Maine GOP Targets Mail-in Voting, SNAP Cuts Hit Millions, Roxanne Brown Makes Labor History

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:12):
Folks are That's Tuesday, October twenty eight, twenty twenty five,
coming up of Roland Martin Unfilter streaming live on the
Black Star Network.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
We're live of the George R.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
Brown Coavintion Center here in Houston where afro Tech is
holding their annual conference. We've broadcasted here for the next
two days talking about all sorts of thing tech as
it relates to African Americans. Now on today's show, Republicans
are always trying to instill elections in Maine.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Republicans literally want to.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
Get rid of at the voting from home. Seriously, most
people in Maine are seniors. Folks there are fighting back.
Also on today's show, why the right wing losing their
mind going crazy because of historically accurate comments made by
the dad of zoron Mam Donnie. Doctor Jerald Horn if

(01:02):
University of Houston will join us to talk about this
very issue. Also on today's show, Today, mark's day twenty
eight of the government shutdown. Another vote in the Senate.
Democrats do not give in on the issue of healthcare. Also,
historic moment is unfolding. The first African American first woman
to leave the United States steel workers, Roxanne Brown will

(01:25):
join us right here. I'm roland Mark non Filter. Also,
Jay Jones is in a tight race to the next
Attorney General of Virginia. He'll join us on the show
as well. Plus, in our marketplace segment, we feature a
black owned brand called Ema Reid redefining comfort with ultra
soft blankets and hoodies. It's a lot to talk about.
It's time to bring the funk. I'm rolling Mark on

(01:47):
Filter the Black Star Network.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Let's go.

Speaker 3 (01:51):
The best.

Speaker 4 (01:53):
Whatever right on top roll Best Believe he's going Thanks
Boston News to politics with entertainment.

Speaker 5 (02:08):
Just bookcase.

Speaker 6 (02:08):
He's stolen.

Speaker 4 (02:11):
It's roll in mon He's Pronky Spress, She's real dog.

Speaker 7 (02:27):
Question, No, he's rolling Monte.

Speaker 2 (02:47):
Folks. We are here live the George R.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
Brown Convention Center, Andy, Houston, where afro Tech is taking place.
Thousands of people have registered for the conference talking about
all things tech. Over the next couple of days, we'll
be broadcasting from here, bringing to you a number of
experts talking about where African Americans should be thinking and
moving in twenty twenty five and beyond when it comes

(03:10):
to technology, and so glad to be here in partner
with Afrotech to actually make this happen. Let's talk about
what's happening in the world of politics. Republicans continue their
dastionarly ways of trying to steal elections. In Maine, they
are trying to get rid of absentee voting. Guess what,

(03:31):
sixty one percent of the people in Maine are elderly.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
So here's what they decided to do.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
It's a question called Question one, and they put together
some twenty five changes in the very issue. It includes
requiring photo ID for everyone voting, eliminating Main's ongoing popular
absentee ballot list, banning ballot requests by phone, cutting two
key absentee ballot request days, limiting ballot drop boxes one

(04:00):
per town, and banning town from providing pre paid posts
for returning ballots again. Maine is one of the oldest
populations in the country. As I said, sixty one percent
of seniors use male voting in the last federal election,
making Question want a direct threat to their right to vote.
I was reading one story and literally said that senior

(04:20):
citizen centers said, Wow, we never knew we were going
to actually become voting agents, and that's what they're actually doing.
My pen out, doctor Massafa Santiago A Lee, former senior
of Bosman for Environmental Justice. The EPA joined us from Washington, DC.

Speaker 2 (04:35):
Doctor Larry J.

Speaker 1 (04:35):
Walker, Social Professor, University of Central Florida. From Orlando Jesse
Hamilton McCoy, Director Duke Civil Justice Clinic out of Duham,
North Carolina. Jesse, I'll start with you, Well, see this
over and over and over again. This is what Republicans do,
and they have been on record as saying it. When
they restrict the right to vote, they win. So for them,

(04:58):
they publicly said, if you put photo ID in there,
if you get rid of ballot drop boxes, if you
shave days off when it comes to early voting, if
you stop absentee ballot voting, they believe that they can win.
They also are on the record of saying, will you
expand access to the ballot then they lose.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
So it's real clear.

Speaker 1 (05:19):
So if people run around talking about, oh, this is
the right country, this is what happens when they restrict
access to the ballot box.

Speaker 6 (05:29):
And it's very interesting that this is happening in Maine.
You went through some of.

Speaker 8 (05:32):
The statistics about the percentage of the population that are elderly.
I can only assume that a certain percentage that population
is also disable. So we know that there are going
to be people whose voices will not be able to
be heard if these measures are put in place. And
it seems like this has been more of a national
campaign in the quest to, if anything, conserve or save

(05:54):
power that they've already got because they know that people
are not largely happy with the results of where government
has been good.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
Yeah, I mean, and so what you see is when
they are and what they do is they try to
muddy the waters here Mustafa and so by putting all
of these things in one amendment, they hope to confuse people.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
But folks in Maine are fighting back.

Speaker 9 (06:22):
Yeah, and it's good to see folks in Maine actually
doing that. You know, this is real. There's intentionality exactly,
and what these folks are doing it is about the
erasure of votes. It is about making sure that those
who might vote for more progressive policies, for policies that
actually embrace humanity, have that opportunity. And they also know,

(06:44):
as you stated, you know that folks have to go
out to the polls, then there's less likely to actually vote.
So they understand the game. They are utilizing every tactic
that they can because their policies don't resonate with the
majority of Americans across our country, so they have to
results to these types of sets of actions.

Speaker 1 (07:05):
And we've seen this thing before where Republicans change laws
in Maine and guess what, Larry, the voters came back
in the next cycle and change the law right back.
And so this is not what folks in Maine are
declaring for. This is Republicans saying, if we can restrict
access to the ballot, then we have a better chance

(07:26):
of winning the twenty twenty six bit terms.

Speaker 10 (07:30):
Absolutely rolling, and let's be clear, this is not about democracy.

Speaker 6 (07:33):
This is about power.

Speaker 10 (07:35):
And you're right the tricks that you're trying and Maine
in terms of using confusing language, whether it's conducing of
the elderly or new voters, it's nothing new. The's same
tactics they've used in states throughout the United States. Really,
they've used the same tactics for years. But it's great
you said, it's really great that those individ voters in
Maine and understand what's happening and they set of pushing back. Well,

(07:57):
the other point I want to make is, you know,
racism is expensive. And the point I want to make
is that there's a connection between all the tax against
the Voting Rights Act and what put on the white.

Speaker 6 (08:07):
Voters are experiencing.

Speaker 10 (08:08):
And mean, when you knew what was happened to minoritize groups,
that eventually makes filters this way down and impacts those
from white communities. So I'm glad the voters are going
to stand said ask hopefully reject this measure. And also
we have to have a larger conversation about voting, protecting
the voting rights of all people.

Speaker 1 (08:26):
Jasey, here's a perfect example.

Speaker 2 (08:29):
In Maine.

Speaker 1 (08:30):
They've had same day voter registration. That's right there, it's
been there now. In twenty eleven of the Republican controlled
legislature voted to repeal.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
That law, and the centizens said, ah, hell no.

Speaker 1 (08:43):
What they then did was they use what is called
a people's veto to restore that.

Speaker 2 (08:50):
So that's a.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
Perfect example of what happens when the people stand up.
But this is what Republicans wanted to do. They wanted
to get rid of same day voter registration.

Speaker 8 (09:01):
Absolutely, And you know, I can only imagine that with
all these things coming to a head around the same time,
they know that the people are going to be active
participants in their democracy. They know that the people want
something vastly different than what the Republican agenda is. And
so the only way that they know to silence people's votes,
or at least to create impediments that inhibit people's ability

(09:23):
to be able to vote and express that opinion is
by these games that they're doing. And we're seeing it,
especially in Maine, but not just in main We're seeing
this around the nation where districts again jerry manders so
that there are few or fewer black representatives who could
be elected to go to a space. So this is
part of a national agenda to conserve the power within

(09:44):
the Republican Party, and this.

Speaker 2 (09:49):
Is one of the reasons why Mustafa again.

Speaker 1 (09:52):
Folks who believe in the right to vote have to
understand they are going to try to use every trick available,
especially in places where they control the legislature and they
have the governor's manageon even though you have a Democrat
who's the governor. Janet meals They're in Maine, but more
this is going to happen. We need to be prepared
for this. This is why we also tell people, when

(10:13):
you do not vote, you make it easier for them
to do these things.

Speaker 9 (10:17):
Yeah, that message to everybody who sits on the couch,
everybody who says there's no real reason for me to vote,
because nothing ever changes. Things change, and that's why you
have to get engaged, because if you don't push back
against these types of things, then they continue to ingrain
these types of actions to limit the opportunities that you have.
So everybody has to get engaged. But we also have

(10:39):
to be authentic partners in this process. So no matter
if you're in Georgia, or if you're in Maine, or
if you're in Illinois or a number of locations across
the country, this is why folks have to come together
and we have to make sure that we have a
front that is stopping these types of actions, but that
we're also standing up and supporting each other. So this
is the moment for you to make it. This decision

(11:00):
if you want to have a democracy that works for everyone,
if you want to have the ability to actually go
out and cast the vote for whoever you find most valuable,
because if you don't get engaged, those opportunities are fading
away every time they do one of these actions.

Speaker 1 (11:17):
And here's the pin here, Larry. They've been very clear.
Paul Wyrick. Paul Wyrick, who died several years ago. He
was a founder of the Heritage Foundation. He was one
of the founders of the Moral Majority. He gave this
speech nineteen eighty one, four hours from here in Dallas,
where he specifically said, we don't want everyone voting.

Speaker 11 (11:41):
Listen, Nope, how many of our Christians have what I
call the goo goo syndrome good government. They want everybody
to vote.

Speaker 6 (12:00):
I want everybody to vote.

Speaker 11 (12:01):
Elections are not won by a majority of people. They
never have been from the beginning of our country, and
they are not now, as a matter of fact. On
leverage and the elections quite candidly goes up as they're voting,
populace goes down.

Speaker 6 (12:20):
Come on.

Speaker 2 (12:23):
Right there, Larry.

Speaker 1 (12:24):
He makes it clear they do not want everyone to vote,
and that has been their strategy since nineteen eighty when
the Moral Majority came to fruition nationally.

Speaker 10 (12:37):
Yeah, so you know that's that kind of the beginning
of that neo conservative movement. And you're right, Roland, and
he made it explicitly clear. And look, we know these
tactics are you know, are really republican old school tactics
in terms of limiting the pool of individuals who can vote,
limiting how they vote, and with time they vote, with
days in the week, et cetera, to ensure they can
consolidate power and essentially create the right Christian nationalist nation.

(13:02):
And so it's really important for all groups of individuals
to fight back on that. Obviously we're talking.

Speaker 6 (13:06):
About me right now, but this is once again, this is.

Speaker 10 (13:09):
An ongoing fight that we who we dealt.

Speaker 6 (13:11):
With for decades. But you see there where.

Speaker 10 (13:13):
The seeds of this began, and since then we've got
the Gingrich Revolution and now this new wave of republicanism.

Speaker 6 (13:19):
That has led us to where we are today.

Speaker 2 (13:23):
All Right, folks, gonna go to break.

Speaker 1 (13:24):
We come back lots to talk about Jay Jones running forward,
Lieutenant running for Attorney General, and Virginia will join us
right here on Roland Martin unfiltered. Also, doctor Gerald Horn
will share some historical facts that the GOP does not
like when it comes to racism, Nazis, Jim Crow and Hitler.

(13:45):
It's a lot we're gonna be breaking down. We're broadcasting
live from the George R. Brown Convention Center here in
the Houston where AFRO Tech conference is taking place.

Speaker 2 (13:53):
Will be here for the rest of the week.

Speaker 1 (13:55):
Folks, you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the
Blackstar Network.

Speaker 12 (14:06):
Josh Cole became a pastor and delegate to serve his community.
That's why Josh is fighting to lower costs for families
hurting from inflation and make sure we can all afford
quality healthcare. But Sean Steinway has embraced his magabackers, who
support Trump's mass firing of federal workers and the MAGA
plan to ban abortion with no exceptions. We deserve better

(14:31):
than Sewan Steinway.

Speaker 13 (14:33):
I'm Josh Cole, candidate for delegate, and I sponsored this ad.

Speaker 3 (14:36):
In the military, I gave orders and they went a
lot further than they do around here. If there's one
thing I've learned as a mom and foster pan of
more kids than I can count, investing.

Speaker 14 (14:48):
In the future isn't a choice.

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In Richmond, I'll fight for Stafford's fair share for our schools,
smaller class sizes, better teacher pay, and more vocational training.
Stacy Carol, and I'll fight to get our kids, peeps.

Speaker 14 (15:05):
Nicole Cole knows the cornerstone of a successful life starts here.
Virginia Public Schools gave Nicole an excellent education. They helped
her become a small business owner, family, financial planner, mother,
and community leader. Now, after four years on the Spotsylvania
School Board, Nicole is running for delegate to meet the
needs of all students. As our delegate, Nicole will fully

(15:27):
fund our schools, raise teacher salaries, and help graduating students
stay in our communities. Nicole Cole for Delegate, for us,
for our Future.

Speaker 6 (15:36):
Hello, I'm Paula J.

Speaker 15 (15:37):
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I play Oscar on Proud Family, Louder and Press.

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I am jell Marie Payton, voice of Sugar Mama on
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And I'm with Roland Martin on Future.

Speaker 1 (16:04):
All right, folks, we are back. We are live. Yeah,
We're live, bro, we live, We're live. Here Roland Martin
unfiltered for the Georgia Brown Convention Center. Here for the
Afrotech Conference, Day twenty eight of the Donald Trump MAGA
federal government shut down thirteenth time the United States Senate

(16:24):
did not move forward with approving a continuing resolution to
keep the government funded. What we're seeing democratic leaders from
twenty five states in d C. They're suing the Trump
administration to stop food stamp benefits from being cut off.
The USDA is announced it will not tap into a
six billion dollar backup fund, putting SNAP benefits for forty

(16:47):
two million people at risk for the first time in
sixty years. The lawsuit, led by attorneys general from Massachusetts, California, Arizona,
and Minnesota, argues the USDA is legally required to keep
SNAP running and calls the plan suspension arbitrary and capricious.
In California, about five point five million people are oh

(17:10):
A cal Fresh recipients. They could lose funding for their
EBT cards in November. Governor Gavin Newsom says the lawsuit
aims the force of Trump administration to do right by
the American people.

Speaker 17 (17:24):
These guys need to stop the bs in Washington, DC.
So they're sitting there in their prayer breakfasts. Maybe they
got an edited version of Donald Trump's Bible and they
edited all of that out. I mean, enough of this
cruelty is the policy. That's what This is about it's
intentional cruelty, intentionally creating anxiety for millions and millions of people,

(17:48):
five point five million here in our home state. So again,
our state of mind is pretty clear. We're going to
win this lawsuit.

Speaker 1 (18:00):
All right, folks, let's go back to our pane almost
Appo Santiago, our lead also joined us by Larry Walker,
Jesse Hamilton McCoy. Listen, Mustafa, we see what's going on here. Republicans.
They don't give a damn about poor people. They don't
give a damn about poor white people, poor white conservative people.

(18:20):
This is about appealing to their base, pure and simple.

Speaker 2 (18:23):
That's what their strategy is.

Speaker 9 (18:26):
That might be, but their strategy is, but it is
a flawed strategy. You know, we've got what is it,
forty million folks who benefit from being able to have SNAP.
We know that about two thirds of those are children.
So you're sending a very clear message about, you know,
the soul of your party really, because it is souless
if you're allowing children to actually starve, if you're allowing

(18:50):
the most vulnerable to not have the nutrition that they
need to be able to just function. So I hope
folks will actually unpack this because whether you're from Apple Lee,
or you're from the bread basket in our country, or
you come from these urban centers, everyone will be impacted.
And that's why you have to raise your voice. You
have to let folks know what your set of expectations are.

(19:12):
I've never met, in the thousands and thousands of places
that I've been across this country, anyone who says that
children should starve, anyone that says that in the richest
nation on the planet, that folks should not have the
food that they need to be able to survive. So
that's literally what we're dealing with. We don't have to
wrap it up in pretty bows and that type of thing.

(19:33):
We are making a decision between who lives and who
dies in this country.

Speaker 1 (19:39):
And that's why Larry these people they are not pro life.

Speaker 2 (19:42):
They don't care folks starve.

Speaker 1 (19:44):
They don't care if they don't die, and that's just
simply their state of mind.

Speaker 2 (19:49):
They do not care.

Speaker 10 (19:52):
Yeah, they're more concerned about the top one percent. We
saw that from the text they got not too long ago.
And Roland, you know, I'm glad we're talking about this
on your show, and it's getting more oppressed haven't. I
don't think Americans have any idea how devastating this will
become on November first, in terms of the millions of individuals,
like we talk about predominantly children who eat because of

(20:12):
Snap and their various other programs and listen rolland we
escaped twenty billion dollars to Argentina, and we could spend
far less in terms of making sure, you know, Snap benefits,
people get their Snap benefits and they can feed their children.
But this is really unconscionable. And this is certainly not
consistent with the kind of values we talk about you
read about.

Speaker 6 (20:30):
In the Bible and many of us setting pews on
on Sunday.

Speaker 10 (20:32):
So the idea that doing this is, you know, is legal,
it makes no sense considering we know USDA posted on
their own, you know, on their powers and procedures that
they were supposed to responsible for continuing the fund Snap
benefits even during the shutdown.

Speaker 1 (20:50):
Uh, Jesse, I want to show you this tweet, but
is God? Mike Davis. Mike Davis is a former Chief
Counsel for Nominations for the Senate Judiciary. Commit He was
a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorset he
is a big time right winger. This is a tweet
that he sent out a few days ago. He said,

(21:11):
we should only help people who can't help themselves. It's
outrageous that forty million people get food stamps. Get off
your fat, ghetto asses, get a job, stop reproducing, change
your shitty culture. Stop giving food stamps to immigrants. We
don't want you here if you won't work. That right there,

(21:32):
that sums up today's Republican party as to how they
feel about people who are on food stamps.

Speaker 8 (21:41):
And I think another thing that he is trying to
do is he is trying to paint the narrative of
who is actually receiving these benefits, and that narrative isn't
consistent with what the data has shown. So we know
that there are places where people are receiving benefits, but
it may not necessarily be called snap, just like it
may not necessarily be called medicaid.

Speaker 16 (22:01):
Right.

Speaker 8 (22:01):
We know that there are places where people who do
not look like you or I are receiving these benefits.
But yet his tweet gives off this connotation that somehow
it's the other that is taking from them, and it's
black people. It is people who are immigrants. It is
people who are Latino it's taking away. And I think

(22:22):
the problem that we're getting ready to see in mads
scale is that folks don't even know that they're going
to be impacted by this, because they feel like they're
not the complexion for which this is going to devastate.
I also believe that in many regards, a lot of
people voted for this right, this is what they voted for.
They wanted to have a Trump administration two point zero.

(22:43):
He was clear about his stance with you know, Project
twenty twenty five. You know, they tried to distance himself.
We knew what it was. This is clear, and so
this was to be expected. I do find it disturbing
that the Food and Drug Administration is deciding to hold
out money that it already has in a deserve to
not make sure that the program is funded. But again,

(23:04):
I think the connotations based on exactly what he said
in that tweet, determine who they think are going to
suffer from these decisions.

Speaker 1 (23:13):
Yeah, I mean, I mean, this is what we're dealing with,
and people just simply have to understand.

Speaker 2 (23:19):
Cruelty is the point.

Speaker 1 (23:20):
As Adam Surr wrote, regardless, Supreme court in these back
and folds, cruelty is the point. That is exactly what
their strategy is. They do not care and that's what
they think. And you're right, there are more people who
on food stamps who are white than black Latino. But
they know what media has done. It is created the

(23:40):
perception over the last few decades of Mustafa that when
it comes to food stamps is black people. When they
say fat ghetto assis, they're not talking about that obese
white woman in rural America.

Speaker 2 (23:54):
They are talking about black people.

Speaker 9 (23:57):
Well, he needs to actually come with me on a
tour and i will take you throughout Appalachia. I'll take
you through western Pennsylvania and West Virginia and southern Ohio
and eastern or western Tennessee and Kentucky, and you will
actually see the folks who are being the recipients of
these benefits because we don't want them to starve either.

(24:20):
We also got to understand in this moment, you know
that this is also the working poor. So they make
it sound like folks are sitting on their behinds. No,
your whack policies have actually created a dynamic where people
can't make enough money to survive. They can't make enough
money to actually put food on the table for their families,
so they have to have the federal government, and rightly so,

(24:42):
because their tech, their tech dollars are there to be
able to help the supplement. What's going on the other
part that he doesn't talk about is the fact that
people are about to lose their health insurance or it's
about to become so expensive that if your body is
worn down because you don't have the nutrition that you
need now, you can't even go to see a doctor
for them to be able to help you along your

(25:02):
journey as well. So their policies have compounding effects. Their
policies are whack. Their policies are not helpful on the
economic side the equation, because we understand with snap benefits,
there's also an economic component. There are studies that have
shown that it helps for every dollar you invest, you
get a dollar twenty five or a dollar fifty back
into to the economic drivers in our country. So we

(25:25):
need to just be very clear and don't allow these
folks to continue this misinformation and disinformation and false narratives
about who is the recipient or how those benefits actually
help our country to be better.

Speaker 1 (25:39):
Absolutely, and so we'll be talking more about this here again.
We are approaching that critical day November first, where you're
going to see a lot of this stuff change. We'll
see what happens, all right, folks, got to go to
break we come back. A woman has never lived the
United States steel workers. That's gonna change come March. We'll
talk to her next right here on roland Mark ufild

(26:00):
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all right, folks. For the first time in the history,
come March, a woman will lead the United States steel Workers.
Roxanne Brown will be sworn in as president. She currently
serves as the union's international vice president at large North America.

(28:39):
She is a long advocated for every employee, and of
course the USW represents some eight hundred and fifty thousand
workers across America. Roxanne joins us right now. Glad to
have you here on the show. Roxanne, congratulations.

Speaker 5 (28:53):
Thank you so much, Rolman. I really appreciate it, and
thank you so much for having me on tonight.

Speaker 1 (28:59):
So folks who don't understand how critical this is, I mean,
let's just be honest. When you look at the history
of steel workers, it's always been presented as these big,
burly men, you know, working dirt.

Speaker 2 (29:13):
All over their face with a lunch pail.

Speaker 1 (29:16):
So this idea that women are also steel workers could
be a surprise to some people.

Speaker 5 (29:23):
That's right.

Speaker 18 (29:23):
It's a new day at the steel Workers Union, and
I think it's really important, actually to the point that
you just made Roland, that we actually break down that
narrative of what.

Speaker 5 (29:34):
A steel worker looks like I'm a steel worker.

Speaker 18 (29:38):
I'm a black woman immigrant from Jamaica who is a
proud member and leader of the steel Workers Union.

Speaker 5 (29:44):
And it's not just me.

Speaker 18 (29:46):
There are tens of thousands of steel workers who look
like me and thousands that share my background. So I'm
just proud of our union, proud that we're stepping into
this moment where we break down the stereotype of what
a steel worker looks like and where a steel worker works.

Speaker 1 (30:06):
How long have you been a steel worker and how
in the heck did that happen? What did you say
to say, this is what I want to do.

Speaker 18 (30:13):
You know, I'm actually I'm going to age myself. I'm,
you know, about almost thirty years with the steel Workers.
Next year will be my twenty seventh year. And I
started when I was just a babe. I was nineteen
years old, and I started in our Washington DC office,
our Legislative and Policy office.

Speaker 5 (30:31):
In Washington, d C.

Speaker 18 (30:34):
And I, you know, I come from a labor family.
My mom was in the nurses Union. My aunt was
a member of AFS me CSA in New York, and
so I come from a proud labor family. But I
was privileged to be introduced to the steel workers at
just a young age of nineteen. And the rest, as
they say, is history.

Speaker 1 (30:59):
One of the things that we are seeing obviously, we
have seen the impact of foreign steel in this country.

Speaker 2 (31:08):
That was a huge merger.

Speaker 1 (31:10):
That that that was very contentious very recently as well.
And so give folk an understanding of this reality of
how and because people keep forgetting you think people can
yell America first all they want to, and we're operated
in a global economy. Uh and and we're dealing now
with serious competition. So talk about what this that impact

(31:34):
has on us steel workers when you're talking about folks saying, hey,
I can get cheaper steel elsewhere.

Speaker 5 (31:41):
All right, I appreciate that question. Roland.

Speaker 18 (31:44):
You know, every every industrialized nation, every powerful nation, needs
to have a strong, strong domestic industry, period but certainly
a strong domestic steel industry. And our union has fought
for over four decades to ensure the strength of domestic
steel industry. We are not unopposed to competition, you know,

(32:08):
we need to have competition at the global level, but
we like fair rules in the global marketplace. And so
what we have fought for over four decades is against
unfair trade. We've and our members have dealt with unfair
imports that have devastated, quite literally the domestic steel industry

(32:30):
and devastated communities all across this country. So our union
has leaned into policies, trade policies that level the playing field,
that allow steel companies to compete in the global marketplace,
that allow our members to have their jobs now and
into the future, and that allows there to actually be

(32:52):
a domestic steel industry, not just in twenty twenty five,
but well into the future. These are good, family sustaining
jobs that have quite literally raised families for you know,
almost one hundred years in this country, and we want
them to continue into the future. You reference Nippon, you know,
I think that's what you're referring to, is the Nippon
US Steel, you know, the Nippon's acquisition of US Steel.

(33:17):
Our Union was not supportive of that acquisition because Nippon,
unfortunately is one of those companies that has engaged in
unfair trade when it comes to their steel products coming into.

Speaker 5 (33:29):
The United States. That has led to impacts on US jobs.

Speaker 18 (33:34):
So we want we want companies that are committed to
US jobs, that are committed to US industry that are
committed to having strong industry going into the future, and
we did not believe that Nipon shared those values. Now
they've acquired US Steel. Now we go into bargaining with
US Steel and Nippon next year. They've made a discrete

(33:57):
set of commitments eleven billion dollars UH into US Steel facilities,
and we're gonna.

Speaker 5 (34:02):
Hold their feet to the fire. That is our charge
going into next year.

Speaker 1 (34:10):
Labor's also at a very interesting point in that you
just had the most pro labor administration. Uh, I dare
say since FDR and what you also are dealing with, Uh,
you're dealing with professional I'm a deal with that issue
before I talk about the next issue, the African American

(34:30):
influence with these with with with these unions.

Speaker 2 (34:32):
But how do you also explain to people how do
you navigate that?

Speaker 1 (34:36):
Because you have Donald Trump on the one hand, who
loves talking about he cares for workers, and a lot
of steel workers who were standing behind him at rallies.
There were a lot of teamsters who were standing behind
him at rallies. But when it came to saving the
pensions of union workers, that was Democrats Vice President Kamala
Harris broke the tie. So how do you make the point,

(34:58):
and let's be real clear, you got to put race
on the table. How do you make the point to
a lot of your white steel workers that hey, you're
actually in many cases voting against your own economic interests
when you're voting for anti union people.

Speaker 18 (35:17):
So let me tell you what we are doing of
the steel workers and what we're going to really lean
into even more is focusing on the policy and not
the politics. What we what we like to say is
we don't care if you have an R A D
A element OP.

Speaker 5 (35:32):
After your name. As an elected.

Speaker 18 (35:34):
We will support you if you support us. You raise
one of our most important issues, retirement security. You are
absolutely right that was done under the Biden administration and
Vice President Harris did past the tie breaking vote. Retirement
security and healthcare are the number one in two issues
that working people care about in this country. We're educating

(35:57):
our members to make sure that they understand when it
comes to the issues that they most care about health care,
retirement security, collective bargaining, safety, and health that they have
to stand with those who stand with us, and making
them pay attention. But what is happening right now I can.
I can spend this entire call with you right now, Roland,

(36:18):
and go through OSHA and the fifty billion dollars that's
been cut at OSHA and the ten thousand less inspections
that that means for facilities all across this country. We
could talk about the Chemical Safety Board and the fact
that that means, you know, zering out the CSB means
that our members who have a fatality at work or
an explosion at work will not know if they can

(36:40):
go back into that workplace in a safe way. These
are the this is the information that we're giving to
our members right now, and we're showing them what is
happening real time, and we're being very clear about who
stands with us on these issues, under what circumstances these
cuts are happening, and how we need to fight going forward.

Speaker 5 (37:00):
You're absolutely right. We have members who support president.

Speaker 18 (37:07):
And some of them will remain in that place, but
we are leeting in on the education that our members
need to know in terms of the issues that matter
most to them, so that they know that they stand
with those who stand with us.

Speaker 1 (37:20):
We also add an inflection point when it comes to
black leadership of unions for a long time. You get
a lot of black workers didn't have black leadership. Lee Saunders,
the president of American Federation of State County Mincial Employees.
You've got April Varet Sciu, Becky Pringo, Natural Education Association,

(37:41):
Claude Cummings CWA. You've got the leader of the American
Federation of Government Employees, and a number of other unions.

Speaker 2 (37:48):
You coming in.

Speaker 1 (37:49):
March, so speak to how African Americans have fought diligently
tooth and nail to rise to lead these unions and
in manicate as union is that will locking black folks
out of leadership for a long time.

Speaker 18 (38:05):
Yeah, you know, I appreciate that, And hats off to
all those leaders that you just mentioned. They're my friends
and my colleagues, and I am so proud to serve
in this labor movement with them.

Speaker 5 (38:18):
You know. It's it's it is a new.

Speaker 18 (38:20):
Day, as I mentioned at the beginning of this conversation,
where working people are just throwing down and working people
want to be represented, represented by those people who are.

Speaker 5 (38:32):
Going to have their backs.

Speaker 18 (38:34):
Every single one of those leaders that you raised have
their members' backs. They have the backs of working people.
Our members know that I have their backs as well.
That is all that people want. People just want to
know that you're going to fight for them, that you're
going to show up for them when it most matters.

Speaker 5 (38:52):
Rolling.

Speaker 18 (38:52):
Going back to the pensions that you mentioned, with the
Butch Lewis Act, we fought so hard to make sure
that people who earn their pensions will retire in dignity.
That wasn't just the leaders that you mentioned that fought,
it was the entire labor movement. And that's what working
people want. They want leaders who have their backs. And

(39:12):
so I think you know, in today's labor movement, you know,
we're breaking down those color lines because it's about leadership.
It's not about the color you are, it's not about
the race that you are. It's about whether or not
when workers need you to stand up for them the most,
that you will and that you will show up. And

(39:33):
so my colleagues that you mentioned, that's what they do,
That's what I do every single day that we have
the privilege to do this every single day on behalf
of our respective memberships.

Speaker 1 (39:44):
Questions from my panel, Let's first start with doctor Larry Walker. Larry,
what's your question for Roxanne Brown?

Speaker 10 (39:51):
Yeah, President Brown, congratulations, And so my question kind of
connects to something Roland said. You know, we increasingly live
in a diverse society, and I'm wondering how you're in
terms of recruiting new members to still workers while also
dealing with the political rhetoric relating to DEI policies.

Speaker 6 (40:10):
Right, you have that balance of.

Speaker 10 (40:11):
A different population and then but counter politically with some
of these policies, how are you balancing that?

Speaker 18 (40:19):
So I will tell you and maybe just a quick
overview of who our union is.

Speaker 5 (40:25):
We like to say that we're cradle to grave, right.

Speaker 18 (40:28):
We represent fifty thousand members in healthcare, and the healthcare
sectors you all know, is pretty diverse in terms of race,
but it's also pretty you know, heavy on women. So
that's a sector that is that is pretty diverse in
our union. And we go to grave, which is one

(40:48):
of the grave diggers and casket makers and everything in between.
We have membership that literally touches every sector of the economy,
and that.

Speaker 5 (40:59):
Speaks to the divers diversity of our union.

Speaker 18 (41:02):
At our core, we're a manufacturing union, and so we
have kind of the traditional, you know, white guy membership,
but we touch so many different sectors that represent women
and people of color, and so for us, that really
helps us as a union to really push against a

(41:23):
lot of the anti DEI rhetoric and narrative that is
unfortunately surrounding us right now, because it's again about the work.
It's about equity, and it's about making sure that everyone
starts from the same fair level of fairness. Everyone wants

(41:43):
to earn a good living. Everyone wants to be able
to retire in dignity. Everyone wants to be able to
go to the doctor when they're sick, take their kids
to the doctor when they're sick. That is the basic
place that we start from as a labor union, and
I think our diversity helps us to be able to
lean into those issues and really shirk all of a
DEI narrative that that is surrounding us right now.

Speaker 6 (42:06):
Mustafa, it was good to see you, congratulations.

Speaker 9 (42:12):
I'm third generation union and actually some of my family
is in your union and in some of the others
that we've been in over the decades.

Speaker 6 (42:20):
I'm curious we had.

Speaker 9 (42:22):
The bipartisan infrastructure build I actually helped work on that.
There were lots of opportunities for union workers that were
tied to that, do you still see a pathway forward
and being able to do some of the things that
that helped you know that that sort of said we
would be able to move forward on over the next decade.

Speaker 5 (42:41):
Really, and it's great to see you Mustafa.

Speaker 18 (42:43):
I really appreciate the work that you did in your
previous role.

Speaker 5 (42:48):
Along these policy pieces too, you know, the.

Speaker 18 (42:51):
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Chips and Science Acts, the Inflation
Reduction Act, those were all really once in a generation
type of policies, and as a policy person, you know,
I think any policy person that you talk to will
say that just one of those bills was a once
in a generation piece of policy, and the fact that

(43:13):
we got three was just incredible and unheard of and
spoke to the possibilities of the US economy and the
possibilities for working people and job creation and job retention.
So much of it has been rolled back, particularly the
Inflation Reduction Act, and it's impossible to calculate what those

(43:38):
losses and those rollbacks will mean not just for America's
workers and American industry, but communities all across this country.
It is impossible to calculate we get can we regain
some of what's been lost. I hope so during this period.

(44:00):
I hope so during this period. But I think the collective,
we who are focused on a future, a future that
we all want, that we're all fighting for, have to
be prepared for how we are going to hit the
ground running on the other side of this period, and
what plan we have not just to regain what we lost,

(44:20):
but to make better, to build on top of what
we had for a fleeting moment with these three pieces
of policies, how we are going to make an economy
that's even better than those bills would would have served
for this economy.

Speaker 5 (44:34):
So we have a lot of work ahead of us.

Speaker 18 (44:37):
We'll see what we can get during this period, and
we'll work really hard to drive but unfortunately, I think
the losses will be impossible to calculate.

Speaker 8 (44:50):
Jesse President Brown, congratulations again on the new post. This
is amazing to me just to see someone looks me
in a leadership position there. I am curious about, given
all the things we've talked about, with political issues, with
economic challenges for this upcoming year, what do you see

(45:12):
as the biggest challenge for the United steel Workers Union.

Speaker 18 (45:17):
Well, next year is a major bargaining year for US
across a lot of our major industries, from oil to aluminum,
to tires, to pulp and paper to steal towards the
late summer into the fall. So the financial uncertainty that

(45:37):
has been created by this administration is going to make
those all those bargains very difficult, I think, because you
know today is October, you know, twenty eighth, twenty twenty five.
We have no idea what the economy is going to
look like in January when we start bargaining with the
oil industry, much less you know, late summer when we

(46:01):
start bargaining with the steel industry.

Speaker 5 (46:03):
So the biggest.

Speaker 18 (46:04):
Challenge for US is economic uncertainty as we go into
bargaining with these with these major industries going into next year.

Speaker 5 (46:13):
That's our biggest challenge.

Speaker 1 (46:18):
All right, then, well again, Rock sand congratulations March you'll
be installed as president.

Speaker 2 (46:25):
How long is the term?

Speaker 5 (46:27):
Four years?

Speaker 2 (46:30):
All right?

Speaker 1 (46:30):
Then, well, I look forward to meeting you in person,
and certainly congratulations on this historic achievement.

Speaker 18 (46:37):
Thank you so much, and thanks so much for having
me on tonight.

Speaker 1 (46:42):
All right, thanks a lot. Oh wait, hold up, hold up,
I did one more thing. I'm sorry, I forgot I
saw this yesterday. I saw this yesterday, and you just
want to see brain dead. So Trump's Department of Labor,
I don't know if you saw this. They put these
graphics out on social media depicting the American worker control room.

Speaker 2 (47:04):
Look at this to see this.

Speaker 5 (47:09):
I see it is.

Speaker 1 (47:10):
This is literally on the Twitter feed of the United
States Department of Labor using these nineteen forties, nineteen fifties
images of all white people depicting the American worker.

Speaker 18 (47:25):
That is the America that they want, and that is
the America.

Speaker 5 (47:29):
That they're fighting so hard to regain.

Speaker 18 (47:32):
That is not the America that any of us described
to That is not the America that exists, and that
is not the America that we are going to accept.

Speaker 19 (47:42):
I will tell you before I check it off of here,
our union is going to fight so hard to make
sure that the America that we all know that we deserve,
the America that my eight year old daughter deserves, is
the America that we are going to win back.

Speaker 5 (47:58):
What they're doing right now is curating.

Speaker 18 (48:01):
An America that they have longed for, but they are
not facing the America that is day and twenty twenty five,
and it is America that looks like me, a black
immigrant woman. This is America today. So that's what we're
fighting for. Roland, I didn't see that. Thanks for he

(48:24):
got me all, you got me all hyped up.

Speaker 1 (48:30):
Well, well I saw I saw it. I pulled here
and I was like, wait, man, hold on, they bring
it up. But what I because Howard Bryant commented that
on a tweet, and when I saw it, I sat
there and said, you've got to be kidding me. But
that's really what they're afraid of because by twenty thirty nine,
the majority of the workers in America are going to
be black and people of color, and twenty forty three

(48:51):
that's gonna be the total population.

Speaker 2 (48:53):
So we're not going back.

Speaker 1 (48:55):
I keep saying, White America can't have enough kids to
reverse these trends. This is where we're going and this
is what's driving them crazy that we are.

Speaker 2 (49:05):
That's why I wrote my book called White Fear, How.

Speaker 1 (49:07):
The browning of America's making white folks lose their minds
and that's what's going on.

Speaker 18 (49:12):
Well, that is not the America we're fighting for, and
I just I look forward to the work together.

Speaker 5 (49:17):
Roland.

Speaker 18 (49:17):
You've been in this for, you know, for a while now,
and you're someone that I look up to and I
look forward to the fight together to reclaim the America
that we all know that we deserve.

Speaker 1 (49:29):
Well, I'm gonna tell you the same thing that Claude
Cummings knows and Becky and April and Lee. Anytime you
want to come on the show, just let us know.
We don't have meetings, we don't cast votes. I own it.
So if I say let's go, let's go. And so
do understand. Let your staff know. We don't go through
all that stuff, like call it three weeks ahead of time.

(49:50):
If something pops up and you're like, hey, can.

Speaker 2 (49:52):
I come on?

Speaker 1 (49:53):
That's easy. That's an easy call for me. So you
certainly welcome back anytime.

Speaker 5 (49:57):
Thank you. I'll hold you to it.

Speaker 2 (50:01):
I appreciate it.

Speaker 18 (50:01):
Thanks a lot, Thanks, take care, oy bye all right.

Speaker 1 (50:05):
Thank you, bye bye, folks, and we come back in
battled Virginia. Attorney General candidate Jay Jones will join us.
He is in a tight race to become the next
Attorney general, and so we're going to talk about these
texta messity the Republicans are slamming him about, but also
how he is going to fight for voting rights if
he becomes the next Attorney General for Virginia.

Speaker 2 (50:27):
That's up next.

Speaker 1 (50:28):
Right here, Roland Martin Unfiltered, broadcasting live from George R.
Brown Convention Center here in my native town of Houston.

Speaker 2 (50:36):
We're here for Afro Tech. Folks are all over this place.

Speaker 1 (50:40):
We're going to be broadcasting tomorrow, caring several sessions live.

Speaker 2 (50:43):
From the stage, also doing a lot of.

Speaker 1 (50:46):
Interviews with different execs and inventors. We're here at Afro Tech,
So we look forward to broadcasting here for the next
couple of days. Again, you're watching Roland Martin unfilcher right
here on the Blackstar Network.

Speaker 2 (50:57):
Back in a moment.

Speaker 20 (51:02):
This week on the other side of change book fans,
anti intellectualism and Trump's continued war on wisdom.

Speaker 21 (51:08):
This is a coordinated backlash to progress. At the end
of the day, conservatives realized that they couldn't win a
debate on facts instead of using our language against us. Right,
remember when we were all woke and the woke movement
and all that kind of stuff.

Speaker 6 (51:22):
Now everything is anti woke. Right when we were talking
about including diversity, equity, inclusion.

Speaker 21 (51:26):
And higher education, now it's antid All this Our efforts
to suppress the truth, because truth empowers people.

Speaker 20 (51:33):
You're watching the other side of change only on the
Blackster network.

Speaker 22 (51:37):
If in this country right now, do you have people
get up in the morning and the only thing they
can think about is how many people they can hurt
and they got the power.

Speaker 6 (51:47):
That's the time for morning, for better or worse.

Speaker 23 (51:50):
What makes America special, it's that legal system that's supposed
to protect minorities from the tyranny of the majority.

Speaker 24 (51:58):
We are at a point of a moral emergency.

Speaker 2 (52:03):
We must raise a voice of outrage.

Speaker 25 (52:06):
We must raise a voice of compassion, and.

Speaker 2 (52:09):
We must raise a voice of unity.

Speaker 16 (52:13):
We are not in a crisis of party versus party.

Speaker 22 (52:17):
We are in a crisis of civilization, a humans rights crisis,
and a crisis of democracy itself.

Speaker 16 (52:24):
And guess what, You've been chosen to make sure.

Speaker 22 (52:29):
That those that would destroy, those that would hate, don't
have the final say and they don't ultimately win.

Speaker 26 (52:37):
Next on the Black Table with me, Craig Calker. Now,
the America we live in today is not what the
founders intended or what they outlined in the Declaration of.

Speaker 6 (52:45):
Independence and even the Constitution. Professor and author Kermit Roosevelt
will join us to talk about his book The Nation
That Never Was, How.

Speaker 26 (52:55):
History was misinterpreted the intended realities of America's beginnings and
missed a much better story in the process.

Speaker 10 (53:01):
So, if you have to pick some group to marginalize,
I think it should be the people who are against
the quality.

Speaker 26 (53:06):
That's next on the black table, right here on the
Black Star Network.

Speaker 6 (53:13):
Garl Payne pretending to be Roylin Martin.

Speaker 1 (53:15):
You ain't got to work black and gold every damn place, Okay, Ooh,
I'm an out for day.

Speaker 2 (53:20):
All right, you're fifty eight years old.

Speaker 6 (53:21):
It's over when you.

Speaker 5 (53:22):
Are now watching.

Speaker 27 (53:23):
Roland Martin unfiltered, uncut, unplugged, and undamn Believabley.

Speaker 2 (53:43):
All right, folks.

Speaker 1 (53:44):
We're live here in Houston, the Georgia ar Browchibitch Center,
the Afrotech Conference. Glad to have all of you here, folks.
Election day is one week away. Critical race is happening
across the country, including a number of statewide racists in Vergin. Yeah,
one of the hotly contested races is the attorney General's race,

(54:06):
pitting Jay Jones against Jason Maares. This, of course, is
a very tight race and has only gotten tighter as
a result of some text messages that were released, Republicans
are running commercials left and right, and to be perfectly honest,
a lot of Democrats are trying to run away from j.

Speaker 2 (54:25):
Jones folks. But the others who are.

Speaker 1 (54:28):
Standing with him, like Congressman Bobby Scott, sin Luise Lucas,
my house Speaker Don Scott joining us right now is
J Jones. Jake, glad to have you back on the show.
Last time you were here, we had some breaking news.
Unfortunately our interview got cut short. I have to ask
you those texts completely upended this race, and you're being

(54:49):
attacked left and right.

Speaker 2 (54:50):
You've apologized for that.

Speaker 1 (54:54):
Just take us through how you've had to battle this
over the last three weeks. You had a lead luckily
other Democrats did of a cording to polls, that's evaporated.
Just give a sense of your thoughts and where this
race is right now as a result of this controversy.

Speaker 28 (55:09):
Well, look, Roland, it's great to be back with you,
but let me first just say this campaign has always
been bigger than me. It's about whether or not we're
going to protect Virginians or let Donald Trump and large
corporations continue to raise prices and control our commonwealth. And
from the start of this campaign, we've been talking about
the rising cost of living here in this commonwealth and
federal overreach that the Trump administration continues to do, which

(55:33):
is a driving factor for voters. And so these issues
are a direct result of Jason Mire is failing to
stand up to Donald Trump's extremism. And We're going to
use these next seven days to make sure voters know
that this race was always going to be close. He
is an incumbent, he's well funded, the Magga ecosystem is
behind him. But we have been fighting every single day
to make sure that Virginians know the choice in front

(55:53):
of them, that the stakes could not be clearer. And
that's what you're seeing in these final days. People are
checking in and they know that they don't want Donald
Trump running their lives anymore and putting us in a
bad spot in as Attorney General.

Speaker 6 (56:04):
I can't wait to see.

Speaker 28 (56:05):
Donald Trump in court because I'm ready to hold him accountable.

Speaker 1 (56:10):
There is going to be a huge rally in Virginia
featuring a former president, Barack Obama. Are you speaking at
that rally? Are you going to be there?

Speaker 28 (56:19):
Look, I'm excited that the President is coming and we
are all hands on deck here in Virginia. That's why
everybody is coming down to make sure that they know
that we have an election. We've had governors here, you've
had senators here. I'm excited to welcome President Obama to
Virginia because he knows the stakes and like I just said,
they couldn't be higher, and they couldn't be more clear,

(56:40):
and the choices are very stark. And so we have
an opportunity not only to charge a new course here
in Virginia, but to elect the first black Attorney General
in the four hundred and six year history of this commonwealth.

Speaker 2 (56:53):
You have several things going on.

Speaker 1 (56:55):
Obviously, you've got critical racis happening around the country, lots
of television commercials, lots of radio commercial, lots of digital ads.
But the reality is votes are won with boots on
the ground. What does your ground game look like? How
many folks do you have out there? What are the
critical places that you need to turn out in big numbers,

(57:16):
namely the place where you're actually from.

Speaker 2 (57:18):
How important is that?

Speaker 1 (57:19):
Because one of the things that I keep saying repeatedly
for African Americans, and that is where we have significant votes.
We've got to be hitting a minimum of seventy percent turnout,
so we are maximizing our vote.

Speaker 6 (57:32):
Well.

Speaker 28 (57:32):
Look, our coordinated campaign here in this commonwealth is the
most robust and largest that we've ever seen, supporting candidates
from top to bottom. And everybody knows that we have
invested millions and millions of dollars to make sure that
our turnout program is the best that we've ever seen
here in Virginia. And so I'm excited to see this
in practice.

Speaker 22 (57:49):
Right.

Speaker 28 (57:49):
We have had early vote going on since the middle
of September and it ends on Saturday, November first, and
then we've got election Day next Tuesday. So this is
going to be a critical, critical push for us and
a huge piece of the puzzle. I'm from Norfolk, Virginia,
very proud of that fact. My sons are now fifth
generation Norfolkians, and so we want to do well here,
we want to do well everywhere. I think what is
special about this campaign is that we have not just

(58:12):
stuck to places that have traditionally been democratic strongholds, but
we've been able to go into the areas that are
more pink and more red and try to connect with
people and say, hey, look, yeah, we might disagree on
some stuff, but right now, the Trump administration is hurting Virginia.

Speaker 6 (58:26):
It's hurting every single one of us.

Speaker 28 (58:27):
Jason Miaris has had more than fifty opportunities to sue
this administration to protect our resources, our values, and our ideals,
and he can't do that. And so when you think
about the federal workers who have been illegally fired earlier
this year, you think about the folks who are at
home right now not getting paid because of a government shutdown.
That is the fault of Republicans who control Washington K
twelve funding, law enforcement funding. People are going to lose

(58:49):
Medicaid here in Virginia, three hundred and fifty thousand Virginians.
The list goes on and on. That does unite us,
and that is what continues to push us forward. And
I do think that we are going to send a
resounding message on Tuesday that we mean business here in
Virginia and Donald Trump will not walk over us anymore.

Speaker 1 (59:03):
Want you know, one of the things that people have
to understand that the power of state attorneys general. We
actually saw that in Biden Harris. It was republic attorney
generals that actually sued when it came to the.

Speaker 2 (59:16):
Student loan program.

Speaker 1 (59:18):
Earlier in the show, I talked about the lawsuit coming
from Democrat attorney generals when it comes to the SNAP program.

Speaker 2 (59:25):
You've got voting.

Speaker 1 (59:26):
Rights is an issue as well, criminal justice, holding police accountable.
There's so many things that people are now recognizing, and
I dare say, really, with the with the Black Lives
Matter movement, you're now seeing progressives who understand how important
it is for these ag races. Republicans have long dominated

(59:47):
them on strong law and order, but now people are
seeing how critical a state attorney general is. I'm born
and raised in Houston. We're here in Texas. We got
one of the stupidest, dumbest, most criminal as an AG,
Ken Paxton, and unfortunately he has used the power of
the AG's office to go after Harris County when it

(01:00:08):
comes to voting in.

Speaker 2 (01:00:09):
So many different things along those lines.

Speaker 1 (01:00:10):
So a state attorney general is a hugely important position.

Speaker 28 (01:00:14):
Well, look, this is the battlefield now, right, and the
lines have been drawn, and Virginia deserves an attorney general
who's going to push back against this excess and chaos.
And you know, again, I mentioned it a second ago
Jason Miaris has had more than fifty opportunities to sue
this administration to protect us, and he can't do it
because he's too loyal to the president.

Speaker 6 (01:00:32):
He's too weak to stand up to the president.

Speaker 28 (01:00:33):
There is a reason that Donald Trump has endorsed him
on their statewide ticket and nobody else.

Speaker 6 (01:00:38):
It's because he knows that Jason.

Speaker 28 (01:00:39):
Miarz will continue to let him do whatever he wants
at the expense of regular Virginians. We deserve a change,
and we deserve better here in this commonwealth. And it
really is a wide ranging sort of purview that attorney's
general can get involved in. I mean, even today, you've
seen ag step up to protect the snap benefits for
their states.

Speaker 6 (01:00:56):
Jason has been nowhere to be found. So people who
are struggling.

Speaker 28 (01:00:59):
Really are looking for these attorneys general for leadership. And
right now in these challenging times, I know Virginia can
do better. I know that people are demanding better, and
that's what we will give them. Because we have been
listening to our neighbors, our friends, our family members, our
co workers, folks from all corners of this commonwealth who
are desperate for protection from this excess and from this overreach,

(01:01:19):
and who are going to attack the problems that we
have here head on, lowering costs, keeping our communities safe,
making sure that we protect our children, and on down
the line, as opposed to doing what one person in
Washington wants you to do. Again, Jason Miharz continues to
let Donald Trump do what he wants. Virginia is ready
for something different. Then again, I think there's going to
be a loud message that's sent next week that we

(01:01:40):
are a place that Donald Trump cannot win. He was
not successful in sixteen, twenty or twenty four, and as
we look at moving ahead, this is another sort of
chance for us to send a resounding signal that we
are better than what we've seen over these last nine
or ten months in particular, and that we can be
the light in the darkness for folks as we head
into twenty twenty six.

Speaker 1 (01:02:01):
On that point, some eight hundred and fifty thousand Virginians
receive SNAP benefits, and as I said earlier, the AGS
in Massachusetts, California, Arizona, Minnesota and others are participating in
that lawsuit you talk about, if you win, becoming the
first African American Attorney general in Virginia. You've got African
Americans who attorney generals in Nevada, in Illinois, in Minnesota,

(01:02:23):
in Massachusetts, in several states. And so that is a
different a different state of mind. And again having someone
in that position using the power of that office to
sue the federal government really is important.

Speaker 6 (01:02:39):
Well, look, we deserve our fair share.

Speaker 28 (01:02:41):
We deserve the money that is supposed to be coming
into our state, into our communities. When you think about
the missed opportunities that we've had. K twelve funding has
been on the chopping block. Funding for law enforcement so
that we can keep our community safe. Things that we
hold near and deer have gone unattended to here in
Virginia because Jason Mirs is too weak to stand up

(01:03:02):
to Donald Trump. The choice could not be more clear.
If you want someone who's going to take orders from
Donald Trump, Jason Mirs is your person. But I have
laid out this vision for Virginia where we have an
attorney general who's going to push back on the excess
and the overreach and the chaos, sue to protect our
values and our ideals and the things that we hold
near and dear to our hearts and make sure that

(01:03:22):
we're using the office to be responsive to these problems
that we're seeing right now caused by the Trump administration.
Our regional economies here in this Commonwealth have been destroyed
because of the terrorists that Donald Trump levied, which have
been declared illegal. Attorney's General sued to stop those policies
and had success, but when Virginia has not participated, we
don't get to avail ourselves of those protections. That has

(01:03:44):
been devastating for this state. And we have an opportunity
to do better on Tuesday, and I'm really excited about
it because I do think that people from northern Virginia
down to Hampton Roads out to southwest are sick and
tired of being sick and tired, and this is our
moment to shine. And I am confident that we are
going to have success on Tuesday as we move into
twenty twenty six, join those lawsuits and get Virginia back

(01:04:05):
on a better course.

Speaker 1 (01:04:08):
We've heard Democrats say that they may very well do
redistioning in Virginia. Your thoughts on that should they make
that move?

Speaker 28 (01:04:16):
Well, Look, I think people have been desperate for Democrats
to be aggressive, and I think this is some bold
leadership by our state leaders in the General Assembly. And look,
I will say that the success of this also hinges
on the Attorney General. Today he issued an opinion basically
saying that they couldn't do this, which is patently wrong.
And frankly, we know that we can do it. And

(01:04:37):
I'm supportive of the effort that you see Speaker Scott
and some others are leading here and this is really
just being responsive to the needs and demands of people
in Virginia. And so I am excited about the product
of the special session this week, are having success next
Tuesday and then doing it again come January to put
this to the voters, because again, we want to be aggressive,

(01:04:57):
we want to be responsive, and we want to show
people that Virginia means business.

Speaker 2 (01:05:03):
Questions from my panel lay you first.

Speaker 10 (01:05:08):
Coming on the show, and well, you know, voters have
to kind of figure out we're going to do here
really soon in a couple of days, and so what
is your pitch to them in terms of what you
would do day one to differentiate from your opponent.

Speaker 6 (01:05:20):
Well, look, day one.

Speaker 28 (01:05:21):
We get to sign on to the lawsuits that other
attorneys general Democratic attorney's general have put up already over
the course of these last ten months, so that we
can avail ourselves of those protections. And that's the easy part, right,
I get to sign my name on some amicus briefs.
But what we really want to do is we really
want to lean in. As we have moved around this Commonwealth,
folks have continued to talk about how they are struggling

(01:05:41):
from an economic standpoint. These tariffs have really hurt our
regional economies here. People are feeling the squeeze, whether it
be at the gas pump, at the grocery store, with
their rent, or their mortgages. The list goes on and on,
and it's exactly why we put out a plan to
lower costs here in Virginia, to root out corporate fraud,
waste and abuse, to hold those bad actors accountable who
jacking up prices unnecessarily, to go after the pharmaceutical industry

(01:06:03):
to lower costs for Virginians, and to make sure that
we hold these corporate landlords accountable who are making it
unaffordable for people to live. The Attorney General should be
the watchdog for the people. Jason would rather stick to
Donald Trump and corporations and let them run the show.
We want to make this office about the people and
do what it should be doing, which is protecting them
every single day. That has been our pitch and that
will continue to be what we talk about as we

(01:06:25):
close this race out over seven days.

Speaker 2 (01:06:29):
Mustafa your question, Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:06:32):
Jenny, good to see you.

Speaker 9 (01:06:34):
I'm curious what's the balance looked like between economic growth
you just mentioned economic growth a second and go and
environmental protections. We know our most vulnerable communities often end
up on the on the not so positive end of
the stick.

Speaker 6 (01:06:48):
How will you approach that?

Speaker 28 (01:06:49):
Well, Look, I'm sitting here tonight in Norfolk, Virginia, my hometown,
which is a city that is under threat from climate
change every single day, and so we have to protect
our environment. And we know that oftentimes the people who
are most under siege in that space are folks who
look like us. And so I don't think that the
ideas of holding people accountable and protecting our environment are
mutually exclusive. We want to make sure we're holding bad

(01:07:11):
actors accountable, protecting our environment, and protecting our natural resources,
while also making sure that we are a place where
there's economic prosperity and opportunities for people to make a living.

Speaker 6 (01:07:21):
For themselves.

Speaker 28 (01:07:22):
But I will say right now, Donald Trump and Jason
Miarrez don't care about that when you have thousands of
workers who were fired by Doge earlier this year illegally,
I will say, and folks who are sitting at home
right now not getting paid because of this pro government
shutdown that lays only at the feet of Republicans who
control Washington. So you know, we've got a lot going
on here. But I do think that what we have

(01:07:43):
really been focused on is one trying to put money
back in people's pockets. Two letting folk text you and
to make sure that we have your back, and three
that this office really should be dynamic and working for
regular folks across this commonwealth to meet the challenges that
they face every single day, and not being dictated and
run by those who got the deepest pockets.

Speaker 8 (01:08:06):
Jesse, So you mentioned that this is an opportunity for
Virginia to have a black Attorney General, and I'm just
curious how your identity with that and such a big milestone,
if successful, would influence maybe some of the stances that
you may have to take when it comes to issues

(01:08:28):
with policing in Virginia.

Speaker 28 (01:08:30):
Well, look, I'm really, you know, excited about the opportunity
to serve because my family has been here in Virginia
for a long time. I mentioned earlier my sons are
fifth generation Norfolkians. My grandparents and parents who were civil
rights leaders, people who taught me everything that I know
about putting community first. My grandfather was a civil rights attorney.
My father served in all three branches of government. My

(01:08:52):
mother was a violent crime prosecutor. And we have heard
from people you know, from corner to corner who want
safe communities, and so do right. I have two young boys,
Charles's three and Zachary is fifteen months old, and that's
exactly why we put out a plan a few months
ago to keep our community safe. A comprehensive public safety
plan that can get real results, that's made in conjunction

(01:09:14):
and developed with state and local law enforcement leaders, sheriffs,
police officers, commonwealth attorneys, other invested community groups who care
about this. And I think we can achieve these goals
while also keeping our community safe, cracking down on violent
crime and supporting victims, making sure that we get illegal
guns off of our streets. I have a track record
of doing that as an assistant attorney general where we

(01:09:35):
put the largest illegal ghost gun manufacturer out of business.
And then keeping our kids safe right from the threats
of abusers and predators and the folks who want to
do them harm, and managing those threats that they're facing
online too.

Speaker 6 (01:09:47):
And so those three key pillars.

Speaker 28 (01:09:49):
We're going to put that plan and plan into practice
and really meet the challenges that we see here in Virginia,
knowing that my job is to enforce the laws and
make sure that we keep everybody safe, because that's the
most important job of any lee in Virginia, federal, state, local,
or anywhere else too.

Speaker 1 (01:10:05):
Last question, Jay, there's somebody sitting here watching this show
right now and they say, you know what, I hear
all this stuff. That stuff doesn't matter. I don't think
this impacts of my life. I don't see how this guy,
if he's Attorney general, will play a role in the
betterment of my life when it comes to my account
but becomes my economics, my health, my job, and my education,

(01:10:25):
my neighborhood. What do you say to that person to
get them to cast their vote early between now and
November verse then, of course, if not to vote on election.

Speaker 28 (01:10:35):
Day, but everything that is happening in your life runs
through the Attorney General's office. Whether it be your pocketbook,
your family, your community, your children's school, all of it
comes down to this office. We have such an incredible
purview and the ability to use this office in an
affirmative way. For the last three and a half years,
Jason Mires has used it to serve Donald Trump, and

(01:10:55):
he's used it to serve his friends with deep pockets
who think that they run this commonwealth. This office belongs
to you, and my job is to return it to
you and be a watchdog for you, lowering your costs,
making sure you can get prescription drugs at an affordable price,
keeping your community safe, cracking down on the drug dealers
and folks who do our children harm. This is what

(01:11:16):
this job is about. It all matters. And if we
don't have an attorney general in to work for you,
your Attorney general is going to work for Donald Trump.
And that has put Virginia in a bad spot. It
has put thousands of Virginians at risk of losing their healthcare,
It's put thousands of Virginians out of work. It's unacceptable
and we deserve better, and I hope to do that
as the next Attorney General in Virginia. And so I'd

(01:11:38):
ask for everybody's support between now and Saturday, when early
voting closes, and if you're going to vote on election day,
please cast your ballot for the Democratic ticket from top
to bottom, because we have plans to make your life better,
to make sure that we protect you, and to make
sure that we help you out in these really, really
challenging times.

Speaker 1 (01:11:57):
All right, Jay Jones, we sholy appreciate it. Thank you
so very much.

Speaker 6 (01:12:00):
Thank you, Sir Dock you send thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:12:04):
All right, folks, gotta go to break. We come back.
We're gonna talk. Give an update in the Sonya Massy case.
The jury now is deliberating the fate of the white
former officer who shot and killed her in Illinois. We'll
discuss that next. And also the Maga governor of Louisiana
is going hard because he wants LSU to put a

(01:12:25):
statue of Charlie Kirk on their campus. These people are
sick and demented. You're watching Rolling Marked Unfiltered on the
Blackstore network.

Speaker 3 (01:12:45):
In the military, I gave orders and they went a
lot further than they do around here. There's one thing
I've learned as a mom and foster pan of more
kids than I can count, Investigating their future isn't.

Speaker 6 (01:12:58):
A choice enrichment.

Speaker 3 (01:13:00):
I'll fight for Stafford's fair share for our schools, smaller
class sizes, better teacher pay, and more vocational training. I'm
Stacey Carol, and I'll fight to get our kids.

Speaker 14 (01:13:10):
Phinal Nicole Cole knows the cornerstone of a successful life
starts here. Virginia Public Schools gave Nicole an excellent education.
They helped her become a small business owner, family financial planner, mother,
and community leader. Now, after four years on the Spotsylvania
School Board, Nicole is running for delegate to meet the

(01:13:32):
needs of all students. As our delegate, Nicole will fully
fund our schools, raise teacher salaries, and help graduating students
stay in our communities.

Speaker 6 (01:13:41):
Nicole Cole for Delegate, for us, for our future.

Speaker 13 (01:13:45):
As a pastor, I hear a lot about trips to
the doctor, bills piling up, jobs being lost. So as
your delegate, I went to work writing laws that protect families,
helping parents, care for the disabled, children, capping insulin costs,
lowering prescription prices, and investing in our police and schools.

(01:14:09):
I'm Josh Cole, and as your delegate, I'm working to
keep us strong and safe.

Speaker 24 (01:14:15):
Hey, I'm Mark moriy our president's CEO of the National
Urban League, and I'm watching Roland Martin Unfiltered.

Speaker 2 (01:14:28):
Music playh.

Speaker 1 (01:15:29):
We're here in Houston for the Georgia Brown Convention Center
covering the Afrotech Conference, and so we're gonna be live
here tomorrow as well as Thursday show. I'm gonna have
some great conversations taking place here, folks. Let's talk about
what's happening in Illinois, where the jury now has the case.

(01:15:50):
The police officer, the former deputy Chaff who was of
course indicted for shooting Sonya Massey. Sean Grayson, former Singamar
County deputy, was charged with three or a total of
three counts and connection with Massy's death, first to be
a murder, aggravated battery with the firearm, and official misconduct.

(01:16:14):
This is what the Assistant States Attorney, Mary Beth Roger said,
When you threatened to shoot someone in the face and
you do, that's first degree murder. Also, the prosecutor said
that Grayson was an absolute liar when he said that

(01:16:34):
he had no choice to shoot Massy. This is the
state attorney said. Grayson kept lying. He lied over and
over and over it. He lied on the stand when
he said he had tipped to turn on his body camera.
Now what's crazy is Grace his partner had his body

(01:16:58):
camera on and made it perfectly clear what happened here.
The question now is will this jury convict this thug
former cop. You know, Jesse, it's critically important that this
case go forward, and I really hope that this nearly

(01:17:20):
all white jury does the right thing because that's exactly
what this cop did. He flat out shot Sonya Massey
in cold blood, lied to say his life was threatened
when that was a significant different distance between him and Massy.
He lied on the stands saying she threw a pot
at him. She never threw the pot at him whatsoever.

(01:17:44):
In fact, she ducked down behind the counter, covered her
face with a red oven admit, and he still shot
her three times in the face.

Speaker 8 (01:17:57):
Yeah, and at this point it's a video that unfortunately
is gone viral.

Speaker 6 (01:18:01):
So we have all seen the same thing. We saw that.

Speaker 8 (01:18:05):
You know, his partner, who had his entire body cam
going at the time, showed that Massey pulls his gun.
Massy points his gun while she's standing up, points at
her face to express that express intent, and tells her
that he's going to shoot her in the head.

Speaker 6 (01:18:23):
And then I saw the same thing you saw. She
ducks down.

Speaker 8 (01:18:26):
When she ducks down, he decides that he's gonna pull
the trigger and take Sonya Massey's life anyway, and almost
appeared shocked that his partner had. The body camera is
still going. So I'm not really sure. If the jury
does not come back in this situation with a conviction,
I'm not sure what else there is that the jury

(01:18:48):
would need. And I think we are we are long
overdue for police to be held accountable for these unlawful
and extra judicial killings of black people.

Speaker 1 (01:19:00):
Larry, this is what the attorney, since the Attorney General said.
It's just as the attorney said. He wants you to
believe that he was scared, but you don't have to
believe that because it's not true.

Speaker 10 (01:19:15):
Yeah, Roland, and this is just another tragic example of
black people, you know, losing their lives of the hands
of law enforcement. And I'm hoping that we're talking about
this evening, and our colleagues already suggested. I'm hoping they
hold this officer accountable because we've seen these tragic stories
play out over and over and over again for years

(01:19:38):
as it relates interactions between black people with law enforcement,
and so the jury has an opportunity to send a
message that this won't be tolerated and to partically Roland.

Speaker 6 (01:19:48):
As we could see the United States become, you know,
even more.

Speaker 10 (01:19:51):
Of a toll tal terarian country in terms of the
police build up, the ice and other entities, we're likely
to see more interactions like this unfortunate and in track death.
So it once again is an opportunity for the jury
to send it and send a message to law enforcement
that you can't lie and that the lives of black
people do matter.

Speaker 1 (01:20:12):
Mustapha Sean Grace's attorney, Daniel Fults, actually said this. He
said that when Sonia Massy said I rebuke you in
the name of Jesus Grace and believed that that was
that it was a threat.

Speaker 9 (01:20:30):
It be a threat to a demon, It be a
threat to someone who has no value for our lives.
Might be a threat to those who don't embrace humanity.
You know, there's the quote that says the dead cannot
cry out for justice.

Speaker 6 (01:20:45):
Only the living can do that.

Speaker 9 (01:20:47):
This jury now has the opportunity to make sure that
those of us who are still here are pushing for justice.
Sonia Massy didn't deserve to die. Sonya Massey's life mattered,
as Larry just shared, and she should still be alive.
But she's not because someone made a choice in that
moment to take her life, because she wasn't valuable. Because

(01:21:11):
a man who was well over six foot saw a
small lady and decided to take her life. He decided
a black woman that he had the right to take
her life. I've worked with all kinds.

Speaker 6 (01:21:23):
Of law enforcement folks.

Speaker 9 (01:21:25):
Folks know the proper protocols when they follow them, They
know the right things to do. They know who's a
threat and who isn't a threat. So it is time
for us to make sure that the dead now received justice.

Speaker 2 (01:21:38):
We see justice.

Speaker 1 (01:21:41):
Well, when she said I rebic you in the name
of Jesus, guess what she was talking to? An evil devil.
Unfortunately that cost her her life. So we'll give you
an update of what happens. All right, y'all, let's talk
about Louisiana. You know these right wing people when you
talk about they claim to be Christian, but they sure

(01:22:04):
love deities and they're trying to deify Charlie Kirk, who
was shot and killed on the Utah campus. The governor
of Louisiana is literally challenging the state's flagship university, Louisiana
State University, to honor Charlie Kirk with a massive statue,

(01:22:25):
calling it a move to defend free speech on campus.

Speaker 2 (01:22:30):
Listen to this food.

Speaker 29 (01:22:34):
Hey everyone, Governor Jeff Langery tonight wanting to thank the
entire Turning Point family because tonight unbelievable. Over fifteen hundred
people came to listen to Turning Point USA. Thank you,
big shout out to l USU Turning Point. And so
we're here on campus next to Mike the Taiga, and
we're going to put a challenge out to LSU board
of Supervisors to find a place to put a statue

(01:22:55):
of Charlie Kirk to defend the freedom of speech on
college campuses. Come on, ladies and gentlemen, let's see if
we can be the first campus to do it.

Speaker 2 (01:23:07):
What an absolute dumb ass.

Speaker 1 (01:23:09):
Now that followed a Turning Point USA event where some
fifty hundred people turned out. That's the group that Charlie
Kirk co found it. How about this, Larry, if you
want to defend the free speech, how about you put
up a massive statue of the First Amendment.

Speaker 10 (01:23:35):
Yeah, you know, Roland, this you know this is I
feel like America is like repeating rents in terms of
how they try to reshape narratives regard to individuals or
or politicians in terms of their views.

Speaker 6 (01:23:51):
Why you know, ls You know Louisiana.

Speaker 10 (01:23:54):
You know that state and the governor serves a number
of a significant number of black people. He was not
fighting for the freedom of speech of black people. I
haven't heard one one o'viously seen one speech he ever
gave when you talked about the importance of defending the
free speech of black people. In fact, he consistently attacked
doctor Martin Luther King and Noble of Peace Prize winner

(01:24:14):
and one of the finest Americans never.

Speaker 6 (01:24:16):
Walked this country.

Speaker 10 (01:24:17):
So the idea that you want to give the same individual, uh,
you know, on a at a public institution where he
disparaged black women, particularly in other racial groups, on a
consistent basis, that's not consistent with the kind of morals
and values. I'm quite sure the state of Louisiana America
in general supposed to believe in.

Speaker 6 (01:24:37):
So once again this.

Speaker 10 (01:24:38):
Idea that you know, I didn't want to put, you know,
a statue on his campus is completely ridiculous and really
ignores the concerns of the of the large number of
black people.

Speaker 6 (01:24:49):
Who live in the state.

Speaker 1 (01:24:52):
Mustafa Charlie Kirk had nothing to do with Louisiana, wasn't
from Louisiana, and it's not very of a statue on
Louisiana's flagship campus. These right wing maga people are absolutely insane.

Speaker 9 (01:25:10):
They definitely short our full deck. You know, it's interesting.
You got folks like Mahelia Jackson, you got folks like
Louis Armstrong, you got folks like Lil Wayne or Big Freedom.
I can name a whole bunch of folks from Louisiana
who should have a statue on that campus. But you know,
it really goes down to this doesn't matter if you're

(01:25:30):
black or white, or brown or indigenous. You know, we
should have statues for individuals who actually helped to uplift,
who helped to heal, who helped to be able to
move forward in a positive direction. And that should be
the criteria that we use when we're making decisions about
who we want to actually honor through statues. But we

(01:25:51):
should also be really remindful of what the Bible tells
us about graving images. So when some of these folks
begin to move forward and say some of these things
that they do, I think they don't actually read the
Bible that they say that they prescribe.

Speaker 1 (01:26:04):
To Jesse for him saying let's become the first. I mean,
these people are nuts. They literally want to turn Charlie
Kirk into the rep.

Speaker 2 (01:26:17):
Doctor Martin Luther King Junior.

Speaker 1 (01:26:19):
And I'm sorry that it's more like a two point
zero of the Confederate statues. That's what this whole deal
is about, because we know what Charlie Kirk said, we
know who he attacked, we know who he denigrated, and
he is not deserving of a statue on college campus.

Speaker 6 (01:26:38):
Well that's the first thing that I thought of.

Speaker 8 (01:26:40):
I think sometimes statutes aren't necessarily erected to honor someone.
They're erected to remind everybody else of what the power
position is going to be. And I think with this
movement to kind of canonize Charlie Kirk, there is an
attempt to try to chill the prosperity to growth, the
progress of the black community, of minority communities, and remind

(01:27:03):
us of what our place is allegedly.

Speaker 6 (01:27:05):
Supposed to be.

Speaker 8 (01:27:07):
I find it interesting that black people really had nothing
to do. As a matter of fact, most people in
my circle didn't even know who Charlie Kirk was until
the news story broke.

Speaker 6 (01:27:16):
But somehow we were blamed. I remember the.

Speaker 8 (01:27:18):
HBCUs were shut down because there were threats made upon
our lives when we weren't in Utah.

Speaker 6 (01:27:24):
We weren't at the turning point rally.

Speaker 8 (01:27:26):
And so I think the forced use of these images
on us is an attempt by the system to remind
us of who they think we are supposed to be.

Speaker 1 (01:27:40):
Absolutely so, listen, folks in Louisiana, black boys Louisiana, tell
Governor Jeff Landry, hell no to this idea. Are y'all
got to go to break? We come back? Man, We
got If y'all want to know how stupid MAGA is.
Clearly none of these people have ever read a book,
I mean never ever in their life. They are mad

(01:28:03):
at some comments made by the father of Zoron Mamdanne,
where he's historically accurate about how white Americans treated Native
Americans and how Hitler studied.

Speaker 2 (01:28:19):
Jim Crow.

Speaker 1 (01:28:21):
To deal with Jews in Germany. Historian doctor Gerald Horn
would join us next right here on rolland Martin Unfiltered
on the Black Start Network. Support the work that we do.
Join up, bringa funk fan club. We're want to give
you a cash hat news to strike cure coach. You
see it right here, Bob left ten corner paypals are
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(01:28:41):
s Martin dot com rolling at Roland, Martin unfilter dot
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Martin Unfiltered, Peelbox five seven one ninety six, Washington d
C two zero zero three seven as zero one nine
six Back in the moment this week on the other
side of change.

Speaker 20 (01:29:02):
Book bands, anti intellectualism, and Trump's continued war on wisdom.

Speaker 21 (01:29:06):
debate on facts. They started using our language against us. Right,
Remember when we were all woke and the woke movement
and all that kind of stuff. Now everything is anti woke, right,
when we were talking about including diversity, equity, inclusion, and
higher education. Now it's anti d all this our efforts

(01:29:28):
to suppress the truth because truth empowers people.

Speaker 20 (01:29:31):
Blackstart Network.

Speaker 2 (01:29:36):
What's up, everybody, it's your girl Latasha.

Speaker 18 (01:29:38):
From the A and you're watching Roland Martin unfiltered.

Speaker 2 (01:29:52):
All right, folks, welcome back to Roland mar dunfiltered.

Speaker 1 (01:29:54):
We're here the Georgia Brown Convention, the Center at the
APFRO Tech Conference.

Speaker 6 (01:29:58):
Y'all.

Speaker 1 (01:29:58):
The last couple of days, I have literally seen some
of the dumbest people in my life. You have had
these right winger, these mega people attacking the father of
New York City mayoral candidate, Zoran Mamdani, Now my Mood.
Mamdani is an author and a Columbia University Herbert Lehmann professor.

(01:30:20):
In twenty twenty two, at a New York Literary festival,
he said this, in.

Speaker 15 (01:30:30):
My view, America is the genesis of what we call
settler colonialism, and the American model was exported all around
the world. In America, you have two kinds of minorities

(01:30:52):
that have run the course of the history of the
modern American State, American Indian, and the African American. Each
has a different significance for our contemporary era. The American
Indians were the people on that land when the settlers

(01:31:19):
conquered it. First, this tried to eliminate as many Indians
as possible. This was the first recorded genocide in modern history.
Then with the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln generalized the solution

(01:31:41):
of reservations. They herded American Indians into separate territories for
the Nazis. For the Nazis, this was the inspiration. Hitler
realized two things. One, the genocide was doable. It is

(01:32:04):
possible to do genocide. That's what Hitler realized. Second thing
Hitler realized is that you don't have to have a
common citizenship. You can differentiate between people. The Nuremberg laws
were patterned after American laws. Anyway, the US put Indians

(01:32:27):
in reservations. The US invented the model what we call
today the two state solution, the American state, and alongside
it several protectorates with degrees of autonomy but no independence.

(01:32:50):
It has had its own effect, and we will realize
the effect if we contrast it with what happened to
the African Americans because the African Americans not put in
a separate state. The African Americans were part of the
one state solution. They were oppressed terribly within a single state.

(01:33:13):
But the thing is that the American Indians, by being
put in separate states, were perpetually fragmented, isolated. Up to today,
the African Americans horribly oppressed, but had the possibility of

(01:33:35):
building alliances with other oppressed peoples. So we have a
history of the same hundreds of years which have brought
us to the point where we are with Black Lives Matter,
which are at the forefront of progressive struggles in the US,
while the American Indians remain isolated and fragmented. The two

(01:33:58):
state solution was taken around the world. The latest place
is is right, of course.

Speaker 1 (01:34:10):
All right, first showing me now from Houston. I'm also
here as well as doctor Gerald Horn. He is then
John Jay and Rebecca Moore Chair of History and African
American Students at the University of Houston. He's the author
of countless books. We talked about many of those books.
Of course, the one book that we really have talked
about is The counter Revolution of eighteen thirty six.

Speaker 2 (01:34:33):
Texas slavery and Jim Crow.

Speaker 1 (01:34:37):
And the first of all, and this is really important
for where we are right now, y'all again, the Texas
slavery and Jim Crow and the roots of American fascism.

Speaker 2 (01:34:45):
Gerald always glad to have you here.

Speaker 1 (01:34:47):
He also of courses the counter Revolution of seventeen seventy
six slave Resistans and the Orders of the United States
of America.

Speaker 2 (01:34:53):
Here's what's crazy.

Speaker 1 (01:34:54):
Gerald, I mean, these Maga people have been losing their mind.
They have been trashing this man. Oh, he hates America.
He's lying, this isn't what he's talking about. And I'm
sitting there going, are y'all really that dumb? Literally everything
he said happened.

Speaker 30 (01:35:14):
Well, I think what this episode reveals is that truth
has a progressive bias. You are correct, Professor Mumdani was
on the money. That is to say that this is
a settler colonial project. Four hundred years ago there were
hardly any Europeans living in Texas, and now it has

(01:35:36):
a euro American majority. You mentioned my book on Texas.
If you go to the end of the introduction and
look at one of the footnotes, you'll find a lengthy
list of indigenous Texans, Native Americans, Indians.

Speaker 6 (01:35:51):
Who no longer exist. They were liquidated. And with regard
to that point, it's important.

Speaker 30 (01:35:57):
To point out that the settler organized militias in order
to liquidate the indigenous population, and they oftentimes worked in
conjunction with the US military, although they oftentimes thought that
the US military was too soft when it came to
liquidating the indigenous. And I'm sure your audience is familiar

(01:36:20):
with African American history, familiar with how slavery for hundreds
of years was followed by Jim Crow, and that Jim
Crow began to crumble approximately seventy years ago, not least
because of assistance from the international community.

Speaker 6 (01:36:37):
That is to say, the fact that.

Speaker 30 (01:36:39):
African and Caribbean nations were soaring to independence post nineteen
forty five, and the United States found it difficult to
win hearts and minds amongst these resource rich nations as
long as black people in this country were treated so atrociously.
So that created a dynamic that led to the agonizing
and reluctant retreat of Jim Crow. Although we all know

(01:37:01):
that in order to desegregate, for example, the high schools
in Little Rock, Arkansas, in nineteen fifty seven, President Eisenhower
had descended federal troops to keep young black students from
being torn from limb from limb by those who objected
to their presence, And the same thing happened when Ole
Miss University of Mississippi and Oxford was desegregated in nineteen

(01:37:23):
sixty two per the peerage of one lone black student
speaking of James Merida and to suggest that it was
not sectional or regional, were called the Boston busing crisis
of the nineteen seventies, when once again, young black students
were trying to desegregate public schools in Boston and were

(01:37:43):
assaulted repeatedly by Euro Americans.

Speaker 6 (01:37:47):
Who objected to their presence.

Speaker 30 (01:37:49):
So I'm scratching my head and trying to figure out
what was precisely the objection to what Professor Mumdani said,
Or is it that those who objected or objected to
reality and to truth.

Speaker 1 (01:38:05):
Not only that, it is a known fact that Hitler
sent his emissaries to the United States to study American
Jim Crow, to study their treatment of African Americans, the
abuse of African Americans to degrade them. They literally took

(01:38:27):
back the idea oh segregated bussing. We can use that
they came here and studied when around America.

Speaker 2 (01:38:34):
Said we like that, we like that, and we like that.

Speaker 1 (01:38:38):
And so when you talk about the Nuremberg Laws, we
talk about I mean they literally modeled after the United
States Jim Crow, these white Maga folk. This is why
they want to ban books. This is why they want
to get rid of this stuff, because they do not
want another generation of Americans, white Americans to know the

(01:39:00):
history of this country, not history, the actual history.

Speaker 30 (01:39:05):
Well, it's not only the Nazis who studied the notorious
example of Jim Crow in the United States of America.
You may be familiar with my book Quite Supremacy Confronted,
which deals with the relationship between a party South Africa
and racist Rhodesians now Zimbabwe in the pre independence era.

Speaker 6 (01:39:26):
That is to say that.

Speaker 30 (01:39:27):
You had us foundations who actually council the Partey rulers
with regard to how to manufacture that hateful, spiteful, oppressive
system known as a party. And in fact it was
their council that led to the rationale for a party,
which was that there were poor Europeans, so called Africaners

(01:39:52):
in South Africa and there was a fear that they
would align with the African majority on a class basis.
So when A Part eight was implanted in nineteen forty eight,
it was implanted in no small measure to uplift the
living standards of the European minority, particularly the European minority
within the working class and within the poor, so that

(01:40:15):
they would have no incentive to align with the Black majority.
And that cruel remedy so called would have worked, but
far the massive international offensive against A Part eight, which
the African National Congress and their allies helped to organize,
and finally, in the spring of nineteen ninety four, as

(01:40:37):
you well know, there were the first democratic elections in
South Africa, though the Europeans had landed on that continent
in sixteen fifty two. So once again I'm curious as
to what the objections are to Professor Madani's words.

Speaker 6 (01:40:55):
And by the way, you might recall that he.

Speaker 30 (01:40:57):
Has extensive experience in South Africa as well. He taught
at the University of Cape Town and in fact, the
incoming mayor we imagine speaking of his son, Zee Kwame Mumdani,
that is to say, he carries the middle name of
the late Greek Kwame in Pruma of Pan Africa's fame
in Ghana. Mister Mundani, the latter actually matriculated and studied

(01:41:24):
and spent a good deal of his youth in South Africa,
which I'm afraid to say it probably well prepared him
for the white supremacy of New York City.

Speaker 1 (01:41:36):
Well, it is abuntly clear the reason they are objecting
because they do not like facts. What they want to
do is have his a historic review. Donald Trump is
already setting it up next year for the United States
celebrating in two and fiftyth anniversary. They want to completely
whitewash the history. They don't want any conversation about the

(01:41:57):
evils that took place. They want to frame America as
the great oasis of love and peace and say, well, no,
don't bring up that stuff because those are just small things.

Speaker 2 (01:42:11):
That stuff doesn't matter.

Speaker 1 (01:42:12):
They do not want to deal with the actual real
history of this country from the beginning.

Speaker 30 (01:42:20):
To be sure, and particularly they do not want to
deal with black history because black history, by its very nature,
contradicts the uplifting, soaring narrative that mister Trump would like
to project of the United States creation being.

Speaker 6 (01:42:38):
A great leap forward for humanity.

Speaker 30 (01:42:40):
How can one make that statement when at the founding,
that is to say, in seventeen seventy six to the
end of the eighteenth century, there were thousands of enslaved Africans.
On the verge of the US Civil War in eighteen
sixty one, there are millions. If this was an abolitionist project,
some would lead us to believe, I'd hate to see

(01:43:02):
a pro slavery project. Not only that, but the investment
in the bodies of enslaved Africans, your ancestors and mind,
that was the most lucrative investment in the United States
of America, more valuable than banking capital, more valuable than
the railways. Indeed, the African slave tree, which deposited our

(01:43:26):
ancestors on these shores, was one of the most lucrative
enterprises known to humankind. You can invest one dollar and
receive seventeen hundred dollars in return. There are those today
who would sell their first born for seventeen hundred percent profit.
Not to mention some African that they did not know.

(01:43:47):
Not only that, but this wildly lucrative African slave tree
served as the basis for the development of an advanced
modern society, not only in the United States, but in
Great Britain, in a good deal of Western Europe, which
is one of the reasons why just last month and

(01:44:07):
attust Ababa, Ethiopia, the African Union and the Caribbean Community
CARACOM led by Jamaica, Barbados, etc. Met face to face
heads of state and government, with reparations being the top
item on the agenda. As the late Great Walter Rotney,
the Guyanese historian, put it in his famous book How

(01:44:31):
Europe Underdeveloped Africa, that says it all, that is to say,
as Europe, that is to say, Western Europe sort to
prominence on the backs and bodies of our ancestors, the
African continent was driven into the dust. Professor Mumdani knows it.
Mister Trump, if he ever attended class, should know it.

(01:44:53):
And that is the truth that they want to keep
away from our youth.

Speaker 2 (01:45:00):
Questions from my panel, Jesse, your first, Well.

Speaker 6 (01:45:04):
I definitely appreciate this information.

Speaker 8 (01:45:06):
I think also that one of the things that I'm
seeing this administration is trying to do, in addition to
erasing the history, is it seems like this administration is
attempting to not only devalue us, but they're also trying
to stop future generations from even ever reconsidering this. Burning textbooks,
getting rid of curriculums. This will take decades to repair

(01:45:31):
for those people who don't have a repository. I'm wondering
what advice do you have for our community, in particular
to overcome what we know is going to be an
onslaught on our history and our culture.

Speaker 30 (01:45:43):
Well, I think the potential remedies are obvious. Obviously we
need to fight back. But I think one of the
errols and our equipper that has been lost in recent
years has been the internationalizing of our struggle. It was
Pan Africanism, spearheaded by the late Great Web dou Boys,
which linked our struggle to struggles in the Caribbean and

(01:46:06):
struggles in Africa. Was very curious to note that at
the aforementioned summit in addis Aba, Ethiopia, there were less
than a handful of Black Americans who were participating at
this summit that in many ways was deciding and determining
our fate as regards of reparations, but not only internationalizing

(01:46:28):
the struggle, there are certain home remedies we can take,
not only of course, making sure that our youth are
acquainted with various websites and have various books in their
own personal library.

Speaker 6 (01:46:41):
But organizing Saturday schools.

Speaker 30 (01:46:44):
You know that there are certain immigrant groups who send
their children to public schools where they reserve, where they
receive a US determined or locally determined curriculum, but on
Saturday they learn about, for example, Korean history or Chinese history.

Speaker 6 (01:47:01):
Et cetera.

Speaker 30 (01:47:03):
We need to adopt that kind of model, that is
to say, a model that in some ways has its
roots in Dixie during the battle days of Jim Crow,
when we were struggling against segregated schools and struggling against
inadequately prepared desegregated schools. That is to say, we organize

(01:47:23):
what we're called freedom schools, and freedom schools are on
the agenda for today, and that is certainly a path
we should be pursuing.

Speaker 10 (01:47:36):
Larry, Yes, profess I'm curiously your thoughts about what we've
seen the last since January, in particular the dramatic increase
in the black unemployment rate and how sex with the
moltimization of the United States, how those two things intersecting.
What does that mean for the future of this country,

(01:47:57):
particularly is a waste of black people.

Speaker 30 (01:48:00):
Well, you mentioned the militarization of this country, if I
hurt you correctly, and I take it you're making reference
to the dispatching of National Guard forces to Chicago. I
think that the Chicago community is acquitting themselves well and
confronting these jack booted thugs, and I would imagine that,

(01:48:23):
given the offensive by black Chicago in particular, that they
will be retreating rather shortly.

Speaker 6 (01:48:29):
Speaking of the National Guard, but.

Speaker 30 (01:48:32):
I take it you're also referring to the tax dollars
that are being expended in the Caribbean as we speak.
Just today, another boat of fishermen were blown out of
the water by.

Speaker 6 (01:48:45):
The US authorities.

Speaker 30 (01:48:46):
The US authorities have sent Nucleas submarines to the shores
of Venezuela because, as mister Trump has made clear, he
wants to overthrow the Maduro regimes so that he can
seize some of the most valuable oral reserve on planet Earth.
But keep in mind that a these people who are
being blown out of the water, oftentimes they're black people

(01:49:08):
from Trinidad and Tobago, which is only seven miles as
the crow flies from Venezuela, and likewise, what mister Trump
is doing is contravening international law. It is as if
he had sent troops into Chicago who would approach a
certain alleged drug dealer, and rather than detaining that potential

(01:49:32):
drug dealer or alleged drug dealer and or arresting him,
that drug dealer or alleged drug dealer.

Speaker 6 (01:49:38):
Would be shot through the head.

Speaker 30 (01:49:40):
What I'm also suggesting, and what you should infer, is
that if international law can be contravened off the shores
of Trinidad and Tobago and off the shores of Venezuela,
it provides a president for domestic law to be contravened
in the United States of America. That hypothetical I just

(01:50:02):
floated about coming up to a drug dealer and shooting
that large drug dealer.

Speaker 6 (01:50:07):
Through the head.

Speaker 30 (01:50:09):
We know that that has happened in the past, and
certainly if presidents continue, it will become the norm in
the future.

Speaker 9 (01:50:20):
Mustafa, Professor, if I could build on what you just shared,
I'm curious your thoughts. I've heard this moment described as
Jim Crow two point zero. I've heard it and I
have described it as very apartheid esque. With all the
years that you've been looking at these issues and teaching
on these issues. How do you frame this particular moment.

Speaker 6 (01:50:43):
I framed this particular moment this way.

Speaker 30 (01:50:47):
I think we're in the midst of a counter revolutionary moment,
not unlike what followed the end of the Civil War,
referring to Reconstruction, where there was a democratic promise recalled
that there were black men in particular who are elected
to the highest offices in the land, including numbers of Congress.
But there was a backlash. There was a resurgence of

(01:51:10):
racist terra spearheaded by the ku Klux Klan, which led
to the promise of reconstruction being drowned in blood. I
think that we're experiencing a similar moment today. And as
mister Martin noted in his introduction, I wrote a book
some years ago called the counter Revolution of seventeen seventy six.

(01:51:34):
In other words, I've maintained that the creation of the
United States itself was a counter revolutionary moment because, as
I point out London, the colonial power seemed to be
moving towards abolition of slavery, which would have jeopardized the
fortunes of slave owners like George Washington. Thomas Jefferson, James Madison,

(01:51:55):
Patrick Henry at all, and rather than run that risk,
they will bolted set up an independent state which has
noted expanded exponentially the number of the slaved Africans from
seventeen seventy six to eighteen sixty one.

Speaker 6 (01:52:11):
So only those who.

Speaker 30 (01:52:13):
Have not been paying attention only the NAI will be
surprised at what we're experiencing today.

Speaker 1 (01:52:24):
Well, we actually are dealing with this here. And one
of the things they desperately want to do is they
do not want folks that have an understanding of real history,
American history.

Speaker 2 (01:52:33):
That's what we're seeing right here.

Speaker 1 (01:52:35):
Doctor Jerald Horn always glad to have you on the show. Folks,
just google it. He got way too many books. He
got books on boxing, jazz history, you name it. We've
talked about a lot of his books. Get them all
because it is important reading. Because we have too many
people right now who do not know American history. And Gerald,

(01:52:57):
the key is when we know history. Were able to
push back against these lies. And I worked at CNN,
I've been on these other networks, and too many these
people they don't know a damn thing about history, especially
black history, and so they allied these lies simply be told.
And all what mom Donnie did was tell the real
store of America, and they just simply don't like it.

Speaker 6 (01:53:21):
Well, the truth Hearth. I'm sure you remember that phrase.

Speaker 30 (01:53:25):
And once again I think we should reiterate what Professor
Mumdonni was saying, because it's quite bone chilling. Let us
to say, the Nazis tried to learn the lessons of
Jim Krull. The crafters of A Party tried to learn
the lessons of Jim Krull. Not only that, but as
I noted in my aforementioned book, the US, as you

(01:53:48):
may recall, was a major supporter of a Party, recalled
that Ronald Wilson Reagan himself in the nineteen eighties when
he was seeking to veto the comprehend of Anti Apartheid Act,
which was spearheaded by the Congressional Black Caucus, including the
late Ronald Vdellams of Oakland, Berkeley the late John Conyers

(01:54:09):
of Detroit. He argued, falsely, not unlike mister Trump argues
falsely today that actually the aparthei rulers and Crafters were
on the same side of the United States during World
War Two, which is absolutely false. Actually the Apartheight rulers
were pro Nazi during World War Two. They were pro

(01:54:32):
Berlin during World War two. And this is an element
elemental truth. It's an elemental fact. It's the sort of
fact and truth that mister Mumdadi Senior was espousing. And
it's the kind of elemental truth and fact that mister
Trump of the White House would like to keep away

(01:54:53):
from the eyes and ears of our youth in particular.

Speaker 2 (01:55:00):
We'll appreciate it. Thanks a lot, good.

Speaker 6 (01:55:02):
Luck to you, Thank you for inviting me.

Speaker 2 (01:55:06):
Thank you very much. Folks.

Speaker 1 (01:55:07):
We will come back our marketplace segment with another one
of our shop Blackstartnetwork dot com black owned businesses. You're
watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Start
Network live from the Georgia Brown Minchen Center here in
the Houston where the Afrotech Conference is taking place this week.

Speaker 2 (01:55:23):
Back in the moment.

Speaker 22 (01:55:31):
If in this country right now, do you have people
get up in the morning and the only thing they
can think about is how many people they can hurt
and they've got the power.

Speaker 6 (01:55:41):
That's the time for morning, for better or worse.

Speaker 23 (01:55:44):
What makes America special, it's that legal system that's supposed
to protect minorities from the tyranny of the majority.

Speaker 24 (01:55:52):
So we are at a point of a moral emergency.
We must raise a voice of outrage.

Speaker 25 (01:56:00):
We must raise a voice of compassion, and we must
raise a voice of unity.

Speaker 16 (01:56:07):
We are not in a crisis of party versus party.

Speaker 22 (01:56:11):
We are in a crisis of civilization, a humans rights crisis,
and a crisis of democracy itself.

Speaker 16 (01:56:18):
And guess what.

Speaker 22 (01:56:19):
You've been chosen to make sure that those that would destroy,
those that would hate, don't have.

Speaker 16 (01:56:27):
The final say, and they don't ultimately win, said.

Speaker 31 (01:56:31):
The quiet part out loud. Black votes are a threat,
so they erased them. After the Supreme Court gutted the
Voting Rights Act in twenty thirteen, Republican legislatures moved fast
new voter id laws, polling place shutdowns, purges of black
voters from the rolls. Trump's Justice Department didn't stop it.

(01:56:51):
They joined in. In twenty eighteen, is DOJ backed Ohio's
voter purge system, a scheme that disproportionately erased black voters.
Their goal erase black votes and political power. Yeah, that happened.
These are the kinds of stories that we cover every
day on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Subscribe on YouTube and download

(01:57:12):
the Blackstar Network app. Support fact based independent journalism that
centers African Americans and the issues that matter to our community.

Speaker 26 (01:57:30):
Next on the Black Table with me Craig Calker Robb,
the America we live in today? Isn't that what the
founders intended or what they outlined in the Declaration of
Independence and even the Constitution. Professor and author Kermit Roosevelt
will join us to talk about his book The Nation
That Never Was. How history was misinterpreted the intent and
realities of America's beginnings and missed a much better story

(01:57:54):
in the process.

Speaker 14 (01:57:55):
So, if you have to pick some group to marginalize,
I think it should be the people who are against equality.

Speaker 26 (01:58:00):
That's next on the Black Table right here on the
Black Star Network.

Speaker 1 (01:58:06):
This week, on the other side of Change.

Speaker 20 (01:58:08):
Book bands, anti intellectualism and Trump's continued war on wisdom.

Speaker 21 (01:58:13):
debate on facts. They started using our language against us. Right,
Remember when we were.

Speaker 6 (01:58:24):
All woke and the woke movement.

Speaker 21 (01:58:26):
And all that kind of stuff. Now everything is anti woke,
right when we were talking about including diversity, equity, inclusion,
and higher education. Now it's anti d all this our
efforts to suppress the truth because truth empowers people.

Speaker 20 (01:58:38):
Blackstart Network.

Speaker 16 (01:58:42):
How you doing.

Speaker 1 (01:58:43):
My name is luck Er and you're watching Roland Martin
unfiltered deep into it like pasteurized milk without the two percent,
were getting deep.

Speaker 16 (01:58:54):
You are turning that shut out. We're going to interview
without the.

Speaker 1 (01:59:31):
All right, folks, we all travel and we want to
be comfortable. Well as a black OneD brand redefining being
cozy and comfortable when you are traveling, em Marie delivers
every day luxury, whether you're at home or on the go.
We're joined right now by Ula Smith, owner and operator
of E Marie Travel, joining us from Los Angeles. You

(01:59:51):
look glad to have you here, and so by these stylists,
blankets and hoodies you have.

Speaker 6 (02:00:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 32 (02:00:00):
Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me.
I'm a huge fan of yours, so thank you for
the great work you're doing for our community.

Speaker 6 (02:00:05):
Really appreciate it.

Speaker 32 (02:00:08):
So I created a travel blanket because I am someone
who travels almost every single month from Los Angeles to
New York, overseas, just all over, and I needed something
that was functional. I was carrying at the time this
huge cashmere blanket that was like a four hundred dollars blanket,
and it was like every time I got the plane,
I had to dry clean it. So I thought I
needed to create something that I could use on a

(02:00:29):
plane and also when I get off the plane. So
I create the Eve Marie Travel Wrap and it's a
four and one. It can be used as a blanket,
a pillow, a shaw, and a scarf. And we were
on Oprah's David List three years in a row with it.
So we're very excited about it. And I think the
best part about our blanket is that it's washable.

Speaker 6 (02:00:49):
People seem to love that.

Speaker 2 (02:00:53):
All right.

Speaker 1 (02:00:54):
So look, there's a lot of blankets out there, a
lot of things out there.

Speaker 2 (02:00:58):
But what caused this? What happened? Were you traveling? You
were like, man, this blanket sucks.

Speaker 32 (02:01:05):
Well, you know, you look at the ones in the
airport and they're so flimsy, they're not they're not warm,
they're not comfortable.

Speaker 6 (02:01:11):
And I guess found something that was very.

Speaker 32 (02:01:12):
Lux I wanted to feel lucks like it was cashmere,
but not cashmere because I wanted.

Speaker 6 (02:01:16):
To be able to wash it.

Speaker 32 (02:01:18):
So what we call we called our faux cashmere blanket
because it looks like cashre and it feels like cashre,
and it's extremely warm, so I think people just love it.
And it comes to its own little pouch, so you
can put it in this pouch, throw it in your handbag,
thad in your toat, or tight on your suitcase. So
it's a bag that you don't have to ever leave
home without.

Speaker 1 (02:01:39):
All right, Now, when we talk about traveling, size weight matters,
because listen, you're not trying to have a whole bunch
of bulky stuff.

Speaker 2 (02:01:49):
And so how did you factor that in?

Speaker 32 (02:01:52):
Because I traveled myself so and I'm good about carrying on.

Speaker 6 (02:01:56):
I can do a carry on in a toat for
tweak trips, so I know how to pack.

Speaker 32 (02:02:00):
So I needed something that was going to be able
to go everywhere without with me, without having to be
an extra piece.

Speaker 6 (02:02:05):
So it just.

Speaker 32 (02:02:07):
Goes into a little pouch and it ties on your
suitcase or if it's right in your toe or your handbag,
so it's so easy you never have to worry about
trying to check it or having too much stuff with you.
It's just a perfect.

Speaker 5 (02:02:20):
Item to go anywhere you go.

Speaker 32 (02:02:21):
And I actually keep on in my office and I
keep on in my car because I live in LA
and it could be eighty degrees in the afternoon and
the sun goes down to sixty degrees, so I always
have one on me always.

Speaker 1 (02:02:34):
Oh hell yeah, that is absolutely La. So we got
the blanket, but we also have the eyemask. And I'm
telling you right now, I'm a huge believe it in
the eyemass because you always got that dumb.

Speaker 2 (02:02:45):
Ass who refuses to pull pool.

Speaker 1 (02:02:48):
A window shade that it's like seven o'clock in the
morning and a bright ass sun is coming in exactly.

Speaker 32 (02:02:56):
And our mask is very comfortable, and only it comes
in the rip. So we have two different styles. One
is a rib blanket that comes with eye mask and
the other ones is a solid bag that does not
come with an eye mask. So if you're someone who
likes an ie mask, you want to buy the rib one.

Speaker 1 (02:03:13):
All right, Questions for the panel mustav for go.

Speaker 9 (02:03:17):
Yeah, miss Smith, I'm curious what are the materials for
the blanket and for the ie mask, because sustainable products
are incredibly important and making sure that they're healthy and safe.

Speaker 6 (02:03:29):
Yes.

Speaker 32 (02:03:30):
Absolutely, it's cotton with viscos in it, so it's washable.
And the thing about our blanket is that it gets
it keeps it its volume, it's weight, so when you
wash it, it comes right out of the wash and dry.

Speaker 6 (02:03:42):
It comes right out of the dryer.

Speaker 32 (02:03:44):
Extremely fluffy, still extremely soft and cozy.

Speaker 10 (02:03:51):
Larry, Yeah, I'm curious how way your business has been
impacted by the tariffs.

Speaker 6 (02:03:59):
The last couple of month.

Speaker 32 (02:04:01):
Well, you know, fortunately, our blanket is replenishment item, so
therefore we order we keep this blanket in stock year
around because it has such a high demand. So we
actually our warehouse has a nice amount of stock right now,
so we haven't had the reorder because we always plan
for like a six month stock. Our stock will probably
dwindle in the December when we'll have to worry about tariffs,

(02:04:23):
and hopefully by then we'll be back on track.

Speaker 8 (02:04:30):
Jesse gave any plans to expand kind of the inventory
of what you have for travel gear.

Speaker 15 (02:04:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 32 (02:04:38):
In fact, if you go to our website, we also
have these really yummy comfortable hoodies.

Speaker 6 (02:04:43):
Are meaning the same fabric. It's called our travel.

Speaker 32 (02:04:45):
Hoodie and We just launched our whole new line of
T shirts and actually Lounge were which is more like
a fleece for travel, and we launched it in August.
We've had such a huge response to it that will
be coming out next month in new colors.

Speaker 6 (02:05:00):
We're excited about the growth of the brand.

Speaker 1 (02:05:04):
So, folks, we want you to go to shop Blackstartnetwork
dot com to get these products from Ema Ree again,
Eve Maritravel, show the website again. You go to shop
Blackstart Network dot com. Remember, when you support these black
owned businesses, you're also supporting this black owned business Roland
Martin Unfiltered, the Blackstar Network.

Speaker 2 (02:05:27):
And that's why all this is important, and so that's
why we do this.

Speaker 1 (02:05:30):
That's why we have partnered to do this, because this
provides an opportunity for these black owned businesses and to
be able to get the world about their products. The
rally is marketing is very expensive and so being able
to take advantage of this is really important. And so
that's that's that's really matters. And so again y'all listen,

(02:05:51):
you got birthdays coming up. Hint hint, Let's see mine
is in seventeen days. So I'm just saying you also,
of course you got Christmas going as.

Speaker 2 (02:06:03):
Well, and so all that's happening.

Speaker 1 (02:06:05):
And so folks again, if you want to get one
of these blankets, get the oddmasks, go to shop Blackstartnetwork
dot com. Just simply put in the search box e
Marie Travel, Emarie Travel. You see the products right there,
and let's make this happen and you can support Ela
and all the other black owned companies that are on

(02:06:26):
Shop blackstartnetwork dot com. We so are, Yula, how many
colors of the blankers do you have? And what are
the colors?

Speaker 6 (02:06:33):
It comes to nine colors.

Speaker 32 (02:06:35):
We have black, we have light gray, dark gray, olive,
dark olive, a beautiful beautiful bordeub to the season color
of the season. And we have a we call golden Rod,
which is beautiful golden rod color.

Speaker 6 (02:06:48):
And oatmeal which.

Speaker 5 (02:06:49):
Is light, very light, creamy.

Speaker 32 (02:06:52):
And I will just say, Roland, what you're doing for
black owned businesses is so fabulous, because we really need
to support black owned businesses.

Speaker 6 (02:07:00):
There's so many.

Speaker 32 (02:07:01):
Talented people out there in our community doing great things
from clothing, from jewelry to candles to even wine, and
we need to get behind these amazing, amazing designers and
owners of companies, and thank you for the platform, and
I hope so many other people will be able to
get on your show as well.

Speaker 1 (02:07:20):
We have a lot of those on the site. We're
adding more products as well. And I'm gonna have to
get that Bordeaux because I'm a Texas a and them graduate.
So maroon is our color, so that would have went
perfect with the maroon Cowboy hat. I was rocket today
flying from DC to Houston.

Speaker 32 (02:07:36):
It's been perfect, and you know it's our number one
selling color.

Speaker 6 (02:07:38):
It has been. It's just crazy.

Speaker 5 (02:07:40):
It's a beautiful so.

Speaker 1 (02:07:41):
Rich all right, then, well you a little appreciate it, folks.
It is ema Reetravel.

Speaker 5 (02:07:47):
Thanks a lot, Thank you so much.

Speaker 32 (02:07:49):
A nice time to all the guys as well.

Speaker 5 (02:07:51):
Thank you, have a good evening.

Speaker 2 (02:07:53):
Thank you very much. Thank you.

Speaker 1 (02:07:55):
Let me shout out, Let me thank Jesse, Let me
think Larry, let me think Mustafa. I've been on today's panel.
Thank you so very much, folks. As I said, we
are here at the Afrotech conference in Houston. We're gonna
be broadcasting from here tomorrow and Thursday, and so we
really are excited at being here. We're gonna have a
lot of interviews we're gonna be walking the floor where

(02:08:18):
where they have all of the vendors as well as
the products, and so we're gonna be talking about all
things tech and African Americans over the next couple of days.
And so you want to tune in right here to
Roland Martin Unfiltered and the Black Start Network will also
be streaming live several of the panels from the main
stage as well. And so what you want to do
is you want to be sure to check your notifications

(02:08:39):
on YouTube, so when we go live, you get your notifications.

Speaker 2 (02:08:42):
They'll be really little affword to that.

Speaker 1 (02:08:44):
And so again glad to be here partnering with Afro
Tech and Blavity at the Afrotech conference in Houston.

Speaker 2 (02:08:50):
Folks, that's it. Don't forget.

Speaker 1 (02:08:53):
If you want to support the work that we do,
be sure to join us bring the Funk Fan Club
joint to bring the Funk Fan Club the goals. Get
twenty five of our fans contributing on average fifty bucks
each a year as four alls of nineteen cents a
month thirteen cents a day. That means you're gonna be
supporting this show, to all the shows of the Blackstar Network,
our goals are raising million dollars between now and the

(02:09:13):
end of the year for the new shows that we
are launching. If you want to contribute via cash shap,
use a stripe QR code. We do not have our
cash shap of products anymore. Our cash app names. Use
the striped cure code for cash app pay panels are
Martin Unfiltered, Venmos are m unfiltered, Zale, rolling at Rollins

(02:09:34):
Martin dot com, rolling at Rolling Martin unfiltered dot com.

Speaker 2 (02:09:37):
Check some money order to make it payable.

Speaker 1 (02:09:39):
To peel box five seven one ninety six Washington, d
C two zero zero three seven to a zero one
nine six. Be sure to download the Blackstart Network app
Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon
Fired Tv, Xbox one, Samsung Smart TV. Be sure to
get a copy of my book White Fear, How the
Browning of Americas Making White Folks Lose their Minds, available

(02:09:59):
at books doors nation wide.

Speaker 2 (02:10:02):
And of course we also want you.

Speaker 1 (02:10:03):
To get our roller Mark Unfiltered Blackstart Network swag. And
so we want to get our shirts and hats, t shirts, mugs,
all that good stuff. Go to shop Blackstartnetwork dot com.
Shop Blackstart Network dot com and of course, if you
want to support those black owned business, as I said,
go to shop blackstud Network dot com as well, and
don't forget to support and download the app Fanbase.

Speaker 2 (02:10:25):
Download the app fan Base. Okay, y'all need to switch it.

Speaker 1 (02:10:28):
No show shop blackstud Network dot com for the black
owned products. So again, all those products you see on
my desk there in our DC, we got black crossword puzzles,
we got back packs, we got skincare, we got relishes,
all sort of products. All those products you see right
there are available on shop blackstart Network dot com. And

(02:10:49):
as I said, download the app fan Base. It is
down up to number nineteen on the Apple App Store.
So folks, let's keep taking it higher. Let's download fan Base.
Let's blow this thing up a social media platform owned
by African Americans investors. And this is the way for
us to be able to participate in this tech accounty.
More importantly, to protect our sales, be able to get

(02:11:11):
our word out by having apps that the billionaires on
the right wing do not control. If you want to
invest in Fanbase, they've raised some thirteen point four million
dollars for seventeen million dollar Series A raise. If you
want to invest, go to start engine dot com, forced
lash fanbase, start engine dot com, Forge.

Speaker 2 (02:11:27):
Last fan base.

Speaker 1 (02:11:29):
All right, folks, that's it from Houston. I'm going to
see all tomorrow right here. Roland Martin don filtered on
the Blackstart Network again. We're going to be live streaming
a number of the sessions throughout the day and we'll
be carrying a lot of those interviews we've been shooting
live on the show tomorrow as well as six pm
e s. Don't forget if you missed the show, watch

(02:11:49):
the you can see we watch the restream. You can
go to our YouTube channel as well and be sure
to share our videos as well, because again, the more
views we get there the droughts of the revenue for
the show as well. So, folks, that's it. I'll see
aw tomorrow right here. Roland Martin unfilched on the Blackstar
Network live from Houston at the AFRO Tech Conference.

Speaker 6 (02:12:06):
Hollom

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