at expanding a high speed internet in Georgia's rule and
low income communities, has been cut. But I thought Donald
Trump cared about those rule voters. Hag tag. We tried
to tell you it's time to bring the phone. I'm

(01:55):
rolling Mark unfiltered with Lifestung network. Let's come. Whatever the bass,
He's on it.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Whatever it is, he's got school, the fact the fine
way it believes he's right on top and is rolling.
Best believe he's going putting it down from his Loston
news to politics with entertainment, just bookcase. He's golen, it's
growing out.

Speaker 3 (02:25):
It's rolling Monte.

Speaker 4 (02:27):
Yeah, rolling, He's bronk, he s brest.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
She's real.

Speaker 4 (02:36):
Good question, No, he's rolling Monte.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
Folks. We're one block away from the NFL CIO and
they had folks who were outside of their building today
for the launch of their bust. They were bringing attention
to that they're going to be traveling to fifty having
fifty simultaneous rallies nationwide on Labor Day, raising the issue
of the impact on Donald Trump's attacks on federal workers

(03:14):
again that they kicked off the bus tour today. It
aims to give workers a voice amidst federal government policies
and negatively impact working families. When we talk about these issues,
people don't realize we're talking about not the federal workers,
but down the line, families and children and you name it.
And so the Labor Federation plans to visit picking line,
support contract campaigns, and hold ralays to highlight workers issues

(03:37):
and protests against what they see as a tax on
it labor rights. Here's some of what was said at
today's protests outside of the AFL Sattle International headquarters one
block from the White House.

Speaker 5 (03:49):
Just like all workers are in the fight of their lives.
When we fight, we win. Because right here in DC
earlier this week, subcontracted hospitality workers with the help of
the DC Attorney General, won hundreds of thousands of dollars
for wage staff getting their money back.

Speaker 6 (04:08):
We can stand up, we can.

Speaker 5 (04:09):
Fight, we can win. So get on the bus, let's
go to these stuffs and let's get rolling.

Speaker 7 (04:15):
Yeah, we're here calling uh a big, rolling, big call
out that we factory met.

Speaker 1 (04:21):
Okay, you stand with working families you stood for working families.

Speaker 8 (04:25):
We find a.

Speaker 3 (04:27):
Bus tours about coming around the.

Speaker 9 (04:28):
Country hearing the stories with everyday workers and how these
are horrible.

Speaker 5 (04:33):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (04:35):
Attack from this administration were affecting working families. All right, folks, again,
this is about bringing attention to the workers and their families.
Able rat joins me right now that you're national president
of the Service Employees International Union, you'd glad to have
her here. Here's the thing that I have been saying
for months. I remember I was gonna call I guess

(04:56):
it was in It was in January, early February, and
it was a number of of communication folks with all
different unions, and actually I met to twice with them,
and I said then early on, you can't make this
solely about federal workers, because like it or not, there's

(05:17):
a hatred of federal workers. But you have to make
it plain to people. And when you talk about a worker,
you're talking about a homeowner, You talk about somebody may
be forced to be evicted. You mean talk about people
who may be single families who may all of a
sudden to be homeless. They have kids who are in
college or private school. So you have a whole trickle
down effect, and so I hate to see it. I'm

(05:39):
glad to see five months later that they're focusing on
this because for me, that should have been the focus
from day one, to get people to understand what the
cuts actually mean.

Speaker 10 (05:51):
Yes, these cuts actually mean that your grandmother is going
to have to sit on hold trying to figure out
where her Social Security check is for six hours. Cut
is going to mean my wait time to get the
procedure at the VA is longer than it ever was before,
putting my life in jeopardy. That cut means, you know,
because of the Doge buyout, that you have fifteen percent

(06:13):
less staff right now taking care of the tragedy in
Central Florida right now.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
Now, that's in terms of the cuts and the workers. Sure,
my deal is yep. But by expanding this, let's just say,
let's just say one hundred thousand federal workers all of
a sudden get fired. Well, they have husbands, wives, partners,
they have children, have families they take care of. So
now that one hundred thousand number now swells to the

(06:41):
impact is five hundred thousand, a million, a million. Five Now,
all of a sudden, you see homes put up for sale,
so people have to understand what this actually means. When
you attack it's not that worker being cut, it's literal
families being cut.

Speaker 10 (06:58):
That's right, especially for places like Maryland. And I'm sure
the Congressman, when you have him on later, will tell
you a disproportionate number of the people that live in
the DMV in Maryland and Virginia that contribute to those
tax bases in the state, and in PG County and
Fairfax County, whoa right that tax base is going to

(07:19):
get hit. The communities are going to be devastated.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
And even when you go outside of Maryland, people have
to understand. You may have areas in Missouri in Indiana
all of a sudden two three, four hundred folks gone,
and so now that's impacting those areas. Because what I said,
I remember what I had on the call. I said, guys,
if you go out and say, if you go outside
of DC and now be able to show this is

(07:44):
how this part of the state country is going to
be devastated by these cuts, then all of a sudden,
you're making it plain for people to go ooh, I
never thought about it that way. Yeah.

Speaker 10 (07:53):
Well, and also let's remember our history, right, people now
hate federal jobs. But after the Great Depression, programs that
were created to employ federal workers were done because people
didn't have jobs.

Speaker 1 (08:08):
Those jobs were created to end poverty.

Speaker 10 (08:11):
Those jobs were created to end starvation and also but
to build stuff, and to build that that's to build stuff.

Speaker 1 (08:17):
It's not right. Oh well, it's just workers who are
just there. It wasn't charity. I mean people are now
seeing that. You're now seeing when you cut the suicide
prevention lines in the in the Department Ventured Affairs, you're
impacting folks with PTSD and being able to call twenty
four hours a day to get help. When you begin
to the point of the customer and social security. Yeah,

(08:39):
now all of a sudden you're sitting on the phones two, three,
four or five six hours. So there's a real life impact.
So people love to hate on government workers and say, oh,
government ain't working for me. Oh you about to really
see how government ain't working for you.

Speaker 10 (08:55):
Well, and people don't realize how many times a day
they're a live is touched and impacted by government.

Speaker 1 (09:02):
First of all, your entire life, your entire life. I
can't I can kind of explain to people start with
this bullshit of I want government out of my life.
That can't happen the moment you're born to the day
you die. Government has a role in every aspect of
your life.

Speaker 10 (09:20):
Yeah, and I think you care whether or not it
is government running the suicide prevention line or a private
company that has shareholders it's accountable to, because they're going
to make different choices and decisions about what that prevention
line for services, they provide, how many people are staffing
it because they care about their bottom line. They're sole

(09:43):
purpose isn't the outcomes? Right, There is a role for government,
an important role for government in our lives, and we
tend to forget that because we've bought into this narrative
that the right has tried to push down our throat
hook line and sinker about big government, government intervention in
our lives. Folks, we want government in our lives. You

(10:04):
don't want private business in your life to the extent
that we're going to see it happen real shortly.

Speaker 1 (10:10):
Well, here's a perfect example. This is a video here.
Guy says, uh, this is a group of first responders.
For some reason, I can't pull up right now. It's
a video of first responders praying around the giant cross
in Kirk County, Texas, not far from where nine month
old who didn't make it was found in the debris
a little while ago. Those are government workers, the government workers.

(10:33):
See the folk right now where you have one hundred
and seventy people still Missigan, Kirk County. Oh, they're begging
for the government to come in. They're big. You got
not only that, you got racist like Charlie Kirk, who
I'm gonna deal with. I'm gonna deal with that racist later.
But you have him complaining calling the black fire chief
in Austin, Texas a DEI higher because they did not

(10:57):
send support staff to Kirk County. First off, Austin fire
to Barbie government worker two that's one hundred and twenty
miles away. He ain't saying jack about the sheriff in
Kirk County government worker, the county commissioners government worker, who
are white Republicans. He said, done about them. So again
the people right now complaining. I saw I had a

(11:18):
tweet that said that Christie Nome CNN's reporting that the
ice Barbie. It says Nome didn't authorize FEMA's deployment of
urban search and rescue teams. Until Monday, more than seventy
two hours after the flooding began. Multiple sources told CNN
that's government workers.

Speaker 10 (11:33):
Government workers, and let's not think of and let's not
forget about the National Guard, government workers that say, hey,
we got you know, storm season we need to prepare for.
We don't have time to be in neighborhoods, kidnapping people
who ain't never did nothing to nobody. Let us go
do what we're supposed to do, and that's protect lives
from storms that we know are coming. Right because you've

(11:55):
already cut FEMA about twenty percent, so they already short.
So like I think that we are going to see
quickly the impact of this chaos and distractions from the
destruction that this administration is shoting down earth.

Speaker 1 (12:12):
So let's talk about this bus tour. One of the
things that Bishop William Barbara does the repairs with the breach,
which I greatly appreciate, which is really different how the
rest of these people do these events where he only
wants impacted people talking. He doesn't want organizational heads, he
doesn't want politicians, He wants impacted people. Is that what

(12:33):
they're going to be doing on this bus tour are
They going to have the voices of the people, the
daughter of somebody who's in college saying, Hey, if mom
or dad gets fired, I might have to leave the
university because I can't afford tuition. So what is this
bus tour actually going to be doing.

Speaker 10 (12:50):
Yeah, so the bus tour is a lead up to
Labor Day. Whereas you said earlier, we're going to do
fifty actions coordinated across the country that is really to
continue to highlight the work that the AFL has been
doing all year. We started with the Department of People
who Work for a living to say, you really want
to know how to make government work more efficiently, asks

(13:11):
the workers who are there. And so this tour isn't
just about federal workers. But we're getting out and we're
going to places. We'll be at the NAACP convention next week,
right the bus tour is stopping there. It's going to
stop in Washington, all Michigan with iron workers who are
being who are going to attend a training and a meeting.

(13:32):
It's about getting close to the ground to workers and
places that don't get a lot of attention across the country,
to see what people really feel, what they really think,
and to hopefully send a message that working people across
the country are ready to stand up and fight for
our democracy.

Speaker 1 (13:47):
All right, So they're going to be doing the tour,
do they have infrastructure? Are they going to be streaming
every stop? Is? So? Where is it going to be?
Because if they're hoping, media comes out to me that
ain't smart? So sure, how are people are going to
be able to track each one of these stops? How
can they watch it that? What does that plan?

Speaker 10 (14:07):
So, folks should be able to go to the AFL's
website and also follow on the AFL social media pages
for more information on all of the stops and how
to how you can join up?

Speaker 1 (14:18):
All right? Questions from the panel Rebecca Caruthers, vice president
Ferry Election Center, Joe Richardson, a civil rights attorney out
of La of course, doctor Julian Malveaux, economist, President Emerita
Bennett College. Rebecca, come start with you first? Can here? Rebecca? Folks? Rebecca,

(14:39):
go ahead?

Speaker 11 (14:40):
Roland you announcement as vice president as of last week,
I'm now president.

Speaker 1 (14:44):
All right, there we go.

Speaker 11 (14:46):
All right, So, April, I lead a national voting organization.
I work with a lot of your people and in
preparing for elections in twenty twenty six.

Speaker 3 (14:57):
Understanding we do have some importing.

Speaker 11 (14:58):
Elections this fall, but and we're going to be really
looking at the midterms. Can you tell me how SAIU
and some of the other unions are preparing to connect
issues and what's happening out of this administration and turning
them into voting issues so people understand why they need
to show up and vote.

Speaker 10 (15:14):
Well, I think, first and foremost, we cannot allow our
memories to be short. We have to remember come November
twenty twenty six, the vote that was taken in July
twenty twenty five, and we have to talk to voters,
our members, other working people every single month, every single

(15:35):
week between now and November. We can't just show up
on Labor Day of November twenty twenty six and start
trying to connect the dots for people.

Speaker 1 (15:43):
We have to build the relationship.

Speaker 10 (15:45):
With voters right now in the moment. And let's not forget,
a lot of the impact from the budget vote, for instance,
that was taken last week is not going to be
felt for some time to come, and so it's really
important that we do deep listening, deep learning for folks
to connect these dots so that when voters go to

(16:06):
the booth come November twenty twenty six, they do so
as educated voters, as high information voters, and not let
the disinformation that is going to run rampant as it
has been for the last few cycles, take control of
the electorate. We gotta be smarter, we gotta be better.
We got to lean into forms of communication like this

(16:28):
show that we know works, not just traditional media, like
we got to get out of trying to get on
network news or cable news or in the newspaper. We
gotta go to social media. We got to go to
the podcasters, we gotta go to the influencers. And that's
the work that we really need to do to connect
with voters in a different way.

Speaker 3 (16:48):
Joe, thanks for the work that you're doing. April.

Speaker 12 (16:53):
I'm wondering it's kind of a build up of what
Rebecca was asking about.

Speaker 3 (16:58):
When you get back from the bus tour.

Speaker 12 (17:01):
It seems to me that there are two things that
can happen here, not only continuing to let folks know
what is going on and how important it is right
now in this moment and these jobs that are going
away and not just government jobs, but also to remind
people of how important unions are. So tell me about

(17:22):
what the AFLCIO will be doing once you get back
to continue to turn the heat up on people's one
on one education about what's going on with this administration
and how unions figure in and what we do going
forward leading up to those all important folks.

Speaker 10 (17:42):
So it's important to remember that the AFL is a federation.
It's a federation of sixty three different national unions, and
so I can speak a lot about what my union
is doing and will be doing for the next couple
of years. It's not just good enough to fight back
in this moment. We have to go on the offense.
We got to get on our front foot. And what

(18:04):
that means for us inside of SEIU is organizing more
workers at clips. That's unprecedented, right. We need to build
more worker power. We need to get more workers in
our organization because we know when they're in our union
they are more politically active, they're more civically engaged. We
stand a better shot of getting them to turn out

(18:26):
and vote and exercise their rights inside of the democracy.
So organizing campaigns is our first priority, but we also
need to create a vision for the future with workers
the right has done a masterful job.

Speaker 1 (18:43):
Make America great again.

Speaker 10 (18:44):
Isn't what I believe in, but it's what millions of
people believe in. And in the absence of vision, people
will drink sand. They will drink sand. And so, how
are we actively engaging the American people in a conversation
about what kind of life life do you want? What's
a good life? What allows you to thrive, to not
live paycheck to paycheck, to just worry about surviving. For

(19:07):
some people, it's going to be wages, right, mind you,
the Republicans still won't vote to increase the federal minimum wage.
That's seven to I was and twenty five cents an hour.
So let's talk about minimum wage increases. Let's talk about
not just protecting Medicaid, but improving health care and access
to quality health care. And so those are just a
couple of the things that we know. American people care

(19:29):
about the cost of housing. How can I ever afford
to buy a house if I can't even afford because my.

Speaker 1 (19:34):
Rent is too high?

Speaker 10 (19:36):
So let's build a vision for an America that is
worth fighting for. To paraphrase Langston Hughes. Together we can
build a vision for an America that has never been,
but yet must be.

Speaker 1 (19:48):
And then we also.

Speaker 10 (19:49):
Got to create a protagonist. Who is to blame? The
right has given us immigrants and people that are different
from us.

Speaker 1 (19:56):
Right, that's who to blame.

Speaker 10 (19:58):
We believe who is to really blame is the unprecedented
amount of corporate greed that is running rampant across our
society that gets us bills like the one pass last week.
So let's talk about what the real role of corporations
need to be in our democracy and our economy and
the responsibility that they have to help make our country

(20:21):
what it needs to be. And that's holding them accountable
to ending poverty wage work. Nobody should go to work
and have to work multiple jobs to take care of
their families. Corporations make enough money that they can pay
people what they deserve to make. And so we want
to go on the offense. We want to be bold,
we want to be militant, We want to cause real

(20:41):
disruption so we can take the strangle loosen the stranglehold
that is on the country right now, Joe.

Speaker 3 (20:50):
Thanks, all right, didmid so.

Speaker 1 (20:57):
How should I put this? Do me a favor, I'll try. Okay,
So you said, how many different groups are part of
the nfl CI sixty three, okay sixty three. They literally
are a block away. They had the allownce announcement today,
never told us. I did a call Delaine Adam to

(21:18):
the call last man and I talked. I literally said it.
Then I was like, guys, everyone was like, oh, we're
doing this, We're doing that, because it was about seven
or eight different groups, And I said, who are you telling?
And so what bothers me? This is what bothers me
right here that a lot of black people in the

(21:38):
AFL CIL, a lot of black people in all of
these different unions. And I sat on the call. You
guys are a block away from my office and you've
never been on You've never actually reached out. And I
just checked. They literally didn't even send us an email
about today's rally. So if they're trying to commut municate

(22:01):
to people and we only want the top one hundred
podcasts on YouTube, they might want to tell some folks
please let them know this. I got you. I mean,
because it's frustrating because I talk to you, I talk
to Lee Saunders, I talk to Cloud Cummings, I talk
to Becky Pringle direct. But It drives me crazy when

(22:23):
I hear folks complain about, oh, we can't get coverage,
we can't get things, but then they don't actually reach out.
And if they not reach out to me, I know Dan, well,
they not reach out to whole bunch of other black media.
And so I'm curious to know what's their strategy when
they go to cities who they're hitting before they actually
come in, who they talking to to talk to our
people as opposed to hoping mainstream media shows up.

Speaker 10 (22:44):
It should drive you crazy, right, It should drive everybody
who cares about the health of our democracy, especially when I.

Speaker 1 (22:51):
Know those frankly white PR firms are charging them a
whole lot of money every month in retainer fees.

Speaker 10 (23:00):
I am not here to carry the AFL, but I'm
gonna carry aprils, right, and I can do a better
job of making sure they know that the resources are
available to tell our story that desperately need to be
told in the right ways.

Speaker 1 (23:16):
Absolutely, because I mean, the stories have to get out
and be told, and now people have to be notified.
I just don't want them talking in a bubble and
then not reach Look, Joe Madison, God rest his soul,
always said you gotta put it where the goats can
get it, which means you've got to go to places
that people are going to listening to and get the

(23:37):
information from. And too often places like this are ignored,
like other black on media outlets. Then people go, oh, well, dang,
I wish we had more coverage. Yeah, God, tell people first,
you know, And look.

Speaker 10 (23:48):
We are all still trying our very very best.

Speaker 1 (23:53):
And many of.

Speaker 10 (23:54):
Us, and I'm not necessarily I'm not speaking about the AFL,
many of us don't know how to do anything different
than what we've always done, right, and especially when some
of us are paralyzed by fear, right, we just keep trying. Oh,
if I just do it a little bit better, if
I work a little bit harder, as opposed to that

(24:15):
ain't working right, Let's go figure out something else to do,
because why.

Speaker 1 (24:18):
The hell not right? Well, that's why when Delanez hit
that thing up, it was all these different communications people
and I literally was telling them now that ain't working.
And then one of the people hit him on the
side was like, we're doing a great job. He was like, no,
you're not. Stop telling yourself you are, because if you're
not communicating to the people that need to hear your message.
Stop petting yourself on the back. So I just think,

(24:39):
and I have no problem meeting with anybody communications team
and saying, let me look at your strategy how you
reach out, because for me, I look at directly who
did you reach who do you call, who do you
reach out to? How do we know? And I just
dare about it. I mean, look, I Leada Jeffries, here's
people sending me a press release nineteen minutes before he
went live. I was like, I think we need a

(25:01):
little bit more heads heads start, but before you go live,
just a little bit, just a little bit, I might,
so we can get ready. So we're looking forward to
this if y'all had your annual.

Speaker 10 (25:11):
Conference yet, we're on a four year cycle.

Speaker 1 (25:14):
Okay, got all right, So what is the next event
that y'all are doing? The people getting tie into.

Speaker 10 (25:20):
So the next big national day of action that s
CiU will be engaged in is July twenty sixth. Okay,
and I would love to come back and tell you
all about it.

Speaker 1 (25:29):
That's the natural day of action July six all around
the country.

Speaker 10 (25:32):
Yep, s CiU.

Speaker 1 (25:33):
Okay, all right, yeah, come back, all right, talk about
that one, I got you, and then and then of
course Labor Day gotcha. All right, So again what I
want to big said, tell anfl C out of that.
The other thing is what I want to know for
those other events, are there going to be streamed, because
then if we can make the different ones, we can
actually grab those streams and then now be able to

(25:54):
restream it and then reach more people to the almost
too many people who follow us.

Speaker 10 (25:58):
Yeah, and it may not all be streamed, because what
we are really about is saying so for instance, when
David Werta was arrested in LA and we did a
national Day of Action, we put it out, you know,
on Mobilized and anybody that wanted to set up an
action could do it, and we ended up having forty
across the country. Some were big, some were small, and

(26:19):
so some of it will be streamed, but not all
of them. O.

Speaker 1 (26:21):
All right, we appreciate it. Thanks you a lot. Always
a pleasure, folks. We come back with chat with Congress
and Glenn Ivy Democrats doing all they can to push
back against this crazy MAGA agenda, and of course we'll
talk to him about the impact of these federal job
cuts on his state of Maryland and it is a huge,
huge issue. You're watching Rollerdark Unbuilt right here in the

(26:43):
Black Slow Network.

Speaker 13 (26:46):
Next on the Black Table with me Greg Kaar, the
enigma of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Tones. What really makes
him tick and what forces shaped his view of the world,
the country and Black America.

Speaker 3 (27:00):
Answer.

Speaker 1 (27:00):
I'm pretty sure we'll shock.

Speaker 3 (27:02):
As he says, you know, people think that I'm anachronistic.

Speaker 1 (27:04):
I am. I want to go backwards in time in
order to move us forward into the future.

Speaker 3 (27:10):
He's very upfront about this.

Speaker 13 (27:11):
We'll talk to Corey Robbin, the man who wrote the
book that reveals it all. That's next on The Black Table,
only on the Black Star Network.

Speaker 10 (27:23):
This week, on the other side of Change.

Speaker 14 (27:25):
In mass incarceration, Trump administration is doubling down on criminalization
and how it is profitable.

Speaker 15 (27:31):
And there's something really really perverse about saying that we
need to put people in cages in order for other
people to.

Speaker 6 (27:36):
Have jobs, Like that is not how our economy should
be built. Only on the other side of Change on
the Blackstar Network.

Speaker 16 (27:46):
This week, on a Balanced Life, where Doctor Jackie We're
talking faith, family, fatherhood, and the pathway to reentery. Most
of us, in some way, shape, form or fashion, have
had someone in our lives, whether it was a grandfather,
a father, an uncle, a brother, or a cousin who
have been incarcerated or justice impacted. What does that look

(28:08):
like in rebuilding family and relationships? What does it look
like for us to be able to have substantive conversations,
come to the table, love on each other while at
the same time get it all out in the open
so that we can.

Speaker 6 (28:22):
Begin a new journey together.

Speaker 17 (28:24):
You know, the last thing you want is in the
midst of trying to piece your life back together, for
home to not be a comfortable place.

Speaker 16 (28:32):
That's all next on A Balanced Life with Doctor Jackie
here on black Star Network, our.

Speaker 8 (28:39):
Our executive producer, A Proud Family.

Speaker 1 (28:42):
You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. M folks are Trump signs

(29:57):
his new bill. He's all excit, Republicans are excited. But
it's going to impact some real people, and they're quickly
learning that it ain't just a bed of roses for
all of you Maca people in your red states. They're
going to be hit by it as well. You've got
these farmers complaining about the arrest of workers and how
they don't have any of people working their farms. We

(30:20):
tried to tell you look at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,
slashing staff, weakening oversight of banks and lenders. In fact,
Donald Trump has let so many people off. They've actually
screwed taxpayers who are supposed to be getting millions of
dollars back because of how they were being abused. They're
also stripping protection from immigrants from countries like nicaragu Nepal.

(30:43):
We can go on and on and on, and so
many of you keep asking, well, oh my god, Democrats
must be fighting back, but do you really understand how
can you fight back when they control the House? The
sending in the White House, Concer Glennavy of Maryland, Jones
is right now. Cars are on that point. And I
spent a lot of time trying to explain to people
that you need to understand politics. The reality is in

(31:05):
the House, you're extremely limited what you can do. There
are more ways to stop things in the Senate because
of their rules. First of all, this bill was pased
through reconciliation, which will require fifty one votes. Normally you
need sixty votes in the Senate. Okay, you can put
a hold on nominees lots of that you can actually do.
You're limited what you could do in the House. You're

(31:28):
virtually powerless unless four or five Republicans vote with your party.
And we see what happened on this bill where you
had ten who voted no. They held the bill open
damn near more than twenty four hour, almost only four
hours to get them to side with them, and they
got the votes. And so what do you say the

(31:50):
constituents who keep saying fight more, fight harder.

Speaker 9 (31:54):
Well, it's a great point because it really comes down
to math, you know, and if we don't have the
numbers to win, we're not going to do it. But
I think the key points are, and you touched on
this a moment ago, the districts that Republicans represent now
where they're starting to feel the heat. We almost flip
some of those guys. In fact, you know, Massi from
Kentucky did vote with us. So we picked that one up.

(32:15):
We just need to pick up four all together, you know,
the next time we have a vote like this, but
putting pressure on them in their districts, and that's like
you know, California, some of the districts in the suburban
New York Kiggin's the one in Norfolk down next to
Bobby Scott. I mean districts like that we can pick up,
and we have to also make sure we're explaining to

(32:38):
the voters in those districts exactly what it is they
voted for, because when that local hospital closes, it's not
because something you know, random happens. It's a result of
the bill that cut the Medicaid funding. And you happen
to be near a hospital that relies heavily on that
revenue stream.

Speaker 1 (32:55):
You know, one of the things that and let me
know that this actually happens, happened, and because one of
the things that I thought that should have happened, and
maybe it did and I missed it. I said to
Ken Martin, I said to Leader Jefferies, hey, you guys
should have a David Letterman like top ten list of

(33:15):
the most onerous, dangerous things in this bill. There was
so much focus on Medicaid and SNAP, which I totally
understand was almost a ten thousand page bill, and I
guess how my brain works. I would have stuck twenty
staffers in a room and said you got fifty pages
each and to go through. So you take, for instance,

(33:41):
what was actually in the bill that allowed you to
deduct gambling losses? And then you had Republicans on the
Senate Finance Committee, grassally they were. And another one is
we didn't We don't know how they got in the bill,
but it got in the bill. To me, that's one
of those things that yet it's not medicaid, not step,

(34:01):
but it's one of those things where if you're showing
you know, the whole deal with deducting you know, private planes.
To me, it's those things that when they are being told,
people go, wait, bitte, what the hell is going on?
It changes the dialogue around a bill. I think that's right.

Speaker 9 (34:15):
I mean the challenge and we do a lot of
work on that. The problem is trying to get it
out in a way that it gets picked up from
a media standpoint.

Speaker 1 (34:23):
But yeah, I think that's right.

Speaker 9 (34:25):
And so there's a lot of pieces where whether it's
the rule of law kind of thing where you know,
people's rights are being violated, how can we get those
things out? Impacts on like local schools, cuts to pell
grants for example, you know, impacting things like that. We
want to make sure we're trying to get out so
people understand it.

Speaker 1 (34:45):
But if you look at what we did.

Speaker 9 (34:46):
With Medicaid and SNAP at the time this vote was taken,
like half of the voters didn't even know this right
was pending. So we had a lot of good breakthrough.
The bill was underwater by twenty one points according.

Speaker 1 (34:58):
To the Fox Pole.

Speaker 9 (35:00):
But still we've got we had work to do then,
We've still got more work to do now. We've got
a little bit of time now to spool it out
a little more carefully and thoroughly and give people a
chance to hear about it. And there's over two hundred
members in the House Democratic Caucus, so we don't all
have to be saying the same thing at the same
time every place. We can use some of these other

(35:20):
outlets to talk about the particulars and the impact that
they're having.

Speaker 1 (35:23):
Along the line to your suggestion, Well, and I think
that the energy that was being energy you guys had
before the vote continue afterwards. Yeah, continuing doing these town
halls in these districts, continuing putting the pressure there where
it's constant. You know, I was going to chat early

(35:44):
with some folks and we were talking about, well, what
do you do? We're talking about you know, what can
you do. And there was a frustration and I said, guys, listen,
we have to be thinking and operating with more than
a year out from the midterm elections. And I say
this on this show all the time. Inform enlightened, Educate,
inform enlightened, educate, inform enlightened, educate. That we have we

(36:08):
have to connect the dots for the people. And I
think that that's what members of Congress have to do,
literally walk people through and where it's literally a Civix
one on one lesson every single day. This is what
you're gonna lose, this is what's gonna get cut, this
is what's gonna happen. And then they begin to see
that they're not buying this all. It's a big, beautiful bill.
It's gonna be great and wonderful. It's gonna unleash a

(36:31):
golden golden age. It's like, no, you're about to get screwed. Yeah,
I think that's right. I'll give you an example.

Speaker 9 (36:38):
The uh, the tax break on tips Supposedly that's.

Speaker 1 (36:43):
Not in the bill.

Speaker 9 (36:44):
Yeah, I mean it's just a total scam. So but
they keep talking about it, and they, you know, keep
acting like people are going to get some kind of
benefit from it, but they really aren't. And so you know,
making sure we push those points. AOC was pushing that
because she was a waitress and had a chance to
live that life and she can speak from experience on that.
But getting that out is going to be important because

(37:06):
there's a lot of folks, middle class, working class folks
who are hearing the promises they're making and not realizing
how fake it is. Or well, the stuff they're trying
to give you that's just temporary anyway, The big stuff
that goes to the big dollar guys, right, that's permanent.
And so why are they giving you temporary but giving
them permanent?

Speaker 1 (37:25):
You know why that is. And they're giving you temporary.

Speaker 9 (37:28):
Just long enough to get you past the mid term
votes coming up, and then when it drops off the table,
they're gonna hope you forget.

Speaker 1 (37:36):
And we got to make.

Speaker 9 (37:38):
Sure we're doing it every day, like you're saying, to
keep people focus on it and to keep connecting the
dots so they don't forget about it.

Speaker 1 (37:45):
Questions for the panel show you first.

Speaker 12 (37:50):
Congressman, hello and glad that you are in the fight there.

Speaker 3 (37:55):
Roland kind of stole my question.

Speaker 12 (37:56):
About Hall, but let me ask this, tell me about
if there's ways for you to potentially be a help
to your constituents with constituent services, with one of them
being you know, and often my friend is Peter Aguilar
from California, and you know, when he first came into Congress,

(38:18):
they weren't in charge, and so one of the things
you'd always say.

Speaker 3 (38:21):
Is you can be really good at constituent services.

Speaker 12 (38:23):
Is there a way for congressmen's offices, for your offices
to possibly be well on constituent services, particularly in terms
of coordinating alternative sources of potential benefits, maybe connecting with
state government, connecting with state resources, and maybe even sometimes
people don't know there's a lot that's gone, but maybe

(38:45):
there's some things that are still there that people don't
know about.

Speaker 3 (38:48):
Has there been some talk about.

Speaker 12 (38:50):
Coordinating with state and county to really identify resources and
have it amped up just because of the necessity that
so much of this being missing, it's really going to.

Speaker 9 (39:01):
Create Yeah, that's a great point, and yes, I think
is the answer to that.

Speaker 1 (39:04):
Now here's the challenge.

Speaker 9 (39:05):
So in Maryland we did a town hall meeting and
one of the things we talked about was, well, guess
what Governor Moore is rolling out efforts to hire out
displace federal workers because we love to have them in
the state government. They do great work, they're very talented, etc.
Now and we've had some success with that, but here's
the challenge. There's a lot of states in Maryland's one

(39:28):
of those, and localities and Prince George's County is one
of those where we've got financial challenges from a budgetary
standpoint as well, So it's not always easy to turn
to them so they can pick up the slack. But
we're trying to work in coordination and make sure we're
doing as much of that as possible to get the
message out. But it's also important to get the message
out at their level too. So I'll give you an example.

(39:50):
One of the things that Keem did in his nine
hour speech was he pulled out a resolution from the
Louisiana State Legislature where they had passed the resolution asking
their federal delegation not to support this bill because of
the impact on medicaid in Louisiana that would be falling
out from it.

Speaker 1 (40:09):
Now, people didn't know.

Speaker 9 (40:11):
That, but you know it's heavily Republican. You know, state
legislature and guess what, the Speaker and the majority leader
are both out of Louisiana. So having you know, state
local people make these points at the at the at
their level, I think is important too to help support
the messages coming out of Congress, help support the messages

(40:32):
coming out of Washington, but also to give more trusted
voices to people in their localities because a lot of
these these red states and red jurisdictions, when the hospital
shuts down or when they lose their obgyn unit or whatever,
they're going to want to say, well, that must be
some democratic thing. It's going to be important for their
state people to say it was what happened, what I

(40:54):
told you about before. And guess what, we can't pick
up the slack because we can't raise taxes enough to
cover the hole that was left by the federal cuts
that were made. So I think you're right on the money,
and we need to find new ways and additional ways
to get any kind of support we can from state
and local and private by the way, and also to
make sure they're getting the message out too.

Speaker 11 (41:17):
Rebecca Congressman, I'm one of your constituents.

Speaker 3 (41:21):
It's great to talk to you. Tonight.

Speaker 11 (41:23):
So you went to El Salvador and you received a
lot of criticism for that trip. Can you talk about
why it was important for you to show up on
behalf of mister Garcia?

Speaker 1 (41:34):
Well, a couple reasons.

Speaker 9 (41:35):
Due process is something that not just mister Garcia needs,
but like African Americans need it too, and everybody across
the board does.

Speaker 1 (41:43):
And so if you look at what's.

Speaker 9 (41:44):
Come in the wake of when Trump met with Bucale,
the president of l Salvador, one of the things they
were joking about was building five more prisons down there
so they could send quote homegrown people down to those
prisons in El Salvador. Well, I think I know who
that might be, and I want to make sure we're
not in harm's way. And that connects up with the

(42:06):
efforts to denaturalize citizens. I didn't even know that was
a possible concept, much less a possible action.

Speaker 1 (42:15):
They damn sure want to do it.

Speaker 9 (42:16):
They damn sure want to do it and eliminate birthright citizenship,
and the Supreme Court I thought was going to rule
on that, but they just focused on the universal injunctions
piece and left that standing, even though it couldn't be
more straightforward in.

Speaker 1 (42:29):
The playing language in the Constitution. So I think it's.

Speaker 9 (42:32):
Important for us to make sure that everybody gets due process.
Whatever this is he's trying to roll through, and however
far he wants to go, we need to nip it
in the bud now because if we're not careful, African
Americans could get rolled up into this too. And by
the way, you know, they're deporting people like kil Mar
got a lot of the focus, but there's like fifty

(42:52):
Venezuelans who were deported out of the United States and
since of that same jail, the Seacott Prison in El
Salvador who were here legally.

Speaker 1 (42:59):
Their paperwork was in order.

Speaker 9 (43:00):
They hadn't committed any crimes in the United States or
even civil violations. No crimes in El Salvador, no crimes
in Venezuela. The Cato Institute identified this, So you know,
it's not some kind of democratic talking point, but they've
been said to Ol Salvador indefinitely. They're in jail down
there indefinitely. That's the kind of stuff we have to

(43:21):
fight against and and make sure we don't let it stand.

Speaker 1 (43:24):
On that particular point you going there in the due
process issue, Let's just be Frank, You've got you've got
a lot of anti immigrant feelings among some black folks,
including black immigrants, and there were people who were highly

(43:47):
critical of your actions and of Democrats. But the point
that I kept, and then of course you get the
Republicans who were saying, oh, they're playing right into our hands.
But what I kept trying to explain to people is,
do understand if we are silent on due process for

(44:07):
undocumented workers. You heard Trump say he wanted to send
American inmates to El Salvador prisons, So we need to
understand they will apply that to us. So you can't
be silent because it's undocumented. You're gonna say, abtolutely not.

(44:28):
The rule of law is the rule of law. That's right.

Speaker 9 (44:31):
And the other part too, was if you remember the
court struggle with this, because you had courts, including the
Supreme Court, say say bring him back, bring him back.

Speaker 1 (44:40):
They were like, hell no.

Speaker 9 (44:41):
And the courts have been our only you know, you
hate to have to rely on these guys because you
know it's a Trump Supreme Court, but they gave us
some rulings and continue to do some right. So if
we're not going to stand up with those guys right
when they're.

Speaker 1 (44:55):
Ruling for us.

Speaker 9 (44:56):
I don't think they're going to keep ruling for us,
especially if you remember the Republicans. As soon as Boseburg,
the judge here in DC, and Zennis the one in Greenbelt,
came out and said, you got to bring these guys
back and give them their due process.

Speaker 1 (45:08):
Day.

Speaker 9 (45:09):
There were seven members of the House Republicans, of course,
who went after them on impeachment grounds, put together resolutions
of impeachment.

Speaker 1 (45:18):
We've got to.

Speaker 9 (45:19):
Let those judges know that we're not just gonna let
it go by just because they're not black or white
or whatever. We're gonna fight it because it's due process,
it's rule of law. We got to make sure that
everybody gets it, because if they're not getting it, there's
a good chance that we ain't gonna get it either.

Speaker 1 (45:33):
Absolutely, conient, appreciate it. Thanks lot, Thanks for having me.
I appreciate it. Thanks a bunch of folks. We go
to a break, we come back. I keep telling y'all,
Don Trump is an idiot. This man thoroughly embarrassed the
United States and showed his level of stupidity in talking
to five African leaders. Wait do we show you what happened,

(45:56):
and I have I have an education a book reading
list for all these maga idiots who know nothing about
live area in the relationship with the United States. Folks
you watching roland Mark unfiltering in the Blackstar Network, support
the work that we do. Join our breena Funk Fank club.
The goes and get twenty thousand of our fans contributing
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(46:16):
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(46:38):
if you want to contribute via cash shap, he's a
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(46:59):
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rolling at Roland, Martin unfilter dot com. Folks will be
right back this week on the other side of change.

Speaker 14 (47:15):
In mass incarceration, Trump administration is doubling down on criminalization
and how it is profitable.

Speaker 3 (47:21):
And there's something really.

Speaker 15 (47:22):
Really perverse about saying that we need to put people
in cages in order for other people.

Speaker 6 (47:26):
To have jobs. Like that is not how our economy
should be built.

Speaker 11 (47:30):
Only on the other side of change.

Speaker 6 (47:31):
On the Blackstar Network.

Speaker 16 (47:36):
This week on a Balanced Life, where Doctor Jackie we're
talking faith, family, fatherhood, and the pathway to reentry. Most
of us, in some way, shape, form or fashion, have
had someone in our lives, whether it was a grandfather,
a father, an uncle, a brother, or cousin, who have
been incarcerated or justice impacted. What does that look like

(47:58):
in rebuilding family, in really relationships, what does it look
like for us to be able to have substantive conversations,
come to the table, love on each other and while
at the same time get it all out in the
open so that we can begin a new journey together.

Speaker 17 (48:13):
You know, the last thing you want is in the
midst of trying to piece your life back together, for
home to not be a comfortable place.

Speaker 16 (48:22):
That's all next on a Balance Life with Doctor Jackie
Yere on black Star Network.

Speaker 7 (48:28):
On the next Get Wealthy with Me, Deborah Owen's America's
Wealth Coach.

Speaker 11 (48:32):
Less than five percent of the top.

Speaker 7 (48:35):
Executive positions in corporate America are held by women of color.

Speaker 11 (48:40):
We know it's not because of talent.

Speaker 7 (48:44):
A recent study says that it's micro questions, unconscious bias,
and limited opportunities being offered to women of color.

Speaker 3 (48:54):
On our next.

Speaker 18 (48:55):
Show, we're going to get incredible advice.

Speaker 7 (48:58):
From Francine Park, who's recently written a book sharing.

Speaker 6 (49:04):
Exactly what you need to.

Speaker 11 (49:05):
Do to make it up into the management branks and
get the earnings that you deserve.

Speaker 18 (49:12):
I made a point to sit down, and I made
a point to talk to people, and I made a
point to be very purposeful and thought.

Speaker 3 (49:19):
Provoking when I spoke to them.

Speaker 7 (49:21):
That's right here on Get Wealthy only on Blackstar Network.

Speaker 13 (49:28):
Next on the Black Table with me Greg Carr, the
enigma of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Times. What really makes
him tick and what forces shaped his view of the world,
the country, and Black America. The answer, I'm pretty sure
will shock you.

Speaker 3 (49:44):
As he says, you know, people think that I'm anachronistic.

Speaker 1 (49:46):
I am. I want to go backwards in time in
order to move us forward into the future.

Speaker 3 (49:52):
He's very upfront about this.

Speaker 13 (49:53):
We'll talk to Corey Robbin, the man who wrote the
book that reveals it all.

Speaker 1 (49:57):
That's next on the Black Table. On the Black Start.

Speaker 10 (50:05):
Sherri Sebret and you know what you're watching, Roland Martin unfiltering.

Speaker 19 (50:14):
M m.

Speaker 20 (50:25):
M mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmma. Inst in insta insta inst in in in

(51:41):
insta instead.

Speaker 18 (51:55):
Inst in.

Speaker 20 (52:05):
Instant insta instant, instant, instant, instant, instant, instant insta instead

(53:04):
instead instead, instead, in insta insta instead instead.

Speaker 1 (54:31):
It really is difficult to say that the occupant of
the Oval Office is truly one of the stupidest people
you have ever seen. But without a doubt, Donald Trump

(54:51):
is an idiot. When you see these right wingers trying
to label anybody black, Latino, or female as being a
dei higher. When something goes wrong, and then you look
at the sheer incompetence of this white man, you go, really, really,

(55:15):
y'all want to call somebody at di i Higher. Today
five African leaders came to the White House for bilateral meetings,
and I felt sorry for them because here they are
sitting there having to.

Speaker 21 (55:32):
Cowtow beg, you know, coddle praise this egotistical maniac because
he so desperately needs attention.

Speaker 1 (55:48):
At one point, one of the Senate, one of the
leaders from Senegal was talking and Trump literally was like,
I need you to hurry up. Y'all have the video.
Play that video.

Speaker 22 (56:05):
We have a great deal of resources, many many resources,
and we have a lot of opportunities to offer in
terms of investment. We have minerals, rare earths, rare minerals.
We have manganese, we have uranium, and we have a

(56:33):
good inclination that we have lithium and other minerals. We're
the second largest producer for the last sixty years in
Africa of iron ore. We produce a lot and we
have a lot of resources in our seawaters, so lots

(56:53):
of fishing and whatnot. I don't want to spend too
much time on this.

Speaker 23 (57:00):
But I appreciate it very much. I appreciate it. Maybe
we're gonna have to go a little bit quicker than
this because we have a whole schedule. If I could
just say you know your name and your country would
be great, Thank you please.

Speaker 1 (57:17):
It was five countries. It was five We're going wait
too slow. It was sheer idiot, It was just idiot.
But this moment right here shows you how absolutely dumb.

Speaker 24 (57:41):
This man is.

Speaker 1 (57:45):
Listen to this.

Speaker 25 (57:48):
You want to encourage American involvement in the investment in
in Liberia. I would like to see that happen. We
want to work with the United States in peace and
security within the region because we are committed to that,
and we just want to thank you so much for

(58:09):
this opportunity. Well, thank you in such good English.

Speaker 23 (58:12):
Such beautiful Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?
Where were you educated? Where in Liberia? Well that's very interesting,
it's beautiful English. I have people at this table can't
speak nearly as well.

Speaker 25 (58:30):
They come from.

Speaker 1 (58:42):
Weren't it back?

Speaker 25 (58:45):
We want to encourage American involvement in the investment in
in Liberia. I would like to see that happen. We
want to work with the United States in peace and
security within the region because we have committed to that,
and we just want to thank you so much for

(59:07):
this opportunity.

Speaker 23 (59:08):
Well, thank you in such good English, such beautiful Where
you where did you learn to speak so beautifully?

Speaker 1 (59:14):
Where?

Speaker 23 (59:14):
Where were you educated? Where is that in Liberia? Well
that's very interesting, it's beautiful English.

Speaker 25 (59:22):
Sure.

Speaker 23 (59:23):
I have people at this table can speak nearly as well, and.

Speaker 1 (59:27):
They come from Joseph Okai is the president of Liberia,
also happens to be attorney brother mine a file attorney corporated.

(59:53):
Trump is so stupid that he literally has no clue.
He don't know where Liberia is. He don't know how
many people are there. He doesn't know anything about his history.
If they had showed this dumbass the Liberian flag, this

(01:00:16):
idiot probably.

Speaker 24 (01:00:17):
Would have went, oh, my goodness, that that that that
that's the librarian flag. Uh uh that that looks like
the Texas flag. Oh my god, that that that that
looks like that, that looks like the United States flag.
I'm curious, mister President, why do your people. Why do

(01:00:39):
your people pick pick a flag that looks like ours?

Speaker 1 (01:00:46):
Maybe because the country was colonized by formally enslaved people
of African descent who actually were sent to Liberia by
the American Colonization Society. In fact, y'all, it was e
merging of two forces. You had the American Colonation Society.

(01:01:08):
You had these abolitionists and these racist plantation owners who
actually came together to say, hey, let's ship these folks out.
A lot of them came from Virginia and they traveled
from the United States to Liberia. And what's crazy, were
talking about colonization. These formerly enslaved people of African descent

(01:01:33):
brought that frankly white plantation mentality to Liberia and they
basically colonized the indigenous people in Liberia. And up until
they had the civil war in Liberia, these descendants of

(01:01:56):
formerly slaved people ran the country. Yep, they ran the country.
Then he had a civil war. And what you've had
is you still have these battles going on between those
folks who are indigenous those who came from the United States.
See Donald Trump is so dumb, he's never read, he

(01:02:22):
knows nothing. So just like years ago when I had
to give Bill O'Reilly an education about patriotism and Black
Americans when he criticized Colin Kaepernick. How about this, Donald
hm a book by Stephen Ellis. It's called The Mask
of Anarchy, The Destruction of Liberia and the Religious Dimension

(01:02:46):
of an African Civil War. How about you and Maga
read that? Huh? How about this, Madam President? The Extraordinary
Journey of Ellen Johnson Shalief by the New York Times
writer Helene Cooper, who's also from Liberia, the first woman

(01:03:07):
to be president of an African nation. Yep, how about that,
you idiot? Oh, here's another one, Ellen Johnson, Sir, leif
this child will be great? Memoir of a remarkable life
by Africa's first woman president. Her book is her memoir.
Learn about Liberia reading that book? How about this, Donald Trump?

(01:03:31):
The Price of Liberty African Americans and the Making of
Liberia by Claude A. Clegg. The third h how about that?
Let's see here? What do I have? Another? America? The
Story of Liberia and the former slaves who ruled it
James Cement see us right here? That's them, you idiot?

(01:03:58):
How about this here? Hmm? An African Republic, Black and
white Virginians in the Making of Liberia Marie Tyler McGraw.
How about you read that, dumbass. Let's see here, Oh,
Donald Trump? Ever heard a good year? Guess what goodyear?

Speaker 20 (01:04:19):
Was?

Speaker 1 (01:04:19):
Built by the rubber from Liberia. Here's a book called Empire, Rubber,
Firestone Scramble for Landing Power in Liberia by Greg Mittman.
How about you read that book. Let's see how about
this Liberia America's African stepchild. This book Way too many

(01:04:42):
paid us for Donald Trump by David jeene Reese. That's
this right here. Now, some of you'm have be saying,
dang Rowland. That's a lot of books on Liberia. Man,
Why do you have all those books on Liberia? I
don't know. It could be because in two thousand twenty
two when they had their bicentennial celebration of those folks

(01:05:05):
traveling from the United States to Liberia, they actually had
a celebration. We were there covering that whole deal. We
spent ten days there. We did numerous specials on it.
Y'all can go to the black Son Network app. You
could go to our YouTube channel and see the coverage
we did. So I'm going to give you about fifteen

(01:05:25):
minutes or so of some of the coverage, and you
can actually hear us talk about the history of Liberia.
But these idiots know nothing about it except oh my god,
you speak English so well. It shows you how dumb
and clueless these people are. He wouldn't even read a
briefing paper his staff providive of him, because Donald Trump

(01:05:47):
is an absolute dumb ass. Press play.

Speaker 25 (01:05:54):
Right now?

Speaker 1 (01:05:55):
Is this massive monument to the first president of Liberia.

Speaker 19 (01:06:01):
Uh, it's JOSEPHS. Roberts. You see this statue.

Speaker 1 (01:06:05):
You see this just amazing display here, and it shows
you two things. It shows you the history, if you will,
It shows paying homage to the past. But it also
shows gives you a glimpse of what this place used
to be. So we're standing right here and above this

(01:06:27):
space here, and if you look out around here, you'll
see at this high point overlooking.

Speaker 19 (01:06:34):
All of Monroe. Will you you see this amazing edifice.

Speaker 1 (01:06:38):
You got the ocean that's to the right over here
again gorgeous views. Then of course, then we look over
here is what was called the Ducore Hotel, and so
what is essentially now ruins since then right there as well,
that this is this is all greatly impacted.

Speaker 19 (01:06:58):
That hotel was destroyed by the civil war that was
in nineteen eighty nine.

Speaker 1 (01:07:04):
Remember there was a coup in nineteen eighty civil war
nineteen eighty nine lasted fifteen years.

Speaker 19 (01:07:09):
And so I've talked about this a lot. What this
country used to be.

Speaker 1 (01:07:14):
In many ways, Liberia was the model for African nations.
It was the first republic on the Countan as.

Speaker 19 (01:07:21):
Well Gona became.

Speaker 1 (01:07:23):
So when people talk about Gona becoming the first African
nation gaining its independence in nineteen fifty seven, that's not
necessarily true in terms of that was colonized by non whites.
So Liberia was long before that. It'son republic served as
the model, if you will. If you think about where
the country was in terms of its infrastructure, in terms

(01:07:44):
of his road becaus a education, all of that was
in many ways not destroyed, but was significantly hindered by
the fifteen years of civil war. That's an entire generation.
And so now what you have is an effort to
any other place, and you talk about the Gianna States,
any other.

Speaker 19 (01:08:03):
Place, I mean any other place.

Speaker 1 (01:08:05):
This area right now where we were to be, will
be the focus of massive development, because literally because the
statue like this here, because of the location of a
hotel like this here, and so in fact.

Speaker 19 (01:08:18):
What's interesting about that sign is the Ducore Hotel.

Speaker 1 (01:08:21):
It says the future starts now, but you see the
old sign as well. And so there's so much to
think about when in terms of the effort to restore
this country, to reveal this country and to actually make
it a crown jewel again. And so it really is
amazing to be up here to see these cannon display,

(01:08:43):
these these cannons.

Speaker 19 (01:08:44):
That are that are here as well.

Speaker 1 (01:08:46):
And you know, I can only imagine what this place,
what this spot here looked like thirty years ago, what
it looked like before of the Civil war had to
be absolutely magnificant.

Speaker 19 (01:09:00):
The magnificent close.

Speaker 1 (01:09:02):
To the hotel and also this building that's right here
as well. And again as you can see overlooking all
of the city from this high vantaged point as well.
We didn't want our trip to Libraria to be all
about politics. I also wanted to learn about the history
of this country, from the founders to even the national Museum,

(01:09:28):
to get a better understanding of this country founded by
free people of African descent. Two hundred and one years ago.

(01:09:50):
I go to the museum.

Speaker 26 (01:10:05):
The work more explainery cult and just won't way of
time and the way the time takes you through Liberia
six Street, which is on the second four.

Speaker 18 (01:10:19):
The entire bottom floor represented all the different pots, O paracuters,
O music at days out a lot of masks. You know,
Liberia you have all of the different flies representative masks
and these masks all have different representations all over here
pretty much are your.

Speaker 3 (01:10:39):
Base you in the culture.

Speaker 18 (01:10:41):
It's all the entire So for example, you have we
for example, most of our huts. You know, we re
use a lot of natural materials, so this represents some
of that.

Speaker 11 (01:10:53):
You know, the showcase.

Speaker 26 (01:10:54):
You know that you do use our natural material This.

Speaker 18 (01:10:57):
Is little for Papa, but it's a flow up patch.
This thing is like zinc on top of the house.
And then you have like the you know slippers you
know pretty much when people wore back in the day
before we're you know, started wearing with you. This is
a game called that people also, you knows, like a
board game. So like this morning at Julian's to say

(01:11:21):
that's eat Seamon and where you were, say you saw
the masquat dancer.

Speaker 3 (01:11:25):
All right, so these masks.

Speaker 18 (01:11:27):
Represent some of that, and so what you saw this
morning is a representation representation of our culture, and so
visit when the don tribes. But all of these tribes
are pretty much represented by masks, and these masks and
ones that they have in the museum are all antique,
I mean old old masks.

Speaker 26 (01:11:47):
Yes, so I think.

Speaker 11 (01:11:51):
That's a drum.

Speaker 19 (01:11:53):
Stand that's all they drum drum.

Speaker 3 (01:12:00):
Yeah, that's right.

Speaker 18 (01:12:03):
Like there has a lot of heritage, a lot of history.

Speaker 3 (01:12:06):
You saw the fault the country quad. So that's what you.

Speaker 18 (01:12:11):
Were given this afternoon primarily comes from Luca until that's
like you're planned woven fabric, very very traditional woven normally
buy the people of Bluepa County. And this is the
wheel that they used to use, the tabric that you
and this is exactly what they used to be. It's
still pretty much the same.

Speaker 1 (01:12:30):
So it's similar actually similar to what I actually got
in one of London down Okay, what did the kid
they call? Okay?

Speaker 19 (01:12:37):
And actually uh did that? So yeah, that was was interesting. Yes,
so that's pretty much okay, So we'll go.

Speaker 18 (01:12:44):
A technique, yes, but I want to show you something
before to leave this is also one of the mask grades.
This is one of the one of the tribes.

Speaker 8 (01:12:53):
Somebody that thing.

Speaker 3 (01:12:54):
Yes, it's a mask.

Speaker 19 (01:12:58):
Man, you have a strong nick for that.

Speaker 18 (01:13:03):
That's actually a big word. I'll tell you that I
gility or representation of the US. This so Providence Island
in eighteen twenty two is where the three the first
three Blacks that came into Liberia school. This is where
they landaged, all right, So around Prominence Islands its top
in the Serato River. So when your reine for history,

(01:13:26):
the Staton initially went on to Sheffls and it came
onto the Providence to the Siso. So this is this
actually was done on the standing and taken in nineteenth
in right hundred, fire still came in. But this is
basically what the island looks like for them.

Speaker 19 (01:13:42):
Wow, okay, all right, we hit upstairs.

Speaker 18 (01:13:48):
Would be finitially used the fictions of some of the
months in our rainforest. Liberia comes to percent of a
couple of year rainforests, so we are still a very rain.

Speaker 6 (01:14:01):
And at this time.

Speaker 18 (01:14:04):
So now we're heading up to the second flop where
we have in the history and Heritage exhibition. So we'll
start here.

Speaker 3 (01:14:14):
This is chiefs Wakat and she was.

Speaker 18 (01:14:17):
One of the greatest warriors of Liberia and one of
the toughest cheeses of Liberia. She she formed part of
the early fire Stone film.

Speaker 3 (01:14:28):
From this film, this is big.

Speaker 18 (01:14:30):
This is from the ceremony for Firestone. So if you
were to watch this, it really goes into Firestone coming
into Liberia, but it has wow other things you know,
going on in in there as well.

Speaker 19 (01:14:41):
That's all that old film there, Yes, it is, Okay, then.

Speaker 20 (01:14:46):
We'll come of this side.

Speaker 18 (01:14:50):
We got into the colonization story. We've heard of Paul Coffee.
He came in at the first African American to try
to be patriate African three blacks onto the continent and
he died, you know, before the American colonization was formed.
So Paul Coffee sort of is the one who started

(01:15:13):
that whole concept. The American colonization took it from that point.
You also heard about Black Carried this morning. You know,
he was instrumental in bringing getting people to sign up
to come on that ship when they got to Liberia.
He at Providence Baptist Church, was the founder of the
church and has been very instrumental.

Speaker 19 (01:15:35):
This is your ancestry.

Speaker 18 (01:15:36):
That's my ancestors. That's my great I think my great
great great grandfather, Elijah Johnson, and he also was a
part of that first group that arrived and became the
first black governor.

Speaker 19 (01:15:51):
So Paul lighted Johnson Black carried.

Speaker 25 (01:15:55):
Yes.

Speaker 18 (01:15:56):
So Paul Coffee is the first African American that tried
to encourage African Americans to come back to the continent.
He came, I became on one expedition and then he
died shortly after. So in the American Colonization Society it
was formed, it really stemmed from Paul Talkin's principles. So
he was really the first African Americans really pushed that concept.

Speaker 1 (01:16:18):
So they first game here in eighteen twenty two, eighteen
twenty this is he was moving. He took thirty eight
to Free Town, Nat seer leone in eighteen sixteen.

Speaker 18 (01:16:27):
Yes, wow, so he was, I mean he was.

Speaker 1 (01:16:31):
He was really supposed to talk about those enslaved after
descent first coming here, they actually went to.

Speaker 3 (01:16:41):
Yes, yeah, yes, I didn't know that. Yeah.

Speaker 18 (01:16:44):
So the initial ship that came into africam so on
Chevrol Island, into their youth and the conditions that were
really really harsh, and so some people died and those
that survived were then transferred to upcapta further up north
onto Providence Island, and others joined them onto Providence Island.

Speaker 3 (01:17:05):
And that migration.

Speaker 18 (01:17:07):
Continues, I believe until eighteen sixty two, eighteen sixty four, somewhere.

Speaker 3 (01:17:11):
In there now when we were at the church.

Speaker 19 (01:17:13):
That's when the pastor was.

Speaker 18 (01:17:14):
That's what the first pastor of the Providence bapmist Church.
So you can't say he was the founder of the
Providence Baptist Church. He was a Baptist minister and the physician,
very intelligent man. There is a school today called Black Period.
We have the street names in his honor.

Speaker 1 (01:17:29):
Tesla is finished.

Speaker 8 (01:17:31):
Elon has failed. That is what they want you to believe.

Speaker 19 (01:17:34):
But tech actually is your ancess.

Speaker 18 (01:17:40):
That's my ancestor, direct ancestor on my mother's side. So
Elijah Johnson also is on that initial ship that came
to Liberia, and most Liberians know him as the man
that said here we are and here we should be made.
But the settlers began normally about with the hardship. So
he became the first black governor.

Speaker 19 (01:17:59):
After the the ash of the so.

Speaker 1 (01:18:04):
Deat decoration was signed in eighteen forty sevens and he
passed just a.

Speaker 3 (01:18:07):
Couple of years after.

Speaker 18 (01:18:08):
Yes, wow, okay, I think he became the governor in
nineteen eighteen, twenty seventeen eighteen.

Speaker 8 (01:18:14):
Well, his son became president.

Speaker 18 (01:18:16):
His son became president Hillary Richard Wright Jones Tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (01:18:18):
Okay, so your your family has a little history here,
you have a little bit of history.

Speaker 8 (01:18:24):
But these are just some of the you know, showing
some of.

Speaker 18 (01:18:28):
The showing slavery. Then you don't understand, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:18:33):
And these here are actual photos that were shot here
in Liberia yet.

Speaker 18 (01:18:37):
Arrival of three black ones in the confident meeting. Yes,
these are very like you see how they redressed. Yeah,
very different and less with the not with the culture.
This depicts some of you know, the African Americans back
in the day.

Speaker 3 (01:18:56):
These are the first presidents up with.

Speaker 18 (01:19:01):
Yeah, he was the first I think dark skin African
American because most of them were very very fair complex
and so he became Edward J. Boyd became the first
dark skinned.

Speaker 3 (01:19:17):
President.

Speaker 18 (01:19:19):
And like I said, true Wig Party. You saw the
Truth Party building, so they were all true Egg Party members.
Then of course Joseph Jenkins Roberts, you have you know
that m story.

Speaker 3 (01:19:34):
This is a table.

Speaker 18 (01:19:35):
This table was given the Joseph Jenkins Roberts by the
Queen of England.

Speaker 3 (01:19:40):
This is the original table.

Speaker 18 (01:19:42):
So the first president, the first Black African free Republican.

Speaker 3 (01:19:49):
So here you have the Liberia going through the war.

Speaker 18 (01:19:54):
Many people I've heard of presidents were youth winning the
Nobel Peace Prize. Them also joined president to a leave
and she was also a little prizewinner. She was one
of those who did sit in when President Taylor was
president and demanded peace for Liberian So they led the

(01:20:16):
cause to Liberia's freedom and the peace in I believe
it was.

Speaker 19 (01:20:22):
Twenty so so how many women were So was it
award to her or the group of women?

Speaker 3 (01:20:27):
It was awarded to her because she led us the.

Speaker 19 (01:20:31):
Women of Liberia mass acts. It was more than a
thousand women.

Speaker 3 (01:20:34):
Wow, Yes, the women.

Speaker 18 (01:20:35):
The women came out and she didn't see there are
some in them just basically saying peace and from understanding,
they actually took the wind to gun I believe for
peace thoughts. And the men were in the room talking
and the women came and they I think health hands
and said that the men would not believe. They pretty
much held them hostage and said you will not leave

(01:20:56):
that room until you bring Liberia to peace. And so
that's what happened in Lima.

Speaker 19 (01:21:01):
Boy that.

Speaker 1 (01:21:04):
She doesn't get talked a lot about it.

Speaker 3 (01:21:10):
Yes, she's here.

Speaker 18 (01:21:11):
I mean she's here, she's working and she's doing her things.

Speaker 19 (01:21:15):
We talk to she's here.

Speaker 3 (01:21:18):
Oh, these are atrocities of.

Speaker 18 (01:21:20):
War on the side, very traphic images of the war.

Speaker 3 (01:21:25):
Once again.

Speaker 18 (01:21:28):
A reminder of how much Liberia lost during this war.

Speaker 19 (01:21:33):
A seven heads, how many?

Speaker 1 (01:21:38):
How many?

Speaker 19 (01:21:39):
What's the estimate sumber people who died in this war?

Speaker 1 (01:21:43):
Is when I'm talking to the panel, it was a
vera Georgia's war.

Speaker 19 (01:21:49):
Those fifteen years.

Speaker 18 (01:21:51):
It went from well it went from nineteen ninety up
until two thousand and three. Is when we finally God
like you know, decided no more. And that's President tapplan
He and President Talbertlan but Taplan is known for the Loman.

Speaker 1 (01:22:15):
President. Say, that's not all of it there, Rebecca, but
I wanted people to understand that Liberia and America are
completely linked. Later we went to Providence Island where those
first folks arrived. There is there's no Liberarya about the

(01:22:39):
United States of America. That shows you the sheer ignorance
of this man who has no idea about how these
two countries are linked. Donald Trump, just it is a
a constant embarrassment to America.

Speaker 11 (01:22:57):
Absolutely, before I get into the Orange man's ignorance, what
I thought was really interesting and I really appreciate you
telling the story of what happened when the former enslaved
blacks from America showed back up and to that area,
to the continent, and the level of discord and the

(01:23:18):
destruction towards the indigenous folks. Thank you for talking about that,
because even as we think about some of the return
to Africa movements now, or folks who want to leave
the United States or even purchase second homes possibly in Ghana,
is understanding that in the United States it is based

(01:23:39):
upon white supremacy.

Speaker 3 (01:23:41):
All of us have ingested that.

Speaker 11 (01:23:42):
So when we go to other parts of the world,
especially when we're going back to the continent, we have
to be conscious enough to do the work to practice
anti racism with ourself and anti white supremacy with ourself.
So we're not taking that toxicity from America uh to
the continent, because that's not helpful either. And that even

(01:24:05):
leads to some of the diaspora awards that we see
now between Black Americans and those on the continent. But
what I really enjoyed hearing was the history of president
former President Johnson Surleif, who is a member of Alpha
Kappa Alpha Authority Incorporated and being the first woman president

(01:24:26):
on the continent.

Speaker 3 (01:24:27):
I appreciate that was highlighted.

Speaker 11 (01:24:29):
But going to the ignorance of Donald Trump, the thing
about the white supremacy ideology is so flawed and its inferior.
It's based upon it's not based upon logic, it's not
based upon actual factual information, and it's it's a morally
defunct and bankrupt ideology. But of course Donald Trump thought

(01:24:52):
that he was in the right and he thought that
for what he thinks that he is superior to those leaders.
Those leaders who showed up to the showed up to
the White House with honor and with the dignity. It's
unfortunate that those leaders and other leaders from Sub Africa,
sub Saharan Africa is showing up to the White House.

(01:25:14):
I get why they have to. I understand the current
world stage, but it's he's not fooling anyone. The entire
world is watching and they understand how ignorant and Morley depraved.
The current leader of the United States is Joe.

Speaker 1 (01:25:33):
The folks recall Americo Liberians uh and they ran that
country until Samuel Doe became president.

Speaker 4 (01:25:45):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:25:45):
And And the thing here they you had two civil
wars there and Charles Taylor, rebel leader, took over, and
then of course they finally had peace then and then
of course we saw what happened with Eli Johnson's relief
becoming president. And what's so sad is that because of
Doge's cuts to us AID that has negatively impacted countries

(01:26:09):
like Liberia. Two hundred and fifty thousand people died in
their civil war. It's extremely young country. There are some
if you guys advanced. We actually when I was there,
we visited Providence Island. We had drone shots and everything
of that was the place where those first people of

(01:26:30):
Africa assent. The founders of frankly Liberia first arrived on
that land. And the country God can audio aloud, you
don't have Unfortunately, you don't have significant manufacturing there, the

(01:26:52):
rubber plants. Unfortunately, what happened there was the good years
of the world Firestone. They basically stripped the rubber and
send it out to America to be actually produced. So unfortunately,
you have a young country, it doesn't have economic opportunity
because they have they lack manufacturing in the country. And

(01:27:13):
so we see the same thing in Ghana. Liberia was
the first country to declare in the first African nation
to declare independence. And so here's here's a country that
has been tied to America since eighteen twenty two. But
it's literally still economically poor because there because it's it's rich,

(01:27:37):
it's rich minerals, and it's it's it's being raped. And unfortunately,
when we that video we showed here you have these
African leaders coming there, We've got minerals, we've got this
Look what happened with what Trump did to Ukraine demanding
five hundred billion dollars worth of minerals. So the United
States doesn't want other countries to thrive economically. We want

(01:28:01):
to rape them of their riches and not really have
them grow and prosper. And that's what we see happening,
and that's why we're so sad to see them have
to just genuflect in about own And one of the
countries talked about, hey, maybe we can build a golf course,
and you're so smart and brilliant, and that'll be helpful.

(01:28:23):
Maybe this will help us. I mean, that's what we're
having to deal with. And that's so damn sad.

Speaker 9 (01:28:29):
It is.

Speaker 12 (01:28:30):
I mean, like you're saying, Liberia is first and the
oldest modern republic in Africa. It was a founding member
the League of Nations, founding member in the United Nations,
supported the war effort of World War Two against Germany.
Liberia has done a lot of things over the years,
but they've always been mineral rich. And to your point,

(01:28:51):
the problem now is there's no built up infrastructure. So
you know, when you really want to build up a country,
you want to build up the infrastructure so that they
can maximize possession of their own minerals.

Speaker 1 (01:29:05):
And listen, Joe, when we were there, listen, huge trash
problem because you don't have wastewater treatment facilities. Now, we
were able to visit some places along the coast in
amazing resorts and beaches. It was so serene being out there,
but then when you go inside, we traveled, we traveled,

(01:29:25):
and we were only in Monrovia. And here's the problem.
George Wea was a president at the time, well, his
his native village. Because of the roads that were just
destroyed during the civil war. It literally takes a couple
of days to travel to where he's from, and it's
treacherous and then when it rains, and so that's why

(01:29:46):
I said the video. Unfortunately that fifteen years, the fifteen
year civil war destroyed the infrastructure. The reality is, if
that civil war doesn't happen, Liberia is essentially the most
advance It's African country. The first five star what I
was describing there, the first five star hotel in Africa

(01:30:07):
was right there in Monrovia. And so they are still
trying to recover from a civil war that ended more
than twenty years ago, and they're having to come to
the White House to talk to an idiot begging for help.

Speaker 3 (01:30:23):
Yeah, and that's that's what's so tough.

Speaker 12 (01:30:25):
I mean, during the civil war, their economy with the
pot it dwindled ninety percent, right, And so they're effectively
they've got this incredible, rich history, but they'd had some
serious bumps on the road and basically have had to.

Speaker 3 (01:30:38):
Start all over. And now it's kind of like they're groveling.

Speaker 12 (01:30:41):
And Trump is sitting there with his arms folded like
a Lakers fan in the Clipper game, saying, what can
you do for me?

Speaker 9 (01:30:47):
You know?

Speaker 3 (01:30:48):
And so it's going to.

Speaker 12 (01:30:49):
Come to stripping them of minerals, not building them up,
not helping themselfs determine all the better, not recognizing the
long standing relationship Liberia and the United States have actually had.
Liberia was really one of the only non Western countries,
and you know, one of the only African countries that

(01:31:10):
was on the front as it pertains to the League
of Nations, as it pertains to the United Nations and
these types of things. It would be incredible if a
staffer actually put that together and put that in front
of him and said, here's the best way to take
advantage of what it is that they're trying to do
in a mutually beneficient way. But he's not thinking that
way because he doesn't understand history. He's not trying to

(01:31:32):
understand history. And that's what's particularly difficult because for all
of these African natures that are often mineral rich their case,
they've got magnesium, they've got manganese, etc.

Speaker 3 (01:31:44):
You know, the United States is thing.

Speaker 12 (01:31:46):
Trump's thing is, well, let's just strip a blind not
help themself determine gi him a couple pennies of dollars
on it, relatively speaking, and then we'll just go off
into the sunset and exchange for something we promised to
do but we really don't do anyway.

Speaker 3 (01:32:01):
And so it is sad that way, and hopefully this
is something that at least people.

Speaker 12 (01:32:06):
Can be more aware of, understanding this history, understanding how
important it is going to be for private investment and
other folks to help come in and build up these
countries on some level, because the United States is not
going to do it with a mutually best interest at heart.
It's going to be just here's what we do. We

(01:32:27):
take the minerals and we go do what we want
to do without contributing to infrastructure, without contributing to building,
and any country that the United States is honest about
building and rebuilding, we didn't skip infrastructure. We involve infrastructure.
We didn't skip construction. We help facilitated and helped it
happen because this is what pushes democracy forward, This is

(01:32:50):
what promotes democracy and security and prosperity.

Speaker 3 (01:32:54):
But as it pertains to these black African nations, he's
not trying to do that.

Speaker 1 (01:32:58):
Absolutely. The folks if you want to see more this ship,
we go to our YouTube channel type in Roland in Liberia.
You'll see when I spoke in Monrovia that was not playing.
They asked me just to come up and speak. We
covered the whole ceremony was Monrovia Day while we were there,
and there were so many other things that we covered.
We actually visited, like I say, several resorts, we visited

(01:33:19):
a housing development that was being built, and so you're
going to get a real sense of what it was
like for us to be there in Liberia for the
two hundred bisy and ten in celebration. That was three
years ago, February twenty twenty two, So please do that.
All right, folks, going to a quick break. We come back.
We're going to talk about got our next story talking

(01:33:39):
about rural Georgia. Be real quick. Rural George, how they're
impacted by the broadband cuts from Donald Trump. We'll be
right back rolling unfilch on the Blackstow Network.

Speaker 25 (01:33:52):
This week.

Speaker 14 (01:33:52):
On the other side of change in mass incarceration, Trump
administration is doubling down on criminalization and how it is profitable.

Speaker 15 (01:33:59):
There's something really really perverse about saying that we need
to put people in cages in order for other people to.

Speaker 6 (01:34:05):
Have jobs like that is not how our economy should
be built.

Speaker 11 (01:34:08):
Only on the other side of change. On the Blackstar Network, Hey,
it's Sean Brady, the executive producer of the newest Sherry
Shepherd talk show.

Speaker 1 (01:34:18):
You're watching Roland Martin unfiltered, Folks. Donald Trump's cuts to

(01:34:59):
rule broad band and has been devastating the impact on
his voters. Folks at Georgia, one of the places he won,
they're seeing the results of that. The Digital Equity Capacity
Program was a federal grant initiative designed to expand high
speed internet access in rule and low income communities. At
twenty two million lotted to Georgia. Boom that's now gone.

(01:35:19):
Joining us right now is William bam Sparks, chief marketing
Officer of Cultural Wireless, and so tell us William, how
are y'all dealing with that to provide internet? Because again,
this was something that was significant under President Biden, Vice
President Kamala Harris, those massive billions being allocated by Congress

(01:35:41):
for rural broadband and then was crazy to me. I
was talking to one of these idiot magapeople. They said, oh, oh,
Trump is cutting the program because too much money was allocated.
And I was like, are you serious?

Speaker 8 (01:35:57):
Yeah, yeah, that's that's ridiculous, and I'm not.

Speaker 1 (01:35:59):
Right or not. That's what now. We had Shelley Winter,
who is the Conservative radio talks over in Atlanta. He said, yeah,
they're changing the program because too much money was allocated,
and so Trump isn't getting rid of it, They're cutting
the money to make it better. I've never heard that excuse.

Speaker 27 (01:36:16):
No, he literally said I'm getting rid of it. He
said that it was a handout and he's and it
was racist. On top of that, you know, he tweeted
that on May eighth, and it's been a part of
his plan to shut it down ever since. So you know,
right now we're just trying to you know, get our
bearings together and steal ex solution. You know, every state

(01:36:39):
was awarded some funds. I think the total was two
point twenty five billion, and the state of Georgia, like
you mentioned, was supposed to receive twenty two million dollars.
And you know, those funds were going towards you know,
access to technology, internet and you know, digital skills, which
is an issue not just you know, Georgia, but it's
also an issue in the urban community.

Speaker 1 (01:37:00):
All right, So how are y'all trying to plug that gap? Well,
he's a perfect example, he froze. So, I mean, I mean,
he's a perfect example. You need uh, you know, high
speed internet. So William, I guess the feed, Your feed

(01:37:22):
proves what the problem.

Speaker 8 (01:37:23):
Is exactly exactly, just like that.

Speaker 27 (01:37:26):
And you know, one of the issues in George is
not necessarily just you know, access to the internet is
you know, the affordability and you know, I don't know
if you know a lot of people into it, but
you know how it goes.

Speaker 8 (01:37:41):
People don't have access to laptops, computers.

Speaker 27 (01:37:43):
Or you know, during COVID it was exposed a lot
of people had to go to you know, libraries to
actually study or work their remote jobs or do whatever.
So one of the main issues that this program was
helping was too late fiber to at access to these
places because it's so expensive.

Speaker 11 (01:38:02):
To do it.

Speaker 1 (01:38:04):
So what's so what are y'all doing again? You know,
the money was cut, So what now I mean is
Georgia stepping in because the people in the areas, they
still need the resources to get a high speed, reliable internet.

Speaker 27 (01:38:20):
Yeah, so what's happening now is you know, companies like
mine Culture Wireless we have to step in and continue
to execute a plan, so it's not necessarily depending on
those federal funds, but now we have to raise.

Speaker 8 (01:38:32):
So right now currently Coach Wireless is doing a raise
on we funder. We're crowdfunding.

Speaker 27 (01:38:38):
Actually shout out to my brother Isaac Hayes the third
he was our lead funder on that round.

Speaker 8 (01:38:43):
So we're raising. We're raising a million dollars.

Speaker 27 (01:38:47):
We have access to some technology that could be creative
to help solve that issue to where we don't have
to be so dependent on fiber. We can actually utilize
some of this other infrastructure with the major carriers.

Speaker 1 (01:39:00):
Questions from the panel, Rebecca.

Speaker 11 (01:39:01):
You first, thank you so much for being on the
show this evening. So my organization does a lot of
work across HBCU campuses, including many in Georgia. Broadband access
still an issue on many of the campuses. Are you
all looking to do specific work maybe at least in
Georgia and supporting HBCUs and upgrading that part of their infrastructure.

Speaker 8 (01:39:27):
Yes, one thousand percent.

Speaker 27 (01:39:28):
I actually attended Alberany State University before I went to Georgia.

Speaker 8 (01:39:31):
Tech, So I have a a deep love for HBCUs.

Speaker 27 (01:39:36):
We've already had conversations with Clark Atlanta, more House and
Spillmen about helping their infrastructure. We've actually partnered with some
other people to bring programs skilling access to jobs like
call center work, and actually been able to run Fiver themselves.

Speaker 8 (01:39:54):
So we can help the community out because I believe
it's what sixty seven percent of HBCU.

Speaker 27 (01:39:59):
Students drop because they don't have access to capital to
fund their tuition. So one of our mission and goals
as Culture Wirelens is to help bridge that gap.

Speaker 3 (01:40:10):
Joe, thank you for all of the work that you're doing.

Speaker 12 (01:40:15):
Talk a little bit about the extent to which I
mean you are a black company that's coming in to
fill in the gap. How do you feel about being
able to partner with other companies that are doing similar
things of black companies and maybe even otherwise, and tell
us about the next frontiers in terms of other things
that you're going to be seeking to do.

Speaker 3 (01:40:35):
Of course, this is a very very worthy endeavor.

Speaker 12 (01:40:37):
Of course, I think you've alluded to it a little
bit in Rebecca's question In terms of connecting with HBCUs,
there's some larger issues I think to connect with, but
talk some about not only more corporate involvement, including other
black companies and you're partnering with them and some of
the further frontiers in terms of other work you're trying
to do.

Speaker 1 (01:40:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 27 (01:40:55):
Sure, So we've already partnered with another black owned company
called two D in Clayton County. So currently we're running
fiber in clay col covering over I want to say,
five thousand homes to help bridge that gap. We also
just signed a deal with Fort Eisenhower to help out
their issue. We won the Beltline contract maybe like two

(01:41:18):
or three years ago to expand internet into other communities outside.

Speaker 8 (01:41:22):
Of the Beltline.

Speaker 27 (01:41:24):
So yeah, we have no issue with partnering with you know,
major carriers, TODE, you know, Seales Service Devices, also partnering
with other infrastructure companies like a two D, so you know,
we all have similar missions. You know, a lot of
these guys that we work with our HBCU grads. So
we want to make sure that we stay focused in

(01:41:44):
the community and provide access.

Speaker 1 (01:41:46):
All right, So you guys engaged in raising fundraisers to
walk us through through that.

Speaker 3 (01:41:51):
Yeah.

Speaker 27 (01:41:51):
So we kicked off on jentteenth, we had a magazine
launch release maited to cover with the Lindson Parker and
from there we did a celebration.

Speaker 8 (01:42:02):
We invited the.

Speaker 27 (01:42:03):
Community out and you know, so far, I think we're
at like twelve thousand dollars.

Speaker 8 (01:42:07):
You know, our goal is to reach a million dollars.

Speaker 27 (01:42:10):
We've already received one hundred thousand previously from Andrees and Hors,
which is the largest BC firm in the country. But
this was our opportunity to get the community involved, to
build you know, generational wealth.

Speaker 8 (01:42:24):
Within the black community.

Speaker 27 (01:42:25):
So right now we're giving I mean, we're allowing people
to invest ten percent of the company of equity.

Speaker 8 (01:42:31):
We'll go back to the community.

Speaker 27 (01:42:33):
So right now, if you just go to you know,
wefunder dot com for slash Cultre Wireless, you'll see the
link and you have an opportunity to invest.

Speaker 1 (01:42:41):
All right, then well, look, good luck with that, William.
We appreciate you joining us. And again people, you're seeing
the real effects of the doge Donald Trump elon Musk
cut and how it's affecting real people. And he lied
when he said he wanted to help people in Rule America.
And we always say hashtag we tried to tell you, yep,

(01:43:04):
all right, well appreciate it. Thanks a lot. All right,
thank you, folks. So we're gonna end here. First of all,
we lost power earlier. There was a tornado warning here
in Washington, d c prin Stroud's County. Massive storm came through.
That's what knocked us offline and so that's what we
lost our connection and all of that. So who we're
back online, and so we appreciate everybody for being patient

(01:43:25):
supporting us. Let me thank Joe and Rebecca as well.
We couldn't get Julia on because technical issues as well.
So again everybody's safe. We're all good. But that's what
happens when you got mother nature. Storms do those things,
and so we appreciate both of y'all being on today's show. Folks,
you want to support the work that we do, please
join our Bring the Funk Fan Club. Your support is

(01:43:46):
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(01:44:10):
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(01:44:32):
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(01:45:15):
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