PV alumni demand changes from Texas A&M; Farrakhan, Father Pfleger remember Harry Belafonte

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Today's Thursday, April twenty seven and twenty twenty three coming
up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Blackstart
Network from Houston, Texas Prairieview, A and of alumni are
demanding changes from the Texas A and on border regions.
They say they even want to look into leaving from
under that university arm. They also want access to that

(00:24):
billion dollar permanent university fund that is the domain of
the University of Texas and Texas A and M. We
live stream the news conference today will show you some
of what took place at the news conference on the
campus of Prayerview A and M University. Also, folks, we've
lost another ancestor, the people's lawyer, Altin Maddox has passed

(00:45):
the way. We'll talk about his impact as a lawyer
in New York and other parts of the country.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Also on today's show, the state.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
Of Illinois they're closing a black, all male charter school.
Will tell you about the controversies of urban prep and
what is the future for that school that has had
such success but now it is facing shutting down. And
we continue our day three paying tribute to Harry Belafontage

(01:14):
we'll talk with two two gentlemen who knew him very well,
longtime friend, Pastor Michael Flager of Saint Sabadah Katholiy Church
in Chicago and also in Chicago. Nature of Leislaine, Minister
Lewis Farakahn, folks. And today's my thirty fourth alphaiversary and
it's the birthday of my alpha brother, doctor Greg Card.
It is time to bring the funk on Roland Martin

(01:35):
Unfiltrip on the Black Star Network.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
Let's go.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
He's He's on it.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
Whatever it is.

Speaker 4 (01:43):
He's got the school, the FACTI and Wenna believes he's
right on time and.

Speaker 5 (01:50):
Best belief. He's going.

Speaker 4 (01:52):
Now Frank's Loston News to politics with entertainment just fun
case he's going. It's he's spooky Spress, she's real the question, No,

(02:17):
he's rolling.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
The racist white woman who accused Immittil of whistling at
her and her that statement led to his lynching by
her husband and others.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
She died today at the age of eighty eight.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
Carolyn Bryant was declared dead by a county quarter in Louisiana,
who was in nineteen fifty five when Carolyn Carolyn Bryant
said that fourteen year old in matild had whistled at
her and made sexual advances towards her. Those accusations were
enough for her husband and others to go and kidnap

(03:06):
im Maatil as well as lynch and viciously murder him.
It was that lynching that struck a nerve in Black
America and really led to the launching of the Black
Freedom Movement for years. Folks who have been advocating for
Carolyn Bryant to be brought to justice for what she did.

(03:28):
There was efforts by lawyers and the others to actually
have her charge have her indicted for perjury, but that
decision was never made. I Mattil killed at fourteen, she
lived to be eighty eight. If you look at social media,
black folks are having absolutely no empathy or sympathy whatsoever

(03:50):
for her dying, many of them saying Satan is welcoming
her with open arms.

Speaker 2 (03:55):
My panel right now is W. Gregg Carr Department Back.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
For American Studies University, also law Victoria Burke, Black Press, USA,
doctor Jason Nicols, Senior Lecturer, African American Studies Department, University
of Maryland, College Park mcgreg will be joining us in
just a bit. I'll start with you, Jason, from from
a historical standpoint, you know, her name lives in infamy.

(04:20):
She will always be associated as the racist white.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Woman who lied on Mt. Twelve. I matil and is
her lies that led to his.

Speaker 6 (04:29):
Lynching, absolutely and as and it's very well deserved. There's
no amount of you know, she never really gave a
real apology. She did say that he didn't deserve what
happened to him, nothing that he did.

Speaker 7 (04:46):
But we also know that.

Speaker 6 (04:47):
There was an open arrest warrant for her that was
never served. And when we look at this, we can't
say that this is any form of justice. She got
to live out her day. She has at least one
son that I'm aware of. She got to live in
a nursing home and in hospice care and get care

(05:08):
and all of the things that we.

Speaker 7 (05:10):
Know that Emmett Till never got.

Speaker 6 (05:13):
He never got to live out his life, He never
got to have children, he never got to get married
twice the way she did. He never got all of
the care that others got. When you know, she got
to pass peacefully in hospice. And I think it's infuriating,
and I think that there's no empathy for someone.

Speaker 7 (05:35):
Who does that and never gets held accountable.

Speaker 6 (05:38):
You can't tell me that Mississippi has changed and Mississippi
is so different, you know, when people don't get held accountable,
when we have the evidence and we have a confession
and we have an arrest.

Speaker 5 (05:54):
More.

Speaker 6 (05:55):
Well, one thing I'll tell you about the Israelis, and
I'm not going to make this, you know, a whole
international thing, but one thing is, if you are a Nazi,
they will keep you on a respirator in order to
take you to Israel and make you face justice. They
don't care what end of the earth you live on.
They don't care if you're in South America, if you're
in Brazil, if you're in Argentina, if you're in freaking Antarctica.

Speaker 7 (06:19):
The Israelis will find you.

Speaker 6 (06:21):
They will dress you up and address They've done this
before with men. They dressed them up like women in
order to get them on a plane and take.

Speaker 7 (06:28):
Them back to Israel and face justice.

Speaker 6 (06:31):
But yet Carolyn Bryant, who we knew where she was,
she never faced justice in the United States of America.
So if you're gonna tell me that the United States
is a just country and you won't even do what
the Israelis will do when they saw something that they
think is wrong. They just tried somebody in Israel who

(06:53):
was in their nineties, and when they worked with the Nazis,
they were in their teens, they were like seventeen, and
they still tried that woman and found her guilty. So
you can't tell me when there's an open a rest
that you're not going to execute it.

Speaker 7 (07:08):
It's a disgrace.

Speaker 6 (07:09):
It's a disgrace in our country.

Speaker 1 (07:13):
The thing here, Lauren, Again, that were efforts the last
several years for that to actually happen, And again, if
you look at the social media reaction today, it is
clear it is vicious and folks have no love whatsoever
for Carolyn Bryant. And folks are pretty much saying, not, hey,

(07:38):
you know our ip, but folks like no absolutely have
no rest in hell. That literally is what people are saying,
and that is.

Speaker 8 (07:45):
What they should be saying.

Speaker 9 (07:47):
And happy birthday, great car and happy birthday, Coreta Scott King.
You know, the entire Carolyn Bryant's story says a lot
about American history and what this country is really about
and who this country really cares about, and if there's
one group that.

Speaker 8 (08:03):
This country really does not care about.

Speaker 9 (08:05):
It's black men, particularly, not only just in this context,
but I think certainly present day we see the vestiges
of this type of thing. We can't go two weeks
in this country without seeing a story from the Innocence Project.
Usually if some black male who's been in jail for
twenty and thirty years that was innocent and somebody said
something at trial there was no evidence, and somebody's life

(08:25):
has been destroyed by something that was a false allegation.
Carolyn Bryant got away with it because society allowed her
to get away with it because.

Speaker 8 (08:34):
We don't care.

Speaker 9 (08:35):
We don't care about anything around the justice of what
she did. There is no justice, of course, in what
she did, and she was never brought to justice. The
story of Carolyn Bryant is the story of disparate justice
in the United States when it comes to black males
in particular, and the fact that nobody was moved to
actually try to bring her to justice and she dies

(08:55):
of old age after everything we know and everything we
found out basically tells us all we.

Speaker 10 (09:01):
Need to know. A great car.

Speaker 11 (09:07):
Yeah, no, and thanks and happy afphiversary, brother, and thanks Lauren,
and thanks you Jayson for that those birthday, which is
you know, Carolyn Bryant, in my mind, died in August
nineteen fifty five, and ever since then she's had every
day to try to reclaim a little bit of her life. Today,
her body joined her character, her reputation, her name in

(09:31):
eternal death. I have been thoroughly enjoying our people on
social media. And the Old Miss is dead. And I
say that very particularly because the University Mississippi still goes
by the name Old Miss, and you look at the
history of univers Mississippi. Old Miss was a name that
they took because it refers to the white woman who
lived in the plantation house. The Old Miss is dead.

(09:53):
The New York Times and others keep referring to her
as a former beauty queen. She is a beautiful example
of white supremacy. And since we are in a crimin
enterprise called the United States of America, as far as
I'm concerned, there is and there will never be a
we referring to us in the United States. It's very
clear that she was protected by the United States, the
federal government. She was protected by the media that Roy
Bryant and his half brother J. W. Milan, sold their

(10:16):
story too. After they were acquitted, she was protected by
the state of Mississippi. She was protected by doctor Timothy Tyson,
who took her confession and sat on it until he
could write his book, The Blood of Emmet Tell, a
book that I have, but that I thought because I
would not spend one penny on an academic that held
that for ten years.

Speaker 12 (10:32):
The old missus dead.

Speaker 11 (10:33):
She died in August nineteen fifty five, and her body
today joins her character, her reputation, and her name. And
wherever she is it ain't where Emmitt till And made
me tell Mobley, it ain't where Mega ever is and TRM. Howard,
it ain't where none of the Africans who are venerated
ancestors are.

Speaker 12 (10:51):
She dies today, Denise, It's over, folks.

Speaker 2 (10:57):
Going to a break. We come back.

Speaker 1 (10:58):
We'll talk about the passion of the People's lawyer. Alternate
Mattics in the Bronx will also share with you am
lumn University demanding changes from the Texas and the university
system when it comes to the governance.

Speaker 2 (11:13):
Of PREIVIEW, including access.

Speaker 1 (11:15):
To the Permanent University Fund, which the multi billion dollar
fund in the state of Texas that funds the largest
two institutions higher learning. They also say that they want
to see finally a member A Pray View, A and M
graduate as a member of the Texas A and M
border regions.

Speaker 2 (11:33):
Will have that for you. Also, we'll talk with the
leaders of Urban Prep in Chicago.

Speaker 1 (11:38):
It has gained a lot of attention over the years
for sending one hundred percent of the regulars to college.
What they've done with young black boys there in Chicago,
but they're.

Speaker 2 (11:49):
Now about to shut down.

Speaker 1 (11:51):
It is a significant fall from Grace will tell you
exactly what is going to happen next with Urban Prep.
And I got a few words to say about fraternities, sororities,
and hazing.

Speaker 10 (12:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (12:07):
Plus in our second hour, Fallo, Michael Flagger Minster, Lewis
Farakahn would share their thoughts and reflections on their good friend,
the late Harriet Bella Fonte. A lot for us to
cover here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network.

Speaker 2 (12:21):
We'll be right back.

Speaker 11 (12:26):
Next on the Black Table with me Greg Call. We
look at the history of emancipation around there, including right
here in the United States. The so called end of slavery.
Trust me, it's a history lesson that bears no resemblance
to what you learned in school. Professor Chris mnjoppra, author, scholar,
amazing teacher, joins us to talk about his latest book,

(12:48):
Black Ghost of Empire, The Death of Slavery and the
Failure of Emancipation. He explains why the end of slavery
was no end at all, but instead a collection of
laws and policies designed to preserve the status quo.

Speaker 12 (13:02):
Of racial of ration.

Speaker 13 (13:04):
The real problem is that the problems that slavery and
invented have continued over time, and what reparations are really
about is saying, how do we really transform society right
and stop racial violence which is so endemic, what we.

Speaker 12 (13:21):
Need to do about it.

Speaker 11 (13:22):
On the next installment of the Black Table, right here
on the Black Star.

Speaker 2 (13:30):
Black Star Networks.

Speaker 5 (13:34):
A real revolutionary right now.

Speaker 1 (13:36):
I thank you for being the voice of black affarance
women we have.

Speaker 2 (13:40):
Now we have to keep this going.

Speaker 9 (13:42):
The video looks phenomenal.

Speaker 11 (13:44):
Dif between Black Star Network and Black owned media and
something like CNN.

Speaker 1 (13:49):
You can't be black owned media.

Speaker 2 (13:52):
And be scared.

Speaker 12 (13:53):
It's time to be smart.

Speaker 7 (13:54):
Bring your eyeballs hole you dig.

Speaker 14 (14:01):
I'm building. This is all riddle.

Speaker 2 (14:02):
What's up? I'll back Chrissette Michelle, I am.

Speaker 15 (14:05):
Chailey Rose and you're watching Roland Martin unfiltered.

Speaker 10 (14:13):
H m hm m hm.

Speaker 1 (14:59):
He proude the as a lawyer in New York who
took on a number of high profile cases, many of
them involving African Americans, has died. Alton Maddox Junior died
at the age of seventy seven in the Bronx just
a few days ago, actually over the weekend. He died

(15:19):
in a nursing home. No cause of death was released,
but Maddox had suffered from dementia. He was born in Michigan,
grew up in Georgia, graduated from Howard University, and received
a law degree at Boston College. A Violet encounter with
Georgia police submitted his commitment to fighting against rampant racial
injustice in police departments. He worked for the Harlem Legal

(15:42):
Services and went on to lead a juvenile justice project
for the National Conference of Black Lawyers. He began his
law practice in nineteen eighty one, quickly gaining reputation in
New York for advocating for black victims of police brutality,
using the media to deploy accusatory rhetoric at New York's
law enforcement. He described himself as an attorney at war.

(16:05):
He was also often called the People's lawyer. There were
a number a number of cases that he was involved
in over the years, oftentimes standing with working with Reverend L.
Sharpton as well as a fellow attorney, c Vernon Mason.
Those cases involved Cedric Sanderford, one of the black men

(16:30):
who was accosted and chased by a group of whites
in the Queen's neighborhood of Howard Beach.

Speaker 2 (16:36):
Also, he represented the family of Michael Griffith.

Speaker 1 (16:38):
Who died after he was struck by a car doing
that Howard Beach attack. He also represented represented Tawana Brawley,
the black teenager who claimed that the white men men
had raped and adupted her in nineteen eighty seven. That
was lady determined that that was a hoax. And when
you look at the coverage today, a Greg Carr of

(17:02):
his passion. All these various media outlets have locked and
loaded and focused on the Tawana Brawley case, But that
one case does not define the legal career of attorney Maddox.

Speaker 11 (17:18):
No, it does, Roland, and you know again everybody listened
to this and those who will watch it later on
the various platforms, And if you haven't downloaded the black
Star app you need to do that. This is the
only place where this conversation is gonna take place. This
is the importance of black owned media. Automatics was and
will always be a hero. Our clerked to the summer

(17:39):
of nineteen eighty nine at the NAACP look at Defense Fund.

Speaker 12 (17:41):
In New York.

Speaker 11 (17:42):
And as you well remember Roland and covered at the time.
I'm sure this man was at the center of the
cases that framed the eighties and nineties. Michael Stewart, he
framed the Howard Beach incident. He got two special prosecutors
put in place, one for Howard Beach, the brother who
killed by the white boys out there USEF Hawkins in Brooklyn.

(18:05):
This is the man Al Sharpton was facing almost a
sixty count indictment. The tax evasion of that Al Sharpton
lawyer was Automatics, and Automatics got him acquitted. Alton would say,
put twelve in the box and I will win.

Speaker 12 (18:18):
He didn't.

Speaker 11 (18:18):
He said, I don't believe in plea bargains. I'm not
gonna plead. He didn't plead for his law license when
they drove him out of the courtroom because he was
too effective. It is a tragedy that we don't know
more about this, and I'll end with this. Automatics. I
spoke at the Slave Theater. He was a columnist for
the Anthem News. He had an organization he and his
wife Leona, called the United African Movement. I spoke for

(18:39):
them a couple of times, once in Brooklyn at the
Slave and once in Harlem. Automatics. I never saw him down.
I never saw him sad. He always had this great optimism,
this obululence, and he would say Black people must just
must must contend with this American legal system, but we
should never ever expect justice from it. When we go

(19:01):
into the court room, we are going to war. That
man was a hero, Roland. I'm glad you're covering him tonight.

Speaker 2 (19:09):
Lauren.

Speaker 1 (19:10):
Again, when when you think about New York City in
the seventies and eighties, we're only talking about being a
decade two decades out of the Black freedom movement, And
there were so many cases and Altmattics was the go
to attorney for many African Americans who were dealing with

(19:32):
racial injustice there in the Big Apple.

Speaker 9 (19:35):
Yeah, he was on TV all the time. I remember
when I was a kid, he was on TV all
the time, obviously with al Sharpton. And you know, as
Greg just said, not just for the Toronto Brawley case,
there were so many cases. There were civil rights cases
that seemed like nobody would take or were obviously unpopular
to the mainstream white media in New York, and Alton

(19:58):
Mattocks was a part of those cases. And in fact,
you know, you'd referred to a role in the difference
in coverage the Clyde Haberman oh bit in the New
York Times tonight, that should be a that should be
used in any class when we talk about implicit bias
and race and the difference in media coverage when it

(20:18):
comes to black people and white people and how black.

Speaker 8 (20:22):
People are covered.

Speaker 9 (20:23):
You know, I mean, it is an outrageously bad oh
bit by the New York Times. I'm not really I'm
not really completely shocked. But the oh bit really only covers,
of course, Tawana Brawley, and it goes through every negative
thing that they could come up with about automatmatics and
then leaves out, leaves out everything that he did that
would be called you know, would be would be the work.

Speaker 8 (20:44):
Of any civil rights attorney.

Speaker 9 (20:46):
But it is an extremely good example of the double
standard in the media when it comes to race and
when somebody, particularly when somebody is fighting for racial justice
or anything having to do with racial justice, there are
these two stories that are told. And so when you
read the Amsterdam News, oh bit, it is of course
nothing like and not not nothing like what the Times does,

(21:08):
which is complete inaccuracy on the life of Altimatics.

Speaker 1 (21:15):
I mean, Jason, that's why, that's why the nation's first
black newspaper, Freedom's Journal, said, we wish to plead our
own cause to long have others spoken for us. I
was talking to some folks earlier in a group chat,
and they were angered by the white mainstream media coverage

(21:36):
on the passing of Altimatos Junior.

Speaker 7 (21:39):
And they should be.

Speaker 6 (21:40):
And you know, I'm just sitting here looking at some
of the obituaries and seeing the real differences between the
different media including it's not just the New York Times,
it's the Washington Post, it's the AP which is supposedly
like nonpartisan. Everyone says the Tawana Brawley hoax, that's what
they bring up.

Speaker 7 (22:01):
Which, by the way, if you go to the black.

Speaker 6 (22:04):
Community in New York and I'm you know, I'm originally
from New York and you know, you would talk to
my grandfather, you believe something happened in Toronto Brawley to
the day he died.

Speaker 5 (22:13):
You know what I mean?

Speaker 6 (22:14):
There are people in New York who still believe something happened.
Now I'm not saying that's the case, but you know,
there's there's definitely people who still believe that. The other
thing is, if you look at what the black media,
the Amsterdam News, even the New York Daily News, which
is not black media, even they are saying, you know,

(22:34):
hard charging civil rights attorney, and he did he was
involved in all these other cases that were mentioned, you
know earlier, and I was so glad to hear our
good brother over there at at Howard University bring that up.
The fact that you know, the Howard Beach cases.

Speaker 7 (22:52):
I remember those situations.

Speaker 6 (22:54):
Where black people couldn't go into certain neighborhoods in New
York City. Everybody thinks the New York City is the
you know, the Manhattan of today where they gentrified everybody,
you know, all the brown people out, so all of
a sudden, you know you have this and that it's
you know, the forty second Street of today and all
of that, and everybody kind of gets along. And that's

(23:16):
not that that's the case even today. But you know,
there was certain neighborhoods. You couldn't go into benson Hurst,
you know, when I was young, you couldn't. You couldn't
get on the wrong train and end up in Bensonhurst
and walk up that train platform. You couldn't get off
in Howard Beach or certain parts of Queens, the parts
of Queens where our former president comes from. You couldn't

(23:38):
do that.

Speaker 7 (23:38):
And I wonder if you know, because there's the E. G.

Speaker 6 (23:42):
And Carrol case going on where they say that Donald
Trump actually is a rapist.

Speaker 7 (23:46):
I'm not accusing him. Maybe he is, maybe he isn't.

Speaker 6 (23:49):
But I wonder if any obituary in the country is
going to say accused rapist Donald Trump dies they say that.
I doubt it, you know, because they're gonna talk about
or a person who who was behind an insurrection at
the capitol. Donald Trump dies, I don't think they're gonna
say that. But yet with Automattox, a black man there,

(24:12):
all of a sudden, his entire career get summed up
into one incident, one incident, as if those other cases
that were significant for the black community never happened, it
didn't matter.

Speaker 16 (24:25):
That's right, that's right, that's right, in fact, in fact, Well,
if you want to find a comment, yeah, Jason, what
you said, Doc is so important because the reason that
they came against him around Tawata Brawley is because he
would not put her in harms way.

Speaker 11 (24:43):
Remember the discipline board called for Maddix and eventually suspended
Hi from the practice of law because he would not
come to testify about how he handled the Tauanta Brodley case.
It wasn't a matter whether she did or didn't do it.
It was a matter of you're not gonna throw this
girl to the wolves. This is a very important lesson
for us to understand. So these racists, and this is

(25:04):
what I'm talking. I'm really personal, but there are three
lawyers who I personally knew what I said made me
reconsider perhaps practice in law. Automatics was one Choque Luman
was the other. Enable Muhammad was the third, this man
was not only fearless, he was a brilliant courtroom lawyer.
Every obituary that drags him reveals the lack of character
and the worthlessness of the white media. You don't you

(25:25):
don't have, You shouldn't have the honor of putting Automatics's
name in your mouth. This is why this network is
important and we if you don't know the name of Automatics,
if you know Ben Crump, you better know Automatics facts.

Speaker 1 (25:41):
Automatics Junior passed with the age of seventy seven years old,
and we'll certainly provide for you information once we get
it with regards to funeral arrangements. And as Lauren said,
if you want to check out a proper obituary on
his life and career, go to the amsterdamn News black newspaper,

(26:03):
The amsterdamn News.

Speaker 2 (26:05):
All right, folks, gotta go to break. We come back.

Speaker 1 (26:07):
We'll talk about Urban Prep, a school for black boys
in Chicago. I said, a huge success. Why are they
closing their doors? We'll talk with the leader of that campus.
Next on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Start Network,

(26:27):
we talk about blackness and what happens in black culture.

Speaker 2 (26:32):
You're about covering these.

Speaker 1 (26:33):
Things that matter to us, us speaking to our issues
and concerns.

Speaker 12 (26:37):
This is a genuine people power movement, a lot.

Speaker 2 (26:40):
Of stuff that we're not getting. You get it.

Speaker 5 (26:42):
You spread the words.

Speaker 1 (26:43):
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 investing black on media.

Speaker 2 (26:57):
Your dollars matter.

Speaker 1 (26:58):
We don't have to asking them to cover ourself.

Speaker 2 (27:02):
Please support us in what we do. Folks. We want
to hit two.

Speaker 17 (27:04):
Thousand people fifty dollars this month waits one hundred thousand dollars.

Speaker 2 (27:07):
We're behind one hundred thousand, so we want to hit that.
You all money makes this possible.

Speaker 1 (27:12):
Check some money orders to go to Peter Box file
seven one ninety six, Washington, DC. Keasy with viewer three
seven dash zero one nine six, have apples dollars sign
RM unfiltered. Paypalers are Martin unfiltered, venmo is r M unfiltered.
Zilla's rolling at Rolandesmartin dot com.

Speaker 18 (27:31):
Hi am doctor Jackie hit Martin and I have a
question for you. Ever feel as if your life is
teetering and weight and pressure. The world is consistently on
your shoulders. Well, let me tell you, living a balance
life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Blackstar Network
for A Balance Life for Dtor Jackie. We'll laugh together,
cry together, pull ourselves together, and cheer each other on.

(27:52):
So join me for new shows each Tuesday on a
Blackstar Network A Balance Life with Doctor Jackie.

Speaker 2 (28:06):
Hey, what's up, everybody?

Speaker 14 (28:07):
It's God for the funniest dude on the planet, and.

Speaker 19 (28:10):
You're watching Roland Martin. Unfiltered Am, a charter school in
Chicago that has generated significant attention and success over the years,
is slated to close its doors Urban Prep Academy.

Speaker 1 (28:33):
They have been denied by the Illinois State Board of Education.
They've been denied the school's appeal to keep control of
its two remaining campuses. The state board says Urban Prep
was poorly run and not financially responsible in recent years,
saying it did not have the best interest of students
in mind.

Speaker 12 (28:53):
Now.

Speaker 1 (28:54):
School leaders continue to deny these claims. Joining us now
from Urban Prep is the chief academic officer, Dennis Lacewell. Dennis,
glad to have you on the show. So first and
foremost for a lot of people. We heard about Urban
Prep Tim King. He was lauded in magazines and newspapers

(29:17):
and biogroups and all around the country. So where all
of a sudden did things go wrong with Urban Prep?
Based upon what are we're seeing here? Tim King is
no longer involved with the school. He was forced out
the foundation as well. There were allegations of him being
involved with former students all sort of everythings like that,

(29:41):
And so what in the world happened to what was
a huge success story?

Speaker 8 (29:48):
Yeah, yeah, thank you for us time to get the
record straight.

Speaker 20 (29:51):
Unfortunately a lot been a lot of misinformation out there
regarding to Urban Prep and our success for almost twenty
years now, we've had fourteen conceptive years of our graduates
being accepted.

Speaker 8 (30:03):
To four year colleges. Well, it started in January twenty
twenty two.

Speaker 20 (30:08):
We actually received a letter former letter from CPS Stadium.
They were pleased that our financial metrics, we met all
the financial metrics, that we were doing very well.

Speaker 8 (30:18):
But then two weeks later received.

Speaker 20 (30:20):
A memo referencing has financial challenges. I mean, I know
you worked in Chicago for some time, but when Governor
Ronner was the governor of Illinois, there was no state
budget for two years. During those two years, Chicago Public
Schools decided.

Speaker 8 (30:39):
To cut the budget in the middle of the year twice.

Speaker 20 (30:43):
And instead of other schools that cut programming, fire teachers,
we did not do that because we wanted to make
sure we provided those services and experiences and opportunities for
our young men. So we took out loans, we used
credit cards to close that gap. And back in twenty
twenty two, now CPS came back and said they had

(31:04):
issues issues with that. We explained each issue in it.
You know, any credit card transactions are accounted for. But
they went back to previous years in terms of question
of finances. They even had issue with us getting a
PPP loan, which the federal government SPA is in charge of,
and there was no issues that they that they presented.

Speaker 8 (31:27):
So this is the first time that you know, it
became it came to our.

Speaker 20 (31:30):
Attention, and as you referenced, we had a twenty nine
year old year old man who made an allegation on
Facebook and he just stated verbal abuse on Facebook, and
then CPS started digging into digging into that, and then
they made allegations against our former CEO. But there were

(31:50):
three independent investigations, two by DCFS who's in charge of
such issues, came back unfounded. And then we hired an
independent investigation and they found that there's nothing substantiated and unfounded.
It was only CPS who claimed that these allegations were true.

Speaker 8 (32:09):
And so this is the stem of all of these issues.

Speaker 20 (32:12):
But last Tuesday, we filed a lawsuit against CPS because
in Chicago, in Illinois, the state legislator passed the law
in December twenty twenty one that there should be no
school closings until twenty twenty five when there's an elected
school board. If you remember, in twenty thirteen, Chicgo closed
about fifty schools in black and brown communities and this.

Speaker 8 (32:32):
Caused a huge problem.

Speaker 20 (32:34):
So state legislator made a law that stated that until
there's an elected school board, there should be no school closings.
So we have a pre trial hearing next week where
we feel very confident and we hope that this case
definitely will get hurt. It will be some time, but
we've also filed a restraining order against CPS for taking
this action to close our schools.

Speaker 1 (32:59):
So right now this is the schools still open.

Speaker 20 (33:03):
Yes, there's no impact on any of our schools anything
through June thirtieth. As a matter of fact, I have
my Winster Salem State University had on a graduate of
We had our fourteenth annual signing Day downtown and Daily Plaza,
so we had all our students there and somewihlar what
you see with five star athletes. We had each of
our students come up to the microphone and announce where

(33:25):
they were going to college, and then they donned that hat.
And so if you check our website you can see
those visuals and images.

Speaker 8 (33:32):
And we challenged the city and.

Speaker 20 (33:34):
The media for a couple of weeks ago broadcasts across
the world where we had a lot of black youths
and black boys downtown, you know, being on productive that
was broadcast everywhere.

Speaker 8 (33:44):
But we challenge everyone of.

Speaker 20 (33:45):
The broadcasts this event we had today where we had
hundreds of young black men celebrating their brothers who were
announcing to the word of four year colleges they were
going to.

Speaker 2 (34:00):
Courses. From my panel, Lawn Burke, you're first.

Speaker 9 (34:03):
How many students graduate generally every year at Urban Prep.

Speaker 20 (34:09):
If you count all our campus is a little over
one hundred. We've had twenty two hundred over.

Speaker 8 (34:14):
The past seventeen years.

Speaker 20 (34:17):
Fortunately, we've felt the impact of the decline in enrollment
in Chicago public schools as unfortunately black families are leaving
the city of Chicago, so we felt we felt that impact.

Speaker 8 (34:31):
But this year we have one hundred seniors.

Speaker 2 (34:34):
Thank you, Jason.

Speaker 6 (34:39):
So you have a new mayor mayor elect in the
City of Chicago. He seems to be he has an
education background. Is there any hope that he will intervene
on your behalf in order to keep your doors open
and keep the success of your young black male students

(35:00):
going and for the next fourteen years.

Speaker 8 (35:04):
Yes, yes, thank you for that for that question.

Speaker 20 (35:07):
As you may or may not know, in Chicago, currently
the mayor is in charge of the schools. They appoint
the board members and the superintendent.

Speaker 8 (35:16):
And with Lori Lightfoot leaving office.

Speaker 20 (35:19):
We're hoping that Mary let Brandon Johnson will step in.
You know, some people have concerned because we know he
was funded by the CTU and CTU Schylar teachers union
haven't been friendly to charter schools, but our teachers are unionized.
We hope that he's willing to step in because we
agreed with the statement he made about those events that
happened a couple of weeks, that we should not demonize

(35:41):
our young people, particularly when their communities have been started
of opportunities and urban prep for almost twenty years have
fed the community and particularly black boys, with experiences opportunities
for them.

Speaker 8 (35:53):
So we were looking to get a meeting with him.

Speaker 20 (35:56):
He's inaugurated on May fifteenth. We hope that he does
step in and reverse this decision. But if not, like
I said, we're prepared to go through the course because
we understand as black people to get our rights and
laws and forced, you have to go to court.

Speaker 11 (36:16):
Thank you great card, Thank you Roland, and thank you
Brother Lacewell.

Speaker 12 (36:24):
I had a couple of questions.

Speaker 11 (36:25):
One, they say they're not going to close the schools,
but they may have a transition to another formation in CPS,
and so I don't know what necessarily that might look like.
But the other question I have has has to do
with the two state board members.

Speaker 12 (36:39):
Members of the board from the.

Speaker 11 (36:40):
State, Donald Leak and James Anderson, who abstained from voting.
I know Dean Anderson very well. He's a legend in
the field of African American history of education, and he abstained.
I'm assuming that's because he's so recently appointed to the board. Maybe,
but Donald Leak also abstained, and she said it's important
to have options for black boys. Any insign on why
these two black members of appointing of course by the

(37:03):
governor the State Board of Education abstained in this case.

Speaker 8 (37:07):
Yeah, thanks, great, great question.

Speaker 20 (37:09):
First all, address in terms of this replication that CPS
IS is referring to in court in our lawsuit. We
are referencing that because never in the history of charter
schools in the city of Illinois has CPS ever not
renewed a charter school and then say we're going to
adopt the model. This is just a ploy in which

(37:33):
initially they were trying not to use the word to close,
they were using takeover. And initially they were using the
words we're going to take over urban Prep, so it
be CPS run Urban Prep.

Speaker 8 (37:42):
But we quickly reminded.

Speaker 20 (37:43):
Them and sent a cease and desists letter because we
own the copyright and trademark of Urban Prep and everything
that we do.

Speaker 8 (37:50):
And so then they.

Speaker 20 (37:51):
Now changed that to a like model, and they haven't
given any details. And again they've had sixty seventy five
years in term of the focus on black boys, and
they haven't done the job that we've done, and so
they're not going to have We do not believe and
no one should believe. And there's no evidence that they'll
do as well as job as we will. And then
in regard to you know, the abstaining, I actually spoke,

(38:15):
you know, at the board meeting last week. I referenced
doctor Anderson's work as the founding principal. I use his
work in terms of establishing you know, our schools, and
you know, really disappointed because you know, I hate to
use this reference, but you know, if there's a lunching
and they invite you know us to it, we just

(38:38):
watch and say nothing, what are we doing? You know
we and so you know, I was just really disappointed
that they just felt to abstain.

Speaker 8 (38:50):
Is you know, we got to do more than just
have a seat at the table.

Speaker 12 (38:53):
Sir, thank you.

Speaker 1 (38:57):
So again that you were going to have with your
loss to a hearing next week.

Speaker 20 (39:04):
Yes, yes, And what we expect from that hearing that
the judge will give CPS an opportunity to respond to
what we submit our briefs that we provided to the court.
We'll ask the court to you know, make a decision
on the temporary restraint in order that we've asked to
be put in place because school lets out June ninth,

(39:25):
and our families, our students, our staff need some indication
in terms of their educational futures, and so that restraining
or we would ask that everything be halted and that
CPS is forced to the table and we are allowed
to you know, continue the school through next year while
this case is being heard.

Speaker 1 (39:50):
All right, then, Dennis, Look, we certainly appreciate it. Keep
us abreast of what happens. Again, I mean, Urban Prep
has gotten lots of attention over the years, accolades and praise,
and so it certainly would be very sad to hear of.

Speaker 2 (40:07):
Its demise there in Chicago. Well, appreciate it.

Speaker 8 (40:10):
Thanks a lot, all right, Thank you and all that
you do.

Speaker 2 (40:13):
Thank you. All right, folks, going to break, we come back.

Speaker 1 (40:18):
Today's the thirty fourth anniversary of me crossing the Burning
Sands into Alpha, and I kind of a few words
to say about hazing that I think needs to be said,
and I'll do that when.

Speaker 2 (40:33):
We come back.

Speaker 1 (40:33):
You're watching Roland Martin the Black Start Network. Be sure
to watching YouTube Hit that light button all that impacts
the algorithm, and so we easily want to be over
a thousand and two thousand likes also support us to
what we do. Download the Black Start Network app Apple Phone,
Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV,
Xbox one, Samsung Smart TV. You can join our Bring

(40:55):
the Funk Fan Club. Your dollars make it possible for
us to do what we do. Send your checking money
yours to Peelbox five seven to one nine six, Washington
d C two zero zero three seven dads zero one
nine six, cash Chef Dallas side r M unfiltered, PayPal,
are Martin unfiltered, venmo is are m unfiltered, Zeo Rolling

(41:16):
at roland s Martin dot com, Rolling at Rolling Martin
unfiltered dot com. And be sure to get a copy
of my book White Fear, How The Browning of Americas
Making White Folks Lose their Minds, Available at bookstores all
across the country Bond's Noble, Amazon's Target. You can also
download the audio version on Audible.

Speaker 2 (41:33):
We'll be right back.

Speaker 21 (41:38):
Hatred on the Streets, a horrific scene white nationalist rally
that descended into deadly violence on.

Speaker 2 (41:47):
White people. Are losing their their minds.

Speaker 22 (41:51):
As an angry to Trump mart storms the US Capital
six show.

Speaker 1 (41:55):
We're about to see the lives of what I call
white minority resistance. You have seen white folks in this
country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think
what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial.

Speaker 8 (42:10):
This is part of American history.

Speaker 22 (42:11):
Every time that people of color had made progress, whether
real or symbolic, there has been but Carol Anderson at
every university calls white rage as a backlash.

Speaker 1 (42:21):
This is the life of the proud boys and the
Boogaaloo boys America.

Speaker 2 (42:25):
There's going to be more.

Speaker 16 (42:26):
Of this all the proud boy guy.

Speaker 23 (42:28):
This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and
its attitudes because of the fear of white people.

Speaker 1 (42:36):
The few that they're taking our job, they're taking our resources,
they're taking out women.

Speaker 2 (42:41):
This is white fel.

Speaker 24 (43:00):
We're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it
or not, from politics, from music and entertainment.

Speaker 7 (43:06):
It's a huge part of our lives.

Speaker 24 (43:08):
And we're going to talk about it every day right
here on the Culture with me Baraji Muhammad only on
the Blackstar Network.

Speaker 1 (43:24):
Ha Hey, I'm Anthony Smith.

Speaker 5 (43:30):
And you are watching Roland Martin unfilid.

Speaker 2 (44:03):
All right, folks.

Speaker 1 (44:04):
In today's Black and Missing, we have Guinevere Smith. She
left her Salt Lake City home on March nineteenth of
this year has not been seen since.

Speaker 2 (44:16):
The sixteen year old is five feet five inches tall.

Speaker 1 (44:19):
Was one hundred and twenty five pounds, with black hair
and brown eyes. She may go by the nickname Gwynn.
Anyone with information about Gwenevere Smith is urged to call
the Salt Lake City, Utah Police Department at eight zero
one seven nine nine three thousand eight zero one seven
nine nine three.

Speaker 2 (44:35):
Zero zero zero.

Speaker 1 (44:37):
All right, folks, at eight thirty eight pm, thirty nine
seconds tonight. Thirty four years ago, I crossed the Burning
Saints into Alpha Phi Alpha.

Speaker 2 (44:46):
Today is known as my Alpha.

Speaker 1 (44:47):
Versary, and it has been a glorious ride the last
thirty four years, being a part of the Brotherhood of Afia.
I did an interview a few weeks ago with a
Black TV and I was asked a series of questions
and one of the questions was asked about the idea
of Hazy and I began to talk about what I

(45:08):
refused to allow to be done to me when I pledged,
and how I disagreed with others on this. I talked
about how I said, there's no way in hell I
would let somebody my age beat me for some damn letters.

Speaker 2 (45:22):
And so I've gotten emails.

Speaker 1 (45:23):
And phone calls from different folks, and I've seen other
folks post excerpts of what I had to say on
various platforms. Folks saying, oh, oh, you're a paper alpha.
I don't really give a damn what you think because
that's stupid to me. And then folks like, oh, you
didn't earn it, and so others were like, well, you know,
we shouldn't be doing those things.

Speaker 2 (45:44):
Others were like, well, no, that's the problem.

Speaker 1 (45:46):
We got people who haven't properly earned their letters. So
this is why I think it's important to say this.
If you are somebody who believes that physically beating and
a hazing a brother or a sister to wear these letters,

(46:06):
you have no absolutely, you have no reason or credibility
to even wear them. Now, why am I saying that
there are people who criticize the intake process today for
our fraternities and sororities. Why do we have today's intake

(46:30):
process because of the fools who were beating in hazing
folks before there is a young there's a earlier We
talked about Emmitt til The lynched at fourteen and Carolyn

(46:51):
Bryant dying at the age of eighty eight. And as
I sit here talking about this'd be my thirty fourth
year of Alpha, I think about a young man who

(47:11):
didn't get to see thirty four years of Alpha. And
this actually happened in nineteen eighty nine. There's a young
man named Joel A. Harris. Joel A.

Speaker 2 (47:32):
Harris hail from the Bronx. Joel A. Harris should be
celebrating his thirty fourth Alpha versary.

Speaker 1 (47:52):
But Joel Harris died while pledging Alpha at Morehouse.

Speaker 2 (47:59):
In nineteen eighty nine.

Speaker 1 (48:03):
Joel Harris had open heart surgery when he was two
years old, and when he was pledging, he was repeatedly
struck in the chest, punched in the chest. Joel eventually
died from being punched in the chest. No black parent

(48:31):
sends their child to college expecting them to come back in.

Speaker 2 (48:37):
A body bag. And if there's anybody.

Speaker 1 (48:41):
Out there who has a problem with my hardcore stance
against Hazy, you can kiss my entire ass because you
are operating with the same thuggish mentality as gangs. Well,
they beat up a gang member as their entry into

(49:05):
the game. There is not a single great alpha.

Speaker 2 (49:16):
Or a member of any of the fraternity sorority.

Speaker 1 (49:19):
That became great because of how they were pledged. They
became great because of what they did after they left college.
And so when we talk about how are we supposed
to be making great Alpha men, great AKA women, great

(49:45):
Delta women, great Omega, Kappa, Zeta, Iota, Sigma, Gamma Role Sigma,
you don't do that by beating the hell of somebody,
by damn near waterboarding them, by making them run until

(50:06):
they fall out. I remember that I was reading a
New York Post article room several years ago where there
was a guy who was pledging a grad chapter of Omega.
He was beaten so severely with a paddle he was hospitalized.

Speaker 2 (50:23):
I remember that was a AK chapter.

Speaker 1 (50:25):
I think it was in North Carolina, where they were
branded a's on their arms.

Speaker 2 (50:32):
Why is all this important.

Speaker 1 (50:34):
Because I would hope a young person who's listening to
right now, who wants to join one of our fraternity
sororities will have the same mentality that I had in
nineteen eighty nine when I said, I ain't no whin
hell I'm letting somebody beat me.

Speaker 2 (50:51):
That is not going to happen.

Speaker 1 (50:55):
We have got to change this sadistic mentality because what
it has done, it has literally cost our organizations millions
of dollars in settlements, and it is actually cost people
their mental health because there are people who are still

(51:15):
suffering from the trauma and the PTSD from how they
were beaten when they pledged. And yes, there are mothers
and fathers and brothers and sisters who've had to bury
their sons and daughters and brothers and sisters who are

(51:38):
simply trying to join one of our organizations. That, folks,
is not Black excellence. That is not who we are
supposed to be. And again, if you don't like what
I have to say, and let me be real clear,
if you think by call me, oh, you're a paper Alpha,

(52:03):
I really don't give a damn what you think, because
what I've done in thirty four years of ALPHA is
properly represent Alpha and what I do and wherever I go.
And I'm completely unphased by the childish names and phrases

(52:26):
folks use to describe someone who had the DCC to say,
ain't nowhere in hell you're gonna whook by ass for
some letters.

Speaker 2 (52:38):
That was never going to happen.

Speaker 11 (52:44):
Rick Carl, your thoughts, well, brother, I don't think anybody
can justify violence, and those of us who have pledged,
certainly at fifty eight, I suppose to this young generation
we went through the dark ages, so to speak. But
to the people who were before me. I think about

(53:05):
one of my jagna's, Nate Norman, who pledged Alpha at
Ball State, and he said, you know, we pledged the
whole year. And if I thought nineteen eighty five when
I was nineteen was bad, that's how I had to
say this. I joined Alpha Phi Alpha because I was
in the marsh demand in Tennessee State. We went up
one afternoon to go look at the fraternity books because
my friend wanted to be a Sigma and I didn't

(53:27):
know anything. I'm first of my family go to college,
and so they're looking at the Sigma book and I
saw the Alpha book. I said, let me see that one.
And then when I saw Martin Luther King and Paul
Robson and Duke Ellington and WB do boys you name it.

Speaker 12 (53:39):
I said yeah. I said, now can you be in
more than one?

Speaker 11 (53:46):
And they were like no, I said, well, all the
people we look up to were in this book, so
why would I want to be in any of the
other ones.

Speaker 12 (53:52):
That's how I made my choice at nineteen years old.

Speaker 11 (53:55):
I'm not proud at some of the things I submitted
to in order to get into Alpha PA offer, And
if I had to do it, I wouldn't do it
the same way. But as you said, wrong, when I
got to law school, that's when those ways of cases
people drowning and then whether you mentioned in eighty nine,
and at the law school, of course we had access
to Lexus and West Law. We were looking up the
cases and you begin to see this wave of brutality

(54:18):
now exposed to the world. But I'm gonna tell you
right now, if you don't think the white fraternities were
doing it, let me tell you all compared to what
black people were doing, the physical violence. And this is
an excuse I don't bemong physical violence. These white boys
was doing stuff like in Vanderbilt, they would put their
pledges on a railroad car and send them blindfolded to
places like Alabama and Mississippi and tell them to find

(54:40):
their way back. What I'm saying is this whole culture
of barbarity, this culture of barbarity pervades fraternity and sorority life.
My brother Walter Kimbro has written about that. And the
psychological violence. Oh man, let's not even talk about the sorority.
I'm not even talking about physical violence. And I'm saying
it persists to day young people. It's pepically these HBCUs

(55:02):
and other places around the Divine nine. Y'all stop putting
this psychological warfare on these other young people, because I'm
telling you, Girland, it's going on today and it isn't
physical now as much as it is emotional and psychological.
And it isn't just a Divine nine. It's everybody with
Greek letters, and it has to stop.

Speaker 1 (55:21):
I just think it's it's per idiotic. Lauren and Van
Jason Lauren.

Speaker 9 (55:26):
Uh yeah. I think that is just some sort of
a weird need to be able to like brag about
the tough time that you went through when you when
you pledged. And I think that's what people are hanging
on to when they when they say, which makes no
sense to me, that somebody is a paper alpha and
it just absolutely makes no sense. But in some of
these you know, uh organizations where people know that it's

(55:51):
you know, hard to get to the point of membership,
I think the older members just want to brag about.

Speaker 8 (55:57):
Like what they want through.

Speaker 9 (55:57):
I mean, I've got a relative that to West Point
and in the military, it's the same sort of culture
and sort of you know, wanting to refer to what
was done decades ago, and if you didn't go through
that same thing, then you're not real and all of this.
And I have to tell you, I have a lot
of favorite alphas in my life, two of whom I'm

(56:18):
talking to right now, and one of whom is Congress
from Bobby Scott, and I always sort of bother him,
you know. I always bug my alpha friends to try
to find out what the initiation thing was, and you know,
true to the Alpha code, you know, nobody will tell me.
But I remember Congress Scott telling me one time that
there was some sort of ruling there about if he
was in the library, he was protected from from being

(56:41):
haste and so he was in the library all of
the time. But inadvertently, I guess a good thing in
terms of avoiding hazing. But the whole thing to me
is just sort of oddly connected to wanting to brag
that you went through something crazy.

Speaker 7 (56:57):
But Roland, You're absolutely right.

Speaker 8 (56:59):
I mean nobody cared.

Speaker 9 (57:00):
I mean the Alpha Phi Alpha is such a storied fraternity.
I mean the Martin Luther King alone being in the
fraternity is incredible. And so I have no idea what
else this is connected to other than the wanting to
brag that you had been through some crazy, crazy initiation ritual.

Speaker 1 (57:19):
Oh yeah, and Jason, that literally is the mentality. Folks
will go, oh, I went through greatly. Folks played it
for a whole year. I many people like you played
for four weeks. Oh my god, how dare you? And
I had to remind you, But I said, first of all,
when we played, my number one was the first black
drum major in Texas A and M history. Number two
was the president of that Association of Black Accountants. Here

(57:41):
I am going on the board of nabj's. The super representative.
Number four was the starting point guarded basketball team. Number
five was the student government vice president.

Speaker 2 (57:49):
That's going into Alpha.

Speaker 1 (57:51):
So this whole see again, this whole idea that we
have to beat people and oh you got to earn
your letters by being Hayes.

Speaker 2 (58:01):
I'm saying that.

Speaker 1 (58:02):
Is beyond idioty because that's not how you actually build character.
Because again, when I'm looking at there, should that brother should.

Speaker 2 (58:11):
Be celebrating his Alpha versary. He's dead. Then he literally died.

Speaker 1 (58:16):
Because somebody repeatedly pushed him in his chest.

Speaker 2 (58:21):
I ain't no when hell I'm gonna ca for that.

Speaker 1 (58:23):
Jayson like a Brook maybe comment before I got to
go to a break and then do our third day
by hello Beeliphontie tribute.

Speaker 6 (58:30):
Yeah, I'll just really quickly say, you know, I'm not
qualified necessarily to speak on fraternities or sororities since I'm
not a member, but I will say that I think
as a community, we need to think about how we
approach violence. You know, I think the same thing when
we talk about beating our children. You know, I think
there's a lot of people out there like, well I did,

(58:51):
I got whooked and when I was a kid, So
it's fine and I'm okay, And I'm like, you're probably
not as okay as you think you are. And number two,
that doesn't mean we need to do that to our children.
So I think there's a culture of violence that we
need to let go. I think some of it does
come from our period of enslavement, and we need to
let go of that mentality in so many different ways.

(59:12):
And yes, if I were part of a fraternity, I
would want people like Greg Carr and Roland Martin in
my fraternity because I know they represent what the fraternity
stands for. I don't need the toughest guy all the time.
I don't need the guy with the biggest muscles. It
might be fun to jump around at the party. I
wanted to pleasure a fraternity that wasn't at my campus
at the time, and I was literally lifting weights because

(59:35):
I wanted to take my shirt off at the party,
you know, and be a part of a frat, you know.
But now I realize that what really helps those organizations
is when they have real solid brothers who do for
the frat, who do for their brothers, who are there
for their brotherhood. That's what really makes those attractive to

(59:56):
someone like me who's not a member.

Speaker 7 (59:58):
And I'm like, man, that organ is of that chapter
is dope.

Speaker 6 (01:00:01):
It's not cool because they got beat down.

Speaker 7 (01:00:04):
It's cool because they have a strong brotherhood.

Speaker 6 (01:00:07):
That wants to help one another in their community.

Speaker 2 (01:00:13):
All Right, folks, I gotta go to break we come back.

Speaker 1 (01:00:16):
Pastor Michael Flager reflects on his longtime friendship with here
At Belafonte. In the second half hour, were joined by
the Nation of Islam Minister Lewis Ferrikhon will also share
his thoughts about.

Speaker 2 (01:00:30):
The man who's supplanting him as the Calypso King.

Speaker 1 (01:00:32):
We'll talk about that if for folks who don't know
that story, they probably will get a kick out of
how Belafonte and Ferykon were both linked to Calypso. Yes,
you gotta wait for it. The watching rollerd Martin and philpchips.
I'm a black start network.

Speaker 2 (01:00:50):
Lost my daughter.

Speaker 25 (01:00:52):
I don't know where she was, so I had to
figure out how to survive, how to eat, how to live.
I don't want to go to the details because she's
here first of all to me, don't want me telling
that story. But of possession of her who the family
broke down, fella part I was homeless.

Speaker 26 (01:01:10):
I had to figure out.

Speaker 25 (01:01:11):
I didn't have a manent agent or anybody anymore, and
I'm the talent, so I got to figure out how
to be the agent.

Speaker 2 (01:01:19):

Speaker 26 (01:01:20):
How does business work?

Speaker 15 (01:01:38):
On the next Get Wealthy with Me Deborah Owens, America's
well coach.

Speaker 7 (01:01:42):
Dexter Jenkins is a faith.

Speaker 27 (01:01:44):
Based financial mentor with more than twenty years in the
financial services industry. He's passionate about helping families build generational wealth.

Speaker 28 (01:01:56):
Even though I'm talking about things like prayer, I'm talking
about things about being.

Speaker 5 (01:01:59):
The word, I'm talking about things like fellowship.

Speaker 7 (01:02:03):
I'm talking to members.

Speaker 28 (01:02:04):
Who are dealing with losing their houses, or I'm talking
to members who, because of a lack of the handle
their finances and they're working two or three jobs. And
so what I'm finding is that they're not coming to
church because they don't have.

Speaker 8 (01:02:15):
A handle on their finances.

Speaker 27 (01:02:17):
We're talking how to get wealthy through faith and our
finances on the next Get.

Speaker 15 (01:02:23):
Wealthy right here, only on Blackstar Network.

Speaker 1 (01:03:16):
Ever since Harry Belafonte passed away on Tuesday morning at
the age of ninety six, many folks in US include
that they have been reflecting on his life in legacy.
So many things this man packed into ninety six years,
not just in the United States, but all across the world. Well,

(01:03:37):
a few years ago, when I was in Chicago. I
had an opportunity to listen to mister Bi give a
lecture at Saint Sabinah Catholic Church that is led by
Pastor Michael Flagger. They have known each other for years,
and so Pastor Flaker joins us right now on Roland
Martin unfiltered.

Speaker 2 (01:03:55):
How you doing all right?

Speaker 3 (01:03:56):
Roland, Good to see you. How you doing, sir, Good.

Speaker 2 (01:04:01):
To see you as well. First time you was to
be met.

Speaker 3 (01:04:05):
Wow, probably some thirty some years ago we met. There
was an event here in Chicago, and I ran into
him and got a chance to speak to him at
that and then invited him to come on out to
the church. And he came for a year after year
after a year after year to come and speak here

(01:04:27):
at the church. Whenever he was in Chicago, he'd come
by here to visit many times. He had this movement
of the gathering that he had formed and had their
meetings here when they were in Chicago. Went out for
his eightieth birthday celebration New York, and then he was
turning ninety last time he was here, and so we

(01:04:49):
had a celebration for him here at Saint Sabina and
he saw the picture there of the cake we celebrated for.

Speaker 14 (01:04:57):
His ninetieth birthday.

Speaker 3 (01:04:58):
But one of the most amazing human beings I've ever
met in my life.

Speaker 1 (01:05:05):
And look when he came every year, it was always
a packed house because so many people wanted to hear
what he had to say, and he was not afraid
to touch on many of the thorny subjects of the day.

Speaker 5 (01:05:21):
No.

Speaker 3 (01:05:23):
One of the things I so loved about him Rome
was his boldness. He was what he what he believed him,
what he stood for he was unashamedly about and he
spoke it freely, spoke.

Speaker 14 (01:05:35):
At wherever he was, and whether it.

Speaker 3 (01:05:37):
Was in a pulpe in the church or in a
conversation at a restaurant, he he stood by what he
believed and paid the sacrifice for it. I remember for
here it is on the credit Scott King's birthday. I
remember her at her funeral. We were both on the
program to speak. I was meeting him in the hotel

(01:06:00):
where we were both staying that afternoon. We were going
to go to dinner and then we were going over
to the visitation at Evaneezer. I'm waiting in the lobby
when somebody came over to me and said are you
Father Flaker.

Speaker 14 (01:06:13):
I said yes.

Speaker 3 (01:06:13):
He said, mister Bellefonte's on the phone for you. And
I got on the phone and I said where are you.
I said, I'm waiting for you in the lobby. He said, Michael,
I'm not coming. I said, you're not coming. And he
told me that the night before he had received a
call and I guess President Bush had people had called

(01:06:35):
Eddie Long, the bishop, over at new Birth where the
funeral was being held, and told them that if Bellefonte
was going to be on the program and there on
the dias that he was not, Bush was not going
to come and he could not be in the diace.
And Eddie Long agreed to that and had Harry Bellefonte

(01:06:56):
canceled from the program.

Speaker 14 (01:06:58):
And said he could sit in the audience.

Speaker 3 (01:06:59):
And I said to mister b I said, listen, sir,
nobody has probably had more influence and support to the
King family as you. He paid for doctor King's funeral.
I said, you need to be here, and he said
it would be too painful, and so he said I'm
not coming. And it was very very I talked to

(01:07:20):
him almost every day for the days immediately after that
and he was very very painful for him.

Speaker 1 (01:07:28):
Remember it vividly, And I remember when MLK I came
to Chicago, I was running Chicago Defender and we had
quite a contentious discussion about what took place, and it
was at and it was really a couple of days
ago we actually showed the video. I was also there
at the National Action Network conference in twenty seventeen, eleven

(01:07:50):
years later when when Harry publicly said let's close this.

Speaker 2 (01:07:58):
But yeah, that was.

Speaker 1 (01:08:00):
That was that that angered a lot of people because
of what he did, not only for doctor King before
Coretitscott King, for all of the children and folks said,
so you you you wanted all living presidents to be there,
and you literally would sacrifice the very man who uh

(01:08:21):
saved you, who paid for housekeeping, who paid for school,
who did all those different things.

Speaker 29 (01:08:27):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:08:28):
Yeah, that that that was. That was a very very
hard thing for him to have to deal with.

Speaker 3 (01:08:34):
Yeah, he I think more he was angry about. But
what I saw time and time again was his hurt.
He as you well know, he absolutely loved doctor King.
And remember him sharing with me the first time he
met doctor King down in the basement of Abyssinian when

(01:08:54):
after doctor King was speaking there and they there's this
beautiful picture in his his apartment. That meeting that took place,
and he said, he walked away from that meeting saying,
I will do whatever I have to do in my
life to support this man personally and financially.

Speaker 2 (01:09:14):
And he did.

Speaker 3 (01:09:15):
I mean, he brought in Sidney Poitier to the movement
and reached out to Sammy Davis Junior and so many
others and brought them in to the movement to support
and to be present in it. And he gave his finance.
He sacrificed. There were places he was banned from after

(01:09:36):
that because of his political stands and his support of
doctor King was unimportant to him. And as you said,
he sent his housekeeper down to the King family after
Doctor King was killed to help Missus King with the children.
He loved doctor King and was you know, told me,

(01:09:56):
I don't know how many times he just was going
to spend the rest of his life trying to continue
to keep his legacy alive.

Speaker 10 (01:10:05):
Hold tight.

Speaker 1 (01:10:05):
One second, I gotta go to a break. We come back.
We'll got more for you, my panel. They have some
questions for you as well. Uh, And I do want
you to share for folks who didn't understand.

Speaker 2 (01:10:18):
Never got a chance to meet him.

Speaker 1 (01:10:20):
The absolutely wicked sense of humor of Hair Belafonte.

Speaker 2 (01:10:24):
We'll talk about that next. And Pastor Michael Flager.

Speaker 1 (01:10:26):
You're watching Roller Martin Unfiltered on the Black sil Network.

(01:11:18):
We talk about blackness and what happens in black culture.

Speaker 2 (01:11:23):
You're about covering these things that matter.

Speaker 1 (01:11:25):
To us, us speaking to our issues and concerns.

Speaker 12 (01:11:28):
This is a genuine people power movement.

Speaker 2 (01:11:31):
A lot of stuff that we're not getting.

Speaker 7 (01:11:33):
You get it, and you spread the words.

Speaker 1 (01:11:34):
We wish to plead our own cause to long have
others spoken for us. We cannot tell our own.

Speaker 2 (01:11:43):
Story if we can't pay for it.

Speaker 1 (01:11:45):
This is about covering us invest in black on media.

Speaker 2 (01:11:48):
Your dollars matter.

Speaker 1 (01:11:49):
We don't have to keep asking them to cover ourselves.

Speaker 2 (01:11:53):
Please support us in what we do, Folks.

Speaker 17 (01:11:55):
We want to hit two thousand people fifty dollars. This
month waits one hundred thousand dollars. We're behind one hundred thouars,
so we want to hit that. All money makes this possible.

Speaker 1 (01:12:02):
Check some money orders with a feel Box five seven
one ninety six, Washington, DC.

Speaker 2 (01:12:06):
Ken Zu Viewer three seven.

Speaker 1 (01:12:07):
That zero one nine six has apples, Dollar sign r
M unfiltered. Paypalers are Martin unfiltered, venmo is r M unfiltered,
zeilas rolling at Rolandesmartin dot com.

Speaker 18 (01:12:22):
On a next A Balance Life with Me Doctor Jackie,
we talked about a hard coal fact not all healthcare
is created equal in this country, especially if you're a
person of color.

Speaker 27 (01:12:33):
So many of us Black failure is we rely upon
each other heavily.

Speaker 18 (01:12:37):
A lot of us aren't necessarily sure how to best
communicate with our healthcare providers, how to take charge and
balance the skills your life may depend on it. That's
next On a Balance Life. On Blackstar Network.

Speaker 1 (01:13:39):
We're chating with pastor Michael Flagger about his longtime friend
Harry Belafonte, who passed away at the age of ninety
six on Tuesday of this week. Father Flakir, we talk
about Loyal Team. He was in Chicago. This probably was
it was either twenty twelve or twenty thirteen. I had

(01:14:00):
had this brujaha with the folk, said Glad, who upset
with some tweets. I made that they that that that
they characterized something that what it was it And he
had heard about it and he called me and he said, uh.

Speaker 2 (01:14:14):
He said, uh, he was he was.

Speaker 1 (01:14:16):
Told about this here and he asked me about them,
and I told him exactly what happened, and he said understood.
He said, if asked, he said, I will absolutely stand by.

Speaker 2 (01:14:27):
You and be with you.

Speaker 1 (01:14:30):
He was someone who was loyal to people who he believed.

Speaker 3 (01:14:36):
In absolutely and I'm a testimony of that. When I
went through that accusation a couple of years ago, he
was one of the first people that reached out and said,
what can I do for you? What do you need
me to do? And I said, sir, just keep it
in your prayer. He said, I stand with you one

(01:14:57):
hundred percent. And he he said, and whatever you need
me to do, let me know.

Speaker 2 (01:15:04):
And he was like that.

Speaker 14 (01:15:05):
Throughout his life and all the time that I've known him.
You know one thing, you know Rowan and as you
know well, were in a day with a lot of.

Speaker 3 (01:15:14):
Pop up activists or pop up today they're going tomorrow
to hear for a minute they disappear. This this this
man was consistent all his life. I mean, he was
an activist before he was a singer, and he used.

Speaker 14 (01:15:31):
His career.

Speaker 3 (01:15:33):
To to to use it to another, take it to
another level and support the fight for justice and freedom.

Speaker 14 (01:15:41):
And he was loyal to the people.

Speaker 3 (01:15:42):
He like you say that he believed in and stood
by them all the way to the end and never
never walked away, never took the easy way out, but
but always standing, fighting, uncompromising. And you know the other
thing is is he had this amazing sense of humor.

Speaker 14 (01:16:03):
Uh just this wit about him.

Speaker 3 (01:16:05):
He always just said to me, what kind of mischief
shall we get into this this year? I had an
album in my room one time when he was here
and we were sitting there talking of him, and he said.

Speaker 14 (01:16:16):
That's my that's me, And I said, yeah, I supported you.

Speaker 3 (01:16:20):
I bought your album and he's a give it here
and he takes the album.

Speaker 14 (01:16:24):
He it's a pendent rights across it.

Speaker 3 (01:16:28):
If ever you get into hard times and have to
put this on eBay, call me first.

Speaker 14 (01:16:33):
I love you, Harry. And that was him.

Speaker 3 (01:16:40):
That was him, it's him, but he was so he was.

Speaker 1 (01:16:46):
Uh no, absolutely questions my panel for Pastor Michael Flager.

Speaker 2 (01:16:53):
I'll start with Jason first.

Speaker 6 (01:16:58):
So first of all, it's an honor to be you,
father Flagger. I've always seen what you've done in the
community over there in Chicago, and I've been an admirer
for a long time, so it's an honor to meet you.

Speaker 5 (01:17:10):
What do you do you.

Speaker 7 (01:17:12):
Believe would be.

Speaker 6 (01:17:14):
Harry Belafonte's parting message? What do you think he would
want to say to an increasingly divided world, particularly one
on the basis of race and gender and sexual orientation.
What do you think would be his message for the
rest of us who are still here on planet Earth?

Speaker 3 (01:17:36):
Well, Jason, first of all, thank you if you're coming.
I spoke with him a few months ago on the phone.
His wife Pam called me up with Dancie. He said,
Harry woke up from a nap and he said to
get you on the phone, and we talked for some time.
And one of the things that he was making very
clear is is that in the day in which we live,

(01:17:56):
nobody can afford to be a bystander. Nobody can sit
on the grandstands and watch what's going on. We had
a moral obligation to stand up and to fight and
to be vocal about what we see. He was very
very clear about doctor King's message that it you know

(01:18:17):
that we begin to die the moment we're silent about
things that matter, and he believed that everybody had a
moral responsibility to fight to bring back the moral consciousness
if you will of this country.

Speaker 7 (01:18:34):
Thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (01:18:36):
Thank you, Lauren.

Speaker 8 (01:18:40):
Father Flagger, Lauren Burke.

Speaker 9 (01:18:41):
Here, I see behind you a lot of photography and
it looks pretty pretty interesting. I wondered if you had
a favorite photo with Harry Bellafonte, or a favorite moment
with Harry Villafonte that you could share with us.

Speaker 3 (01:18:55):
I'll tell you one. I haven't got the photo right here,
but it was a photo of him. We were he
were getting up to speed. This is the last time
he was here for his ninetieth birthday, and we were
getting up to.

Speaker 14 (01:19:10):
Uh, he was getting up.

Speaker 3 (01:19:11):
I was bringing him to the podium and he grabbed
my arm and he said, if you let.

Speaker 14 (01:19:16):
Me fall, I'll bring you down with me.

Speaker 12 (01:19:22):
All the time, it.

Speaker 3 (01:19:27):
Just reminded me that even in the moment getting up
to speak, in the moments of in the midst of
a program, he was the friend.

Speaker 14 (01:19:34):
He was the the the.

Speaker 3 (01:19:36):
Man who was serious and who was also had a
great sense of humor and was just uncompromising in what
he believed.

Speaker 11 (01:19:47):
Thank you, Greg, Greg Card, Thank you Roland and Thank you,
father Fleckard, for everything you've done over the years, what
you continue to do. Thank you for always looking out
for Howard stud when they've come out there for Alternative
Spring Breas Chicago. I think about young Melick Thomas and
so many others that you worked.

Speaker 12 (01:20:06):
With over there. You know, absolutely thank you for that.

Speaker 11 (01:20:09):
You know, one of the pictures that we've seen several
times with you and mister b is with your brother
and comrade Jeremiah Wright Jr. And it raises a question
in my mind something that Roland when you said, you know,
he packed all this life in the ninety six years
and all this work. To use the word packed, I
think is appropriate. So my question to you is about

(01:20:32):
Harry Belafonte's inexhaustible energy. It's a question I have of
Baba Jeremiah when I talk with him. It's a question
I want to ask you, where does this inexhaustible energy
come from, this.

Speaker 12 (01:20:43):
Capacity to just work all the time.

Speaker 11 (01:20:46):
Could you help us maybe with some insights, not only
about Harry Belafonte, but with yourself. This struggle that would
seemed to just wear you out, but you just seem
to be getting stronger.

Speaker 12 (01:20:55):
And he did as well.

Speaker 5 (01:20:57):
Well, I believe.

Speaker 3 (01:21:00):
I certainly know with my friend and my pastor Jeremiah,
and I believe with Harry. You know, Harry was the
one that would often attend churchill lot because he said
he he had not he had actually stopped going, and
he said, and doctor King brought it back into it,
and he used to say, I'll come to your church.
I remember when I was speaking out at Riverside in
New York, he showed up out there out of surprise.

(01:21:22):
But it was his faith. He was a deeply rooted
man in faith. And I think that's the same thing
with you, Arema. The same thing with me is that
you know, I read the end of the book, Justice wins,
love winds, peace wins. And I always tell people and
Jeremiah and I joke about this often that because of

(01:21:46):
my faith, I'm a prisoner of hope. And even though
you get discouraged and you get down, and sometimes it's
painful and you cry and you weep, you get back
up because, like Muhammad Ali said when he was lying
on the floor of the of the boxing ring, the

(01:22:07):
ground is no place for.

Speaker 14 (01:22:08):
A champion to be.

Speaker 3 (01:22:09):
And you get back up and you fight because you know,
if you know that this is temporary and this isn't
the end of how it's going to end. Then you
get up and you keep fighting, and you keep nicheing away.
It's a marathon race. I think one of the problems
you just add this anything. One of the problems today
is everybody wants to see everything happen right now, and

(01:22:31):
when you don't see that, you get frustrated and you submit,
or you assimulate, or you just quit. And mister B
and I used to speak often about the fact that
when you really are a person of faith and when
you were committed to the fight of justice, you understand
your job is to pick up the baton in your season,

(01:22:52):
plant the seed, and know somebody is going to eat
the fruit off that tree.

Speaker 14 (01:22:56):
You don't have to see it, but you do it
because it's the right thing to do. And mister B
was one that always used to say, you know, to.

Speaker 3 (01:23:05):
Me, we do what we do because it's right, not
because it's convenient, not because there's going to be some
reward from it, but you do it because it's right.

Speaker 14 (01:23:16):
And I just believe that.

Speaker 3 (01:23:19):
And I think mister B and up until it's ninety
six years old, as well as Jeremiah. Still today, you
get up and you fight because you know the end
of this is a win.

Speaker 12 (01:23:33):
Yes, sir, thank you, Thank you, Sir Flager.

Speaker 1 (01:23:39):
Always great to see you, Great to share with you
your final takeaway before I go to break.

Speaker 3 (01:23:48):
Well, I think the last thing I really want to say,
Rowan is that mister B and I spoke about this
often that.

Speaker 14 (01:23:56):
We have to raise up.

Speaker 3 (01:23:59):
Harry Bellefonte's We have to raise up rules, up parks,
we have to raise up man kings. We have to
stop waiting that somehow this is going to magically happen.
It's going to happen because we all decide that we
are going to take up that mantle. The best way
we honor Harry Bellefonte is to take up his mantle,
take up the fight.

Speaker 2 (01:24:23):
I agree, one hundred.

Speaker 14 (01:24:26):
Good to see you, my friend.

Speaker 2 (01:24:27):
Have to make a flat Michael Flagger, always good to
see you, and we'll connect next time in Chicago.

Speaker 14 (01:24:32):
Yes, sir peace, all right, you take.

Speaker 2 (01:24:36):
Care, folks, gotta go to break. We come back.

Speaker 1 (01:24:39):
We'll chat with missus Lewis fair Kahn, who will share
his boss reflections about Harry Belafonte to next on Roland
Martin unfilter on the Blackstar Network.

Speaker 21 (01:25:42):
Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, white nationalist rally
that descended into deadly violence.

Speaker 2 (01:25:51):
White people are losing their dead minds.

Speaker 12 (01:25:55):
As a ry approach.

Speaker 2 (01:25:56):
Frum Mock storm to the US capital to see the
lives what I call white minority resistance.

Speaker 1 (01:26:02):
We have seen white folks in this country who simply
cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing
is the inevitable result of violent denial.

Speaker 8 (01:26:14):
This is part of American history.

Speaker 22 (01:26:15):
Every time that people of color have made progress, whether
real or symbolic, there has been but Carol Anderson at
every university calls white rage as a backlash.

Speaker 1 (01:26:25):
This is the life of the proud boys and the
Boogaaloo boys America.

Speaker 2 (01:26:29):
There's going to be more of this, the proud guy.

Speaker 23 (01:26:32):
This country is getting increasingly racist and its behaviors and
its attitudes because of the fear of white people.

Speaker 17 (01:26:40):
The fear that they're taking our job, they're taking out
our resources, they're taking out women.

Speaker 2 (01:26:45):
This is white beeld.

Speaker 11 (01:27:03):
Next on the Black table with me, Greg called we
look at the history of emancipation around he including right
here in the United States.

Speaker 12 (01:27:11):
The so called End of Slavery.

Speaker 11 (01:27:13):
Trust me, it's a history lesson that bears no resemblance
to what you learned in school. Professor Chris Manjapra, author, scholar,
amazing teacher, joins us to talk about his latest book,
Black Ghost of Empire, The Death of Slavery and the
Failure of Emancipation. He explains why the end of Slavery
was no end at all, but instead a collection of

(01:27:35):
laws and policies designed to preserve the status quo of
racial oppression.

Speaker 13 (01:27:40):
The real problem is that the problems that slavery and
invented have continued over time, and what reparations are really
about is saying, how do we really transform society right
and stop racial violence which is so endemic, what we.

Speaker 12 (01:27:57):
Need to do about it.

Speaker 11 (01:27:58):
On the next installment of the Black Table, right here
on the Black Star, Yeah, I've.

Speaker 5 (01:28:07):
Lost my daughter.

Speaker 25 (01:28:08):
I don't know where she was, so I had to
figure out how to survive, how to eat, how to live.
I don't want to go into the details, because she's
here first of all, to me, don't want me telling
that story. But possession of her, the family broke down,
fell apart.

Speaker 2 (01:28:25):
I was harmless.

Speaker 26 (01:28:26):

Speaker 25 (01:28:27):
I didn't have a manager, an agent or anybody anymore,
and I'm the talent, so I'm got to figure.

Speaker 2 (01:28:33):
Out how to be the agent.

Speaker 25 (01:28:35):
I had to figure out how does business work.

Speaker 1 (01:29:40):
So imagine you're hair at Bella Fonte and you are
selling records all across the globe. You set you become
the first artist to ever sell a million records for
DAO and people are loving your Calypso music. And then
people say, yeah, that's a guy in Boston who says

(01:30:05):
way better than you named Jeene Walcott. Well, many people
know him today as miss Lewis Faircomb. He joins us
right now on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network, mister.

Speaker 2 (01:30:17):
Glad to have you back.

Speaker 1 (01:30:20):
So I started that way because literally people were just
mesmerized by the boss and hair of Belafonte. But there
were others where you grew up, who said, we got
a guy who sings better than Harry.

Speaker 5 (01:30:37):
Well, I will not join that. I love Harry.

Speaker 29 (01:30:43):
I loved his voice, and I love what he did
for the music of the Caribbean that I loved so much.
I was a young Calypsounian. I danced, I sang, and
I sang ballads. And I heard of Harry Bellafonte when

(01:31:08):
I was sixteen or seventeen years of age, and I
studied my brother.

Speaker 5 (01:31:16):
And how I met him was I was.

Speaker 29 (01:31:23):
Going to try to audition for his part in the
Broadway show Almanac when he went to California to do
the movie Common with that very beautiful sister.

Speaker 5 (01:31:44):
Oh boy, Dorothy.

Speaker 2 (01:31:47):
Dandre Dorothy Dandridge.

Speaker 29 (01:31:50):
So I went to New York and auditioned to play
his part in that Broadway show. Fortunately I didn't get
the part, but that night after I auditioned, they invited
me to the show to meet Harry Bellafonte, and we

(01:32:16):
had a meeting after the show and talked a few
nice words. But for me, Harry Bellefonte is about the
best of the Calypsonians because he made calypso popular in

(01:32:41):
the United States of America, so that all Calypsonians, including myself,
had a broader audience to.

Speaker 5 (01:32:54):
Sing for, or dance for, or play for.

Speaker 29 (01:33:00):
Oh. I love that man very very much, and I'm
deeply saddened by his passing. But I know that all
of us who live.

Speaker 5 (01:33:18):
To the age of ninety.

Speaker 29 (01:33:21):
Six, we suffer from the ravages of time, and it's
only a matter of time. Before time that brought us
into the world, time will take every one of us out.

(01:33:43):
So my brother is gone, but I celebrate that man
as one of them. Not only I am not just Calypso,
but he was a man of supreme in agrity, honesty, commitment.

(01:34:06):
That's the Harry Bellefontie that I know. And the last
time I had a chance to talk with him, brother Roland,
it was maybe a few months ago. I asked one
of my helpers to get in touch with his daughter Gina,

(01:34:29):
that I might be able to say something to him,
and I persisted, and finally Harry Bellefontie came on the
phone and he said, farcont.

Speaker 5 (01:34:46):
Why are you like desirous of talking with me?

Speaker 2 (01:34:52):
What is it?

Speaker 5 (01:34:55):
And I said, oh, brother Harry, I.

Speaker 29 (01:35:00):
Just called to tell you how much I love you,
and how much I thank Almighty God for your mother
and father who brought you into this world, and I
thank God for the gift that he gave you that

(01:35:22):
you have shared with millions. And I just was getting
old and I know you are a little older than
I am, so before time took me or time took you,
I just wanted you to know from the depth of
my heart that I love me some Harry Bellefonte, My

(01:35:48):
wife loves and adores him, my children, and so we're
a part of the fan club, if you will. But
more than that, that man, to me came from God.
Only God gives life, only God fashions life. And I

(01:36:16):
can say this to you, brother Roland, that you are
fashioned by God, and that's why you can't be any
different than what you are.

Speaker 5 (01:36:27):
You are a fighter.

Speaker 29 (01:36:29):
Using your gifts to make life better for those who
would hear you, listen to you, and follow the counsel
of you. And so Harry is that to me, and
I shall miss him terribly. But thank you for having

(01:36:55):
a program like this that Father Flager.

Speaker 5 (01:36:59):
And I could be blessed.

Speaker 29 (01:37:04):
To come on your show to talk about a man
that both of us loved. The moment I heard of
his passing, I called Father Flaga because it was Father Flager.
When I was on an operating table in two thousand

(01:37:25):
and seven for fourteen hours, which gave me what they.

Speaker 5 (01:37:32):
Call a pelvic exoneration.

Speaker 29 (01:37:36):
Many thought that I had reached the end of my days,
and Father Flager brought my idol so to speak to
the hotel I'm sorry, to the hospital to greet me,

(01:37:58):
and from there we've had many, many wonderful conversations.

Speaker 1 (01:38:09):
Going to break, we come back more with Mente Lewis,
Fara Con and the Day three Remembrance of Hair Belafonte,
folks who passed away on Tuesday at the age of
ninety six. You're watching roland Mark and Unfilter on the
Blackstar Network.

Speaker 15 (01:39:14):
On the next Get Wealthy with Me Deborah Owens, America's
wealth Coach.

Speaker 27 (01:39:18):
Dexter Jenkins is a faith based financial mentor with more
than twenty years in the financial services industry. He's passionate
about helping families build generational wealth.

Speaker 28 (01:39:32):
Even though I'm talking about things like prayer, I'm talking
about things about reading the word.

Speaker 8 (01:39:36):
I'm talking about things like fellowship.

Speaker 28 (01:39:39):
I'm talking to members who are dealing with losing their houses,
or I'm talking to members who, because of a lack
of the handle their finances and they're working two or
three jobs, and so what I'm finding is that they're
not coming to church because they don't have a handle
on their finances.

Speaker 27 (01:39:53):
We're talking how to get wealthy through faith and our
finances on the next Get Wealthy Right here all we
are black Star Network.

Speaker 18 (01:40:06):
Hi am doctor Jackie, Heod Martin, and I have a
question for you. Ever feel as if your life is
teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is
consistently on your shoulders, We'll let me tell you. Living
a balance life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on
black Star Network for a Balanced Life for Dtor Jackie.
We'll laugh together, cry together, pull ourselves together, and cheer

(01:40:27):
each other on. So join me for new shows each
Tuesday on black Star Network, A Balanced Life or.

Speaker 10 (01:40:33):
Doctor Jackie, Welcome back.

Speaker 1 (01:41:26):
We continue our conversation with mister Lewis Farrakahn with regards
to the passing of Harri Belafonte. Mister Farrakh, So you
go from Jeene Walcott, you link up with Elijah Muhammad,
You joined the Nation of Islam.

Speaker 2 (01:41:38):
You become coming too the Nation of Islam.

Speaker 1 (01:41:43):
And while the nation had its view of the civil
rights movement and what black folks should be doing, here
you had Harra Belafonte, who committed himself to following Doctor King.
As you think back doing those what were you thinking?

(01:42:05):
As and as here he was on the front lines
with Doctor King and you growing and being shaped and
formed in the Nation of Islam with Elijah Mohammad.

Speaker 5 (01:42:19):
Well, to look at my brother, I never saw him.

Speaker 29 (01:42:28):
As someone different because he focused on the civil rights
question with doctor King. I disagreed with doctor King as
a student Brother Malcolm and the honorable Elijah Muhammad. But

(01:42:51):
you know, as time went on, I grew to love
doctor King. I grew to understand and more the struggle
of the Christian family as they pursue justice in America.

Speaker 1 (01:43:14):
And so.

Speaker 5 (01:43:17):
Harry to me.

Speaker 1 (01:43:19):
Was this.

Speaker 5 (01:43:21):
Moral human being.

Speaker 29 (01:43:27):
I heard Father Flaga talk about his hurt over being rejected.

Speaker 5 (01:43:37):
After he had helped.

Speaker 29 (01:43:40):
Missus Coreta Scott King and the King family after Doctor
King's passing. He's a man of extreme integrity and deep
and profound love. And when you're a live that you

(01:44:01):
could hear it in all his songs, when he was
like a folks singer and a.

Speaker 5 (01:44:10):
Allpsonian.

Speaker 29 (01:44:11):
All the heart that he put into his music is
what he put into the words that he spoke for
justice for our people. And I was so struck by
brother Harry when he was with doctor King in the

(01:44:34):
closing years of his struggle.

Speaker 5 (01:44:38):
For justice for us. And he was looking at doctor
King one day.

Speaker 29 (01:44:48):
And Doctor King seemed rather melancholy, and he said, Martin,
it seems so melancholy. Why are you so sad? And

(01:45:09):
Doctor King staid, I fear that I'm integrating my people
into a burning house. That burning of America is going on,

(01:45:32):
as this program is going on, and we see and
are living in and a part of watching the unraveling
and the fall of the greatest nation on this earth

(01:45:52):
in the last six thousand years. So I admire Doctor King.
I admired all of those that fought with him, not
against him, but with him for us civil rights. And

(01:46:15):
we would not enjoy the things that we enjoy today,
some measure of freedom, some measure of political sagacity and
power or office that we hold, if they were not

(01:46:38):
a doctor King and a Harry Bellafonte and a Jesse
Lewis Jackson. So when my brother Jesse said he was
going to run for president, I had just spoken at
the twentieth anniversary of the Macha on Washington, and Reverend

(01:47:03):
Jackson invited me to a church where he was preaching
that night. And when I listened to him afterwards, he said,
Fari Khan, I would love for you to help me
in my struggle to become the nominee the Democratic Party

(01:47:27):
for the presidency of the United States.

Speaker 5 (01:47:30):
And I told my brother that I will talk it
over of the nation and I'll get back to him.
And I did what I said, and I became.

Speaker 29 (01:47:49):
A surrogate speaker for Reverend Jackson and the movement that
he so brilliantly led as he moved toward becoming the
first black president of the United States. Reverend Jackson introduced
me to the beauty of the Black Church. And because

(01:48:17):
of Reverend Jackson, and because I loved Doctor King and
loved Reverend Jackson for taking that bold step. And then
he was assaulted. And since we had the FOI the

(01:48:39):
male members of the nation with me and with us,
we put them behind Reverend Jackson to protect him and
his family. And that's how my controversy with members of
the Jewish community began. I joined Reverend Jackson, and I

(01:49:06):
saw an atmosphere being created by the media that could
have had Reverend Jackson assassinated. And I reached out to
members of the Jewish community and I told him, we
can stand to lose an election, but we can't stand

(01:49:30):
to lose our brother.

Speaker 5 (01:49:33):
And that's when I was.

Speaker 29 (01:49:35):
Called a new black hitler, and the dance of death began.
And for forty years now I've had to wear the
ugly label of anti Semite or anti Semittic hater, bigoted person,

(01:50:00):
and so I've survived. And Reverend Jackson, though he dismissed
me from being a speaker on his behalf, I never
stopped cherishing the move that he made and the work

(01:50:23):
that we did together to help his campaign. And I
heard you earlier, I have a three palace goad, brother Martin,
talking about hazing, and I so much agree with you,

(01:50:45):
But to stand by and watch my brother strive to
do something consequential for us as a people, and not
stand with him, not stand by him, not stand for him,

(01:51:07):
and not be willing to make the sacrifice if necessary
to protect him. And that's what Harry Belafontie was all about.
He was a man of moral stamina, moral conviction.

Speaker 5 (01:51:28):
And so are you, brother.

Speaker 29 (01:51:30):
First time I met you, You've been the same ever since,
Always challenging falsehood, always challenging weakness, always challenging those who
want to lead us, but they may not be as
good as they could be. Roland was always there to

(01:51:54):
check us, to question us, to help us to get
our act together. So I thank God for you too,
and your wife and family, and I know that you
will be successful in whatever you desire to be, because
that's who you are, brother Roland, and that's why I

(01:52:18):
celebrate Father Flager, I celebrate modern Luther King. I celebrate
the civil rights fighters that made life better for us,
even if we didn't march with them. When they marched,

(01:52:41):
we benefited from what came as a result of the
changing of laws and the benefit of that. So I
thank God for you, and I really thank you, brother
for opening this shar for Father Flaga and myself to

(01:53:06):
take some questions and whatnot, because our people really are
in need of clear guidance today because we're in trouble.
I got your new book and I started reading White Fear,

(01:53:28):
I think it was, And they're at the rise of
Black people, and the more we rise, the worse they
manifest as an enemy to our rise by what they
do to turn the clock back, from the Supreme Court

(01:53:54):
to the local court, from the FBI to the local police.

Speaker 5 (01:54:02):
We suffer, but that soon will come to an end.

Speaker 2 (01:54:09):
Our time is short.

Speaker 1 (01:54:10):
But today is the birthday of doctor Greg Carr at
Howard University. Uh, and so I want to give him
an opportunity to ask a question.

Speaker 11 (01:54:21):
Roland, thank you, brother, and Uh Slim malekam, brother minister,
well from Salim, Yes, sir, and I will confess to
being prejudiced in terms of your singing career. My absolute
favorite and I play it all the time. Is a
white man's heaven is a black man's health? To sell
a man as merchandise?

Speaker 12 (01:54:39):
Ire.

Speaker 11 (01:54:41):
I won't want to ask you just about standing up
to power. You know, one of your former neighbors, Barack Obama,
when we became President of the United States, Harrybofin, said,
you know, you got to stand up.

Speaker 12 (01:54:51):
Where is the moral truth and courage? How important is it?

Speaker 11 (01:54:56):
What lessons can we learn from mister b from yourself
and all the colleagues and comrade you fought with over
the years about the importance of standing up to power
and not being afraid to speak truth to power, brother minister,
and thank you.

Speaker 29 (01:55:10):
Thank you for your question, my brother. You know, dear brother,
there's a verse in the Bible that said perfect love
cast out fear. One of the great enemies of our

(01:55:31):
speaking to power is our fear that if we speak
too straight, too strong, too black, will lose some advantage
that we have gained from friendship from white people, all

(01:55:54):
Jewish people, all people of substance who have opened the
door for us. I wouldn't be known all over the
world if it were not for the Jewish people who
felt so terrified that a black man would stand up

(01:56:15):
and not bow down.

Speaker 5 (01:56:18):
A black man.

Speaker 29 (01:56:19):
Would be critical, not hateful, but critical and not apologized
for telling the truth. When you love deep enough, brother Roland,
speaking truth to power becomes easy.

Speaker 5 (01:56:41):
And every day that you love deeper, you preach stronger.

Speaker 29 (01:56:46):
Every day that you love deeper, you become one with
God and one with the truth, and one with the
God who is love. So that's what Harry so great.
He's in love with justice and truth and in love

(01:57:08):
with his people. He loves America. He want America to
be better, so he made sacrifices. So, my dear brother,
deep in our love for self, deepen our love for
one another. We can't claim Jesus Christ and not understand.

Speaker 2 (01:57:35):
What he taught.

Speaker 29 (01:57:36):
When the last words that he mentioned before his crucifixion.

Speaker 5 (01:57:45):
Love ye one another, even as I have loved you.

Speaker 29 (01:57:56):
His whole demonstration was a love for the Father and
a love for the truth and a love for the people,
and that's why he spoke truth. And unfortunately, when the
people said crucify him after he made the blind see

(01:58:18):
the death here, that don't speak and raise Lazarus to life.

Speaker 5 (01:58:24):
That's the painful.

Speaker 29 (01:58:25):
Part because now many of us have opportunities that we
never had before. We have wealth that we never had before.
We have a level of comfort that we never had before.
And we've been brought out of obscure lives and put

(01:58:47):
before the world on television, and now the world knows us.
But we did not know that they were making us
comfortable and giving us wealth and nearareness to them, so
that one day when justice would come to them and

(01:59:08):
they know that they're going down and they want to
take us down with them, then they will call in
the chips.

Speaker 5 (01:59:18):
So don't get too happy over the.

Speaker 29 (01:59:22):
Money that you got in the fame that you got
in the shows that you got, in the records that
you sell. Let me tell you, he's going to ask
you to denounce a good man. He's gonna ask you
to be of those that is hateful.

Speaker 2 (01:59:46):
Of us.

Speaker 29 (01:59:49):
And if you love comfort more than you love truth,
if you love the beautiful home that you may have.
More than justice, more than speaking truth to power. You
will compromise your position to hold on to a material

(02:00:09):
thing that's going to die anyway. Teach me so, my brother,
as I thank you from the depth of my heart
for your question, and I thank Brother Roland for allowing
me this time.

Speaker 2 (02:00:27):
To be with you.

Speaker 5 (02:00:30):
I urge us.

Speaker 29 (02:00:33):
Love yourself, love your people. Yes, some of us are
just ugly acting. It's true, but it's not because that's
the way we are by nature. That's the way we've
been made by circumstances. So my job, as a student

(02:00:57):
of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

Speaker 12 (02:01:00):
Is to look past the fault.

Speaker 29 (02:01:04):
And look at the need. Suffice the need, and you
crush the fault. Our people need to be loved. Our
people need to be taught. Our people need to throw
away the blindfold that keeps us ignorant, and after that.

Speaker 5 (02:01:28):
We'll be all right. So thank you so much, and
no time running.

Speaker 1 (02:01:37):
Thank you with a little doubt that Hair Belafonte app
that's a little doubt. Hair Belafonte absolutely had a love
for black people. Mister Litis Ferri Khan, we appreciate you
sharing your remembrances of mister B. And two weeks from
today you will be celebrating your ninetieth birthday.

Speaker 2 (02:01:53):
So happy early birthday.

Speaker 5 (02:01:59):
Thank you so much much. I'm three that God will
bless me. I appreciate ninety and y'all I bless you
with long life.

Speaker 29 (02:02:12):
Keep up the good work, brother Roland. I know you've
suffered a lot just for being the man that you are.

Speaker 5 (02:02:19):
But if we can't take the heat, and you love
to cook, we shouldn't be in the kitchen. So you're
heavy in the kitchen.

Speaker 2 (02:02:27):
We agree.

Speaker 5 (02:02:29):
I love you much, brother Roland. Thank you.

Speaker 2 (02:02:34):
I appreciate it that. Thanks so much.

Speaker 1 (02:02:36):
Be well, Thanks a lot. Thank you to Jason Lauren,
Greg Carr. We appreciate y'all joining us on today's show. Folks,
we have spent the last three days remembering Harabella Fonte Anthony.

Speaker 2 (02:02:50):
Get a shot. There in our studio you can see
the portrait that I had.

Speaker 1 (02:02:54):
Commissioned of mister B that was actually done. It was
eight years ago when I amc an event for the
gathering at the Apollo Theater. A young artist she did that.
I should have bought that one. They auctioned off. But
when we launched our studio. We commissioned that portrait and
that's why we have the black drape on it. That
black drape will stay there until he is funeralized. We

(02:03:17):
will continue celebrating his life. Tomorrow. We will have a
filmmaker who is working on a film on hair Belafonte.

Speaker 2 (02:03:28):
And still, folks, the people are pouring.

Speaker 1 (02:03:31):
Out different messages and videos just talking about the enormity
of this man. And so if there's someone who's and
I've hasked, some people hit me up theya They said, Roland,
You've You've done numerous specials of many of our ancestors
who have passed away.

Speaker 2 (02:03:47):
And I will say this, and.

Speaker 1 (02:03:49):
Someone I asked, well, why have you done so many
different ones on Hairbelafonte? Besides the fact that I knew him,
that we had a twelve year friendship FRIENDSHI had great
respect for him.

Speaker 2 (02:04:01):
I absolutely believe that when you talk about historical figures, historical.

Speaker 1 (02:04:08):
Americans, when you talk about African Americans. I was born
six seven months after that the kingdo assassinated. There's no
doubt when you look at harr Belafonte, going from Paul Ropesen,
MK Mandela and so many figures you're talking about one
of the greatest Americans of the twentieth and the twentieth

(02:04:31):
first century. Everything that we've done, he deserves and much more.
And so we will continue to educate folks today who
maybe didn't read about him, who didn't know about him.
People even understand that when hip hop rappers in Cuba
were not allowed to rap, it was Harry Belafonte who

(02:04:53):
went to Fredelle Castro and told him, you need to
allow those young brothers and sisters to do what they do.
And a year later, when Harry Belafonte went back to Cuba,
those hip hop artists thanked him because it was him
speaking to Castro that freed up the rappers in Cuba.
The so many stories like that that we can cover,

(02:05:15):
and so that's why we do what we do. And
this is why black owned media matters. When you look
at the stores that you have heard. We talked about
it with Altimattox passing way, We've talked about this when
Cicily Tyson passed away, when others had become ancestors mainstream media,

(02:05:36):
even when Sidney Poitier passed away, they didn't spend time
what they did with Betty White talking about their life
and career. But this is why black owned media matters.
This is why the show was created. This is why
the Black Star Network was created. And the Blackstar Network
is named after the cruise line of Marcus Garvey. And

(02:05:56):
why did he create the cruise line Because he said
he wanted to connect the African diaspor with one another.
And that's why we have this network to do the
exact same thing, to share these stories.

Speaker 2 (02:06:09):
You're not going to hear.

Speaker 1 (02:06:11):
Father Flager, Minster, Ferrakharr, Michael, Eric Dyson, Carmen Perez. You're
not going to hear Chuck d all the folks that
we've had thus far on sharing their thoughts and reflections
about Harrit Belafonte because they're producers and executives at those
networks who decided that. We know he was a major figure,

(02:06:34):
but he's not deserving us at airtime.

Speaker 5 (02:06:37):
For us, he is.

Speaker 1 (02:06:41):
Be sure the down of the Black Start Network app
Apple Phone, Android Phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon
for our TV, Xbox one, Samsung Smart TV. Folks, none
of this is free. Your resources make it possible for
us to continue to do this work, To do this
five days a week.

Speaker 2 (02:06:58):
We did not get to the prayer you A and
M story.

Speaker 1 (02:07:01):
Because of because of what our interviews with for the
Flavor will have that tomorrow. When I was at Praiview today,
we live streamed it. We're gonna restreaming lated today where
preview A and M is making demands from the Texas,
A and the border regions.

Speaker 2 (02:07:13):
Again, this is why we do this.

Speaker 1 (02:07:16):
I was the only media outlet that was there today
at Praiview an a University. No other media outlet, no
other black media outlet on the so called new black
leading people, None of.

Speaker 2 (02:07:29):
Them were there. This is why we do what we do.
Support us in what we do. Folks checking money orders
peel box five seven to.

Speaker 1 (02:07:35):
One at ninety six Washington, d C two zero zero
three seven zero one ninety six cash out Dallas, sign
r M unfiltered, PayPal, are Martin unfiltered, venmo is are
m unfiltered, Zaeo rolling at rolland s Martin dot com rolling.

Speaker 2 (02:07:50):
At Rolling, martinunfilter dot com.

Speaker 1 (02:07:52):
Let be sure to get a copy of my book
White Fear, how the browning of Americas making white folks
lose their minds. They'll let the bookstores nationwide banging Noble, Amazon,
Target downloaded.

Speaker 2 (02:08:00):
On audible tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (02:08:02):
I will be live at three pm Eastern from Jackie's
High School while we were presenting two of my annual
scholarships to my alma mater, and so look for that
on the Black Start Network.

Speaker 2 (02:08:11):
Folks in tel Vin, I'll see you tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (02:08:13):
HOWA Again, shout out to my LB's John, Freddie and Paul.
Today's our thirty fourth anniversary Alpha Versary, and rest in
peace to our brother number one, Kevin Roberts. Kevin actually

(02:08:36):
died on the tenth anniversary of our pledging and the
plan plane that he was piloting. He died April twenty seventh,
nineteen ninety nine. So condoles is to his family on
this day Alpha Versary, Folks, that y'all take care.

Speaker 7 (02:10:06):
U U U U u u

Speaker 23 (02:10:50):
U

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Host

Roland Martin

Popular Podcasts

Dateline NBC

24/7 News: The Latest

Therapy Gecko

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

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}PV alumni demand changes from Texas A&M; Farrakhan, Father Pfleger remember Harry Belafonte