N.Y's Gun Law, Uvalde Funerals, Gov. Abbott Canvasser Fired, 1 on-1 w/ Rep. Hakeem Jeffries

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Um um um um um um um um um um
um um um um um um um um um um

(00:44):
um um um. Roland marks doing this every day. Thank
you Roland Martin for always giving voice to the issue.
Look with Roland Martin in the world wind to quote
Margaret Garvey again, the video looks phenomenal. So I'm really

(01:06):
excited to see it on my big screen of black
Media to make sure that our star and told see
this duence between Black Star Network and Black owned media
and something like seeing a gott to refer to the
brilliance of Dr Carr and to the brilliance of the
Black Star Network rolling rolling all the way to be
on the show that you own a black man on

(01:27):
the show, folks, Black Star Network is here a real
revolutionary right now. Roland was amazing on that. I can't
command you enough about this platform that you've created for
us to be able to share who we are, what
we're doing in the world, and the impact that we're
having on Let's be smart, bring your eyeballs home. You

(01:50):
can't be Black owned media and be scared. Dig today.

(02:42):
It's Monday, June six two, coming up my Roller Martin
on the Filter, streaming live on the Black Start network,
and it's being called the deadliest weekend of mass shootings
this year. Eighty five people wounded or killed in shootings
from from Friday to Sunday. Conference is out back in session.
We talked with Congressman Hakim Jeffreys about gun safety, what

(03:05):
legislation could go through the House and the Senate, and
what could land on President Biden's death to be signed
for Texas, families gathered to say their final goodbye as
to more U Bality shooting victims. In New York, Governor
Kathy Holko has signed a comprehensive package to strengthen the
state's gun laws immediately. Also folks Uh in today's show.

(03:30):
In Memphis, the Tennessee City Council says that since Donald
Trump is a history of not paying his security bills,
they don't want the city to provide security for his
upcoming rally. Makes sense to me. And also in the
Rolling Martin Unfiltered exclusive, I'll be talking to the sister
who went viral. She was a canvasser for Texas Governor

(03:52):
Greg Abbott. Well when a guy told her she wasn't
gonna vote for him, and she just bust out laughing.
They fired her. Now she wants to work Forbeto or
Rourke to make him the next governor of Texas. We
will talk with her. And in Arizona police actually stood
by and watched a black man drowned despite his pleas

(04:13):
for help. Those cops are now on administrative leave. It
is time to bring the phone on Rolling Martin on filter,
the black Start network. Let's go. He's whatever the mess,
He's on it, whatever it is. He's got the school,
the fact, the fine and when the bas he's right
on time, and it's rolling. Best belief, he's going putting.

(04:36):
He wants to use to politics with entertained that just
for case. He's soleing roll all. It's rolling, rolling with Rolling.

(04:57):
He's spooky spect she's filled the best. Shouldn't know he's God.
From Friday to Sunday, there were thirteen mass shootings in
the United States gun violence for Archive. The victim tally

(05:19):
for this past weekend had sixteen killed, six and nine
injured in mass shootings across the country. However, two of
the dailiest mass shooting for the weekend took place in
Pennsylvania and Tennessee. In Phila, the LPIA, three people who
were killed and eleven were injured when several shooters fired
into a crowd and the city's popular South Street district.
Hundreds of people were in the area when the shooting

(05:41):
happened shortly before midnight late Saturday. A police say an
officer fired at one of the shooters, but it's not
clear if the suspect was hit. Today, Philadelphia Attorney General
Larry Krassner first of all, sorry, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry
Krassner sent a clear message to lawmakers uh that that
they're not getting the job done when it comes to

(06:02):
passing gun legislation comes to the point where any legislator
who is accepted donations directly or indirectly from the gun lobby,
Any legislator who has a high rating with the National
Rifle Association, any legislator who is not willing to put

(06:26):
the lives of innocent by standards of women and children
and young adults above their political future, belongs out of
falls in Tennessee. If the people were killed in a
nightclub shooting early Sunday and that took place in Chattanooga,
fourteen were hurt, Some were hit by stray bullets and
others by vehicles speeding away from the same Police believe

(06:48):
multiple shooters were involved. No suspects are in custody. Authorities
believe the shooting was an isolated incident targeting one or
more of the victims. Now according to the Gun Violence Archive,
there have been two to forty or six mass shootings
this year. Now. Today, more funerals took place in Uvality, Texas,

(07:08):
of course, where, of course folks are still reeling from
UH that mass shooting where nineteen children were killed, including
UH two adults. UH For those funerals took place. When
it came to students today, nine year old Ellie Amaya
Garcia was laid to rest around friends and family over

(07:29):
the weekend. The families of uh mckinna Lee, also a
Fernandez Notoris, and uh Altha Ramirez said their final goodbyes UH.
In exclusive interview with CBS, a parent of two students
who attendant the elementary school spoke about her daring attempt
to rescue her children after she saw u Vality officers

(07:50):
standing around at the scene. UM he was Marshall started
coming toward my car saying that UM I wasn't allowed
to be parked there, and he said, well, we're gonna
have to arrescue because they're being very operative. I said, well,
you're gonna have to arrest and because I'm going in there,
and I'm telling you right now, I don't see none
of y'all in there. Y'all are standing with snipers and
y'all are far away. I if y'all don't go in there,

(08:10):
I'm going in there her Immediately they and company, I
jumped that first gate fence. And once I jumped it,
I went to my son's class and I knocked on
the door, and I remember the teacher saying, um. I'm like, hey,
they're already. They already. U boat cutting the fence to
get me. She's like, you think we have time to
get Always say you'll have time. I'm gonna run for
my other son. Shelling and I'm being a cooperative, and

(08:31):
I'm like, well, y'all are you doing? What are y'all doing?
Y'all y'all need to be and you're give me your best?
Somebody give me a best something. I started paying attention
to how far the shots were being so that I
knew the shooter was all the way still by my
first son's class. So when I went to my son,
my second son's door. The teacher didn't want to open
the door for me, so that's when they started um

(08:51):
escorting me out. And as I as I see that
they're opening my sun's door, I go run for my
son and I get him. I don't know. I was
just thinking that they could have saved many more lives.
They could have gone into that classroom and maybe two
or three would have been gone, but they could have
saved a home, oh home more, the whole class It

(09:12):
could have done something, gone through the windows, sniped them
through the window, I mean something, But nothing was being done.
If anything, there were being more aggressive on us parents
that we're willing to go in there. And like I
told one of the officers, I don't need you to
protect me. Get away from me. I don't need your protection.
If anything, I need you to go in there with
me to go protect my kids. And if anything, there
would be more aggressive on us. They were more pertained

(09:33):
on keeping us back then getting into that school. Earlier today,
I talked with Congress with HOCKEYM. Jeffreys Cheer the Democratic
Caucus about gun legislation and what Democrats are going to
do to address the issue. Al Right, Congressman hockey, Jefferies,
Let's get get right into it. Uh, Congress, UH is
coming back after a break, immortal day break, and so

(09:56):
much of the nation's attention focus on mass shootings in Buffalo,
and you, Valdy, we now have so many other places
as well. Is this the moment? Is this the moment
where Democrats can really go with the poll polling data
and do something about guns in America? Well, great to

(10:17):
be with you, Roland, appreciate you having me on. We
are on the House side, are certainly going to act
with the fierce urgency of now. We have moved the
package of anti gun violence prevention bills that will be
UH moving this week. We passed those bills out of

(10:38):
the House Judiciary Committee last week. UH. The American people,
as you've indicated, clearly want to see action. We have
in this country four percent of the world's population, but
more than of the world's guns. That means they're more
than four hundred million guns it is estimated circulating throughout America. Man.

(11:00):
Any of those far too easily can fall in the
hands of individuals who will commit carnage. As we've seen
UH and evolved the in Buffalo, most recently in Philadelphia
and Tulsa. Uh, and it's unacceptable. One of the things
that jumps out is that prior to project going unbreak,
Democrats moved on a domestic terrorism bill after the shooting

(11:24):
in Buffalo. Yet Uh, but only one Republican voting forward
in the House. Now you look at in the Senate. Uh,
they actually blocked it from moving forward. So what happens is, Uh,
you take actions in the House. Yet I didn't hear
from people who are critical of Democrats, who are critical
of Congression of Black Caucus saying they haven't accomplished anything.

(11:46):
And so how do you make the argument that, look,
you're the House, Uh, you don't control what happens in
the Senate does does not control what happens in the House,
and so you're taking action, but the Senate is not.
So then nothing actually gets accomplished. Well, it's certainly important
for us, as you've indicated Roland as a separate uh

(12:08):
and coequal part of the legislative branch the House and
the Senate, that the House needs to act. The House
was designed to be the institution closest to the people,
to reflect the hopes, the dreams, the aspirations, the concerns
the passions of the people. Uh. And we're gonna act,
and we're gonna act decisively and act this week. It's

(12:30):
important to do so because we then put the pressure
on the Senate as an institution to respond, rather than
simply let them off the hook by us concluding in
the House at the other side of the capital is
never gonna do anything anyway. The American people want action. Now.
What we are seeing, led by Chris Murphy on the

(12:51):
Senate side, is that there are some discussions underway that
hopefully are occurring in good faith to be able to
do something decisively. We shouldn't have weapons of war circulating
in the streets of America, putting our communities at risk,
whether that's in the inner city or small town America

(13:12):
or rural America, suburban America. Uh. This level of violence
is intolerable, unacceptable, and should be Unamerican. You know it
is um. Uh. It has to be frustrating to see
the House move on so many different things and see
bills stalled in the United States Senate. UM, when the

(13:34):
President supports them. Last week he gave a prime time address. Uh.
And but but one of the things that um, you know,
folks say that he did not do coming out of
that was issue a clarion call for the public UH
to call their U S citator to put pressure on
them as well. UH. And now we're seeing UH leaked memos.

(13:58):
Republicans are saying, wait this out, keep the focus on inflation,
don't focus on guns, and so UH is this issue?
Should this issue be a defining issue for the mid
term elections Democrats cannot move off of and must be
must pound on the table constantly between now November. Certainly

(14:22):
this will be a high priority agenda item because the
views of the two different parties are so different. We
want to promote gun safety, protect our children and our
communities all across America. The other side of the aisle
is an extreme political party UH that is trying to
protect the merchants of death UH and the gun lobby

(14:45):
who want to continue to flood our communities with weapons
of war that far too easily fall into the hands
of criminals. But we, of course are going to continue
to focus on creating an economy that works for every
day Americans, not just billionaires, multimillionaires and corporations that Republicans

(15:08):
far too often do the bidding of often to the
detriment of the American people. We want to build upon
what has occurred under the Biden economy. Eight point three
million good paying jobs have been created fastest rate of
economic growth UH in forty years during the president's first
fourteen or fifteen months UH in office. Unemployment rate remains

(15:32):
low at three point six percent, wages are beginning to
increase UH, and we're taking steps to deal with inflation,
lowering healthcare costs, childcare cost education cost, housing costs. UH.
This will be an important part of our agenda in
advance of the mid term, as well dealing with the economy, inflation,
and gas prices. But we can't ignore gun safety measures

(15:56):
that are critically important that the American people, as you
pointed out, rolling want to see in extraordinary numbers Democrats, Republicans, Independents,
gun owners and non gun owners alike, as well as
issues like the Supreme Courts likely attack on a woman's
freedom to make her own healthcare decisions. Instead, the extreme

(16:19):
Republican Party want to criminalize healthcare in America and unleash
bounty hunters on women and doctors all across the land.
This is extraordinary stuff and there will be a clear
contrast that will be able to draw as we approached
the midterm elections. UM. And and on that particular point there,
I mean, obviously you you laid out a number of

(16:40):
different things, Yet you're with what we keep hearing from
folks is that this is going to be extremely difficult. Uh,
that Democrats are expected to lose the House, lose the Senate.
I'm not necessarily sold on that, but but but but
there is a significant enthusiasm issue here. You do have, uh,

(17:00):
significant enthusiasm on the Republican side. You do have these
maga folks who are still upset that Donald Trump lost
uh the election. You see, uh what they're trying to do. Uh.
What are you saying to other Democrats in leadership, in
rank and file Democrats, what are you saying to party
leaders and to the White House what they're going to

(17:22):
have to do, uh to really get their supporters dialed
in and get them to come out to the polls.
If you look at polling data for the president, uh,
it is below fort for African Americans or for young voters,
for Latinos is down across the board. Uh. And so
that has to be of concern to you and others. Certainly,

(17:42):
mid term elections where one party has majorities in the
House and the Senate and also has the presidency at
the same time are traditionally challenging elections. And the American
people understandably are dealing with a whole lot of stuff
that President Biden had to inherit. You know, once in
a century, public health crisis that has caused so much pain,

(18:04):
suffering and death, and so there's understandable COVID fatigue. That
people are experiencing a sluggish economy that was on the
brink of collapse. Thankful for the American Rescue Plan where
we were able to step in and turn the economy around,
put shots and arms, money in pockets, kids back in school,
uh and save a whole lot of folks from falling

(18:26):
into a dangerous situation had we lapsed into another great recession.
We passed that infrastructure Agreement, which was incredibly important, and
those jobs will start to flow all across the country.
But we understand that the American people are dealing with
high gas prices as well as inflationary pressures that are

(18:49):
an outgrowth in many instances of both um the economy
shutting down and now demand outpacing supply, as well as
the fact that some companies are price gounging and taking
advantage of this moment UH in order to make record profits.

(19:11):
The oil and gas companies are doing this UH and
not increasing the supply so that prices can come back
into balance. We understand that all of this presents a
challenging moment, and so what we have to do is
both articulate our vision UH for building upon the progress
that has been made in this country, but keeping it

(19:32):
going moving forward and not allowing Republicans to turn back
the clock and take us to a very different place
that you know, these are people UH in many instances
rolling they want a feudal economy and they want a
medieval society, UH. And we want a modern day economy

(19:53):
UH that respects the rights of others, the rights of women,
the rights of communities of color, the rights of the
l g B t Q community, and recognizes that our
diversity is the strength. It's not a weakness on that
particular point. When you talk about price gouging, UM, you
know it is. It is interesting to watch Republicans complain
about high gas prices. UH. Yet when Congress UH moved

(20:17):
on a Bill UH to UH target companies that price
gouge when it came to gasoline, they didn't vote forward.
That's exactly right. Um. They continue to try to talk
a good game in terms of the economy, they didn't
want to do anything about it. In fact, many of
these people, as President Biden I think has suggested recently,

(20:39):
are rooting against America. They're rooting against the economy. You know,
they want chaos and confusion because the only thing that
my colleagues on the other side of the y'll and
most instances are concerned about is power. And then what
do they do with power. Well, we know what they're
likely to do in the future based on what they've

(21:01):
done in the past. Their signature legislative accomplishment under the
previous presidency was the GOP tax scam, where the benefits
went to the wealthiest one percent, stuck the rest of
us with two trillion dollars worth of additional debt simply
to subsidize the lifestyles of the rich and shameless. That's
what they did. We passed the American Rescue Plan. We

(21:27):
UH issue direct payment survival checks, enhanced unemployment benefits, provided
resources so we could deal with food insecurity, help people
stay in their homes, avoid massive evictions and foreclosures. Uh,
and are building upon that progress to create an economy

(21:48):
that works for everyone. So rolling we're gonna have to
draw the contrast. Uh. We don't just talk to talk,
we walk the walk. UH. And we're going to continue
to advance the ball for every Americans as we move forward.
Let's talk about We're gonna have more of my interview
with Congress with Haakim Jeffries later in the shows induced
my Pandoff. Julian Malvos, the dean of College of Ethnic Studies,

(22:09):
California State University, Los Angeles, m A. Congo to Binga
propersorial lecturer, School of International Service, American University. Reven Jeff Carr,
founder of the Affinity Fellowship in Nashville, leat, they have
all three of you here. MC will start with you. Uh.
And that is this. If you are Democrats, you keep
the focus exactly where it is. The nation is piste off.
Look at the polling data, it's all there as well.

(22:31):
You don't move from this. Republican memos, as I asked
Congress and mimmos have actually leaked. The Republicans are saying
do not just run the clock out, don't focus on guns,
talk about everything else. This is between this and when
the Supreme Court likely is going to issue its decision
when it comes to Roe v. Wade, those frequent scould
be the two dominant issues for Democrats between now and

(22:52):
November period bottom line. I mean the fact that the
matter is, you know, my mother is visiting and here
in d C. And say hi to my mom. And
but I'm bringing my mother up because my mother always
says that you have to stand on your principles. And
this is the moment right now where Democrats have to say,
what are our principles and what are we going to

(23:13):
stand on? Period? Bottom line. I listened to a former
Republican congressman today, I didn't catch the name. He just
left the party, and he said, after Sandy Hook happened,
the Republicans said, keep the talking points on issues relating
to mental health and all of those other issues, anything
but gun violence. They are doing the same thing now,

(23:38):
even blaming inflation and abortion. So they are already queuing
up their talking points for what's gonna happen in June
with the Supreme Court and the end of Roe v. Wade.
They already got the points. Where are you, Democrats. I'm
seeing all of these stories where like some former filmmakers
and authors and are joining the Democratic costs to make

(24:00):
videos to get the message out because these Democrats apparently
don't know how to message. We look, I know, we
have to put their pressure on the Republicans and do
what we're gonna do with them, not let them get
a past. But I will say Roland, we have to
fight harder with these Democrats to make sure that they
do not lose this focus. Because the Republicans, no matter

(24:22):
whether they're in the majority or the minority, they are
the experts at the messaging game. And so just like
what you're doing tonight and the topics were talking about,
and even you know, when I look at those kids
from from all day, I mean, come on, man, who's
gonna fight for them? Who is going to fight for them?
And so at the end of the day, we need
to hold these Democrats feed to the fire. Look, and

(24:42):
we have people. The last thing I'll say for people
who will say this is hopeless. Things are never gonna change.
Remember that the n r A used to give about
thirty five percent of its donations to Democrat Republicans right now,
it's one to Republicans. That's because we fought reways awareness.
We put the Democrats on black on blast to them

(25:05):
they can't be doing this anymore, and working with them
and they listen to us. We cannot give up now
and listen to all these people who say it's useless,
it's never gonna change. It will change when we make
it change. If the people lead, the leaders will follow.
Julian again, if if you, if you are this White
House again, President Biden gives a prime time speech on Thursday. Uh,

(25:26):
that was nothing else. I'm sitting here going, okay, Um,
are you planning any rallies? Are you planning to to
to do anything? What what are you doing? If you are,
if you're the d n C, what are you doing?
You got the huge rally taking place in d C
on Saturday. Uh, those young folks are gonna be out
there protesting. Uh. And again that's the level of intensity.

(25:50):
But you need to have political leaders who are keeping
the same level intensity on the issue. Roland, you know, I,
first of all, bring you greetings. I spent the weekend
in Buffalo, where of course I was with the Black
Lives Matter team who was comforting and dealing with organizing

(26:11):
some of the survivors and their families. UH behind what
happened on May fourteen. It's significant in terms of the
topic because Republican Congressman Chris Jacobs has said that he
will not run for re election. The Republicans have turned
on him because he had a statement about gun control,

(26:32):
and he's a coward. He's a flat coward because what
he's saying is I didn't want to have an enter
party fight. I'm like, what the hell else should be
fighting on? He's a coward. At least go if you're
gonna lose, go down fighting for conventions. No, he punked
out was that I'm not gonna run. I agree with
you fully, But it's also the talk of the town
and Buffalo about the fact that nobody has a courage

(26:56):
to stand up to these gun people. The other thing
I have to tell you, first of all, you have
a huge shoe mongers fan club in Buffalo. Uh, every
person I read, I'll see you on rolling. So just
just know that folks and Buffalo love you. Um. But
it you know, you could feel the pain, literally the

(27:16):
pain coming off the sidewalks when you saw all the
flowers around that top store, and you have to ask
a question from an economic perspective, why is there one
store in a whole community that has more than a
hundred thousand people in it? What kind of monopoly my
favorite word, predatory capitalism is going on there. But beyond that,

(27:37):
we have to really push these people to the limit.
This is so ridiculous. Role you know what, I know it,
Jeff knows it, or Ma Congo knows it. This is absurdity.
We are seeing children killed because and then they this. Okay,
I've tried not to curse. They had me preaching yesterday,

(27:58):
so every time I preach before the eight more hours,
I tried out to curse. Let's see how long they last.
But anyway, Um, but this spit, okay, this spit of
you know, people have the right to carry guns when
these are children, a little bit of babies. Um, it
makes no sense at all. But here is what does

(28:19):
make sense. It makes sense for people, and that's why
Reverend Barbara will be in uh d C on June eighteenth.
It makes sense for people to push back, to vote
back all these people who are upset about what's going on.
People need to be voting. Get these suckers, and that's

(28:41):
the nicest thing I can say, get them out of office.
What we know is that the stuff that's on the
table right now is weak. It's limp what we need.
How who needs assault rifles in the city And there
have been people who talked about how they wouldn't bought
one and it says for military, So why are they

(29:05):
in the cities? And so I'm borderline hysterical because I
still haven't come down from Buffalo and just for what
I saw, and what I saw was pain. There's just
a lot of pain. It's in Buffalo, and said, you
bald the Texas Um. Now it's in Philly, and this

(29:25):
pain is pain that has been basically engineered by our
government who refuses to take the right steps to get
these guns out of people's hands. In conversation, Jeff again,
you have to have it has to be a constant
state of pressure, has to be constant, has to be consistent.

(29:47):
In fact, if you are democrats, uh, I think back
to when when when when in the civil rights moving,
the Black Feedom movement, they called it freedom Summer um.
Look they should be they're branding this, you know, gun
control summer, gun safety summer. It needs to be a
constant deal and this White House needs to understand that
because the pressure must be must be on there and

(30:10):
continually to show Republican cowards how they are unwilling to
stand up. You've got right now, folks, um uh, negotiating
in Congress, and you've got Senator John Corner on the
center side, who has made a clip. He does not
have plans to do anything significant. And so it must
be constant, consistent, sustain advocacy and pressure. Advocacy, advocacy and

(30:37):
pressure appear in different ways, and they manifest in different
ways in different spaces. Um. I think about the images
that came across the internet about three or four weeks
ago from the country of Sri Lanka, where the citizens
got so tired of being strangled out of food a
fuel of the price gouging that we're going on, they

(30:57):
went down to the parliament and actually started attacking the
cars and the possessions of their elected leaders. They actually
took the minister I think of transportations card, they flipped
it and then they threw it into the river. These
are the kind of things that happened when people are
oppressed we gotta crossroads now in America. If this kind

(31:17):
of behavior continues from our government, don't be surprised if
people do that. Now, if you're sitting at home and
you're saying, I'm not going to get out of my
house and go down to my local metro council building
or go up to Washington and start flipping cars into
the river, then the question is what will you do?
This question goes to not just average everyday citizens, but

(31:38):
it goes to elected officials. We all know the stats.
We've seen the latest polls from everyone from CBS TOW
to every other credible poster, and it says and it
backs up everything that we're saying. What Dr Malvo said,
this is absurdity. What Dr marm mccongo said. They are
experts at messaging. This is all about messaging. Those UH

(32:02):
names that you put out, those titles that you put
out for those movements, the long hot summer, bloody Sunday,
those are things that are etched into the memory of America.
This is a crossroads. We have an opportunity to do
the same thing of Americans support some new gun control laws,
seventy UH want red flag laws from Congress and from

(32:25):
the Senate to make sure that they can protect people.
It's interesting that when seventy of the people want and
and support gun controls stiff, strong legislation, isn't it interesting
that forty percent, when you break it down by party
of Republicans say well, this is just the cost of freedom.
We're just gonna have to deal with shootings for the

(32:46):
rest of our existence in this country because we're not
giving up our guns. Messaging moves the masses. I'll say
it again, Messaging moves the masses. It is not the
masses being totally and completely educated. It's not that they
turned into five or six news sources and triangulate which

(33:06):
of which news source they will trust and where they
will find the truth to make their vote. It is
all about messaging. The Republican Party now understands this because
of the great messaging that the Democratic Party had during
the Civil rights movement during the seventies up until the eighties.
When Reagan got in place, he understood the power of messaging.

(33:27):
He could stand in front of a teleprompter, in front
of a camera, and he could tell you a lie
that was so sweet you actually believed he was an angel.
While he stuck it to you. Clinton maybe the last
person that was great at messaging. We know that Obama
was great at messaging. But now we're at the crossroads
where the Democratic Party is going to have to listen

(33:48):
to people like you two, people like the people that
appear on this show, and every single strategist that has
been in the streets screaming this at them for the
last four years. Messaging moves the masses. It's time for
us to create messaging, to create slogans, to create something
that will take people away from their thumbs and move

(34:11):
them to vote in this country. We live in a
country that calls itself a democracy, but less than half
of the people actually vote. So we're not talking about
being unrealistic when we say that voting matters. Uh and
opost mark mark for lives again. They're gonna be having
uh their a national protests taking place on Saturday. UH.

(34:31):
And and look they understand messaging. This is one of
the videos that they've actually put out. Students at Marjorie
Stoneman Douggas High School experienced one of the dehliest school
shootings in US history, or marsy. They led the largest
youth led protests since Vietnam, and nothing has changed to

(34:53):
keep seeing so many young people like asking, begging politicians
to just give a to just care, to just talk
about it so little bit. Since then, we've seen over
a hundred and seventy thousand more lives lost to gunboas.
And this is your response in this terrible tragedy. We

(35:13):
send our thoughts and prayers, thoughts and prayers, thoughts and prayers.
Each of these body bags represents. That's people's families, friends,
loved ones, and not a single piece of federal legislation
to end this crisis. How many more thoughts and prayers
you're gonna give us until we started acknowledging fact that
thoughts in president's country to become deadly. That's the kind

(35:55):
of thing that we should be seeing. That's the sort
of messaging that should be taking place. And again they're
gonna be having uh their actions uh happening um this
weekend on June e level. You'all going to show the
graphic again, uh the march taking place in Washington, Uh
March for our lives. Uh. The young folks are actually

(36:17):
you know, leading this particular effort, and so we hope
they have massive turnout here in the nation's capital for
that particularly event. You gotta go to breakthroats and we
come back, we're going to talk about what's in Memphis.
Donald Trump plans of a rally there, But folks in
Memphis are like, we ain't trying to pay for security.
Why because Trump keeps stiffing cities all across the country

(36:38):
when it comes to security bills. We talked to members
the Memphis City Council who says we should not be
paying any security for somebody who won't pay their bills.
You're watching Roland Martin on Filter on the Black Star Network. Also,
fol to the top of the hour, y'all saw the
video It went viral. Black woman in Texas who was
canvassing for Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Not to the guys door,

(37:00):
he busts she. He says he had nowhere in hell
he's gonna vote for Aviade, She bust out, laughing. Well,
she got fired by the Avid campaign. We have an
exclusive interview with her, her first interview since she got
fired right here on Rolling Martin unfilter at the top
of the hour. You want to stick around for that, Folks,
support us in what we do. If you're watching on
Facebook and YouTube. Hit the light button, hit the share
button right now, we should be hitting more than a

(37:22):
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Box five seven one nine six, Washington, d C two

(37:43):
zero zero three seven d zero one nine six Cash
Happens Dallaside are unfiltered, pay Pals are Martin unfiltered, ben
mos r M unfiltered. Zelle is rolling at rolling us
Martin dot com, rolling that rolling Martin unfilter dot com.
We'll be right back. Welcome you to the launch of

(38:06):
the Mass Poor People's Slow Way to Simbling at Morrow
March on Washington, d C. June eighty two. We knew boys,
and we are powerful of you, and we're we're rising
up to demonstrate the compelling power that we poor and

(38:30):
low income people have to reconstruct society from the bottom up.
Then we need to do it with the loudest voice
is possible. The biggest actions possible because we know that
there is no scarcity in this land. The only scarcity
is the moral will to do what's right. Just we

(39:00):
are those with sub minimum wage shops who can't afford
sky high rent. People with disabilities are the fastest growing
minority group. It's crazy to me that in it's still
legal for workplaces to pay a sub minimum wage to
people with disabilities. There are still so much trial and

(39:22):
tribulations that we go through as Indigenous people. We can't
get a decent wage to sustain ourselves, nor can we
get adequate housing. Veterans across this nation say enough is enough.
We can't have essential workers on the back on one
day and then cut their health care the next day.
Health is a political choice. What more do I need

(39:44):
to do to prove that my voice is just as
valuable as anyone else's. There are still forces in denial
that would try to slow walk our transition to a
clean economy and are just future for us all. We
have an immoral system run by moral people. But together
we walk, and we walk and we fight. It's time

(40:08):
nothing see we are people of resilience as we fight
these interlocking injustice together. When we work together mobilized together
and rise together. We become a voice for the voiceless,
and we become an agent of change in a time
ware great changes needed. We need the third reconstruction to

(40:31):
ensure that deaf people, people with disabilities, and all people
can have the right to live and to thrive. We
know what they are doing, but the question is what
are we going to do. Reconstruction begins when we change
our mentality and say it's time for you to get

(40:53):
your foot from my neck. As my name is Charlie Wilson, everybody,

(41:16):
Fred Hammond and you're watching Roland Martin, my man unfiltered.
We all know Donald Trumps hissher not paying his bills.
Even before became president, he screwed small businesses all of

(41:38):
the time. Even after he got into the White House,
he would have these rallies around the country and cities
would be incurring two and three and four and five
thousand dollars in security costs, and he wouldn't pay the bills. Literally,
he would just ignore. L Pass was still trying to
get paid, Minneapolis trying to get paid as well. I mean,
I mean, you know, again, rally after rally. Now he's

(42:00):
gonna be going to Memphis, and so the Memphis City
Councils members and they're saying, why no, or should we
be footing the bill for somebody who does not want
UH to pay their bills? And so resolution is being
presented before the City Council UH to say that Memphis
should not provide security for this event this event UH.

(42:21):
And so joining us right now, UH is a member
of the City Council UH discussing the Martevius Jones. He
joins us right now from if it's glad to have
you on the show, Council and UH, look the record
is clear they don't pay their bills, Mrs Martin. That's
that's the bottom line here, and that was the motivation
behind it, To be honest with you, I cannot take

(42:43):
credit for coming up with the idea. I received a
phone call from a constituent that he essentially expressed his
opinion that we shouldn't do this, and I articulated this
to one of the research annelists that works with me
directly at the City Council office, and she communicated with
the research analysts that works with my colleague, Mr. JB. Smiley,

(43:06):
and that's how we talked about this. Because Mrs Smiley,
who's a candidate for governor. On this tourter page, he
made mention about Trump coming to Memphis, and Memphis is
really not a Trump town. We have nine counties here
in Tennessee, and Shelby County, in which Memphis resides, is
the is the most solid, solid lead blue county in

(43:29):
this entire state. This is not a you know, this
is out of city. Uh. If if anyone was coming,
whether it's a former president or not, we still would
expect them to pay their bills. But here's the deal
though to me, and look, I totally understand this is
not a blue place, but it comes down to green.
That's what it comes down to. Now, look, if they

(43:50):
have a history of having rallies and paying the security bills,
guess what you know what, so be it, and so fine,
go ahead and have it. But folks, if y'all just
just just go to my just go to my iPad please. Uh,
this is a story. Uh that is from from two
thousand and twenty one. You see right there Trump Ow's
cities nearly two million dollars from rallies dating back to

(44:14):
two thousand and sixteen, and multiple mayors tell CTV News.
They never they were never reimbursed a dime. So this
ain't blue, this ain't red, this is green. That's the
reality that we're facing. Mrs Martin h he has a
track record, as you talked about earlier, stiffing contractors, stiffing

(44:36):
small business owners and the people that I represent in Memphis.
They work entirely too hard for us to be frivolously
UH providing security to a person who clearly does not
pay their obligation and who is on the record in
numerous cities of not paying for the security that's been provided.
And look at the numbers. Why would New Jersey thirty

(44:58):
two thousand dollars, Albuquerque, New Mexico two hundred eleven thousand,
undred and seventy five dollars for really did'ting even for
twenty nineteen, Spokane, Washington sixty five thousand dollars from two
thousand and sixteen. I mean, you know, goes messing Mesa, Arizona, Okay,
Uh sixty four thousand dollars. I mean you sit here

(45:19):
and you go on and on and look at these numbers. Uh,
Burlington eight thousand, four hundred and sixty four dollars. That's
going back to two. Come on, I mean, I mean,
the numbers are just staggering, and they really are like yeah, okay, whatever. Well,
one of the things that I point out to he
actually isn't coming to Memphis. He memphisis in the southwest

(45:42):
corner of Tennessee and we border Arkansas and we bord
in Mississippi. So he's appearing in De Soto County, Mississippi.
But from a transportation standpoint, he will have to land
at Memphis International Airport. And so what's being contemplated here
is the security details that would perhaps escort him from

(46:02):
the Memphis International Airport to the Mississippi state line. But
still from its standpoint, uh, he has the bottom line
is that he has not paid his obligations in other jurisdictions,
and I just don't have any expectation that he would
pay whatever those security costs would be in Memphis. And
that's the spirit behind So here's the deal. He's not

(46:23):
a he's not a Senny president. So is Memphis or
any other police law enforce agency. Are they under under
any authority where they have to do this? What from
what I've been told and what I've read, Mr Martin,
this is more so a courtesy type of gesture. Uh.
Of course he has full full Secret Service detail. And

(46:47):
from what I've been told and what I've read, is
that you may have the secret Service to reach out
to local jurisdictions and ask for any type of support
if necessary. And so what we're doing, Mrs Smiley and
I in the wh we have the support of my
colleagues on the council. We are preemptively saying, based upon
his track record, if that call is made to Memphis

(47:09):
Police Department to provide any semblance of that, that we
refuse to do so unless we are paid upfront for
those charges. And so so this resolution, again, if the
city Council votes this way, the police department can't just
make their own decision. And let's say there are some
Memphis police officers who say, well, you know, you know,

(47:31):
we like the guy. You know, we'll do it free charge.
Or you're also gonna say you can't use Memphis UH,
Memphis UH city equipment. That would be the spirit of
that if they choose to do so, UH using their
own vehicles doing their off duty time to provide security.
I think we really have no pur view over that.

(47:52):
But this is the main crux behind this is looking
at the resources that were paid by the citizens of
the city of Memphis to provide escort to someone who's
actually having a conveying in a totally different jurisdiction, in
a totally different state. So look, it makes sense to me.
When do you think the council is gonna vote on this?

(48:14):
We meet tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to a robust discussion. Uh,
and I think I'm hopeful that my my council colleagues,
at least a majority will agree with us. All right,
Council Tavis Jonan, appreciate it. Thanks a lot, Thank you
for having man Jeff SuDS. Makes sense to me. It
makes a lot of sense to me. It makes a

(48:34):
lot of sense to everybody rolling. You know, we talk
about a common courtesy, especially extending courtesy to the former
president of the United States. I think about the courtesies
that are not extended to the average citizen. Don't pay
your credit card bill and see if they will extend
you the courtesy of giving you another credit card. Uh,
get evicted and see if you will be extended the

(48:57):
courtesy to reregister with that landlord and move back in.
Go down to the little hole in the wall club
that I go down in line dance at with my
wife on Friday nights during happy hour, and I guarantee
you if we try to walk out on that tab
just from that night, the six ft four brothers who
guard the door would follow my car and make sure

(49:17):
that I paid my bill and I would not be
allowed back into the space again. So with two billion
dollars in debt, he's a bad investment. Memphis, which is
a blue city and overwhelmingly blue city, which is a
predominantly black city, is well within his rights to just
extend the courtesy that any debtor would extend to any
average citizen. If you don't pay your bills, brother, you

(49:40):
can't come back to this place. It's interesting to see
how the county and city governments in Memphis will work, because,
as in most other cities in the South, there's also
a county government in addition to city government, and those
are usually set up along racial line. So kudos to
the city of Memphis for taking a stand here and
for putting this on blasting the way they have, because

(50:01):
any average person would not be extended this courtesy. Uh
look again, look it's very easy. Uh Julian to to
go to uh Memphis being a democratic city, being a
blue city. No, this this this this about money. This
food ain't paid Red cities. So this is about money.

(50:24):
If you ain't paid your bills, you tell him move
the hell on those somewhere else. More than that, the
average taxpayer is picking up the tab for the soft
law who does not pay his bills. This is a
combination of arrogance and cau cassidy that Mr Trump has
exhibited throughout his public life. He doesn't pay his contractors,

(50:47):
he doesn't pay his workers. I mean, he doesn't pay
his prostitutes. You don't pay anybody. And he thinks he
can get away with it. And his chickens have been
coming home to roost. So I mean, he has security.
Let his security take care of him. But the citizens
of Memphis certainly should not, nor should the citizens of Tennessee,

(51:09):
whether red or blue. The fact is that this man steals.
He steals just like a shoplifter in a convenience store.
He steals because he can and because no one is
checking him. And so I applaud the brother you had
on earlier. The brother from the city council said, no,
we ain't doing this, and there should be more who

(51:30):
say we ain't doing this because he owes so many people.
But his life is owing. I mean he's been owing
since he was born. And so what we need to
know and understand about this rancid man is that he
is arrogant and he simmers in the cau cassity. The
whiteness of I don't have to pay hell no, that

(51:55):
is uh hm in Congo, I'm like, man moon, hell on,
hell I look, I ain't got no uh. And then
I saw something Stroy where they were like, uh, you
know we pay our obligations. No, you don't know, you don't.
And so I'm with Memphis sending send the money in
their events, Send the money in that PayPal, ben Mo,

(52:17):
cash app. How do you wanted the direct deposit? I
don't send the money in their vans? Was definitely man.
I remember a story when he was running in Twi
and it was a father who had like his daughter
and like a little dance trooper or something, and they
performed at one of his events and they didn't get paid.
I mean the guy is a hustler, period bottom line.

(52:37):
And we talked about the money that these cities are
trying to get back from him. But these cities are
expending more money in courts and other legal battles just
trying to recoup the money that's already old. So it's
like a continual process of screwing these places over. And
what the councilman was talking about relating to law enforcement,
if law enforcement have people haven't realized by now that

(52:59):
this man and this Republican Party, from the insurrection to
everything else, they don't give a damn about law enforcement
in any way, shape or form. If they don't get
that by now and they're still going to offer him
some form of protection, they should lose their jobs. I mean,
because they are never gonna get it. These guys don't
care anything about law and order. This guy doesn't care
any think about paying his debts. And as far as unclecerns,

(53:21):
he needed to do something like uber or something to
get through Memphis, because you know, you got to have
the card attached and that money got to go through
before they even pick you up. So that's how I
see it. Hey, I say, go a cute the ideal
so and get the hell on get gone, Yes, sir,
to me, that's what you're cue all y'all gotta go
to break. We come back. We'll talk about some Arizona
cops on leave. They stood around and watched the black

(53:45):
man drowned instead, we ain't going in to save you,
causing outrage all across the country. Also, a black woman
was a canvas or for Texas Governor Greg Abbott. She
was going to do the door Well, she went to
one door and this guy answered the door, was like,
hell no, I ain't vote for him, and she just
bust out laughing. Well, the guy put the video out,

(54:07):
it went viral. They fired her. Now she wants to
work a bet to a Rourke who's running for governor
of Texas on the Democratic side. We'll talk to her
and exclusive interview right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on
the Black Star Network. On the next of Balanced Life

(54:36):
with Dr Jackie, we're talking all things mental health and
how helping others can help you. We all have moments
where we have struggles, and on this week's show, our
guests demonstrate how helping others can also help you, why
you should never stop giving and serving others. On the
next a Balanced Life here on black Star Network, I

(55:00):
Dr Greg Carr and coming up. On the Next Black Table,
we're speaking with Dr Lucius t. Outlaw, Jr. Master Teacher
and philosopher. He takes us on his journey to discover
and celebrate black philosophy from my undergraduate years at first,
all the way through my PhD. I was never in
a philosophy class where I had a professor who was

(55:20):
a person of ANTHW Descern, nor a sign at tech
written by a person of ANFS. Ever, how he pushed
back at those who said there was no such thing
and got us all thinking about what it needs to
be black. That's on the Next Black Table, exclusively on
the Black Star Network. I'm Deborah Owens, America's wealth coach

(55:43):
and host of Get Wealthy. On the next Get Wealthy,
here's the good news black women are the fastest growing
segment of business owners and not so good news. The
average business by black women is only earning revenues of
four five thousand dollars or less. On the next Get Wealthy,

(56:04):
you're gonna hear from a woman who went from her
kitchen table two cat tables, growing her business to over
a million dollars. You should start a business because your
product is needed in the world, not because Uh, you
hate the person that you worked with. If you hate
your job and you hate your you know the manager,
go find a new job, a place that makes you

(56:24):
feel comfortable. Um. And I say that because starting a
business is truly a labor of love and service. If
you want to learn how to do it right here
on the next Get Wealthy only on Black Star Network. Hey,
everybody is a Sherry Shepherd. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered,
And while he's doing Unfiltered, I'm practicing the wobble I

(56:46):
am because Roland Martin is one. He will do it backwards,
he will do it on the side. He misses everybody
up when he gets into the wobble because he doesn't
not to do it, so he doesn't backwards, and it
misses me up every single time. So I'm working on it.
I got it. You got Roland Martin. Hi, my name
is LaToya Lockett. And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. What's
going on? Everybody'sh your boy mac wise? And you are

(57:08):
watching Roland Martin unfiltered. What's up? Y'all's Ryan's Destiny? And
you're watching Roland Martin unfiltered? Well, and you are watching
Roland Martin on po listen East Point, Georgia want to

(57:39):
help finding thirty eight year old Byron and Jay Roden.
On June second, he was last seen on a Martyr
bus in Atlanta wearing a multi colored polo shirt, khaki shorts,
and multi colored Barsacchi Jim shoes. Byron is a wheelchair
dependent and has several health issues. In louding, a medical

(58:00):
condition called dwarf is m. Byron is about three ft
three ft tall, ways between seventy and eighty pounds, with
long black dreads with blonde highlights and brown eyes. Anyone
with information should call the East Point, Georgia Police Department
at four zero four seven six one two one seven
seven four zero four seven six one two one seven seven.

(58:23):
In Arizona, three police officers are on administrative leave for
not helping a drowning man who was begging for help.
Police were called to the scene where Seawan Bickings and
his wife were now. Someone thought the couple was in
the midst of a domestic dispute. Bickings and his wife
told the officers nothing was going on. For some reason,

(58:47):
Sean fled. He jumped into the lake while swimming. He
began going under and pleading for help. Now, there isn't
any video of the actual incident, but there is body
camera footage until Sean jumps into the lake. Watch this. Yeh,

(59:19):
I'm sorry. What are you doing, my friend? Huh? What

(59:43):
are you doing yet? Some of the law you're not
allowed to swim in the lake. Yeah, h how part

(01:00:18):
do you think Tammuel is on a good eyes? Well, guys, outsids,
I'll get that the time light bipole, Paul the subject

(01:00:54):
that biful love and was running jump in the lake
and it's trying to swim away. I'm pretty sure there's

(01:01:24):
like grbines at the base of the damn it. Uh yeah, yeah, now, um, folks.
Police released a written transcript of the audio where Bicking

(01:01:45):
is repeatedly asked for help. You see right there, officer,
to what you're playing right now. I'm going to drown.
I'm going to drown. No you're not, officer. Go at
least go to the pylon and hold on. Victim, I'm drowning.
Come back over to the pylon. I can't, I can't, Okay,
I'm not jumping in after you. He then says, please
help me, please, please please, folks these cops literally did nothing. Now,

(01:02:09):
eventually one cops tried to go get a boat to
go to go after him. By that point it was
too late. Pickings was dead. This is the thing we're
always talking about. Uh, the congo Uh. Jeff and Julian
afraid when the cops show up and somebody, and again

(01:02:29):
people go, Jeff, well you know, I don't understand. You know,
why don't you comply? It is black people fear being
killed by cops. What ends up happening here? He ends
up die And in this case, I believe the cops
should be both of them should be accessories to murder.

(01:02:52):
They should be excessive accessories to manslaughter. Um. I send
a spiritual libation to Shaun Bickens to his family. He
was homeless, unhoused. Again. The police showed up on the
scene as you see them there. As I read about
this story, I had no idea that the lake was
as large as it is. But when you look out
and you see these waters roiling up under this bridge,

(01:03:14):
it makes you say, how could someone sit and watch
a person die? There has been precedent for circumstances and
situations like this here in Nashville, Tennessee. An officer named
Eric Mumar. I saw a woman attempt to commit suicide.
He and another officer jumped into the lake after her.

(01:03:35):
They were able to save her life, but Eric Mumar
lost his life in the process. He was celebrated as
a hero. To see these officers stand by and to
be callous, to be cruel, to be criminal, and to
be cavalier makes you understand why brother Bickins jumped in
in the first place. Because you see police not as

(01:03:58):
your friends, not as people who were to protect and serve,
but it's people who may potentially take your life, and
in this case, they inadvertently did the same thing. They've
been placed on non disciplinary Listen to the keywords non
disciplinary administrative leave with pay over this incident. But if

(01:04:19):
we're going to see justice here, then the city there
in Arizona needs to say clearly to these officers who
stood by and watch this man drown, we are not
going to save you and we're not going to jump
in after you. You will be punished. It is just
certainly this sad uh Julian that this man is dead.
And I mean cops didn't try to go get a rope,

(01:04:40):
didn't try to do anything um, it's not. I mean
the other question. The officers have a life jack or
something in their car, did even attempt to go there,
toss it to him? And now we're coming in after you. Whatever.
You know, this is a wanton indifference to human life.
Are wanting indifference to black life. One has to wonder

(01:05:04):
if these were this was a white man jumping the river,
what they would have done. That's just a casual uh speculation.
The greatest speculation is just what Reverend Jeff has said.
These folks were accessories to murder or manslaughter. They stood
by and talked smack to the man, I'm not coming

(01:05:26):
in after you. Come on now. And what we also
know is that the presence of so called law enfustment
or officers, for many black people, and especially many black
men who follow the news, are afraid that the officer
will shoot them and jack them up and do something

(01:05:47):
to them. This is absurd. I'm almost speechless at the
implications of this. But the bottom line is this. They
should not be working, they should not draw another paycheck,
and potentially they should be incarcerated for their role in
this man's untimely death. You know, as I was reading

(01:06:10):
the story, I was waiting to say to see something
to the effect of, well, when they started looking up
his background, they found that he was like wanted for
murder or something like that. And you know that's not
the case, because they would have put that story out
as as a reason why they this man tried to flee.
And so we're going off with Reverend jest said, if
he was homeless dealing with some issue of mental illness,

(01:06:32):
pro possibly they talked so much about wanting to do
things to support people in the mental health community, maybe
he needed that type of assistance. I also read that
as his wife was going hysterical watching him die, they
threatened to arrest her. So you see a situation where
they roll up on a couple. If the couple says
they're fine, they should have left and it should have
never been a story. But we see situations where police

(01:06:55):
man devene in particular things and ends up being escalated,
and in too many instances we end up losing our lives.
And yes, this is not a situation where somebody is
unarmed and being shot, But kind of going off of
what Reverend Jeffer saying, their consequences are just the same.
People are just comfortable watching black life be wasted away
and they just don't care. Whatever reason this man went over.

(01:07:18):
These men, I don't know if there was a female
opposer there as well. Their job is a servant protect
and they let this man down. I don't know who
called based on what they saw. But once they said
there was no problem, they should have just left about
their business as opposed to looking for outstanding warrants and
all of this other type of nonsense. And we've lost
another black life because of it. Indeed, indeed, can I

(01:07:39):
interject something real quick? Did this because this is important?
One of the things that they do become just mentioned
and it goes in the line we've we've been saying.
Is clear. The couple said there is no problem. Issue
is over. The officers took it upon themselves to ask
for their I d And try to run their I
d s to see if they were outstanding warrence. That

(01:08:02):
is the inciting incident. Let me tell you something else.
If you put that video back up that we've been watching,
I don't know if you can get to it quickly,
but I'll tell you what happened to me when I
was and it was the other one. I think that
showed the officers with the brother on the front edge.
But I was canoeing down the Harpeth River. And one
thing that you learned to do when you're on the

(01:08:23):
Harperth River is you put your stuff that's valuable in
a cooler. Why because the cooler floats. If you look
at that shot from the other angle to the left
of the officer when they're showing the brother sitting on
the bench, there is a blue cooler next to a
a crutch that obviously belonged to that couple. If you

(01:08:44):
see that right there to the left, that is a cooler.
A cooler. Cooler is also a floatation device. If anything,
y'all been to the country and hang out with some
good old boys, you can throw that joker in the
river and it'll float. The simple act of reaching to
his right and throwing it over there into the water
could have potentially saved his life. You didn't have to
go to your car and get a rope. You could

(01:09:05):
have thrown him the cooler. What it says is, I
am not willing to throw you a life raft. I'm
not willing to assist you with something that even belongs
to you. I am willing to watch another human being perished,
and that's the irony in all of this. Um it
is all right, folks, gonna go to break, We come back.
Exclusive interview with the sister out of Texas who was

(01:09:25):
a canvaser for Texas Governor Greg Abbott doing her job
and guys responded, you know, she knocked on this door
and she just naturally bust out laughing. Well, the Humanist
Abbot campaign fired her. She lost the go fund b
page Joe on Twitter because the video went viral, and

(01:09:46):
we have an exclusive interview with her next right here
on Roller Martin Unfiltered YouTube. Hit the like button Facebook
and the like button the share button. Folks down on
the black Star Network app, Apple Phone, Android phone, Apple TV,
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(01:10:08):
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(01:10:45):
We're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it
or not, from politics, music, and entertainment. It's a huge
part of our lives, and we're going to talk about
it every day right here on the culture with me
for Raji Mohammed, only on the black Star Network. I'm

(01:11:06):
this is the all a riddle and you're watching Roland
Martin unfiltered. Stay woken um um um um um um

(01:11:37):
um um um our folks. Uh this video when r

(01:12:00):
over the weekend. Uh and uh. So this sister in
the video was out and about canvassing for Texas Governor
Greg Abbott. Paid job. I believe it was twenty two
dollars an hour, I think so. Uh. And so she
was out and about, you know, knocking on doors. Uh
and went to this house and this guy's I guess

(01:12:20):
ring camera recorded her coming up. Uh. And this is
what it recorded, and this is what went viral. You

(01:12:50):
wanted to be coming a support for coming absolutely not
everybody have a job. Thank you, thank you. I appreciate
how I'm good all y'all. So uh mo, Nick Dawson

(01:13:19):
was just doing her job and she just bust out laughing.
So this video went viral, went all over the place. Uh.
And then the next day Monique goes into the office
and they were like, they're looking for you, and she
know what the hell was going on. She didn't realize
it when viral, she was on Twitter, had no idea

(01:13:41):
and then they fired her. Well, uh, post folks have
been talking about this. Of course, She's been responding on Twitter,
loft to go fund me, all kind of stuff has
been happening. She joins US now for her exclusive interview,
her first interview since this happened. Uh, joining us from
Fort Worth, Texas. Monique Dawson. Monique, how you doing? Let me? Okay?

(01:14:01):
All right, Monique, So let's let's let's let's start here. Okay, First, um,
how long were you working with the campaign? It was
actually like our third or fourth day out. I worked
with them previously from December to March for the primary,
but we had just went out back circulation, all right.
And so what people don't realize is some people assume

(01:14:24):
that because you're working for a campaign, you support the candidate.
Your deal was it's a job. It's a job, it's
it's a job. And what were they paying you? Two
dollars an hour? So twenty two hour? Uh? And you
were working how many hours a day? How many days
a week? Six hours a day, seven days a week.

(01:14:45):
So you so six hours a day, seven days a week.
So you know, if I do the do the math.
So um. Basically, uh, you were making almost a thousand
dollars a week. So you're like, this is this is
a jail b all right, So you so the house
you went to? What part of Uh? We're you in

(01:15:06):
fort Worth? Were you in one of the surrounding communities?
Where were you? We were either in Hearst or College
right there? So anybody, anybody who's listening. So basically, uh, folks,
you have fort Worth, you have Dallas in between of Arlington,
but then you have these bedroom communities, other little suburban communities,
Hurst Uless, Bedford, collie Ville. I actually stayed in Bedford

(01:15:28):
when I worked for the for Star Telegram as a
city hall reporters, so quite familiar with that area. So
so so you welcome to the house and uh, and
the god makes the statement, why don't you just why
don't you bust out laughing? It was it was really
his face. Um, from the moment he opened the door,
it was like he was he was just looking at me.

(01:15:49):
He was like, why are you here? O? Um, I
was asking him the question or whatever I had been
left so so but so bottom line is you you
didn't bust out laughing, um at the idea of him like,
hell do allin? So basically what he gave you was

(01:16:11):
hell no, ain't up for Greg having look. I thought
he was gonna say absolutely. It's when he threw the
naughty in like he threw me out. Uh, y'all? Roller
video again? All right, roller video again? Everybody have a
job rolling from the beginning. There you go. You you

(01:16:53):
wanted to be killing the support for coming liter Absolutely not.
Everybody got to have a job. I appreciate How'm good?
So you just so you were like, look, but I

(01:17:13):
can have a job. You know what support whether or
not you didn't this Greg Avid, anything along those lines.
All right, So what happened the next day? Okay, so
I showed up to work. Um, I was out having
a good day, getting a lot of servants. But Rum

(01:17:35):
and I were losing you a little bit there. So
you said the next day you were going out, you
were doing surveys things along those lines, and I think
someone had called I didn't recognize the number. So I
called them back and I get one of the managers
or whatever, and body had tag Greg in it. So

(01:17:59):
they said that I wasn't gonna be able to work
with them, so all of a sudden, So that so
for everybody, now this is great abbing right here. We've
been seeing him. So this is the governor of Texas.
So someone said, hey, you can't work, and did you
did you try to explain to them, y'all? I didn't.
I didn't disch the man. Sorry, I just naturally laughed,

(01:18:22):
right because you know, like when it happened, I had
no idea was gonna go the way that he did go.
I was more along the lines of I really didn't
want to keep my job, you know, I wanted to explain, like, hey,
if they text that was them. You don't see a
video like I didn't post it that. You know, everything
happens for a reason. And all right, so we I

(01:18:48):
missed that last part again because your audio is going
in and out there and so so ever, So you
said everything happens for a reason. Then what did you say?
I said, I'm glad Dr Whistfield posted the video. Uh,
the Whinfield. That's the guy whose house you knocked on.
I said, again, all right, so uh and so uh

(01:19:10):
so it's absolutely not so you. So you so you
go to his house and okay, well, first of all,
you say, Dr Whitfield, uh, because he actually he actually
sent me uh he actually sent me a d m
uh saying definitely wanted to get in contact with you.
So this thing goes viral that all of a sudden, man,

(01:19:32):
stuff just takes off. Then you create a goal, and
again you weren't even on social media, right I can
tell because your Twitter handle, Lloyd was is Monique four
eight three to two oh six one. That's like one
of them damn box uh uh. And then so then
you created a go fund me uh and the goal

(01:19:55):
was to raise fifteen thousand dollars. Uh. Man, uh, you
have exceeded that, y'all. Look at that two days ago
created two days ago her push she put her goal
down there uh as fifteen thousand dollars. Uh. And so
she was making nine hundred and twenty four dollars a week,
and so you think about that, um in terms of

(01:20:16):
if you look with with the campaign, uh, with the election,
that really would have covered the next sixteen weeks. So
basically would have covered you between now and the election. Right.
But uh, folks, but fourteen hundred dollars have come through.
Uh and uh so far you raised twenty five thousand,

(01:20:36):
six hundred and twenty dollars. Uh. How do you feel
how this thing has gone and and and how this
thing has blown up and how folks have responded? I
feel number one, blessed, Thank you God, because I mean,
it never was my intention. So like, hey, I'm gonna

(01:20:59):
be at Arner and support for Greg Abbitt. It was
more long lines of I thought that they had a
list of supporters and then you need to go, you know,
make sure that they were going to vote. I didn't
know they was saving me just knock on anybody's doing
and asked them to support. So yeah, so this is

(01:21:20):
uh it, it certainly has turned out quite interesting. Now. Uh,
you said that you want to work for Beto Rourke? Yes, okay?
Is that because you want to work for him because
you want a job or you want to see him
become governor? Is that again. Both all right, we're saving

(01:21:43):
some issues with the audio there. Uh. And so have
you heard so you have you heard back uh from
have you heard back from the Texas Democrats or the
Old Word campaign? I have heard from them, and we are,
you know, in the process of minding things out, so

(01:22:04):
I will happy to give updates. Okay, Well I did
so just so you know, before we went on, I
did uh text betto or Rourke uh to find out
if he was if he was aware of this, said
oh yeah, I gotta like that. MONI come on now,
come on now, Uh, you better ask somebody. I called
him and I text him. Of course, he's on the

(01:22:25):
campaign trail. I have not heard back from him. Uh.
And I also reached out to one of his aids
as well, who is who is with him? And so
hopefully we'll hear back from him. So, Uh, this is
and and James Whitfield is the principal who was fired
at was it was a college Ville school. Well, was

(01:22:47):
the principal one of the schools we had him on
and so it was a big controversy. Uh. And they
claimed he was teaching critical race theory. We've actually had
him on the show. Uh. So Uh. So that's why
when you said, uh said his name, I was like,
hold up, was that with? It feels so? Yeah, he
had actually sent me. Uh, he had actually sent me
a d M saying that. Uh. He definitely wanted to

(01:23:07):
um wanted to connect get you on the show. Uh.
Now have you heard from folks all around the country
since this happened. Hey, I've been responding to messages from
people from Canada, Chicago. I mean, it's just it. I
got further than I thought it would well, and so

(01:23:31):
I take it also that. Now, now, have you have
you always wanted to work on campaigns? Have you always
liked politics? Have you worked on other campaigns? Uh? Is
this a passion of yours? Beyond getting paid? Hey, beyond
gud paid? I have worked on other campaigns. I was
a member of the Texas Organizing Projects since twenty nineteen,

(01:23:54):
and we also worked on Debate or roor Project District
County Agenkins. We were campaigning for Biding. So in the
past I have some democrated campaigning guests. All right, then
let's see here. I'll start with some questions. Uh, Julian,
you got a question or anything for Monique? Sure? Monique,

(01:24:17):
this is the years for a couple of years of
the black woman as a sister doing this work. How
did this experience make you feel and how does it
empower you to do further work in politics? Oh? It
may feel like you know more more and so miss Yeah,

(01:24:42):
I'm gonna have to do something that I don't necessarily
believe in just circumstance now availability that if I do
want to actually go and here in the campaign, I
can go do that. What I'm faithful, I'm a con go.

(01:25:09):
I think it's really amazing the way that the country
and other countries and faces like Canada have been embracing you.
I'm wondering if you've received any backlash from people who
are supporters of Abbot or the Republicans in general. I have, Um,
somebody compared me to Hitler. You know, I wouldn't hate

(01:25:32):
because I'm not. It's nothing near range of what I'm doing.
M Yeah. Somebody was definitely comparing me to the person
that works the ovens for Hitler at the concentration camps. Wow,
that's nuts, Jeff, he works for Aby. I was like,

(01:25:52):
oh will Jeff, Yes, yes, sister. Look, it's it's remarkable.
How you know, we always talk about we judge people
for the jobs that they take without even researching many
of the employers that many people work for. I think
many people would be out of a job period if
they research the policies of their own employers. What's next

(01:26:14):
for you, uh, in terms of your own community activism
and the work that you're doing as a canvas er
outside of putting aside of that go fund me for taxes,
so we don't see you get in trouble outside of that.
I plan on continuing to spread through word. I mean,

(01:26:35):
if I do get organizer job with Battle, fine if ye?
All right, So you so you broke hold up, you
broke up there, so let's go ahead start again, said,
if you don't get the job, If I don't get
the job, then I'm still gonna be doing some phone
banking and some canvassing and just hoping that um Battle

(01:26:59):
can capital eyes off this viral moment because it's his
time to shine. All right there. Now, I did have
a question from one of our followers. Let's see here
in the in the chat room, so Janey said, the
real question is she a registered Democrat? Clearly not abbot
hired her. I mean, I'm a registered Democratic. If they

(01:27:24):
hired you, they you know, always give you the option like, hey,
are you going to be comfortable doing this? And I
just look at it like, um, I'm a paid professional
actor because I'm acting like I like this job. What
were you saying I'm gonna paying professional actor. I'm acting
like I liked this job like everybody. Hey, I'm not

(01:27:52):
mad at you at all. Well, look, I certainly hope
you hear from the Betel campaign. You know, I had
somebody they sit here and say, why Roland gotta let
us know who he got in his phone number? It's
real simple. If I can help facilitate Monique getting the job,
why not? Hell, if you got the hook up, it's
called the hook up. That's the whole damn point hell

(01:28:14):
the world. Yeah, all right, Dan, Well look I'm glad
folks that responded, uh, you might want to ready to
go fund me not about about thirty thousand, go ahead
and double it. But glad to see people have have
supported you. And so I'll ask you this here. So
when when non campaign, what do you do or what
do you want to do? I'm campaign, I guess I'm

(01:28:40):
going from my seat. So you're what thanks for my
DN like in the transportation industry, your cd L. What's
that like the truck driver. My friendly has a trucking company.
So we just helped out with that. Oh you want
to be a truck driver. Okay, all right, all right,

(01:29:02):
we'll go ahead then. So uh so you're trying to
get you're trying to get your truck driving license. It's okay,
alright then, and so I saw it just last I
saw here someone said, uh that you uh you have
five kids. That was someone said, okay, so you got
five kids. Will look I'm glad, folks responded, uh. And

(01:29:24):
again if you look at the math, you were making
nine dollars a week from them. Uh. And so the
money that they that that's come from from the goal
fund me uh can actually uh if you if you
are about running, that uh could last the next twenty
seven weeks, almost half a year. So hopefully you can,
um you can have that money hopefully to the Batchel folks,

(01:29:47):
the Texas Democrats will hire you. Uh and then you
can make this make this thing happen hopefully. So all
right then we'll look good luck. Uh shortly glad you
joined us, and and yeah, you never know when something's
gonna go viral. It had nothing to do with you,
but it certainly took off on its own. Thank you,

(01:30:09):
all right, Well appreciate it. Thanks so much to tell
everybody what's up in fourth party worth all right, take care?
All right? That is uh one, that one that's hilarious.
Uh when she's like, look, hey, I'm not gonna paid
actor that that that that that that one. Now I

(01:30:30):
almost fell out on that one, Jeff, Oh yeah, that's
a classic. Uh. And I think it's interesting because and
let me say this, I'm so glad you've given us
a moment to unpack this because this is important. This
is so important. Listen, I've been a political activists and actionist.
I've worked Arn't in a senior adviser to a mayoral campaign. Ineen,

(01:30:53):
I ran from mayor in a special election and the
teen I left the defeat of a nine billion dollar
trans a plan that would have just crippled the city
of Nashville. So I I know about professional canvassers. I've
hired them. My son is one of my secret weapon
canvass Listen Canvasser's canvas And when she said she made

(01:31:14):
twenty two an hour, I'm like, hey, that's not bad
because you can get canvases from fifteen to twenty five
and then you get pole workers. They get a cened
in a day. This is what people do. There are
people who are signmakers and they make signs, I mean
African American signmakers. They make signs for every Democratic candidate

(01:31:34):
in the in the primary, they encourage extra Democrats to
run because they want to make everybody sign They run
signs for the opposition, yard signs, street corner signs, they
do radio ads for all sides. Because this is the
business of politics. It has absolutely nothing often to do
with what you believe and what jobs are available. So

(01:31:56):
this sister was able to come in and say, listen,
I'm a ambassor I canvas while I'm working on my CDL.
This is what I do. We would be standing in
judgment of her if she decided to go stand on
the street corner and make some money for her babies,
or she decided to go into a restaurant and say
I'm gonna work for seven dollars an hour and then

(01:32:17):
with last you with a bad attitude that I have
in customer service because I'm angry at my low wages.
Instead she says, this is what I did. I love
the reference to being a paid actor because it's a
script and that's what you put out there. Believe me,
I've seen worse. I've gotten you, buddy, I did transit.

(01:32:39):
I went to a lady. She came to the door
with a with a walker on, and I was trying
to talk to her about trans She said, let me
stop you, baby. Do I look like I in need something?
Damn transit? And I laughed harder. I said, my bad,
And I laughed harder than that sister did. This is
just what happens. It happens on jobs that you get

(01:33:02):
in a fast food window, it happens in corporate America.
It happens to the sister on the street. So salute
to you. And like I said, tuck away about twenty
or whatever, Dr Melbourn would would recommend it so that
you pay your taxes on that, so they don't get
you for that. Uh. Look, but people, first of all,
a lot of people, uh the Congo, don't understand that

(01:33:24):
the reality of the nuances of political campaigns. There are
people who volunteer, that people who actually get paid their
jobs in these and so, uh, you know, the jep
is absolutely right, and so look it's a sister who's like, hey,
it's a j O B. I was just trying to
see here, just look if I'm door knocking and just
putting putting flyers whatever on door handles, Hey, that's what

(01:33:46):
the job is. Yeah. I mean it's like both of
you are saying, you know, campaigning is an industry in
a period, bottom line, And she's not out there, you know,
pushing the platform. She's just giving out information. When people
do with the information, is there a choice? And I'm
just happy to see that people are are embracing her
because I'm just tired of seeing so many things go

(01:34:07):
viral for the wrong reasons, you know, a cat scratching
is behind or some of these other more and more
violent moments as that happening. Just seeing a sister out there.
I'm glad you asked about the children because I saw
that Carci supporting five kids. In this economy with everything
going on, people are doing their good deed and reaching
out and helping this is to get to that next

(01:34:27):
level and can hopefully springboarder into more work with the
campaign that she wants to support. Because to answer that
social person who's following me. She is a registered Democrat.
This is a win win for for everybody at the
end of the day, and hopefully she'll move on and
also get that that trucker's license that she's looking forward
as well. Just seems like a positive sister doing the
right thing. And I'm just glad that you gave her

(01:34:48):
the attention she got and that other people have been
embracing her like we all are right now. Well, Julian,
when I saw this story, I was like, man, we
got to get this sister only show. I say that
video was just too funny. I'm glad you it rolling.
And as as Obacango said, this sister is doing her thing,
and she's doing the right thing. Uh, politics is nothing

(01:35:08):
but acting, not only whether you're supporting a candidate opposed
in Canadida or even if you are the candidate. This
is theater. It's not really about the real thing. We
talked earlier about guns and other things. These people know
what the right thing is, but they're acting because they
want to stay reelected. So if the people down at

(01:35:29):
the bottom of the campaign trail um if they can
make some money, hey go for it. But what I
liked about the sister. First of all, her energy, her attitude,
her smile, and the fact that she is doing what
she needs to do to support herself. Now, brother, Jeff,
I'm gonna tell you, ain't go get it. You gotta
put away about a third and put that freelance money.

(01:35:51):
But but but whatever, she does what we know she's doing,
and she's doing the right thing for her kids. And Roland,
kudos to you yet again. I mean, you're you're just
doing it. You're doing it, And thank you for giving
this system platform which perhaps will encourage other women and

(01:36:14):
men to figure out how to get around this putrid economy.
They say the unemployment rate is three point six percent,
and I guess it is, but from Friday. But you
know what, our people are still suffering while people are
talking about a robust economy. So we have to have
plant A, B, C, D, E, f G. We have

(01:36:35):
to have other ways to make money, to have multiple
income streams. And kudos to her for doing that. I
just wish we could all just meet her hugger and say,
y'all you go girl. All right, folks, gotta go to
a break. We come back. A couple of breaking news stories,
one all Louisiana one out of North Carolina, dealing with

(01:36:56):
the shooting death of Andrew Brown Jr. Will tell you
about those two stories when we come back on Rolling
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(01:37:19):
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(01:37:40):
seven one nine six, Washington d C two zero zero
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We'll be right back. A powerful woman is rising across America,

(01:38:02):
from the Mississippi Delta to the Apache Stronghold, from the
homeless encampments of Washington State to the coal fields of
Appalachia of West Virginia. We are the one hundred and
forty million poor and low wealth people in this country,
and we are building the Poor People's Campaign, a national
call for moral revival. On June, ahead of this year's

(01:38:25):
mid term elections, while the Congress is still in session,
we will hold a mass poor People's and low wage
Workers Assembly and moral march on Washington to arrest the
attention of the nation, to put a face and a
voice on poverty and low wages in this country. This
is a watershed moment for justice and democracy in America.

(01:38:47):
There are those who say that transformative change isn't possible,
but history teaches us that it is precisely in times
like these that people must build a broad and deep
movement from the bottom up. We must compel this nation
to repent, to lament, and to see the realities that

(01:39:08):
have been hidden for far too long. On June eighteen,
we will come together to lift the voices of the
poor and low wage workers who know that change is
not only possible, it is essential for our survival. We
will make the connections to show how systemic racism, poverty,

(01:39:30):
ecological devastation, the denial of healthcare, the war economy, and
the false moral narrative of religious nationalism and white supremacy
are hurting us all. We will show the nation the
faces of Americans who cannot afford to go back to normal.
We will detail the policies that can move us toward

(01:39:52):
a society that works for everyone, and we will pledge
to go home and build power for transformative change in
this year's election and for years to come. Because the
question should have never been how much will it cost
to address power? The real question is how much is
it costing us not to Somebody's been hurting our people.

(01:40:17):
It's gone on far too long, and we won't be
silent or unseen anymore. Join us in d C on
June eighteen, build with us for a third reconstruction in America.
Visit Poor People's Campaign dot org. I'm Deborah Owen's America's

(01:40:42):
wealth Coach and post of Get Wealthy on the next
Get Wealthy. Here's the good news. Black women are the
fastest growing segment of business owners and not so good news.
The average business by black women is only earning revenues
of forty five thousand dollars or less. On the next

(01:41:02):
Get Wealthy, you're gonna hear from a woman who went
from her kitchen table to cat tables, growing her business
to over a million dollars. You should start a business
because your product is needed in the world, not because, uh,
you hate the person that you work with. If you
hate your job and you hate your you know the managers,
go find a new job a place that makes you

(01:41:23):
feel comfortable. Um. And I say that because starting a
business is truly a labor of love and service. If
you want to learn how to do it right here
on the next Get Wealthy, only on Black Star Network. Hey,
m Dean Cole from black Is Hey, I'm but TV

(01:41:45):
does matter, dang it. Hey, what's up, y'allis your boy
Jake ob Ladimore and you're now watching Roland Martin right now,

(01:42:11):
Folks and brackets in North Carolina, where a decision has
been actually a settlement has been announced in the shooting
death of Andrew Brown Jr. Might recall in April two
thousand and twenty one, Andrew Brown Jr. Was pursued by
a variety of a sheriff's officers. Uh. This is the
video that was actually released where they descend upon his

(01:42:32):
home uh and uh roll up on him, shot and
killed him in his driveway. Uh. There this is actually
the video from one of the cameras there where the
police were there, you know, on this truck uh you know,
headed to the home several different police agencies. The family
found a thirty million dollar federal law civil rights lawsuit

(01:42:54):
against the various police agencies, uh, saying that the officers
showed intentional and reckless disregard for his life. It took
place in Pascualtank County. Uh there in Elizabeth City. Again,
they were trying to serve drug related warrants at his
particular home. And it was the d A. Andrew Womble,
who chose not to actually uh pursue uh charges against

(01:43:19):
the officers because, as he said again as he said,
uh that um that Brown used his car as a
deadly weapon. The family, though, uh, they of course said,
uh it was absolutely unjustified what took place uh there.
There were a number of protests that took place there.

(01:43:42):
Uh in uh in UH there in Elizabeth City. We
covered a number of those protests UH with a various
various activists UH. And so we were there on the
ground covering those uh those stories there and so again,
so many people UH had come out supporting UH this family, UH,

(01:44:02):
demanding accountability, Revend Barbara and others. This is one of
the news conferences where we were at with the family
when they were actually shown the tape. These were some
of the lawyers who were there speaking as well. And
so again there's a three million dollar settlement in this case, UH,
in the death of Andrew Brown Jr. Now, let's go

(01:44:24):
to Louisiana for other breaking news, where a couple of
hours ago, a federal judge ruled Louisian legislature must redraw
it's recently approved congressional district maps to include another majority
black district. Like the map used for the last decade,
the new map included a file of six of US
congressional districts that that lean heavily Republican, even though roughly

(01:44:49):
one third of Louisiana's population is black. Now, both the
old and new maps have only one majority black district,
including parts of New Orleans and Baton route huge. Now,
the judges in a hundred and fifty page ruling, they
took the time to lay out if there was indeed
enough time to actually redraw these maps. This is a

(01:45:12):
huge decision UH Julian because right now UH Congressman Troy
Carter is the only Black member of Congress from Louisiana
by had by them ordering a second UH a second seat.
If this is held up, this obviously helps democrat chances
of retaining control of the House. And what it also

(01:45:35):
does is reminiscent of the decision that came out of Alabama,
where the federal judges ruled there, although they were overruled
that Alabama deserves to have a second black congressional district
because of the size of the black population. You know,
when you look at Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, what you're looking
at a large black enclaves that jerry manderers have been

(01:46:00):
able to sideline. And so this is an important decision
not only because it will buttress a Democratic um majority
or whatever it's gonna be, it might be a majority
in the House, but also because it amplifies the voices
of those who have been the least and the left
out Louisiana and my you know I got Louisiana roots.

(01:46:21):
Who got that last name? Al vote, we have Louisiana roots.
We know that what has happened there is that you
have attempted to squeeze all the black people into one
district and then have pockets of them in smaller districts
where they have no majorities. So the court is right here.
But the question is whether with the Trump and we

(01:46:43):
have to call it the Trump Supreme Court, whether there
it will be further challenge and whether or not um
it will be upheld. It's important. There are no rights
without voting rights Roland. As you know, there are no
rights without voting rights. And so whether we talk about
economic rights or you know, even food right, there's no
rights for the autonomy without voting rights. This is an

(01:47:06):
important decision. Uh and let maybe real clear, folks, because
the facts matter. This is not a majority minority district.
Go to my iPad. This is the judge's ruling. It
says right here. The appropriate remedy in this context is
a remedial congressional originally plan that includes an additional majority

(01:47:27):
black congressional district majority black on the Congo and that's
that's that's some beautiful breaking news. And to be quite honest,
this actually ties into our very first segments tonight about
pushing the Democrats because these type of cases don't happen
without people fighting. These organizations like Erick Holders are organizations

(01:47:47):
and other groups that are fighting these projects and these
attempts by Republicans across the entire nation to do these
particular frights. You know what better in Texas better than
anybody else they are trying to do this. They think
that we are not politically sophisticated enough to do to
to to fight this fight. We are here for it
every single day, twenty four hours a day, and so
I'm very happy for that news or the first party

(01:48:09):
A segment. I'm glad that the Brown family reached. The
settlement is never gonna bring him him back, but you know,
these are two stories that represent good news, and we
have to continue to fight. We can never let up.
And like Dr Marvo was saying, we know that this
is gonna go higher up in the court, but we
have to keep pushing and keep fighting to make sure
that every juncture we are not just giving up our
opportunities to be part of this democratic process without a fight. Now, Jeff,

(01:48:33):
here's what's interesting, because normally, when we're talking about these elections,
normally we're talking about UH, the courts saying, hey, it's
too late to make changes because the primaries have already started. Well,
Louisiana is different. Their primaries are actually on election day,
so they have what it's called top to primary, So

(01:48:55):
the top two candidates, UH, if they don't finish fifty
plus one, they advanced to a December runoff. So with
this being June, the courts are actually ordering the the
legislature go back to my iPad to and act a
remedial plan on or before June two thousand twenty two.

(01:49:16):
What they're saying here is that candidates can file until
July eight in the qualifying period again set for July
twenty and UH said this is this is uneffected. So
the late primary of Louisiana actually helped the plaintiffs in

(01:49:37):
this particular lawsuit. Yes, it was absolutely a perfect storm.
And also when you talk about remediation of maps and
prevention of more jerrymandering, we've seen a lot of jerrymandering
in Tennessee. With the jerrymandering Lizard that our legislature passed,
and of course it was affirmed by a governor selected
Supreme Court here, but you also look at what's hap

(01:50:00):
in Louisiana, and in this hundred and fifty page opinion,
it also pushes back on the notion that private citizens
can't come as plaintiffs and argue or at least present
alternatives and complain. That's part of section two, I believe,
of the nine Voter Rights Act. So this is this
is a wonderful opportunity to make a change. Again. The

(01:50:22):
reason why they're able to do this, as it's outlined
in the opinion, is because the Supreme Court has already
affirmed this. As Dr Malvo said, the question is going
to be, now, what will this current Supreme Court do?
Will they potentially reverse it? But it's also noteworthy that
to point out that I believe there were eight maps

(01:50:42):
that also affirmed the need for another majority minority district.
So the no no no, no, no, no, no, no
drawn majority black district, majority Black, they were very very
specific majority minority, majority district. In fact, this is the lawsuit,

(01:51:03):
this is what they said that it was a violation
of voting rights at because two things were happening. What
it's called packing and cracking, and that is they were
packing as many black people as possible into the second
congressional district held by Congressman Troy Carter. Then they were
then cracking the black voters, splitting them up into five
other congressional districts there there by diluting their voting power.

(01:51:26):
The course rule, No, there should be too majority black
districts there in New Orleans, folks, all of this excuse
me there in Louisiana. So if this holds up, as
I said, this could very well help Democrats out. They
are desperate to try to hold onto the House and
the Senate. Look at the polling numbers of President Joe Biden.

(01:51:46):
Is not necessarily a good thing. You have a lot
of enthusiasm on the Republican side or Democrats are saying, look,
if we want to continue that the apostities of President
Joe Biden, we must hold onto the House to the Senate.
Here's part two of my conversation with Congressman of Heart
how King Jeffers. We talked about the fierce head winds
Democrats are facing and what it means to have the

(01:52:08):
proper messaging, the proper messaging and reaching out and and
talking to black voters and making making it clear what's important,
but those voters and others to turn out. Go forward.
But let's talk about your state. You've been highly critical
of what took place there after Democrats move forward with

(01:52:30):
a congressional map UH that was deemed to be a
gerrymandering and the violation of the state constitution. UH. And
then UH maps were redrawn basically as you said, decimating
the districts of African Americans. Um, is there any of
those districts moving forward? Is there any redress? Uh? And

(01:52:53):
others are simply saying Democrats shot themselves in the foot
by UH screwing over other Democrats, really black Democrats. Well,
it was a very flawed process that was sent into
motion by Chief Justice Justice Janet D. Fiori of the
New York Court of Appeals and unleashed by this runaway
majority who decided that they were gonna conclude first erroneously.

(01:53:18):
I believe that the lines drawn by the New York
State Legislature, the elected representatives of the people of the
State of New York by two thirds super majorities in
both the New York State Assembly in the New York
State Senate that they were unconstitutional, but perhaps even more
problematically rolling, then say what, We're not going to give

(01:53:39):
the legislature the opportunity to cure whatever defects we think exists.
We're gonna strip away that power and we're gonna send
it back to Steuben County with a Republican partisan hack
judge presiding over a broken process, with an unelected out
of town special mass the who can't tell you the

(01:54:01):
difference between Bath, New York, Buffalo, and Brooklyn. This is
what happened. And so the logical result of that were
five different congressional districts in and around New York City,
whether black or Latino population was degraded. Now, this is
why federal action is going to be necessary moving forward,

(01:54:24):
because had Section five of the Voting Rights Act still
been in effect, there is no circumstance where the lines
that were now stuck with for at least this cycle,
it appears, would have ever been signed off on by
the Department of Justice. Because you cannot degrade the black

(01:54:44):
and Latino populations and opportunity to elect districts that may
deprive those communities of color the ability to choose the
candidates of their choice. Uh. And so I know the
lawyers UM connected to various civil rights grew same community
based organizations are taking a look at the options which
are not totally um, not there for folks, but have

(01:55:10):
been constrained unfortunately because of you know, the elimination of
Section five of the voting rights back in the decimation
in many cases of Section two. But there may be
some avenues to take a look at under the state
constitution that I believe are being explored. You mentioned specifically
in terms of what should happen with the with the
v r A data is still a a a point

(01:55:34):
of contention that I've heard from many black voters that
the House passed it, but but the Senate obviously did
not move same thing with the George Floyd Justice Act. Um.
And as as I as I said earlier in terms
of this this notion of enthusiasm, UM, I am really
really hearing that from a lot of African Americans, UH,

(01:55:55):
folks saying that uh that that that they came out
to vote in rich their health to do so deliberate
majorities for the Democrats in the House, in the Senate, uh,
and enough to not get done on those signature bills. UH.
And so what what would you say to that person
who's watching enlisting, who right now is frustrated uh, and

(01:56:18):
who is not happy at all with how Democrats have performed. Uh.
And that person is saying, I'm not interested in coming
out to vote in November. What do you till that
person right now who uh is not happy with your party? Well,
certainly there's more work that needs to be done, But

(01:56:40):
I would ask people to just take a step back
and holistically look at the record. We've provided historic help
for black farmers, historic help UH for black colleges and universities,
historic health for black small businesses. But more, of course
needs to be done even in those spaces. UH. When
you look at um where the assistance went to in

(01:57:04):
the context of the American Rescue Plan, it was probably
more equitably distributed uh than certainly any other major federal
intervention that has occurred in modern American history. That's an
important foundation that was laid. Black unemployment is moving in
the right direction. UH. And we are seeing, you know,

(01:57:27):
the opportunities that hopefully will continue to be created by
President Biden's executive actions, most recently in the space of
police reform. Now Ultimately, we need a legislative solution to
many of these challenges, particularly in voting UH. And that's
why I think I would encourage people not to take

(01:57:51):
the ball UH and go home, even if there's disappointment.
That happened in two thousand and ten, and as it was,
all President Obama's legislative agenda was significantly constrained for the
last six years of his presidency, and the question is
do we want to go down that road again? We

(01:58:14):
know that the alternative is much worse. We've seen this
movie before. Let's not have a sequel that jams President
Biden's legislative agenda or hamstrong hamstrings his inability UH to
appoint UH any additional Supreme Court justices should vacancies be created.

(01:58:34):
That's an historic thing because Democrats controlled the Senate and
have a Democratic president. Katangi Brown Jackson bringing all of
her brilliance and life experiences, will be on the Supreme
Court as soon as this current term ends. That's meaningful progress.
But that only happens because people came out black voters,

(01:58:57):
in particular down in George UH and delivered a Senate
Democratic majority, albeit a very frustrating one because it's fifty
fifty with Vice President Harris needing to often break the
time and last question for you on that particular point there.
What I've made, what I've said to people is Dad, look,
I absolutely understand the frustration. I actually uh feel that

(01:59:20):
as well. I said one, I really do believe that
President Biden uh should bring the families affected by police violence.
Uh and and bring them back to the White House.
Uh and and and and and and and invite uh
Tim Center, Tim Scott and Sir Lindsey Graham, image McConnell
to sit to come to meeting and say, sit across

(01:59:42):
from these families and tell them why that act hasn't
hasn't moved forward, and the effort should be made to
try to get George Floyd Justice Act passed between now
in November. But also what I've saying is you gotta
look at the possibility if Democrats are able to retain
the seat in Georgia, aris On, New Hampshire, Nevada, but
then pick up in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Uh, let's say, Florida,

(02:00:05):
North Carolina. I mean, now all of a sudden, you
can negate senators Christian Cinema in Joe mansion UH and
now be able to potentially have a fifty five forty
five pifty seven forty three majority UH to be able
to get some of these bills passed. That's exactly right, Roland.
And right now it takes sixty votes to do anything
in the Senate, and we're at fifty. And some people say, well,

(02:00:28):
does it mean that you have to elect ten additional Democrats?
And Roland, you just broke it down. No. If we
can elect two or three additional Democrats, which is very possible,
val Demmings in Florida, Tim Ryan UH down in Ohio,
seats in North Carolina, in Pennsylvania that are real possibilities,

(02:00:50):
Wisconsin potentially Mandela Barnes. We've got some exciting candidates UH
in districts and states that President Biden buy in large
one UH where we have a real opportunity UH to
be successful. And if we can just add two or
three additional members of the United States Senate to the

(02:01:11):
current majority, UH, then you can change the rules that
currently exist which is stopping progress from being made. The
filibuster UH. That word is found nowhere in the United
States Constitution, and the framers of the Constitution understood super majorities.
They use that phraseology and requirement in four different instances.

(02:01:36):
They said, we want a supermajority to override a presidential veto,
a supermajority UH to ratify a treaty, a super majority
to enact the constitutional amendment, to thirds in the House
and Senate, and then three fourths a ratification by the states. UH.
And then they said we need a supermajority UH in

(02:01:57):
order to convict the president who has been impeached by
the House. For occasions, they use the word the phrase
the requirement super majority, never for basic legislation to be passed.
And so we believe there's a strong argument to be
made once we have a functional democratic majority to get

(02:02:19):
to a much better place UH after the November elections.
All right, well, Congrege Hockey, Jefferies. We appreciate you joining
us UH and look forward to having you back and
seeing what unfolds over the next few months. Thanks so much,
rolling appreciate you. All right, take care. As I said,
it's gonna be an uphill battle. As I said, it's
gonna be an uphill battle. UH. And so just quickly, UH,

(02:02:42):
let's just get the thoughts of the three of you
to what Congressman Jeffreys had to say. Congo you first,
I think the part about the special Master in the
situation in New York is the part that stuck with
me the most because so many times when people talk
about the Voting Right to Act and aspects of it
being gutted, we always focus on the areas that the
Act was created for, which was the states in the South.

(02:03:04):
But as we see the need to protect the Voting
Rights and the Voting Rights Act, this is a nationwide
issue and people are gonna do anything possible, whether it's
a blue state or red state, anywhere these Republicans can
get hold and try to just screw up a system
in some way, shape or form, they are going to
do it. All the more reason why we got to
stay engaged and stay active. And I really commend Representative

(02:03:27):
Jeffrey so what he's doing because just like the question
you asked that that person who's saying that they're disenfranchised
by what's going on, Joe Biden's Democratic Party has done
more for our community and can do more if we
get more Democrats in period. Bottom line, and lastly, if
we don't get it in now, we have to understand
the whole boatload of Republicans are gonna be coming in

(02:03:49):
who will do anything Trump wants as relate. So this
might be our last chance out of the real democratic
voting process if we don't get our act together and
stick with the program. Julian Representative Jefferies is the real deal.
He's talking to right stuff. He's making it clear about
the voting right tack. Here's the challenge. There are two challenges.

(02:04:10):
Number one, how do we make this clear and plain
to uh sus a Q or Johnny Jones who basically
are not motivated to vote because they don't see it
that way. It doesn't trickle down to them. So, as
committed as he is, how do we make this a
conversation for the basic average voter. The second issue is

(02:04:33):
we are looking at senate races. I'm looking at Warnock
in particular, but there are other Senator Rafael Sitator Reverend
Rafael Warnock out of Georgia who is now a point
down in the polls, and we're going to the polls
on him and the next week or so. But we're
looking at rolling a p uphill. The The language is

(02:04:55):
not the legislative language, it's the popular culture. Language has
on Twitter and other places, and that's the language that
seems to be prevailing. So while Roland there was a
really great interview, and I think, I think the world
of representative Jeffreys, I also think that that it's a
surface beyond that. How do we get people involved, people

(02:05:18):
engage people as angry as we are to say they're
going to go out and vote. That's the issue, Jeff,
when we think about what's at stake here, I think
we have to really look at the strategies um where
we juxtaposed the Democrats and Republicans. I asked the Republican

(02:05:38):
offer operative ones. I said, man, what what do you
do to get people involved and vote? He said, listen,
we have trained our people very carefully, very very strategically
vote Republican no matter what. You show up and vote,
no matter what. We don't care what the media says,
we don't care what the other side says. You show
up and you vote. They've created a nation of zealots.

(02:06:00):
And if you don't think that that's the truth, all
you have to do is watch one of those videos
of herschel Walker showing you how he invented a new
dance in his living room, and you will say, how
is this man up? A point on Raphael Warnat. The
Democrats now have to recognize that, as we've said all
along on this show, messaging moves the masses. It's now

(02:06:24):
time to deliver the message that came from Daylas Soul God.
Gun control means using both hands in my land because
the steaks is high, you know them steaks is high. Alright,
folks that for us, We certainly appreciate all three of
you been with us on the Congo. Julian and Jeff,
thank you so very much. Also for everyone, uh tune

(02:06:45):
in as well. Hey, somebody actually commented, well, know, so
what opened I was wearing? This is actually one of
the outfits, uh, that the President of Liberia introduced. And
so you know formos hoccer stars. So a bunch of
the bunch of the brothers there, I've been wearing these operas.
He what he called a propos at least what he
called it in the end of I did with him, uh,
and so actually had several outfits made for me. Now

(02:07:07):
the cats, yeah, they wear these with tennis shoes. Like
I told him, say, bro, I can't do that. I
can't do that. I can't. I told huh right, I
need one of those. Man, Well, first I can rock
that with a dice white skirt. I will be rocking
too late. You you ain't request nothing. See, you gotta
put your order in before we number four, brother, go

(02:07:28):
you can't be doing it after the fact we were
the in fabruitey you you foll month late mus Lane.
See you can't order here for the next trip, right
right right? You better think about the next trip. Gotta
be ahead of the game, all right, folks. That's it,
hey you. That's a favorite down on the Black Start
network app all platforms. We're trying to hit fifty thousand downloads.

(02:07:49):
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(02:08:11):
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Unfiltered on the black Start network. Until then, U

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