9.1 McDonald's sued by Black ex-franchisees; Trump visits Kenosha; #45 says cops can ‘choke’ & shoot

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
It's Tuesday, September one, two thousand and twenty. Coming up
a rolland Martin on the field. T fifty plus black
former McDonald's franchise zes have fired a billion dollars suit
against the company. We will talk with one of them
with the details of his explosive lawsuit. Donald Trump goes
to Kenosha, Wisconsin, even though nobody wanted him there. He

(00:35):
tools the rubble, meeting with law enforcement, but he avoids
black people. Jacob Blake's family and friends refused to be
a part of Donald Trump's photo op, so they held
a black party instead. Wisconsince Republican legislative leaders check this out,
y'all convene a special session on policing policies and they

(00:56):
ended it thirty seconds later. Also, comedian Earthquake is either
talk about his voter initiative. Plus we'll talk to you
about a vigilante couple who shot at two black men
who were trying to return a truck to you haul.
Plus we remember coach John Thompson and more tributes for chat.
We both it's time to bring the funk. I'm rolling

(01:17):
Mark on the filter. Let's go. Whatever the mess. He's
on it. Whatever it is he's got the school, fact,
the fine and when the briefs, he's right on time
in this rolling best belief, he's going putting it down
from Boston news to politics with entertainment. Just bois, he's

(01:38):
scoring rolling all. It's strolling Morte rolling with rolling Now
he's spooky spressed, she's real the question though he's rolling. Martell.

(02:11):
Fifty two black former McDonald's franchisees are suing the fast
food giants, seeking more than one billion dollars. They say
they were forced to close or sell more than two
hundred McDonald's locations because systematic and covert racial discrimination. It
is an explosive lawsuit. They say that McDonald's forced them

(02:34):
to make changes to improve their stores, things not required
of white franchise's. Joining us right now is a former
franchise e Van Jake's van and welcome to Roller Martin Unfiltered. Hey, Rolling,
I'm doing great, So exactly explain to us exactly what
this lawsuit is about. Now. I've actually spoken to the

(02:56):
black McDonald black franchise e's a couple of time times
last year previously as well. I've met many of you,
and and folks always talked about for years. How McDonald's
was a huge proponent of black businesses and black franchise.
He's really tied at the company. Yet this lawsuit says
they were systematically not opportunities. Absolutely. Then, you know, when

(03:20):
we first got started, we always think we were behind.
We had a we had to run fancy to catch up.
The only problem we didn't understand we wasn't running the
same race. Said run the four hundred meters, it's eight hundreds,
and the white operators get to run four hundred, we
get to run eight hundred. What I needed by that
is I didn't know until I left the system some
of the things that was going on because I was
considered running my race, trying to be the best I
could be, And there was a lot of us feeling

(03:41):
the same way when we got together and realized what
was going on. So when did you first becoming McDonald's franchise? Uh,
you know, I played the NFL for a little bit,
have a couple of coffee and a doughnut, about six
seven years, and then I became McDonald's operator and uh
nineteen ninety two down in Florida. Came to Atlanta in
the nineteen four and I was in here for about

(04:01):
twenty three years as an operator, and so, um, when
did you stop being a franchise z E or an operator?
And why? What caused that? What caused that? Uh? Two sixteen?
So much required reinvestment, strain of about it mentally, physically,
from playing football, trying to do second generations and McDonald's

(04:24):
really almost forcing you out because if you don't do it,
you're their way of the highway. And then when you
realize they didn't do the same thing through our white counterparts.
What I mean by that one store particularly re invested,
that's what three times. We built it three times, And
I've seen some stories when I got out a system,
they're never really invested it once. So that means you
can never get out of debt. So it's like a
rat race. You can never get caught up, especially not

(04:46):
extending to the race from four D eight hundred meters
where the white operator once again is running four hundred
not not explaining the folks there because again you hear
me saying owner, y'all, the official term is operator. And
so so when you say good to make these changes, Um,
if McDonald's corporate told you you must make these changes,

(05:09):
you have no option. You have to do it exactly.
So for example, it's got something called the National Restaurant Standards.
That's what everybody should go by. So whether you bias
store seller, store things, you have to do. So when
I bought Stories, I had to do things to bring
them up the park. The same thing with the white operator, supposedly,
but they had a different system where they were allowed
to not do those things, which mean you didn't have

(05:31):
to take that put on top of debt. So those
are the things that really bothered us as black operators
that we were held to a different standard and we
were punished by that, but not getting stores and I'd
be allowed to grow. Then they say, well you don't
have enough. I learned it, bro Well, how can I
have enough money to go? I keep reinvesting in my
stores to the point where I can't afford a new
store for the opportunity in a better part of your neighborhood,

(05:52):
where the right operators, if they you don't make them invest,
they pay off to that did they have the money
by another store in a better neighborhood, So they continue
to stretch the distance from one. So so so let's
talk let's talk about that and so, uh, the suit
it covers franchisees all across the country. Correct, correct. You know,
we really didn't want to do this. We tried to

(06:13):
go to mediation because you know, McDonald's has always to
do a lot of good things in our families, in
our communities, and we want to do the same thing
and not to bring this to some of our friends
that still owners right now, African American owners. So we
didn't really want to do that, but they gave us
no other choice. So we're trying to take care of
our kids and our kids kids, just like they're trying
to do the white our friends. I even had a

(06:33):
white out preador called me today form our friend and
tell me, and you guys are doing this is a
great lawsuit. I would be a witness because I wouldn't
reinvest like that. I just told I wouldn't do it.
He had no ramification, Keith, I couldn't do that, and
he said, I know. So you know, I told the
attorney he said, yeah, we're using them as a witness
if we need to so and and and and read

(06:54):
and in reading this, I mean it really lays out, Um,
it's significant amount of issues. Uh. And I've heard from
other franchisees who said they wanted be able to grow
UH and then they didn't have those opportunities. Also, they
complained when UH McDonald's allowed white franchisees to open stores

(07:16):
near the there's taking market share, taking those dollars away
as well. Those are also things that we hurt. Oh,
absolutely intact. That was my last straw for me. I
had a store about a mile and a half of
my best store, and they didn't know they was gonna
give it to me. Now yet you know that, right, operators,
there's there's no question they're gonna get it no matter
what your financial situation looked like, because that can always

(07:37):
improve if you guys want to really to work with,
if the bar is really equal. But that it never
was the case, and we realized that the more we
got out, the more we started talking to each other
because we were kind of isolated. Even my managers knew.
I would say, hey, we gotta control what we can control.
It's our control. I don't know what's going on down
the street. But now I got honestly, I've seen what
was going on down the street, and it really was
disgusting to be honest with you, According to the the

(08:00):
law firm is Ferarro. James Ferraro is the lawyer and
according to uh this this is what he says. The
notion that McDonald's is a friend of the black entrepreneur
is complete fiction. McDonald's has been hemorrhaging black franchise's for
decades due to blatant and implicit racial discrimination. The company
will now be held accountable. According to him, that McDonald's

(08:22):
had a higher three hundred and seventy seven black franchise
e s in nineteen, that's been cut by more than half,
saying they're now only one hundred and eighties six black
franchise e s. But while that while that's the case,
according to what he says, he says me while over
the same period from nineteen, McDonald's has increased its stores

(08:46):
from fifteen thousand, eighties six to thirty six thousand, so
they more than double the number of stores. Yet the
black franchise e s has dropped, right, You know, that
was a way The trainers at the station and a
lot of us seen it coming. But we worked hard,
kept running the race, trying to fight to get caught up,
to get our you know, get our fair that get Perry,

(09:08):
but it never could happen the way they had systems
set up McDonald's obviously. UM. They responded that they deny
these claims. Uh. They say that they remained consistent. You said,
you'll try to go to mediation, but it was unsuccessful,
very unsuccessful. Just a slap in the face. You know,
we treat us like we're a second class citizens versus

(09:30):
you know, being proud African Americans that helped grow the
brand the way we did. Uh. And we're not asking
for handout. We just asked for them to do the
right thing and so we could continue to do you know,
good works in our communities where were there throughout the country,
and then taking care of our families. Uh. And so
according to McDonald's, they said they have actually been consolidating franchise's.

(09:50):
They said that black franchise e s they has gone up, uh,
making up thirteen point four percent of all McDonald's franchise
ese uh to twelve point five percent of all the
U S franchises. UH. Chris kim Zinski, the McDonald's CEO, said, quote,
my priority is always to seek the truth. When allegations
such as these occur, I want them to investigated. Thoroughly

(10:11):
and ebvictively. That's been our approach to the situation based
upon our review. We disagree with the claims and this
lawsuit and we intend to strongly defend against it. Your
final thoughts, well, you know that would be good if
you can get the facts and it will make it better.
They're already made some improvements with the current operators and
the history of McDonald's. They never cut some of their
rents permanently until we thought about this lawsuit, so we'd

(10:33):
have made changes already. And I hope they continue to
make changes, and I hope they get to the facts
and they'll realized there was some blatant discrimination going on
in the system. All right, Uh, then we start to
appreciate you for joining us. Thanks, thank you, My brother,
appreciate you. All right. Good to my panel right now, folks,
and Melic Abdul Republican strategist, Kelly thea communication strategist, and
Mustafa Santiagoi, PhD, Former Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice EPA. Mustafa,

(10:58):
I'll start with you. Uh, this moment that we're in,
this wreck, this recording that we are in, Uh, we
are seeing African Americans, Uh demand equity, demand inclusion, and
make it perfectly clear that, uh, it's time to deal
with economic justice. That's what this lawsuit actually deals with. UH.
And on the franchise side, on the franchise e side,

(11:19):
black franchisees have said they they've been the driving force
behind McDonald's when things were tough. It was African American
consumers who really who really uh never neglected and left
the company. These franchisees are saying, hey, we've been out
there touting McDonald's, stick with us. Now you're stabbing us
in the back. That's really what this lawsuit lays out.

(11:41):
It just goes to show us that systemic racism exists
even in places like fast food. You know it. It
exists in the financing, It exists in the banking loans
that are necessary for folks to be able to get
at traction. It existed in the priorities setting. And also
it exists and how folks are setting up criteria inside

(12:03):
of their systems to choose really losers and winners. So
when we don't unpack this, when we don't put a
spotlight on this, and it's unfortunate that there has to
be a lawsuit, But if folks are not willing to
do the right things, then sometimes you have to go
the legal route to get, you know, folks to pay
attention and to know that you're serious. They have literally
made billions and billions of dollars off of the black community.

(12:26):
You know, they have no problem throwing black faces up
on the commercials, but they need to also be making
sure that they're honoring those black owners partners who are
doing the hard work and trying to make sure that
inside of our communities that resources are coming back because
they're hiring from those communities. So folks just need to
do the right thing, and when you don't, it's gonna
cost you. Obviously, Kelly, these are allegations. They have not

(12:50):
been proven. McDonald's they say that they simply are incorrect.
But what we are seeing, we're seeing now where African
Americans are far more focused on going public following these
kind of lawsuits than in the past. This wreckoning that
we are in, that we've been been in really since
the murder of George Floyd, is really a driving force

(13:13):
and a lot of these things we're seeing. But not
only that, this has been a huge issue in and
not only the fast food industry, but in a lot
of companies that do these franchising things and that they
should have known. Like in the lawsuit, they say that
constructive knowledge should have been implied, that they should have
known about the conditions of the building before they were sold.

(13:36):
They should have known about the areas that these buildings
were in such that they should have been either fixed
or or at a lower price for the franchise e um.
But it's not just constructive knowledge, it's imputed knowledge. Because
you have McDonald's in the industry and as an authoritive
figure in the industry, they should know these things. But

(13:58):
one of the main points of contention that I have
were a point of concern is the fact that this
is in a federal court and Trump just packed the
entire court system federally anyway with conservative judges. So this
is why this election, you know, not trying to get
off topic, but it all ties in together the fact
that this election is incredibly important because Trump already packed

(14:20):
these judges. The tenure for a judge on the federal
bench is life or retirement. So whoever is going to
be presiding over this case, provided that they are a
Trump's supporter, we don't know how this is going to
play out and in the franchise's favor, even though they
are clearly in the right by way of these allegations.
Melt and this is something that we talked about on

(14:44):
the show, and not just in dealing with as you noted, operators.
As someone many of us grew up in communities where
the McDonald's were franchises. It was a big thing to
have know the owners of these franchises that were in
our name hoood. I know in my own neighborhood growing up,
I think probably almost all of the operators were black.

(15:07):
It's so that was something that was significant in the
in the community. And it was really good at actually
interesting listening to Um the Gentleman when he was talking
about how it is really and I know, I actually
I think you you may have said that about how
the black community itself. We are the ones over the
years who have been Um also responsible for the success

(15:29):
that McDonald's has had have had as just a company.
So it's good to actually see not just in this instance,
but other instances where black people are obviously asking for
equity and they're not waiting for permission to do so.
So I applaud the effort. We'll see what comes out
of it. Um. I disagree with Kelly. I don't think

(15:50):
that having a conservative versus a liberal on the court
is a determinant of the outcome of the lawsuit at all.
I think that for the most part, they will go
by whatever the lasses, and I don't think that politics
in this particularly instance will play into it at all. Alright, folks,
you're saying that McDonald's itself is not political. This entire
thing is political. No, that's no, that's not what I'm saying.

(16:13):
I was responding to your suggestion that somehow that conservative
judges will not rule in their operator's favor. I'm cautiously
optimistic that these conservative judges will actually go by the law.
But if they're appointed by Trump, they are, by way,
you know, imply the Trump's supporters. So you should be
cautious about how they're going to rule. Because conservative judges

(16:36):
line up conservatively like liberal judges line up liberally. I'm
not saying that they can't do their job. What I'm
saying is we need to keep our eyes wide open
when it comes to this case. Alright, Alright, folks, let's
talk about this next door that is Donald Trump. Was
in Kenosha, Wisconsin today, Uh, taking a survey of damage
that was caused there by various rise in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Now,

(17:00):
he went on the tour of this property damage by violence,
blasting anti American riots and promising to help devastated businesses rebuild.
He announced the one million dollar But this is what
he did though, He announced the million bucks going to
connocial law enforcement, and four billion dollars going to support
local businesses affected by the violence, and forty two million
to support public safety statewide, including support for law enforcement

(17:22):
and prosecutors. M really no mention at all, oh the
cops and Connosa who shot Jacob Blake in the back
seven times. Now, course, his visit visit comes over the
objections of local Democrats, with Governor Tony Evers, who has
deployed the National Guard to help stop violence, saying Trump's
presidents quote will only hinder our healing. Now, listen to

(17:44):
what Trump had to say. Bill Barr is here someplace. Bill,
thank you very much. And uh, hey man, they just
got a very strong promotion in the sense chants here.
So we're gonna have some meetings. We're gonna meet for
some of the owners and then we're going to have
a round table, and I think you're gonna be there,
but um, we're gonna work with you. We're gonna help you. Okay,

(18:06):
we'll help you rebuild. It's a great area, it's a
great state. This should never happen. A thing like this
should never happen. They have to call early. Okay, thank you,
I'll see over there. Thank you very much. Y'all see
any black people in that Granted canotions se white. But
according to Kendall West, who was on our show last week,

(18:29):
he said, most of the damage took place in the
black part of Kenocean in Uptown. Maybe that's the issue there.
Black people even own those buildings or they owned my
white landowners. Well, the Jacob Blaze family, they held a
peaceful gathering to keep the focus on getting justice for Jacob.
It was held in the neighborhood where he was shot
seven times. Faith leaders and elected officials attended the event

(18:52):
and speeches were given. The event also included a community
clean up, a healing circle, any voter registration booth. Local
businesses provided food and sir this is God's Roller video

(19:13):
another tell yeah, Donald Trump wasn't going to that that
part of Kenosha. Joining me now is Kendall West and
Raymond Roberts, both of them in Kenosha. Uh, the African
American Club. They're glad to have y'all both here, Kidle,
I'm gonna start with you. Um. Did y'all hear from

(19:38):
the White House? Did the White House reach out to say?
First of all, we saw one report where the White
House announced that they reached out to uh Jacob Blake's
uh family's pastor. They came on and said, we don't
have a pastor, so who y'are talking to? Uh? And
so the incident, the reason we're even talking about Kenosha,
even if you want to complain about cars being set aside,

(20:01):
business is destroyed, that was all precipitated by the violence
against Jacob Blake. Donald Trump didn't want to address that
at all. This is really nothing but a big old
show to boost up law enforcement, which is really him
saying the white people, I'm with y'all. Well, we had
a peaceful protests, are peaceful gathering at the Black Black

(20:26):
party for Jacob Blake, UM, which had all of the
things that you had discussed earlier, voter registration, Uh, there
was food, there was dance of bounce houses. There was paintings.
UM we we we want to focus on the unity
of our community. UM and was hoping that that would, uh,

(20:48):
that would shine through Raymond. This is again you know
all you know, he comes there, does the roundtable with
law enforcement, not commit any people, doesn't do anything with community.
Folks will talk about police misconduct. No, it's all a
big law enforcement problem. Absolutely. We we talked about this

(21:11):
a lot. There's this is one city, but it's definitely
two communities. So that's what you saw today. You saw
the outright demonstration of two communities. UM where even though
the damage happened mostly in our community, that's not where
the president went. That's not the people we spoke to,
even the business owners that were surrounding him, the business
owners in our community. UM, even though ones that don't

(21:34):
look like us there with us. You know, one of
the buildings that hold those people with him, hold those people.
That's a good question, that's a real good question. So
you're saying the people who owned the businesses in the
black part of Connotion that was devastated, they weren't there, No, no, no,

(21:54):
absolutely not. Those people are there. And UM, the events
that we've been having. In fact, again the Danish Brotherhood,
so they they're bowling, They're building was completely demolished. Instead
of joining Donald Trump, they had a benefit, not for themselves,
for the community. They held a fundraiser for the community.

(22:16):
So even the business owners that lost buildings. That's the
kind of behavior we've been seeing. So we've been focusing
on relationship and community and connection. This is and so
what would you say that this, uh, this walk around
really was about because look, and and and all of
his talk really was all about appealing to white voters,

(22:39):
saying I'm tough on the crime and I'll be the
one to keep everybody straight. This was a very specific
type of white voter because again, at our events, you
didn't see just black people. You saw black and white.
Now what you saw at Trump's event that did have
a very clear cut look. So it's not all whites.
It's just a particular group that believes in what he

(23:00):
believes in, which is the opposite of what we're about.
But to your point, when you look at that audience,
we don't recognize them. They're not from the area. They
keep saying the same narratives, and these narratives are easily
proven to be false. Kind to go ahead, Yeah, I
can definitely echo exactly what he said. Um from my vision, Um,

(23:22):
those uh people, the human beings that are out there
with us in our community, we don't necessarily have a
color or shape or anything like that. We just know
that our our group is stronger together. Um, so that's
essentially it. Uh. This is the video here, some Black

(23:42):
Lives Matter protesters, Uh turned up folks walking through the
Trump supporters. Uh they're in Kennosa today. Matter matter matter.

(24:11):
Oh well I get I get a kick out of
the folks sit sitting there talking about all lives matter,
which also means Jacob Blake's life matters. Absolutely. Well, no,
it doesn't know to them. That's why they spit it
right back at you. To us, absolutely, because I also
believe that all lives can't matter unless Jacob Blake's live matter,

(24:35):
life matters. Um, thank god he's still here with us. Uh,
it can't. All lives can't matter unless black lives matter,
unless the community, all those who are inside of the
commotional community, unless their lives matter to everyone that was
at that UM stage rally. Then you know, I guess

(24:56):
we'll have to have to see where that goes. But
for the most part, I agree with all lives matter
as long as it includes all of us. Well we
clearly know uh that that was not the case, and
so uh, gentlemen, I certainly appreciate uh you and what
you're doing. Thank you so very much for your work there.

(25:16):
Thank you so much. All right, then, folks to understand
the Republican mindset. There Wisconsin Democrats urging action on legislation
to tweak policing practices. But the special session that was
called y'all gonna let us were here, the Republican led
legislature call us, They brought the session in, gabbled it

(25:41):
done after thirty seconds. Thirty seconds, really really, they re
has until Thursday. There's no indication the Republican Legislature is
planning to take up the package of nine bills Governor
Tony Evers and Democrats are seeking anytime soon. So let's
talk about this seriously, Kelly, like Trump, Really, here's a deal.

(26:08):
We know about what happened in Conostion, because what happened
to Jacob Blake and then Trump with his white supremacist language,
which he has been doing for the past several weeks,
he's appealing to, let's be clear, white voters in Wisconsin,
especially white women, with his comments about the suburbs. We're
gonna play later some of the crap he said in

(26:30):
his interview with Laar Ingram, which shows you again he
is all about appealing to white fear in order to
get reelected. This was nothing, nothing more but a photo
opt for him to slap law enforcement on the back
when law enforcement was the one that puts seven bullets
in Jacob Blake's back. Well, the reason why he's appealing

(26:50):
to white supremacist is because that's how he got elected
in the first place. I mean, the number isn't going
away anytime soon, just because is it's if anything, you
need to be focused on that number and making sure
that it's not such a problem as it was in
twenty six or or a hidden problem rather because we

(27:12):
all thought that you know, people had common would have
common sense and not vote this man into office. Um,
but you're right about him appealing to this base. Um,
it's not surprising to me at all. Um, the fact
that he's in Kenosha and didn't say anything about Jacob Blake.
Uh that what that would hold any weight anyway? Is

(27:32):
just pique Trump. I'm not expecting him to suddenly turn
over a new leaf. Um only less than sixty days
before the election. Um. No, this is what's working for him.
This is how he would be re elected again. If
Democrats don't get their act together and vote him out,
you go. He goes there not actually concerned about the

(27:55):
community or black folks there who were impacted instead of
theaw enforcement show. I think that the focus on law
enforcement is important. I'm not sure if Donald Trump will
be welcomed in the community. Is that the biggest thing?
It's important, but is it the most important thing? Because
that's what he made this out to be. The grants

(28:15):
I mentioned, Oh all about law enforcement. I mean, if
you look at we're talking about this whole deal, is
law enforcement? Law enforcement? Law enforcement, not how do we
get law enforcement to stop shooting folks unnecessarily. Well, I
do believe that there was about a million dollars for
kenoshas Um law law enforcement there. I think that that's

(28:39):
something that actually could be used for the body cams
that they decided not to put until the next budget.
So I think that that's it would be great if
they could actually use the million dollars for that, but
there was an additional four billion dollars that the administration
actually that Trump announced today that will be used for
the businesses. And apparently in that area, about se of

(28:59):
the business it's in the affected area have less than
fifteen employees, so that four million dollars will likely go
very very far. And based on what the gentleman were
saying on most of those people in that community as
far as the business owners in that community were, I
I don't know if he said black or minority, but
he definitely they weren't white. So I think that that's

(29:21):
something that's definitely a benefit to the community. Again, I'm
not sure if the community would have welcomed him. I
think we heard today that there were people who chose
to have a different event than participate or maybe be
around whatever Trump was doing. But that's the choice that
he's making. But again, I'm just not sure if the
community actually would have been receptive to him coming there

(29:43):
to wherever the Black Party was or anything like that.
But the funding is important, and that's something that's definitely
benefiting black people apparently in that community. But isn't that
part of the problem. The shows his absolute lack of credibility,
uh Mustafa. I mean, look, when George H. W. Bush
was president, he actually sat down and met with community

(30:05):
leaders after the Rodney King riots. That's what That's what
presidents do. This is somebody who frankly has no credibility
with black community leaders because of what comes out of
his mouth and because of his policies. Well, it's because
he doesn't sit down with black community leaders across the country.
He will invite selected folks to the White House whom

(30:29):
he knows how they will react and what they will share.
You know, working at high levels in the government, I
know that whether Democrats or Republicans, that they're serious about
connecting with folks, they can do focused roundtables in the community,
you know, where they made sure that they were talking
to different folks in a controlled environment, which probably would

(30:49):
be very important for the current leader of our country.
The second part, you know, Malick, I love you, brother,
but I think that we also need to focus on
the fact that we have seen through COVID nineteen that
many black businesses have not been able to benefit from
the dollars that have flown through the federal system. So

(31:10):
I'm sure people have a pause when they hear about
these resources that are supposed to come to the city,
if they will actually be able to compete for them,
will they have whatever the criteria that's been set up
in place, will they be able to meet that um?
And then the third part is, you know, we all

(31:31):
know that the president does not care about these communities.
This was an opportunity to try and position himself to
win the state of Wisconsin. He only one last time,
by I think it's less than one percent, So he
knows that he's got a whole lot of work to do,
and he's willing to do that work on the backs

(31:52):
of the black folks who are fighting for justice. Kelly,
Now I agree with the staff here. It's it's really
sad to see just how low this president will go
in terms of pandering and basically bribing the American people
for a vote. Because it's not like this money is

(32:12):
going to come into Wisconsin tomorrow. This money will be
here and not distributed anyway until uh after the election.
Just by way of how things work in the federal
government is not exactly the quickest thing. So it's it's
really kind of like holding a care in in front
of horse and just just trying to entice people to

(32:33):
vote for him just for the sake of voting for him,
because that's all he wants to do. He's it's not
about government, it's not about leadership. For him, it really
is about winning. And it's sad because we need a president.
We need a leader specifically because of COVID, I for
anything else, um, because we need to get healthy first
before we can even think about, you know, helping the

(32:56):
black community get better because we're dying because of COVID
as well. So we have this president who is really
just pandering and and at the same time ignoring us.
It's really just disgusting to see. Um. But no, I
don't have any faith that this president has our best
interests at heart, and and we definitely need to vote
him outcome November. So so this is so not only that,

(33:20):
it's just the constant lying um um that we're dealing
with here, uh Malik, You've got Donald Trump sitting here
saying that, oh my god, Portland's is just on fire.
The entire cities on fire. It's been a blaze for
the last fifty years. And it's a lie. Have I mean,

(33:42):
have we seen fires in Portland? Yeah? But he's like,
and there are people in Portland going with all are
you talking about? Even the mayor is sitting here saying
you're absolutely nuts. But let's let's deal with his guys.
Rove the video of Donald Trump and his interview with
Laura Ingram on Fox News where he compared police off
psers who shoot civilians two golfers who miss clutch putts.

(34:08):
You know, a choker. They choke, shooting the shooting the
guy in the back many times. I mean, couldn't you
have done something different? Couldn't you have wrestled? You know,
I mean in the meantime he might have been going
for a weapon. And you know, there's a whole big
thing there. But they choke, just like in a golf
tournament they missed a three foot and comparing it to golf,

(34:29):
because of course, that's what I'm saying. People choke. People choke,
And Okay, I played golf for thirty two years. I
can guarantee you now like there's no comparison to me
missing a three ft put and somebody being paralyzed or

(34:54):
dying from being shot by cop who choked their Absolutely,
it's no comparison between the two and I'm sure that
the president regrets making and starting to make that sort
of comparison. No, it doesn't. But if you actually, well
that's your opinion role And has he issued has he
issued a statement saying, you know what, I regret the

(35:17):
language I used. Well, it's actually obvious if you listen
to the context of what he said Roman and what
he was focusing on actually talking about is the fact
that officers due show. Do I believe that? Do the
people on the panel believe that? Absolutely? I believe that.
I'm sure that offers this many times show In this case,
it wasn't just a joke. It was seven edition seven

(35:37):
bullets that came after that show, and that's something that
the President should have focused on it. And it actually
heard the President himself say that, sure, it seems like
they could have done something else. They could have tapped,
wrestled him to the ground or something. And I've said
that many times before. After the initial scuffle with police,
they shouldn't have allowed him to walk around to the
other side of the car. You would think that they

(35:58):
would be able to subdue him before he even walked
around to the other side of the car. Unfortunately, that's
not something that happened. But I do believe that in
this case, the President was definitely talking about what is
the fact that people unfortunately do choke. In this instance
it didn't. But that's just not a choke. This was
seven shots to the back. These police stats can choke. Okay,

(36:20):
well your person maybe you know, we had evidence of that,
but you did not choke. This was deliberate. Okay, well
probably defically in the case of well Kelly, Okay, well, Kelly,
You're gonna have to allow me to talk and maybe
listen to what I'm saying as opposed to interjecting yourself
into the conversation. Because I heardly said, because I clearly said,

(36:42):
is that seven shots came after that choke or wherever
you want to call it. So I acknowledged it. So
maybe you should stop trying to just die listen to
what and just it just bothered to listen to what
I'm saying. So I actually acknowledged the fact that not
only should they should he not have been allowed and
should have been wrestled to the ground before he walked
around to the other side of the car. I also

(37:03):
said that he shouldn't have been shot seven times. Now,
that's not enough for you, apparently, and I get it
because you have a partisan spins bull. But that's literally
what I said. So listen to what I said. And
now you said seven shots after they choked. I'm saying
they didn't choke at all, that the seven shots was deliberate,
there was no pause or hesitation, because Paul, that's not

(37:23):
what happened parts and actually at the video what happened
and that they helped this man steady to shoot him
seven times in the bat Excuse me, excuse me? What
seconde excuse me one second? Excuse me one second. Excuse me,

(37:44):
exc one second. And here, excuse me, excuse me, Mustafa,
here's what again? Is a joke? Here? Donald Trump, despite
Melick trying to save him, Donald Trump didn't regret what
he said. Don't. Trump has issued no statements. You know what,
I shouldn't have compared that to missing a three ft put.

(38:05):
I mean, Laura Ingram had to jump in and save
his ass, save him because he was she was, and
she tried to owe. The media is like, no, we're
gonna call it what it is. Dude. You're comparing shooting
the man seven times in the back with a golfer
missing a three ft put. Really, yeah, I mean, it's
so much more than a faux pa. It is a

(38:27):
continuous set of behaviors and language that the president has
shared since he first came into office. Um, and it's
quite clear, truly, someone who is presidential in this moment
and these other moments that we find ourselves in in
our country where we're dealing with these racial injustices, the

(38:47):
systemic racism. A president who was prepared, a president who
was serious would sit down with America and say, I
know there's a problem. Here's plan to help this set
of communities that continue to be impacted by the actions
that are going on. Well, check this out first. Check

(39:10):
this out also again the targeting of white racist someone
he had to say about housing, But listen to the
language and listen to who he says, Joe Biden will
send to come and hurt you in your white suburban enclaves,
that scary negro Corey Booker, listen to this. So are

(39:37):
the suburbs in danger? Because they say that's fearmongering on
the party. I know the suburbs. Look, Westchester was ground zero,
okay for what they were trying to do. They were
trying to destroy the suburban beautiful place, the American dream. Really,
they want low income housing and with that comes a
lot of other problems, including crime. May not be nice

(39:57):
to criminals though no, I'm not saying that at all,
but it does. There is a level of violence that
you don't see. So you have this beautiful community in
the suburbs. Concluding women, right, women, they want security. I
ended where they build low income housing project right in
the middle of your neighborhood. I ended it. If Biden

(40:17):
gets in, he already said it's gonna go at a
much higher rate than ever before. And you know it's
gonna be in judge of it, Corey Booker, that's gonna
be nice. Okay, So I think that women are going
to want me well for a lot of other reasons.
The stock markets will crash as sure as you're sitting there.
Your four oh one case will go down to a
small Oh my god, Malick. If those poor be the

(40:41):
low income people come in, start market is gonna crash.
White women are going to be running for the cover.
What's going on in that one minute video. But like
we heard, every single racist trope that has been used
by white people when it comes to low income housing.

(41:03):
I covered housing when I was in Austin covering county government.
I covered the housing when I was in Fort Worth.
I remember when the Fort Worth City Council was looking
at getting rid of these high rise public housing complexes
and they were looking at having dispersed housing, and that
is they were going to place folks in various census tracts.

(41:27):
And I remember sitting there covering that meeting, and these
white folks are in the city council meeting and they're
yelling and screaming everything. Donald Trump just said, crime is
gonna go down, property values are going to plummet if
you allow these folks in, And it was all b s.

(41:51):
You would you defend what you just heard that, Melick?
Or do you? Or is he what you agree with?
What Trump said? Well, it's interesting that that you're getting
that up because over the past few weeks, since Donald
Trump has actually initially made that statement, there's been a
lot of discussion that I've had with many black people,
not not conservatives, not just liberals, but the black people

(42:11):
in general, and the notion that many of them have
moved to the suburbs to get away from the crime
and the low and device associated. Way wait right there, right,
there's way right there. You just said that black people
have moved to get away from the crime. So what
you're saying is, let's just be real clear. What you're
saying is you believe that, oh, if there's low income housing,

(42:36):
crime is coming well as someone who lives in a
low income community. That answer is yes, now let me
help you out. No no, no, no saying you know
you don't need no no, no no no, let me
help you no no no no, let me help you out.
And this is what you no no, no, no, no no,
let me help you out. No, let me help you out.
So you need to learn something I would no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

(43:00):
no no, You're about to learn something. See, here's the
problem right here. What you are doing, what you're doing
is yours. What you're doing is you're suggesting that you
what you're doing is the same thing Donald Trump is doing.
And people who know nothing about housing do you are
suggesting that anybody who lives in low income housing is

(43:21):
gonna bring in crime. Let me help you out. In Austin, Texas.
The reason I know this because I went there and
covered it with all of those racist and what and
and and fort Worth we're talking about, Oh, we're gonna
have all this crime. Here's what and what you don't
understand is that housing departments, what they do is they

(43:43):
have taken people through training, through classes. And what they
do is when they have dispersed housing, what they do
is they actually the housing department acquires homes in these areas.
They then take people through training, go through screening, and

(44:05):
they place families that are ready ineligible to be able
to support a home into those homes. Now, what with
the language that you're using, which is the language that
Trump is using, is that, oh, if you are low
income housing, boom, it's gonna be crime. That's a flat

(44:25):
out lie. Now they there's a process here. I covered
the exact same issue when Alfonso Jackson, who was the
head of the Dallas Housing Authority, who is Alfonso Jackson.
Alfonso Jackson later became the secretary of HOHOD under President

(44:49):
George W. Bush. Alfonso the exact same thing in Dallas,
and the white folks just lost their mind because what
they did is automatically project that, oh, if you live
in low income housing, you are automatically poor, gang infested,

(45:10):
drug infested, You're gonna bring all this stuff without even
realizing that there are programs specifically set up the way
it's supposed to move people away from public housing into
the spurged housing with Section eight vouchers. It all exists there.

(45:31):
So you're buying into the notion that if you're in
low income housing, you're automatically criminal. Well, Roland, I actually
have someone who has lived in low income housing, and
I also live in a low income community. You can
push this narrative because it makes sense to you. Start.
I'm giving you facts because that come. But may I finished, please,

(45:53):
As I started the conversation. This is not a conversation
that I was having with white people. This is a
conversation that I was when with black people who said
that they moved away from d C, particular in other
inner city communities, to get away from the element that
is so often associated with low income areas. That's just
a fact. We're experiencing that right now in Washington, d C.

(46:16):
Several years ago, when the mayor tried to put shelters
in areas outside of seven and eight, which are the
most underrepresented under resource board in in the city, Well,
there were plenty people not just white people, but plenty
of people in these other parts of DC, these other
five or six wards who said that they did not
want it in their community. Why is that because they

(46:41):
associated because of the While there are a couple of things.
There are associations with crime, there are associations with depressed
housing values, there are associations with the schools. Hold up.
But right there, he's proving my point. What happens is
these are folks who have believed the white narrative. Oh

(47:03):
my god, here comes all of those part people and
we're about to get run out of our homes. And
what happened that that that whole mindset. What they really
are saying, here come those black people, Here come those
here come those Latinos. And when don't you heard? Don't
try the women, the women, because here's why, because he's

(47:26):
losing suburban white women. And Mustafa, he is trying to
appeal to suburban white women to vote for him. And
the reality is this here, Mustafa, if there are there
are You're right, Melick, there are black people who believe
the same nonsense as white people about low income people,
because they assume that everybody who is low income is sorry, despicable,

(47:52):
won't take care of their homes using drugs, and they're
gonna bring crime. And I've seen it with my own
eyes and his bullshit go ahead, musta alpha. It's just
another example of pimping people's pain. We know that there
have been disinvestments and a number of our communities, and
when we make the real investments, then we help people
to be able to move from surviving to thriving. You know,

(48:14):
it's interesting when we started sharing those types of messages
because it's really dangerous, and I'd like to use myself
and my friends as example. When my parents got divorced,
we lived in low income housing. I turned out okay,
I'm still involving and growing. My best friend lived in
low low income housing. He's now one of the top
trademark attorneys in the country. Another one of my good

(48:35):
friends I grew up in low income housing. He's now
a doctor. And I can go down the list of
folks who may have came from a certain positioning but
who have been able to excel. So we need to
stop creating these broad strokes just so that we can
utilize and win votes. We need to actually look at people,
figure out where the investments need to go make those
investments so people can actually survive, thrive, and shine. And

(49:00):
here's the deal, Kelly, Kelly, here's a deal. I literally
visited myself with dispersed housing in the city of Austin.
They gave me the list. They gave me a sheet
of paper that had because it's public document, they had
the addresses of the homes that were Austin public housing,

(49:25):
homes that had low income. And see, this is the
thing that's pissing me off with this crap that Trump
is doing. And then if you black, you buy into it.
It says low income housing. It does not say low education.

(49:49):
No education, doesn't say illiterate housing, doesn't say game member housing,
doesn't say drug induced housing. It says low income housing.
There are people in this country who are white, who
are black, who are Latino, who are hardworking people. They

(50:13):
simply have low income. I and I saw it, and
I went to the homes and I stood there and
I saw the Austin Housing Department home, and I saw
a home owned by private seller right next door, yards
cut being taken care of. The Only difference is that
that person and that low income housing had a voucher

(50:38):
that allowed them to be able to pay for their
mortgage and allow for them to raise their family. And
I'll be damned if I'm gonna sit here and let
black people black people use the same language as white
oppressors and categorize us in that way, because we then
a furthering white supremacy by thinking us same way they are, Kelly,

(51:01):
by saying, oh, if you say low income, I immediately
jump to your full of drugs, and you're gonna bring crime,
and you're gonna bring people who won't even go to school,
and you're gonna cause property uh to go down. I'll
tell you who caused property values to go down, the
same white folks who crashed the damn housing market in

(51:21):
two thousand and seven that led to black people losing
of their wealth. And there were black people who were homeowners, Kelly,
who then became homeless because of that. And then we're
gonna sit here and that this white supremacist use that
language and somehow fallful of the okay doke, Well, that
was a lot. I definitely agree with you on that um.

(51:45):
But that aside, like, obviously we have to unlearn this
language that is holding us back and keeping us down right,
but also we need to repurpose that language for the
white counterpart of what Donald Trump is talking about. The
new one even discusses, which is trailer parks. And we
don't have a problem with trailer parks being next to

(52:07):
the suburbs, which bring crime. If you're if we want
to talk stereotypes, bring crime, bring drugs, bring down, uh,
the tax value and the property value of homes in
the surrounding area. Children or truant not going to school
because their parents are drug addicts, and the like. If

(52:28):
we really want to talk about stereotypes. If anything, Trump
takes that narrative, that same narrative regarding white people and
trailer parks and is trying to promise them that they
will one day get into the suburbs. I wonder why
that is. But when you have a black person who is,
you know, working hard, just like you said, just has

(52:51):
low income, has the education, has the know all, has
everything necessary but the income to be in that same neighborhood,
and like you said, all they need is about your
and a chance. We don't want that because of the
color of our skin. So if you really want to
talk about the stereotype that's hurting, how about we talk

(53:11):
about trailer. Right, how about we talk about the fact
that we have entire communities like that right next to
suburb and no one's talking about how they are bringing
down property. We're not trafficking stereotypes. And that's the problem.
What Donald Trump is doing and what Laura Ingram allowed
him to do was to speak in stereotypes. And that's

(53:34):
the damn problem in this country. Gotta go to break.
We come back. We're gonna talk with comedian Earthquake about
his voter initiative. Also, you will salute the life and
legacy of the late Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson, and
also more tributes for the late Chatwick Bosan. All that's
next on Roland Martin Unfiltered. You want to check out
roll Filter YouTube dot com, Forward Slash subscribe to our

(53:57):
YouTube channel. There's only one day to digital show here
that keeps it black and keep it real. That's Rolling
Bart Unfiltered. Shed name right there, Rollant Unfiltered, Like Share,
subscribe to our YouTube channel as YouTube dot com, Forward
Slash rollingd s Martin and don't forget to turn your
notifications so when we go live, you'll know it's our

(54:17):
community comes together to support the fight against racial injustice.
I want to take a second to talk about one
thing we can do to ensure our voices are heard,
not tomorrow, but now, have your voices heard in terms
of what kind of future we want by taking between
twenty cents is today at twin centses dot gov and folks,
let me help you. The Census is account of everyone

(54:39):
living in the country. It happens once every teen years.
It is mandated by the US Constitution. The thing that's
important is that the census informs funding billions of dollars
how they are spent in our communities every single year.
I grew up in Clinton Park in Houston, Texas, and
we want to we want a new parks and roads
and Senior Citizens Center. With the census helps inform all

(55:04):
of that and where funding goes. It also determines how
many seats your state will get in the US House Representatives.
Young black men and young children of color are historically
undercount which means a potential loss of funding of services
that helps our community. Folks, we have the power to

(55:24):
change that. We have a power to help determine where
hundreds of billions in federal funding go each year for
the next ten years funding that can impact our community,
our neighborhoods, and our families and friends. Folks, responses are
confidential and can't be shared with your landlord, law enforcement,

(55:44):
or any government agency. So please take the twenty census today,
shape your future. Start at census dot gov. Folks. Sixty
two days left before the election November heard, But don't forget.
You got early voting. You've also got uh, you got
early voting. You've got people, of course, filing for deadlines.

(56:06):
All they go to buy iPad. Please go to vote
dot org. Of course you can register right now. You
can check your registration, y'all. Everybody listening to me must
check your registration. What's uh, what's guys? What's up with
a screen? Black and out? Come on? Now? What's check
the registration? Please? We gotta do that because you gotta
ensure that you are registered to vote. All right? Uh?

(56:29):
So join me right now is my man comedian Earthquake.
He is stepping outside his comedy zone to launch an
initiative and then curtis a million voters to take a
to take three non voters to the polls with them.
He joins us right now, So, Earthquake, you want so
your deal is take somebody with you. Yeah, you know
it's called one plus three. You know, um everybody you

(56:51):
know you're an activist. First of all, thank you for
having me on the show. My brother, I don't know
why you before we get into my initiative. But don't
worry about skin and white women. White women love black men.
They've been loving them for again. You ain't gotta worry.
They just trying to be with black men. You understand
that that's all they want. And you ain't gotta worry
about the suburbs. White people ain't worried about that. They

(57:13):
are coming to the inner city. It's called gentrification. So
he's out of touch. Have you ever been down the
four team and you you can't get no working women down,
no more down there, no more. When I was growing,
is they selling fruit? White women are jogging on four
team and you went three o'clock at the moment. Listen

(57:34):
to me, Brooklyn ain't Brooklyn like it used to be.
So you don't have to worry about that. That that bood,
the booty black man. That's only for real areas in
the inner city. They love us. Now I'm back to
my thing. Um, one plus three what it is is
you know for you and I want first of all
salute you rolling because you have been a soldier in

(57:55):
this wall, before the fight, before the rest of these
so called what people have waken. You have always been
there and I think they have to take a little
activist from you. Everybody got to do their share. I
think for the change that happens, you just can't vote.
You got to make the change. You must do more.
You know, everybody has to have a piece in this puzzle.

(58:17):
And I think everybody got to do more and more
is not you just voting is not enough. We need
you to vote with my initiatives. You need you need
to bring three people with you. That's one plus three.
Bring three people and the caveat and the description of
the three people is is three people that would not
would have not voted if you're not had not intervened.

(58:41):
It does It's no good for you to bring three
people that's already was gonna vote. We don't need that.
We need you to go get pooking. We need to
go get the chick that's working. We need to go
get these people that's disaphanged out with the system and
convinced them that their vote counts. And if we do that,
if everybody bring three people with them in the poe
just like they used to do, or anything else, going

(59:03):
to the script club, or like ladies used to do
when Scandal was having scandal parties, galvanized like that, put
that together, put it on your social media showing these
are the three people that you brown into the system.
I think we can make a change that way, and
that's my contribution. Well, and one of the basic things
is here is that because of COVID, UH were now

(59:25):
operating in a space where you don't have all your
previous events, and so we gotta be using text, messaging
and social media to connect with people because we're not
seeing people the way we used to. And that's really
what this is about. And what you've done is you've
broken this thing down a real basics. You ain't saying
go get thirty just you. You'd be responsible for three

(59:46):
if if that person does it, that's three million more
people who vote than who voted before, exactly exactly, especially
and you know the swinging stage. I'm looking for Hi,
I'm looking for a principal, ain't you. I'm looking for Michigan.
I'm looking for Colorado. I'm looking for Earl Zoner. I'm
looking for Florida. I'm looking for Texas with me and

(01:00:09):
you are at and I'm looking for Alabama. If we
can get done Jones to be the Senator, we can
also flip that state too. I think we just have
to make sure that we galvanage everybody and just not
tell them to vote. You need you. Everybody knows least
three people that's disavantised with the system, and I need
you to personally see him. Make it there, make sure

(01:00:31):
they rested, and once they rested, making sure they proved
that you have proof you've seen it. And then scandle
What time we're going to the post? Do I pick
you up? Do you pick me up the same way
when you go to the script club? What time you
come about the house picking me up? What we go
down to Mason City. I need you to connect that
together and everybody to do their ship. That's the only
way we can make that change. So what you're saying is, uh,

(01:00:54):
pick that person up taking the vote and then like, oh,
what were the clippers? Then go to back to see
to get your wings whatever vice it is that you
need to entice that person I have a young brother
that you know, he's into illegal pharmaceutical so I brow
him a blunt. I said, it'll be a blunt in
the morning when you when I come pick you up,

(01:01:15):
you can smoke all the way to the pole. So
I got Phaser, and I got this young comedian named Paul,
and I need one more person, and then I'm gonna
post to three people that I got and we're gonna
galvins together and make sure that we go down and
vote together. All right, earthquake, we appreciate it. Man, keep
it up. You know I'm gonna keep it up. And
don't a man another thing. When you gonna get this

(01:01:37):
dance contest on. You've been ducking me, and you can
keep on doing what you're doing because I know you're
fighting a good fight. But when you're ready, man, I'm
ready to do you. Man, I'm ready to do it.
You know I am not running from you when it
comes to dancing. I mean, you know damn well right there.
First of all, you lying like Donald Trump right now, man,
don't put me in that category. I'll tell you too,

(01:01:58):
But I'm telling you like that. You've been document like
a bill. You understand what I'm saying, but I'm gonna
let you go, man, because I know you've got a
lot of things going on in your life. So I'm
gonna get your pass. But whenever you it's a dance
soul to reach other. Whoever wins donates to each other's
favorite charity. Well, well you might as well send the
money in advance because you ain't gonna win. Come on, man,

(01:02:20):
I showed them to left foot you got when I
saw you on the time Joan and Jomp. You're terrible.
Everybody know you lying. I mean everybody know you lying.
Stevie wanted to riding notes, cussing you out. He's seeing
you lying. Well, Stephen under Steven need to get a
better outfit, man. Okay, see right there, see on Tom
drawing the show, you could not talk about Aretha Franklin.

(01:02:41):
Tom didn't allow that. Don't you. You can't be messing
with Stevie. That's a legend. Listen, I'll talk about Stevie.
I talked about a Rita, I talked about you, and
I talked about unemployed Tom jump all of y'all because
see the first see right there, see ain't no respect
for black legends were done. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot,

(01:03:03):
Thank you very much. Following me on the real earthquake.
All right, thanks a lot. All right, y'all. Gunfire broke
out while Charleston Miller Jr. His son, and childhood friend
Kendrick Clemens were dropping off a U haul truck in Tallahassee, Florida.
The next thing they saw was an older couple coming
towards them, both pointing guns in their direction. The couple
ordered them to not move, but mac Millan sped off
in his truck. The two shooters, Wallace Fountain seventy seven

(01:03:25):
and his wife, Beverly Fountain seventy two, on the Strip
Mall where the incident took place, and were reportedly sticking
in out inside another U haul truck. According to the
Tallahassee Democrat. The couple said they were having problems the
people stealing gas, but mac Millan and Clements say they
were profiled by vigilantes and never given a chance to
explain why they were there. The Fountains were arrested and

(01:03:47):
charged with three counts of aggravating the assault without intent
to kill. His wife was losing their mind, uh mellot.
They were arrested they should have been arrested. Whether or
not this was something that it's racially motivated, it's for me,
it's pretty much irrelevant to the fact that they were
actually arrested because law enforcement saw that they did something wrong.

(01:04:07):
So this was one of the instances where it were
as it should have. Whatever charges that need to be
filed against him, they need to be filed. But I'm
glad that they were actually arrested. And I think you said,
charge too, it's crazy to range white folks. We might
we should have made that crazy as white people said me.
Go ahead, Kelly, No, I agree. Like for me, it

(01:04:28):
was the part in the article that I read about
this where the charges were uh, aggravated assault without the
intent to kill, and last I checked, you don't wield
a gun and pointed at anybody without an intent to kill.
You don't shoot to stop and shoot to kill. So
they just need to revise those charges and then we'll

(01:04:50):
be straight. I mean, it's not an episode of the
Beverly hill Billies or Green Acres. You know, you just
can't be popping off. You know, they're lucky, they're very
very fortunate that um, you know, they fired it at
certain folks because certain folks would have taken that as
a seriousness that you're trying to take their lives. Absolutely.

(01:05:13):
All right, folks, gotta go to a break. We come back.
We're gonna talk about the legacy of John Thompson, who
passed away the age of seven, the first African American
to win a major major championship in the top divisions
in the n C Double A. That is next to
rolland Martin Unfiltered. You want support Rollomart Unfiltered, being sure
to join our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar

(01:05:35):
that you give to us supports our daily digital show,
one daily digital show out here that keeps it black
and keep it real as rolland Martin Unfiltered. Support the
rolland Martin Unfilter daily digital show by going to rolland
Martin on filter dot com. Our goals to get twenty
our fans contributing fifteen bucks each for the whole year.
You can make this possible. Rolland Martin Unfiltered dot com.

(01:06:08):
Yeah yeah, all right, sick dot com. It's black owned
company and Mary's pl she is the founder of it.
The folks, they have these great virtual reality heads. That's

(01:06:30):
all you gotta do is just drop your cell phone
right into this here you can watch the virtual reality
content on Seek dot com or other three degree video. Also,
they have these great headphones here, these four D degree
headphones which are great for gaming. You can have your
head set. He's a Bluetooth as well. You can listen
to the music videos you name it. You can get

(01:06:50):
one of these products or get both of them if
you want, by going to Seek dot com. The promo
code is right here r m B I plight pulled up.
If your R M B I that's the promo code.
Uh you support uh seek dot com. You're supporting a
black owned business and so they also we appreciate their
partnership here at Roland Martin on Filtered Folks of SAT

(01:07:13):
News on yesterday when we found out that uh in
the morning that John Thompson, the first black basketball head
coach to win the n C Double A national championship,
died Sunday night at is Arlington, Virginia home, surrounded by
his family and friends. He was seventy eight years old.
He coached at Georgetown University for twenty seventy years, leaving
the Yeas to their loan title in Night four. Later

(01:07:35):
spoke spoke about being single out as the first African
American head coach to win the national championship. M H,

(01:08:26):
Coach Thompson, h M m HM, Coach Jompson, we're saving
my life m HM forgiving me, uh the opportunity. Um.

(01:08:50):
I was recruited by every school in the country for
football and basketball and uh m hm. The incident happened
in high school and all that was taking away. No
other teams, no other schools or recruit me anymore. My

(01:09:11):
mom Wendy Georgetown and begged him, you give me a chance,
and he did. Um, and that's uh and that's crazy too.
I think that you're the best football player in the

(01:09:35):
world what I did and to be and to be
sitting up here as a Hall of Famer and basketball
you tell me God ain't good. Well, he actually was
one of the top quarterbacks in the country. Je me
right now is Mark Thompson the host uh Making Plain

(01:09:58):
Daily show? And Brian Mitchell, of course, former NFL star,
was also a staple here in Washington d C radio. Uh, Mark,
you guys, actually sorry, number Brian, y'all want the same
radio station, right, Yeah, we're on the same station. And
they actually did a show with him about two years.
Huh talk about talking about that experience. The thing is

(01:10:18):
anybody who meant uh meant John Thompson. He was want
a huge man. Not judge when it came to his career,
but he was physically a huge man. Uh, and he
could intimidate the hell of a lot of folks. But
he really was a big bear. Yeah, he was. And
I think a lot of people don't understand. You have
to get past his side. You know, he's six ft
ten and he was a big man, and people were

(01:10:39):
intimidated by that. But once you sit down and you
start talking to him, you find out he's a well
educated man. He understood things that were going on. He
wanted the same things we were fighting for the day.
Wanted everybody to have an equal and fair opportunity. And Uh,
the thing about it, he was always teaching. And it
wasn't that he was trying. It's just who he was.
You know, when he left a person, when he left

(01:10:59):
from a around, you you always better. One of the
things that is important also mark when you when you
think about him, he was when you talk about intentional,
it's intentional. You see folks, Uh, players go on strike.
John Thompson took his own stands when it came to
the changing to the education rules. He was fighting for

(01:11:21):
the black athlete. Uh and and and and he was somebody.
And of course he scared the hell out of white media,
because if we're real honest, white media was filled with
what sports media was filled with a largely a whole
bunch of white folks who did not know how to
handle a black man who was in charge. And he
was truly large and in charge at Georgetown right and

(01:11:42):
unapologetic about it. Um. He took his team off the
court once when there was a game in Philadelphia and
there were all these racist racial epithets on signs attacking
Patrick ewing Um, and he took a team off the
court until the signs were taking down, demanding Um that

(01:12:05):
the school administrators there Um remove those signs. He walked
off the court, Um, using a civil rights movement tactic
in nineteen nine, walked off the court in opposition to
UH Proposition forty two. Intentional is an appropriate UM adjective.

(01:12:29):
Roland the Kimbi Matumbo is gonna be on my show
tomorrow morning, and one of the things we talked about
was how intentional it was to recruit a player from
the African continent. This is before everybody knows about the
NBA without borders. Now, this is before NBA without borders.
To put kenta cloth on our Georgetown uniforms was also

(01:12:52):
in intentional. Um moos. Thompson is someone who raised all
of us as men. He was a father to all
of us. And we hear Alan talk about saving his life.
We know Alan's story, but there are others of us
who have very personal stories where our lives were also
in danger. And if it hadn't been for John Thompson,

(01:13:15):
we wouldn't be alive either. And one of those people
is me. Talk about that you say that that he
was indeed a father figure house he as as Brian said,
he was always a teacher. That's just what he naturally did.
And it didn't just teach basketball. He talked about everything

(01:13:39):
in life, everything in society. He shared his opinion and
then he elicited ours. And once you were a part
of his family, once you were one of his adopted sons,
so to speak. And let me just say, um, I
want to give honor to John the third and Ronnie
and Tiffany, his his beautiful children who of and and

(01:14:02):
thank them for sharing their father with all of us,
because their father, Coach Thompson, he really started a million
man march. What he started when he went to Georgetown
was to really do something about the way we as
black men would treat and we as black men were portrayed.

(01:14:23):
And if you remember back in the eighties especially, it
was a sore of sur prise to where Georgetown gear,
where Georgetown jacket. Uh. You saw rappers and hip hop
artists all on videos doing that, um, And it wasn't
just symbolic. Once you were part of his program, he

(01:14:43):
treated you like a son, like one of his own,
and he took care of us. He counseled us well
after we're gone into adulthood. I think many of us
who were part of that program would agree, um that
long after we left Georgetown, our wisest counsel still came
from John Johnson. Let me be real, Let me be

(01:15:05):
real clear, Brian, iwa from Houston. I wasn't wearing no
damn Georgetown gear. I don't care about I don't care
about no Mutumbo morning and you and uh uh and
so yeah, and I'm still piste off. They called them
cheap files on the chem of lodj one. We would
have beat you a Georgetown for that tile at night
eighty four. But whatever, And we ain't gonna talk about
the NC State bs. But anyway, the thing brown Also,

(01:15:29):
he also changed sports media because the white editors couldn't
keep saying on white boys to cover him. He made
them high black black journalist. Well he yeah, he definitely
did that. And I think the thing about this is,
you know, people, we try to understand cultures. John would
say something and the white media would take it totally
different than what the black media did because they understood

(01:15:51):
where he was coming from. You know. I think when
you look at him, asked Mark was just city. He
was a father figure. He was constantly a teacher. You know.
I have sat there and heard story after story after story,
and we remember Rafel Edmands was the kingpin here in
d C. And it had some stuff going on with Alianza.
Morning John sit word that he wanted to talk to him.

(01:16:11):
Rafael came to talk to John. He let Alonzo alone,
you know, and I'm just saying this man, he did
not just tell a parent, I'm gonna take care of
your child. He went out there. He did it, you know,
and he was very like you all, you both said,
he's very intentional. He did nothing just to be doing it.
Everything he did, he meant something by it. You know.

(01:16:31):
When I was doing radio with him, you know, and
I was going through a contract negotiation, he basically said,
will work this thing out. So he basically helped me
throughout the whole process. He he was on both sides
working the thing up, and he knew more than the
people that I was signed the contract with. So, like
I said, he was educated, he was intentional, and he
always meant well. And I've been in DC now for

(01:16:54):
over thirty years. Marcus absolutely right. The people that played
for him, yeah, he takes care of them, but there
are thousands of people that he took care outside of Georgetown. Hell,
I thought Georgetown was HBCU growing up in Louisiana, you know,
and they had all the people from New Orleans on
that basketball team. But once I got here and saw
what Georgetown was, many people around the country did not

(01:17:16):
know anything about Georgetown the academic university without John Thompson
bringing a winning, uh type of our mindset to that school.
Mark and that that at that that meeting with with
that drug dealer, I mean, that's major. When when when
he said no, no, no, you come meet with me
and told the drug dealer stay away from Alonzo Morning
and the drug dealer yes, John, And and that reminds

(01:17:39):
you of growing up in black neighborhoods where the football
coach or the basketball coach made it clear to the
hoods in the neighborhood leave my people alone. And it
was like it was an off limit thing. Nobody messed
with brothers who played ball. That's right. No, you absolutely right.
And that st Alonzo Morning on the board of governors

(01:18:01):
at Georgetown today, that's right, that's right. No, you're right.
Big John had the courage to do that. Um, he
had the ability to do it, and he had the
stature and even Raphael Ladman had to respect him. You know,
if you think about it, Roland before Georgetown beat the
University of Houston appropriately that comment you made a moment ago.

(01:18:24):
You better move on, You better move on, but blasphemous, Brian,
and I know Bran agrees with me. The it was
an eight two that the nation really got introduced to
John Thompson. George Town ran through the NFC Double A tournament,
got to the final four and faced Dean Smith's tar
heels um. The presence of a six ft ten black

(01:18:49):
man with Patrick Ewing and an all black team really
overshadow Michael Jordan's and James Worthy playing fathers because Michael
Jordan was still just a freshman. And when Brad's right,
we all our TVs on that night, We're like, what
is this? What is Georgetown? Is this an HBCU? Is
this an all black school? Um? And think about it.

(01:19:10):
At that moment, this is before Jesse Jackson ran for president.
This was a tremendous source of pride. We we found
a lot of our pride in our sports heroes. Muhammad
Ali had had just retired the previous December, and so
to see John Thompson, we didn't even dream of being president,
but to have a black man in the final for coaching,

(01:19:34):
it was beyond our wildest dreams. And it was it
was at that moment that John Thompson offered us a
strong sense of black manhood, a strong sense of pride.
And I think that's why people are so grateful for him.
You even got white coaches now who admit that John

(01:19:54):
Thompson changed the game, and he changed the style of play.
He changed the NBA by the player as he went
to the NBA. That who went to the NBA, Who
who played for him. We see the numbers now the
rise in black coaches and black coaching opportunities in Division
one basketball immediately after John Thompson went to that those

(01:20:16):
finals in two and ultimately one in eighty four. Um,
you see the difference. So again we talked about Jesse Jackson,
we look at the number of elected officials that wrote
his hotels to political offers. When we look at John Thompson,
we can look at the numbers of black coaches in
the Division one and professional ranks that wrote his cotails

(01:20:37):
to get there. I would say this here, Brian, I
think that when we um talk about Thompson, UM, when
his point guard made that errant pass to um to
Michael Jordan's that that cost Georgetown that title in eighty two,
the country also saw the compassion that he had for

(01:20:58):
that player when he grabbed him and hugged him. When
he just hugged him, he could have he could have
been yelling and cussing and so. And that's the piece.
And and I met John Thompson several times. He would
often come to the Naturalsociation of Black Journals National Convention.
I remember we were in New York. Him and John
Cheney were there, and they were two black men, John
Cheney at Temple and George and John Thompson at Georgetown

(01:21:22):
in the Big East, who basically we're taking on the
entire n C double a on behalf of black athletes
and black parents. And they made it clear they were
not going to back down, and then they never did.
And I think when you what you saw with him
putting his arm around that point guard was that it
was a john And I think so many people never

(01:21:44):
ever saw. You know, my buddy Carl Francis put a
post up today and he had him hugging Alonso, hugging
alan you know, sitting there with a smile on his face.
And I don't think a lot of people saw that small,
But that's who I want people to understand that he was. Yes,
he was man who was strong, wheel he believed in
what he believed in, and he wasn't gonna take anybody's bs,

(01:22:05):
you know. But the thing about him, he was gonna
always be there to let you know why he did
something and what you need to learn from something. And
I think listen. I sat there with him for those
two years on the radio show in Awe because I
had known it. I've sat there and watched him as
a young man. Then now I'm sitting on the radio
show with him, and I tell people over and over again,

(01:22:26):
he taught me more about business than my college. Did
I promise you that, Um, he will certainly UH be
remembered for being a fantastic coach. Wasn't was indeed a
fantastic human being. And let's over he coached that twenty
seven years. He still ran the program. He picked his
son followed him, and then Patrick Ewing Uh followed his son.

(01:22:48):
And so it's rare that you see that kind of
power wielded by an African American head coach. And so
certainly UH lost Big John Thompson. Gilemen. I appreach it
that thanks a lot. Thank you bringing my bringing my
panel here. I'll start with Mustafa Uh your thoughts reflections
on John Thompson the passing of the great John Thompson.

(01:23:11):
The best way to describe him as the better making
of men. I mean for him to continually reach back,
to reach down and pull people up and to embrace
them and to put them on a path, often when
they had been unseen and unheard and undervalued. So I
will always remember Coach Thompson for the humanitarian that he was,

(01:23:31):
because it was about more than basketball, it was about life, truly,
A coult p purely did have a cultural shift there,
Kelly Uh with the number of rappers who were wearing
Georgetown gear in commercials, the number I mean individuals who
didn't even know, who could not even place Georgetown on
a map, who who were wearing their gear. I mean,

(01:23:52):
you know, Black people have always been taste makers and
trend setters. I mean before the Fab Five, with Michigan
before them and their long short it was George Town
that redefined culture, uh in terms of this country, and
all of that is because of this man Um. As
someone who grew up in d C m d C native,

(01:24:14):
I can tell you everybody was rooting for Georgetown, and
as a kid growing up here, you like they said,
I really don't think that Georgetown was an HBC for
a while because I saw so many people who looked
like me in that uniform, in those uh in those
UH logos and and the like. So um he really
was a giant um, especially to the city. Um, to me,

(01:24:38):
it's akin to the loss of Chuck Brown, like just
such a chunk of the culture is now with the ancestors,
he'll he'll definitely be missed in the area and certainly
the country. So you're you're talking about people not knowing
where Georgetown was on the map. This is someone who
grew up in Mississippi, and I can assure you now
the eighties, I think that was during the Patrick Doing

(01:25:00):
days when he was drafted first round. That's probably a
little early for me when I started watching basketball, but
definitely by the nineties with Alonzo Mourning in the second
round and I think it was um Alan Iverson maybe
he was a first round picking ninety five or something.
All of my my family, my friends, I come. I
come from a community where we want all black people
to win. So if it were if it were a

(01:25:21):
black coach, we were going to support them. If it
were a black business owner or anything, we were going
to support them. But if you think about how four
thinking John was and everything that he did to care
that he had. Um, you're talking about movies being made.
You know how we see all these movies made, but
sometimes about white people coming into going into a community
and saving the black child. There actually needs to be

(01:25:43):
one made on John Bran on John Thompson because he
was a change maker and I think his legacy will
live on. We've had a lot of has been crazy
all around, but I think that the next story that
needs to be told is definitely John Thompson. Well, he
has autobody comes out in January. Uh, and so we
certainly appreciate the work his life and legacy. Uh Bellick

(01:26:07):
Kelly as well as Uh, Bust, I appreciate you. I'll
been on my palent today. Thank you so very much. Uh, folks,
gotta go to commercial break when we come back. Uh more,
Uh folks, Uh shooting the appreciation for the life and
legacy of Chadwick Boseman, who died at the age of
forty three on last Friday. UH. Coming up next, aren't you?
New Ellis who started with him in the movie Get

(01:26:28):
on Up shares her thoughts and reflections. You want support
Rollomart Unfiltered, be sure to join our Bring the Funk
Fan Club. Every dollar that you give to us supports
our daily digital show. One daily digital show out here
that keeps it black and keep it real. As rolland
Martin Unfiltered. Support the rolland Martin Unfilter daily digital show
by going to rolland Martin on filter dot com. Our

(01:26:50):
goals to get twenty our fans contributing fifty bucks each
for the whole year. You can make this possible. Rolland
Martin Unfiltered dot com, Georges centers and include everyone who
lived with you as of April one. Kids on cost anyone.
They don't even have to be family. Now, remember discount
helps inform where billions and federal funding goes each year.

(01:27:13):
So shape your future. We'll start here at dot gov. Yesterday, folks,

(01:27:44):
we had an amazing tribute to Chadwick Boseman, a three
hour tribute. We had so much stuff we couldn't even
fit it all in. As new Ellis, who started with
Chadwick in movie Get On Up, where he portrayed James Brown,
shared her thoughts about working with him and what he
meant to the co true. You we're in the movie

(01:28:06):
Get On Up with Chadwick bos you just talk about
what he was like, his presence uh doing that film
and and this was only what the second the movie
where he was a leading character. Yeah, um um, Chadwick

(01:28:28):
was for me was just you know, just this guy
who was you know, just really professional, just professional dude.
You know, he showed up every and everything that I
saw him. I witnessed him do on set. And when
I say showed up, I don't just mean he showed

(01:28:48):
up with his body. I mean he brought himself fully
and entirely you know, into his work, you know, and um,
you know, I was very low on the totem pole
and on that movie, and he could have not said
a word to me. But I just always remember him being,
you know, just lovely and kind and and a gracious guy.

(01:29:12):
He he really embodied the spirit of James Brown. He
was far taller than James Brown, didn't look like James Brown.
But but when you watch uh that film in terms
of the kind of large personality, larger than life James
Brown represented, I mean that's really what he did. And
spending time with the family when putting on James Brown's clothes,

(01:29:34):
I mean he really really uh got into that character. Yeah,
That's what that's what I mean. Like he just he
just was. He took nothing for granted, you know what
I mean. He didn't he didn't come and and and
rely on his own personal charisma or anything like that.

(01:29:55):
You know, he he worked his tail off and I
watched him, you know, I watched him. I watched him
do that, take after take after take after take, um
him and you know, unfortunately Nelson Ellis watched them both
do that. Um. Yeah, And that's that's what he did.
He brought the work, brought the ethic every day, every day.

(01:30:23):
You mentioned uh, you mentioned Nelson Ellis. Uh. The fact that, um,
you know, these these really talented young actors. And I
think one of the things that I've said to people,
because folks have said, you know, why as Chad was
dead hit folks so differently, and really, as I thought

(01:30:44):
about it, he really is in terms of for this generation.
I'm fifty one years old. For this generation, he's really uh,
the first major start to pass away. My point to that,
your folks who are sixties seventy eighty, when you think
about civil rights leaders, when you think about at the
Frank May, we think about folks along those lines. But
for this generation, I think his passing hit the same

(01:31:07):
way it did Kobe Bryant. Yeah, you know, it's just
that's that's what it sucks so bad, you know, it's
just that too. You know, it's like it's it's such
a sucker punch, and I think that it's it's psychological trauma.
At this point, I don't know how it was to
say it, and I'm not I'm you know, I'm not

(01:31:28):
you know, probably not sounding eloquent or elegant right now,
but that's what it feels like. It feels like a
sucker punch. You know. We began this year losing Black Mamba,
you know, and then months later we're gonna lose Black Panther.
We're gonna eulogize Black Panther. That's all I can say.
Friday night, you know, it was Black Panther. I just

(01:31:50):
could not stop saying that. And it is you know,
that was such a moment. That was such a moment
for black folks. And we get that Black Panther on screen.
You know, we all know, we all know folks dressing
up to go to the movie and African clothes and
you know, and and even now the reverberations of like

(01:32:12):
what Wa Kanda meant to to folks no matter what
you felt, whatever, whatever you feel about superhero movies or
Marvel or whatever, it was a moment, a cultural moment
for us that went beyond a moment, and to have
that snatched away like that, it's almost it is almost

(01:32:35):
I can't accept it. I Can't'm better than I was
on Friday night about it. But it really is something
that I cannot wrap my arms. I cannot wrap my mind.
I cannot wrap my mind around and I think, you know, yeah,
I worked with him, and you know I was, I
was around him a few days. He was not my friend,
and but I I my impression of him was that,

(01:32:56):
like I said, he was just a gracious, warm and
and you know, welcoming guy in a in a situation
that he did not have to be with me. But
what I feel more so is what I feel from Afar.
I feel the same way my friends feel, which is
that you know, we lost one of us, one of
the best of us, and we are we we just

(01:33:18):
keep losing all year long. We just keep losing so much,
and it's just it just feels like a sucker punch
to lose this young black man in this way. I
just I can't wrap my mind around it. But but
I will say this here. When I read that letter

(01:33:38):
from Ryan coogler Um where he paid tribute to Chadwick Boseman.
And when I read that, and and he he talked
about how much Chadwick put into the character in terms
of the language, in terms of the spirituality. When we
look at the fact that you know, really, when it

(01:33:59):
came of being a leading man, his body worked really
only covered eight years from from when he got forty
two at the age of the movie forty two, the
age of thirty five, and then of course passing the
age of forty three. But the reality is, the quality
of his work, despite the shortness of the years, will
stay in the test of time. It absolutely will. And

(01:34:23):
you know what else was gonna stay in the test
of time, the fact that he did what he did suffering.
I'm sure the way that he was suffering. I mean
that I had a moment on Saturday night. I was
the wreck Friday, but you know, an a wreck like
not because I worked with him, not because I worked

(01:34:45):
with him. If I didn't work a day with this
young with this calling him a young man, he's a
young man to me, but he's a man. If I
didn't work a day with him, I would feel the
same way I feel right now, because I had actually
forgotten that I had did something that I had done
something with him, and I was like, oh, yeah, I
did him. You know, I did something with him. I
would feel the same way I feel right now, you know,

(01:35:06):
the same way my feet my friends are feeling. And
I had a moment of like questioning some work that
I was doing on the over the weekend, and I
was like, listen, everything that I'm gonna do, I ain't
going to remind myself of what Chadwick Boseman did. This
man played Black Panther with colon cancer. If that don't

(01:35:28):
get us off our tails, and and and and and
and wanting to like, you know, stop complaining and do
the work and do the job and be creative. I
don't know. I don't know what. I don't know what is.
I don't I don't know what could do it. And
I even said to myself everything that I do, I'm
gonna think about him. I'm gonna think about Chadwick Boseman.
I'm going to think about him. I can't sit on

(01:35:49):
my tail and complain because I got, you know, a
pain in my ankle. I can't. I can't do that anymore,
you know, knowing that and the way that he handled it,
so you know, with such grace, Uh Lord have mercy
as well. Appreciate you sharing with us for this amazing

(01:36:11):
tribute to Chadwick is a great guy, Uh, somebody I
got a chance to meet a number of times, sitting
down and interviewing him, and uh we certainly wanted to
honor him in a great way and we appreciate you
joining us. Thank you so much. Roland, thank you, thank you,
thank you. Alright, bye bye, take care fose. Comedian Buddy

(01:36:33):
Lewis UH see us this video sharing his thoughts about
Chadwick Boseman. The Black Mamba now the Chama. You know this,
she ain't been shipped. UM. I want to send my
sincere condolences to Chadwick Boseman's family, his new wife and

(01:36:53):
anybody that knew the man, that was a friend or
work with him. UM. I only had been able to
interact with him on a few occasions at some Hollywood events.
We run to each other and we would give the
standard h you you know, that's how we were connected

(01:37:14):
our um being alumni at Howard University. UM, the man
was one of the coolest, most humble, in genuine brothers
I met in the business. UM that was Uh, equal
to his celebrity and his talent um. I mean the

(01:37:37):
man got to play everybody living. You got to play
all the legends, James Brown, Thurber Marshall, Um, Jackie Robinson. Uh,
he was amazing. And Uh, I mean, hell, if you
died in UH, you were famous and Chadwick Boseman didn't

(01:37:58):
play you, you wasn't that thing. Miss I'm sure it's
a white folks running around here going I want Chadwick
Boseman to be me when I died, because he's gonna
make a legend out of my career. Uh. I mean,
the brother played a superhero, I mean our superhero Black Panther.
He was, he was the man. And I just want

(01:38:20):
to say he will be missed. And Uh, all I
can say, ain't you you know what condor favor my brother?
R I p Chadwick Boseman. Well, the news dropped on
Friday that Chadwick had died. The first person who I
called was Reggie Hutland. He directed Chadwick in the movie Marshall.

(01:38:44):
I had opportunity to do three Q and A's helped
to help promote the film All three uh with Reggie.
Two of those with Chadwick uh in the chorus. One
of those was his first visit back to Howard University
in two thousand and seventeen, which was an unbelievable and
electric night. Reggie Hutland joneses right now, Reggie, glad to

(01:39:07):
have you on the show, and I hate to have
you on the show one of these circumstances. But uh
uh we do this because I think, um, you know,
our folks don't get the same type of love others do.
To celebrate them, to to fat them, to to uh
to to really showcase them. And uh you work with

(01:39:28):
him on this film. Uh. Ryan Cooler wrote he had
no idea that he was suffering from colon cancer. Others
that they had no idea that he was doing these
things while going through a major health crisis. Yeah, it
was really impressive. Uh. I've yet to talk to anyone
who knew, which speaks to his strength mentally and physically

(01:39:52):
that he was able to do the amount of work
he did whilst uh suffering. Uh. It also speaks to
how tight his team was. His wonderful wife Simone, the
folks he had surrounding him. Uh, they took care of
him and they were ever to be loyal to him
and keep his business private. And that's all incredibly admirable.

(01:40:15):
So I I salute uh those folks who were closest
to him, who looked out for him and took care
of him. Um. You there were so many different conversations.
I remember that night after we left the theater, after
we left Crampton Auditorium and we went to dinner. Uh,

(01:40:36):
And it was it was amazing conversation because that was
because at that dinner we were talking and we were
talking about, of course, what I was doing with with
the show. And then he was talking about how that
he didn't get into didn't want to go into acting.
He came to Howard to be a director and to
be a writer. Uh, and we were talking about how
you have to have the right people around you, and

(01:40:57):
it was just tell me, I tell people. It was
just an amazing conversation. He was this really smart, deep
intellectual brother. And I met a lot of actors I
don't say that about, but this was a different brother Reggie's.
He was He was a true intellectual and uh, you
don't run into a lot of people who were as

(01:41:20):
smart as him, as thoughtful as him, as empathetic as
him at the same time a real brother. He was
South Carolina, he was Brooklyn, he was Uh, he was Africa.
He was every type of black flavor all mixed together
with an incredible mind. And I mean he really was

(01:41:44):
hu he was. He was the poster child for what, uh,
what a black university can create. Uh. It took a
guy who already had the goods and and and shaped
him into um uh, something extraordinary, something perfect them. As

(01:42:06):
I sit here, um and and reflect on our last
chat conversation, um, he said something that I just thought
was what was so important? Um. And he said, I'm

(01:42:29):
not ta Challa, I'm not Black Panther. I'm an actor
that changes. I live a complete mental, spiritual, and physical
journey so I can give life to many souls. That uh,

(01:42:53):
that's complete self awareness. Um. When he was James Brown,
he was comply James Brown. When he was makin Thurgood Marshall,
he was completely Thurgood Marshall. When he was to child,
he was to child. He was not the star in
the system. He just is the same persona from movie
to movie. He took off his skin and transformed himself

(01:43:18):
into this other person every time he worked. Uh, which
is why that body of work is so amazing. You
scually played any one of those characters. It was incredible.
He did it four times. I joked on if I
joked on that panel. Uh, the Q and A we
did at Howard that Uh, it's a lot of light

(01:43:41):
skinned actors in Hollywood mad as hell at you because
they were sure that was one character we're gonna get.
Chadwick cracked up laughing at that. But but you told
a story that night that I thought were so important
because you said that it was important. You knew he
was Black Panther, and you said third Good was a

(01:44:03):
real life superhero, and so to have the superhero play
a real life superhero was important. Yeah, it was important
because black Pants. I knew what Black Panther would be.
I knew the kind of global success it would be,

(01:44:25):
and um, that would make a movie about their good
Marshal something that a young person be curious about. Well,
chat was that it maybe I'll watch it right, uh,
and then they'll watch it and go, oh, now I
know about a real life hero. But also it's a

(01:44:47):
measure of the man, meaning the actor that he had
the gravity, intelligence, the physicality, the moral compass, to successfully
play all those roles them when you when you think
back to the conversations, um, when you now now knowing

(01:45:15):
what he was dealing with, because I did this Friday
night reading over those text messages and and and now
seeing behind them, have you been doing that, and now going, Yeah,
that's what he was talking about, That's that's what he
was speaking to. Well, yeah, I mean, on one hand,
you have a few little clues that didn't quite make

(01:45:41):
sense but now due. But at the same time, our
last conversation was a beautiful one and it was all
that was it and his optimism and enthusiasm about the
future that was in mayt it go ahead and uh,
you know so I looked back and go he was

(01:46:02):
not a guy who was He was focused on life,
which makes sense. He's a warrior. He's not going to
give into anything. Uh. He's a guy who was a
fighter to the end. So that's not surprising that that
was the tone, because how else would he be. Last
question for you, um, the video that people were talking

(01:46:28):
about when he lost, when they were concerned about his weight. Um,
it bothered him, Um because he said, the folks on
the wrong thing. He said, even if I wasn't doing
a role. I could be on some kind of crazy
spiritual quest where I'm fasting for a month. That's nobody
else's business. He said, the fact that people were missing

(01:46:50):
the point that four point two million dollars was being
donated to hospitals and frontline workers that service us, That's
what had me going. My people, my people, my people.
And I told him, I said, I'm going to amplify that,
and he said, I, brother, thank you for pushing that. Really,
all that matters right now is saving lives. When I

(01:47:13):
see the photos of him visiting St. Jude's, all the
children's wards in hospitals and him bringing joy of those children,
knowing that he was carrying the pain and suffering that
he is, that brings me down every time. Uh he
was just uh he he was a prince playing in prince.
He was a prince of a man. And I am

(01:47:36):
heartbroken that I won't get to talk to him again,
won't get to hang out again, I won't get to
work again. But I'm so grateful that I was able
to know him and be with him and do work
with him, because, uh, you know, he elevates any room
he's in. Well, you're absolutely right. Um, that is certainly

(01:47:59):
the case. Uh, folks, if you have not watched Marshall, uh,
you need to do it. He thought he was gonna
have a whole bunch of great courtroom lines. Then he said,
I realized Reggie had me basically silent all the time.
But I think if anybody who has read about Thurgood
Marshall and watches his performance, they will understand Reggie what

(01:48:20):
he what he brought to that role. Yeah. Well, third
good Marshall was the smartest man in the room of
any room he was at. And he wasn't a minister.
He was Uh, he had swagger. He was a cocky
dude for Baltimore. He knew he was flying, he knew
he was smart, and he projected that and that kind
of kind of gangsters attitude and you know, uh, academic

(01:48:44):
gangster attitude. That's what made me excited to make a
movie about him. Chadwick and I saw out of eye
on that spirit and Josh Gad I give enormous credit
to the way they played off each other. Was a
beautiful thing. It was funny, it was exciting. And you know,

(01:49:06):
Josh and I, we we have been planning what's the
next movie the three of us can do so. Uh.
You know, Josh called me first and he was heartbroken
because we love the brothers so much. Reggie Hutlin, Man,
I appreciate it. Thank you for being with us and
sharing your thoughts and perspectives about Jackick Postman. Thank you, Roland,

(01:49:29):
Thank you for being there all along our journey. Man.
You you are extraordinary journalist and you your chronical Black America.
We appreciate it. I appreciate it, man, Thank you so
very much. Thank you, folks. Right now, Reggie spoke about
Josh Gad who co starred with Chadwick. This is the
video that he posted on his Instagram page. So, uh,

(01:49:51):
you should be able to see my you I see it, folks,
control and you should be able to see it. Uh.
Let's see here. Um, it's showing that it's connect it,
so you should be able to see it. Do you
see it now? You should be it's showing me that
it's connected. So um, let's get this fixed up because

(01:50:11):
I want to play for y'all what Josh had to say,
and then we're gonna close the show with one of
the one of those two Q and as idea with
Chadwick at at Howard University. Y'all, do y'all see it now? Okay,
it's the Josh Gad video of y'all have it there?
Play it there, go ahead. Okay, so do we have

(01:50:38):
the Josh Gad video. Let's roll it, guys, the video
is set up. Roll it, h Okay, we have an

(01:51:04):
issue with this video here. Do we have the audio?
Do you have my control? Do you have my iPad?
All right? Because I want I want you all to hear.
I mean, he was really Josh Gatt was really broken
up by by that. All right, So let's do this here, play,
go and play the Q and A. I'll have the
I'll have Josh kat uh tomorrow. Uh, because he's a deal.

(01:51:28):
I interviewed Chatwick Boseman for forty two. I interviewed him
for Get On Up. I interviewed him for We had
the Q two quags from Marshall. So we're gonna do it.
We're gonna do several things. We're gonna see this over
next today. So we're going to play right now the
interview that I excuse me, the Q and A, one
of the two Q and dames. We did the screening
at the a CP convention for the a c P
for UH for the movie Marshall and this is a

(01:51:50):
Q and took place in Baltimore, Maryland with myself, Chatwick
Boseman and Reggie Hecklin. Do we have that video, folks?
All right? So again don't have that one. So what
I will do is, uh, we will sit we will
set that up for you because we really want you
to see that great, great conversation that we had with

(01:52:11):
them regarding that. So, uh, folks, let's just do this here. Uh.
If you want to support Roller Martin unfilter, we want
you to join our Bring the Fan Club, go to
cash you af Dallas an r M unfiltered. You can
also go to PayPal and vent Motor support what we do.
Our goal, of course is to bring you this kind
of content. Like I said, if you missed last night
show a three hour tribute to Chat with Bozeman, Uh,

(01:52:32):
you can check it out on our YouTube channel. UH.
That's why we do what we do, and so we
want you all to support it in all that way
we can. New Vision Media. You can a meal and
money order in in you Vision Media in Street Northwest
Sweet four hundred, Washington, d C two thousand and six.
Uh and so again. Uh so tomorrow. What I will
do is I will have the Marshall. The Marshall Q

(01:52:55):
and A. We did. There were two. One was that
in Baltimore ones and Howard will have the one for
Baltimore tomorrow. I'm rolling Bart unfiltered. I'll see you guys tomorrow.
Hollo

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Host

Roland Martin

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

24/7 News: The Latest

The Joe Rogan Experience

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}9.1 McDonald's sued by Black ex-franchisees; Trump visits Kenosha; #45 says cops can ‘choke’ & shoot