NAACP Blocks state control in MS, GA oversight to remove prosecutors, Exclusive with Gina Belafonte

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today Friday, mayfairth twenty twenty three. Coming up, rolland Martin Unfiltered,
streaming live on the Black Star Network. The NAACP Legal
Defense Fund has won a significant victory against the Mississippi
State government, temporarily restoring Jackson residents voting power and voice
and how justice is administered in the city. We'll talk

(00:23):
with the executive director of the Mississippi acl you to
discuss how this legal decision helps hold the Mississippi State
GOP accountable for their blatant attack against the predominantly black
capital city. Controversy is brewing in Georgia as Republican Governor
Brian Kemp signs of bill granting an oversight commission the
power to remove local prosecutors and DA's from their positions.

(00:50):
We'll break it all down. New allegations have surfaced in
the Clans Thomas ethics scandal involving his wife, Jenny Thomas,
and thousands of of payments. These revelations have led to
calls for massive reform, massive ethics reform at the Supreme Court. Also, Folks,

(01:11):
the April twenty three job numbers have been released. Black
unemployment goes down to a record low. Also, we'll be
celebrating in the life of icon Hair Belafante by talking
in an exclusive interview with one of his daughters, Gina Belafonte,
as she talks about the impact of her father for

(01:31):
the first time since he passed away. It is time
to bring the funk on rolling markin unfiltered on the
Black Star Network. Let's go.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
Peace's on it. Whatever it is. He's got the factified
a weena plas. He's right on time and is rolling.
Best believe he's going down.

Speaker 3 (01:54):
Frank's Loston News to politics were entertainment just funk case.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
He's he's pops, he's built up question.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
He's a temporary victory in Jackson, Mississippi, as a Hines
County judge halts the implementation of a section of a

(02:40):
controversial bill that would expand law enforcement in the capital City.
Chancery Judge Dwayne Thomas issued a temporary restraining order on
House Bill ten twenty. The bill would expand the jurisdiction
of a state run capitol police in Jackson and create
a temporary court within a Capital Complex Improvement District covering

(03:00):
a portion of the city. That area is where most
whites live in Jackson. Yep. The restraining order will be
in place until Wednesday's motion hearing. That motion was won
by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund on yesterday. I attended
their Equal Justice Awards during last night, and Jennay Nelson

(03:22):
announced that decision at the dinner. Joining us now is
Jarvis Georts, the executive director of the Mississippi ACOU. Jervis
glad to have you here again for folks who don't
understand Republicans in Mississippi, like we were seeing Republicans in Texas,
in Florida, in Georgia and numerous other states, are using

(03:47):
their legislative power, meaning controlling the state legislature to determine
what is happening on the local level exactly.

Speaker 4 (03:56):
I mean when this bill came out, it was clearly
an attempt by certain people in the city to take
over power of their neighborhoods.

Speaker 5 (04:05):
They're part of the city.

Speaker 4 (04:07):
This bill was expansive and covered the most affluent, most
white area of the city.

Speaker 5 (04:12):
These are people that are used.

Speaker 4 (04:14):
To having political power over what happens in the city
of Jackson. They don't think they have that power anymore,
so they went to the state legislature to get their
own police force, their own judicial system, and even some
of these bills.

Speaker 5 (04:28):
That passed this year gave them their own funding for infrastructure.

Speaker 1 (04:32):
And again, what I'm trying to get people to understand
is that and we broke the numbers down this area,
this Capital Complex. It's literally where nearly all of the
white residents in Jackson lives. And I have yet to hear,
and maybe you can share with us, actually yet to
hear a rationale as to why this is needed.

Speaker 5 (04:58):
Well, I mean the rational they give is crime.

Speaker 4 (05:00):
And you can cover just about anything by screaming about crime.

Speaker 5 (05:04):
And we have had an uptick, especially in murders in Jackson.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
But but, but, but hold on. I had a state
official on about that last week, and I get that.
But here's the question that no one seems to answer.
Has there been an uptick in this area all of Jackson?
Because this doesn't cover all of Jackson, it only covers
this Capital Complex. So have they shown any data of

(05:33):
the crime in this Capital Complex?

Speaker 4 (05:36):
Now, data isn't something they do in Mississippi legislature, so no,
they have not shown it. And you're right, this the
Capital Complex started off as an area around downtown around
the Capitol building. State office buildings. They've expanded it towards
Northeast Jackson, which is the majority, more more affluent, more
white part.

Speaker 5 (05:55):
Of the city.

Speaker 4 (05:56):
And it's definitely not in the area where we have
seen an upticking crime and we haven't seen resources put
into those areas. Is that actually what we've seen with
the Capitol Police expanding, We've seen police officers leave Jackson
Police Department and go to Capitol Police because they get
paid more. So you know, it's not really even if
your idea is to add more police on the streets,

(06:19):
you're not doing that.

Speaker 5 (06:20):
You're just shifting them down to another place.

Speaker 1 (06:22):
And look, if they actually want to impact that, how
about this, Republicans give more money to the City of
Jackson for law enforcement. Yeah, I mean, and specify it
should be used for salaries exactly.

Speaker 4 (06:38):
I mean, every time the city of Jackson has asked
for funding or assistance, the state has said, we're not
going to do it, and if we do do it,
we're going to do it.

Speaker 5 (06:46):
In a way where we have control over it.

Speaker 4 (06:49):
You actually have people leading this bill saying, well, we
don't give them money to police departments. A couple of
weeks later, they were giving money to the local police
departments millions of dollars to be a police stations in Passagoula,
Mississippi and other parts of the state. And these are
people that were on the floor saying, well, we never
do that as an excuse for doing it this way.
But we've seen that with the city of Jackson for

(07:10):
decades now, where the legislature is like, we're not going
to assist you unless we get to control how the
money is spent and that money is being spent in
the most unefficient way. It would be much cheaper for
the state to say we're going to help the city
hirement police officers, be able to increase the infrastructure, improve

(07:31):
the pay in the city. Those things would be much
cheaper than creating something, you know, from scratch.

Speaker 1 (07:39):
So the hearing is taking place on Wednesday. What and so,
first of all, who the LDF was involved in this?
So who actually will be leading the legal battle to
stop this from happening.

Speaker 4 (07:54):
So we're a group of our coalition of organizations, the
MacArthur Justice which is a justice center at Ole, miss
Law School, ac Are You Mississippi, the Mississippi Center for Justice,
and LDF are all on all on board with this
lawsuit along with some citizens that live in Jackson that
are serving this plain us. And we're going to see

(08:16):
next week an attempt to get more more permanent injunction
on this bill to stop these new courts from going
into effect.

Speaker 1 (08:24):
All right, then, we certainly appreciate you joining us Jarvis
to assist with breaking down the story.

Speaker 5 (08:30):
Thanks a lot, Thank you.

Speaker 1 (08:32):
All right, folks, I got to go to break we
come back. We're going talk about plus what's happening in Georgia,
where again Republicans are using their power in the legislature
to dictate what's happening on the ground. I'm telling y'all
what's happening. This is this is power. I keep telling
you how they're using power. First of you're watching on YouTube.

(08:54):
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(09:41):
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be right back.

Speaker 6 (10:07):
Up next on the frequency with me Dee Barnes our
special guest, Alicia Garza, one of the founders of the
Black Lives Matter movement. We're going to discuss her new book,
The Purpose of Power, How We come together when we
fall apart?

Speaker 7 (10:19):
Do you live in a world where we have to navigate?
You know, when we say something, people look at us funny.
But when a man says the same thing less skillfully
than we did, right right, everybody boks towards what they said.

Speaker 2 (10:32):
Even though it was your idea.

Speaker 8 (10:34):
Right here on the frequency.

Speaker 9 (10:35):
On the Black Star Network.

Speaker 10 (10:42):
Next on the Black Table with me Greg Call, we
look at one of the most influential and prominent Black
Americans of the twentieth century. His work literally changed the world.
Among other things, he played a major role in creating
the United Nations. He was the first African and first
person of color to win the Nobel Peace brud and

(11:04):
yet today he is hardly a household name. We're talking,
of course, about Ralph J. Bunch. A new book refers
to him as the absolutely indispensable.

Speaker 11 (11:15):
Made his lifelong interest and passion in racial justice, specifically
in the form of colonialism, and he saw his work
as an activist an advocate for the black community here
in the United States as just the other side of
the coin of his work trying to roll back European

(11:36):
Empire and Africa.

Speaker 10 (11:38):
Author cal Rostialla will join us to share his incredible story.
That's on the next Black Table here on the Black
Star Network.

Speaker 1 (11:48):
Black TV does matter, dang it? Hey, what's up, Yadisha boy?
Jacob Latimore, You're now watching Roland Martin right now?

Speaker 12 (12:03):
Instead? Instead instead, instead, instead, instead, instead, instead, instead, instead, Instant.

Speaker 1 (13:30):
And Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp signs a bill creating
an oversight commission with the power to remove local prosecutors
and district attorneys from their jobs. Kimp says the measure
would create an oversight mechanism to ensure accountability in upholding
constitution and statutory duties. The commission will consist of eight members.

(13:56):
Five will be responsible for investigating any alleged conduct constituting
grounds for discipline. The other three will before adjudicating on
the adjudicating arm that issues out the punishment. Critics say
this timing is really suspicious, especially with Fulton County District
Attorney Fanny Willis seriously wang charges in connection with for

(14:20):
President Donald Trump's actions in Georgia after the twenty twenty election.
Democrats are concerned the commissioners will misuse their authority to
punish or remove local prosecutors unnecessarily. Let's go to my panel.
Who joins us today? Matt Manning, civil rights attorney joining
us from Corpus Christy, Texas. We have, of course, Michael

(14:45):
m Hotep, hosts of the African History Network show Of
Course he is joining us from Detroit, and Cannice Kelly,
she joins us right now, legal analysts from New Jersey.
Let they have all three of you here, So let's
let's get right into this here. So when you look
at Jackson, was happening in Mississippi, you look at Georgia,

(15:07):
you look at Governor RONALDS. Hadders in Florida going after
prosecutors he doesn't like. Can this This is absolutely Republicans
using their power to silence progressives, using their power to
exert control over black elected of Finnish officials, the black population.

(15:32):
It is an absolute abuse of authority by the GOP
in numerous places around this country, Georgia, Texas, Florida, Mississippi,
you name it.

Speaker 9 (15:44):
Roland, You're absolutely right.

Speaker 13 (15:45):
And in fact, we have a violation of power and
authority from people who've already spoken. In other words, we
have people who've already voted.

Speaker 14 (15:54):
The das into office.

Speaker 13 (15:56):
We have people who've already voted for a certain system
in Jackson not to be separated and have equal rights violation.

Speaker 15 (16:03):
Equal rights be violated. So here you have people who have.

Speaker 13 (16:06):
Already voted and heard their voices heard, and those voices
are being taken away, which is why the NAACP is
filing that lawsuit in Jackson. And one thing that we
have to remember about the power that is being exerted
by the Republicans in Georgia is that they're doing this,
as you said, in preparation for.

Speaker 8 (16:21):
The charges that are coming down on Donald Trump.

Speaker 9 (16:24):
This is something that.

Speaker 13 (16:25):
DA has been preparing for for years. And she is
not just preparing for these phone calls. She's preparing for
the fake electors. She has been doing this for years.
She has trumped up her security, she has death threats,
she is all over white supremacists websites. This is someone
who is going for the gusto. They know she is coming,

(16:49):
and they're using the power and actually legal power so
far because it has not been protested. They are trying
to go through a route that they know Trump has
already laid down. He did this already in terms of
voting in and making sure that the federal courts were
built up with everyone who is a Republican. He's doing
the same thing, and so are his political allies by

(17:10):
saying we're going to use the system and the power
that we have to work in our favor. But we
know that that DA in Georgia is not going anywhere,
and that is what they most fear down there in Georgia.

Speaker 16 (17:24):
Matt.

Speaker 1 (17:24):
The point that Candice makes is a crucial one. These
are democratically elected people. The voters decided who they want
to represent them based upon what they said as they
were running. And so here you have Republicans who are saying,
ah damn that we don't care what the voters decided.

(17:48):
We are going to be the judge and jury to
determine whether they're doing their job.

Speaker 15 (17:54):
You're so spot on, Roland.

Speaker 17 (17:56):
And what's especially interesting with this timing is last week
I literally got appointed to represent our local DA in
a removal lawsuit where they're lobbying the same kinds of
accusations against him. And I used to manage that office
under him, and I was appointed by my local county
to defend the lawsuit to remove him from office. And politically,
that exact conversation is happening here in Corpus Christy, as

(18:18):
it is across the country. This is a political attack
on him, and its political attack on anyone and who's
been duly elected, especially multiple times the DA here Kim
Gardner in Saint Louis. Across the country, these people have
won multiple times and in landslides, and irrespective of that,
you see Republicans directly attacking those offices, and they're doing

(18:38):
so with the dog whistles that they know will be effective.

Speaker 15 (18:41):
Crime, failure to do their duties, all of those things.

Speaker 17 (18:45):
And what's especially problematic about that is, at least in
Texas and presumably everywhere else, these offices have great latitude,
great discretion to do their jobs. Their job is to
seek justice, not convictions. So the idea that somebody would
be removed because somebody Monday morning quarterbacking, you know, at
the state House, thinks that they're not getting enough convictions

(19:06):
or are too lenient, is not how the system works.
And I think Candice hit the nail on the head
with all of her comments. But one thing I would
add to that is that I think that we're really
in a constitutional crisis because what you see as a
separation of powers issue, where the legislators across the country
are deciding that duly elected public officials should not be

(19:27):
able to do their job in a way that they disagree,
irrespective of if it's within the bounds of the law
and the discretion that they're given. So this is a
huge issue, and this is a testament to what we
talk about on this show every week, the idea that
the Republicans are playing chess, not checkers, and they're looking
at every way to exert power, particularly in the local

(19:48):
offices where that has the greatest meaningful effect on people's lives.
What happens at the school board affects your child's curriculum,
what happens with your DA affects.

Speaker 15 (19:58):
The policies, and whether those policies.

Speaker 17 (20:00):
Are rooted towards justice and rehabilitation or rooted towards deterrence
and retribution. All of these things on the local level
are very important, and that's why the Republicans have a
full on onslaught across the country against duly elected people
using the dog whistles and the fake rhetoric that we see.
We know is not true, right because the reality is

(20:20):
the law gives them this discretion. But if you know
your base is not listening to that, and your base
is energized by the anger, then it's easy to foment
that kind of support that we're seeing in these state
houses in Texas and Mississippi, Florida and so on.

Speaker 1 (20:35):
Michael, I'll expand this. Matt brought it up in terms
of how Republicans are targeting Kim Gardner, the circuit attorney
there in Saint Louis. They also are trying to take
over the Saint Louis Police department, no different than then
the governor controlling the Kansas City Police department. For all
of these people who love talking about big Brother getting

(20:57):
rid of big government and local control, it's amazing how
they want to meddle in local affairs of locally elected individuals.

Speaker 18 (21:08):
Yes, Roland, but it's local affairs when it comes to
largely African American elected officials, when it comes to African
American rand and police departments. If we look at I
think it's important to note that both of these states
are in the South. Both are former Confederate states. Also, okay,

(21:30):
I think it's important to note that Mississippi and.

Speaker 10 (21:32):
Georgia with Mississippi.

Speaker 18 (21:34):
When I first heard this story in Mississippi, when the
story came out April twenty third, in Mississippi Today reported
on it, and I said, oh, I said, okay, Governor
Tate reeves, it looks like they are doing this so
they can have more control over policing African Americans.

Speaker 10 (21:50):
But as I got deeper, into the story.

Speaker 18 (21:53):
The Capital Complex Improvement District is largely the white, more
affluent area of Jackson, Mississippi.

Speaker 1 (22:01):
This cound on not largely, nearly all whites and Jackson
live in the complex. Yeah.

Speaker 18 (22:08):
So what this sounds like is the white governor Tate
Reeves through the state legislature. This passed the House, in
the state House and Senate. They're taking power away from Jackson, Mississippi,
led by Chokway lamumba African American man, and they're the

(22:28):
state government is going to have more control over It
sounds like protecting white people in Jackson, Mississippi. When you
look at Georgia, Brian Kemp and I have to take
it here. I told African Americans in Georgia back in
twenty eighteen when Stacy Abrams was running that Stacy abrams
policies were better for African Americans. So many of them

(22:50):
were said, oh, Stacy Abrams doesn't have a black agenda.
I said, Brian, Brian Kimp has a black agenda. He
has an anti black agenda, Okay, and the anti black
agenda's worst thing, quote unquote not having a black agenda.

Speaker 10 (23:01):
But you look at this here, this it appears that this.

Speaker 18 (23:06):
Is designed to take away power for someone like Fanny Lewis,
who is going to prosecute Donald Trump.

Speaker 1 (23:15):
Well, well again again, what we're looking at here is
very simple, and that is Republicans not liking any policy
or a leader that they don't like. Well, this is
about is them saying to the voters, the hell with
who you elected. We don't care who you chose. We

(23:36):
are going to determine how they do their job. Harris.
When when the folks in Texas want to control again
to order a new election, and you pass a law
that only applies to one of the two hundred and
fifty four counties in all of Texas, one Harris County. Again,

(23:58):
that is a that's targeting democratically elected folk who happen
to be largely Democrats in Texas. That's how they're using
their power. And so I'm gonna say it again, a
lot of y'all can, a lot of y'all and some
of the people who y'all know, and some of your
family members and friends, y'all can listen to these yah hoos,

(24:20):
these so called new black media people, folks who don't
know jack about politics, y'all can listen to them. Talk
all day. Y'all can listen to them talk about not voting.
Y'all can listen to them to try to call somebody
a shield whatever you want to call them. What the
Republican Listen to me very clearly, because those yahoos are

(24:42):
not going to tell you what I'm about to tell you.
The Republican Party is absolutely focused on limiting and eliminating
black voices. Fundamentally clear what they're trying to do. When

(25:07):
you see the attack on a Soros funded das. They
do not want to see the sister in Florida who
we had on the other day. They did. They did
not want to see Maryland Moseby. They don't want to
see Alvin Bragg. They don't want to see Fanny Willis.

(25:28):
They don't they can't stand the white guy Larry Kraftsman
in Philadelphia. They don't like any They hate Kim Gardner,
they don't like anybody. They hate the white progressive DA
in Los Angeles they led. What I'm trying to get
y'all to understand is if you sit in your ass
on the sidelines, but you're talking about how you want

(25:50):
certain policies, how you gonna get them, How are you
going to get the policies you claim you want, if
the very folks who will put in office to give
you the posies you want or stopped when you have
a when you had Aramis ay'alla elected state prosecuted in Florida. No,

(26:15):
I am not going to prosecute death penalty cases. Matt
knows this, Any lawyer knows, Candice knows this. The district
attorney has the prerogative to determine what direction they're going
to go in this this Brian Kent law, the DA.

(26:38):
Let me be real clear that everybody listening and watching,
the district attorney does not have to pursue.

Speaker 9 (26:51):
Death the death.

Speaker 1 (26:52):
Penalty in cases they have an option, they don't have
to pursue. That's why you have first degree murder, second
degree murder, third degree murder, manslaughter one, manslaughter two. I
mean you have different variations of murder. It's their judgment.

(27:14):
The Republicans are saying is we don't like your judgment.
We are going to judge and decide what you should do. So, therefore,
if the people work their butts off to go to
the polls to put Fanny Willis in, to put Kim
Fox in oh we're going to remove them, and we

(27:36):
don't really care what you think. We're gonna remove them.
Desamp has removed a white prosecutor in Florida, Andrew Andrew Weber.
I forgot his last name. He's going after the system, Monique,
He's got y'all, this is real.

Speaker 19 (27:54):
And so.

Speaker 9 (27:56):
When you sit out.

Speaker 1 (27:58):
The gooblatorial race, that's how the Rhonda Santis is win.
When you sit out the libratory race in Georgia as
a Brian Kent wins when seventy five percent of young
voters eighteen to thirty in Texas don't vote, that's how

(28:20):
Greg Abbot gets re elected. And so if you're sitting
here now going WHI is a damn shame? What did
you do about it? What did you do about the
State Supreme Court North Carolina? Folks, We're laying these things
out to you because you need to understand the game

(28:44):
plan that they are executing is completely focused on limiting
and eliminating black representation. Unless you are a black Republican,
y'all better recognize because they're not stopping. They're going full
steam ahead, and we had better respond accordingly. Rolling unfiltered

(29:10):
the blackstud.

Speaker 10 (29:11):
Network hatred on the streets.

Speaker 13 (29:17):
A horrific scene white nationalists rally that descended into deadly violent.

Speaker 1 (29:25):
White people are moving their their min as a manory
pro Trump mat storm to the US capital. The said show,
We're about to see the rise of what I call
white minority resistance.

Speaker 20 (29:36):
We have seen white folks in this country who simply
cannot tolerate black folks voting.

Speaker 11 (29:42):
I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of
violent denial.

Speaker 8 (29:47):
This is part of American history.

Speaker 21 (29:49):
Every time that people of color have made progress, whether
real or symbolic, there has been but Carol Anderson, every
university calls white rage as a backlash.

Speaker 1 (29:58):
This is the wrath of a proud boys and the
Boogaaloo boys America. There's going to be more of this.

Speaker 9 (30:04):
It's all the proud boy guy.

Speaker 22 (30:05):
This country just getting increasingly racist and its behaviors and
its attitudes because of the fear of.

Speaker 20 (30:13):
White people, the people that they're taking our jobs, they're
taking our resources, they're taking out women.

Speaker 1 (30:18):
This is white field.

Speaker 23 (30:37):
We're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it
or not, from politics to music and entertainment. It's a
huge part of our lives and we're going to talk
about it every day right here on the Culture with me,
Baraji Muhammad, only on the Black Star Network.

Speaker 1 (31:00):
Hi, I'm Anthony Brown from Anthony Brown and Group There.

Speaker 5 (31:02):
Hi, I'm B. B.

Speaker 1 (31:03):
Whinings. Hey, I'm Donnie Simpson. What's up? I'm Lance Gross
And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered.

Speaker 12 (31:12):
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmm mmmmmmm mmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmm.

Speaker 1 (32:06):
All right, folks, the black unemployment rate in America is
now a record low. April job numbers came out today
from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and it shows the
black unemployment rate. It's now four point seven percent. It
was five point zero percent in March. Now, remember when
that black conservative was on the other day, Stacey what's

(32:29):
her name, and she lied about, oh, how great the
economy was for black people under Donald Trump and caught
in a record low. Stacy, this is what a record
low looks like. So you were lying then, and you're
still lying. This is the first time in US history

(32:49):
that the black unemployment rate has fallen below five percent.
While the overall joblessness rate for black people filled three
tenths of a percentage point, the unemployment rate for black
men dropped along with the unemployment rate for black teens,
but for black women, the unemployment rate grew slightly following
a March job support in which they also reached a

(33:10):
historic jobless low. Overall US unemployment rate at his lowest
point in fifty years at three point four percent. Doctor
Patrick Mason, author of the economic The Economics of Structural Racism,
Gratification Economics, and US Labor Markets, and a professor of
economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, joins us. Right now,

(33:35):
all right, Patrick, glad to have you here. So when
we look at these numbers, when the Larry's Summers of
the world were like, oh, we we've got a lower inflation,
which means we've got an cause unemployment to go up,
which is still stupid to me, and the people are yelling, oh,
how awful the economy is. Just explain to me, if

(33:57):
the economy is so awful, how do we keep setting
unemployment records.

Speaker 24 (34:02):
Well, the economy is not as awful as people like
Summers might want to make it. I mean, he's looking
solely at inflation and that's all he's worried about. I
am much more worried about whether or not African Americans
have jobs, right. I mean, the best way to keep

(34:24):
people out of poverty is to make sure that they
have a job. The best way to make sure that
people can pay their mortgage to make sure they have
a job. The best way to make sure they can
keep their children in college and make sure they have jobs.

Speaker 25 (34:37):
Health insurance is tied to their job. So I am
estatic to see these low employment numbers.

Speaker 24 (34:44):
And my hope is that the FED will not keep
pushing interest rates up so much till it choke.

Speaker 25 (34:50):
Off the job I mean, why, why choke off the
best economy we've seen in a long time.

Speaker 1 (35:00):
I mean, yeah, that's that's why I'm just sitting here.
I just sort of laugh when I see these people
run around and talk about, oh my god, the economy
is just so awful, and things were just so amazing
for black people Under Donald Trump.

Speaker 25 (35:18):
No hardy. Actually, things have begun to improve.

Speaker 24 (35:23):
And the good news about these unemployment rate numbers is
that they are true reflections of the.

Speaker 25 (35:32):
Level of joblessness. Another number that I like to look
at is the employment to.

Speaker 24 (35:37):
Population ratio, which is just the probability.

Speaker 25 (35:41):
That a person has a job.

Speaker 24 (35:43):
That number is now higher for African Americans than it
was in March or twenty twenty when the pandemic shut
down Strut so it's about fifty seven. Then the employment
population ratio is about.

Speaker 25 (35:59):
Sixty percent now, so the probability of having a job
is hiring.

Speaker 24 (36:03):
You know, sometimes the unemployment number will go down just
because people will stop looking, but that's not what's happening
in this case.

Speaker 25 (36:11):
The unemployment number is going down because people are getting jobs.

Speaker 24 (36:16):
And I think it's a fantastic thing when people are
getting jobs, and it puts to line another myth that's
often heard about African Americans is we don't want to work. Well,
we work when their jobs available and people hire us.
And right now you're seeing the unemployment numbers low. That

(36:41):
means that people who might not otherwise have jobs, they're
working and.

Speaker 25 (36:46):
Improving things for their families.

Speaker 1 (36:50):
Well, and again this is just what this is just
what just befuddles me when when you see again and
how the economy is being described, and now we're seeing
also inflation coming down. We're now seeing supply chain stabilize,

(37:11):
so all of the stuff before all the empty shelves
and you know, waiting six and nine months for furniture.
We're seeing how after two years, two and a half
years of COVID, how all of those things that impacted
the supply chain implected which impacted inflation, but really it

(37:31):
was also the greed of many companies that was causing inflation.
We're seeing how these forces are moving together. And so
it's just wow to me how these people are assuming.
They're just assuming that this is just a terrible, awful
Like I said, we had some black conservative on who's like,
oh my god, this bight economy is just the worst.

(37:55):
It's just destroying the entire country. And I literally apple
around the country and I'm like, what world are you
living in?

Speaker 24 (38:05):
Well, I mean, there's these people out here who just
have crazy ideological beliefs. Now they'll say anything, but the
numbers don't lie. The unemployment rate is historically low, the
employment population ratio is up high than have been in

(38:25):
a long time.

Speaker 25 (38:26):
The earnings have gone up so and if you look
at for.

Speaker 24 (38:32):
Most households, especially for most African American households, income is
mostly earnings, wages, paycheck income. There's not a lot of
property income, so earnings are higher. More people are working,
men and women. This is a very good economy, and inflation,

(38:53):
from my perspective.

Speaker 9 (38:55):
Is not out of hand.

Speaker 25 (38:56):
It's not an outrageous number. And I just hope the
FED does not keep raising interest rates.

Speaker 24 (39:04):
And raising interest rates to the point where we choke
off its economy.

Speaker 25 (39:11):
That's trying to go to what would be full employment
for us now. I think the current rate of four
point seven percent, so it shows you how.

Speaker 24 (39:22):
Bad unemployment is for African Americans. I mean, typically, when
white American unemployment is at four point seven percent of
five percent, that's a recession number.

Speaker 9 (39:33):
But our numbers have.

Speaker 25 (39:34):
Been so high for so long. When we get to
what is really a recession number for white Americans, we celebrate. Well.
I want to see that unemployment number.

Speaker 24 (39:44):
Get down even lower, right, so that everybody out there.

Speaker 25 (39:48):
Who wants a job will have one.

Speaker 24 (39:51):
And also, the good thing about a low unemployment rate
is it gives bargaining power to workers, right to workers
who have a job paying enough, it's low unemployment rate
put them in a position where they can go in
and ask for a rape.

Speaker 25 (40:08):
If they don't get it, they.

Speaker 5 (40:10):
Can go somewhere else.

Speaker 1 (40:12):
Yes, sir, all right, Patrick Mason, we appreciate it again,
folks here is the author of the Economics of structural
racism stratification economics in US labor markets. We certainly appreciate
you joining us thinking so very much. All right, folks,
gotta go pay some deals. We'll be right back for
all my Influcier on the Blacks Network, we talk about

(40:39):
blackness and what happens in black culture. You're about covering
these things that matter to us, us speaking to our
issues and concerns.

Speaker 15 (40:48):
This is a genuine people power movement, a lot of.

Speaker 9 (40:51):
Stuff that we're not getting. You get it. You spread
the word.

Speaker 1 (40:54):
We wish to plead our own cause to long have
others spoken for us. We cannot tell our own story
if we can't pay for it. This is about covering
us invest in black on media. Your dollars matter. We
don't have to keep asking them to cover ourselves. So
please support us.

Speaker 25 (41:13):
In what we do.

Speaker 1 (41:14):
Folks. We want to hit two thousand people fifty dollars.
This month waits one hundred thousand dollars. We're behind one
hundred thousand, so we want to hit that.

Speaker 25 (41:21):
Y'all.

Speaker 1 (41:21):
Money makes this possible. Check some money in order to
go to peel box File seven one ninety six Washington,
DC two zero zero three seven dash zero one nine
six cash apples dollars, sign r M unfiltered, paypalers are
Martin unfiltered, venmo is r M unfiltered, Zeila's rolling at
Rowandesmartin dot com.

Speaker 14 (41:42):
On the next Balance Life with me, Doctor Jackie. What
does it mean to actually have balance in your life?
Why is it important? And how do you get there?
A masterclass on the art of balance. It could change
your life.

Speaker 26 (41:53):
Find the harmony of your life? And so what beat
can you maintain at a good pace? What cadence can
keep you running that marathon? Because we know we're gonna have,
you know, high levels, we're gonna have low levels. But
where can you find that low that harmonious paste.

Speaker 14 (42:14):
That's all next on a Balanced Life on the Life
Star Network.

Speaker 8 (42:21):
What's up? What's up?

Speaker 1 (42:21):
I'm doctor Ricky Buller, the choir master al.

Speaker 5 (42:24):
Peace World was going on in se.

Speaker 1 (42:25):
Left King of Arr and b yle Hem Devon and
you're watching Roland Martin unfiltery. Khalil Gil Chris left her Brandon,

(42:55):
Florida home on April nineteenth. The thirteen year old is
five feet three inches tall ways hundred and two pounds
with black hair and black eyes. Even thee with information
about Khaliah Gilcrest has urged to call the Hillsboro County,
Florida Sheriff's office eight one three two four seven eight
two zero zero eight one three two four seven eight
to zero zero folks. In a stunning turn of events,

(43:16):
Saint Louis, Missouri's Circuit Attorney, Kim Gardner, resigned from her
position I mean allegations of negligence. Gardner faced intense scrutiny
in recent months, with Republican leaders in legislature, including Attorney
General Andrew Bailey, calling for her alister. Bailey launched a
legal effort to remove Gardner from office in February, citing
too many cases, including homicides, going unpunished under her watch. Gardner,

(43:41):
the first black woman to hold the position of circuit
attorney in Saint Louis, has endured massive criticism from both
sides of the political spectrum. Some have praised her for
her efforts to reform the coal justice system and her
commitment to prosecuting police officers accused of misconduct. However, others
have accused her of Miss Haley high profile cases and

(44:01):
feeling to prosecute violent criminals adequately. Her regination will be
affected June first, the world and who will replace her?
And Matt, I'm going to start with you. We've interviewed
her several times on this show. I mean they have
been going after her from day one.

Speaker 8 (44:16):
Yeah, they have.

Speaker 15 (44:16):
They weren't happy at all about her being elected.

Speaker 17 (44:19):
In what you see with prosecutors that you know, the
powers that be if you will, don't want to get elected,
is they start out and never giving them the benefit
of the doubt and not allowing the policies to work,
picking apart every little data point that they can to
show that they're either ineffective or incompetent.

Speaker 15 (44:36):
And that's what's happening with Kim.

Speaker 17 (44:37):
And it's especially the truth when you have somebody like
Kim who is internally very strong and is not going
to cower and it's not going to back down irrespective
of whoever is opposing her. So you know that didn't
help her in terms of necessarily making friends. But this
is precisely the kind of politician that you should want.
A person who says what they're going to do and
then does what they said they were going to do.

Speaker 15 (44:59):
And that's been. The problem is, you know, there are
people who cannot deal with her strength.

Speaker 17 (45:02):
I think realistically now, I think there are some objective
questions about the office and whether it's working the way
it should be. As you said, both sides of the
aisle have had criticisms, but that's inherent in a job
like this, particularly one where a prosecutor is given a
lot of latitude to make the decisions that she thinks
are appropriate. You know, everybody reading headlines first never knows

(45:26):
how the criminal justice system works, and two ascribes to
that prosecutor all of the responsibility for things quote going wrong,
when in reality, there are a lot of other players
in the criminal justice system that don't always get that
same focus.

Speaker 15 (45:39):
So it's unfortunate what we're seeing with Kim, and.

Speaker 17 (45:42):
I hate to see that she resigned, but I do appreciate,
you know, the strength and the fortitude that she had,
even in.

Speaker 15 (45:47):
Indicting the governor.

Speaker 17 (45:48):
I mean, I know those targets were ultimately dropped, but
that takes a great deal of courage to say we
think we have the evidence on a person that's powerful,
and we're going to bring an indictment. And you know,
I'm just glad that she served the citizens the way
she did. And the final point I'll make is I
do like that this is really a sacrificial move. My
understanding is she broke her to deal that she would

(46:10):
actually resign so that the people of the city of
Saint Louis might still have the opportunity to popularly elect
their DA. I understand she's in battle, but that's a
really important part that cannot go unstated here, that she's
resigning so that the people still have the opportunity to
choose their prosecutor. And that should be the most important
part here, because it's the people who determine who's in

(46:31):
that office, not other representatives who want to make their
names on the political headlines, including this Attorney General, who
seems to be trying to steal every headline he can
anytime something comes up, and presumably he's got his sights
on some higher office. So I think there's more at
play here than questions about her performance.

Speaker 1 (46:51):
Ken As, we had her on a couple of months
ago talking about this very issue with the Attorney General,
and again it has been a constant, constant attack on
her repeatedly. She said today that you had judges, you

(47:11):
had judges who were literally telling lawyers to leave her office.
Was good for your career? I mean, I mean she
was dealing with a whole lot of stuff from various quarters.

Speaker 13 (47:25):
She was and Roland here's what Key like Matt said.
They were nitpicking at her and they're not done. They
will more than likely bring her up in charges in
the future for failing to carry out and perform her duties.
I think one of the interesting things, and you just
touch upon this, is that as the judges were telling
attorneys to leave the office, they were following that advice
and they were leaving the office. When you have an

(47:47):
office like Kim's that doesn't have enough money, what happens
is that all of the attorneys they get bogged down
with these cases. So people have to understand that the
strategy was not just with Kim. The strategy was with
everybody who worked with her. Because with you give an
attorney too much of a caseload where they really can't
perform or carry out their duties in a way that
rises to the way that they were sworn in by

(48:09):
their American Bar association, then you fall into the arena
of malpractice and malfeasans and.

Speaker 15 (48:13):
Nobody wants that.

Speaker 13 (48:14):
So if your case work, if your caseload is too
much and you don't have people helping you, now your
mentors have even gone that have been helping you on
your caseload because you might be some new attorney by
two and a half years. You get out of there
because you might be brought up on charges for not
doing your job because the workload is just too much.
So their strategy was get her people out, get Kim out,

(48:37):
and just create havoc in the office.

Speaker 15 (48:39):
And that's exactly what they did.

Speaker 1 (48:41):
Michael Sheik also complained that they were essentially defunding her office,
making it difficult for her to actually hire other people
as well, and she said that that's what was going on,
and so she's like it just happened over and over
and over again.

Speaker 9 (48:58):
Yeah, Wroly.

Speaker 18 (48:59):
You know, I remember under the Trump administration, Saint Louis
Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner was attacked basically by Attorney General
William Barr. So she has Republicans have been after her,
as they have been many other progressive das, especially African

(49:20):
American female progressive DA's as well. And when they are
trying to utilize the law that is perceived as being
fair somewhat fair to African Americans and not trying to
over prosecute for low level offenses and things of this nature.

(49:41):
You get this huge backlash, especially at the state level
largely controlled by white people, and here you're controlled by
white Republicans. So the recurring thing through these few segments
Roland has been power when it comes to politics, understanding
power and how to utilize power to both the people
in the office to bring into existence the policies that

(50:04):
we want.

Speaker 1 (50:04):
This is the interview. I was made vigilant on this.
This is the interview when she was on our show
two months ago.

Speaker 27 (50:10):
This is something that to me is shocking, but at
the same time we.

Speaker 16 (50:15):
Know what it is.

Speaker 27 (50:16):
This is a politically motivated attack by the unelected attorney
general and the actual governor who from day one, since
he said in office, has tried to take my duties
as the elected prosecutor in the city of Saint Louis.

Speaker 20 (50:34):
So, first of all, what authority does he have to
quote fire you.

Speaker 1 (50:41):
You're elected.

Speaker 27 (50:42):
Well, that's the problem you know right now in Missouri
we're participating with So.

Speaker 1 (50:49):
Again, if y'all want to see the interview, we do
with Kim Gardener's on our YouTube channel. I was trying
to show you right there. You heard some of that
again five days ago. She was saying, Matt, she wasn't
going to resign, but clearly things that you're simply gotten
out of hand there, and she was literally left with
no choice. I just sent her a text, and so
hopefully she'll be joining us. In fact, she actually just

(51:12):
hit me, just hit me back, and so this is
what she just texted me. Is to keep to what
you said, Matt, is to keep ability, to keep the
ability for the people to be able to elect the
circuit attorney and local police control the Republicans that have
a super majority in the House of the Senate, and
they had the votes. We currently do not elect our judges.

(51:34):
The governor appoints them. We would never be able to
elect our circuit attorney. And so she of course submitted
that letter of resignation as well. Matt, go ahead.

Speaker 17 (51:45):
Well here's the problem with that, Roland. As I was
reading about that, I was concerned. I mean, I don't
know how you can actually enforce that deal. So I mean,
I like it, I like the spirit of it, and
I'm a supporter of Kim Gardner. I think we need
more Kim Gardners leading us around country with the fortitude
that Kim has always shown. But the problem is if
they do have a Republican supermajority, I don't know how

(52:07):
she can prevent via her resignation them just you know,
implementing the same plan they were trying to implement.

Speaker 15 (52:13):
And that's what concerns me.

Speaker 17 (52:15):
I appreciate her sacrifice here, but I don't know if
it's something that will be enforceable, and that's what concerns me.
And the thing about this that is so disingenuous and
so dishonest is these Republicans are the same people who
sit in DA's offices and say that their daughter Muffy
just had a lapse in judgment and she should get
the me and see that they don't like. If some

(52:35):
kid across town who lives in the part of town
they don't care about has the same offense, he should have.

Speaker 15 (52:40):
The book thrown at them.

Speaker 17 (52:41):
And that's what disgusts me about this, because these are
the same people who will find a way to one
off any kind of you know, criminal offense or accusation
if it's advantageous to him, but if it's you know us,
we're mongrelized, right and made to see as criminals. Case
in point, Kim Paxson has been under indictment under Texas law.

Speaker 15 (53:00):
For seven years, seven years for securities fraud. He it
hasn't been prosecuted a day in his life.

Speaker 17 (53:07):
But if you pick up a simple offense down the
road and the case gets dismissed, now the DA is
not doing his or her work, and it's a shell
game and it's all a sham. But the problem is,
you know, in the state houses, they have this power
and a lot of these legislatures have specific laws that
allow them to implement these kinds of things. And what's
scary about it as a voter and as a citizen

(53:29):
is the idea that, as Candace said earlier, you elect
a DA and then the powers that be in the
state House don't like her and they just decide that
your decision does not matter.

Speaker 15 (53:38):
Right at which point, I mean, I don't know where you.

Speaker 17 (53:41):
Stop it, But it becomes a slippery slope because when
do you stop. Basically, if they decide we're not going
to have elections anymore, right, or we're going to change
the term limits unilaterally. The more of this kind of
thing happens, the more we should be concerned as citizens about,
you know, the longer effects of that and how that
affects democracy in general. I think we're in a democratic

(54:01):
crisis right now in this country and we're seeing that
play out.

Speaker 1 (54:04):
Yep, indeed we are, Candide, Matt Michael. I certainly appreciate
the three of you being with us today on today's panel.
Thank you so very much, folks. When we come back,
exclusive interview with Gina Belafonte, one of the daughters of
Harry Belafonte, she joins us next day. Of course, her
father passed away on April twenty fifth, and she will

(54:27):
share our thoughts and reflections on an amazing, amazing life
from the perspective of one of his loved ones. Philip Agnew,
also the Dream Defenders, been in Cuba for the past week,
will join us as well, and so we will continue
our appreciation our tributes to the great Harry Belafonte. Next,
Roland Martin Unfiltered of the Black stud Network. When we

(54:57):
talk about blackness and what happens then black culture, you're
about covering these things that matter to us, us speaking
to our issues and concerns.

Speaker 15 (55:06):
This is a genuine people power movement.

Speaker 1 (55:09):
A lot of stuff that we're not getting.

Speaker 9 (55:11):
You get it, and you spread the word.

Speaker 1 (55:12):
We wish to plead our own cause to long have
others spoken for us. We cannot tell our own story
if we can't pay for it. This is about covering us.
Invest in black on media. Your dollars matter. We don't
have to keep asking them to cover ourselves. So please
support us.

Speaker 25 (55:32):
In what we do.

Speaker 1 (55:32):
Folks. We want to hit two thousand people fifty dollars
this month. Waits one hundred thousand dollars. We're behind one
hundred thousand, so we want to hit that.

Speaker 25 (55:39):
Y'all.

Speaker 1 (55:40):
Money makes this possible. Check some money going to to
go to peelbox file seven one ninety six, Washington DC,
ke z reviewer three seven Dash zero one nine six
cash apples, dollars, sign Orem unfiltered, Paypalers are Martin unfiltered,
venmo Is arem unfiltered, Zilla's rolling at Rollandesmartin dot com.

Speaker 8 (56:01):
Up connects on the frequency with me De Barnes.

Speaker 6 (56:03):
Our special guest, Alicia Garza, one of the founders of
the Black Lives Matter movement.

Speaker 8 (56:08):
We're going to discuss her new books, The purpose of power,
how we come together when we fall apart.

Speaker 7 (56:13):
We live in a world where we have to navigate.
than we did, right, right, everybody balks towards what they said,
even though it was your.

Speaker 6 (56:27):
Idea right here from the frequency on the black Star networks.

Speaker 28 (56:33):
So well, he's found a way to do what he's inspired,
like generation after generation after generation, you know, to continue
in his footsteps.

Speaker 1 (56:42):
He also challenges artists he does. He is not one
to be shy.

Speaker 28 (56:48):
You can't down with mister Belafonte if you're not willing
to do something.

Speaker 11 (56:51):
You know.

Speaker 29 (56:51):
It's just the way that he is.

Speaker 1 (56:53):
It's the way the whole family is, you know.

Speaker 28 (56:54):
And I'm here with Gina and just the entire family
and just really really genuine good people who are maybe
in Hollywood, but Hollywood's not in them, you know. So
so just he knows what's important and he's instilled that
in his legacy that will continue to carry on.

Speaker 1 (57:10):
And I think what's the most important is that his
legacy is not just singing, is not just acting, but
really putting it on the line that frankly has been
deal I meane to be far more important than the
artist piece.

Speaker 28 (57:23):
Is the activist piece, sure, sure, I mean, but that's
the piece of humanity that's the most important.

Speaker 1 (57:28):
I mean.

Speaker 28 (57:28):
Sure, it's important what you do, you know, as a career,
as your art and everything like that. But he injected
that into his art, and he injected you know, life
and humanity, of social justice in the world and just
making the world a better place. He never shied away
from that at times when many other people did, and
and he could have and probably benefited.

Speaker 9 (57:48):
From it a lot more, but he didn't.

Speaker 1 (57:50):
And he's as a very bold, bold man. It was

(58:35):
April twenty fifth when the world found out that Harry
Belafonte passed away at the age of ninety six at
his home in New York City. It was four years
ago when he retired from public life, and he of
course led an amazing, amazing life. Interviewed him numerous times,

(58:57):
talked to him, and he was just engaged in so
many different areas all across this country and across this world.
Very few people knew him as well as my next guest,
Gina Belafonte, one of the daughters of Hair Belafonte, of course,
a co founder with him with sankofa. She joins us
right now, Gina, glad to have you here on the show.

(59:20):
Certainly our condolences to you and the Belafonte family with
the loss of truly a true, true giant for us.
He was an artist, he was a singer, he was
an actor, he was an activist.

Speaker 8 (59:35):
For you, he was dad, Yes, he was. Thank you
so much for having me today.

Speaker 30 (59:40):
If you hear any other little background noises, I have
some dogs, so just I'm so all good.

Speaker 8 (59:47):
Thank you for having me on.

Speaker 30 (59:48):
And thank you so much for spending so much of
your precious airtime on celebrating him and his life and
his legacy and all the amazing work and art that
he was able to create.

Speaker 1 (01:00:00):
Was with us well. We were, of course in New
York last year for his ninety fifth birthday, so many
people came out for that celebration. He wasn't there physically,
but was watching the stream as well, and it really
was a great celebration that you and others put together

(01:00:25):
and just just take us through.

Speaker 29 (01:00:30):
Just the.

Speaker 1 (01:00:35):
Family perspective of who he was as opposed to what
everyone else knows from the public persona of mister b.

Speaker 30 (01:00:45):
Well, I mean all of us, his children at least,
we all have different relationships with him and the way
some of us have worked with him quite intimately and
others just to sort of, you know, walk through the
world with him.

Speaker 1 (01:01:02):
His dad.

Speaker 30 (01:01:04):
He was certainly a force of nature for us all.
We understood very clearly that he was busy at work.
There was lots to do. There still is lots to do,
and he made very specific and strategic choices for himself
and his life. And as a father, he was an

(01:01:26):
incredible mentor. He was a wonderful support system. I think
probably all of us can say we had wished that
there were ways in which we could have had him
more in our lives personally. But I, you know, I
was gifted with the opportunity to work with him on

(01:01:47):
a couple of different levels. When I first started working
with my father, I was his acting coach. So aside
from him coming to all of my shows and guiding
me and mentoring me through my you know, inter navigating
the entertainment business and my career as an actor at
the time, he asked me to come on board as
his acting coach and I worked on four or five

(01:02:08):
different films and television shows with him guiding him through
the different characters.

Speaker 8 (01:02:13):
We would work very hard on those. My father was
a very.

Speaker 30 (01:02:16):
Serious kind of method actor, and so he took a
lot of time and care in trying to figure out
all the nuances of the characters, and so I had
the gift of having that kind of intimacy with him.
And then later in our lives together in our careers,
we worked in doing the founding of sankofa dot org,
where we were able to really pull together art and

(01:02:38):
activism and use art as a tool to educate and
to motivate and activate folks to participate in their civic
responsibility and also inform them of what was going on
in the world.

Speaker 8 (01:02:53):
And we used art to do that.

Speaker 30 (01:02:54):
And in many cases, art has a way of sort
of opening up your heart, opening up your mind so
that you can actually hear the issues and make some
informed decisions for yourself.

Speaker 1 (01:03:07):
It has to be, though difficult when and this is
not just for you and your three siblings. It's the
case for the children of entertainers and other public figures
to have to share your dad with the world. The
number of people who he called who called upon him

(01:03:30):
he was before he retired from public life, was extremely busy, traveling,
doing those different things. Was always doing something, engaged in something,
working on different projects. And that's I mean. Look, I
mean we all like love to, as you say, do
spend more time and do more with our parents, but

(01:03:51):
you literally had to share him with the world, right.

Speaker 30 (01:03:55):
Well, depending on you know what your belief is. Mine
is that I somehow, you know, came into the world
with that contract. It might not have been a conscious
understanding as a child growing up, but as an adult,
I have done a lot of work in my own
journey as a human being being on this planet to

(01:04:16):
understand that. You know, there are a lot of people
that needed him. There are a lot of people that
needed him so that they could be validated. There's a
lot of people that needed him so that they could
be uplifted and so that their platforms could rise. And yeah,
I mean certainly you know the humanness in it all.

(01:04:38):
You know, you want to you know, not only protect
your parent, but you also want them to see you
and to recognize you, and to you know, think and
be proud of you and all those things.

Speaker 8 (01:04:47):
And luckily for me, I got that from him. I
you know, walk through the world.

Speaker 30 (01:04:54):
There's lots of other organizations that are doing very good
work on behalf of him and his name, and but
you know, but he's my father, So that never will
change the kind of intimacy that we had that no
one can ever take that away from me.

Speaker 8 (01:05:10):
And so yeah, you know, I think I think that
what he.

Speaker 30 (01:05:15):
Was able to gift the world, and how he was
able to empower people, how he was able to in
some ways be an example to admire and to aspire to,
I think, you know, I'm glad that we had to
share them, you know, And you know, because I can't,
I can't unwrite his own journey and his own path

(01:05:37):
and the way he chose.

Speaker 8 (01:05:38):
I mean, he made very conscious decisions to do what
he did. He knew what he was doing.

Speaker 30 (01:05:43):
So and I think part of that was for me,
my own growth as a person to more deeply understand
his choices. I don't make necessarily the same choices that
he makes as it relates to my parenting skills in
the way of my relationship with my daughter. But I
do appreciate that he walked his talk and he did

(01:06:06):
what he needed to do for his journey, and I
am deeply appreciative that I, growing up also gravitated to
what he was interested in. Not everyone in my family
wanted to do things the way he wanted to do them.
I personally really dug the way he did the things
that he did. I liked the way he had a

(01:06:27):
strategy around something. I liked the way in which he
chose what he wanted to do and what he didn't
want to do. You know, it's interesting because I came
to my father many times with many different ideas and
things that he just shot down, and I mean, it
could have ruined me, you know, but instead what it did,

(01:06:48):
it reinforced in me that there must be a better
idea inside.

Speaker 8 (01:06:52):
And with all the things that he shot down, there
were more than double the things that he said, yes,
let's do that. That makes sense. That's exciting, you know.

Speaker 30 (01:07:00):
So I you know, he He's instilled in me a
way to look at walking through the world in.

Speaker 8 (01:07:09):
A strategic and very intentional way, and I'm grateful for that.

Speaker 1 (01:07:16):
I gotta go to a break. We come back. We'll
continue our conversation with Gina Belafonte with the celebrating life
and legacy of her father Harry Belafonte folks. YouTube folks,
be sure to hit that like button. Also be sure
to download our Blackstart Network app Apple Phone, Android Phone,
Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox one,
Samsung Smart TV. If you want to see the other

(01:07:38):
tributes that we have paid to mister b, you can
always catch that as well on the Blackstar Network app.
And then, of course you can also support our work
in what we do by joining our Bringer Funk fan club,
checking money overders, pill Box five seven one nine six,
Washington d C two zero zero three seven days even

(01:08:00):
one ninety six cash hap Dallas, sign are m unfiltered, PayPal,
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Roland s Martin dot comland at Roland muttonunfiltered dot com.
We'll be right back.

Speaker 12 (01:08:16):
Mhm hm hm hm hm hm hm.

Speaker 10 (01:08:30):
Hatred on the streets.

Speaker 13 (01:08:31):
A horrific scene white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violent.

Speaker 1 (01:08:39):
White people are losing their den as a main wory
pro Trump Mark storms the US capital. We're about to
see the lives what I call white minority resistance.

Speaker 20 (01:08:50):
We have seen white folks in this country who simply
cannot tolerate black folks voting.

Speaker 21 (01:08:56):
I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result result
of violent denial.

Speaker 9 (01:09:01):
This is part of American history.

Speaker 21 (01:09:03):
Every time that people of color have made in progress,
whether real or symbolic, there has been but Carold Anderson
at every university calls white rage as a backlash.

Speaker 1 (01:09:13):
Says the right of the proud Boys and the Boogaaloo
boys America. There's going to be more of this.

Speaker 8 (01:09:18):
All the proud boy of God.

Speaker 22 (01:09:20):
This country is getting increasingly racist and its behaviors and
its attitudes because of the fear of white people, the
few that you're taking our job, they're taking our resources,
they're taking our women.

Speaker 1 (01:09:33):
This is white being black.

Speaker 9 (01:09:50):
Start networks a real old revolutionary right now.

Speaker 15 (01:09:55):
I thank you for being the voice of black apparance, a.

Speaker 9 (01:09:58):
Moment that we have. Now we have to keep this going.

Speaker 8 (01:10:01):
The video looks phenomenal.

Speaker 10 (01:10:03):
Is between Black Star Network and Black owned media and
something like CNN.

Speaker 1 (01:10:08):
You can't be black owned media and be scared.

Speaker 9 (01:10:12):
It's time to be smarting your eyeballs.

Speaker 25 (01:10:16):
Hok you dig.

Speaker 1 (01:11:02):
Of course, of the folks who are watching, who may
not realize when we dedicated our studios here and rollingd unfiltered.
We unveil this portrait, mister b This was actually commissioned.
It was an artist who did this when the gathering
had their had their fundraiser of the Apollo Theater. It

(01:11:25):
was in two thousand and seventeen. I think maybe it
was an early I actually h m seed that event,
and so I remembered it and had it commissioned for
our office. And uh, and Gene it was interesting I
called him we unveiled it, and did not really did
not realize it was actually when I called him, it

(01:11:46):
was actually the same, I believe the night when Sidney
Poortier passed away, because the news came out the next day.

Speaker 31 (01:11:55):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:11:55):
And obviously, I mean, you know, I thought tremendously, uh
about a great deal about your father and what he did,
because he truly was as you as you said before
we went to to break somebody who did what he said.

Speaker 30 (01:12:12):
Yes, yes he did, absolutely he did. He was not
afraid to, you know, make his point clear. But you
know one thing that he really also was, I think,
especially as it related to the movement in particular and.

Speaker 8 (01:12:28):
Also in his artistry, he was a good listener. You know,
he really wanted to hear perspectives objectives.

Speaker 25 (01:12:34):
He didn't.

Speaker 8 (01:12:34):
He wasn't a person who just quickly, you know, moved.
He really heeded to doctor King's king in nonviolence.

Speaker 30 (01:12:44):
He suspended his first judgment and he tried his best,
I think, to lean into listening to different perspectives and
understand more deeply what people were trying to convey what
they were doing before he then put his own brilliant
strategy or spin on it.

Speaker 8 (01:12:58):
I mean, he was an expert strategist.

Speaker 15 (01:13:01):
A lot of people.

Speaker 30 (01:13:03):
Know that not only was he a big funder of
the nineteen sixties civil rights movement, but a deep strategist
within that movement, liaisoning between elected officials and the movement,
certainly being an intermediary between different movement fractions and factions

(01:13:24):
during that period, very closely in line with his dear friend,
doctor King, and he also to this day in this
more modern movement, you know, continued to be a strategist
and a mentor for young people who were looking for
the roadmap which he pointed them in the directions, and

(01:13:45):
many of them deeply understood and understood that they needed
to get an education in the history of the movement,
and before the sixties, you know, movement as well. We
needed to have a deeper understand of how we got
to where we were so that we could have a
deeper strategy on how to shift and change, you know,

(01:14:06):
things you're still working on.

Speaker 1 (01:14:08):
That you talked about him being a listener. It was
I guess when he got honored at the National Action
Network that had I think it was that was seventeen.
So so I walk up to him and he turns,
uh and anybody and anybody who knows me knows I'm

(01:14:30):
not one who uses the inn word. He goes, He turns,
think of when are you taking me to lunch?

Speaker 26 (01:14:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:14:42):
I looked at him and I went, I said, we're
going to talk about this in word thing. But I
thought you were going to say to me that.

Speaker 8 (01:14:53):
You turned to him and you said, nigga, where you
want to go?

Speaker 1 (01:14:57):
But I did say, I did say, so when you
want to go? He was like, I said, look, I said,
you don't let me know. Uh, So we work today.
I got, I got on the train. We came to
New York. We said on Ruth Chris Steakhouse in Manhattan.
Nice and so we so we're sitting there and he
was working on a book and yeah, and we were

(01:15:17):
so we're talking and I'm trying I want to listen
to him. He's like, no, I want to listen to you.
He's like, oh, he wasn't big, Like, you know, I
want to hear your thoughts.

Speaker 29 (01:15:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 25 (01:15:25):
No.

Speaker 8 (01:15:26):
He was not a person who just wanted to run
his run his mouth.

Speaker 1 (01:15:28):
He wanted to really And I said, no, I want
to hear him like, he said, no, I want to
hear what you think. He said, so, I got some
questions for you, and I want to hear where you
think about all these things.

Speaker 23 (01:15:38):
And I'm like, I'm not trying to say that, I
want to hear what you So we were like going.

Speaker 1 (01:15:42):
Back and forth, like, hey, fine, I ask the questions.

Speaker 30 (01:15:46):
Yeah, I mean, you know, he was he was interested
in what other people thought and what their perspectives were,
and he wanted to see if there was a way
in which he could support not only what they were doing,
but maybe offer them a different strategy or a different
way to look at, you know, what it is that they.

Speaker 8 (01:16:00):
Were trying to accomplish. He was so fond of you, Roland.

Speaker 30 (01:16:06):
He you know, really believed in your your platform, your work,
he believed in the way in which you wanted to
be unapologetically black in the space and really give us
a platform where we can be who we truly are
and speak the way we speak, and and and say
what's on our hearts.

Speaker 8 (01:16:25):
And that is something that I hope you know. He
was very, very very fond of you and really appreciated you.

Speaker 1 (01:16:33):
Probably one of the funniest things. So he calls me.
So this is before the Minie rivers Uh festival. So
so he calls me, and so he's he's trying to
drive attention for the event, and so phone rings and
it was always hilarious because he always blocked his number,

(01:16:56):
so it was like, no call or I d So
I was like, so I answer, I hate is Roland Martin? Hello,
mister b How do you know it's me? Said?

Speaker 8 (01:17:07):
Who the hell?

Speaker 28 (01:17:07):
Hell?

Speaker 1 (01:17:08):
Sounds like this somebody else ound And he could bust
out laughing. He just cracks up laughing. And that was
the thing that that that that people I don't think again,
people would see him speak and they would they would,
they would do all this, but have had no idea.
He had an efensive humor, ridiculous sense of humor.

Speaker 25 (01:17:29):
Yes, he did.

Speaker 15 (01:17:30):
He did.

Speaker 30 (01:17:31):
He was he liked to tell jokes. He liked to
uh definitely uplift people and make people laugh. And he
he was a very very very funny and very witty person.
And thank goodness, because he was so articulate about the
issues and about his conviction of them and his conviction

(01:17:52):
of what it was that he wanted to accomplish. So
he was very funny and always, you know, found a
way in which to you know, have his humor come through.

Speaker 9 (01:18:04):
And and he.

Speaker 1 (01:18:07):
He absolutely understood in terms of h when the race
uh is finished. What I mean by that is when
we so when he made that phone call. So we
come to New York and we sit down do the interview.
And when the interview was over, we're sitting there and
we're or maybe it was before they were setting up,

(01:18:31):
that was after was after and we're talking. He said
that he had just gotten over about with pneumonia. He
he said, I almost canceled this interview, and and he
was he was talking he and I saw so I
saw at a former producer was talking about that at

(01:18:51):
this at this discussion, he was talking about death. No,
he wasn't. He was not talking about what he was
what he was talking to me, because first of all,
I'm like he was talking to me. He was talking
about he said, this may be my last interview of
this type, and he was preparing the withdrawal from public life,
suh and and he was We talked about the different

(01:19:15):
things that he was working on. And in fact, two
years later, when I went to the Execute America event
in New York, he actually actually played this video uh
and I reached out to them and I remember I
remember watching it then. It was just blown away by it,

(01:19:38):
but also what he had to say about what he
did in his life. But even in that, the call
to Action, I want to play that and then talk
to you and the flips you'll go and play.

Speaker 29 (01:19:50):
I'm very sorry that I'm not able to be with
you in person. This, as a matter of fact, maybe
my last hurrah. I want to welcome all of you
here to tell you that I think everything I've done
with my life, all that I've tried to do with
the many people I've encountered, from Paul Robes into doctor

(01:20:12):
King to Nelson Mandela, I know this. I've walked my journey,
and I don't think that there's much more left for
me to say, if you have to catch me on
the street at the camera, or you have to catch

(01:20:33):
me in some public place, then I'm going to be
sure I don't do anything that will embarrass anyone. But
I do think that I've made the last walk. I
think I've done my turn, and I just want to

(01:20:57):
get out here observed the unites the universe that I
am leaving behind with a sense of satisfaction that I've
done all I could do and wanted to do and
was able to do. And now it's time for those

(01:21:24):
who have inherited the history of the civil rights movement,
the history of the struggle. Is now your turn to
get out there and bring a rewarding closure to this
endless struggle for equality in this place that clause America,

(01:21:47):
the land of the free. I've often reflected on that statement,
the land of the free, free to do what what,
free to say what. It's not been that free for
many of us, but before this is all over, it

(01:22:11):
will be, and a lot of that is dependent on
where you take it. Thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:22:21):
That was plain it was. It was just starting to
watch it because he said, I've done all I could
do and I want to do, and now it's your turn.

Speaker 30 (01:22:34):
Yeah, you know, I think that you know, different people
age differently. You know, you look at a person like
Norman Lear, you know, and then you look at it,
you know, someone like Sydney who really retreated from public life.
I think my father understood in some ways what was
happening to him physically more than anything else.

Speaker 8 (01:22:54):
I mean, to the end, my father was very you know, communicative.
If you asked him a question, he could answer it
kind of a thing.

Speaker 30 (01:23:02):
But I think that, you know, it just became more
difficult for him to pull for the words and more
difficult for him to struggle to articulate.

Speaker 8 (01:23:12):
You know, he's such an articulate person.

Speaker 30 (01:23:14):
And I think he wanted to leave the world with
an image of himself that was intact that you know,
you know, we didn't think of someone who was diminished.
And you know, he, like I said, he's you know,
he's a high school dropout. In such an articulate person,
he was able to pull from his own you know,

(01:23:37):
study words and sentences, phrases and sentiments that you know,
and and so that such a beautiful, you know, use
of language. So I think that, you know, I think
he wanted to pass the Baton quite specifically to a
lot of people, you know, who need to carry it forward.

(01:23:58):
It's going to take a lot of us to to
get this work together and done.

Speaker 29 (01:24:02):
And you know, he.

Speaker 8 (01:24:08):
He did, He did, He did all that he could do.

Speaker 30 (01:24:10):
I mean, at that point in his life, what more
could we draw from him that he hadn't already put
forward for us.

Speaker 8 (01:24:17):
To carry forward what there were?

Speaker 30 (01:24:20):
You know, it's interesting because I think he also understood
that in some ways, whatever new models or approaches we
might come up with moving forward, they were not things
that were at his own imagination, imagination or disposal. You know,
he he was a craftsman for much of the architecture,

(01:24:45):
alongside some of the most brilliant minds of the civil
rights movement. And he learned from his peers. He learned
from doctor King, he learned from Fanny lou Hamer, he
learned from Bayard Rustin, He learned a lot from all
those people. In did his best to take their legacies
and continue to move it forward and instill it in
all of us and challenge all of us to learn

(01:25:10):
and understand the deeper truths of all of them. And
I think that you know, he was speaking his absolute
truth that you know, it's time and it has been
time for some time for us to you know, carry
the mantle forward and trust in each other and really
do the work.

Speaker 25 (01:25:31):
Hold tight.

Speaker 1 (01:25:32):
One second, I got to go to a break. We
come back. We'll continue our conversation with Gina Belafonte, one
of the children of Hair Belafonte, of course, the actor, singer, activist,
humanitarian and philanthropists, you name it. He had lots of titles,
A true renaissance man who passed away April twenty fifth
at the age of ninety six. You're watching this continuing

(01:25:54):
treaty to him on Roland Martin unfilter on the blackstud Network.

Speaker 10 (01:26:07):
Next on the Black Table with me Greg Kaul, we
look at one of the most influential and prominent Black
Americans of the twentieth century. His work literally changed the work.
Among other things, he played a major role in creating
the United Nations. He was the first African American and
first person of color to win the Nobel Peace Bride,

(01:26:28):
and yet today he is hardly a household name. We're talking,
of course about Ralph J.

Speaker 1 (01:26:35):
Bunch.

Speaker 10 (01:26:36):
A new book refers to him as the absolutely indispensable man.

Speaker 11 (01:26:41):
His lifelong interest and passion in racial justice, specifically in
the form of colonialism, and he saw his work as
an activist an advocate for the black community here in
the United States as just the other side of the
coin of his work.

Speaker 9 (01:26:59):
Trying to roll back European Empire and Africa.

Speaker 10 (01:27:02):
Author cal Rastilla will join us to share his incredible story.
That's on the next Black Table here on the Black
Star Network.

Speaker 6 (01:27:13):
Up next on the Frequency with Me de Barnes, our
special guest Alicia Garza, one of the founders of the
Black Lives Matter movement. We're going to discuss her new books,
The Purpose of Power, How we come together when we
fall apart.

Speaker 7 (01:27:26):
We live in a world where we have to navigate.
than we did, right, right, everybody walks towards what they said,
even though it was your idea.

Speaker 8 (01:27:40):
Right here on the Frequency on the Black Star Network.

Speaker 1 (01:28:31):
All right, folks, welcome back to Rollard Martin on Filter.
One of the things that Gina I always thought it
was interesting, uh, is that your dad did not just
want to hang around people his age. It was always
uh interesting uh where he would he would he wanted

(01:28:51):
to be in the mix where the young folks were,
were the next generation was in UH. In his in
the documentary UH, he talked about a calling the meeting
of the Elders in Atlanta, UH and saying in the
midst of it, basically, the issues that we need to
solve ain't gonna be sold by the people in this

(01:29:12):
room because they ran their race.

Speaker 14 (01:29:16):
UH.

Speaker 1 (01:29:16):
And so he then said he had to go beyond
that room and go out and talk to the others
and seek the others and communicate with the others in
the next generation. And one of the folks who he
did that with was Philip Agnew co director of Black
Men Build, also with the Dream Defenders. H. Philip has

(01:29:37):
been in Cuba. We couldn't couldn't get him there, and
so we could actually finally reach him today he joins
us on here, Philip, you were with the Dream Defenders
when Mr b heard about what y'all were doing. And
he didn't just send you a video saying hey, great job.

(01:29:57):
He said, no, I want to be with them and
literally traveled to Florida as y'all were there sitting in
the state capitol.

Speaker 9 (01:30:08):
You know one, thank you for having me.

Speaker 16 (01:30:10):
Even in Cuba, the name Harry Belafonte was spoken in
high regard from the President and from a number of
folks there in the government who remember his contributions a
world away. Mister B always had a way of wrapping
us up in history, wrapping us up and inescapable arc

(01:30:35):
of justice.

Speaker 9 (01:30:35):
That he was a part of.

Speaker 16 (01:30:37):
And he came and he was with us in the capital.
He wasn't just a person, as he said, who spoke from.

Speaker 9 (01:30:43):
Afar, who talked from Afar.

Speaker 16 (01:30:45):
Mister B was always there on the ground as often
as possible.

Speaker 9 (01:30:50):
And what he did was he not only was there
as a.

Speaker 16 (01:30:56):
Symbol of the long arc of justice that we were
all apart of, but he gave you a level of
encouragement and a level of belief in what you were
doing and what I was doing, what we were doing
that nobody else could. You thought to yourself, mister Belafonte
has been there with Nelson, he's been there with Martin,

(01:31:17):
he's been there with Malcolm, He's been there all over
the world at different points in our history to create
this moment. And if mister Belafonte thinks it's that important
that he will come to Florida, or he'll come to.

Speaker 9 (01:31:29):
Wherever you are. You knew you were on the right path,
You were on the right track.

Speaker 16 (01:31:34):
And that's just a testament to his spirit, to his smile,
to his indomitable charisma. And it is a great honor
of my life that I've been a small part of
the journey that is mister Belafonte's life.

Speaker 1 (01:31:48):
Gina, Philip made the point about Cuba. I mean, the
hip hop community in Cuba is absolutely indebted to him
because Forael Castro would not allow rappers to do what
they do. And when your dad travel there, he told
for Thel Castro let the artists practice their art. And

(01:32:08):
then he comes back the next year and they thank
him because it was him intervening directly with for Their
Castro that allowed Cuban rappers and Cuban hip hop artists
to be able to do what they do in that country.
So he wasn't afraid to even tell a Castro, hey man,
right right, because.

Speaker 8 (01:32:30):
I think I mean, first of all, hello, Philip, it's
such a pleasure.

Speaker 25 (01:32:32):
To see you.

Speaker 8 (01:32:33):
Let me just say that.

Speaker 30 (01:32:34):
And also, yeah, you know, I think my father really,
you know, believed in humanity, and he was dealing with humans,
and so I think that you know, he understood that,
you know, the Cuban Revolution had places to grow, and
he did his best to maintain relations through culture and

(01:32:57):
bring art and culture to the island and reciprocate a
cultural exchange. And I think that you know, when he
heard the young people rapping, you know, a lot of
people don't know that Harry was.

Speaker 8 (01:33:12):
The producer of Beet Street and he was very much
in tune and up to date with our own current
like scene music and cultural scene. And Harry was sort
of like when you think.

Speaker 30 (01:33:25):
About hip hop, when you think about what hip hop means,
and it sometimes means a different thing to different people,
but one thing about hip hop is authenticity and originality,
and Harry was all those things. And so he understood
the importance of how culture needed to not be suppressed

(01:33:47):
and that he wanted to ensure that young people everywhere
had an opportunity.

Speaker 8 (01:33:51):
To express their identity and express themselves.

Speaker 30 (01:33:56):
And so yeah, he told Fidel that there was some
young artists that he came in contact with that had
no place to cultivate their craft and really work on
their craft, and that it is important, especially if you
want to as he always used to say to us,
win them to your cause.

Speaker 8 (01:34:17):
So in some ways he may have counseled Fidel to.

Speaker 30 (01:34:20):
Say, listen, if you want to win them to your cause,
you need to help support their work and what they
want to do as well. So I don't know the
exact things that he said to him, but I know
because I also also have been to Cuba. And when
you say that name Bellefonte, there are a lot of
young people and artists who say, oh, you know, you know,
he was so instrumental in giving us our own you know,

(01:34:42):
liberation within.

Speaker 8 (01:34:43):
The confines of our movement here. And yes he was
not afraid.

Speaker 29 (01:34:48):
He was just not.

Speaker 1 (01:34:50):
Philip. That that just for folks again, what was the
light when he literally shows up remember and there in
other media outlets start doing interviews. They were kind of like,
what is this this old black man doing here with
all these young kids? Because the Dream Defenders really really

(01:35:11):
became naturally prominent in the wake of the death of
treyvon Martin, the murder trayvon Martin.

Speaker 12 (01:35:16):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:35:16):
But but for you, uh, this this this this young
hipper snapper down there making all this noise. Uh, and
to see this figure uh come there to stay with.
Staying with y'all had to be quite surreal.

Speaker 2 (01:35:31):
Uh.

Speaker 16 (01:35:32):
Absolutely, once again you Uh, As a young person in
the movement, what I recall was always feelings of unsurety, uncertainty. Yeah,
we had the youth for zubrants. Yeah, we knew we
were in a we were doing what was right, and.

Speaker 9 (01:35:48):
We were standing up for what was right. But consistently
the doubt creeps in.

Speaker 16 (01:35:53):
Are we in the right moment? Are we doing the
right thing? Are we making our our our folks proud?
Do we know what's gonna come next? Mister Belafonte coming
there quieted all doubt internally that we were in the
right moment, that we were the right people for the moment,
that no matter what happened next, that this moment was ours,

(01:36:14):
and that once again we were a part of a
long trajectory of freedom fighters the world over.

Speaker 9 (01:36:20):
And it's interesting.

Speaker 1 (01:36:21):
So he did so, he did what Gena said earlier.
He validated y'all work, or gave you the step of
He gave you the have Belafonte's silver approval.

Speaker 9 (01:36:30):
Yes, because I wanted, I want, I want this to
be known.

Speaker 16 (01:36:33):
Yeah, there were people saying, why is this old guy
coming but overwhelmingly people were wondering, what are the who
are these people?

Speaker 9 (01:36:42):
Who are these kids?

Speaker 16 (01:36:43):
And when he came in, people understood that we weren't
just loud, but we had a level of thought and analysis,
and that we had a plan, and that we were
legitimate actors in the in the in the in the
long arc of history, that we we we weren't just
young whipper snappers, that we had connections.

Speaker 9 (01:37:03):
Frankly, that we were connected with somebody.

Speaker 16 (01:37:05):
Who you know, who had stood with Malcolm, stood with Martin,
stood with Ella, stood with folks the world over over
and over and consistence consistently was on the side of good.
And so for us, he was that stamp of approval.
And really, to this day we are still embolden with
that stemp. You know, I'm still incredibly grateful for the

(01:37:27):
private conversations that we've been able to have and will
carry those with me for the rest of my life.
And it was that public standing alongside us that burnish
star reputation and allowed us to continue to.

Speaker 15 (01:37:42):
Do our work.

Speaker 1 (01:37:44):
Gina, you saw that take place with Philip and the
Dream Defenders and then just so many other people. But
also speak on how he also challenged these younger artists,
these apps, these musicians to say, you could be doing
a hell of a lot more than what you're doing

(01:38:05):
right now.

Speaker 8 (01:38:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 9 (01:38:07):
Well, I mean, you know, he.

Speaker 30 (01:38:08):
Worked in very mysterious ways and sometimes you know, I remember,
I remember the work with the Dream Defenders in the
very very early days when he came back from that
trip and we were just also at the same time
forming Sankofa and you know, the Dream Defenders came to
us for their support, and we immediately said, you know,

(01:38:30):
let's let's why don't we do this. Let's send you
all to high Lender and you know, let's let's let's
finance an opportunity for you all to come together to
actually create that strategy that Philip was discussing and talking about,
and also give a political education to some of the
other folks that are around you that may not quite
be as hip to what's happening, so that you can

(01:38:51):
educate your peers so that you guys can take that
deeper dive.

Speaker 8 (01:38:55):
And he wanted to do that same thing with artists.
Many artists look at Harry like he.

Speaker 30 (01:39:01):
Was just an anomaly, like they didn't get how were
you able to be so outspoken.

Speaker 8 (01:39:05):
How are you able to do what you do and
did what you did and still maintain.

Speaker 30 (01:39:09):
Your career and still maintain your level of celebrity. And
I think, you know, there are a couple of things
to be said about that. Certainly was a different time.
We did not have the same kind of technology. The
cancel culture, so to speak, was not quite as hot
as it is here. The cancel culture came from the

(01:39:31):
government predominantly. And you know, while my father was in
some ways blacklisted and fired from jobs that he no
longer wanted to participate in if they had to be
of a certain way, you know, he was able to
be authentic and true to his voice, and so he
wanted to find a way to engage young artists in

(01:39:57):
an opportunity to understand that there are rategic ways that
you can use your platform to educate your audiences, and
that you can bring your audiences in to let them
know about what some of the things that are happening
around you, whether it's through your lyrics, whether it's through
the music you choose to sing, whether it's you know,

(01:40:20):
documentaries or the films and the stories you choose to tell.

Speaker 8 (01:40:25):
You know, not everyone has to be on a front line.

Speaker 30 (01:40:29):
That's not for everybody, but there is a space and
a place for all of us to show up and
to participate. And I think that he wanted to really
let young artists and all artists know that there's work
to do and we all have an opportunity to participate.

Speaker 1 (01:40:46):
Philip, you talked about a lot of those conversations. There
were obviously there were a lot of things that you
can remember, But what's that one thing that stands out
the most?

Speaker 5 (01:40:58):
Are them?

Speaker 9 (01:41:00):
You might stump me here.

Speaker 1 (01:41:04):
I wouldn't be the alpha if I didn't you know what.

Speaker 9 (01:41:07):
You know what, You're right, You're right, You're right.

Speaker 16 (01:41:10):
And now I got to be a beta new alpha
here fam you alpha and respond you know what, because
right now I've got to be genuine and authentic with
what comes to mind. What I will always remember about
every conversation that I've ever had with mister B was
how intently he listened to me.

Speaker 9 (01:41:30):
I'm trying right now to recall some pearl that he
told me.

Speaker 16 (01:41:34):
And I actually have a bunch of stuff recorded on
my phone, Gina, from conversations that I've had with mister
B and Danny. But the biggest thing that will always
stick with me was sitting in a room with mister
b and watching him look me in the eyes and
listen to what I had to say intently.

Speaker 9 (01:41:53):
Intently he would.

Speaker 16 (01:41:54):
He wouldn't you know, he would lean over Gina, you
know about this, and he would just be listening.

Speaker 9 (01:42:01):
And I remember I would get done with a rant,
and I.

Speaker 16 (01:42:03):
Would get done with saying something that I thought was
smart but really didn't feel quite sure about, and he
would always look at and he would ask the most
insightful questions and he would want to pull more. And
he made me know and feel that there was a
brilliance inside of me. That's the biggest thing that I
will remember. Yeah, there were quotes him always saying I'm

(01:42:25):
better than I deserve, and him giving us the quotes
from Paul Robson that artists are the gatekeepers to truth,
and you know, all the different things that at some
point almost became repetitive because it was just a part
of who he was. But it was how much he
listened and how much he really edified the words that
each one.

Speaker 9 (01:42:45):
Of us said. And some of us might have been
saying some silly stuff.

Speaker 16 (01:42:48):
I know I might have been saying some things that
weren't the most well researched and didn't come from a
whole wealth of experience, but he listened, and he told
us that what we had to say meant something and
was worthy, and even if we weren't always precise, we
had to say it.

Speaker 9 (01:43:04):
It had to be said.

Speaker 16 (01:43:05):
And so that's the big thing that I can recall
for you, that is genuine and authentic is the biggest
thing that will always land on me.

Speaker 1 (01:43:13):
Is I knew when I.

Speaker 9 (01:43:14):
Spoke with mister b he wasn't gonna talk the whole time.

Speaker 16 (01:43:17):
He was going to require that I spoke up, and
he was gonna listen, and he was going to respond
with the level of insight and questions and interrogation and
curiosity that made him who he is and who he was.

Speaker 1 (01:43:30):
Fred I appreciate it, my brother, Philip, thanks you a lot.

Speaker 9 (01:43:32):
Yes, sir, thank you very much.

Speaker 8 (01:43:34):
Love you, Gina, love you back, brother, Thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:43:37):
Going to our final break, we will come back conclude
our conversation with Ginavella Fonte. You're watching roland Mark unfilter
on the Black Study Network.

Speaker 31 (01:43:53):
On the next Get Wealthy with Me, Deborah Owens, America's
well coach.

Speaker 8 (01:43:58):
Nurses are the.

Speaker 31 (01:43:59):
Bat phone of the healthcare industry, and yet only seven
percent of them are black. What's the reason for that
low number, Well, a lack of opportunities and growth in
their profession.

Speaker 14 (01:44:13):
Joining us on the next Get Wealthy is Needy Bartanilla.

Speaker 31 (01:44:17):
She's going to be sharing exactly what nurses need to
do and what approach they need to take to take
ownership of their success.

Speaker 3 (01:44:25):
So the Blackness Collaborative really spawned from a place and
a desire to create opportunities to uplift each other, those
of us in a profession to also look and reach
back and create and create pipelines and opportunities for other
nurses like us.

Speaker 14 (01:44:40):
That's right here on Get Wealthy only on black Star Head.

Speaker 1 (01:44:48):
Black Star Network needs.

Speaker 29 (01:44:54):
Right now.

Speaker 9 (01:44:54):
Thank you for being the voice of black amarans O
women that we have. Now we have to keep this goal.

Speaker 8 (01:45:00):
The video looks phenomenal.

Speaker 10 (01:45:02):
Between Black Star Network and Black owned media and something
like seeing.

Speaker 1 (01:45:07):
N you can't be black owned media and be scared.

Speaker 9 (01:45:10):
It's time to be smarting your eyeballs.

Speaker 10 (01:45:14):
Honk it dig.

Speaker 1 (01:46:02):
All right, folks, welcome back. Final segment with Gina Belafonte,
one of the children of Harry Belafonte, who became an
ancestor April twenty fifth. And so, Gina, this is a
photo here, you, yours, your your father, your sister leaving

(01:46:28):
Capitol Hill after a lobbying and and the thing that
I thought that was great first off with that photo
is that one the smiles on the face of you,
your sister, Cherry, your father.

Speaker 29 (01:46:43):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:46:44):
And we mentioned Fidel Castro, but but this is a man.
This he was a man who had no problem challenging
power and pushing folk to do right.

Speaker 12 (01:46:57):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:46:58):
My first actually encounter was when I had to edit
a piece in savoid magazine a Q and A. Roy
Johnson was editor in chief, and I had to whack
some stuff and I was like, man, I wrote all
of it. This is pre internet, so we couldn't do that.
And look, he had no problem challenging President Barack Obama
and so it didn't matter, didn't matter what your position was.

(01:47:21):
He fully expected more of political leaders.

Speaker 30 (01:47:25):
Yes, of course, I mean there's so much to do,
there's so many laws to pass. I mean, you know,
our democracy is an experiment. I feel like the capitalist
American experience is an experiment.

Speaker 8 (01:47:39):
And we're all sort of in the Petrie dish together.

Speaker 30 (01:47:44):
And I think that he wanted to ensure that we
were using our democracy to our fullest and making sure that,
you know, if we are now considered humans along with
other people, then we're the laws need to reflect our rights,
and he, you know, wanted to push those boundaries.

Speaker 8 (01:48:08):
But you know, it's it's it's important.

Speaker 30 (01:48:11):
To note that, you know, Harry was asked to run
for office, He was asked to run for Senate, and
he knew that he could be far more effective in
the private sector than as an elected official. So you know,
he maintained his you know, private citizen status, and he

(01:48:32):
used his platform, he used his space, he used his intellect,
he used his relationships and his network to do his
best to not only assist in getting people elected that
he thought shared his own personal mission, but that we're people,
you know, getting people elected that were you know, our

(01:48:52):
neighbors are our people who lived down the block. You know,
he made it very clear that we the people or
power to the people meant that we needed to infiltrate
the system and that we needed to once we were
in the system, tear down the machine and instill a

(01:49:15):
more human approach to our existence.

Speaker 8 (01:49:19):
And we're still working on that.

Speaker 30 (01:49:21):
You know, we have the confines of our government to
work within a structure that was built, as people say,
the Founding fathers. I say, you know, the Founding you know, mistogynists.

Speaker 8 (01:49:36):
But anyway, it's.

Speaker 30 (01:49:38):
Important just to understand that our human existence needs to evolve.
We need to grow, and we need to grow from
our humanness, not from what the Constitution states. The Constitution
is a guide for us. It's a jumping off point.
And you know, for the most part, it did its
best to be inclusive.

Speaker 8 (01:50:00):
And what it knew at that moment.

Speaker 30 (01:50:02):
But now it's important for us to take our moral center,
our ethics, and our humanity and really create a world
where there is true equity, and there is true love,
and there's true you know, caring for thy neighbor. And
I think he was hopeful that we would continue to

(01:50:24):
work and chip away at this experiment to make it
better for future generations, if we can hold onto the
planet long enough that we can have future generations.

Speaker 1 (01:50:36):
Last question here sankofa that obviously that was so many
things that he was involved in, but clearly creating that
with you is also part of his lasting legacy because
that continues, that that will continue to move forward absolutely.

Speaker 8 (01:51:01):
Sankofa dot Org is an organization that really.

Speaker 30 (01:51:08):
Sits at the intersection of art and activism and so
it continues to do that today. We have incredible programs.
We have civics programs in the arts with young people
making films and educating themselves peer to peer on different
civic issues.

Speaker 8 (01:51:26):
We have a really interesting virtual reality.

Speaker 30 (01:51:32):
Re entry program that we work with formally incarcerated and
incarcerated men and women and we give them virtual reality
experiences that help quell some of their trauma triggers upon
coming home so that they don't acitivate. We are always
working with new talent and finding new stories and new plays.

(01:51:54):
We're hopefully taking our wonderful lyrics from Lockdown to Broadway
soon and it will all be.

Speaker 8 (01:52:02):
In the legacy of my dad and the mission Forward.

Speaker 15 (01:52:07):
You know.

Speaker 30 (01:52:08):
We came up with that mission together along with Raoul Roach,
who was the son of another great, you know, very
progressive musician, Max Roach, and we built Sankofa in the
belief that it could be eternal. That really it is
culture that really leads in very many ways trends and

(01:52:29):
the way in which that we you know, work with
one another moving forward, So Sankofa is really moving along.

Speaker 8 (01:52:37):
We're strong and we're excited to continue.

Speaker 25 (01:52:40):
The work.

Speaker 1 (01:52:42):
Well, Adrena, we appreciate you joining us and sitting in
chatting with us for this hour to uh to celebrate
and talk about and share with the rest of the world.
Your father, Andrew Jung said something to me by doctor King.
That thing certainly applies, he said. He said, Martin may
not physically be with us, but the reality is he

(01:53:03):
is being talked about every single day. One of the
things that we've seen over the past ten days is
that so many people have been posting photos and memories
and sharing thoughts with regards to your dad what he
meant when they crossed paths with him. And there's no
doubt of the things that he was involved with will

(01:53:24):
continue to be talked about from here to eternity. That's
what it means to have a life of impact. And
it's a whole lot that he did in those ninety
six years.

Speaker 8 (01:53:35):
That's true. That's true.

Speaker 30 (01:53:37):
And also let me just say, you know, there are
a lot of spaces and places where my father has
embedded his mark. Sankofa dot Org is one of those places.
The gathering for justice certainly is another. My sister has
a foundation called the Air Foundation, which is an incredible foundation.

(01:53:59):
My brother is soon to launch his own personal Belafonte
Family Foundation. My other's sister, while she doesn't have her own,
she does a lot of work with the Lily Clare Foundation.
So we're all, you know, whether he's literally founded the
organization with us, or whether we are just extensions of
what he instilled in us.

Speaker 8 (01:54:19):
There the Dream Defenders or you know, wherever it is.

Speaker 30 (01:54:23):
I think of all of the places where he sat
on boards and whether it was actual boards or advisory boards,
whether it had to do with AIDS HIV crisis, or
whether it had to do with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund,
or there's just so many places the Advancement Project there.

Speaker 8 (01:54:42):
You know, he really really wanted people to know.

Speaker 30 (01:54:46):
And understand that he supported many different movements in the
for the civil rights movement, many different roads and avenues
within the movement itself. He wanted to ensure that people
had opportunities and spaces and where they could choose what
was most authentic to them to support, to help continue rise,
to raise up, and to be a part of. So

(01:55:10):
my thing is always to encourage other people to get
involved and to find something that is authentic to you,
to find a way that you can also participate and
carry the legacy forward.

Speaker 1 (01:55:20):
Well, that is certainly the case. He definitely I enjoyed
our time together having fun, and this is one of
the photos of the last sit down we had in
his office where we had way too much fun, cracking
jokes and having a good time. And so he certainly

(01:55:45):
will be missed, but we absolutely will remember him, and
as long as this show is here, as long as
I am here, that portrait will always be in our
studio where we would pay respecs to your dad and
what he meant to me, but also to African Americans,

(01:56:07):
to this country and to this world.

Speaker 8 (01:56:09):
Thank you, Roland, thank you so much. Appreciate you.

Speaker 1 (01:56:11):
Your arcadolsis to your family. Jenni Bellofonie, thanks a lot, peace, folks.
That is it for us. This weekend, we're going to
live stream Wan to restream the two one on one
interviews that I did with mister B when I was
at TV one. We'll have that for you. And also
I've not shared with you when we some other videos

(01:56:34):
when he accepted the war from the RFK Foundation. We're
going to have that for you on Monday, and also
at the Minie Rivers festival, he actually sang, He actually sang,
and I recorded the video on stage. He's sang that
night and that was the first time he had sang
publicly in a very very long time. And then we'll
have that for you as well. Folks. That's it for us.

(01:56:55):
We appreciate it. Thank you so very much. We'll see
you on Monday. Right here on Rollard Martin Nufilure on
the Black Starting Network. Support us of what we do,
download our app. Also you can also draw bring the
Funk Fan Club uh and so you can join us
right there. And when you support us, you get your
name on the list that we run every single Friday.
Thank you said very much. I'll see all my money MHM.

Speaker 19 (01:58:00):
Which in pus, the colombag in past us, the colomblic
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the US, the colomblic in pamus, colomblic in paus, the

(01:58:30):
comic into the damage in bus, the clobic in past,
the colomblic.

Speaker 12 (01:58:40):
Input pat must the colomblic input.

Speaker 19 (01:58:46):
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the comic instas clombach inca in the clobaic inst.

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Speaker 19 (01:59:13):
The colombag in fact, put them in the cloublic in
pam in clomblas inca in the clublic into.

Speaker 12 (01:59:30):
The mus the clombag into them in.

Speaker 19 (01:59:37):
The clublic into in the colombag insta in the clubs
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(02:00:25):
the colombag in part, damage in the club in part,
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Speaker 12 (02:00:37):
In the closbach in part, the damage in.

Speaker 19 (02:00:44):
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Speaker 12 (02:02:26):
In the comic insta damage in.

Speaker 19 (02:02:32):
The colomblic in page in the comic into the damage
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(02:02:59):
in Boston, plublic in public, public in Boston, plublic in public,
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