Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:34):
Today's Thursday, May nine, twenty twenty four, and coming up up,
Roland Martin on the Filter, streaming live with the Black
Star Network. As we speak, the Florida A and M
University of Board of Trustees having an emergency meeting regarding
the two hundred thirty seventy million dollar gift that was
presenting them over the weekend. Lots of questions have been
raised regarding that gift. They are literally going over this
(00:56):
relationship with the individual who gave the money. Later of
the show, we'll talk with a young man who has
been posting a lot of a lot of information on
social media regarding Gerald Dromy and his past and whether
or not his donation is legitimate. Also, several former NAACP
leaders say that some rights organization has unjustly suspended them.
(01:19):
In an a Roland Martin exclusive, we'll speak to six
of them tonight. A Texas DA still before the Terran
County Commissioners Court defending his decision to try to reconvict
Crystal Mason y'all eight years after she voted. She of course,
didn't realize she could not vote. The only black commissioner
to question his motives will be here. Also, another black
(01:42):
man is killed by law enforcement in Florida. Deputies enter
the wrong home and killed a senior airman, Roger Fordson.
Ben Crump, the family attorney, will explain how the deputies
are trying to cover up their deadly mistake. Also, our
tech Talk segment Meta Facebook expand think they're paid varification
service for businesses. We'll talk with the fan base CEO
(02:05):
Olea Hayes about this change. It is time to bring
the Fok'm rolling on a filter. We blacksh network. Let's go.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
He's got whatever the best, he's it whatever it is.
He's got the school, the fact, the fine.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
And Wenna believes he's right on time.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
It is rolling best belief.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
He's going putting it out from his Boston news to
politics with entertainment.
Speaker 5 (02:30):
Just bookcase.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
He's strolling. It's roll.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
It's strolling, montage.
Speaker 5 (02:44):
Rolling.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
He's spoky stress, she's real.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Good question, No, he's rolling montege.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Conduct All right, folks, as we speak, the Florida andam
University border regions, they are meeting to regarding this two
and thirty seven million dollar donation that they received from
a donor over the weekend. Guys, go to my iPad
please this meeting is taking place as we speak. Lots
of questions are being raised from alumni and others regarding
(03:30):
the donation, because again this is a large donation into
any HBCU. A lot of people though, are asking again
where the donation come from. Is a legitimate donation, So
a lot of questions, a lot of questions are being
asked as we speak in this board meeting. We of course,
(03:52):
we are following it as they actually take place because
we want some answers as well. Later in the show,
we're gonna be talking to a gentleman. He has been
posting a lot of information on social media with regards
to the donor, with regards to the donors, So as
we speak, go right for my iPad. As we speak,
(04:13):
the board members again are getting they they they are
getting answers from the university with regards to how the
relationship started in terms of what's the valuation of these
stocks is he is a private company. But I have
I've been listening for the past hour, and I certainly
have some additional questions that are not being answered on
(04:34):
this call, and so we shall talk about that later
in the show. All right, folks, listen, now talk about
what's happening in the NAACP. Of course, the NAACP's motto
is leading the fight to end racial inequality, but a
group of former leaders say they have been unfairly suspended, harassed,
and defamed of the civil rights organization. The group, which
(04:55):
includes more than twenty folks from across the nation, they've
got stories of unfair treatment and unexplained suspension of their leadership,
post and membership. Six of them joined us tonight in studio.
Rochelle the Law, the former youth advisor and chair of
the AXO competition from the Philadelphia branch. She said she
was suspended from sending out an out of date sponsorship
(05:15):
form letter to raise money for youth lee Roy Candler,
the past president of the President of the NAACP chapter,
says he was suspended but transferring funds from from the
NAACP to his personal account. He says that never happened
and he has a letter from the bank manager proving
his innocence. Joining us, of course, on the line is
(05:35):
Lou Walker, the president of the Antelope Valley NAACP branch,
saying she was suspended the filowing an internal harassment complaint.
Anthony Douglass a past board director of the NAACP and
Oklahoma says he was suspended a day before the national
convention that for challenging President and CEO Derek Johnson, and
will be joined later by Nashville's past president, Venita Lewis,
(05:56):
who says she was suspended after challenging the direction. Tennessee
State Conference president Gloria sweet Love. Also, Betty Williams, the
past president of Zacamento LACP branch, say she was suspended
three days before an election after filing harassment charters. All right,
glad to have all of y'all here. So first and foremost,
NAACP obviously based there in Baltimore National Office, and so
(06:22):
the CEO, you have, the CEO, you have the board,
they have jurisdiction obviously over the branches. And so when
it comes to both of you, what was the process
that took place that led to your suspension?
Speaker 4 (06:37):
First of all, Morreland, thank you for having us because
we do appreciate this.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
The process was none.
Speaker 6 (06:45):
They're in the constitution in bilogues in the NAACPS basically
states that there's an issue with any member that you
have to file and they have specific way that you
have to file what is considered an Article ten in
the Constitution in Bilogues that has to be filed with
twenty members in good standing about what it is that
(07:06):
you do. Most of these the article ten was not filed.
If you are a friend of Derek Johnson, which was
told to me that you can go to him, or
go to Gloria Sweet Love or deal with Ericacaine. You
can go to them and tell them about something that
they can make up that you did or didn't do,
(07:28):
and give it to Derek Johnson. We recommend you suspend
this person. He just signs it. He just signs it,
no question, no nothing. In my case, if there was
an error, I have age that work for me. If
there was an error, why don't you just call me
and say, hey, you know you can't use a suspended
member on your memo And that would have been corrected
(07:50):
because it's a template.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
So you're saying that on what you sent out was
a member that had been suspended. Their name was on
this form and that's why you got suspend it. Yes,
that's why I got suspended, as opposed to just correct
the form. Called me so I can correct the form.
Speaker 6 (08:07):
First of all, my aide don't know nothing about NAACP suspension,
so she wasn't aware the person was suspended. So why
not call me twenty plus years in the NAACP secretary
to fill fell off your brands for more than twenty
years and let me make a correction. I was never
over Axles. I was over the Youth Council for fifteen
plus years. I've always raised funds to make sure the
(08:28):
Youth Council go to the conventions, do what they need
to do in the city.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Yes, Lee Roy, you said, according to that you were
suspended for transferring funds from the NAACP account to your
personal account. That was the allegation. Who made the allegation?
Speaker 7 (08:44):
Rick Calendar made the allegation. Who was at Rick Kellnd's
the president of the California conference.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
All right, so made the allegation. But you say you
have a letter from your bank let money was that transfer?
Speaker 8 (08:57):
He even had legal regrets.
Speaker 7 (08:59):
Chair to get on the conference call with the bank manager,
and the bank manager told him that he had the proof.
She sent me a copy of the proof afforwarded to him.
He showed the proof to Rick and he Steel when
it had me suspended. He later on had their Lawter.
Their attorney Asante asked me for the letter. I sent
it to him and sent him to the proof, and
(09:20):
I also sent the proof to Miss Alix.
Speaker 9 (09:23):
Hoffman to verify that this never happened.
Speaker 8 (09:25):
Nothing happened. I sent letters to.
Speaker 7 (09:30):
Mister Williams and Derreck Johnson asking for a hearing and
asked to be heard. Never got in a response. I
sent a written request request that I be responded and
that I be hearrid.
Speaker 6 (09:39):
Either of you make an appeal to the Board of
Directors when you get the letter tells you have to
make it within fifteen days.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
I made it within two.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Days, right, and I made it within two days, and
not a hope to.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
At that point it was Quincy Bates you had.
Speaker 6 (09:53):
Letter came from Quincy Bates, was that he's somebody on
then was worked in a national office that dealt with memberships.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
He got the man.
Speaker 6 (10:00):
I got all this documentation because emails is stamped and
time date got it. So send that back requesting the hearing.
Never got a hearing. Here's the kicker. Never got a hearing,
and I was suspended right before I got to the
National Convention last year. Never got a hearing, but in
August got a letter said that they had a hearing
without me, they deliberated and decided to spend my membership
(10:24):
for six years.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Six years.
Speaker 8 (10:28):
You hear me six.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
We didn't know about it.
Speaker 6 (10:32):
Let me say this, this is a national organization about
civil rights, but yet you violate the civil rights of
your members.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
I'm not a.
Speaker 6 (10:42):
Subscribing member. I'm a life, fully paid member. Been there
plus in Philadelphia there are two other ones forty plus years.
Shirley Jordan was the treasure of the Philadelphia branch because
she questioned the newly elected president of the Philaulpia Branch
at a five frontred dollars check, which.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Is against the constitution and by law.
Speaker 6 (11:04):
That president made up a lie on a letterhead, took
it to the bank, committed fraud me, Shirley and the
secretary of the branch who questioned her and did do
an article ten on the Philluphia branch.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
We are suspended.
Speaker 6 (11:20):
Yet she did because she's telling everybody that Derek Johnson
is a friend and nothing's going to happen to it.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
And guess what, nothing's happened to her.
Speaker 8 (11:29):
Leebra.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
How long you suspended? Unknown?
Speaker 7 (11:31):
It's never stated how long I was suspended.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
So you don't know. I don't know.
Speaker 7 (11:35):
Just send me a let us say you were it's
sposed to spend it. When I write a letter to
find out, no one can tell me to the disagree
how long we spend it?
Speaker 8 (11:41):
Nobody has an f for that.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Lou Walker, you were suspended following an internal harassment complaint.
What type of harassment complaint was it?
Speaker 10 (11:50):
I didn't have an internal harassment complaint. My letter said
I was suspended for requesting that our branch secretary resigned.
He did not live in California, and I was actually
responding to the community calls for help, crisis calls. I
couldn't challenge my suspension. I didn't get responses when I
(12:15):
inquired about it as well.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
So how long were you suspended?
Speaker 5 (12:21):
I've been suspended since August, but they didn't.
Speaker 9 (12:25):
Tell me how long my suspension is.
Speaker 11 (12:28):
Supposed to last.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Betty, what about you?
Speaker 12 (12:34):
I was also suspended. I was running against the now
state president of California Hawaii.
Speaker 5 (12:43):
They are also saying that there.
Speaker 12 (12:45):
Was financial my understanding through media that was financial issues. However,
I also had herassment charges and complaints internally to the
na A C that they never responded.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
To so you said, ye, arrastic complaints that you filed
or filed against you, which.
Speaker 12 (13:07):
One I filed against the California YI President. I internally
filed three separate times.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
And harassment plans. What kind of harassment?
Speaker 12 (13:19):
Harassment as far as putting information out there that was
not correct the example, I was also the election supervisor
during the election period, and it stated he put out.
Speaker 5 (13:32):
An email saying that I was not fit to be
the chair for.
Speaker 12 (13:35):
The election chair because I was running against him, and
the ballots had not been opened.
Speaker 5 (13:44):
They were stilled.
Speaker 12 (13:45):
They were supposed to be private and not open until
a certain date, and so I questioned, how did he
know that information? National did not respond. He kept bullying
me so much so I had to bring individuals to
the meetings and I have to make a statement and
ask them to put it in the minutes that I'm
being bullied. He's accusing me of things that I did
(14:06):
not do according to the bylaws, and I wanted discrimination
charges at least documented in the minutes. When those minutes
came from the secretary from the election committee, it never happened.
Speaker 5 (14:20):
I continued to move forward.
Speaker 12 (14:23):
Then I started getting cyber bullying and it came from
a dark web. I had to hire an attorney who
took the cyber bullying and sent it to the Department
of Justice as well as the ag the Attorney General,
because in California that is a criminal act. And so
(14:44):
once I continued to do that three days before the election.
Speaker 5 (14:51):
I was poised to win.
Speaker 12 (14:53):
I would have won, but three days before the election
there was an emergency agenda item saying that I should
be suspend.
Speaker 13 (15:00):
It not just me.
Speaker 12 (15:02):
He wanted the entire Sacramento NAACP branch to be suspended. However,
it was myself six others from the Sacramento branch, two
of which had wrote support letters in my defense to
the national board and Derrick Johnson. They were suspended the
next day for supporting me. A number of people rallied
(15:27):
behind them and said they never should have, and then
they repealed those two suspensions.
Speaker 5 (15:31):
So they suspend just like Rochelle was saying, someone could.
Speaker 12 (15:36):
Give them information without investigation, without due process, without any
of that. If they had known in the beginning, especially
those two, that they had to repeal the suspension, they
would have known. All they were doing was writing letters
on my behalf and it was personal for them to
be suspended that next.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Day by Anthony Douglas. You alleged that you were suspended
a day before the national convention because you criticize the
President's CEO, Dereck Johnson.
Speaker 14 (16:05):
Good evening that road there and thanks for having me,
and that is correct.
Speaker 15 (16:09):
I've been the president of the Oklahoma State Conference as
a former member of the National Board of Directors.
Speaker 14 (16:14):
I received the email saying that I was suspended.
Speaker 15 (16:17):
I've written them over eight times, thirty five letter requesting
that they tell me why I'm suspended. And still to
this day, I cannot get a reason for why I'm suspended.
And I was also suspended for six years.
Speaker 16 (16:31):
So and.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
What was interesting to me here as i I'm going
through information, here is what is consistent with all of
you is due process now based upon the rules of
the organization and bylaws. Does it spell out clearly what
(17:00):
the process is when it comes to suspension, when it
comes to appeal, who do you appeal to? And then
do you appeal to the National Office Let's say you
let's say they rule against you. Can you then appeal
to the to the Board of Directors. What's that process?
Speaker 6 (17:18):
First of all, the Constitution and bilogues give you pacifics. Now,
the president can suspend you if he think it is
detrimental to the organization. But if you if your friends
bring you stuff and you suspend people, why would you
even get involved?
Speaker 1 (17:37):
No, no, no, here's my point. No no, no, no, no,
I have so I guess, so you have the authority
to suspend what I'm talking about? What is the process
after that?
Speaker 3 (17:45):
If they suspend you and the letter tells you you
have fifteen days.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
To appeal, you appealed to that? And who are you
appealing to? National office? That's what Director of Membership.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Quincy Bates at that time worked for the National Hawkins.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Okay, so what's that person's type.
Speaker 5 (18:07):
That you would appeal to?
Speaker 12 (18:09):
Carmen Watkins, who's the operations person? Vice president of operations.
Is where the letter comes from. And Rochelle is correct.
There's specific dates that you go by fifteen calendar days
and then they should be responding within ten calendar days
of receipt. So there's a number of deadlines that the
individual has to follow as well as national What has
(18:32):
been happening is that individuals like myself and everyone on
this panel and others have responded within the guidelines that's
presented in the bylaws. However, the same deadlines have not
been given by the National They do not follow up.
We appeal my attorney's appill and we are waiting on
an answer on the appeal.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
But they don't even tell you if you have a
against you, you're not allowed to see the complaint.
Speaker 12 (19:03):
You're not allowed to have an attorney to speak on
your behalf if you go out in front, like my
branch was threatened if they said anything out loud against
me or against I mean, or support of me, that
the entire branch would be shut down. So there's these
bully tactics for people to be silenced, and so much
(19:27):
like you have to ask permission for a boycott or
rally that I know you've already experienced. You have to
ask permission, and but yet you're the NAACP, your civil
rights organization. This is it's worse than apart that.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
So okay, So, so have any of you communicated any
of this to National Board members? Have any of you
tried to attend a National Board meeting? Have y'all gotten
anything from any of them? Anybody? Let me say this, Yeah,
I got I have Okay, hold on one second, hold on, though,
I have.
Speaker 6 (20:03):
The whole package of everything that happened in the Philupia branch,
and I sent it to all the National Board members.
Philippi branch is under receivership, but it's now called administratorship,
which is the same thing.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
You know what the exact the administrator says to me.
Speaker 6 (20:19):
The National Board wanted to know why you sending him this,
because I want to let you know what's been going on.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
So you said one second to every board member every board.
Did any board member respond to you?
Speaker 3 (20:31):
None?
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Who else said that they reach out to the board.
Speaker 5 (20:34):
Who else I reached out to? This is Betty Williams.
I reached out to the board.
Speaker 12 (20:38):
Matter of fact, I flew to Atlanta because I heard
they had this emergency suspension on the agenda.
Speaker 5 (20:46):
I took a midnight flight, flew out there.
Speaker 12 (20:50):
Actually had a conversation with sorry about that with Gloria
sweet Love says, I understand you may or may not
have an issue with me and or my branch. I'm
here if you have any questions, any concerns regarding.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
Me or my branch, I'm here to answer them.
Speaker 12 (21:07):
She answered me by saying, no took we've taken your
issue off the agenda.
Speaker 5 (21:13):
I was physically there as a matter of fact, Roland.
Speaker 12 (21:16):
When I finished meeting with them, I ran into you
in Atlanta in the lobby after talking to them.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Oh yeah, that's when, because y'all there would because that
was the same time Rainbow Push I had their meetings
there as well. Got it? Remember that who else said
that they reached out to the board director someone else did?
Speaker 17 (21:36):
I did?
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Go ahead? What happened?
Speaker 10 (21:39):
I filled everything out. I submitted my requests for a hearing.
I even recorded it, I sent it certified mail.
Speaker 5 (21:48):
I recorded myself at the.
Speaker 10 (21:50):
Post office, and I was not getting responses. I documented
my calls that I made to the National Office as well,
and I was just given the run around repeatedly. And
this is why I joined the NA being the first place,
because I was experiencing the same lack of new process
as a state employees.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
We go ahead, I'm sorry, go ahead, roll.
Speaker 15 (22:17):
Let me just say this served on that board board
members is not going to intervene or get involved even
if you reach out to them, because they don't even
know why you suspend it.
Speaker 14 (22:28):
You don't know why you're suspended.
Speaker 8 (22:30):
So even if they know they.
Speaker 15 (22:31):
Still not going to get involved because they don't want
to get a letter saying that they are suspended. So
a lot of times board member will not even ascertain
or talk to you about why you've got suspended. One
of the things I wanted to say, also because you
asked the earlier question, what the appeal process is? The
first of all, when you get your letter, it tells
(22:52):
you got fifteen days to request the hearing. It doesn't
give you the authority of the process to have an appeal,
So you have to request the hearing within fifteen days.
Speaker 14 (23:02):
But in the meantime of waiting for that hearing, for
whenever they want.
Speaker 15 (23:06):
To schedule hearing, then you have to continue to write
as everyone else have done, call email, texts or whatever,
and say tell me, send me something in writing, why
am I suspended? So I can be able to prepare
for a hearing, so my lawyer can be able to
prepare for a hearing to assist me in the hearing process.
And you still get nothing in righting. So I wanted
(23:27):
to make sure that you understood that the process of
the fifteen days. Once you receive that letter, you have
to request hearing with that fifteen days. If you don't
submit for a hearing, then you will be notified that
you refuse to participate in a hearing.
Speaker 6 (23:43):
And everybody has submitted their information within them sixteen days.
Let me say this, even in a constitution in Bilow,
after you submit the National Constitution, BILO say that they're
supposed to do something within sixty and ninety.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Days, which they don't do. They don't do that at all.
Speaker 6 (24:00):
On in my case, after I guess it was like
sixty or ninety days, they had a hearing, which I
wasn't the privilege to. They deliberated and decided to spend
me for six years. Wait a minute, what civil rights organization.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
Has a hearing without you decide on your faith and
you not even included on it. What are they doing?
Speaker 6 (24:23):
Let me just say this, the one thing that NAACP
has taught us, when you fight, you win. We are
fighting though it's a lot of us, but we know
that there is more people out there that have been
going through this with the National Office, and we want
them to contact us.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Can I get that information out?
Speaker 6 (24:43):
We want you that's been going through this, because we
know you think you're going through that alone.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
You're not.
Speaker 6 (24:48):
There's a whole group of us around the country. You
can call us and email us. You can email us
at Justice Justice the number four NAACP members at gmail
dot com. You can also call us a three two
three six nine six two zero seven eight. They taught
(25:12):
us this, when you fight, you win. We are fighting,
we are fired up, and we are not taking anymore.
I'm trying to figure out the National org Derrek Johnson
gets a four hundred and sixty thousand dollars plus salary
president salary, more than the President of the United States.
(25:33):
He has a board members that approved that. I'm trying
to figure out they are call or they're just scared.
How do you increase somebody's salary to four hundred and
sixty plus when all of us are volunteers that don't
get paid at all, don't get a dome.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
We reached out to the NAACP this week several times,
and right before we went on the air, we got
this statement go to my iPad vise. Trevron Williams is
the SVP for Marketing and Comms with the NAACP, said,
I wanted to make sure you receive our response. I
believe our Office of General Council email, but in the
interest of time, the NAACP firmly denies any allegations of defamation, harassment,
(26:14):
or improper suspension against the individuals mentioned. Furthermore, each individual
has received or is receiving due process in accordance with
the NAACP bylaws. The NAACP does not comment on specific
internal disciplinary actions for its members. Currently, the Black community
is facing tremendous challenges, including attacks on voting rights, diversity,
(26:37):
equity and inclusion initiatives, crucial upcoming elections, women's rights, and
most recently, threats to free speech. To effectively tackle these concerns,
we must maintain the strength of both our national and
local branches. Our focus remains on empowering our branches to
effectively address and assist the needs of our community and
to encourage to encouraging all eligible Black voters to cast
ballots in the twenty twenty four election, the most important
(26:59):
election of our lifetime. That's the statement from the nub
ACP National Office. Final comment final, I'm sorry one, we'll
say it, moring.
Speaker 14 (27:12):
Let me say that.
Speaker 15 (27:12):
I'll just reviewed that statement as you have read it. Also,
I've been a member of this n double ACP since
seventy four.
Speaker 14 (27:20):
I'm gonna retired.
Speaker 15 (27:21):
Vietnam, delas storm, Dela Cio, golf war Vega one hundred
percent disable.
Speaker 14 (27:25):
I volunteer my time.
Speaker 15 (27:27):
I've served as the president and interim president for the
state of Oklahoma n double AC people going on nineteen.
Speaker 14 (27:33):
To twenty years.
Speaker 15 (27:35):
To see that statement, to ship around with that statement,
to say, you're not gonna comment, You're not gonna address
these issues.
Speaker 14 (27:43):
The constitution by laws give you that authority.
Speaker 15 (27:47):
When you raised the question about the twenty nineteen organization
in Delaware, then they threatened say if you bring that up,
you talk about the Delaware Corporation, We're gonna suspend you.
You question my authority, You're gonna suspend me. As a
state comfort president of Oklahoma, I have never had to
sit down one on one come talk with Derrick Johnson
as president.
Speaker 14 (28:08):
You do not treat volunteers the way we have been treated.
We're volunteers.
Speaker 8 (28:13):
We care.
Speaker 15 (28:14):
We're the one on the ground fighting and walking and
putting our family lives in danger behind, representing the members
in the community, not the not just Derrick Johnson.
Speaker 14 (28:25):
We're out here in the field. You don't tell me that.
Speaker 15 (28:29):
During the George Floyd situation that the work that we
did in the field did not help raise the money.
Dereck Johnson personally say hits because of him that the
NAACB got the money, not what we do as leaders
out in this field. So don't tell me that I
don't count. This is a volunteer organization. We should have
(28:50):
due process. You cannot belong to a volunteer organization and
be told you have no rights.
Speaker 14 (28:55):
You have no due process.
Speaker 15 (28:56):
We can degrade you, talk down to you, and treat
you like we want to treat you just because you're volunteer.
Volunteers have right no matter what organization we in. Even
in the claims they volunteers have right. So we share
the same right now in the NAACP, Lord Walker, I
just wanted to share this is exactly why we joined
because our branch was not responsive.
Speaker 10 (29:19):
LA County had some of the highest racial disparities of
the country, and we have very little representation from the NAACP.
I was sending center reports, I was sending data, and
I was not getting any responses, and they actually exploited.
They started hurting some of the cases. One of the
stories was on your show, Yayo Wressel. She was one
(29:41):
of the stories that in AATP representative didn't even contact.
Speaker 18 (29:46):
The family for and they.
Speaker 10 (29:50):
They went on the news in a press conference without
the family's permission. So I want to stress that it's
one thing to not be be active and effective in
the black community. It's another to hurt and harm the
black community under the guise of being a civil rights organization.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
Betty Betty.
Speaker 12 (30:13):
In their response, there's a couple of things that they
said as far as what they do, and so one
of the things I would like to see them do,
at least in California, there's at least five harassment charges
from five different women that hasn't been addressed. I'm one
of the five and have documentation to prove it.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
So one of the things, I'm sorry, I'm sorry you
say five different harassment allegations, five different different women.
Speaker 12 (30:37):
Five different women against in California, in California.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
Against against other members, against who who, against.
Speaker 12 (30:49):
Uh, some individuals on the executive committee, the California Hawaii president.
And so for them to say that they are fighting
charges when there's harassment against women. One tried to look
in your own backyard and deal with the women that
are filing those charges. Internally at the very least acknowledged
(31:11):
that it happened. Secondly, they're talking about they're fighting for elections,
but yet eternally there's so many things that's going on
with their own elections. They are changing the script according
to the bylaws. There's individuals whose name a total of
forty six names were taken off of a ballot with
(31:31):
no explanation at all. Leroy himself was suspended because he
was a secretary challenging the election process.
Speaker 5 (31:41):
I was challenged and.
Speaker 12 (31:43):
Things were just changed, people's names, taking off of ballots,
and so.
Speaker 5 (31:49):
Internally, when you appeal it, they throw them out.
Speaker 12 (31:52):
We appealed certain things that should not have happened when
it came to the election, internal election process, and they
would throw it out and said it had nothing to
do with anything. And finally, the committee that handles the
suspension is called them Membership Committee, and personally and collectively
(32:15):
we feel that they should eliminate that entire committee because
they are actively not doing the due diligence.
Speaker 5 (32:25):
They're taking on personal assignments and if you.
Speaker 12 (32:28):
Don't do right by those individuals, they will go forward
with suspensions without due process. We're saying it should be
a third party entity that has a legal arm that
looks into the investigation of any and all suspensions.
Speaker 5 (32:42):
That's what we're looking for, Lee Roight.
Speaker 7 (32:45):
Yes, I would like to say that I sent my
appeal to Derrick Johnson, Russell Williams in Carmick Watkins. They
did have me speak with one of their attorneys. I
believe his name was Asante, and once I send him
the letter to proof that was vindicated, I didn't the
bank letter that I had proved that I did not
take any funds in the bank. And when I asked
him what he was going to do now that he
(33:06):
had the proof, and he said that depended on this
calendar to see what he had to say. And he
was supposed to be representing the national and he telling
me to go back to the same president that had
suspended me wrongfully because of it was retaliation for what.
Speaker 9 (33:21):
I had done.
Speaker 7 (33:22):
Is they're exposing the names of these people that had
been taken off of this list, which is a much
broader conversation and what we're having right.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
Now, I'm going to say this and close out with
this year.
Speaker 6 (33:31):
We know that there's a people around the country that
are experiencing this because a lot of these chapters are
in chaos.
Speaker 3 (33:39):
Phil Lolfia, You know the election is supposed to be
every two years.
Speaker 6 (33:42):
Phil Lolfia is going on the fourth year of not
having any election because the friend of Derek Johnson is
the president, the friend that we filed charges against for
fraud is still the president. I'm saying that all of
those around the country, you are not by yourself. We
are keeping our options open. What we are not trying
(34:04):
to do is tear down the NAACP because it has
done good works across the country, but.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
This administration dead.
Speaker 6 (34:12):
Johnson's sweet love, Erica Kaine, a so called lawyer Hoffman,
all of them are on the click. Anytime you want
to hang on to that four hundred and sixty thousand
dollars plus salary, when all of us out here put
our money out of our pocket, just continue to do
the work of the NAACP.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
You are not alone.
Speaker 6 (34:34):
Call us three two three six nine six two zero
seven eight. Email us your information Justice for NAACP members
at gmail dot com.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
When you fight, you win.
Speaker 6 (34:51):
We are not going to stand here and allow that
click to continue to oppress members that are out here doing.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
The work, all right, We'll look. We shorely appreciate y'all
being on the show. Shurely keep us abreast what happens next.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
Hey, we keeping on. This is open trust all right,
thanks about all of you.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 8 (35:10):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
What's gonna go to break?
Speaker 8 (35:11):
We come back.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
We're gonna discuss what's happening in Terren County where the
White da there continues to defend the prosecution of Crystal Mason.
This is going on eight years now after the depellate court.
Throughout the commission he argued at the count of Commissioner's
meeting that they should that he will continue to appeal
the decision and try to prosecute her. We'll talk to
one of the Terran County commissioners who challenge him in
(35:35):
that meeting. You're watching Roland Martin unfiltered right here on
the Black stud Network. A lot of y'all have been
asking me about the pocket squares that we're available on
our website. She'd be rocking and shaboy pocket square right here.
It's all about looking different now. Look, summertime is coming up,
y'all know. I keep trying to tell fellas change your look,
(35:58):
please you can't wear athletic shoes every damn wear, So
if you're putting on linen suits, if you're putting on
some summer suits, have a whole different look. The reason
I like this particular pocket square these sho boors because
it's sort of like a flower and looks pretty cool
here versus the traditional boring silk pocket squares. But also
(36:20):
I like being a little different as well, So this
is why we had these custom made feather pocket squares
on the website as well. My sister actually designed these
after a few years ago. I was in his battle
with Steve Harvey at Essence and I saw this at
a Saint Jude fundraiser. I saw this feather pocket square
and I said, well, I got some ideas, so I
hit her and she sent me about thirty different ones,
(36:43):
and so this completely changes your look now, some of
you men out there, I had some dudes say, oh, man,
I can't wear that. Well, if you ain't got sweagging,
that's not my problem. But if you're looking for something
different to spruce up your look, fellas ladies, if y'all
looking to get your man a good gift, I've had
(37:03):
I've run into brothers all across the country with the
feathers pocket squares saying see check mine out, and so
it's always good to see them.
Speaker 9 (37:10):
And so this is what you do.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Go to roll this Martin dot Com forge Slash pocket squares.
You could order Shabory pocket squares or the custom made
pocket squares. Now for the chaborious. We're out of a
lot of the different colors, and I think we're down
to about two or three hundred, So you want to
get your order in as soon as you can, because
here's what happened. I got these several years ago, and
they the Japanese company sided to deal with another company,
(37:34):
and I bought them before they signed that deal, and
so I can't get access to any more from the
company in Japan than mix them, and so get yours now.
So come summertime when I see y'all, in essence, y'all
could be looking fly with the Shaboy Pocat square or
the custom made pocket square again rolling this Martin dot
Com for Slash pocket squares.
Speaker 19 (37:53):
Go there now.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Hello, we're the Credit of Fictions.
Speaker 16 (38:02):
I'm doctor Vernada Hodges and I'm doctor Terrence Ferguson, and
you're tuning in to Roland Martin unfilchre.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
All right, folks, welcome back. This is a live look
at the Florida and M University Board of Trustees meeting
where they are asking a lot of questions of President
Larry Robinson and his staff with regards to the funding
this donor gift of two hundred and thirty seven million
dollars in stock that took place over the weekend. The
President has announced on this call that given the scrutiny,
(38:48):
given this heightened scrutiny, they are putting the processing of
this donation on hold. These boarder Trustees members had no
idea about this donation. There are lots of questions. I
can tell y'all, right, now, there's actually not real money here, okay,
So just so you understand what's going on. There's not
actual real money that's going on here. And so this
(39:12):
was a two hundred and thirty seven million dollars that
was in stock, in stock that was given to the university,
but stock in a private company. Well, there are lots
of questions of what is this company? Is it a
real company, what's the valuation of this company? And so
(39:32):
we're going to talk further about that when we talked
to a gentleman who's actually monitoring this. He's been posting
a lot of information on social media. We talked to
him later in the show, So we're just going to
keep you updated on that. Now, folks, let's talk about
the continuing mess in Arrant County where Christal Mason continues
to be terrorized by the Terrant County DA. Now, remember
(39:57):
it was eight years ago when Crystal Mason voted in
the twenty sixteen election. She thought she could vote, She
filled a provisional ballot. The ballot was never counted, but
she was prosecuted as a result of being indicted because
she was already on a parole from a federal tax
(40:18):
fraud conviction, she was sent back to federal prison to
complete that term. Two years was added to her sentence.
They've been fighting it. They won in the Court of Appeals. Now,
Terran County DA Philip Soorrols stood before the County Commissioner's
court this week to defend why he wants to appeal
(40:41):
that decision and why he continues to terrorize Crystal Mason.
Speaker 20 (40:49):
The Court of Criminal Appeals told the Fort Worth Court
to perform a sufficiency analysis. Specifically, they told the courts
to determine if the state proved with sufficient evidence not
only that Mason knew that she was on supervisor release
when she voted, but also that she actually realized that
those circumstances, that the fact that she was on felony
supervised release, that those circumstances rendered her ineligible to vote.
(41:15):
Sufficiency review is not uncommon. The standard is well settled.
It's something that courts do regularly. The appeals court in
a sufficiency review there to look at the evidence. They
look back at the evidence that they're not in the
light most favorable to the verdict. So they look back
(41:37):
and say, okay, we know what the verdict was. The
verdict was that she was found guilty. Now is there
sufficient evidence to support that verdict? But that's not what
happened in the Second Court of Appeals this past March. Instead,
the court reweighed the evidence. They acted like a fact finder.
I like that piece of evidence, I'll take that. I
(41:59):
don't believe that piece of evidence, I'm going to push
it away. That's not what you do in a sufficiency standard.
They credited and discredited evidence just like they were the
fact fighter. This is not a fact question. We are
not here to talk about facts. This is a legal question,
a matter of legal principles, sufficiency of the evidence. Their
(42:20):
decision was a deviation from well settled law on sufficiency reviews.
Speaker 21 (42:26):
So why is the state Why am I appealing in
this case? Well, I'll give you three reasons.
Speaker 20 (42:31):
Number One, I want would be illegal voters to know
that we're watching, and then we'll follow the law and
we will prosecute illegal voting.
Speaker 21 (42:44):
I want those that vote legally to know that we're watching.
Speaker 20 (42:50):
And that we're working to make sure that your vote's
not going to be deluded by any illegal votes.
Speaker 21 (42:57):
And finally, this is a deviation from the well.
Speaker 20 (43:01):
Settled law regarding sufficiency reviews and it needs to be corrected.
This case, if it's left standing, impacts every sufficiency case
in the State of Texas, not just voting cases, murder cases,
theft cases, capital murder cases, any kind of case.
Speaker 21 (43:18):
This case, it's a published opinion, can be cited for
a proposition that this is how you review sufficiency cases.
And it's wrong.
Speaker 20 (43:28):
So we need the Quarter Criminal Appeals to come and
tell the Second Corp Appeals that you need to do
the sufficiency standard evaluation.
Speaker 21 (43:37):
Again, have an answer any of your questions.
Speaker 22 (43:41):
Questions for mister Sols, I have a bunch, but I'll
wait until after public comment. But let me ask you this.
How she did not vote? She submitted a provisional abounding.
Speaker 23 (43:59):
I keep hearing her in the audience. I'm gonna start
watching and start removing people. That's not what we're gonna do.
So sit there, let the process play out. You'll have
your opportunity to speak. Listen to what others are saying.
Do not speak out, or you'll be removed from the chambers.
Speaker 21 (44:16):
Go ahead. So she didn't vote, She did vote. She
cast her provisional ballots, the.
Speaker 4 (44:21):
Same with voting that did not count. Where is the ballot?
Speaker 14 (44:24):
Sir?
Speaker 4 (44:25):
What happened to the ballot?
Speaker 21 (44:27):
I can't tell you what happened to me. What do
they do with a provisional ballot? Administrator? So I don't
know where the ballot.
Speaker 4 (44:32):
Is now, Chandler, do you know what they do with
provisional ballots?
Speaker 24 (44:37):
No, no, no, man, I don't know.
Speaker 4 (44:38):
My apologies, it didn't count. Is that correct?
Speaker 21 (44:42):
You're wrong?
Speaker 20 (44:43):
The Corcinal Appeals this felled that quickly and said this
was a vote. The question was not did she vote?
It was did she actually realize that while she was
on felony supervised for supervision, that she.
Speaker 21 (44:59):
Wasn't allowed to vote?
Speaker 22 (45:01):
Okay, so the ballot was never cured, so it wasn't counted,
so she didn't vote.
Speaker 4 (45:09):
How else she didn't vote? How else does?
Speaker 5 (45:12):
How else?
Speaker 22 (45:13):
Does the Court of appeals weigh the sufficiency of the
evidence Without weighing the evidence, They.
Speaker 20 (45:21):
Look at the evidence most favorable to the verdict, So
they're not trying to figure out did they get it right.
They look to see if there's evidence so you find
your conclusion, then an argument. They have a conclusion guilty
of the offense. So now they're going to look and
see is there evidence that supports that. Now, a normal
try or fact would say, look, this person testified and
(45:43):
I don't believe anything they had to say, Or this
person testified I believe everything they had to say. Or
you have another witness that says I believe some of it,
but part of that doesn't ring true. That's what a
trier a fact does. That's not what an appellate court does.
An appellate court looks at the law facts.
Speaker 25 (46:01):
It is sad to say that it is still true today,
but brother, Malcolm X said this, The most disrespected person
in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person
in America is the black woman. The most neglected person
in America is the black woman. You see, historically we
have been your mammys, your maids, and your mistresses. But
today we are your doctors, your lawyers, your judges, your teachers,
(46:25):
your professors, your county commissioners, your vice president, and your
Supreme Court justice. Indeed, we are the backbone of this
democracy we call the United States.
Speaker 5 (46:35):
So instead of wasting.
Speaker 25 (46:36):
Our tax payer dollars, as DA Souls just went after
going after a black woman who has been acquitted of
an eight year ordeal, why don't you go after the
candidate who was declared ineligible to run for Mansfield iss
D Trusty place too, who did vote in the March
Republican primary despite being ineligible at the time.
Speaker 26 (46:55):
I believe Crystal Mason did not know she was not
eligible to vote when she cast a provisional ballot. She
only voted a provisional ballot and it was never cured
and her vote was never counted. She served time in
jail and her case went through the courts and appeal process.
(47:16):
I believe the only reason Da Sarles wants to reverse
her appeal is because he wants to engage in voter suppression.
He just wants to instill fear in voters. I'm adding
my voice of disbelief to the action of.
Speaker 27 (47:34):
The district Attorney and seeking to restore Crystal Mason's conviction.
As the appellate Court noted in reversing the conviction, the
state's evidence was not sufficient to quote prove beyond a
reasonable doubt that she actually knew that being on supervised
release after having served her entire federal suddence of incarceration
(47:55):
made her ineligible to vote by casting a provisional ballot
when she did so. Yes, voting is a cornerstone of
our democracy and that is exactly why the prosecution against
her never should have happened.
Speaker 28 (48:12):
Our Tarrent County Days Office stated at our quotes voting
is the cornerstone of our democracy. This office will protect
the ballot box from frosters who think are lost.
Speaker 8 (48:23):
Don't apply to them.
Speaker 1 (48:25):
Now.
Speaker 28 (48:27):
When your office was given information about Angel Holdaco, a
disgraced in eligible mansfell I SDS school Board candidate for
Place two, you chose not to act even our local
school board, which does lack integrity, chose to at least
find mister hodago At eligible and even if he received
(48:47):
the most votes, he would not have been able to
actually take a position on our local school board.
Speaker 21 (48:51):
The public is not on.
Speaker 29 (48:52):
Your side on this issue, Tha Souls, which is concurring
with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruling which you
put it, or of any wrongdoing.
Speaker 21 (49:00):
Our DA now appealing this acquittal.
Speaker 29 (49:01):
Maybe it's because the so called voter Integrity task Force,
which has prosecuted zero offenses, grasping at straws to justify
the expense of.
Speaker 21 (49:09):
Our county taxpayer dollars.
Speaker 29 (49:11):
Maybe it's because we like to target minority women of
color to intimidate them not to show up at the polls.
Maybe it's an homage to Trump's call to Tarrant County
when he lost the vote to Biden in twenty twenty,
to look into voter fraud in line with his lies
that the election was stolen.
Speaker 21 (49:25):
I am tired of our.
Speaker 29 (49:26):
County officials wasting tax money while targeting people of color
as their expression of allegiance to Trump. I am tired
of black Tarrant County citizens being disenfranchised dehumanized and incarcerated
based on illegitimate and incompetent charges. The money wasted on
useless voter suppression tactics would be better spent on a
public defender's office specializing in mental health.
Speaker 1 (49:47):
I mean now, as Terrant County Commissioner Elisa Simmons, Commissioner Simmons,
glad to have you here. It is abundantly clear that
this is a massive waste of taxpayer dollars. Have you,
Commissioner Brooks or any other commissioner asked this DA to
tabulate how many hours have been committed by the Tank
(50:11):
County DA's office to this single case. Not yet.
Speaker 22 (50:16):
What I did yester or Tuesday was ask how much
of our taxpayer dollars will be committed to this frivolous,
wasteful pursuit to overturn the appeal?
Speaker 4 (50:35):
If you have time to listen to that entire exchange.
Speaker 22 (50:41):
He said something about committing one attorney to this case.
He wouldn't give a number, and made some ansenine comment
again about saying he's going to commit one attorney to
(51:05):
this appeal.
Speaker 4 (51:06):
Just ridiculous, What was it?
Speaker 1 (51:07):
Nonsensical? This was twenty sixteen. We've had the twenty eighteen midterms,
the twenty twenty president's election, the twenty twenty two midterm election,
now moving towards the twenty twenty four president election, and
they still done. It's like, dude, it's one person, one person.
Speaker 4 (51:26):
Look this DA and as you said, the.
Speaker 1 (51:29):
Ballot never counted. It was a provisional ballot. It was
never processed, it was never it never went through.
Speaker 22 (51:38):
This guy is trying to make a name for himself
and he sees this as an easy way to do it.
Speaker 4 (51:46):
I guess they ought to be embarrassed.
Speaker 22 (51:49):
Look this guy, Judge Charles da the DA, the sheriff,
the MAGA Sheriff Bill Waybourn, and our county judge who
you you just watched be rude to the audience because
they moaned or sighed or something like that. These three
(52:13):
guys came up with this election integrity unit. So we
now have this election integrity unit that we you know,
we have to pay staff to staff it, and they
are they're supposed to go out and receive identify cases
(52:34):
of alleged voter fraud. This county has had probably three
to five voter fraud cases UH in the past decade.
Speaker 8 (52:45):
There there is no.
Speaker 22 (52:49):
There's no proliferation of voter fraud in Terran County. So
I guess they're going to keep going after poor miss
Mason Uh to try and prove it. It doesn't make sense.
The public comments or said it much better than I can.
Speaker 4 (53:07):
You heard them.
Speaker 22 (53:09):
This is a waste of taxpayer dollars for as a sufficiency,
just all of it.
Speaker 4 (53:13):
It's ridiculous.
Speaker 22 (53:15):
And we had probably a historic turnout Tuesday for a
number of reasons, and because I anticipated the turnout, I
agendaized this topic. And you saw this DA's poor performance
in answering questions from a late person.
Speaker 4 (53:32):
Right, I'm not an attorney, and.
Speaker 22 (53:37):
This is embarrassing and I will continue to call this
crap out until I can't do it anymore.
Speaker 1 (53:47):
Are you planning on keeping this on the agenda every
month to force this DA to come before the court
and explain himselfs because his money comes from the taxpayers.
Speaker 22 (53:58):
Yeah, I like that idea. I've done it before on
a different issue. I just agendaized it week after week
after week after week.
Speaker 1 (54:05):
So so y'all, y'all meet weekly or monthly.
Speaker 4 (54:08):
And we meet the first and third to esday of
each month.
Speaker 1 (54:11):
I will listen would I would haul his ass down,
have him have to stand there every week and defend
this and hopefully people keep coming out and protesting because
it is shameful. And what are your other colleagues saying,
I mean, are any of them ticked off by by
this constant pull the commissioners up? Go ahead, show the graphic.
(54:34):
Are any of them standing with you saying, da, this
is idiotic? What are you doing?
Speaker 30 (54:42):
No?
Speaker 4 (54:43):
Now?
Speaker 22 (54:44):
In his defense, Commission Brooks was out yesterday. I think
you said a conference or something. But the other three
sat there dead silent. The one in the center is
the ring leader of all of this. You know, we
(55:04):
we have a Maga court. You see the Precinct one,
Precinct two where the Democrats and then the other three
are maga and so we.
Speaker 4 (55:14):
Frequently get out voted on everything.
Speaker 22 (55:17):
Whatever we put on the agenda for our constituents, our communities,
our nonprofits get voted down by these three.
Speaker 4 (55:25):
So you know, people have to vote right. But we
will keep you know, the two of us won't be.
Speaker 22 (55:33):
Able to do anything about Ms Mason except for call
it out, get the public commenters down there to speak
to it. We had a record amount of public commenters
yesterday and Tuesday, and many of them spoke to this issue.
This is ridiculous when I tell you how overcrowded our
(55:56):
jail is. Done needs to be focus seeing on reducing
the backlog of viable cases, viable cases that he has,
But no, he wants to play games with this woman's
life and with our taxpayer dollars.
Speaker 1 (56:14):
Y'all.
Speaker 4 (56:14):
It is crazy here.
Speaker 22 (56:16):
Terran County is the last large urban red county in
this country and they are not wanting to let loose
because they would like to play games like this with
this woman's life.
Speaker 4 (56:30):
It's crazy.
Speaker 1 (56:32):
I'm gonna put my panel right now. Arecy Colbert, hosts
series Exit radio show out of DC, doctor Greg Card
Department of Back of America Studies and Howard University out
of DC. And law Victoria Burt writing for a Black
Press USA out of Arlington, Virginia, lawn yew.
Speaker 18 (56:46):
First, I'm wondering, why have you heard from anyone from
like a national organization that does voting. I mean, obviously
black voters are always taught sold, of course, to vote
harder and all that. I'm wondering if you've heard from
the national NAACP or even the White House on this
because it seems to me that this person, Phil Sorels,
(57:07):
who's obviously obsessed with Crystal Mason, he should get his
wish with regard to being famous. He should be made
famous by every voting rights organization, anybody who cares about
voting rights in the United States, and he should be
made famous for all the wrong reasons. Have you heard
from anybody on sort of a national level.
Speaker 22 (57:24):
I not, no, ma'am, not since he announced this back
on April twenty fifth. Now, Crystal has some great local
attorneys and her she has ACLU of Texas attorneys as well,
and so I consulted them just in the past week
(57:47):
about this case and how I should approach my line
of questioning.
Speaker 1 (57:51):
But this guy was so.
Speaker 22 (57:54):
Abrasive and you know, and dismissive. And I've been here
since ten am, so I'm not going to stay here
any longer. You ask your questions now, I have work
to do, so but no, I've not heard from the
national organizations. But I need to and I need some
help this And I appreciate this forum. And I know
(58:19):
you've had attorney Kim Coles on before. I appreciate this
forum to hopefully elevate this and get this out there.
Speaker 4 (58:27):
I need help. There are only two of us and
it takes you got to counsel.
Speaker 1 (58:35):
Absolutely.
Speaker 17 (58:36):
Reci Commissioner, thank you for being here. Can you explain
exactly the process this hearing. I wasn't really clear if
this was a hearing to grant his appeal or this
is a hearing to just explain his appeal. Can you
walk us through where exactly this is in the process
of this DA trying to recharge Chris me Son.
Speaker 22 (59:01):
Well, she was acquitted or got the ruling I think
it was March March twenty eighth.
Speaker 1 (59:10):
Yeah, there was March twenty sixth. You get the Court
of Appeals that throughout her conviction. And so so the
t County DA is seeking to appeal that ruling of
the Court of Appeals.
Speaker 22 (59:23):
Okay, and so what you just witnessed commissioners meet the
first and third Tuesday of the month, and so this
was our first meeting since the DA announced he was
going to appeal that ruling. Okay, And so I agendized
(59:44):
this to get a briefing from him. He needs to
come to Commissioner's court and tell us why he has
chosen to appeal this.
Speaker 19 (59:53):
What is going to.
Speaker 4 (59:54):
Cost, so on and so forth, and so he was
there to to take our questions.
Speaker 22 (01:00:01):
And so when we have an item that is agendazed,
the public can sign up to speak to it, and
so they also.
Speaker 4 (01:00:10):
Ask questions and had comments to make.
Speaker 22 (01:00:12):
So that's that's what you were watching the first Commissioner's
court since his announcement that he was going to appeal.
Speaker 19 (01:00:22):
Greg.
Speaker 16 (01:00:24):
Thank you Roland, and thank you Commissioner Simmons. In reading
one of the reports about the what we what we
were just viewing in terms of the meeting, uh read
that Crystal Brown, Aforence Hill resident, said that she wanted
to thank mister O'Hare for waking the sleeping black panther
of Tarank County. I'm wondering if this, if you see
(01:00:45):
this perhaps a galvanizing moment. And and forgive me if
I have this incorrect. But last month, did this Punk O'Hare,
this faith, family and freedom? Punk the judge judge did
he did he tell you you'll sit there and be quiet.
I'm just trying to I mean, these guys are talking
with impunity. Could this be a moment to spark black
(01:01:06):
people to finally get together in what appears to be
a county of over two million people majority nine. I'm
white at least if it's forty four percent, understand white,
although there's some white his banks as well. You know,
could this be a flashpoint moment with these guys just
talking so crazy, telling you to be quiet, telling the
apparently law enforcement to be prepared to remove people from
the building if they look like they're going to be disrupted.
(01:01:28):
Who the hell do they think they're talking to? Commission
and times be a moment to kind of get our.
Speaker 22 (01:01:33):
People five sir, Yes, So our last meeting, I questioned
a contract that he had on the agenda to hire
a Republican political consultant to work in his office.
Speaker 4 (01:01:49):
Well, we don't. We don't pay use county tax.
Speaker 22 (01:01:53):
Dollars to pay Republican or Democratic political consultants.
Speaker 4 (01:02:00):
To work for us, you know. And so I questioned
his contract.
Speaker 22 (01:02:06):
Commissioner Brooks, the brother you see question the contract really
went hard on him, and the public speakers did. And
so I went last and I said, well I agree
with Commissioner Brooks, and he lit.
Speaker 4 (01:02:20):
Into me and tried to question me about his contracts.
Speaker 22 (01:02:27):
Well, you have staff that are posting political stuff on
your I said, we're not talking about my social media.
We're talking about your contract. And he tried to ask
me questions. I said, okay, I'll answer one of his questions.
In the process, he said, you be quiet, you sit
there and listen to me until I'm finished.
Speaker 4 (01:02:49):
And so, uh, you got to see the.
Speaker 1 (01:02:52):
Video and I we got to We're gonna find that video.
Speaker 22 (01:02:56):
I cussed, really, I'm not the guy, because don't let
how I custom really, but I didn't, and I just
simply said, who are you like you cannot tell me
when and when not to speak.
Speaker 4 (01:03:10):
And so that was the thing that caught everybody's attention.
Speaker 22 (01:03:17):
And so a lot of local organizations, white, Black, Purple,
Hispanic Faith based not the Divine Nine planned uh direct action,
and yesterday or Tuesday, they came to court, and because
I knew that they were planning it, I was not
(01:03:38):
in on the planning. I decided, I'm going to agendie
Crystal Mason.
Speaker 4 (01:03:44):
And I was quite alarm.
Speaker 22 (01:03:47):
Because we we will have a lot of people there.
I was hearing a lot of people were coming. So
I decided, let's let's agendize Crystal Mason. So the people
aren't there at the Commission's sport meeting board listening to
us talk about contracts for HVAC Agendaze Crystal Mason. I
agendized the jail debts. We have a proliferation of jail debts.
(01:04:11):
We had two in a matter of four days. The
last one was after an altercation, and so I agendized
the sheriff to come give us an update on that.
I agendaized a DA to come give us a briefing
on the Crystal Mason case. The sheriff refused to come,
(01:04:33):
and anyway, they got win that there was going to
be a crowd there and we had historic attendants. They
had to do two overflows. They had my staff came
and got me from the parking garage because now I
have to have some personal protection when I'm downtown. And
(01:04:55):
I got We walked up to the building and I said,
what on earth is all all of this response?
Speaker 4 (01:05:01):
There were sheriffs units around the building.
Speaker 22 (01:05:04):
There were forty sheriff's deputies teeming all throughout the small
administration building.
Speaker 4 (01:05:11):
They were everywhere just just.
Speaker 22 (01:05:14):
Disrespectful because you anticipate black people are coming to their
commissioner's court. Just like the White House, that's the people's house.
Missis's courts people's house, and so it was. It was
a galvanizing moment. So I had there were people there
talking about the disrespect to Simmons, Commissioner Simmons, Crystal Mason,
(01:05:38):
and the jail debts, and so it was overflow. We
had pastors and bishops and it's just so many people.
And the good thing about it is they were amazed.
There were two megachurch pastors sitting in my office after
a break and I went to speak to them and
(01:05:59):
they said, I'm sorry, we had no idea. This is
what commissioner's court deals with. I said, oh, how long
have you been sitting here? They've been there since ten o'clock.
And watch that man talk rudely. He didn't want the
people to speak. They couldn't side, they couldn't clap, they
couldn't And understand, in Texas all turn and fifty four
(01:06:22):
counties they have a five member Commissioner's Court.
Speaker 4 (01:06:25):
Right the county judge has no more.
Speaker 22 (01:06:29):
Authority than the four commissioners. He presides the meetings. He
can declare an emergency without the commissioner right like a
burn band, you know, if it's you know, summertime, ras
is dry.
Speaker 4 (01:06:44):
He can do that.
Speaker 22 (01:06:45):
Other than that, he has no more authority than I do.
He has no more influence, has no more influence over
the budget. But the power this man has is he's
got three votes.
Speaker 19 (01:06:56):
Right.
Speaker 1 (01:06:58):
Look, look in Harris County, Democrats now control the County
Commissioner's Court, which is why they've been trying to take
out Lean the Hidalgo. And so because that's the case
down they broke. They broke that Republican grip. Republicans used
to control the Dallas County Commissioners Court. Now Democrats controlled
that as well, And that's really what's ticking off all
(01:07:18):
these maga Republicans and Democrats controlled Dallas County, they control
Harris County, they control Bear County, they controlled Travis County,
and so Terror County is really the last large county
in Texas that Republicans have control over. Well, you can
go ahead. So here's so you can go ahead and
tell the Sheriff's department that they're gonna need to do
(01:07:41):
that again. I've already sent a text message to a
variety of folk. We plan on coming down to Fort
Worth to also have a larger rally. And so I've
reached so I've been talking to Reverend Frederick Douglas Hayes,
who's there in Dallas. And so we'll be communicating with
you getting information on the next Commission's meeting when we
(01:08:02):
plan this action. Because this is not just Crystal Mason.
Is what they did to the brother in Harris County
who stood in line for six hours. They scared that
brother to deaths so bad he says, I'm not going
to vote any election again. We saw what happened in
Florida when Ron Desandi's sickest sickest dogs on formally incarcerated
folk arrested them. All the charges were thrown out. They
(01:08:26):
were trying to again keep those formally incarcerated folks from
casting ballots. This is what Maccan Republicans are doing across
the country, and so the amount of resources to targeting
this one woman is offensive. And that's why I say
Phil Sorels is terrorizing Christen Mason, Crystal Mason. There's an
other way to look at this here. This is one
case eight years old. This man is spending more time
(01:08:51):
going after this one woman who cast a provisional ballot
than they do fighting other serious crime in the county.
In this shameful and this, This is trying to create
a chilling effect to tell black folks in Terran County
We're gonna do the same thing to you. And so
this is why black folks in terrn County and Fort
Worth have got to rise up and vote their numbers
(01:09:12):
in these elections because these people can be beat, but
they have the power because we also don't turn out.
In maximizing our numbers. We have more.
Speaker 22 (01:09:22):
Registered Democrats in Terran County than Republicans.
Speaker 4 (01:09:27):
Well, it's a turnout game, yep. These people got to
turn out.
Speaker 1 (01:09:32):
They can't call me yep, mad and upset.
Speaker 4 (01:09:35):
Yeah right, And I've been I.
Speaker 22 (01:09:37):
Was the NAACP president in Arlington for ten years and
so I've told people don't stop calling me. And now
gotten elected and I have more authority, more power, more
influences in DOUBLEACP president than I have.
Speaker 1 (01:09:51):
You were chapter president when I spoke there, Yes that
was me, Yes, all right, yeah, absolutely, well listen we come.
Speaker 22 (01:10:00):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (01:10:01):
And so they may they better add some more shriff
folks because the number of folks were gonna have out
that is gonna be much larger than what they saw
this past week. And the pressure has to stay on them. Uh.
And absolutely. I would put his I would put Crystal
Mason on the agenda at every commissioner's meeting, and that way,
that way he got to haul his behind there and
(01:10:21):
face the people and not behind not high behind closed doors.
Speaker 22 (01:10:25):
Yes, sir, thank you for hearing from me this. This
has been therapeutic. Uh it is it is insane, ye,
what's happening here?
Speaker 1 (01:10:33):
All right?
Speaker 4 (01:10:34):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (01:10:34):
Tell Roy Brooks. I'm calling him next to him on
the show as well, so as I saw him a
couple of weeks ago, So tell them I'm hitting him up.
Thank you, I appreciate it. Thanks about it.
Speaker 4 (01:10:43):
I want to say thank you to everybody that came out.
It was, it was amazing. It's a lonely proposition up there.
Speaker 22 (01:10:50):
I'm just telling you, yep for the turnout, overflow, seeing
people everywhere was amazing.
Speaker 1 (01:10:57):
All right, then, wont to be the last time you.
We appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thanks all right, folks,
we've come back. We're gonna chat with Ben Crump about
this case out of Tulsa. We're gonna talk to Florida
A and M donation. Folks. This is why you got
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(01:11:18):
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There is no other black news outlet that literally hits
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(01:11:40):
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Speaker 31 (01:12:52):
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Another way, We're giving you the freedom to be you
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Speaker 32 (01:13:22):
On a next a balance life with me, Doctor Jackie.
The necessity of believing in things you can't see. It's
called faith. It comes in all shapes and sizes, and
it's powerful and it's a big part of being able
to live a balance life.
Speaker 33 (01:13:36):
The ballet I experienced being a cancer survivor was one
where my footing was completely unstable.
Speaker 11 (01:13:42):
I had no idea what to do and in that
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Speaker 32 (01:13:48):
That's all next on a balanced life only. I'm blessed
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Speaker 1 (01:13:56):
First president of Barack Obama's Road to the White House.
We got about five hundred copies of the book available,
and so this actually is all of the coverage of
the two thousand and eight election. But the other thing
is this here I talked to folks like Malik Yoba Hill, Harper,
Eric Alexandria, Kevin Lyles, Spike Lee, Tatyana Ali. But there's
a lot of behind the scenes stuff in here as well,
(01:14:18):
where I talked about some of the stuff that went
down at CNN. Also, when you go through here, a
lot of the photos that you see in here photos
that I actually shot, photos that were my time at CNN.
And So what I decided to do, because one I
published the book and I own it myself, is that
so I said, you know what, I'm gonna slash the
price of ten bucks, and so we're gonna have shipping
(01:14:40):
a Handley five hullion nine. I'm gonna personally autograph every copy.
I'm not reprinting the book, so once we are sold
out of these five hundred. That's it. They're gone. So
you can go to Rollinsmartin dot com Ford Slash the
first to get a copy of this book. Everybody who
orders this book through the website, not on Amazon, only
through ros dot com, I will personally autograph and mail
(01:15:02):
you a copy of this book. It's all of the covers,
the actually interviews that I did with him, and just
to show you, of course when it came out, there's
actually even in here, uh, the interviews that I did
with him and Michelle Obama which won TV one Cable Networks,
his first two NAACP image of Wards and so all
(01:15:23):
of that for ten bucks shipping and Hanley is five
ninety nine. So go to Roland as Martin dot com
the first and order your copy today. Hey, what's up?
Gee too?
Speaker 34 (01:15:31):
In a place to you got kick Touching Mama's University
creator and that could producers of Fat Tuesday's and area
hip hop comedy. Right now, I'm rolling with Roland Martin, unfiltered, uncut, unplugged,
and undamned believable.
Speaker 1 (01:15:46):
Him, folks. Another shameful story of police action, this time
out of Florida. A senior airman, a black Air Force
(01:16:08):
senior airman has been shot and killed by Florida Sheriff's deputies.
Twenty three year old Senior Airman Roger Fortson was fatally
shot on May third after the Okahoosa County Sheriff's office
burst into his home. Report said the deputy was responding
to a call about a disturbance in progress and reacted
in self defense after seeing Fortson with a gun, but
(01:16:34):
family attorney Ben Crump says the officers were at the
wrong address and did not identify himself when knocking on
the door. Fortson reportedly on the phone retrieved his gun
when he did not see anyone outside, but the knocking continued.
Krump and Rogers's family viewed the bodycam footage today, being
(01:16:56):
Crump joins us, right now, Ben, so what the heck
happened here?
Speaker 9 (01:17:03):
What?
Speaker 19 (01:17:03):
What?
Speaker 35 (01:17:04):
What?
Speaker 14 (01:17:04):
What?
Speaker 16 (01:17:04):
What?
Speaker 1 (01:17:04):
Were they even executed? Was it disturbance?
Speaker 8 (01:17:10):
Roland? It's unbelievable. This young man was a model United
States member of the Armed Forces. He has no criminal
history in his background. He was on the phone with
his girlfriend on FaceTime the whole time leading up to this.
(01:17:31):
The family's adamant everything that we know about this case
tells us they went to the wrong apartment and when
you see what that door open, he told him to
step back. Roger was very very respectful law enforcement. He
(01:17:53):
stepped back in a split second, rolling in a split second,
he shot him six times. And what is being lit
out of this argument, out of this case is they
keep saying, well, he had a gun when he came
to the door. Where the reality is is Chris said,
(01:18:14):
they didn't hear the police identify themself. He said who
it is, and nobody identified himself based on what the
girlfriend said, and she's going to do her own press
conference so it's not lost in any translation. But when
he saw black man with a gun, even though he
was a law biding citizen with a registered license to
(01:18:35):
care what happened the Second Amendment rights, that police knit
him up. And right after he shot him, he did
said while he was on the ground toast the gun.
He didn't give any burpal commands to drop the gun
and put your hands in the air when he came
open that door. And that's what's troubling Roland. They continue
(01:18:56):
to try to justify the job killers out the best
young people.
Speaker 1 (01:19:04):
Did they knocked down the door or did fortune open
the door?
Speaker 8 (01:19:10):
They the video show that opens in less than a second.
He didn't begin shootinga hearing him six times.
Speaker 1 (01:19:23):
So wait a minute. Fortune opens the door and instead
of the officer saying come out with your hands up,
the moment he opens the door, the officer starts firing.
Speaker 8 (01:19:38):
Starts firing. Brother, When you see this video, you ut Roland,
I mean, it is deplorable when you look at how
fast he took this young man's life. And this young
man was outstanding every way. He was a special ops roller,
he had a build, a tour of duty. He was
taking his mother. It was that he wrote to his
(01:20:02):
little note ten, your sister, sixty your brother. In fact,
there's a photo we'll get to you. He was so
proud of being in the United States Air Force. He
had an airman's uniform all and he thought his nine
of your old little sister at the time airman's uniform.
And it's so adorable because he's she is saluting him.
(01:20:23):
And this is the type of person we had that
they are trying to make out to be the bad guy.
He wasn't the bad guy. He was a good guy.
Speaker 1 (01:20:38):
Questions from the panel recy.
Speaker 17 (01:20:42):
Yes, thank you mister Crump for bringing attention to this case.
What about the neighbor that supposedly led the police to
mister Forreston's door. What have they said, if anything about
the situation.
Speaker 8 (01:20:59):
You're brilliant, miss Reesi, because you get to the crux
of the matter when you listen by the video. You
listen to her describe what's going on and that it's
fourteen oh one. Well, the reality is he is in
that apartment by himself on FaceTime for his girlfriend with
his little dog. There is no domestic disturbance. They went
(01:21:22):
to the wrong apartment, and God helped that leasing agent
at the apartment if she's the person who's sending them
to the wrong apartment, because that is the question. We're
at the right apartment. But even beyond that, you watch
that video, I mean, it has so many troubling questions
(01:21:45):
that become a parent. Number one, why did he give
Verber commands to put down the webench, put your hands
up firstus just manloading on him. Number Two, when he's
on the ground, he then gives the command taught your weapon,
And Roger couldn't have been more respectful of authority. He said,
(01:22:10):
I did. And then when you get his girlfriend's FaceTime video.
He's saying I can't breathe, and the cop said, yeahn
stop moving, stop moving. He's like, I can't breathe and
they don't offer him any medical assistance. And you watch
this twenty three to ohd American patriot die right before
(01:22:31):
our eyes.
Speaker 3 (01:22:35):
Lauren benis Lauren Burke.
Speaker 18 (01:22:39):
Do you know is there anything you can talk about
with regards to the police officer or the age of
the cop, any prior record of abuse, or the time
on the force, any experience of that address before.
Speaker 8 (01:22:51):
Miss Lauren. We don't have any information about the cop.
Obviously they want to try to assassinate this character because
the first statement that came out from them was they
didn't met he was a military officer anything. This is
a Fort Walton, Florida with England Air Force Base, is
that it's full of military people. They didn't want to
(01:23:13):
say that, and that they said officer responder to a
domestic dispute kills a armed citizen, you know, in self defense.
But the issue is you came to his apartment. He
had every right to have a good This is Florida,
(01:23:34):
for God's sakes. Every citizen is encouraged to have a
farm he is an officer who is militarily trained. He's
one of the people we want to have this. He's responsible,
he's very diplomatic, he's very.
Speaker 4 (01:23:53):
For a rural follower.
Speaker 8 (01:23:55):
I mean, he was the person who you would say,
if you're gonna be a good owner, how about we
have that guy who's trained to use bombs and so.
But when he had that good they tried to say, oh,
it was self defense, and it suggested Lauren that he
did something bad, that he was a criminal or something,
(01:24:18):
when there was nothing further from the truth. The officer
went to the wrong apartment.
Speaker 1 (01:24:25):
Thanks this uh, this right here, give me one second.
I'm pulling it up. Give me one second. Uh, And
I'm gonna advance this because folks, this is the bodycam footage.
I'll talk over. So go to the body cam footage.
This is the This is the deputy arriving at the scene.
(01:24:46):
The body camp footage was released publicly just three hours ago, folks,
And so listen, all right, got it, folks, to turn
it audio up. We'll stop talking.
Speaker 36 (01:24:55):
Turn the audio up, got sir, what's going.
Speaker 21 (01:25:07):
On the one I'm not sure.
Speaker 5 (01:25:09):
I just was told to let her know.
Speaker 9 (01:25:11):
If you guys come by, okay, so I'm gonna give
her a quick call. Do you guys have no letter?
Not fight going or something that I was not ready
for that?
Speaker 35 (01:25:21):
Okay?
Speaker 9 (01:25:24):
Yes, are they fighting or something?
Speaker 11 (01:25:40):
Thinking that it happens frequently?
Speaker 19 (01:25:42):
Okay, this can Okay, which.
Speaker 14 (01:25:45):
Story I'm not two weeks ago?
Speaker 37 (01:25:52):
Flatter apartment basically on this line, and I'm scary, so
I don't know stupid me word all sup?
Speaker 33 (01:26:03):
Like what after it?
Speaker 11 (01:26:04):
But I wasn't sure where esta from and I couldn't
call it.
Speaker 5 (01:26:07):
I didn't want to call it speed.
Speaker 9 (01:26:09):
Which room is it?
Speaker 5 (01:26:10):
Fourteen watch?
Speaker 24 (01:26:11):
Fourteen one?
Speaker 5 (01:26:12):
Okay, fourteen one?
Speaker 21 (01:26:16):
But the girls out of scare of the one at
hold she.
Speaker 4 (01:26:18):
Said she was like sitting out of sounds like it,
stating your.
Speaker 1 (01:26:21):
Very loud of him a ben, She said, fourteen oh one?
Was that Fortun's apartment number? It's like it was, yeah, okay,
hold on one second, Okay, got it?
Speaker 8 (01:26:45):
She said she wasn't sharing this? What whether you was that?
Speaker 19 (01:26:48):
Then?
Speaker 24 (01:26:49):
You said fourteen o one, one eleven, three twelve and
one eleven.
Speaker 35 (01:27:35):
Cap shures off some of the door share over the door,
(01:28:37):
buck trop, the cup trop, the gout trop, the gut.
Speaker 24 (01:28:48):
Three twelve shots fired, soundspect down, do not move, three twelve,
get you mess my location?
Speaker 8 (01:28:59):
Hm, i'mbelieving.
Speaker 1 (01:29:04):
Oh all right now, let me just let me that's
that's the end of the bodycam video there. I mean,
absolutely been no warning. Door barely opens, barely opens the weapon, Yeah,
go ahead.
Speaker 8 (01:29:25):
Didn't tell him to dropped the rip. You didn't give
a verbal a man dropped the weapon, put your hands up, nothing,
he said, step back. Roger was stepping back, never raised
the weapon right in his right hand, and he just
eluded on the rolling Martin.
Speaker 1 (01:29:42):
At no point, at no point in this did he
ever give the order to uh drop the weapon. Nothing.
It was like, literally that door open. He saw a
black man with a gun and he fired. And as
(01:30:02):
you said, we're in Florida. You can have a gun
in your home.
Speaker 8 (01:30:07):
Kid, Yep, yep, hey, Roland. It's so deep when you
look at him on the ground and he started giving
the commands after he's been shot. I mean, Roger's even
complying there. He says, toss the weapon TOAs and he
said I toased it. I mean, he couldn't have been
more compliant, but it didn't matter because for whatever reason,
(01:30:31):
I think we all know the reason. When he saw
that gun in his hand, he just said bad guy, and.
Speaker 1 (01:30:37):
Rogerter was damn yeah.
Speaker 8 (01:30:41):
Not for his record, it's flitting Shouler. He was a
decorated airman, he was in special ops. I mean he
was doing everything right.
Speaker 1 (01:30:52):
Great car.
Speaker 9 (01:30:55):
Thank you, Roland, I thank you, brother Crump.
Speaker 16 (01:30:58):
I wasn't aware that black people are encouraged in Florida
to be armed. In fact that I think we should
probably stop talking about a right to be on There
is no right to be anything in the United States
of America when you're black, not really, at least if
the law means more than just some words on a page.
But I want to ask you about the question. The
(01:31:21):
question I have to ask is what is the cost
to this struggle against these murderers for us to continue
to frame the victims as good as opposed to pay
people when nobody shouldn't.
Speaker 9 (01:31:34):
Exit from what I've.
Speaker 16 (01:31:36):
Read, the hunter has been put on administrative lead, probably paid.
The deputy hunter, the one who strode so confidently to
the door and as an accessory before the fact, named
the apartment fourteen oh one, certainly won't be punished. She's
a deputy cop, as are all people who do this
kind of thing. But is the what's the strategic value
of us mounting a defense of someone as a good person,
(01:32:01):
as if there is anyone who deserves to be murdered
by these murderers, is there some concession? And then does
the burden then shift from the killers to the victims
when we start talking about good people as supposed to
bad people shouldn't matter and why or why not.
Speaker 8 (01:32:17):
It shouldn't matter. But unfortunately we live in America where
race is always an issue and they try to criminalize
our race. They will assassinate our character after they assassinate us,
and that's what they'll tell me to do. He tried
to say self defense. It reminds you of both them
Jane and Dallas Stations when the policewoman went to the
(01:32:37):
wrong apartment and killed him and they're talking about I
was and filled my life self defense. It's the same
notion that it doesn't matter how good the black person is,
they still try to justify the unjustify the killings of
our people. It happens over and over. Antianna Jefferson. I mean,
(01:32:59):
we could just go down the list and it's all
these black people who are in their own home, in
the safety of their own dwelling, their counsel and their saint.
You're worried Breanna Taylor. But yet they all get killed
that and then they all try to justify and so
it shouldn't matter whether they have an unblemished record or not.
(01:33:20):
But we know, without a shell of a doubt, if
you would have had a check it past, that's all
we would have heard about. For the victim. We still
won't know anything about this killer officer. We won't hear
one word about his past.
Speaker 9 (01:33:38):
Ben Crump.
Speaker 1 (01:33:39):
We hate to have to have you on for these
type of stories, and we hate to have to show
those videos, but the reality is we left with no
choice because this is what happens to us all too often.
We will keep out on this case and we will
certainly see what's next to you.
Speaker 8 (01:33:57):
Thank you, Roland Martin, Thank you for coming out.
Speaker 1 (01:34:00):
Appreciate it. Thanks a lot, Ben. Folks going to break,
we come back. We're going to stay in Florida. The
Florida A and M University Board of Trustees meeting is over,
and frankly, there are more questions than we have after
the meeting than we had before the meeting. You're watching ROLLINGD.
Martin Unfiltered of a Black Start network. Support our work
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(01:34:23):
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Speaker 16 (01:34:48):
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To slow down racial quality.
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Like critical race.
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Theory today, a critical race theory today, communism back then
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Of power, connecting the civil rights movement to colonialism on
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If me Sherry Sabra and you know what you're watching
Roland Martin Unfiltered.
Speaker 8 (01:36:23):
Well.
Speaker 1 (01:36:23):
A few moments ago the Florida and M Board of
Trustees meeting ended where they were discussing this multi million
dollar donation from A. Gregory Jerami and the Isaac Batterson
the Seventh Family Trust. The check presentation took place this weekend,
where he also was the commencement speaker. It is the
largest donation given to Florida A and M, and certainly
(01:36:44):
one of the largest to an hbcun history. The board
had an emergency meeting today because there have been so
many questions surrounding this particular gift. This year was the
video of Florida A and M released on social media
about this donation, turning all you up, please I mean
(01:37:10):
and sign this agreement on the behalf of Florida and
M University to Rome Family Foundation.
Speaker 38 (01:37:16):
The two hundred and thirty seven million dollar gift is
more than the size of the Family endowment value and
represents one of the largest single personal donations to a
historically black college and university.
Speaker 13 (01:37:30):
Feel to give back to HPCU at this level, it's
important to me to be able to choose, for our
foundation to be able to choose a university where our
legacy will continue and will be the most impactful for
generations and generations to come. God is the most important
thing to our foundation in US.
Speaker 38 (01:37:49):
President doctor Lorry Robinson says this donation will have a
far reaching impact on the academics and the athletics programs
at Florida and M University.
Speaker 19 (01:37:59):
Well, we are and.
Speaker 39 (01:38:00):
Grateful, ecstatic about this game changing the nation of Florida.
Speaker 9 (01:38:05):
And M University.
Speaker 38 (01:38:06):
Jeremy is the founder of Battison Farms corporation and a
champion of sustainable agriculture and biodegradable hemp products in Texas
for Florida A and M University.
Speaker 3 (01:38:16):
I'm Jovonni Hampton, all right.
Speaker 1 (01:38:18):
Folks, Well, after that news came out, it took everyone
by surprise. So folks began to ask themselves the question,
who is this guy? Who is Gregory Jerami? Well, Jerrell
Blakely pein and op ed in education newsflash called for
the love of money? Has fam you been fooled? He's
(01:38:40):
been posting a number of different things on social media
about Gregory Jarami and these are questions that, frankly, were
not answered in today's board meeting. Jeremy joins us from Indianapolis.
So glad they had Drell's Sorry from Indianapolis. So Jerell
I listened to about an hour of the board meeting.
I had to go live on the show, and so
(01:39:01):
I'm listening to this conversation and they had the company
on that handles investments for Florida A and M, and
they were talking about paperwork things along those lines. So
basically those guys did not vet any of this, and
so then I had to jump off right when they
had the official arm talking about the vetting process and
how this Jerami reached out to them, how they begin
(01:39:25):
to have conversations with him. He wanted to make a
donation to the school. After the Spellman donation was announced
one hundred million dollars, they said, well, he wanted to
increase his offer. Then they begin to talk about this courtship.
So basically's just for everybody who doesn't understand, Famue has
not gotten any money. There's actually no money. So there's
(01:39:46):
two hundred and thirty seven million dollar number that people
are hearing. This number, it's not a real number. What
he has given them is stock certificates in this privately
company where he has assigned the value of these stocks
to be two hundred and thirty seven million dollars in
(01:40:11):
What they did was so he has signed, if I'm correct,
a fifteen dollars eighty five cent price per shared and
he's given Florida A and M University fifteen million shares
in this company. But it's a private company, so the
reality is it's not a publicly traded company right now.
(01:40:34):
So until there's an IPO or until someone privately buys
this company, Florida A and m ain't got no money
from this guy, right? Did you hear the same thing
that I heard?
Speaker 30 (01:40:51):
Well, first, brother Roland, thank you for having me on here.
I'm really honored to be on here to discuss this
very important issue.
Speaker 9 (01:40:59):
Today.
Speaker 30 (01:41:00):
Foundation board meeting at FAMU was a disgrace, and I
believe that it was a symbol of institutional failure at Florida.
Speaker 9 (01:41:12):
A and M University.
Speaker 30 (01:41:13):
What we learned today was that the trust contains several
million shares of worthless stock.
Speaker 9 (01:41:25):
There is no value to batters and farms.
Speaker 30 (01:41:28):
It doesn't have any land, it doesn't have all of
the necessary licenses, it doesn't have any employees, it doesn't
have any revenue that would allow it to be evaluated
anywhere near one hundred million dollar evaluation.
Speaker 9 (01:41:46):
And so today's meeting was disturbing the city of Lease.
Speaker 30 (01:41:52):
The fact that Florida A and M allowed this man
to basically calm them into accepting worth led the president
and leadership to not share this with their board, either
the foundation board or the university board because of a NDA.
(01:42:17):
It is quite frankly preposterous for fam you to basically
share that they received a worthless gift.
Speaker 9 (01:42:25):
I mean right, It means nothing. I mean, it's completely
I mean just for.
Speaker 1 (01:42:29):
Everybody who's who's watching. Okay, I have I own this company.
I own Blackstar Network. It's a private company. If I
did I right now, I could say, I'm going to
gift Texas Outhern University. I'm going to gift Paul Quinn
(01:42:52):
College fifteen million shares of stock in the Blackstar Network. Now,
even though I have actual company, I've got employees, I've
got revenue, I can then say, and this is listening
to the call, I could say, I am assigning a
value of this stock of fifteen dollars and eighty five
(01:43:13):
cents a share. I can just do it on my own,
no one, because what happens is unless there's an IPO,
then you can call it whatever you want to call it.
That's what this guy has done. Well, So let me
actually and then drell. When I was listening, here's what
(01:43:34):
I never heard, and I was waiting on it. Did
FAM you leadership ever visit this guy's company? Did they
ever visit his office? Did they ever confirm how many
employees he has? Go to my iPad? Taylahassee Democrat has
this story woman listed as co CEO with fam You donor,
(01:44:00):
she never worked for him. Kimberly Abbot, who formerly served
on the City Council in Birmingham, has known Jerami for years,
long before the thirty year old was celebrated for his donation.
In an operation that Jerame himself, says, employees only a
few full time administrators in a workforce of seven thousand
(01:44:24):
contract employees. Abbot was listed as co CEO and vice
chair of Batterson Farms Corporation, where Jerami is CEO. When
asked if she worked at Batterson Farms, Abbot said, I
never did. Jirell. That's called massive red flag.
Speaker 30 (01:44:45):
So here's the thing, Brother Rowland. They didn't even have
to visit these places. They could have merely googled. So
when I heard about this gifts and on Saturday, I
just google. It took me about ten fifteen minutes to
realize that this was a complete hoax. I don't understand
(01:45:06):
how it took me ten minutes to figure out that
this was a hoax. And it took fam you months of.
Speaker 1 (01:45:15):
Six months, they claim. They claimed it was a betting
process that lasted six months.
Speaker 9 (01:45:22):
It took me.
Speaker 30 (01:45:23):
It took me fifteen minutes to realize that This was
completely a hoax, which I was able to hop ed
so quickly because it was a parent And so the
fact of the matter is, this is a embarrassing and
I felt really bad for a number of reasons. Number one,
the students, those students who graduated from Florida and M
(01:45:44):
University worked really hard to graduate, and the fact that
they had to hear from this flimplan artist it was
actually shocking. I can remember my convincement of address speaker.
I graduated from Howard University and we had some really
really esteemed individuals to give.
Speaker 9 (01:46:01):
The commencement address.
Speaker 30 (01:46:02):
The fact that the university, like fam you, did not
do their due diligence and allowed this man to calm them.
Speaker 9 (01:46:11):
Listen, I make president of what's that?
Speaker 1 (01:46:14):
Well, But for the people who were on the call
his what's even crazy? They're on the call, they're discussing
the donation. I thought I heard this correct, maybe correct
if I'm wrong where they said some questions came up
and they still let them speak. I was listening going along,
(01:46:37):
and I just hear that they literally said some questions
a rose. But the president made the decision, yes, let's
move forward him as commencement speaker.
Speaker 30 (01:46:48):
I was like, so let me say this, So, so
let me say this, FAM you deserves better. The fact
that this happened is an institutional failure of massive proportions.
The fact that this man was vetted or wasn't wasn't
it and they allowed him to speak, It's just outrageous.
And so you know, it took me just a few
moments to realize that this gentleman was a fraud and
(01:47:12):
a hoax.
Speaker 35 (01:47:13):
Uh.
Speaker 30 (01:47:13):
And so I don't understand how you had an entire
university infrastructure. I was listening to the vice president of
advancement and the head of the foundation who actually mentioned
that she didn't actually even google this gentleman, or she
didn't do any due diligence.
Speaker 9 (01:47:31):
When you look at it was very easy to figure out.
Speaker 30 (01:47:33):
That this guy was not closher when you look at
what he did at Coastal Carolina University, h they could
literally pick up the phone and call the advancement office, Hey,
what's the deal with someone who was giving this large
amount to FAM you? And so overall, I just want
(01:47:54):
to say, FAM you deserve so much more. And for
folks who think that I'm picking off AM You, I'm
a Howard Graduate. If this happened at Howard, I would
do the exact same thing. I just think that it
speaks to a culture at families, leadership that allows themselves
to be conn when they literally could have spent fifteen
minutes or ten minutes and realized this was not to be.
Speaker 1 (01:48:17):
Let me, let's be clear, you pulled us up. First
of all, the goud just created a website. I mean
you if you, if you do a search, it is
as if this guy's a ghost. But when you pull
stuff out, when you pull stuff up, and I'm just
sort of sort of shaking my head, going, what in
(01:48:39):
the hell were the family you folks doing? And of
course the president now says they're putting this thing you know,
you know on ice. But I'm still not trying. I'm
still trying to understand some basic things. What does he
have a real business? Have you seen it? Have you
(01:48:59):
been through the offices he supposedly is the stocks are
in hydroponic and agriculture business. Have you seen any of it?
Has anybody with Florida and m physically said yes. We
visited this corporate office, we saw the farms, we met
with workers on that. Everything I heard in that call.
(01:49:20):
Nobody ever said that. When I got off after about
an hour, did you hear anybody say that?
Speaker 30 (01:49:27):
No, So that is what's actually outrageous. The fact of
the matter is you have an advancements office, you have
a president, and the fact that the president did not
let the board know is malfeasance of a highest level.
I can tell you that it's in competence. And I'll
just say this, fam you deserves better. The fact that
(01:49:48):
an esteem university that was led by so many great
people has fallen to these sort of levels is really
a shame. The class of twenty twenty four had a
very difficult time.
Speaker 1 (01:50:01):
Uh.
Speaker 30 (01:50:02):
You know, they started college in the middle of a pandemic. Uh,
and they deserve to have a commencement address a speaker.
So I'll tell you what I am willing for nothing.
I actually make a donation.
Speaker 9 (01:50:15):
I am willing to give a commencement address at Florida
and M University.
Speaker 30 (01:50:19):
Uh, so that they can hear from someone who who
you know, basically did more work to uncover this.
Speaker 4 (01:50:28):
Uh.
Speaker 9 (01:50:30):
They were educated.
Speaker 1 (01:50:31):
Hell, I spoke Saturday at Wilberforce graduation. Uh, and I've
done Stillman South Carolina State Lane. I got a real resume.
This dude ain't got no resume.
Speaker 8 (01:50:44):
I mean, this.
Speaker 1 (01:50:45):
Batterson Farms, this I mean, and the seventh the family trust.
All this stuff sounds great, and it's just like, what
are y'all talking about.
Speaker 9 (01:50:58):
I'm gonna say this.
Speaker 30 (01:51:00):
If you are familiar with New Jack City, there's a
scene where Nino Brown is in the board room where
he's gone around saying, nobody know nothing. I mean, the
fact of the matter is, how this could happen is
an institutional disgrace.
Speaker 9 (01:51:17):
And I'm not picking on fam you.
Speaker 16 (01:51:19):
You know.
Speaker 30 (01:51:19):
The fact of the matter is it doesn't take a
PhD in nuclear chemistry, like the president of the university.
He has to figure this out. It took me fifteen minutes.
And I can tell you that I appreciate some of
the phone call that I've gotten from the rattler nation
thanking me for this. But I can also say that
I was a little disturbed by some of the social
(01:51:42):
social media venom from some rattlers who oh.
Speaker 1 (01:51:45):
Man, they with dog and you bro mind Joe. First
of all, listen, let's just be real, Frank. Let's be like,
where'd you go to college?
Speaker 9 (01:51:54):
I went to Howard University, okay, all right.
Speaker 1 (01:51:56):
So you would HBCU. Listen. I was to Texas A
and M and HBCU folk are protective about the individual
school and HBCUs as opposed to let's deal with the truth.
And there were people who were attacking you. They were
attacking others as opposed to finding out the truth. And
(01:52:16):
you've been posting a number of different stuff like is
this the house he live in?
Speaker 8 (01:52:23):
Is this the farm is?
Speaker 1 (01:52:25):
I think you posted one item where he supposedly said
he bought some farm or something and the property is
still not so the thing never went through. I saw
one story where he reached out to the University of
Texas and they baby laughed at his ass. He called
the University of Texas to try to give some money,
(01:52:47):
and the University of Texas essentially laughed at him and
hung up. But he's supposedly based in Texas.
Speaker 30 (01:52:55):
Bruh, come on, yeah, I mean listen, I just reiterate,
fam you deserves better.
Speaker 9 (01:53:03):
This is in the board meeting today was an embarrassment.
Speaker 1 (01:53:08):
You tweeted a tie for an Audit is nasty work.
We'll explain that.
Speaker 30 (01:53:12):
What would happened, Well, what happened is they one of
the board members was suggesting that they do audit to
evaluate how they got here, and it was a tie
for like ten minutes and someone texted no, which broke
the tie. Then there was another motion for a another
(01:53:35):
sort of audit and it passed. But the fact of
the matter is the fact that fam you board and
the president allowed that board to go out in public
like that and represent the university like that is shameful.
I work in nonprofit management. That's what I do for
(01:53:57):
a living. I'm a manager in a educatational nonprofit. If
I embarrassed my board like that, I wouldn't have a job.
And I can tell you that if if everybody just
goes along like this is no big deal. The fact
of the matter is this university trumpeted in a consistent
(01:54:19):
way the fact that they got a quarter of a
billion dollars when they really received nothing.
Speaker 9 (01:54:24):
So there has to be some consequence for folks.
Speaker 1 (01:54:29):
Yeah, they got sheets of paper. Let's go to my panel.
Great car you first, you and me Greg, Thank you
there and it's good to see you for the drill.
I used to be a student a doctor Carr. By
the way, I took sights with doctor car at Howard.
Speaker 16 (01:54:49):
Absolutely, that's absolutely right. It's good to see you, brother.
It's good to see you continue in the great work
that I encountered when you were at the university. Man,
it's good to see you in there.
Speaker 9 (01:54:58):
Regard.
Speaker 16 (01:55:00):
My question has to do with I guess I could
frame it by saying, we don't have all the facts.
I mean, we can certainly certain last things circumstantial. What
would your best advice be to Florida and m or
any Black institution for that matter, who finds itself in
a situation where they have received at least the probity
(01:55:23):
of a gift like this, and now everybody is basically
deciding that there is no gift, there is no money.
I mean, what would you suggest to be their best
course of action at this point until the facts come out?
Because we know the facts have not yet been established.
Speaker 9 (01:55:42):
Well, well, first I'll say, doctor Carr, that some of
the facts are out.
Speaker 30 (01:55:47):
So we do know that the family trust consists of
fifteen million dollars fifteen million shares of Batterson Farms. We
do know that Batterson Farms doesn't have the light since
it is required to grow.
Speaker 9 (01:56:01):
Help, does not have the employees, does not have.
Speaker 30 (01:56:07):
Any properties, and so we know that just because you
say a company is worth a billion dollars doesn't make
it so.
Speaker 9 (01:56:16):
And so I mean, I think it's important to deal
with that.
Speaker 30 (01:56:19):
But on the second level, and then also there's just
some questions, and I think research and articles have proven
that mister Germany is not who he says he is,
or he doesn't have the personal wealth that he has.
So those are two facts that I think are important
to consider to your second part of your question about
what advice I would have, I would give them the
(01:56:41):
same advice that I would give any institution to do
their due diligence to ensure that they're doing the proper
sort of research and vetting to ensure that something like
this could never happen. Quite frankly, it doesn't take a
rocket scientist to realize to realize that this was a
(01:57:01):
situation that was not.
Speaker 9 (01:57:04):
Real.
Speaker 1 (01:57:05):
Well, here's the perfect example. Jarel hold one second, Darrel
hold On. This is from the Tallahassee again, this is
the deal, an immediate availability arranged by family. Monday, Jerami
told the Tallahassee Democrat that Avid Quote left us maybe
about a couple of months, maybe about a month ago.
She has more of an advisor role right now, she
had some health issues. When I asked later whether he
(01:57:27):
would be surprised to hear, Abbott said she was never
an employee of Batterson Farms and never received any compensation
as an employee. Drami said, quote, nothing surprises me any more.
He described her duties as co CEO. It's really just
there to God and give more advice, and she didn't
do as much work as others in the company. Her compensation,
he said, was given through penny stocks now right there,
(01:57:51):
right there. So what people need to understand, Jirell, we
talk about penny stocks first of all, penny stock or
publicly traded companies. That's I mean. So I think what
people don't realize is I can right now go out
and I can go buy a shell company. I can
go by and create a publicly traded company, and I
(01:58:14):
could be trading on with penny stocks. This is this
article right here shows you how he gets caught in
a life. So if you paid her through penny stocks,
what was the public and traded company? What were the
stocks this woman is listening as co CEO? She now says,
(01:58:34):
I never served as CEO of the company. Hello, that's
red flag. And so what I don't understand is how
did the Family board today not vote to call for
an extensive examination and investigation and literally track these things down,
by the way, that would according to the same story,
(01:58:56):
there was supposed to be a meeting on Wednesday. You
see it right here on when today a Family spokesperson
and by the tellahassee Democrat meet to meet with Jerami
and officials of the university's foundation office. But moments before
it was scheduled to begin, a Family official said it
was canceled because quote something came up. Quote he said,
(01:59:17):
any future interview quote was unpaused. I'm sorry, that's a joke.
Speaker 30 (01:59:22):
Yeah, And I do want to say this, so I
want to answer the second part of a brother cars,
which is like an alpha.
Speaker 1 (01:59:29):
Sort of meeting here what that's had always happened?
Speaker 30 (01:59:32):
But go ahead, absolutely, so I will say this to
doctor Carr's point, it's important to do your due diligence,
and it's also important to inform your board.
Speaker 9 (01:59:44):
I think that is a massive failure on this part.
Speaker 30 (01:59:48):
The fact that the foundation board and the university board
was not informed is a failure of just massive proportions
of the fact that the president is saying that they
couldn't tell their board because they had an NDA, it's crazy.
Speaker 9 (02:00:04):
And the fact of the matter is the president is
an employee of the board.
Speaker 30 (02:00:08):
Yeah, so I mean that's just pure board governance and
just pure you know, organizational governance. And the fact that
he thought it was appropriate to say, hey, you know,
we couldn't tell you because we had an NDA.
Speaker 9 (02:00:23):
You know, you can't do anything.
Speaker 1 (02:00:24):
And you were a state institution. And so even though
you are Florida A and M and you sign a NDA,
somebody in the state of Florida has the authority to
review the NDA.
Speaker 8 (02:00:39):
You can't.
Speaker 1 (02:00:40):
You were a state institution. You can't just hide behind
an NDA.
Speaker 9 (02:00:45):
And I'm going to say this again, and it's really important.
Speaker 30 (02:00:48):
This did not take a lot of work, right, Like,
I knew immediately that this was bizarre, and within fifteen
minutes I realized it was completely.
Speaker 1 (02:01:00):
Right here, right here, right here with a contact about
Tellhasseie Democrat, the head of a Texas hemp grows Association,
said he had not heard of Barrasson Farms Corporation or Jarami.
Now you're supposed to be a big time hemp grower.
The Texas Hemp Grows Association might know who you are,
so so let.
Speaker 8 (02:01:21):
Me say this.
Speaker 30 (02:01:22):
You know, I think Jarami has some challenges that I
hope he gets helped for. I don't necessarily blame Jarami
because it's obvious that he needs help, right. Who I
do blame is the university that allowed themselves to be
a poem yep.
Speaker 9 (02:01:34):
The fact that they didn't do their due diligence.
Speaker 30 (02:01:37):
And allowed this man to give a commencement address that
for me, speaks to massive institutional failures that has to change.
Speaker 9 (02:01:47):
Fam you deserves better, and not only that, don't deserve this.
Speaker 1 (02:01:51):
Now that Kim Godwin, who at the time was the
president of ABC News, of course, was out the next
day sent two camera crews to of the graduation to
cover it. So reci go.
Speaker 17 (02:02:06):
Uh mister Blackie, thank you for being here. I think
it's strange that family did less due diligence than Reesa
Tisa did and who the F did I marry on TikTok.
But thanks to and part of your voice around this,
this has brought attention to a very bizarre and strange scam.
Speaker 1 (02:02:26):
It appears.
Speaker 17 (02:02:27):
I just I just want to get your thoughts on
the layer protection and the defensiveness people seem to have
around the you know, you specifically calling this out for
what seemed pretty outrageous from the start, and people's willingness
to call themselves digging up dirt on you as opposed
(02:02:48):
to focusing on the issue at hand, which it looked
like FAMU was being scammed. And have you gotten any
retractions or apologies for the people who were dragging you
on on the social media about this.
Speaker 30 (02:03:00):
Well, I'll just say that people are kind of quiet.
I haven't really heard anything recently since the board meeting.
Because it turns out I was one hundred percent right.
I don't purport to be perfect. I'm not purporting to
be a saint.
Speaker 13 (02:03:12):
You know.
Speaker 9 (02:03:13):
I've done things that I've regretted.
Speaker 30 (02:03:16):
But quite frankly, this isn't about me, and folks are
engaging in add horminum attacks. Don't make the story about me,
make the story about what I'm saying about fam you.
And so it doesn't matter who I call what or
what I did when I was an elected official.
Speaker 9 (02:03:31):
That's in the past. I've moved on. The fact of
the matter is I should not have had to say this.
Speaker 30 (02:03:38):
This should have been something that should have been captured
months ago. The fact that this gentleman gave a commencement address,
and the fact that they didn't do their due diligence
is the reason why they're here.
Speaker 8 (02:03:50):
It's not.
Speaker 30 (02:03:51):
In fact, it should have been someone that's fam you.
It should have been someone in the audience that said, yo,
this meeting, this commencement address is strange.
Speaker 9 (02:03:58):
Who's this guy?
Speaker 30 (02:04:00):
But the fact that the entire academic hierarchy at FAMU,
folks with PhDs, law degrees, JD's, PhDs, MBA's allowed themselves
to allow this man to present a worthless check on
the stage of famu's graduation and have Charlie Wilson's I'm
(02:04:24):
Blessed and the OJ's for the Love of Money playing
is shameful.
Speaker 9 (02:04:29):
Like it's just it's the most ridiculous thing ever.
Speaker 30 (02:04:32):
And the fact that they allow that to happen is
the story, not who I call what when I was
an elected official?
Speaker 18 (02:04:41):
Lauren Jerrell, Is there any possibility that fam you had
some sort of like Mackenzie Scott fever and thought that
this was real? Did they have they ever gotten another
donation that was even close to this type of donation?
Speaker 9 (02:04:56):
Well, I'll say, that's a really good question.
Speaker 30 (02:04:58):
And so, I mean, the fact of the matter is
HBCUs deserve this kind of money, and it's unfortunate that
they don't get this kind of money. The highest contribution
to a historically black college was a recent donation to
Spelman College by the Striker family of one hundred million dollars,
which is the largest contribution to a historically black college ever.
Speaker 9 (02:05:21):
Compare that to Michael.
Speaker 30 (02:05:22):
Bloomberg's philanthropy towards Johns Hopkins, where he has donated three
point five billion dollars to one university.
Speaker 9 (02:05:35):
That three point five billion dollars is more than all
of the.
Speaker 30 (02:05:41):
Hpcu's endowments combined. And so I think, you know, there's
a desire. I can understand why one official was crying,
because this type of investment would have been very transformational
for Florida and m University and other universities of similar stature. However,
(02:06:01):
just because we want something to be true doesn't mean
that it is. And it's incumbent upon the people who
are paid to represent the university and to do their
due diligence to do the right thing. And so I
know that for example, these types of investments just don't
fall from the sky. For example, the Striker endowment that
was given to the Spellman College. That Striker has been
(02:06:25):
on the board for thirty years and they have given
countless money before that one hundred million dollar donation. And
so for FAM you to think that someone was going
to basically walk off the street and say, hey, I'm
going to give you a quarter of a billion dollars,
particularly when that person has no track record, you never
heard of them before, speaks to a level of gullibility
that is actually breathtaking and really really shameful. If I
(02:06:50):
was a board member next week when the full board convenes,
I'd be wanting some answers. And if I didn't get
any legitimate answers, I'd be telling folks, send yours in
the metal, you know, go home and do something else
with your career.
Speaker 9 (02:07:05):
This is a very big deal. The fact of the
matter is this is an institutional failure.
Speaker 30 (02:07:10):
You have huge proportions and multiple people failed the university
and failed the students by not doing their due diligence.
Speaker 1 (02:07:18):
So let me say this here for the again. What
was said on the call today, which was stunning was
that this guy called out of the blue. He just
he just called the office one day saying I want
to make a gift. And they begin to have different
conversations about different gifts, and you heard Jarell mention one
(02:07:38):
hundred million doll of the Spellman on the calls on
the zoom call to they they said that after the
Spellman College donation was announced, Jerami came back and said,
I want to increase my gift to exceed the Spellman donation.
And they went, yay, this is absolutely insane.
Speaker 4 (02:08:04):
Lauren, No, I didn't have anything else. Thanks well, Jarrelle.
Speaker 1 (02:08:11):
So what so this was the foundation meeting today? What's
next week? Actual board of trustees meeting?
Speaker 30 (02:08:18):
Yeah, I believe it's an actual board of trustee meeting.
I think an outcome of the foundation board meeting. The
president of Robinson mentioned that the sort of gift is
on hold right, which is another example because the gift
is the gift was never on So how can it
be on hold if it was never on I think
(02:08:39):
that the.
Speaker 9 (02:08:39):
Board meeting was outrageous.
Speaker 30 (02:08:41):
The fact that people just didn't follow on their sword,
or people just didn't say hey, we messed up. I
just think really speaks to a culture listen. If doctor
Robinson has a job next week, I'd be shocked.
Speaker 9 (02:08:53):
Like I couldn't. I couldn't imagine put it like this.
Speaker 30 (02:08:56):
If doctor Robinson is able to survive this, the problems
that fam you are a lot more intense than even
this situation would imply.
Speaker 1 (02:09:07):
We shall see what happens next. Drell Blakeley, thanks a lot,
Thank you, sir. Take care all right, frat take care,
We come back. Isaac Hayes, the third joins us protect
Talk segment. Man, my head is still really from that
FAMU segment. We'll be back at the home with.
Speaker 31 (02:09:31):
Fan Base is pioneering a new air of social media
for the creator accountmy this next generation social media app
with over six hundred thousand users, is raising seventeen million dollars,
and now is your chance to invest. For details on
how to invest physics starting dot com, slash fan base
or stand the QR code. Another way, we're giving you
(02:09:56):
the freedom to be you without Linux.
Speaker 32 (02:10:00):
On the next A balanced life with me, Doctor Jackie.
The necessity of believing in things you can't see. It's
called faith. It comes in all shapes and sizes, and
it's powerful, and it's a big part of being able
to live a balance life.
Speaker 33 (02:10:14):
The ballet I experience being a cancer survivor was one
where my footing was completely unstable.
Speaker 11 (02:10:21):
I had no idea what to do, and in that
instance of not knowing what to do, I had to
rely on faith.
Speaker 32 (02:10:27):
That's all next on a Balanced Life only on Black
Star Network.
Speaker 1 (02:10:34):
When we talk about blackness and what happens in black culture,
you're about covering these things that matter to us, us
speaking to our issues and concerns.
Speaker 5 (02:10:44):
It is a genuine people power movement, a lot of stuff.
Speaker 1 (02:10:48):
That we're not getting.
Speaker 19 (02:10:49):
You get it when you spread the word.
Speaker 1 (02:10:51):
We wish to clean our own cause to long have
others spoken for us. We cannot tell our own story
if we can't pay for it. This is about covering us.
Invest in Black on media. Your dollars matter. We don't
have to keep asking them to cover ourselves. So please
support us in.
Speaker 13 (02:11:10):
What we do.
Speaker 1 (02:11:10):
Folks. We want to hit two thousand people fifty dollars.
This month, waits one hundred thousand dollars. We're behind one
hundred thousand, so we want to hit that.
Speaker 8 (02:11:17):
Y'all.
Speaker 1 (02:11:18):
Money makes this possible. Check some money orders go to
fuel box File seven one ninety six, Washington d C
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cash apples dollars signed, r M unfiltered paypalers are Martin unfiltered,
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Speaker 38 (02:11:35):
Com me, Sherry Shevrett and Sammy Roman. I'm doctor Robin
mee pharmacist and fitness coach, and you're watching Roland Martin unfiltered.
Speaker 1 (02:12:00):
Monster's talking about charging new users on Twitter. Now you
have Facebook calls so called meta, who wants to now
start charging businesses to be on Facebook as well. Don't
think for a second these apps are going to be free.
Isaac Hayes, a third founder Fan based joneses right now, Isaac,
his was interesting here. These social media apps have been
(02:12:20):
getting killed. When Apple made changes to their phone ask
allowing people to stop being tracked, That's how they were
making their billions. Now these companies are freaking out. They
got to figure out how to find that money, and
so they're going to start charging folks to be on
these platforms.
Speaker 9 (02:12:35):
Absolutely.
Speaker 39 (02:12:37):
I think when Apple and Google allow users to opt
out of being tracked when they're not inside the applications,
that have prevented a lot of these companies from being
able to sell data and increased AD revenue. So for
that very reason, a lot of people, including myself, have
opted out of being tracked while I'm not using specific apps.
And so Instagram and Meta are finding a way to
(02:12:59):
offset that costs with this new Meta verified for business
that's pretty pricey if you look at it.
Speaker 1 (02:13:05):
Rowland absolutely, and here's the deal. When we talk about this,
you know what happened. I remember when that happened because
what the phone for, what the folk realized was, hell,
look we got the power here. So Apple's all about privacy.
And when Facebook was getting crushed on Capitol Hill when
it came to selling of data, when they put that,
(02:13:26):
that became it basically a poison pill for Facebook and
they've been really ever since. And so now you have
this new deal and they're starting in Australia and New
Zealand and they're going to be charging what fourteen ninety
nine a month for.
Speaker 39 (02:13:38):
Businesses for I'm gonna tell you these prices fourteen ninety nine,
forty four ninety nine, one hundred and nineteen ninety nine,
and three hundred and forty nine nine.
Speaker 1 (02:13:49):
Yeah, the max plan is three hundred and fifty bucks
a month.
Speaker 19 (02:13:52):
Yeah, And I mean you're paying for more visibility.
Speaker 39 (02:13:57):
Which should tip people off to the fact that you're
is being suppressed, meaning like if they're making you pay
the seen and they're basically charging you to already be
visible to the people that already follow you, and they're
going to allow you put links in your profile other
things like that. So I just found it extremely interesting.
But this is just speaking more to the fact that
I think these platforms are trying to offset the cost
(02:14:19):
of losing ad revenue and they're so ad revenue dependent yep,
which this shift towards subscription based services and social media
is changing, and this is kind of like a middle point.
This is like a way to kind of lead people
into where fan base already because this is basically a subscription.
You're basically subscribing have more visibility on the platform, and
that's what Meta is.
Speaker 9 (02:14:40):
Doing with this program line.
Speaker 18 (02:14:45):
So, Isaac, don't you think the subscription model at some point,
and I'm talking to somebody who has a stream yard
platform is going to wear everybody out because now everything
is becoming subscription, everything is becoming pay me every month,
pay me something every month, and that's starting to get
that's starting to get old real fast. That starts to
(02:15:06):
add up, as you know. So I think the breaking
point of the subscription model business may be.
Speaker 19 (02:15:14):
I don't see that.
Speaker 39 (02:15:15):
I think that there's still a wide community of people
that want to pay for content. It just depends on
what you're paying for. It depends on what you're subscribing
for subscribing because when you subscribe to Netflix every month,
you're paying twenty thirty dollars a month to subscribe to
every single piece of content that is on Netflix, and
you might not watch ninety nine percent of it, right,
(02:15:35):
But if you can subscribe to someone for two ninety
nine a month and get an entire network of content
specifically from that person, then you would pay for that
and get rid of Netflix. And so I think subscription
fatigue is absolutely real. But I think at subscription based
services become more available and more widely known, there will
be niche communities that subscribe to specific things that actually
(02:15:57):
people are more interested in a lot of Like with
with media now and television, you're casting a wide net.
A place like Disney Plus or Hulu or Netflix is
casting a wide net, right, as opposed to narrowing down
on the very very finite group of individuals that are
interested in horror films or comedy specials or you know, documentaries,
(02:16:18):
and so I think that's going to be something that's
extremely important. And then with the advent of AAI, I
really feel like in more life content which is called IRL,
which we see a lot of the young streamers doing,
is going to be the real television, which is reality
like reality is going to be, you know, the most
watched type of content. More so the pre recorded, filmed,
(02:16:38):
expensive content that people are are putting out nowadays.
Speaker 1 (02:16:42):
Thanks well, their reality is I didn't want to think
about that, all right, reci.
Speaker 17 (02:16:48):
I guess can you talk a little bit about undemocratic
our information is becoming? I think people have this false
sense of when they search for something, they are getting
results based on the merit of the content that pops up,
as opposed to algorithms starting to manipulate and throttle different
(02:17:09):
websites or different content because of things like you mentioned subscriptions,
you know, paying for advertisements and things of that nature.
Can you talk about the information and the awareness that
needs to happen around that issue of social media.
Speaker 39 (02:17:27):
I think most users are really unaware that these platforms
are in competition with them. Every single person that's on
Instagram or Facebook, the app is working against you because
you yourself.
Speaker 19 (02:17:38):
Are a network.
Speaker 39 (02:17:39):
Every single person that has a social media profile television network.
And if a company wanted to advertise that you and
you could consistently reach a million people, ten million people,
one hundred million people, you could just charge for people
to post content on your page. And the platforms know
that though, so they actually suppress your content and squish
it down and versus the companies to do things like
(02:18:02):
advertise with them. So this is just another way to
continue to force advertisers to either do business with for
the visibility that they should already have.
Speaker 1 (02:18:13):
So for instance, so for instance, reci rightw Beyonce has
three hundred and nineteen million followers on Instagram. The top
the top threshold for any cable network is one hundred million,
but with cord cutting, we're now seeing that. So basically,
at its height, seeing In was in like one hundred
(02:18:34):
and five one hundred and ten million homes. That means
that Beyonce her Instagram page alan is three times bigger
than seeing In was at its height. But if Beyonce
goes live right now, she will not have three hundred
nineteen million people watching her because essentially they capped that
(02:18:55):
sucker like you take Cardi B. I've seen us one
night Cardi B went live and let me just see
her followers. Cardi B has warned sixty seven million followers.
She had almost one hundred thousand people on. That means
that Cardi B was getting barely one percent of her
following watching her live. So they ain't gonna never Let
(02:19:18):
if a Beyonce can hit three to nineteen million people,
she can make that's more people than who watch the
super Bowl instaraming. Let her make that money. They gonna
make that money, Greg.
Speaker 16 (02:19:33):
Thank you, Roland, And that kind of opens the door
to my question asked out of ignorance. But after years
of watching you operate, and after years of a brother
Isai hearing your conversations with Roland and with all of us,
and maybe this is this again, I'm asking out of ignorance,
what do you see as the opportunity or opportunities for
(02:19:57):
black disruptors? Fan basis free? Black Star network is free. Uh,
the idea that crowdsourcing financial support while the push is
Roland has been doing now for quite some time, to
get those advertising dollars with some success and then continuing
to hold out the promise and expectation that that success
(02:20:18):
will improve. But what are some of the opportunities for disruption?
And you know, like you said what you said to
Lauren about this fatigue, the subscription fatigue, you know, you know.
Speaker 8 (02:20:28):
More about it.
Speaker 16 (02:20:29):
I just feel like, maybe, like Lauren perhaps feels if
she asked the question, at some point people won't get
sick of this. But what opportunities are there for the
models like fan Base, like those who are disrupting? Can
there be some black disruption in the midst of this
kind of clawing at every penny people have for subscription basis?
Speaker 19 (02:20:51):
I say absolutely.
Speaker 39 (02:20:52):
I mean I think infrastructure is what you're talking about, right,
And so for the most part, all these infrastructures, these
tech companies owned by.
Speaker 19 (02:21:00):
People that are not black.
Speaker 8 (02:21:02):
Right.
Speaker 39 (02:21:02):
So Roland has the Blackstar Network, He's built an infrastructure
that's black owned. Fan Base is a black owned application,
a black owned social media platform, and the infrastructure is
black owned. The reason why that is important is typically
because culture usually creates and modifies shifts and guides technology
and the way that it's headed, what makes things cool,
(02:21:24):
what makes things awesome, what makes things sets the trends.
But then on the back end, who actually has ownership
of that? So my design, rolling's design and building these
platforms is that we can also be guides but also
protect our culture in a way that it's not exploited now.
Speaker 19 (02:21:42):
But advertising is at play.
Speaker 39 (02:21:43):
Right, and I say this all the time, but a
platform like TikTok, right, TikTok wants very, very famous white
creators on their platform because I always say, unfortunately, unfortunately,
things built by black people are perceived to be only
for black people, but things built by white people are
to be for all people. So if I'm dunking, if
I'm dunking coffee, who I want a young twenty something
(02:22:06):
year old white girl to be the face of our
brand or young twenty something year old black girl. You
want the white girl because the white girl appeals to
white people, Black people, Asian people, Latino people.
Speaker 9 (02:22:16):
All races.
Speaker 39 (02:22:17):
Right, But if you have a black girl, then most
people white people might opt out of that advertisement, Other
races might opt out of that advertisement because of the
girl it's black. So we see black culture being appropriated
but then suppressed so that it can't thrive in the
same way. So a platform like fan Base is not
going to allow that to happen. Number One, we don't
run off advertising, and two, I want to give everybody
(02:22:40):
a voice. So I want to make sure that people
understand that fan Base is not black only. But the
fact that I'm a black founder it just means that
I understand the inequity that exists. And there will always
be a conversation and I always be a way that
all voices are heard, no matter what race you are,
because we're not basing it on trying to suppress people's
content to make money. It's a community into community building
(02:23:01):
and so that's really the most important part about this
is building a new community for people to be a
part of.
Speaker 1 (02:23:05):
And I'll say this here a perfect example. I saw
the news today. Go to my iPad where to be.
They're launching something called Studios to fun and stream fan
green lit creative projects. They tapped Ray to mentor aspiring filmmakers.
And again here's the perfect example. Rays significant brand and
(02:23:26):
she has a fan base, but guess what to B
wants to bring her on cutting a check to drive
their value up. But guess what she doesn't own to
be The Fox Corporation owns to be. And so what
we're talking about here, even when you look at what
your question, Greg, and I look at the work that
(02:23:46):
Lauren does, what she's doing with her newsletter, the work
that Reese is doing as well, and what you're doing
with Karen Hunter and with us with the Black Table
on Black Store Network. Yes, this is really the hardest thing.
This is the hardest thing, and that is to get
black people to decide do I want to make black
(02:24:08):
people rich or do I want to be so associated
with white folks that I have white validation? M M see.
We we just got to put it on the table.
We gotta put it on the table because there are
black celebrities with massive following. And I know this because
(02:24:29):
Isaac and I talk. He's had the numerous conversations, and
they are on other social platforms making nothing. But if
you say, here's an equity stake, you can come here
and make millions. Yeah, but you're not them. Am I lying, Isaac?
Speaker 19 (02:24:54):
Don't.
Speaker 39 (02:24:55):
I don't think you're lying. But I think we also
have to understand. I say this all the time, you know,
and people you roll in there. There's there are black
people in this country that understand that they are not
minorities by their their energy, or their effort or their creativity.
And so for me, I'm a person that's never felt
like a minority living in Atlanta.
Speaker 19 (02:25:14):
And what I mean is when you grow.
Speaker 39 (02:25:15):
Up understanding that white supremacy runs everything and that you
have to fight your way through that. I don't fault
the paths that Oprah and jay Z take. I don't
fight the path that you know.
Speaker 19 (02:25:27):
I don't. I understand why because that's the only thing
that they know. They don't.
Speaker 39 (02:25:31):
I mean, we're getting to the point now where you
should know. I mean you're out there rolling, I'm out there.
We should know that we can actually invest in these
startups and scale these things to one hundred, two hundred,
three hundred billion dollar companies if we want to.
Speaker 19 (02:25:43):
But we have to get past that point.
Speaker 39 (02:25:44):
But I think that's hard to tell people to not
kind of like stop fighting right all you have If
there's no villain, then the battle is over.
Speaker 19 (02:25:52):
And what do I have to fight?
Speaker 39 (02:25:54):
And a lot of people want to be able to
fight through white supremacy to gain acceptance. But I've never
felt like I had to, so I never did. So
that's why I operate the way that I operate with
fan Base.
Speaker 1 (02:26:05):
So that's where that's where we are. So Isaac, first
of all, give us an update on your crowdfund.
Speaker 8 (02:26:12):
Everybody.
Speaker 39 (02:26:12):
I need you, guys, everybody who's watching right now. Go
to start engine dot com slash fan Base. It's on
my shirt if you can see it. And invest in
fan Base and get equity. We're raising seventeen million dollars
drop low third, please billion dollars raised, and there's goals
to this. There's like a five year plan, I mean
a three year plan to this. But our first milestone
is a two and a half million dollar mark that
(02:26:33):
we want people to invest in. And the minimum to
invest in fan Base is three hundred and ninety nine
dollars and you actually get equity shares stock. This is
not go fund me, This is not you know, a kickstarter.
This is actual, actual stock options.
Speaker 1 (02:26:49):
And it's also not a fake hemp farm because you
actually have a platform and office employees and actual revenue.
I'm sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 19 (02:26:59):
I had to go.
Speaker 39 (02:27:00):
I had to go through the SEC multiple times. All
of our financials are available online. We actually got a
non review from the SEC, which is a good thing.
They trusted our paperwork and all of our due diligence
on our company so well that they had no objection
with us going ahead and launching this seventeen million dollars
round and significant because I'm very confident that I'm going
to scale fan Base to one hundred billion dollar company,
(02:27:23):
and right now we're valued at one hundred and sixty
million dollars. We've gone from twenty to fifty to eighty
five to one hundred and sixty million dollar company, and
I want to continue to do that and build the
first of its kind black onwed social media platform that
can be a successor to a TikTok or on Instagram.
All these platforms aren't going to last forever. Facebook is
not going to last forever. Instagram is not going to
last forever. There will always be new platforms that emerge
(02:27:46):
at young people and other cultures migrate to to build communities.
So I tell it before you do that, absolutely, download
fan Base, use it, come on board, make a profiles
free to download, free to use, but invest and that
minimum is three hundred ninety nine dollars. You get sixty
shares at six sixty five a share, and I think
it's an excellent opportunity for people to get on the
cap table of a company.
Speaker 19 (02:28:07):
That's continued to scale and grow.
Speaker 39 (02:28:08):
We almost have seven hundred thousand users for in one
hundred and ninety countries on iOS and Android. We've got
some really cool functionality launching, especially next week, we've got
a whole new version of live launching, so you won't
be suppressed when you go live. You go live to
everybody that has fan base. It won't be capped by
your following, so it doesn't matter who's on fan base,
they'll be able to see your live, not based off
your following.
Speaker 9 (02:28:28):
It'll be open to anybody.
Speaker 39 (02:28:30):
So if you want to DJ, if you want to
do makeup, if you want to talk, have conversations or whatever,
that's something that we'll be able to do. And because
we've reached this one million dollar threshold, we'll be able
to add our TMP streaming to the platform. So rolling
your show will be able to be streamed on fan
base YEP, mean soon because now we've reached that threshold.
So now the Blackstar Network and Roland Martin and Fielder
(02:28:52):
can also be streamed live on fan base, and so
I'm excited about that.
Speaker 19 (02:28:55):
And that's what investing does.
Speaker 39 (02:28:56):
It allows us to continue to build a company and
scale the company, go to start engine, dot com, lash
fan base to invest.
Speaker 1 (02:29:03):
And I am excited about that because we stream right
now on Facebook, on Twitter, on LinkedIn sometimes on Instagram,
obviously on YouTube as well, and it's reaching folks across
the platform. So we definitely want to reach fan based community.
I gotta appreciate the man. Thanks a lot. Thank you,
all right, I know we went over time, but we
had some some wild stories today. Let me thank Recie,
(02:29:24):
let me thank greg let me thank Lauren. We're gonna
stay on top of this NAACP suspension stuff. I got
people texting me, tweeting me saying it happened to me too.
We certainly want to get some better information from the
NAACP because that statement was simply was not good enough
what they sent to us. And also Florida A and M.
(02:29:45):
I don't know what the hell y'all got going on,
but y'all got more questions than answers for the public.
And again, I'm from Texas and ain't nobody heard it
as Gregory Jerami dude, So I don't know what's going
on there.
Speaker 8 (02:30:00):
All right, y'all.
Speaker 1 (02:30:01):
That's it again, received Greg Lauren, thank you so very much.
I appreciate it. Glad to have y'all Lauren, how you
got Lauren found out how she keep coming on that
Virginia tich hat what she gonna wear Virginia State had,
And speaking of that, y'all need to keep tweeting to
tell Trump to keep his punk ass in Biden to
greet the debate because Virginia State University is the first
(02:30:24):
HBCU ever to get an invitation to host a presidential debate.
And so Trump and Biden, if they gonna do and
if there's three debates that they don't do, if they
gonna do one, damn sure do that one at Virginia State.
And so I need y'all out there on social media
pushing that out there, saying you want to see that
(02:30:44):
presidential debate happen on the campus of Virginia State University.
And so y'all staying with my alf brother who's the
president down there, that said, folks, That certainly appreciated again,
great recent larn thanks a lot, folks. We got to
come and see y'all tomorrow. My niece graduate from Howard University.
Tomorrow she gets her master's degree. Uh, it's at six pm.
I actually got to hold the show. All my family
are gonna be there, but I was the one last year.
(02:31:06):
Sound good? Uh but uh but you know I would
be in the studio. But faith regulations are your master's
degree in architectures from Howard University. She gets that greed
degree tomorrow at six pm. All right, folks, don't forget
supporters in what we do. I had somebody to send
me this. Put it on Twitter. Man, you need to
send your ankles out covering these stories around the contrasts
the baby, They cost money. I love people who tell
(02:31:27):
me how we need to be covering news, and my
automatic answer is do you give? So It's real easy
to say what we should be doing. But if you ain't,
no donor, well I'm sorry, so again join, I'll bring
the fuck fan Club Senior checking Money or the peel
box five seven one ninety six, Washington, d C. Tueszero
(02:31:48):
zero three seven that zero one ninety six cash op
DOWNA sign r M unfiltered PayPal are Martin unfiltered? Vemmos
are M unfiltered ze Rolling Rowland s Martin dot com,
Rolling that, Rolling Martin Unfiltered dot com. Download the Black
Network at Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku,
and was on Fire TV, Xbox one, Samsung Smart TV.
We sure to get a copy of my book White
(02:32:08):
Fear of the browning of Americas making white folks lose
their minds Avayble at bookstores Nation. Why I get your
audio version on Audible and we am sold out of
copies of the first Now here's what I'm doing. I'm
checking with my brother, y'all. I got books all over
the place. Some check with my brother to make sure
I ain't left none in his house. I just moved,
so I'm going through all the boxes. Make sure you
(02:32:28):
ain't got a stash nowhere. But we are completely sold out.
A lot of y'all been emailing and calling.
Speaker 8 (02:32:34):
Yo.
Speaker 1 (02:32:35):
I'm personally autographing each book, y'all. That ain't easy. So
I could have easily shipped the book. So I gotta
personally autograph each book and package them. Okay, this ain't Amazon. Okay, Well,
you can order today and you get it tomorrow because
I gotta sign each one, so please be patient. I
shipped off one hundred and forty books the other day.
I just finished signing sixty before I came to the
(02:32:57):
show today. My goal is to go home and knock
out two hundred tonight. So I'm on it. But just
be patient, please, all right, So folks, we will see
all tomorrow right here on rolland Martin and Unfiltered on
the Black Star Network. Black Start Network.
Speaker 8 (02:33:15):
A real revolutionary right now.
Speaker 4 (02:33:16):
I thank you for being the voice of black a
paranon walment that we have.
Speaker 1 (02:33:20):
Now we have to keep this going.
Speaker 11 (02:33:22):
The video of phenomenal is.
Speaker 16 (02:33:25):
Between Black Star Network and Black owned media and something
like seeing.
Speaker 1 (02:33:29):
N You can't be Black owned media and be scared.
It's time to be smart, bring your eyeballs hot it
dig
Today's Thursday, May nine, twenty twenty four, and coming up up,
Roland Martin on the Filter, streaming live with the Black
Star Network. As we speak, the Florida A and M
University of Board of Trustees having an emergency meeting regarding
the two hundred thirty seventy million dollar gift that was
presenting them over the weekend. Lots of questions have been
raised regarding that gift. They are literally going over this
(00:56):
relationship with the individual who gave the money. Later of
the show, we'll talk with a young man who has
been posting a lot of a lot of information on
social media regarding Gerald Dromy and his past and whether
or not his donation is legitimate. Also, several former NAACP
leaders say that some rights organization has unjustly suspended them.
(01:19):
In an a Roland Martin exclusive, we'll speak to six
of them tonight. A Texas DA still before the Terran
County Commissioners Court defending his decision to try to reconvict
Crystal Mason y'all eight years after she voted. She of course,
didn't realize she could not vote. The only black commissioner
to question his motives will be here. Also, another black
(01:42):
man is killed by law enforcement in Florida. Deputies enter
the wrong home and killed a senior airman, Roger Fordson.
Ben Crump, the family attorney, will explain how the deputies
are trying to cover up their deadly mistake. Also, our
tech Talk segment Meta Facebook expand think they're paid varification
service for businesses. We'll talk with the fan base CEO
(02:05):
Olea Hayes about this change. It is time to bring
the Fok'm rolling on a filter. We blacksh network. Let's go.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
He's got whatever the best, he's it whatever it is.
He's got the school, the fact, the fine.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
And Wenna believes he's right on time.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
It is rolling best belief.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
He's going putting it out from his Boston news to
politics with entertainment.
Speaker 5 (02:30):
Just bookcase.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
He's strolling. It's roll.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
It's strolling, montage.
Speaker 5 (02:44):
Rolling.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
He's spoky stress, she's real.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Good question, No, he's rolling montege.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Conduct All right, folks, as we speak, the Florida andam
University border regions, they are meeting to regarding this two
and thirty seven million dollar donation that they received from
a donor over the weekend. Guys, go to my iPad
please this meeting is taking place as we speak. Lots
of questions are being raised from alumni and others regarding
(03:30):
the donation, because again this is a large donation into
any HBCU. A lot of people though, are asking again
where the donation come from. Is a legitimate donation, So
a lot of questions, a lot of questions are being
asked as we speak in this board meeting. We of course,
(03:52):
we are following it as they actually take place because
we want some answers as well. Later in the show,
we're gonna be talking to a gentleman. He has been
posting a lot of information on social media with regards
to the donor, with regards to the donors, So as
we speak, go right for my iPad. As we speak,
(04:13):
the board members again are getting they they they are
getting answers from the university with regards to how the
relationship started in terms of what's the valuation of these
stocks is he is a private company. But I have
I've been listening for the past hour, and I certainly
have some additional questions that are not being answered on
(04:34):
this call, and so we shall talk about that later
in the show. All right, folks, listen, now talk about
what's happening in the NAACP. Of course, the NAACP's motto
is leading the fight to end racial inequality, but a
group of former leaders say they have been unfairly suspended, harassed,
and defamed of the civil rights organization. The group, which
(04:55):
includes more than twenty folks from across the nation, they've
got stories of unfair treatment and unexplained suspension of their leadership,
post and membership. Six of them joined us tonight in studio.
Rochelle the Law, the former youth advisor and chair of
the AXO competition from the Philadelphia branch. She said she
was suspended from sending out an out of date sponsorship
(05:15):
form letter to raise money for youth lee Roy Candler,
the past president of the President of the NAACP chapter,
says he was suspended but transferring funds from from the
NAACP to his personal account. He says that never happened
and he has a letter from the bank manager proving
his innocence. Joining us, of course, on the line is
(05:35):
Lou Walker, the president of the Antelope Valley NAACP branch,
saying she was suspended the filowing an internal harassment complaint.
Anthony Douglass a past board director of the NAACP and
Oklahoma says he was suspended a day before the national
convention that for challenging President and CEO Derek Johnson, and
will be joined later by Nashville's past president, Venita Lewis,
(05:56):
who says she was suspended after challenging the direction. Tennessee
State Conference president Gloria sweet Love. Also, Betty Williams, the
past president of Zacamento LACP branch, say she was suspended
three days before an election after filing harassment charters. All right,
glad to have all of y'all here. So first and foremost,
NAACP obviously based there in Baltimore National Office, and so
(06:22):
the CEO, you have, the CEO, you have the board,
they have jurisdiction obviously over the branches. And so when
it comes to both of you, what was the process
that took place that led to your suspension?
Speaker 4 (06:37):
First of all, Morreland, thank you for having us because
we do appreciate this.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
The process was none.
Speaker 6 (06:45):
They're in the constitution in bilogues in the NAACPS basically
states that there's an issue with any member that you
have to file and they have specific way that you
have to file what is considered an Article ten in
the Constitution in Bilogues that has to be filed with
twenty members in good standing about what it is that
(07:06):
you do. Most of these the article ten was not filed.
If you are a friend of Derek Johnson, which was
told to me that you can go to him, or
go to Gloria Sweet Love or deal with Ericacaine. You
can go to them and tell them about something that
they can make up that you did or didn't do,
(07:28):
and give it to Derek Johnson. We recommend you suspend
this person. He just signs it. He just signs it,
no question, no nothing. In my case, if there was
an error, I have age that work for me. If
there was an error, why don't you just call me
and say, hey, you know you can't use a suspended
member on your memo And that would have been corrected
(07:50):
because it's a template.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
So you're saying that on what you sent out was
a member that had been suspended. Their name was on
this form and that's why you got suspend it. Yes,
that's why I got suspended, as opposed to just correct
the form. Called me so I can correct the form.
Speaker 6 (08:07):
First of all, my aide don't know nothing about NAACP suspension,
so she wasn't aware the person was suspended. So why
not call me twenty plus years in the NAACP secretary
to fill fell off your brands for more than twenty
years and let me make a correction. I was never
over Axles. I was over the Youth Council for fifteen
plus years. I've always raised funds to make sure the
(08:28):
Youth Council go to the conventions, do what they need
to do in the city.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Yes, Lee Roy, you said, according to that you were
suspended for transferring funds from the NAACP account to your
personal account. That was the allegation. Who made the allegation?
Speaker 7 (08:44):
Rick Calendar made the allegation. Who was at Rick Kellnd's
the president of the California conference.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
All right, so made the allegation. But you say you
have a letter from your bank let money was that transfer?
Speaker 8 (08:57):
He even had legal regrets.
Speaker 7 (08:59):
Chair to get on the conference call with the bank manager,
and the bank manager told him that he had the proof.
She sent me a copy of the proof afforwarded to him.
He showed the proof to Rick and he Steel when
it had me suspended. He later on had their Lawter.
Their attorney Asante asked me for the letter. I sent
it to him and sent him to the proof, and
(09:20):
I also sent the proof to Miss Alix.
Speaker 9 (09:23):
Hoffman to verify that this never happened.
Speaker 8 (09:25):
Nothing happened. I sent letters to.
Speaker 7 (09:30):
Mister Williams and Derreck Johnson asking for a hearing and
asked to be heard. Never got in a response. I
sent a written request request that I be responded and
that I be hearrid.
Speaker 6 (09:39):
Either of you make an appeal to the Board of
Directors when you get the letter tells you have to
make it within fifteen days.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
I made it within two.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Days, right, and I made it within two days, and
not a hope to.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
At that point it was Quincy Bates you had.
Speaker 6 (09:53):
Letter came from Quincy Bates, was that he's somebody on
then was worked in a national office that dealt with memberships.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
He got the man.
Speaker 6 (10:00):
I got all this documentation because emails is stamped and
time date got it. So send that back requesting the hearing.
Never got a hearing. Here's the kicker. Never got a hearing,
and I was suspended right before I got to the
National Convention last year. Never got a hearing, but in
August got a letter said that they had a hearing
without me, they deliberated and decided to spend my membership
(10:24):
for six years.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Six years.
Speaker 8 (10:28):
You hear me six.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
We didn't know about it.
Speaker 6 (10:32):
Let me say this, this is a national organization about
civil rights, but yet you violate the civil rights of
your members.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
I'm not a.
Speaker 6 (10:42):
Subscribing member. I'm a life, fully paid member. Been there
plus in Philadelphia there are two other ones forty plus years.
Shirley Jordan was the treasure of the Philadelphia branch because
she questioned the newly elected president of the Philaulpia Branch
at a five frontred dollars check, which.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Is against the constitution and by law.
Speaker 6 (11:04):
That president made up a lie on a letterhead, took
it to the bank, committed fraud me, Shirley and the
secretary of the branch who questioned her and did do
an article ten on the Philluphia branch.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
We are suspended.
Speaker 6 (11:20):
Yet she did because she's telling everybody that Derek Johnson
is a friend and nothing's going to happen to it.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
And guess what, nothing's happened to her.
Speaker 8 (11:29):
Leebra.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
How long you suspended? Unknown?
Speaker 7 (11:31):
It's never stated how long I was suspended.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
So you don't know. I don't know.
Speaker 7 (11:35):
Just send me a let us say you were it's
sposed to spend it. When I write a letter to
find out, no one can tell me to the disagree
how long we spend it?
Speaker 8 (11:41):
Nobody has an f for that.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Lou Walker, you were suspended following an internal harassment complaint.
What type of harassment complaint was it?
Speaker 10 (11:50):
I didn't have an internal harassment complaint. My letter said
I was suspended for requesting that our branch secretary resigned.
He did not live in California, and I was actually
responding to the community calls for help, crisis calls. I
couldn't challenge my suspension. I didn't get responses when I
(12:15):
inquired about it as well.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
So how long were you suspended?
Speaker 5 (12:21):
I've been suspended since August, but they didn't.
Speaker 9 (12:25):
Tell me how long my suspension is.
Speaker 11 (12:28):
Supposed to last.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Betty, what about you?
Speaker 12 (12:34):
I was also suspended. I was running against the now
state president of California Hawaii.
Speaker 5 (12:43):
They are also saying that there.
Speaker 12 (12:45):
Was financial my understanding through media that was financial issues. However,
I also had herassment charges and complaints internally to the
na A C that they never responded.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
To so you said, ye, arrastic complaints that you filed
or filed against you, which.
Speaker 12 (13:07):
One I filed against the California YI President. I internally
filed three separate times.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
And harassment plans. What kind of harassment?
Speaker 12 (13:19):
Harassment as far as putting information out there that was
not correct the example, I was also the election supervisor
during the election period, and it stated he put out.
Speaker 5 (13:32):
An email saying that I was not fit to be
the chair for.
Speaker 12 (13:35):
The election chair because I was running against him, and
the ballots had not been opened.
Speaker 5 (13:44):
They were stilled.
Speaker 12 (13:45):
They were supposed to be private and not open until
a certain date, and so I questioned, how did he
know that information? National did not respond. He kept bullying
me so much so I had to bring individuals to
the meetings and I have to make a statement and
ask them to put it in the minutes that I'm
being bullied. He's accusing me of things that I did
(14:06):
not do according to the bylaws, and I wanted discrimination
charges at least documented in the minutes. When those minutes
came from the secretary from the election committee, it never happened.
Speaker 5 (14:20):
I continued to move forward.
Speaker 12 (14:23):
Then I started getting cyber bullying and it came from
a dark web. I had to hire an attorney who
took the cyber bullying and sent it to the Department
of Justice as well as the ag the Attorney General,
because in California that is a criminal act. And so
(14:44):
once I continued to do that three days before the election.
Speaker 5 (14:51):
I was poised to win.
Speaker 12 (14:53):
I would have won, but three days before the election
there was an emergency agenda item saying that I should
be suspend.
Speaker 13 (15:00):
It not just me.
Speaker 12 (15:02):
He wanted the entire Sacramento NAACP branch to be suspended. However,
it was myself six others from the Sacramento branch, two
of which had wrote support letters in my defense to
the national board and Derrick Johnson. They were suspended the
next day for supporting me. A number of people rallied
(15:27):
behind them and said they never should have, and then
they repealed those two suspensions.
Speaker 5 (15:31):
So they suspend just like Rochelle was saying, someone could.
Speaker 12 (15:36):
Give them information without investigation, without due process, without any
of that. If they had known in the beginning, especially
those two, that they had to repeal the suspension, they
would have known. All they were doing was writing letters
on my behalf and it was personal for them to
be suspended that next.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Day by Anthony Douglas. You alleged that you were suspended
a day before the national convention because you criticize the
President's CEO, Dereck Johnson.
Speaker 14 (16:05):
Good evening that road there and thanks for having me,
and that is correct.
Speaker 15 (16:09):
I've been the president of the Oklahoma State Conference as
a former member of the National Board of Directors.
Speaker 14 (16:14):
I received the email saying that I was suspended.
Speaker 15 (16:17):
I've written them over eight times, thirty five letter requesting
that they tell me why I'm suspended. And still to
this day, I cannot get a reason for why I'm suspended.
And I was also suspended for six years.
Speaker 16 (16:31):
So and.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
What was interesting to me here as i I'm going
through information, here is what is consistent with all of
you is due process now based upon the rules of
the organization and bylaws. Does it spell out clearly what
(17:00):
the process is when it comes to suspension, when it
comes to appeal, who do you appeal to? And then
do you appeal to the National Office Let's say you
let's say they rule against you. Can you then appeal
to the to the Board of Directors. What's that process?
Speaker 6 (17:18):
First of all, the Constitution and bilogues give you pacifics. Now,
the president can suspend you if he think it is
detrimental to the organization. But if you if your friends
bring you stuff and you suspend people, why would you
even get involved?
Speaker 1 (17:37):
No, no, no, here's my point. No no, no, no, no,
I have so I guess, so you have the authority
to suspend what I'm talking about? What is the process
after that?
Speaker 3 (17:45):
If they suspend you and the letter tells you you
have fifteen days.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
To appeal, you appealed to that? And who are you
appealing to? National office? That's what Director of Membership.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Quincy Bates at that time worked for the National Hawkins.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Okay, so what's that person's type.
Speaker 5 (18:07):
That you would appeal to?
Speaker 12 (18:09):
Carmen Watkins, who's the operations person? Vice president of operations.
Is where the letter comes from. And Rochelle is correct.
There's specific dates that you go by fifteen calendar days
and then they should be responding within ten calendar days
of receipt. So there's a number of deadlines that the
individual has to follow as well as national What has
(18:32):
been happening is that individuals like myself and everyone on
this panel and others have responded within the guidelines that's
presented in the bylaws. However, the same deadlines have not
been given by the National They do not follow up.
We appeal my attorney's appill and we are waiting on
an answer on the appeal.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
But they don't even tell you if you have a
against you, you're not allowed to see the complaint.
Speaker 12 (19:03):
You're not allowed to have an attorney to speak on
your behalf if you go out in front, like my
branch was threatened if they said anything out loud against
me or against I mean, or support of me, that
the entire branch would be shut down. So there's these
bully tactics for people to be silenced, and so much
(19:27):
like you have to ask permission for a boycott or
rally that I know you've already experienced. You have to
ask permission, and but yet you're the NAACP, your civil
rights organization. This is it's worse than apart that.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
So okay, So, so have any of you communicated any
of this to National Board members? Have any of you
tried to attend a National Board meeting? Have y'all gotten
anything from any of them? Anybody? Let me say this, Yeah,
I got I have Okay, hold on one second, hold on, though,
I have.
Speaker 6 (20:03):
The whole package of everything that happened in the Philupia branch,
and I sent it to all the National Board members.
Philippi branch is under receivership, but it's now called administratorship,
which is the same thing.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
You know what the exact the administrator says to me.
Speaker 6 (20:19):
The National Board wanted to know why you sending him this,
because I want to let you know what's been going on.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
So you said one second to every board member every board.
Did any board member respond to you?
Speaker 3 (20:31):
None?
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Who else said that they reach out to the board.
Speaker 5 (20:34):
Who else I reached out to? This is Betty Williams.
I reached out to the board.
Speaker 12 (20:38):
Matter of fact, I flew to Atlanta because I heard
they had this emergency suspension on the agenda.
Speaker 5 (20:46):
I took a midnight flight, flew out there.
Speaker 12 (20:50):
Actually had a conversation with sorry about that with Gloria
sweet Love says, I understand you may or may not
have an issue with me and or my branch. I'm
here if you have any questions, any concerns regarding.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
Me or my branch, I'm here to answer them.
Speaker 12 (21:07):
She answered me by saying, no took we've taken your
issue off the agenda.
Speaker 5 (21:13):
I was physically there as a matter of fact, Roland.
Speaker 12 (21:16):
When I finished meeting with them, I ran into you
in Atlanta in the lobby after talking to them.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Oh yeah, that's when, because y'all there would because that
was the same time Rainbow Push I had their meetings
there as well. Got it? Remember that who else said
that they reached out to the board director someone else did?
Speaker 17 (21:36):
I did?
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Go ahead? What happened?
Speaker 10 (21:39):
I filled everything out. I submitted my requests for a hearing.
I even recorded it, I sent it certified mail.
Speaker 5 (21:48):
I recorded myself at the.
Speaker 10 (21:50):
Post office, and I was not getting responses. I documented
my calls that I made to the National Office as well,
and I was just given the run around repeatedly. And
this is why I joined the NA being the first place,
because I was experiencing the same lack of new process
as a state employees.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
We go ahead, I'm sorry, go ahead, roll.
Speaker 15 (22:17):
Let me just say this served on that board board
members is not going to intervene or get involved even
if you reach out to them, because they don't even
know why you suspend it.
Speaker 14 (22:28):
You don't know why you're suspended.
Speaker 8 (22:30):
So even if they know they.
Speaker 15 (22:31):
Still not going to get involved because they don't want
to get a letter saying that they are suspended. So
a lot of times board member will not even ascertain
or talk to you about why you've got suspended. One
of the things I wanted to say, also because you
asked the earlier question, what the appeal process is? The
first of all, when you get your letter, it tells
(22:52):
you got fifteen days to request the hearing. It doesn't
give you the authority of the process to have an appeal,
So you have to request the hearing within fifteen days.
Speaker 14 (23:02):
But in the meantime of waiting for that hearing, for
whenever they want.
Speaker 15 (23:06):
To schedule hearing, then you have to continue to write
as everyone else have done, call email, texts or whatever,
and say tell me, send me something in writing, why
am I suspended? So I can be able to prepare
for a hearing, so my lawyer can be able to
prepare for a hearing to assist me in the hearing process.
And you still get nothing in righting. So I wanted
(23:27):
to make sure that you understood that the process of
the fifteen days. Once you receive that letter, you have
to request hearing with that fifteen days. If you don't
submit for a hearing, then you will be notified that
you refuse to participate in a hearing.
Speaker 6 (23:43):
And everybody has submitted their information within them sixteen days.
Let me say this, even in a constitution in Bilow,
after you submit the National Constitution, BILO say that they're
supposed to do something within sixty and ninety.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Days, which they don't do. They don't do that at all.
Speaker 6 (24:00):
On in my case, after I guess it was like
sixty or ninety days, they had a hearing, which I
wasn't the privilege to. They deliberated and decided to spend
me for six years. Wait a minute, what civil rights organization.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
Has a hearing without you decide on your faith and
you not even included on it. What are they doing?
Speaker 6 (24:23):
Let me just say this, the one thing that NAACP
has taught us, when you fight, you win. We are
fighting though it's a lot of us, but we know
that there is more people out there that have been
going through this with the National Office, and we want
them to contact us.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Can I get that information out?
Speaker 6 (24:43):
We want you that's been going through this, because we
know you think you're going through that alone.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
You're not.
Speaker 6 (24:48):
There's a whole group of us around the country. You
can call us and email us. You can email us
at Justice Justice the number four NAACP members at gmail
dot com. You can also call us a three two
three six nine six two zero seven eight. They taught
(25:12):
us this, when you fight, you win. We are fighting,
we are fired up, and we are not taking anymore.
I'm trying to figure out the National org Derrek Johnson
gets a four hundred and sixty thousand dollars plus salary
president salary, more than the President of the United States.
(25:33):
He has a board members that approved that. I'm trying
to figure out they are call or they're just scared.
How do you increase somebody's salary to four hundred and
sixty plus when all of us are volunteers that don't
get paid at all, don't get a dome.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
We reached out to the NAACP this week several times,
and right before we went on the air, we got
this statement go to my iPad vise. Trevron Williams is
the SVP for Marketing and Comms with the NAACP, said,
I wanted to make sure you receive our response. I
believe our Office of General Council email, but in the
interest of time, the NAACP firmly denies any allegations of defamation, harassment,
(26:14):
or improper suspension against the individuals mentioned. Furthermore, each individual
has received or is receiving due process in accordance with
the NAACP bylaws. The NAACP does not comment on specific
internal disciplinary actions for its members. Currently, the Black community
is facing tremendous challenges, including attacks on voting rights, diversity,
(26:37):
equity and inclusion initiatives, crucial upcoming elections, women's rights, and
most recently, threats to free speech. To effectively tackle these concerns,
we must maintain the strength of both our national and
local branches. Our focus remains on empowering our branches to
effectively address and assist the needs of our community and
to encourage to encouraging all eligible Black voters to cast
ballots in the twenty twenty four election, the most important
(26:59):
election of our lifetime. That's the statement from the nub
ACP National Office. Final comment final, I'm sorry one, we'll
say it, moring.
Speaker 14 (27:12):
Let me say that.
Speaker 15 (27:12):
I'll just reviewed that statement as you have read it. Also,
I've been a member of this n double ACP since
seventy four.
Speaker 14 (27:20):
I'm gonna retired.
Speaker 15 (27:21):
Vietnam, delas storm, Dela Cio, golf war Vega one hundred
percent disable.
Speaker 14 (27:25):
I volunteer my time.
Speaker 15 (27:27):
I've served as the president and interim president for the
state of Oklahoma n double AC people going on nineteen.
Speaker 14 (27:33):
To twenty years.
Speaker 15 (27:35):
To see that statement, to ship around with that statement,
to say, you're not gonna comment, You're not gonna address
these issues.
Speaker 14 (27:43):
The constitution by laws give you that authority.
Speaker 15 (27:47):
When you raised the question about the twenty nineteen organization
in Delaware, then they threatened say if you bring that up,
you talk about the Delaware Corporation, We're gonna suspend you.
You question my authority, You're gonna suspend me. As a
state comfort president of Oklahoma, I have never had to
sit down one on one come talk with Derrick Johnson
as president.
Speaker 14 (28:08):
You do not treat volunteers the way we have been treated.
We're volunteers.
Speaker 8 (28:13):
We care.
Speaker 15 (28:14):
We're the one on the ground fighting and walking and
putting our family lives in danger behind, representing the members
in the community, not the not just Derrick Johnson.
Speaker 14 (28:25):
We're out here in the field. You don't tell me that.
Speaker 15 (28:29):
During the George Floyd situation that the work that we
did in the field did not help raise the money.
Dereck Johnson personally say hits because of him that the
NAACB got the money, not what we do as leaders
out in this field. So don't tell me that I
don't count. This is a volunteer organization. We should have
(28:50):
due process. You cannot belong to a volunteer organization and
be told you have no rights.
Speaker 14 (28:55):
You have no due process.
Speaker 15 (28:56):
We can degrade you, talk down to you, and treat
you like we want to treat you just because you're volunteer.
Volunteers have right no matter what organization we in. Even
in the claims they volunteers have right. So we share
the same right now in the NAACP, Lord Walker, I
just wanted to share this is exactly why we joined
because our branch was not responsive.
Speaker 10 (29:19):
LA County had some of the highest racial disparities of
the country, and we have very little representation from the NAACP.
I was sending center reports, I was sending data, and
I was not getting any responses, and they actually exploited.
They started hurting some of the cases. One of the
stories was on your show, Yayo Wressel. She was one
(29:41):
of the stories that in AATP representative didn't even contact.
Speaker 18 (29:46):
The family for and they.
Speaker 10 (29:50):
They went on the news in a press conference without
the family's permission. So I want to stress that it's
one thing to not be be active and effective in
the black community. It's another to hurt and harm the
black community under the guise of being a civil rights organization.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
Betty Betty.
Speaker 12 (30:13):
In their response, there's a couple of things that they
said as far as what they do, and so one
of the things I would like to see them do,
at least in California, there's at least five harassment charges
from five different women that hasn't been addressed. I'm one
of the five and have documentation to prove it.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
So one of the things, I'm sorry, I'm sorry you
say five different harassment allegations, five different different women.
Speaker 12 (30:37):
Five different women against in California, in California.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
Against against other members, against who who, against.
Speaker 12 (30:49):
Uh, some individuals on the executive committee, the California Hawaii president.
And so for them to say that they are fighting
charges when there's harassment against women. One tried to look
in your own backyard and deal with the women that
are filing those charges. Internally at the very least acknowledged
(31:11):
that it happened. Secondly, they're talking about they're fighting for elections,
but yet eternally there's so many things that's going on
with their own elections. They are changing the script according
to the bylaws. There's individuals whose name a total of
forty six names were taken off of a ballot with
(31:31):
no explanation at all. Leroy himself was suspended because he
was a secretary challenging the election process.
Speaker 5 (31:41):
I was challenged and.
Speaker 12 (31:43):
Things were just changed, people's names, taking off of ballots,
and so.
Speaker 5 (31:49):
Internally, when you appeal it, they throw them out.
Speaker 12 (31:52):
We appealed certain things that should not have happened when
it came to the election, internal election process, and they
would throw it out and said it had nothing to
do with anything. And finally, the committee that handles the
suspension is called them Membership Committee, and personally and collectively
(32:15):
we feel that they should eliminate that entire committee because
they are actively not doing the due diligence.
Speaker 5 (32:25):
They're taking on personal assignments and if you.
Speaker 12 (32:28):
Don't do right by those individuals, they will go forward
with suspensions without due process. We're saying it should be
a third party entity that has a legal arm that
looks into the investigation of any and all suspensions.
Speaker 5 (32:42):
That's what we're looking for, Lee Roight.
Speaker 7 (32:45):
Yes, I would like to say that I sent my
appeal to Derrick Johnson, Russell Williams in Carmick Watkins. They
did have me speak with one of their attorneys. I
believe his name was Asante, and once I send him
the letter to proof that was vindicated, I didn't the
bank letter that I had proved that I did not
take any funds in the bank. And when I asked
him what he was going to do now that he
(33:06):
had the proof, and he said that depended on this
calendar to see what he had to say. And he
was supposed to be representing the national and he telling
me to go back to the same president that had
suspended me wrongfully because of it was retaliation for what.
Speaker 9 (33:21):
I had done.
Speaker 7 (33:22):
Is they're exposing the names of these people that had
been taken off of this list, which is a much
broader conversation and what we're having right.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
Now, I'm going to say this and close out with
this year.
Speaker 6 (33:31):
We know that there's a people around the country that
are experiencing this because a lot of these chapters are
in chaos.
Speaker 3 (33:39):
Phil Lolfia, You know the election is supposed to be
every two years.
Speaker 6 (33:42):
Phil Lolfia is going on the fourth year of not
having any election because the friend of Derek Johnson is
the president, the friend that we filed charges against for
fraud is still the president. I'm saying that all of
those around the country, you are not by yourself. We
are keeping our options open. What we are not trying
(34:04):
to do is tear down the NAACP because it has
done good works across the country, but.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
This administration dead.
Speaker 6 (34:12):
Johnson's sweet love, Erica Kaine, a so called lawyer Hoffman,
all of them are on the click. Anytime you want
to hang on to that four hundred and sixty thousand
dollars plus salary, when all of us out here put
our money out of our pocket, just continue to do
the work of the NAACP.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
You are not alone.
Speaker 6 (34:34):
Call us three two three six nine six two zero
seven eight. Email us your information Justice for NAACP members
at gmail dot com.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
When you fight, you win.
Speaker 6 (34:51):
We are not going to stand here and allow that
click to continue to oppress members that are out here doing.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
The work, all right, We'll look. We shorely appreciate y'all
being on the show. Shurely keep us abreast what happens next.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
Hey, we keeping on. This is open trust all right,
thanks about all of you.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 8 (35:10):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
What's gonna go to break?
Speaker 8 (35:11):
We come back.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
We're gonna discuss what's happening in Terren County where the
White da there continues to defend the prosecution of Crystal Mason.
This is going on eight years now after the depellate court.
Throughout the commission he argued at the count of Commissioner's
meeting that they should that he will continue to appeal
the decision and try to prosecute her. We'll talk to
one of the Terran County commissioners who challenge him in
(35:35):
that meeting. You're watching Roland Martin unfiltered right here on
the Black stud Network. A lot of y'all have been
asking me about the pocket squares that we're available on
our website. She'd be rocking and shaboy pocket square right here.
It's all about looking different now. Look, summertime is coming up,
y'all know. I keep trying to tell fellas change your look,
(35:58):
please you can't wear athletic shoes every damn wear, So
if you're putting on linen suits, if you're putting on
some summer suits, have a whole different look. The reason
I like this particular pocket square these sho boors because
it's sort of like a flower and looks pretty cool
here versus the traditional boring silk pocket squares. But also
(36:20):
I like being a little different as well, So this
is why we had these custom made feather pocket squares
on the website as well. My sister actually designed these
after a few years ago. I was in his battle
with Steve Harvey at Essence and I saw this at
a Saint Jude fundraiser. I saw this feather pocket square
and I said, well, I got some ideas, so I
hit her and she sent me about thirty different ones,
(36:43):
and so this completely changes your look now, some of
you men out there, I had some dudes say, oh, man,
I can't wear that. Well, if you ain't got sweagging,
that's not my problem. But if you're looking for something
different to spruce up your look, fellas ladies, if y'all
looking to get your man a good gift, I've had
(37:03):
I've run into brothers all across the country with the
feathers pocket squares saying see check mine out, and so
it's always good to see them.
Speaker 9 (37:10):
And so this is what you do.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Go to roll this Martin dot Com forge Slash pocket squares.
You could order Shabory pocket squares or the custom made
pocket squares. Now for the chaborious. We're out of a
lot of the different colors, and I think we're down
to about two or three hundred, So you want to
get your order in as soon as you can, because
here's what happened. I got these several years ago, and
they the Japanese company sided to deal with another company,
(37:34):
and I bought them before they signed that deal, and
so I can't get access to any more from the
company in Japan than mix them, and so get yours now.
So come summertime when I see y'all, in essence, y'all
could be looking fly with the Shaboy Pocat square or
the custom made pocket square again rolling this Martin dot
Com for Slash pocket squares.
Speaker 19 (37:53):
Go there now.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Hello, we're the Credit of Fictions.
Speaker 16 (38:02):
I'm doctor Vernada Hodges and I'm doctor Terrence Ferguson, and
you're tuning in to Roland Martin unfilchre.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
All right, folks, welcome back. This is a live look
at the Florida and M University Board of Trustees meeting
where they are asking a lot of questions of President
Larry Robinson and his staff with regards to the funding
this donor gift of two hundred and thirty seven million
dollars in stock that took place over the weekend. The
President has announced on this call that given the scrutiny,
(38:48):
given this heightened scrutiny, they are putting the processing of
this donation on hold. These boarder Trustees members had no
idea about this donation. There are lots of questions. I
can tell y'all, right, now, there's actually not real money here, okay,
So just so you understand what's going on. There's not
actual real money that's going on here. And so this
(39:12):
was a two hundred and thirty seven million dollars that
was in stock, in stock that was given to the university,
but stock in a private company. Well, there are lots
of questions of what is this company? Is it a
real company, what's the valuation of this company? And so
(39:32):
we're going to talk further about that when we talked
to a gentleman who's actually monitoring this. He's been posting
a lot of information on social media. We talked to
him later in the show, So we're just going to
keep you updated on that. Now, folks, let's talk about
the continuing mess in Arrant County where Christal Mason continues
to be terrorized by the Terrant County DA. Now, remember
(39:57):
it was eight years ago when Crystal Mason voted in
the twenty sixteen election. She thought she could vote, She
filled a provisional ballot. The ballot was never counted, but
she was prosecuted as a result of being indicted because
she was already on a parole from a federal tax
(40:18):
fraud conviction, she was sent back to federal prison to
complete that term. Two years was added to her sentence.
They've been fighting it. They won in the Court of Appeals. Now,
Terran County DA Philip Soorrols stood before the County Commissioner's
court this week to defend why he wants to appeal
(40:41):
that decision and why he continues to terrorize Crystal Mason.
Speaker 20 (40:49):
The Court of Criminal Appeals told the Fort Worth Court
to perform a sufficiency analysis. Specifically, they told the courts
to determine if the state proved with sufficient evidence not
only that Mason knew that she was on supervisor release
when she voted, but also that she actually realized that
those circumstances, that the fact that she was on felony
supervised release, that those circumstances rendered her ineligible to vote.
(41:15):
Sufficiency review is not uncommon. The standard is well settled.
It's something that courts do regularly. The appeals court in
a sufficiency review there to look at the evidence. They
look back at the evidence that they're not in the
light most favorable to the verdict. So they look back
(41:37):
and say, okay, we know what the verdict was. The
verdict was that she was found guilty. Now is there
sufficient evidence to support that verdict? But that's not what
happened in the Second Court of Appeals this past March. Instead,
the court reweighed the evidence. They acted like a fact finder.
I like that piece of evidence, I'll take that. I
(41:59):
don't believe that piece of evidence, I'm going to push
it away. That's not what you do in a sufficiency standard.
They credited and discredited evidence just like they were the
fact fighter. This is not a fact question. We are
not here to talk about facts. This is a legal question,
a matter of legal principles, sufficiency of the evidence. Their
(42:20):
decision was a deviation from well settled law on sufficiency reviews.
Speaker 21 (42:26):
So why is the state Why am I appealing in
this case? Well, I'll give you three reasons.
Speaker 20 (42:31):
Number One, I want would be illegal voters to know
that we're watching, and then we'll follow the law and
we will prosecute illegal voting.
Speaker 21 (42:44):
I want those that vote legally to know that we're watching.
Speaker 20 (42:50):
And that we're working to make sure that your vote's
not going to be deluded by any illegal votes.
Speaker 21 (42:57):
And finally, this is a deviation from the well.
Speaker 20 (43:01):
Settled law regarding sufficiency reviews and it needs to be corrected.
This case, if it's left standing, impacts every sufficiency case
in the State of Texas, not just voting cases, murder cases,
theft cases, capital murder cases, any kind of case.
Speaker 21 (43:18):
This case, it's a published opinion, can be cited for
a proposition that this is how you review sufficiency cases.
And it's wrong.
Speaker 20 (43:28):
So we need the Quarter Criminal Appeals to come and
tell the Second Corp Appeals that you need to do
the sufficiency standard evaluation.
Speaker 21 (43:37):
Again, have an answer any of your questions.
Speaker 22 (43:41):
Questions for mister Sols, I have a bunch, but I'll
wait until after public comment. But let me ask you this.
How she did not vote? She submitted a provisional abounding.
Speaker 23 (43:59):
I keep hearing her in the audience. I'm gonna start
watching and start removing people. That's not what we're gonna do.
So sit there, let the process play out. You'll have
your opportunity to speak. Listen to what others are saying.
Do not speak out, or you'll be removed from the chambers.
Speaker 21 (44:16):
Go ahead. So she didn't vote, She did vote. She
cast her provisional ballots, the.
Speaker 4 (44:21):
Same with voting that did not count. Where is the ballot?
Speaker 14 (44:24):
Sir?
Speaker 4 (44:25):
What happened to the ballot?
Speaker 21 (44:27):
I can't tell you what happened to me. What do
they do with a provisional ballot? Administrator? So I don't
know where the ballot.
Speaker 4 (44:32):
Is now, Chandler, do you know what they do with
provisional ballots?
Speaker 24 (44:37):
No, no, no, man, I don't know.
Speaker 4 (44:38):
My apologies, it didn't count. Is that correct?
Speaker 21 (44:42):
You're wrong?
Speaker 20 (44:43):
The Corcinal Appeals this felled that quickly and said this
was a vote. The question was not did she vote?
It was did she actually realize that while she was
on felony supervised for supervision, that she.
Speaker 21 (44:59):
Wasn't allowed to vote?
Speaker 22 (45:01):
Okay, so the ballot was never cured, so it wasn't counted,
so she didn't vote.
Speaker 4 (45:09):
How else she didn't vote? How else does?
Speaker 5 (45:12):
How else?
Speaker 22 (45:13):
Does the Court of appeals weigh the sufficiency of the
evidence Without weighing the evidence, They.
Speaker 20 (45:21):
Look at the evidence most favorable to the verdict, So
they're not trying to figure out did they get it right.
They look to see if there's evidence so you find
your conclusion, then an argument. They have a conclusion guilty
of the offense. So now they're going to look and
see is there evidence that supports that. Now, a normal
try or fact would say, look, this person testified and
(45:43):
I don't believe anything they had to say, Or this
person testified I believe everything they had to say. Or
you have another witness that says I believe some of it,
but part of that doesn't ring true. That's what a
trier a fact does. That's not what an appellate court does.
An appellate court looks at the law facts.
Speaker 25 (46:01):
It is sad to say that it is still true today,
but brother, Malcolm X said this, The most disrespected person
in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person
in America is the black woman. The most neglected person
in America is the black woman. You see, historically we
have been your mammys, your maids, and your mistresses. But
today we are your doctors, your lawyers, your judges, your teachers,
(46:25):
your professors, your county commissioners, your vice president, and your
Supreme Court justice. Indeed, we are the backbone of this
democracy we call the United States.
Speaker 5 (46:35):
So instead of wasting.
Speaker 25 (46:36):
Our tax payer dollars, as DA Souls just went after
going after a black woman who has been acquitted of
an eight year ordeal, why don't you go after the
candidate who was declared ineligible to run for Mansfield iss
D Trusty place too, who did vote in the March
Republican primary despite being ineligible at the time.
Speaker 26 (46:55):
I believe Crystal Mason did not know she was not
eligible to vote when she cast a provisional ballot. She
only voted a provisional ballot and it was never cured
and her vote was never counted. She served time in
jail and her case went through the courts and appeal process.
(47:16):
I believe the only reason Da Sarles wants to reverse
her appeal is because he wants to engage in voter suppression.
He just wants to instill fear in voters. I'm adding
my voice of disbelief to the action of.
Speaker 27 (47:34):
The district Attorney and seeking to restore Crystal Mason's conviction.
As the appellate Court noted in reversing the conviction, the
state's evidence was not sufficient to quote prove beyond a
reasonable doubt that she actually knew that being on supervised
release after having served her entire federal suddence of incarceration
(47:55):
made her ineligible to vote by casting a provisional ballot
when she did so. Yes, voting is a cornerstone of
our democracy and that is exactly why the prosecution against
her never should have happened.
Speaker 28 (48:12):
Our Tarrent County Days Office stated at our quotes voting
is the cornerstone of our democracy. This office will protect
the ballot box from frosters who think are lost.
Speaker 8 (48:23):
Don't apply to them.
Speaker 1 (48:25):
Now.
Speaker 28 (48:27):
When your office was given information about Angel Holdaco, a
disgraced in eligible mansfell I SDS school Board candidate for
Place two, you chose not to act even our local
school board, which does lack integrity, chose to at least
find mister hodago At eligible and even if he received
(48:47):
the most votes, he would not have been able to
actually take a position on our local school board.
Speaker 21 (48:51):
The public is not on.
Speaker 29 (48:52):
Your side on this issue, Tha Souls, which is concurring
with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruling which you
put it, or of any wrongdoing.
Speaker 21 (49:00):
Our DA now appealing this acquittal.
Speaker 29 (49:01):
Maybe it's because the so called voter Integrity task Force,
which has prosecuted zero offenses, grasping at straws to justify
the expense of.
Speaker 21 (49:09):
Our county taxpayer dollars.
Speaker 29 (49:11):
Maybe it's because we like to target minority women of
color to intimidate them not to show up at the polls.
Maybe it's an homage to Trump's call to Tarrant County
when he lost the vote to Biden in twenty twenty,
to look into voter fraud in line with his lies
that the election was stolen.
Speaker 21 (49:25):
I am tired of our.
Speaker 29 (49:26):
County officials wasting tax money while targeting people of color
as their expression of allegiance to Trump. I am tired
of black Tarrant County citizens being disenfranchised dehumanized and incarcerated
based on illegitimate and incompetent charges. The money wasted on
useless voter suppression tactics would be better spent on a
public defender's office specializing in mental health.
Speaker 1 (49:47):
I mean now, as Terrant County Commissioner Elisa Simmons, Commissioner Simmons,
glad to have you here. It is abundantly clear that
this is a massive waste of taxpayer dollars. Have you,
Commissioner Brooks or any other commissioner asked this DA to
tabulate how many hours have been committed by the Tank
(50:11):
County DA's office to this single case. Not yet.
Speaker 22 (50:16):
What I did yester or Tuesday was ask how much
of our taxpayer dollars will be committed to this frivolous,
wasteful pursuit to overturn the appeal?
Speaker 4 (50:35):
If you have time to listen to that entire exchange.
Speaker 22 (50:41):
He said something about committing one attorney to this case.
He wouldn't give a number, and made some ansenine comment
again about saying he's going to commit one attorney to
(51:05):
this appeal.
Speaker 4 (51:06):
Just ridiculous, What was it?
Speaker 1 (51:07):
Nonsensical? This was twenty sixteen. We've had the twenty eighteen midterms,
the twenty twenty president's election, the twenty twenty two midterm election,
now moving towards the twenty twenty four president election, and
they still done. It's like, dude, it's one person, one person.
Speaker 4 (51:26):
Look this DA and as you said, the.
Speaker 1 (51:29):
Ballot never counted. It was a provisional ballot. It was
never processed, it was never it never went through.
Speaker 22 (51:38):
This guy is trying to make a name for himself
and he sees this as an easy way to do it.
Speaker 4 (51:46):
I guess they ought to be embarrassed.
Speaker 22 (51:49):
Look this guy, Judge Charles da the DA, the sheriff,
the MAGA Sheriff Bill Waybourn, and our county judge who
you you just watched be rude to the audience because
they moaned or sighed or something like that. These three
(52:13):
guys came up with this election integrity unit. So we
now have this election integrity unit that we you know,
we have to pay staff to staff it, and they
are they're supposed to go out and receive identify cases
(52:34):
of alleged voter fraud. This county has had probably three
to five voter fraud cases UH in the past decade.
Speaker 8 (52:45):
There there is no.
Speaker 22 (52:49):
There's no proliferation of voter fraud in Terran County. So
I guess they're going to keep going after poor miss
Mason Uh to try and prove it. It doesn't make sense.
The public comments or said it much better than I can.
Speaker 4 (53:07):
You heard them.
Speaker 22 (53:09):
This is a waste of taxpayer dollars for as a sufficiency,
just all of it.
Speaker 4 (53:13):
It's ridiculous.
Speaker 22 (53:15):
And we had probably a historic turnout Tuesday for a
number of reasons, and because I anticipated the turnout, I
agendaized this topic. And you saw this DA's poor performance
in answering questions from a late person.
Speaker 4 (53:32):
Right, I'm not an attorney, and.
Speaker 22 (53:37):
This is embarrassing and I will continue to call this
crap out until I can't do it anymore.
Speaker 1 (53:47):
Are you planning on keeping this on the agenda every
month to force this DA to come before the court
and explain himselfs because his money comes from the taxpayers.
Speaker 22 (53:58):
Yeah, I like that idea. I've done it before on
a different issue. I just agendaized it week after week
after week after week.
Speaker 1 (54:05):
So so y'all, y'all meet weekly or monthly.
Speaker 4 (54:08):
And we meet the first and third to esday of
each month.
Speaker 1 (54:11):
I will listen would I would haul his ass down,
have him have to stand there every week and defend
this and hopefully people keep coming out and protesting because
it is shameful. And what are your other colleagues saying,
I mean, are any of them ticked off by by
this constant pull the commissioners up? Go ahead, show the graphic.
(54:34):
Are any of them standing with you saying, da, this
is idiotic? What are you doing?
Speaker 30 (54:42):
No?
Speaker 4 (54:43):
Now?
Speaker 22 (54:44):
In his defense, Commission Brooks was out yesterday. I think
you said a conference or something. But the other three
sat there dead silent. The one in the center is
the ring leader of all of this. You know, we
(55:04):
we have a Maga court. You see the Precinct one,
Precinct two where the Democrats and then the other three
are maga and so we.
Speaker 4 (55:14):
Frequently get out voted on everything.
Speaker 22 (55:17):
Whatever we put on the agenda for our constituents, our communities,
our nonprofits get voted down by these three.
Speaker 4 (55:25):
So you know, people have to vote right. But we
will keep you know, the two of us won't be.
Speaker 22 (55:33):
Able to do anything about Ms Mason except for call
it out, get the public commenters down there to speak
to it. We had a record amount of public commenters
yesterday and Tuesday, and many of them spoke to this issue.
This is ridiculous when I tell you how overcrowded our
(55:56):
jail is. Done needs to be focus seeing on reducing
the backlog of viable cases, viable cases that he has,
But no, he wants to play games with this woman's
life and with our taxpayer dollars.
Speaker 1 (56:14):
Y'all.
Speaker 4 (56:14):
It is crazy here.
Speaker 22 (56:16):
Terran County is the last large urban red county in
this country and they are not wanting to let loose
because they would like to play games like this with
this woman's life.
Speaker 4 (56:30):
It's crazy.
Speaker 1 (56:32):
I'm gonna put my panel right now. Arecy Colbert, hosts
series Exit radio show out of DC, doctor Greg Card
Department of Back of America Studies and Howard University out
of DC. And law Victoria Burt writing for a Black
Press USA out of Arlington, Virginia, lawn yew.
Speaker 18 (56:46):
First, I'm wondering, why have you heard from anyone from
like a national organization that does voting. I mean, obviously
black voters are always taught sold, of course, to vote
harder and all that. I'm wondering if you've heard from
the national NAACP or even the White House on this
because it seems to me that this person, Phil Sorels,
(57:07):
who's obviously obsessed with Crystal Mason, he should get his
wish with regard to being famous. He should be made
famous by every voting rights organization, anybody who cares about
voting rights in the United States, and he should be
made famous for all the wrong reasons. Have you heard
from anybody on sort of a national level.
Speaker 22 (57:24):
I not, no, ma'am, not since he announced this back
on April twenty fifth. Now, Crystal has some great local
attorneys and her she has ACLU of Texas attorneys as well,
and so I consulted them just in the past week
(57:47):
about this case and how I should approach my line
of questioning.
Speaker 1 (57:51):
But this guy was so.
Speaker 22 (57:54):
Abrasive and you know, and dismissive. And I've been here
since ten am, so I'm not going to stay here
any longer. You ask your questions now, I have work
to do, so but no, I've not heard from the
national organizations. But I need to and I need some
help this And I appreciate this forum. And I know
(58:19):
you've had attorney Kim Coles on before. I appreciate this
forum to hopefully elevate this and get this out there.
Speaker 4 (58:27):
I need help. There are only two of us and
it takes you got to counsel.
Speaker 1 (58:35):
Absolutely.
Speaker 17 (58:36):
Reci Commissioner, thank you for being here. Can you explain
exactly the process this hearing. I wasn't really clear if
this was a hearing to grant his appeal or this
is a hearing to just explain his appeal. Can you
walk us through where exactly this is in the process
of this DA trying to recharge Chris me Son.
Speaker 22 (59:01):
Well, she was acquitted or got the ruling I think
it was March March twenty eighth.
Speaker 1 (59:10):
Yeah, there was March twenty sixth. You get the Court
of Appeals that throughout her conviction. And so so the
t County DA is seeking to appeal that ruling of
the Court of Appeals.
Speaker 22 (59:23):
Okay, and so what you just witnessed commissioners meet the
first and third Tuesday of the month, and so this
was our first meeting since the DA announced he was
going to appeal that ruling. Okay, And so I agendized
(59:44):
this to get a briefing from him. He needs to
come to Commissioner's court and tell us why he has
chosen to appeal this.
Speaker 19 (59:53):
What is going to.
Speaker 4 (59:54):
Cost, so on and so forth, and so he was
there to to take our questions.
Speaker 22 (01:00:01):
And so when we have an item that is agendazed,
the public can sign up to speak to it, and
so they also.
Speaker 4 (01:00:10):
Ask questions and had comments to make.
Speaker 22 (01:00:12):
So that's that's what you were watching the first Commissioner's
court since his announcement that he was going to appeal.
Speaker 19 (01:00:22):
Greg.
Speaker 16 (01:00:24):
Thank you Roland, and thank you Commissioner Simmons. In reading
one of the reports about the what we what we
were just viewing in terms of the meeting, uh read
that Crystal Brown, Aforence Hill resident, said that she wanted
to thank mister O'Hare for waking the sleeping black panther
of Tarank County. I'm wondering if this, if you see
(01:00:45):
this perhaps a galvanizing moment. And and forgive me if
I have this incorrect. But last month, did this Punk O'Hare,
this faith, family and freedom? Punk the judge judge did
he did he tell you you'll sit there and be quiet.
I'm just trying to I mean, these guys are talking
with impunity. Could this be a moment to spark black
(01:01:06):
people to finally get together in what appears to be
a county of over two million people majority nine. I'm
white at least if it's forty four percent, understand white,
although there's some white his banks as well. You know,
could this be a flashpoint moment with these guys just
talking so crazy, telling you to be quiet, telling the
apparently law enforcement to be prepared to remove people from
the building if they look like they're going to be disrupted.
(01:01:28):
Who the hell do they think they're talking to? Commission
and times be a moment to kind of get our.
Speaker 22 (01:01:33):
People five sir, Yes, So our last meeting, I questioned
a contract that he had on the agenda to hire
a Republican political consultant to work in his office.
Speaker 4 (01:01:49):
Well, we don't. We don't pay use county tax.
Speaker 22 (01:01:53):
Dollars to pay Republican or Democratic political consultants.
Speaker 4 (01:02:00):
To work for us, you know. And so I questioned
his contract.
Speaker 22 (01:02:06):
Commissioner Brooks, the brother you see question the contract really
went hard on him, and the public speakers did. And
so I went last and I said, well I agree
with Commissioner Brooks, and he lit.
Speaker 4 (01:02:20):
Into me and tried to question me about his contracts.
Speaker 22 (01:02:27):
Well, you have staff that are posting political stuff on
your I said, we're not talking about my social media.
We're talking about your contract. And he tried to ask
me questions. I said, okay, I'll answer one of his questions.
In the process, he said, you be quiet, you sit
there and listen to me until I'm finished.
Speaker 4 (01:02:49):
And so, uh, you got to see the.
Speaker 1 (01:02:52):
Video and I we got to We're gonna find that video.
Speaker 22 (01:02:56):
I cussed, really, I'm not the guy, because don't let
how I custom really, but I didn't, and I just
simply said, who are you like you cannot tell me
when and when not to speak.
Speaker 4 (01:03:10):
And so that was the thing that caught everybody's attention.
Speaker 22 (01:03:17):
And so a lot of local organizations, white, Black, Purple,
Hispanic Faith based not the Divine Nine planned uh direct action,
and yesterday or Tuesday, they came to court, and because
I knew that they were planning it, I was not
(01:03:38):
in on the planning. I decided, I'm going to agendie
Crystal Mason.
Speaker 4 (01:03:44):
And I was quite alarm.
Speaker 22 (01:03:47):
Because we we will have a lot of people there.
I was hearing a lot of people were coming. So
I decided, let's let's agendize Crystal Mason. So the people
aren't there at the Commission's sport meeting board listening to
us talk about contracts for HVAC Agendaze Crystal Mason. I
agendized the jail debts. We have a proliferation of jail debts.
(01:04:11):
We had two in a matter of four days. The
last one was after an altercation, and so I agendized
the sheriff to come give us an update on that.
I agendaized a DA to come give us a briefing
on the Crystal Mason case. The sheriff refused to come,
(01:04:33):
and anyway, they got win that there was going to
be a crowd there and we had historic attendants. They
had to do two overflows. They had my staff came
and got me from the parking garage because now I
have to have some personal protection when I'm downtown. And
(01:04:55):
I got We walked up to the building and I said,
what on earth is all all of this response?
Speaker 4 (01:05:01):
There were sheriffs units around the building.
Speaker 22 (01:05:04):
There were forty sheriff's deputies teeming all throughout the small
administration building.
Speaker 4 (01:05:11):
They were everywhere just just.
Speaker 22 (01:05:14):
Disrespectful because you anticipate black people are coming to their
commissioner's court. Just like the White House, that's the people's house.
Missis's courts people's house, and so it was. It was
a galvanizing moment. So I had there were people there
talking about the disrespect to Simmons, Commissioner Simmons, Crystal Mason,
(01:05:38):
and the jail debts, and so it was overflow. We
had pastors and bishops and it's just so many people.
And the good thing about it is they were amazed.
There were two megachurch pastors sitting in my office after
a break and I went to speak to them and
(01:05:59):
they said, I'm sorry, we had no idea. This is
what commissioner's court deals with. I said, oh, how long
have you been sitting here? They've been there since ten o'clock.
And watch that man talk rudely. He didn't want the
people to speak. They couldn't side, they couldn't clap, they
couldn't And understand, in Texas all turn and fifty four
(01:06:22):
counties they have a five member Commissioner's Court.
Speaker 4 (01:06:25):
Right the county judge has no more.
Speaker 22 (01:06:29):
Authority than the four commissioners. He presides the meetings. He
can declare an emergency without the commissioner right like a
burn band, you know, if it's you know, summertime, ras
is dry.
Speaker 4 (01:06:44):
He can do that.
Speaker 22 (01:06:45):
Other than that, he has no more authority than I do.
He has no more influence, has no more influence over
the budget. But the power this man has is he's
got three votes.
Speaker 19 (01:06:56):
Right.
Speaker 1 (01:06:58):
Look, look in Harris County, Democrats now control the County
Commissioner's Court, which is why they've been trying to take
out Lean the Hidalgo. And so because that's the case
down they broke. They broke that Republican grip. Republicans used
to control the Dallas County Commissioners Court. Now Democrats controlled
that as well, And that's really what's ticking off all
(01:07:18):
these maga Republicans and Democrats controlled Dallas County, they control
Harris County, they control Bear County, they controlled Travis County,
and so Terror County is really the last large county
in Texas that Republicans have control over. Well, you can
go ahead. So here's so you can go ahead and
tell the Sheriff's department that they're gonna need to do
(01:07:41):
that again. I've already sent a text message to a
variety of folk. We plan on coming down to Fort
Worth to also have a larger rally. And so I've
reached so I've been talking to Reverend Frederick Douglas Hayes,
who's there in Dallas. And so we'll be communicating with
you getting information on the next Commission's meeting when we
(01:08:02):
plan this action. Because this is not just Crystal Mason.
Is what they did to the brother in Harris County
who stood in line for six hours. They scared that
brother to deaths so bad he says, I'm not going
to vote any election again. We saw what happened in
Florida when Ron Desandi's sickest sickest dogs on formally incarcerated
folk arrested them. All the charges were thrown out. They
(01:08:26):
were trying to again keep those formally incarcerated folks from
casting ballots. This is what Maccan Republicans are doing across
the country, and so the amount of resources to targeting
this one woman is offensive. And that's why I say
Phil Sorels is terrorizing Christen Mason, Crystal Mason. There's an
other way to look at this here. This is one
case eight years old. This man is spending more time
(01:08:51):
going after this one woman who cast a provisional ballot
than they do fighting other serious crime in the county.
In this shameful and this, This is trying to create
a chilling effect to tell black folks in Terran County
We're gonna do the same thing to you. And so
this is why black folks in terrn County and Fort
Worth have got to rise up and vote their numbers
(01:09:12):
in these elections because these people can be beat, but
they have the power because we also don't turn out.
In maximizing our numbers. We have more.
Speaker 22 (01:09:22):
Registered Democrats in Terran County than Republicans.
Speaker 4 (01:09:27):
Well, it's a turnout game, yep. These people got to
turn out.
Speaker 1 (01:09:32):
They can't call me yep, mad and upset.
Speaker 4 (01:09:35):
Yeah right, And I've been I.
Speaker 22 (01:09:37):
Was the NAACP president in Arlington for ten years and
so I've told people don't stop calling me. And now
gotten elected and I have more authority, more power, more
influences in DOUBLEACP president than I have.
Speaker 1 (01:09:51):
You were chapter president when I spoke there, Yes that
was me, Yes, all right, yeah, absolutely, well listen we come.
Speaker 22 (01:10:00):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (01:10:01):
And so they may they better add some more shriff
folks because the number of folks were gonna have out
that is gonna be much larger than what they saw
this past week. And the pressure has to stay on them. Uh.
And absolutely. I would put his I would put Crystal
Mason on the agenda at every commissioner's meeting, and that way,
that way he got to haul his behind there and
(01:10:21):
face the people and not behind not high behind closed doors.
Speaker 22 (01:10:25):
Yes, sir, thank you for hearing from me this. This
has been therapeutic. Uh it is it is insane, ye,
what's happening here?
Speaker 1 (01:10:33):
All right?
Speaker 4 (01:10:34):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (01:10:34):
Tell Roy Brooks. I'm calling him next to him on
the show as well, so as I saw him a
couple of weeks ago, So tell them I'm hitting him up.
Thank you, I appreciate it. Thanks about it.
Speaker 4 (01:10:43):
I want to say thank you to everybody that came out.
It was, it was amazing. It's a lonely proposition up there.
Speaker 22 (01:10:50):
I'm just telling you, yep for the turnout, overflow, seeing
people everywhere was amazing.
Speaker 1 (01:10:57):
All right, then, wont to be the last time you.
We appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thanks all right, folks,
we've come back. We're gonna chat with Ben Crump about
this case out of Tulsa. We're gonna talk to Florida
A and M donation. Folks. This is why you got
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(01:11:18):
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(01:11:40):
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(01:12:06):
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(01:12:27):
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Speaker 31 (01:12:52):
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Another way, We're giving you the freedom to be you
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Speaker 32 (01:13:22):
On a next a balance life with me, Doctor Jackie.
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called faith. It comes in all shapes and sizes, and
it's powerful and it's a big part of being able
to live a balance life.
Speaker 33 (01:13:36):
The ballet I experienced being a cancer survivor was one
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Speaker 11 (01:13:42):
I had no idea what to do and in that
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That's all next on a balanced life only. I'm blessed
our network.
Speaker 1 (01:13:56):
First president of Barack Obama's Road to the White House.
We got about five hundred copies of the book available,
and so this actually is all of the coverage of
the two thousand and eight election. But the other thing
is this here I talked to folks like Malik Yoba Hill, Harper,
Eric Alexandria, Kevin Lyles, Spike Lee, Tatyana Ali. But there's
a lot of behind the scenes stuff in here as well,
(01:14:18):
where I talked about some of the stuff that went
down at CNN. Also, when you go through here, a
lot of the photos that you see in here photos
that I actually shot, photos that were my time at CNN.
And So what I decided to do, because one I
published the book and I own it myself, is that
so I said, you know what, I'm gonna slash the
price of ten bucks, and so we're gonna have shipping
(01:14:40):
a Handley five hullion nine. I'm gonna personally autograph every copy.
I'm not reprinting the book, so once we are sold
out of these five hundred. That's it. They're gone. So
you can go to Rollinsmartin dot com Ford Slash the
first to get a copy of this book. Everybody who
orders this book through the website, not on Amazon, only
through ros dot com, I will personally autograph and mail
(01:15:02):
you a copy of this book. It's all of the covers,
the actually interviews that I did with him, and just
to show you, of course when it came out, there's
actually even in here, uh, the interviews that I did
with him and Michelle Obama which won TV one Cable Networks,
his first two NAACP image of Wards and so all
(01:15:23):
of that for ten bucks shipping and Hanley is five
ninety nine. So go to Roland as Martin dot com
the first and order your copy today. Hey, what's up?
Gee too?
Speaker 34 (01:15:31):
In a place to you got kick Touching Mama's University
creator and that could producers of Fat Tuesday's and area
hip hop comedy. Right now, I'm rolling with Roland Martin, unfiltered, uncut, unplugged,
and undamned believable.
Speaker 1 (01:15:46):
Him, folks. Another shameful story of police action, this time
out of Florida. A senior airman, a black Air Force
(01:16:08):
senior airman has been shot and killed by Florida Sheriff's deputies.
Twenty three year old Senior Airman Roger Fortson was fatally
shot on May third after the Okahoosa County Sheriff's office
burst into his home. Report said the deputy was responding
to a call about a disturbance in progress and reacted
in self defense after seeing Fortson with a gun, but
(01:16:34):
family attorney Ben Crump says the officers were at the
wrong address and did not identify himself when knocking on
the door. Fortson reportedly on the phone retrieved his gun
when he did not see anyone outside, but the knocking continued.
Krump and Rogers's family viewed the bodycam footage today, being
(01:16:56):
Crump joins us, right now, Ben, so what the heck
happened here?
Speaker 9 (01:17:03):
What?
Speaker 19 (01:17:03):
What?
Speaker 35 (01:17:04):
What?
Speaker 14 (01:17:04):
What?
Speaker 16 (01:17:04):
What?
Speaker 1 (01:17:04):
Were they even executed? Was it disturbance?
Speaker 8 (01:17:10):
Roland? It's unbelievable. This young man was a model United
States member of the Armed Forces. He has no criminal
history in his background. He was on the phone with
his girlfriend on FaceTime the whole time leading up to this.
(01:17:31):
The family's adamant everything that we know about this case
tells us they went to the wrong apartment and when
you see what that door open, he told him to
step back. Roger was very very respectful law enforcement. He
(01:17:53):
stepped back in a split second, rolling in a split second,
he shot him six times. And what is being lit
out of this argument, out of this case is they
keep saying, well, he had a gun when he came
to the door. Where the reality is is Chris said,
(01:18:14):
they didn't hear the police identify themself. He said who
it is, and nobody identified himself based on what the
girlfriend said, and she's going to do her own press
conference so it's not lost in any translation. But when
he saw black man with a gun, even though he
was a law biding citizen with a registered license to
(01:18:35):
care what happened the Second Amendment rights, that police knit
him up. And right after he shot him, he did
said while he was on the ground toast the gun.
He didn't give any burpal commands to drop the gun
and put your hands in the air when he came
open that door. And that's what's troubling Roland. They continue
(01:18:56):
to try to justify the job killers out the best
young people.
Speaker 1 (01:19:04):
Did they knocked down the door or did fortune open
the door?
Speaker 8 (01:19:10):
They the video show that opens in less than a second.
He didn't begin shootinga hearing him six times.
Speaker 1 (01:19:23):
So wait a minute. Fortune opens the door and instead
of the officer saying come out with your hands up,
the moment he opens the door, the officer starts firing.
Speaker 8 (01:19:38):
Starts firing. Brother, When you see this video, you ut Roland,
I mean, it is deplorable when you look at how
fast he took this young man's life. And this young
man was outstanding every way. He was a special ops roller,
he had a build, a tour of duty. He was
taking his mother. It was that he wrote to his
(01:20:02):
little note ten, your sister, sixty your brother. In fact,
there's a photo we'll get to you. He was so
proud of being in the United States Air Force. He
had an airman's uniform all and he thought his nine
of your old little sister at the time airman's uniform.
And it's so adorable because he's she is saluting him.
(01:20:23):
And this is the type of person we had that
they are trying to make out to be the bad guy.
He wasn't the bad guy. He was a good guy.
Speaker 1 (01:20:38):
Questions from the panel recy.
Speaker 17 (01:20:42):
Yes, thank you mister Crump for bringing attention to this case.
What about the neighbor that supposedly led the police to
mister Forreston's door. What have they said, if anything about
the situation.
Speaker 8 (01:20:59):
You're brilliant, miss Reesi, because you get to the crux
of the matter when you listen by the video. You
listen to her describe what's going on and that it's
fourteen oh one. Well, the reality is he is in
that apartment by himself on FaceTime for his girlfriend with
his little dog. There is no domestic disturbance. They went
(01:21:22):
to the wrong apartment, and God helped that leasing agent
at the apartment if she's the person who's sending them
to the wrong apartment, because that is the question. We're
at the right apartment. But even beyond that, you watch
that video, I mean, it has so many troubling questions
(01:21:45):
that become a parent. Number one, why did he give
Verber commands to put down the webench, put your hands
up firstus just manloading on him. Number Two, when he's
on the ground, he then gives the command taught your weapon,
And Roger couldn't have been more respectful of authority. He said,
(01:22:10):
I did. And then when you get his girlfriend's FaceTime video.
He's saying I can't breathe, and the cop said, yeahn
stop moving, stop moving. He's like, I can't breathe and
they don't offer him any medical assistance. And you watch
this twenty three to ohd American patriot die right before
(01:22:31):
our eyes.
Speaker 3 (01:22:35):
Lauren benis Lauren Burke.
Speaker 18 (01:22:39):
Do you know is there anything you can talk about
with regards to the police officer or the age of
the cop, any prior record of abuse, or the time
on the force, any experience of that address before.
Speaker 8 (01:22:51):
Miss Lauren. We don't have any information about the cop.
Obviously they want to try to assassinate this character because
the first statement that came out from them was they
didn't met he was a military officer anything. This is
a Fort Walton, Florida with England Air Force Base, is
that it's full of military people. They didn't want to
(01:23:13):
say that, and that they said officer responder to a
domestic dispute kills a armed citizen, you know, in self defense.
But the issue is you came to his apartment. He
had every right to have a good This is Florida,
(01:23:34):
for God's sakes. Every citizen is encouraged to have a
farm he is an officer who is militarily trained. He's
one of the people we want to have this. He's responsible,
he's very diplomatic, he's very.
Speaker 4 (01:23:53):
For a rural follower.
Speaker 8 (01:23:55):
I mean, he was the person who you would say,
if you're gonna be a good owner, how about we
have that guy who's trained to use bombs and so.
But when he had that good they tried to say, oh,
it was self defense, and it suggested Lauren that he
did something bad, that he was a criminal or something,
(01:24:18):
when there was nothing further from the truth. The officer
went to the wrong apartment.
Speaker 1 (01:24:25):
Thanks this uh, this right here, give me one second.
I'm pulling it up. Give me one second. Uh, And
I'm gonna advance this because folks, this is the bodycam footage.
I'll talk over. So go to the body cam footage.
This is the This is the deputy arriving at the scene.
(01:24:46):
The body camp footage was released publicly just three hours ago, folks,
And so listen, all right, got it, folks, to turn
it audio up. We'll stop talking.
Speaker 36 (01:24:55):
Turn the audio up, got sir, what's going.
Speaker 21 (01:25:07):
On the one I'm not sure.
Speaker 5 (01:25:09):
I just was told to let her know.
Speaker 9 (01:25:11):
If you guys come by, okay, so I'm gonna give
her a quick call. Do you guys have no letter?
Not fight going or something that I was not ready
for that?
Speaker 35 (01:25:21):
Okay?
Speaker 9 (01:25:24):
Yes, are they fighting or something?
Speaker 11 (01:25:40):
Thinking that it happens frequently?
Speaker 19 (01:25:42):
Okay, this can Okay, which.
Speaker 14 (01:25:45):
Story I'm not two weeks ago?
Speaker 37 (01:25:52):
Flatter apartment basically on this line, and I'm scary, so
I don't know stupid me word all sup?
Speaker 33 (01:26:03):
Like what after it?
Speaker 11 (01:26:04):
But I wasn't sure where esta from and I couldn't
call it.
Speaker 5 (01:26:07):
I didn't want to call it speed.
Speaker 9 (01:26:09):
Which room is it?
Speaker 5 (01:26:10):
Fourteen watch?
Speaker 24 (01:26:11):
Fourteen one?
Speaker 5 (01:26:12):
Okay, fourteen one?
Speaker 21 (01:26:16):
But the girls out of scare of the one at
hold she.
Speaker 4 (01:26:18):
Said she was like sitting out of sounds like it,
stating your.
Speaker 1 (01:26:21):
Very loud of him a ben, She said, fourteen oh one?
Was that Fortun's apartment number? It's like it was, yeah, okay,
hold on one second, Okay, got it?
Speaker 8 (01:26:45):
She said she wasn't sharing this? What whether you was that?
Speaker 19 (01:26:48):
Then?
Speaker 24 (01:26:49):
You said fourteen o one, one eleven, three twelve and
one eleven.
Speaker 35 (01:27:35):
Cap shures off some of the door share over the door,
(01:28:37):
buck trop, the cup trop, the gout trop, the gut.
Speaker 24 (01:28:48):
Three twelve shots fired, soundspect down, do not move, three twelve,
get you mess my location?
Speaker 8 (01:28:59):
Hm, i'mbelieving.
Speaker 1 (01:29:04):
Oh all right now, let me just let me that's
that's the end of the bodycam video there. I mean,
absolutely been no warning. Door barely opens, barely opens the weapon, Yeah,
go ahead.
Speaker 8 (01:29:25):
Didn't tell him to dropped the rip. You didn't give
a verbal a man dropped the weapon, put your hands up, nothing,
he said, step back. Roger was stepping back, never raised
the weapon right in his right hand, and he just
eluded on the rolling Martin.
Speaker 1 (01:29:42):
At no point, at no point in this did he
ever give the order to uh drop the weapon. Nothing.
It was like, literally that door open. He saw a
black man with a gun and he fired. And as
(01:30:02):
you said, we're in Florida. You can have a gun
in your home.
Speaker 8 (01:30:07):
Kid, Yep, yep, hey, Roland. It's so deep when you
look at him on the ground and he started giving
the commands after he's been shot. I mean, Roger's even
complying there. He says, toss the weapon TOAs and he
said I toased it. I mean, he couldn't have been
more compliant, but it didn't matter because for whatever reason,
(01:30:31):
I think we all know the reason. When he saw
that gun in his hand, he just said bad guy, and.
Speaker 1 (01:30:37):
Rogerter was damn yeah.
Speaker 8 (01:30:41):
Not for his record, it's flitting Shouler. He was a
decorated airman, he was in special ops. I mean he
was doing everything right.
Speaker 1 (01:30:52):
Great car.
Speaker 9 (01:30:55):
Thank you, Roland, I thank you, brother Crump.
Speaker 16 (01:30:58):
I wasn't aware that black people are encouraged in Florida
to be armed. In fact that I think we should
probably stop talking about a right to be on There
is no right to be anything in the United States
of America when you're black, not really, at least if
the law means more than just some words on a page.
But I want to ask you about the question. The
(01:31:21):
question I have to ask is what is the cost
to this struggle against these murderers for us to continue
to frame the victims as good as opposed to pay
people when nobody shouldn't.
Speaker 9 (01:31:34):
Exit from what I've.
Speaker 16 (01:31:36):
Read, the hunter has been put on administrative lead, probably paid.
The deputy hunter, the one who strode so confidently to
the door and as an accessory before the fact, named
the apartment fourteen oh one, certainly won't be punished. She's
a deputy cop, as are all people who do this
kind of thing. But is the what's the strategic value
of us mounting a defense of someone as a good person,
(01:32:01):
as if there is anyone who deserves to be murdered
by these murderers, is there some concession? And then does
the burden then shift from the killers to the victims
when we start talking about good people as supposed to
bad people shouldn't matter and why or why not.
Speaker 8 (01:32:17):
It shouldn't matter. But unfortunately we live in America where
race is always an issue and they try to criminalize
our race. They will assassinate our character after they assassinate us,
and that's what they'll tell me to do. He tried
to say self defense. It reminds you of both them
Jane and Dallas Stations when the policewoman went to the
(01:32:37):
wrong apartment and killed him and they're talking about I
was and filled my life self defense. It's the same
notion that it doesn't matter how good the black person is,
they still try to justify the unjustify the killings of
our people. It happens over and over. Antianna Jefferson. I mean,
(01:32:59):
we could just go down the list and it's all
these black people who are in their own home, in
the safety of their own dwelling, their counsel and their saint.
You're worried Breanna Taylor. But yet they all get killed
that and then they all try to justify and so
it shouldn't matter whether they have an unblemished record or not.
(01:33:20):
But we know, without a shell of a doubt, if
you would have had a check it past, that's all
we would have heard about. For the victim. We still
won't know anything about this killer officer. We won't hear
one word about his past.
Speaker 9 (01:33:38):
Ben Crump.
Speaker 1 (01:33:39):
We hate to have to have you on for these
type of stories, and we hate to have to show
those videos, but the reality is we left with no
choice because this is what happens to us all too often.
We will keep out on this case and we will
certainly see what's next to you.
Speaker 8 (01:33:57):
Thank you, Roland Martin, Thank you for coming out.
Speaker 1 (01:34:00):
Appreciate it. Thanks a lot, Ben. Folks going to break,
we come back. We're going to stay in Florida. The
Florida A and M University Board of Trustees meeting is over,
and frankly, there are more questions than we have after
the meeting than we had before the meeting. You're watching ROLLINGD.
Martin Unfiltered of a Black Start network. Support our work
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(01:34:23):
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If me Sherry Sabra and you know what you're watching
Roland Martin Unfiltered.
Speaker 8 (01:36:23):
Well.
Speaker 1 (01:36:23):
A few moments ago the Florida and M Board of
Trustees meeting ended where they were discussing this multi million
dollar donation from A. Gregory Jerami and the Isaac Batterson
the Seventh Family Trust. The check presentation took place this weekend,
where he also was the commencement speaker. It is the
largest donation given to Florida A and M, and certainly
(01:36:44):
one of the largest to an hbcun history. The board
had an emergency meeting today because there have been so
many questions surrounding this particular gift. This year was the
video of Florida A and M released on social media
about this donation, turning all you up, please I mean
(01:37:10):
and sign this agreement on the behalf of Florida and
M University to Rome Family Foundation.
Speaker 38 (01:37:16):
The two hundred and thirty seven million dollar gift is
more than the size of the Family endowment value and
represents one of the largest single personal donations to a
historically black college and university.
Speaker 13 (01:37:30):
Feel to give back to HPCU at this level, it's
important to me to be able to choose, for our
foundation to be able to choose a university where our
legacy will continue and will be the most impactful for
generations and generations to come. God is the most important
thing to our foundation in US.
Speaker 38 (01:37:49):
President doctor Lorry Robinson says this donation will have a
far reaching impact on the academics and the athletics programs
at Florida and M University.
Speaker 19 (01:37:59):
Well, we are and.
Speaker 39 (01:38:00):
Grateful, ecstatic about this game changing the nation of Florida.
Speaker 9 (01:38:05):
And M University.
Speaker 38 (01:38:06):
Jeremy is the founder of Battison Farms corporation and a
champion of sustainable agriculture and biodegradable hemp products in Texas
for Florida A and M University.
Speaker 3 (01:38:16):
I'm Jovonni Hampton, all right.
Speaker 1 (01:38:18):
Folks, Well, after that news came out, it took everyone
by surprise. So folks began to ask themselves the question,
who is this guy? Who is Gregory Jerami? Well, Jerrell
Blakely pein and op ed in education newsflash called for
the love of money? Has fam you been fooled? He's
(01:38:40):
been posting a number of different things on social media
about Gregory Jarami and these are questions that, frankly, were
not answered in today's board meeting. Jeremy joins us from Indianapolis.
So glad they had Drell's Sorry from Indianapolis. So Jerell
I listened to about an hour of the board meeting.
I had to go live on the show, and so
(01:39:01):
I'm listening to this conversation and they had the company
on that handles investments for Florida A and M, and
they were talking about paperwork things along those lines. So
basically those guys did not vet any of this, and
so then I had to jump off right when they
had the official arm talking about the vetting process and
how this Jerami reached out to them, how they begin
(01:39:25):
to have conversations with him. He wanted to make a
donation to the school. After the Spellman donation was announced
one hundred million dollars, they said, well, he wanted to
increase his offer. Then they begin to talk about this courtship.
So basically's just for everybody who doesn't understand, Famue has
not gotten any money. There's actually no money. So there's
(01:39:46):
two hundred and thirty seven million dollar number that people
are hearing. This number, it's not a real number. What
he has given them is stock certificates in this privately
company where he has assigned the value of these stocks
to be two hundred and thirty seven million dollars in
(01:40:11):
What they did was so he has signed, if I'm correct,
a fifteen dollars eighty five cent price per shared and
he's given Florida A and M University fifteen million shares
in this company. But it's a private company, so the
reality is it's not a publicly traded company right now.
(01:40:34):
So until there's an IPO or until someone privately buys
this company, Florida A and m ain't got no money
from this guy, right? Did you hear the same thing
that I heard?
Speaker 30 (01:40:51):
Well, first, brother Roland, thank you for having me on here.
I'm really honored to be on here to discuss this
very important issue.
Speaker 9 (01:40:59):
Today.
Speaker 30 (01:41:00):
Foundation board meeting at FAMU was a disgrace, and I
believe that it was a symbol of institutional failure at Florida.
Speaker 9 (01:41:12):
A and M University.
Speaker 30 (01:41:13):
What we learned today was that the trust contains several
million shares of worthless stock.
Speaker 9 (01:41:25):
There is no value to batters and farms.
Speaker 30 (01:41:28):
It doesn't have any land, it doesn't have all of
the necessary licenses, it doesn't have any employees, it doesn't
have any revenue that would allow it to be evaluated
anywhere near one hundred million dollar evaluation.
Speaker 9 (01:41:46):
And so today's meeting was disturbing the city of Lease.
Speaker 30 (01:41:52):
The fact that Florida A and M allowed this man
to basically calm them into accepting worth led the president
and leadership to not share this with their board, either
the foundation board or the university board because of a NDA.
(01:42:17):
It is quite frankly preposterous for fam you to basically
share that they received a worthless gift.
Speaker 9 (01:42:25):
I mean right, It means nothing. I mean, it's completely
I mean just for.
Speaker 1 (01:42:29):
Everybody who's who's watching. Okay, I have I own this company.
I own Blackstar Network. It's a private company. If I
did I right now, I could say, I'm going to
gift Texas Outhern University. I'm going to gift Paul Quinn
(01:42:52):
College fifteen million shares of stock in the Blackstar Network. Now,
even though I have actual company, I've got employees, I've
got revenue, I can then say, and this is listening
to the call, I could say, I am assigning a
value of this stock of fifteen dollars and eighty five
(01:43:13):
cents a share. I can just do it on my own,
no one, because what happens is unless there's an IPO,
then you can call it whatever you want to call it.
That's what this guy has done. Well, So let me
actually and then drell. When I was listening, here's what
(01:43:34):
I never heard, and I was waiting on it. Did
FAM you leadership ever visit this guy's company? Did they
ever visit his office? Did they ever confirm how many
employees he has? Go to my iPad? Taylahassee Democrat has
this story woman listed as co CEO with fam You donor,
(01:44:00):
she never worked for him. Kimberly Abbot, who formerly served
on the City Council in Birmingham, has known Jerami for years,
long before the thirty year old was celebrated for his donation.
In an operation that Jerame himself, says, employees only a
few full time administrators in a workforce of seven thousand
(01:44:24):
contract employees. Abbot was listed as co CEO and vice
chair of Batterson Farms Corporation, where Jerami is CEO. When
asked if she worked at Batterson Farms, Abbot said, I
never did. Jirell. That's called massive red flag.
Speaker 30 (01:44:45):
So here's the thing, Brother Rowland. They didn't even have
to visit these places. They could have merely googled. So
when I heard about this gifts and on Saturday, I
just google. It took me about ten fifteen minutes to
realize that this was a complete hoax. I don't understand
(01:45:06):
how it took me ten minutes to figure out that
this was a hoax. And it took fam you months of.
Speaker 1 (01:45:15):
Six months, they claim. They claimed it was a betting
process that lasted six months.
Speaker 9 (01:45:22):
It took me.
Speaker 30 (01:45:23):
It took me fifteen minutes to realize that This was
completely a hoax, which I was able to hop ed
so quickly because it was a parent And so the
fact of the matter is, this is a embarrassing and
I felt really bad for a number of reasons. Number one,
the students, those students who graduated from Florida and M
(01:45:44):
University worked really hard to graduate, and the fact that
they had to hear from this flimplan artist it was
actually shocking. I can remember my convincement of address speaker.
I graduated from Howard University and we had some really
really esteemed individuals to give.
Speaker 9 (01:46:01):
The commencement address.
Speaker 30 (01:46:02):
The fact that the university, like fam you, did not
do their due diligence and allowed this man to calm them.
Speaker 9 (01:46:11):
Listen, I make president of what's that?
Speaker 1 (01:46:14):
Well, But for the people who were on the call
his what's even crazy? They're on the call, they're discussing
the donation. I thought I heard this correct, maybe correct
if I'm wrong where they said some questions came up
and they still let them speak. I was listening going along,
(01:46:37):
and I just hear that they literally said some questions
a rose. But the president made the decision, yes, let's
move forward him as commencement speaker.
Speaker 30 (01:46:48):
I was like, so let me say this, So, so
let me say this, FAM you deserves better. The fact
that this happened is an institutional failure of massive proportions.
The fact that this man was vetted or wasn't wasn't
it and they allowed him to speak, It's just outrageous.
And so you know, it took me just a few
moments to realize that this gentleman was a fraud and
(01:47:12):
a hoax.
Speaker 35 (01:47:13):
Uh.
Speaker 30 (01:47:13):
And so I don't understand how you had an entire
university infrastructure. I was listening to the vice president of
advancement and the head of the foundation who actually mentioned
that she didn't actually even google this gentleman, or she
didn't do any due diligence.
Speaker 9 (01:47:31):
When you look at it was very easy to figure out.
Speaker 30 (01:47:33):
That this guy was not closher when you look at
what he did at Coastal Carolina University, h they could
literally pick up the phone and call the advancement office, Hey,
what's the deal with someone who was giving this large
amount to FAM you? And so overall, I just want
(01:47:54):
to say, FAM you deserve so much more. And for
folks who think that I'm picking off AM You, I'm
a Howard Graduate. If this happened at Howard, I would
do the exact same thing. I just think that it
speaks to a culture at families, leadership that allows themselves
to be conn when they literally could have spent fifteen
minutes or ten minutes and realized this was not to be.
Speaker 1 (01:48:17):
Let me, let's be clear, you pulled us up. First
of all, the goud just created a website. I mean
you if you, if you do a search, it is
as if this guy's a ghost. But when you pull
stuff out, when you pull stuff up, and I'm just
sort of sort of shaking my head, going, what in
(01:48:39):
the hell were the family you folks doing? And of
course the president now says they're putting this thing you know,
you know on ice. But I'm still not trying. I'm
still trying to understand some basic things. What does he
have a real business? Have you seen it? Have you
(01:48:59):
been through the offices he supposedly is the stocks are
in hydroponic and agriculture business. Have you seen any of it?
Has anybody with Florida and m physically said yes. We
visited this corporate office, we saw the farms, we met
with workers on that. Everything I heard in that call.
(01:49:20):
Nobody ever said that. When I got off after about
an hour, did you hear anybody say that?
Speaker 30 (01:49:27):
No, So that is what's actually outrageous. The fact of
the matter is you have an advancements office, you have
a president, and the fact that the president did not
let the board know is malfeasance of a highest level.
I can tell you that it's in competence. And I'll
just say this, fam you deserves better. The fact that
(01:49:48):
an esteem university that was led by so many great
people has fallen to these sort of levels is really
a shame. The class of twenty twenty four had a
very difficult time.
Speaker 1 (01:50:01):
Uh.
Speaker 30 (01:50:02):
You know, they started college in the middle of a pandemic. Uh,
and they deserve to have a commencement address a speaker.
So I'll tell you what I am willing for nothing.
I actually make a donation.
Speaker 9 (01:50:15):
I am willing to give a commencement address at Florida
and M University.
Speaker 30 (01:50:19):
Uh, so that they can hear from someone who who
you know, basically did more work to uncover this.
Speaker 4 (01:50:28):
Uh.
Speaker 9 (01:50:30):
They were educated.
Speaker 1 (01:50:31):
Hell, I spoke Saturday at Wilberforce graduation. Uh, and I've
done Stillman South Carolina State Lane. I got a real resume.
This dude ain't got no resume.
Speaker 8 (01:50:44):
I mean, this.
Speaker 1 (01:50:45):
Batterson Farms, this I mean, and the seventh the family trust.
All this stuff sounds great, and it's just like, what
are y'all talking about.
Speaker 9 (01:50:58):
I'm gonna say this.
Speaker 30 (01:51:00):
If you are familiar with New Jack City, there's a
scene where Nino Brown is in the board room where
he's gone around saying, nobody know nothing. I mean, the
fact of the matter is, how this could happen is
an institutional disgrace.
Speaker 9 (01:51:17):
And I'm not picking on fam you.
Speaker 16 (01:51:19):
You know.
Speaker 30 (01:51:19):
The fact of the matter is it doesn't take a
PhD in nuclear chemistry, like the president of the university.
He has to figure this out. It took me fifteen minutes.
And I can tell you that I appreciate some of
the phone call that I've gotten from the rattler nation
thanking me for this. But I can also say that
I was a little disturbed by some of the social
(01:51:42):
social media venom from some rattlers who oh.
Speaker 1 (01:51:45):
Man, they with dog and you bro mind Joe. First
of all, listen, let's just be real, Frank. Let's be like,
where'd you go to college?
Speaker 9 (01:51:54):
I went to Howard University, okay, all right.
Speaker 1 (01:51:56):
So you would HBCU. Listen. I was to Texas A
and M and HBCU folk are protective about the individual
school and HBCUs as opposed to let's deal with the truth.
And there were people who were attacking you. They were
attacking others as opposed to finding out the truth. And
(01:52:16):
you've been posting a number of different stuff like is
this the house he live in?
Speaker 8 (01:52:23):
Is this the farm is?
Speaker 1 (01:52:25):
I think you posted one item where he supposedly said
he bought some farm or something and the property is
still not so the thing never went through. I saw
one story where he reached out to the University of
Texas and they baby laughed at his ass. He called
the University of Texas to try to give some money,
(01:52:47):
and the University of Texas essentially laughed at him and
hung up. But he's supposedly based in Texas.
Speaker 30 (01:52:55):
Bruh, come on, yeah, I mean listen, I just reiterate,
fam you deserves better.
Speaker 9 (01:53:03):
This is in the board meeting today was an embarrassment.
Speaker 1 (01:53:08):
You tweeted a tie for an Audit is nasty work.
We'll explain that.
Speaker 30 (01:53:12):
What would happened, Well, what happened is they one of
the board members was suggesting that they do audit to
evaluate how they got here, and it was a tie
for like ten minutes and someone texted no, which broke
the tie. Then there was another motion for a another
(01:53:35):
sort of audit and it passed. But the fact of
the matter is the fact that fam you board and
the president allowed that board to go out in public
like that and represent the university like that is shameful.
I work in nonprofit management. That's what I do for
(01:53:57):
a living. I'm a manager in a educatational nonprofit. If
I embarrassed my board like that, I wouldn't have a job.
And I can tell you that if if everybody just
goes along like this is no big deal. The fact
of the matter is this university trumpeted in a consistent
(01:54:19):
way the fact that they got a quarter of a
billion dollars when they really received nothing.
Speaker 9 (01:54:24):
So there has to be some consequence for folks.
Speaker 1 (01:54:29):
Yeah, they got sheets of paper. Let's go to my panel.
Great car you first, you and me Greg, Thank you
there and it's good to see you for the drill.
I used to be a student a doctor Carr. By
the way, I took sights with doctor car at Howard.
Speaker 16 (01:54:49):
Absolutely, that's absolutely right. It's good to see you, brother.
It's good to see you continue in the great work
that I encountered when you were at the university. Man,
it's good to see you in there.
Speaker 9 (01:54:58):
Regard.
Speaker 16 (01:55:00):
My question has to do with I guess I could
frame it by saying, we don't have all the facts.
I mean, we can certainly certain last things circumstantial. What
would your best advice be to Florida and m or
any Black institution for that matter, who finds itself in
a situation where they have received at least the probity
(01:55:23):
of a gift like this, and now everybody is basically
deciding that there is no gift, there is no money.
I mean, what would you suggest to be their best
course of action at this point until the facts come out?
Because we know the facts have not yet been established.
Speaker 9 (01:55:42):
Well, well, first I'll say, doctor Carr, that some of
the facts are out.
Speaker 30 (01:55:47):
So we do know that the family trust consists of
fifteen million dollars fifteen million shares of Batterson Farms. We
do know that Batterson Farms doesn't have the light since
it is required to grow.
Speaker 9 (01:56:01):
Help, does not have the employees, does not have.
Speaker 30 (01:56:07):
Any properties, and so we know that just because you
say a company is worth a billion dollars doesn't make
it so.
Speaker 9 (01:56:16):
And so I mean, I think it's important to deal
with that.
Speaker 30 (01:56:19):
But on the second level, and then also there's just
some questions, and I think research and articles have proven
that mister Germany is not who he says he is,
or he doesn't have the personal wealth that he has.
So those are two facts that I think are important
to consider to your second part of your question about
what advice I would have, I would give them the
(01:56:41):
same advice that I would give any institution to do
their due diligence to ensure that they're doing the proper
sort of research and vetting to ensure that something like
this could never happen. Quite frankly, it doesn't take a
rocket scientist to realize to realize that this was a
(01:57:01):
situation that was not.
Speaker 9 (01:57:04):
Real.
Speaker 1 (01:57:05):
Well, here's the perfect example. Jarel hold one second, Darrel
hold On. This is from the Tallahassee again, this is
the deal, an immediate availability arranged by family. Monday, Jerami
told the Tallahassee Democrat that Avid Quote left us maybe
about a couple of months, maybe about a month ago.
She has more of an advisor role right now, she
had some health issues. When I asked later whether he
(01:57:27):
would be surprised to hear, Abbott said she was never
an employee of Batterson Farms and never received any compensation
as an employee. Drami said, quote, nothing surprises me any more.
He described her duties as co CEO. It's really just
there to God and give more advice, and she didn't
do as much work as others in the company. Her compensation,
he said, was given through penny stocks now right there,
(01:57:51):
right there. So what people need to understand, Jirell, we
talk about penny stocks first of all, penny stock or
publicly traded companies. That's I mean. So I think what
people don't realize is I can right now go out
and I can go buy a shell company. I can
go by and create a publicly traded company, and I
(01:58:14):
could be trading on with penny stocks. This is this
article right here shows you how he gets caught in
a life. So if you paid her through penny stocks,
what was the public and traded company? What were the
stocks this woman is listening as co CEO? She now says,
(01:58:34):
I never served as CEO of the company. Hello, that's
red flag. And so what I don't understand is how
did the Family board today not vote to call for
an extensive examination and investigation and literally track these things down,
by the way, that would according to the same story,
(01:58:56):
there was supposed to be a meeting on Wednesday. You
see it right here on when today a Family spokesperson
and by the tellahassee Democrat meet to meet with Jerami
and officials of the university's foundation office. But moments before
it was scheduled to begin, a Family official said it
was canceled because quote something came up. Quote he said,
(01:59:17):
any future interview quote was unpaused. I'm sorry, that's a joke.
Speaker 30 (01:59:22):
Yeah, And I do want to say this, so I
want to answer the second part of a brother cars,
which is like an alpha.
Speaker 1 (01:59:29):
Sort of meeting here what that's had always happened?
Speaker 30 (01:59:32):
But go ahead, absolutely, so I will say this to
doctor Carr's point, it's important to do your due diligence,
and it's also important to inform your board.
Speaker 9 (01:59:44):
I think that is a massive failure on this part.
Speaker 30 (01:59:48):
The fact that the foundation board and the university board
was not informed is a failure of just massive proportions
of the fact that the president is saying that they
couldn't tell their board because they had an NDA, it's crazy.
Speaker 9 (02:00:04):
And the fact of the matter is the president is
an employee of the board.
Speaker 30 (02:00:08):
Yeah, so I mean that's just pure board governance and
just pure you know, organizational governance. And the fact that
he thought it was appropriate to say, hey, you know,
we couldn't tell you because we had an NDA.
Speaker 9 (02:00:23):
You know, you can't do anything.
Speaker 1 (02:00:24):
And you were a state institution. And so even though
you are Florida A and M and you sign a NDA,
somebody in the state of Florida has the authority to
review the NDA.
Speaker 8 (02:00:39):
You can't.
Speaker 1 (02:00:40):
You were a state institution. You can't just hide behind
an NDA.
Speaker 9 (02:00:45):
And I'm going to say this again, and it's really important.
Speaker 30 (02:00:48):
This did not take a lot of work, right, Like,
I knew immediately that this was bizarre, and within fifteen
minutes I realized it was completely.
Speaker 1 (02:01:00):
Right here, right here, right here with a contact about
Tellhasseie Democrat, the head of a Texas hemp grows Association,
said he had not heard of Barrasson Farms Corporation or Jarami.
Now you're supposed to be a big time hemp grower.
The Texas Hemp Grows Association might know who you are,
so so let.
Speaker 8 (02:01:21):
Me say this.
Speaker 30 (02:01:22):
You know, I think Jarami has some challenges that I
hope he gets helped for. I don't necessarily blame Jarami
because it's obvious that he needs help, right. Who I
do blame is the university that allowed themselves to be
a poem yep.
Speaker 9 (02:01:34):
The fact that they didn't do their due diligence.
Speaker 30 (02:01:37):
And allowed this man to give a commencement address that
for me, speaks to massive institutional failures that has to change.
Speaker 9 (02:01:47):
Fam you deserves better, and not only that, don't deserve this.
Speaker 1 (02:01:51):
Now that Kim Godwin, who at the time was the
president of ABC News, of course, was out the next
day sent two camera crews to of the graduation to
cover it. So reci go.
Speaker 17 (02:02:06):
Uh mister Blackie, thank you for being here. I think
it's strange that family did less due diligence than Reesa
Tisa did and who the F did I marry on TikTok.
But thanks to and part of your voice around this,
this has brought attention to a very bizarre and strange scam.
Speaker 1 (02:02:26):
It appears.
Speaker 17 (02:02:27):
I just I just want to get your thoughts on
the layer protection and the defensiveness people seem to have
around the you know, you specifically calling this out for
what seemed pretty outrageous from the start, and people's willingness
to call themselves digging up dirt on you as opposed
(02:02:48):
to focusing on the issue at hand, which it looked
like FAMU was being scammed. And have you gotten any
retractions or apologies for the people who were dragging you
on on the social media about this.
Speaker 30 (02:03:00):
Well, I'll just say that people are kind of quiet.
I haven't really heard anything recently since the board meeting.
Because it turns out I was one hundred percent right.
I don't purport to be perfect. I'm not purporting to
be a saint.
Speaker 13 (02:03:12):
You know.
Speaker 9 (02:03:13):
I've done things that I've regretted.
Speaker 30 (02:03:16):
But quite frankly, this isn't about me, and folks are
engaging in add horminum attacks. Don't make the story about me,
make the story about what I'm saying about fam you.
And so it doesn't matter who I call what or
what I did when I was an elected official.
Speaker 9 (02:03:31):
That's in the past. I've moved on. The fact of
the matter is I should not have had to say this.
Speaker 30 (02:03:38):
This should have been something that should have been captured
months ago. The fact that this gentleman gave a commencement address,
and the fact that they didn't do their due diligence
is the reason why they're here.
Speaker 8 (02:03:50):
It's not.
Speaker 30 (02:03:51):
In fact, it should have been someone that's fam you.
It should have been someone in the audience that said, yo,
this meeting, this commencement address is strange.
Speaker 9 (02:03:58):
Who's this guy?
Speaker 30 (02:04:00):
But the fact that the entire academic hierarchy at FAMU,
folks with PhDs, law degrees, JD's, PhDs, MBA's allowed themselves
to allow this man to present a worthless check on
the stage of famu's graduation and have Charlie Wilson's I'm
(02:04:24):
Blessed and the OJ's for the Love of Money playing
is shameful.
Speaker 9 (02:04:29):
Like it's just it's the most ridiculous thing ever.
Speaker 30 (02:04:32):
And the fact that they allow that to happen is
the story, not who I call what when I was
an elected official?
Speaker 18 (02:04:41):
Lauren Jerrell, Is there any possibility that fam you had
some sort of like Mackenzie Scott fever and thought that
this was real? Did they have they ever gotten another
donation that was even close to this type of donation?
Speaker 9 (02:04:56):
Well, I'll say, that's a really good question.
Speaker 30 (02:04:58):
And so, I mean, the fact of the matter is
HBCUs deserve this kind of money, and it's unfortunate that
they don't get this kind of money. The highest contribution
to a historically black college was a recent donation to
Spelman College by the Striker family of one hundred million dollars,
which is the largest contribution to a historically black college ever.
Speaker 9 (02:05:21):
Compare that to Michael.
Speaker 30 (02:05:22):
Bloomberg's philanthropy towards Johns Hopkins, where he has donated three
point five billion dollars to one university.
Speaker 9 (02:05:35):
That three point five billion dollars is more than all
of the.
Speaker 30 (02:05:41):
Hpcu's endowments combined. And so I think, you know, there's
a desire. I can understand why one official was crying,
because this type of investment would have been very transformational
for Florida and m University and other universities of similar stature. However,
(02:06:01):
just because we want something to be true doesn't mean
that it is. And it's incumbent upon the people who
are paid to represent the university and to do their
due diligence to do the right thing. And so I
know that for example, these types of investments just don't
fall from the sky. For example, the Striker endowment that
was given to the Spellman College. That Striker has been
(02:06:25):
on the board for thirty years and they have given
countless money before that one hundred million dollar donation. And
so for FAM you to think that someone was going
to basically walk off the street and say, hey, I'm
going to give you a quarter of a billion dollars,
particularly when that person has no track record, you never
heard of them before, speaks to a level of gullibility
that is actually breathtaking and really really shameful. If I
(02:06:50):
was a board member next week when the full board convenes,
I'd be wanting some answers. And if I didn't get
any legitimate answers, I'd be telling folks, send yours in
the metal, you know, go home and do something else
with your career.
Speaker 9 (02:07:05):
This is a very big deal. The fact of the
matter is this is an institutional failure.
Speaker 30 (02:07:10):
You have huge proportions and multiple people failed the university
and failed the students by not doing their due diligence.
Speaker 1 (02:07:18):
So let me say this here for the again. What
was said on the call today, which was stunning was
that this guy called out of the blue. He just
he just called the office one day saying I want
to make a gift. And they begin to have different
conversations about different gifts, and you heard Jarell mention one
(02:07:38):
hundred million doll of the Spellman on the calls on
the zoom call to they they said that after the
Spellman College donation was announced, Jerami came back and said,
I want to increase my gift to exceed the Spellman donation.
And they went, yay, this is absolutely insane.
Speaker 4 (02:08:04):
Lauren, No, I didn't have anything else. Thanks well, Jarrelle.
Speaker 1 (02:08:11):
So what so this was the foundation meeting today? What's
next week? Actual board of trustees meeting?
Speaker 30 (02:08:18):
Yeah, I believe it's an actual board of trustee meeting.
I think an outcome of the foundation board meeting. The
president of Robinson mentioned that the sort of gift is
on hold right, which is another example because the gift
is the gift was never on So how can it
be on hold if it was never on I think
(02:08:39):
that the.
Speaker 9 (02:08:39):
Board meeting was outrageous.
Speaker 30 (02:08:41):
The fact that people just didn't follow on their sword,
or people just didn't say hey, we messed up. I
just think really speaks to a culture listen. If doctor
Robinson has a job next week, I'd be shocked.
Speaker 9 (02:08:53):
Like I couldn't. I couldn't imagine put it like this.
Speaker 30 (02:08:56):
If doctor Robinson is able to survive this, the problems
that fam you are a lot more intense than even
this situation would imply.
Speaker 1 (02:09:07):
We shall see what happens next. Drell Blakeley, thanks a lot,
Thank you, sir. Take care all right, frat take care,
We come back. Isaac Hayes, the third joins us protect
Talk segment. Man, my head is still really from that
FAMU segment. We'll be back at the home with.
Speaker 31 (02:09:31):
Fan Base is pioneering a new air of social media
for the creator accountmy this next generation social media app
with over six hundred thousand users, is raising seventeen million dollars,
and now is your chance to invest. For details on
how to invest physics starting dot com, slash fan base
or stand the QR code. Another way, we're giving you
(02:09:56):
the freedom to be you without Linux.
Speaker 32 (02:10:00):
On the next A balanced life with me, Doctor Jackie.
The necessity of believing in things you can't see. It's
called faith. It comes in all shapes and sizes, and
it's powerful, and it's a big part of being able
to live a balance life.
Speaker 33 (02:10:14):
The ballet I experience being a cancer survivor was one
where my footing was completely unstable.
Speaker 11 (02:10:21):
I had no idea what to do, and in that
instance of not knowing what to do, I had to
rely on faith.
Speaker 32 (02:10:27):
That's all next on a Balanced Life only on Black
Star Network.
Speaker 1 (02:10:34):
When we talk about blackness and what happens in black culture,
you're about covering these things that matter to us, us
speaking to our issues and concerns.
Speaker 5 (02:10:44):
It is a genuine people power movement, a lot of stuff.
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That we're not getting.
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You get it when you spread the word.
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We wish to clean our own cause to long have
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Invest in Black on media. Your dollars matter. We don't
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What we do.
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Folks. We want to hit two thousand people fifty dollars.
This month, waits one hundred thousand dollars. We're behind one
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Y'all.
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Money makes this possible. Check some money orders go to
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Speaker 38 (02:11:35):
Com me, Sherry Shevrett and Sammy Roman. I'm doctor Robin
mee pharmacist and fitness coach, and you're watching Roland Martin unfiltered.
Speaker 1 (02:12:00):
Monster's talking about charging new users on Twitter. Now you
have Facebook calls so called meta, who wants to now
start charging businesses to be on Facebook as well. Don't
think for a second these apps are going to be free.
Isaac Hayes, a third founder Fan based joneses right now, Isaac,
his was interesting here. These social media apps have been
(02:12:20):
getting killed. When Apple made changes to their phone ask
allowing people to stop being tracked, That's how they were
making their billions. Now these companies are freaking out. They
got to figure out how to find that money, and
so they're going to start charging folks to be on
these platforms.
Speaker 9 (02:12:35):
Absolutely.
Speaker 39 (02:12:37):
I think when Apple and Google allow users to opt
out of being tracked when they're not inside the applications,
that have prevented a lot of these companies from being
able to sell data and increased AD revenue. So for
that very reason, a lot of people, including myself, have
opted out of being tracked while I'm not using specific apps.
And so Instagram and Meta are finding a way to
(02:12:59):
offset that costs with this new Meta verified for business
that's pretty pricey if you look at it.
Speaker 1 (02:13:05):
Rowland absolutely, and here's the deal. When we talk about this,
you know what happened. I remember when that happened because
what the phone for, what the folk realized was, hell,
look we got the power here. So Apple's all about privacy.
And when Facebook was getting crushed on Capitol Hill when
it came to selling of data, when they put that,
(02:13:26):
that became it basically a poison pill for Facebook and
they've been really ever since. And so now you have
this new deal and they're starting in Australia and New
Zealand and they're going to be charging what fourteen ninety
nine a month for.
Speaker 39 (02:13:38):
Businesses for I'm gonna tell you these prices fourteen ninety nine,
forty four ninety nine, one hundred and nineteen ninety nine,
and three hundred and forty nine nine.
Speaker 1 (02:13:49):
Yeah, the max plan is three hundred and fifty bucks
a month.
Speaker 19 (02:13:52):
Yeah, And I mean you're paying for more visibility.
Speaker 39 (02:13:57):
Which should tip people off to the fact that you're
is being suppressed, meaning like if they're making you pay
the seen and they're basically charging you to already be
visible to the people that already follow you, and they're
going to allow you put links in your profile other
things like that. So I just found it extremely interesting.
But this is just speaking more to the fact that
I think these platforms are trying to offset the cost
(02:14:19):
of losing ad revenue and they're so ad revenue dependent yep,
which this shift towards subscription based services and social media
is changing, and this is kind of like a middle point.
This is like a way to kind of lead people
into where fan base already because this is basically a subscription.
You're basically subscribing have more visibility on the platform, and
that's what Meta is.
Speaker 9 (02:14:40):
Doing with this program line.
Speaker 18 (02:14:45):
So, Isaac, don't you think the subscription model at some point,
and I'm talking to somebody who has a stream yard
platform is going to wear everybody out because now everything
is becoming subscription, everything is becoming pay me every month,
pay me something every month, and that's starting to get
that's starting to get old real fast. That starts to
(02:15:06):
add up, as you know. So I think the breaking
point of the subscription model business may be.
Speaker 19 (02:15:14):
I don't see that.
Speaker 39 (02:15:15):
I think that there's still a wide community of people
that want to pay for content. It just depends on
what you're paying for. It depends on what you're subscribing
for subscribing because when you subscribe to Netflix every month,
you're paying twenty thirty dollars a month to subscribe to
every single piece of content that is on Netflix, and
you might not watch ninety nine percent of it, right,
(02:15:35):
But if you can subscribe to someone for two ninety
nine a month and get an entire network of content
specifically from that person, then you would pay for that
and get rid of Netflix. And so I think subscription
fatigue is absolutely real. But I think at subscription based
services become more available and more widely known, there will
be niche communities that subscribe to specific things that actually
(02:15:57):
people are more interested in a lot of Like with
with media now and television, you're casting a wide net.
A place like Disney Plus or Hulu or Netflix is
casting a wide net, right, as opposed to narrowing down
on the very very finite group of individuals that are
interested in horror films or comedy specials or you know, documentaries,
(02:16:18):
and so I think that's going to be something that's
extremely important. And then with the advent of AAI, I
really feel like in more life content which is called IRL,
which we see a lot of the young streamers doing,
is going to be the real television, which is reality
like reality is going to be, you know, the most
watched type of content. More so the pre recorded, filmed,
(02:16:38):
expensive content that people are are putting out nowadays.
Speaker 1 (02:16:42):
Thanks well, their reality is I didn't want to think
about that, all right, reci.
Speaker 17 (02:16:48):
I guess can you talk a little bit about undemocratic
our information is becoming? I think people have this false
sense of when they search for something, they are getting
results based on the merit of the content that pops up,
as opposed to algorithms starting to manipulate and throttle different
(02:17:09):
websites or different content because of things like you mentioned subscriptions,
you know, paying for advertisements and things of that nature.
Can you talk about the information and the awareness that
needs to happen around that issue of social media.
Speaker 39 (02:17:27):
I think most users are really unaware that these platforms
are in competition with them. Every single person that's on
Instagram or Facebook, the app is working against you because
you yourself.
Speaker 19 (02:17:38):
Are a network.
Speaker 39 (02:17:39):
Every single person that has a social media profile television network.
And if a company wanted to advertise that you and
you could consistently reach a million people, ten million people,
one hundred million people, you could just charge for people
to post content on your page. And the platforms know
that though, so they actually suppress your content and squish
it down and versus the companies to do things like
(02:18:02):
advertise with them. So this is just another way to
continue to force advertisers to either do business with for
the visibility that they should already have.
Speaker 1 (02:18:13):
So for instance, so for instance, reci rightw Beyonce has
three hundred and nineteen million followers on Instagram. The top
the top threshold for any cable network is one hundred million,
but with cord cutting, we're now seeing that. So basically,
at its height, seeing In was in like one hundred
(02:18:34):
and five one hundred and ten million homes. That means
that Beyonce her Instagram page alan is three times bigger
than seeing In was at its height. But if Beyonce
goes live right now, she will not have three hundred
nineteen million people watching her because essentially they capped that
(02:18:55):
sucker like you take Cardi B. I've seen us one
night Cardi B went live and let me just see
her followers. Cardi B has warned sixty seven million followers.
She had almost one hundred thousand people on. That means
that Cardi B was getting barely one percent of her
following watching her live. So they ain't gonna never Let
(02:19:18):
if a Beyonce can hit three to nineteen million people,
she can make that's more people than who watch the
super Bowl instaraming. Let her make that money. They gonna
make that money, Greg.
Speaker 16 (02:19:33):
Thank you, Roland, And that kind of opens the door
to my question asked out of ignorance. But after years
of watching you operate, and after years of a brother
Isai hearing your conversations with Roland and with all of us,
and maybe this is this again, I'm asking out of ignorance,
what do you see as the opportunity or opportunities for
(02:19:57):
black disruptors? Fan basis free? Black Star network is free. Uh,
the idea that crowdsourcing financial support while the push is
Roland has been doing now for quite some time, to
get those advertising dollars with some success and then continuing
to hold out the promise and expectation that that success
(02:20:18):
will improve. But what are some of the opportunities for disruption?
And you know, like you said what you said to
Lauren about this fatigue, the subscription fatigue, you know, you know.
Speaker 8 (02:20:28):
More about it.
Speaker 16 (02:20:29):
I just feel like, maybe, like Lauren perhaps feels if
she asked the question, at some point people won't get
sick of this. But what opportunities are there for the
models like fan Base, like those who are disrupting? Can
there be some black disruption in the midst of this
kind of clawing at every penny people have for subscription basis?
Speaker 19 (02:20:51):
I say absolutely.
Speaker 39 (02:20:52):
I mean I think infrastructure is what you're talking about, right,
And so for the most part, all these infrastructures, these
tech companies owned by.
Speaker 19 (02:21:00):
People that are not black.
Speaker 8 (02:21:02):
Right.
Speaker 39 (02:21:02):
So Roland has the Blackstar Network, He's built an infrastructure
that's black owned. Fan Base is a black owned application,
a black owned social media platform, and the infrastructure is
black owned. The reason why that is important is typically
because culture usually creates and modifies shifts and guides technology
and the way that it's headed, what makes things cool,
(02:21:24):
what makes things awesome, what makes things sets the trends.
But then on the back end, who actually has ownership
of that? So my design, rolling's design and building these
platforms is that we can also be guides but also
protect our culture in a way that it's not exploited now.
Speaker 19 (02:21:42):
But advertising is at play.
Speaker 39 (02:21:43):
Right, and I say this all the time, but a
platform like TikTok, right, TikTok wants very, very famous white
creators on their platform because I always say, unfortunately, unfortunately,
things built by black people are perceived to be only
for black people, but things built by white people are
to be for all people. So if I'm dunking, if
I'm dunking coffee, who I want a young twenty something
(02:22:06):
year old white girl to be the face of our
brand or young twenty something year old black girl. You
want the white girl because the white girl appeals to
white people, Black people, Asian people, Latino people.
Speaker 9 (02:22:16):
All races.
Speaker 39 (02:22:17):
Right, But if you have a black girl, then most
people white people might opt out of that advertisement, Other
races might opt out of that advertisement because of the
girl it's black. So we see black culture being appropriated
but then suppressed so that it can't thrive in the
same way. So a platform like fan Base is not
going to allow that to happen. Number One, we don't
run off advertising, and two, I want to give everybody
(02:22:40):
a voice. So I want to make sure that people
understand that fan Base is not black only. But the
fact that I'm a black founder it just means that
I understand the inequity that exists. And there will always
be a conversation and I always be a way that
all voices are heard, no matter what race you are,
because we're not basing it on trying to suppress people's
content to make money. It's a community into community building
(02:23:01):
and so that's really the most important part about this
is building a new community for people to be a
part of.
Speaker 1 (02:23:05):
And I'll say this here a perfect example. I saw
the news today. Go to my iPad where to be.
They're launching something called Studios to fun and stream fan
green lit creative projects. They tapped Ray to mentor aspiring filmmakers.
And again here's the perfect example. Rays significant brand and
(02:23:26):
she has a fan base, but guess what to B
wants to bring her on cutting a check to drive
their value up. But guess what she doesn't own to
be The Fox Corporation owns to be. And so what
we're talking about here, even when you look at what
your question, Greg, and I look at the work that
(02:23:46):
Lauren does, what she's doing with her newsletter, the work
that Reese is doing as well, and what you're doing
with Karen Hunter and with us with the Black Table
on Black Store Network. Yes, this is really the hardest thing.
This is the hardest thing, and that is to get
black people to decide do I want to make black
(02:24:08):
people rich or do I want to be so associated
with white folks that I have white validation? M M see.
We we just got to put it on the table.
We gotta put it on the table because there are
black celebrities with massive following. And I know this because
(02:24:29):
Isaac and I talk. He's had the numerous conversations, and
they are on other social platforms making nothing. But if
you say, here's an equity stake, you can come here
and make millions. Yeah, but you're not them. Am I lying, Isaac?
Speaker 19 (02:24:54):
Don't.
Speaker 39 (02:24:55):
I don't think you're lying. But I think we also
have to understand. I say this all the time, you know,
and people you roll in there. There's there are black
people in this country that understand that they are not
minorities by their their energy, or their effort or their creativity.
And so for me, I'm a person that's never felt
like a minority living in Atlanta.
Speaker 19 (02:25:14):
And what I mean is when you grow.
Speaker 39 (02:25:15):
Up understanding that white supremacy runs everything and that you
have to fight your way through that. I don't fault
the paths that Oprah and jay Z take. I don't
fight the path that you know.
Speaker 19 (02:25:27):
I don't. I understand why because that's the only thing
that they know. They don't.
Speaker 39 (02:25:31):
I mean, we're getting to the point now where you
should know. I mean you're out there rolling, I'm out there.
We should know that we can actually invest in these
startups and scale these things to one hundred, two hundred,
three hundred billion dollar companies if we want to.
Speaker 19 (02:25:43):
But we have to get past that point.
Speaker 39 (02:25:44):
But I think that's hard to tell people to not
kind of like stop fighting right all you have If
there's no villain, then the battle is over.
Speaker 19 (02:25:52):
And what do I have to fight?
Speaker 39 (02:25:54):
And a lot of people want to be able to
fight through white supremacy to gain acceptance. But I've never
felt like I had to, so I never did. So
that's why I operate the way that I operate with
fan Base.
Speaker 1 (02:26:05):
So that's where that's where we are. So Isaac, first
of all, give us an update on your crowdfund.
Speaker 8 (02:26:12):
Everybody.
Speaker 39 (02:26:12):
I need you, guys, everybody who's watching right now. Go
to start engine dot com slash fan Base. It's on
my shirt if you can see it. And invest in
fan Base and get equity. We're raising seventeen million dollars
drop low third, please billion dollars raised, and there's goals
to this. There's like a five year plan, I mean
a three year plan to this. But our first milestone
is a two and a half million dollar mark that
(02:26:33):
we want people to invest in. And the minimum to
invest in fan Base is three hundred and ninety nine
dollars and you actually get equity shares stock. This is
not go fund me, This is not you know, a kickstarter.
This is actual, actual stock options.
Speaker 1 (02:26:49):
And it's also not a fake hemp farm because you
actually have a platform and office employees and actual revenue.
I'm sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 19 (02:26:59):
I had to go.
Speaker 39 (02:27:00):
I had to go through the SEC multiple times. All
of our financials are available online. We actually got a
non review from the SEC, which is a good thing.
They trusted our paperwork and all of our due diligence
on our company so well that they had no objection
with us going ahead and launching this seventeen million dollars
round and significant because I'm very confident that I'm going
to scale fan Base to one hundred billion dollar company,
(02:27:23):
and right now we're valued at one hundred and sixty
million dollars. We've gone from twenty to fifty to eighty
five to one hundred and sixty million dollar company, and
I want to continue to do that and build the
first of its kind black onwed social media platform that
can be a successor to a TikTok or on Instagram.
All these platforms aren't going to last forever. Facebook is
not going to last forever. Instagram is not going to
last forever. There will always be new platforms that emerge
(02:27:46):
at young people and other cultures migrate to to build communities.
So I tell it before you do that, absolutely, download
fan Base, use it, come on board, make a profiles
free to download, free to use, but invest and that
minimum is three hundred ninety nine dollars. You get sixty
shares at six sixty five a share, and I think
it's an excellent opportunity for people to get on the
cap table of a company.
Speaker 19 (02:28:07):
That's continued to scale and grow.
Speaker 39 (02:28:08):
We almost have seven hundred thousand users for in one
hundred and ninety countries on iOS and Android. We've got
some really cool functionality launching, especially next week, we've got
a whole new version of live launching, so you won't
be suppressed when you go live. You go live to
everybody that has fan base. It won't be capped by
your following, so it doesn't matter who's on fan base,
they'll be able to see your live, not based off
your following.
Speaker 9 (02:28:28):
It'll be open to anybody.
Speaker 39 (02:28:30):
So if you want to DJ, if you want to
do makeup, if you want to talk, have conversations or whatever,
that's something that we'll be able to do. And because
we've reached this one million dollar threshold, we'll be able
to add our TMP streaming to the platform. So rolling
your show will be able to be streamed on fan
base YEP, mean soon because now we've reached that threshold.
So now the Blackstar Network and Roland Martin and Fielder
(02:28:52):
can also be streamed live on fan base, and so
I'm excited about that.
Speaker 19 (02:28:55):
And that's what investing does.
Speaker 39 (02:28:56):
It allows us to continue to build a company and
scale the company, go to start engine, dot com, lash
fan base to invest.
Speaker 1 (02:29:03):
And I am excited about that because we stream right
now on Facebook, on Twitter, on LinkedIn sometimes on Instagram,
obviously on YouTube as well, and it's reaching folks across
the platform. So we definitely want to reach fan based community.
I gotta appreciate the man. Thanks a lot. Thank you,
all right, I know we went over time, but we
had some some wild stories today. Let me thank Recie,
(02:29:24):
let me thank greg let me thank Lauren. We're gonna
stay on top of this NAACP suspension stuff. I got
people texting me, tweeting me saying it happened to me too.
We certainly want to get some better information from the
NAACP because that statement was simply was not good enough
what they sent to us. And also Florida A and M.
(02:29:45):
I don't know what the hell y'all got going on,
but y'all got more questions than answers for the public.
And again, I'm from Texas and ain't nobody heard it
as Gregory Jerami dude, So I don't know what's going
on there.
Speaker 8 (02:30:00):
All right, y'all.
Speaker 1 (02:30:01):
That's it again, received Greg Lauren, thank you so very much.
I appreciate it. Glad to have y'all Lauren, how you
got Lauren found out how she keep coming on that
Virginia tich hat what she gonna wear Virginia State had,
And speaking of that, y'all need to keep tweeting to
tell Trump to keep his punk ass in Biden to
greet the debate because Virginia State University is the first
(02:30:24):
HBCU ever to get an invitation to host a presidential debate.
And so Trump and Biden, if they gonna do and
if there's three debates that they don't do, if they
gonna do one, damn sure do that one at Virginia State.
And so I need y'all out there on social media
pushing that out there, saying you want to see that
(02:30:44):
presidential debate happen on the campus of Virginia State University.
And so y'all staying with my alf brother who's the
president down there, that said, folks, That certainly appreciated again,
great recent larn thanks a lot, folks. We got to
come and see y'all tomorrow. My niece graduate from Howard University.
Tomorrow she gets her master's degree. Uh, it's at six pm.
I actually got to hold the show. All my family
are gonna be there, but I was the one last year.
(02:31:06):
Sound good? Uh but uh but you know I would
be in the studio. But faith regulations are your master's
degree in architectures from Howard University. She gets that greed
degree tomorrow at six pm. All right, folks, don't forget
supporters in what we do. I had somebody to send
me this. Put it on Twitter. Man, you need to
send your ankles out covering these stories around the contrasts
the baby, They cost money. I love people who tell
(02:31:27):
me how we need to be covering news, and my
automatic answer is do you give? So It's real easy
to say what we should be doing. But if you ain't,
no donor, well I'm sorry, so again join, I'll bring
the fuck fan Club Senior checking Money or the peel
box five seven one ninety six, Washington, d C. Tueszero
(02:31:48):
zero three seven that zero one ninety six cash op
DOWNA sign r M unfiltered PayPal are Martin unfiltered? Vemmos
are M unfiltered ze Rolling Rowland s Martin dot com,
Rolling that, Rolling Martin Unfiltered dot com. Download the Black
Network at Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku,
and was on Fire TV, Xbox one, Samsung Smart TV.
We sure to get a copy of my book White
(02:32:08):
Fear of the browning of Americas making white folks lose
their minds Avayble at bookstores Nation. Why I get your
audio version on Audible and we am sold out of
copies of the first Now here's what I'm doing. I'm
checking with my brother, y'all. I got books all over
the place. Some check with my brother to make sure
I ain't left none in his house. I just moved,
so I'm going through all the boxes. Make sure you
(02:32:28):
ain't got a stash nowhere. But we are completely sold out.
A lot of y'all been emailing and calling.
Speaker 8 (02:32:34):
Yo.
Speaker 1 (02:32:35):
I'm personally autographing each book, y'all. That ain't easy. So
I could have easily shipped the book. So I gotta
personally autograph each book and package them. Okay, this ain't Amazon. Okay, Well,
you can order today and you get it tomorrow because
I gotta sign each one, so please be patient. I
shipped off one hundred and forty books the other day.
I just finished signing sixty before I came to the
(02:32:57):
show today. My goal is to go home and knock
out two hundred tonight. So I'm on it. But just
be patient, please, all right, So folks, we will see
all tomorrow right here on rolland Martin and Unfiltered on
the Black Star Network. Black Start Network.
Speaker 8 (02:33:15):
A real revolutionary right now.
Speaker 4 (02:33:16):
I thank you for being the voice of black a
paranon walment that we have.
Speaker 1 (02:33:20):
Now we have to keep this going.
Speaker 11 (02:33:22):
The video of phenomenal is.
Speaker 16 (02:33:25):
Between Black Star Network and Black owned media and something
like seeing.
Speaker 1 (02:33:29):
N You can't be Black owned media and be scared.
It's time to be smart, bring your eyeballs hot it
dig
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