Why We Celebrate Juneteenth with Roland Martin

Day falling on June team. It was something special about it. It was it was you know, it was good because there was a lot of men being celebrated. It was freedom being celebrated. We did so many different things. I did a rally with my brother A. T. Mitchell on Saturday, and then we did our launch on Sunday, and then UM went around to what's your picnics? When my kids drove them crazy. But no, we also fed three hundred and fifty people. Three people shout out to them, what's

the name of the buzz an? I have to I forget the name because I just know unique as the young lady who has the food truckad Now, we gotta, we gotta, we gotta shout that up. Make sure we give out her proper for feet and three hundred and fifty people yesterday in the Bronx. That was it was really cool, like you know, to watch the folks show up. Well, what was interesting is how I don't know if anyone else experiences this, and I guess it's happened. It happened

to me. When someone says it's free, people were looking at us. They were like, what you mean it's free? They didn't believe nobody. It's called food Fetish. The truck is called food Fetish. Set out to my home girl unique Um she's had. That's one of her her entrepreneur businesses that she started good Food and we fed everybody that came by one three in the Grand concourse. We fed, you know, So it was it was a good day.

But leading up to this day to me because it was crazy to me because you know, I had all these things to do and I needed to be in New York and my flight was canceled. I was supposed to be back here on Thursday night and my flight got canceled just randomly, like I'm on my way to the airport and randomly they just sent me a notification. First it was your flight is delayed the hour. The next thing I know, your flight is canceled. M I'm like,

what the hell get canceled? No, they don't get caned, like this is not something that happens to me, Like you know what saying, my flight doesn't really get canceled. And and then we heard we heard that there were so many flights canceled. Over six thousand flights were canceled. Within those things it happened this it was just on the day that you were caught up. The next day, my flight was canceled something to where that where was that going to d C And that was part of

another five thousand flights. So it's been each and every day they've been canceling thousands of flights. It's crazy. It's crazy, and they're charging massive money for the tickets they're canceling your flight. Then when you're trying to do something else, they're trying to charge you two or three thousand dollars to get a flight places that normally course three or four hundred dollars, Like I don't even understand, like price Gallagen at its best right now. Like, I don't know

what these airports are trying to do. These airlines are trying to get some money back. Some people say it's jet fuel. They don't want to spend the money on jet fuel, so they're trying to make sure all of the flights are packed. Then these people saying that there's no workers. But whatever it is, it's coming out of our pockets. It's mad. It's inconveniencing us. I had to

get back kid on Friday. I had to rush miss my kids things that I was supposed to do with my children, so to take my son to the doctors or to pick them up. Then I had to rush and try to get ready for the rally, had to get t shirts. It was so many, it was I was so backed up. Man. So I don't know who else experienced these flights, but I've seen something with Rick Ross was talking about it said something that if you know, if you book him for a flight, you gotta book

him down. You gotta n him a jet because they're canceling flights. He's like his his prices fifty thollars the book because he needs a private jet because the flights are not are just getting canceled and he doesn't even want to deal with that no more so I'm remember being I don't know where I was anyway. They have been changing flight times, canceling flights, and I know there are a lot of people that have different reasons why

they think it's happening. But um, when you really get down to the bottom to like though, as they say, the nitty gritty of it all, uh, one thing we know for sure is that pilots have been complaining about being overworked. So that is that's definitely an issue that pilots have been saying they're not gonna work like you know, once they finished flying into a particular place, there is an expectation or maybe the airlines. I don't even know if they because we we can't really speak on behalf

of folks. We don't. We were not in those conversations, but just from chatter and reading a few stories online, what I have found is that pilots are saying that once they get to a particular place, rather than them flying back or you know, continuing to our next location, they shut down and going in because they're tired. And so so I guess the pandemic has caused just pilotic city. Quit. They don't want to work no more. But must see.

See this is the thing, and this is where you and I, well, I think you finally came to an understanding around the pandemic. People die, lots and lots of people. Hundreds of thousands of people were probably like a million people at this point who died as a result of either having COVID and then getting complications or caught up in the health care system and you know, things happened to them. They didn't get the proper care. That is, regardless of whether you want to say, well, it wasn't

actual COVID in their blood. But the problem is that COVID came and when COVID became an issue as a result of it, it impacted a lot of people and people die. You lost airline stewar is, you lost pilots, You lost just people in general. And with with so many pilots being older, um, you know, being uh, you know, I mean there's not many black ones, but anyway, there's

so many that are old or what have you. People probably retired like who the hell wants to be on a plane closed in with other individuals or having to go through airports and traveling around with folks when you could potentially get a sickness that you don't want and you can retire. You actually can retire at this point,

so you had a lot of that element. Then you have people who working in restaurants and other things that just because of you know, them learning maybe new skills, new things, ways to stay home and work, they're not trying to go back out there. So the whole system is thrown off. Everything is all over the place, and the airlines is caught up as a part of that.

But the the f a A and whoever else is responsible for airlines and and and UM travel, they need to get on top of this because I'm telling you that plane tickets are super expensive. You don't book to travel. That's what Linda and I do. Well. Janie actually physically books to travel, but the approval for all the rates and everything it has to come through either Linda or me. And we're seeing numbers that are making us say we're

not traveling places. It's crazy. Like for instance, UM, in a few days, we were supposed to be in l A to be honored by our girl, Miss Ditty, and even she when she heard that the price for ticket could be up to three thousand dollars and that wasn't even in um uh in first class. She's like, you can't come. You just can't be there. It's too expensive. Yeah,

it's it's it's outrageous, man. And I don't understand. It's not like they're giving you no extra services, like y'all ain't added nothing to it's actually like you're taking away. We was on the plane the day where you know, you know, a lady quote unquote was in the back team that they had to give her I V. I had to get and get V. But they cut off the services. We couldn't even get snacks or anything because they had no water anything on the three hour flight.

And I'm like, but you're charging us this ridiculous amount of money. The services have been cut most of the time. Sometimes they ain't got WiFi. It's like, come on, like you gotta get it to you. But you know what the airlines is acting and ghet up. We need They gotta get it together, man. But it was that was one of the worst experiences because even after that, the postpone my flight to the next day and then it

was one time, then it was three hours. I didn't end up getting back until supposed to be at home Thursday at about nine ten o'clock at night, and I didn't get home to Saturday morning at two am. Crazy. So they don't care nothing about your kids, your life. Yeah, nothing, mamie. And that's the first time that I was in Miami and I did not want to be in Miami. Miami is one of my places that I love to be at and it's always like a good getaways, you know,

beautiful weather, tranquility and everything. But I did not need to beat it, and I didn't want to beat it, and it pissed me off. Well. Two other news. The airlines is news story number one today. They gotta do something. We need to call on the federal government to freaking check the airlines and see what the hell is going on. But the next story is of Henrietta Lacks. That we heard about Henrietta Lacks from attorney Ben crump Um and in fact in his new film Civil, which was released

this past weekend on June. Team Uh. Civil that is on Netflix, and people want to get tired of us because we're gonna be talking about it's one of the best documentaries that I've ever seen like it's a It's an awesome depiction and just overall understanding of what it is that being Rum does because there's so many people who have the wrong idea of what by what he does, who he is, even what kind of attorney he is,

Like you know what I'm saying. I've had so many people say, you know, you always get, but he always losing, And I'll be like, well, I don't even know I

ever lost anything, because I don't even know. I don't think that you understand the difference between the civil attorney and the d A. Like the d A is the person who tries these cases that you know, police brutality and wrong for all of these the DA is responsible for that, and being crumb as a civil lawyer is responsible for being able to sue and gain monetary, you know, value and relief based on the trauma that comes from the situation. So that's his only job and people don't

know that. So just watching this and then you get a a real idea of what it is that he does and see how serious it is and how engaged he is and how much for people he is man and me knowing that altogether this gives me a reference point. Now, like people Ben Crump is all right, we'll go watch go watch civil Well, you know he also and and and it is his his main job is to get um punitive damages for families. But that's not the only thing that he does. He advocates for these families. He

stands them right. He helps to navigate these families through their you know, crises in terms of the tragedy that they're experiencing. He also helps to advise the district attorneys and you know, those people who are involved in fighting the case that they don't have to listen to him.

Because there was something happening during the uh McK michael's trial for in Ahmad arevery there was this moment when um, when when the when the dish, when the defense attorney started talking about Ahmad Aarby's feet, his toenails, and you know,

bringing up other things that was clearly racial slurs. And I remember all of us being there and when we would have our huddles because of course the family um and other individuals and lawyers of the civil attorneys for the families would be inside the courtroom and then we were in the spill over area and as soon as it breaks, you know, court would break for any reason. They come out and all of us get to huddle and talk through what to do. And you know what

did we hear and and they explained to us. You know, Attorney Lee Merritt was there because obviously he represented Wanda Cooper, which was Ahmad Araby's mother, and then you had been Crumped there representing uh Uhmur's father. And so when they would come out and they would advise us, and they will be other legal members to help us understand what's

happening and also to hear our feedback. And our feedback was that the district attorney needed to go back on race, needed to hit them hard on the issue of race. We were like, why won't she bring up what she sees happening here? And so we know that that Attorney Crump and and and Attorney Merit they did go back and say something about it, but she still didn't take

their advice. So to your point, the district attorney does not have to listen to anything from the civil attorney, and in fact, I doesn't even have to really speak to them other than to get some of the evidence that they're looking for. But sometimes they do, so people do need to understand. And I think the film, as you said, it is very, very educational. It's educational at

the best. But Henrietta Lacks is another case because another part of the film that we they're gonna get tired of us so about being Crump, but I don't care Civil No, no, no, Well with Henrietta lax Um. The thing is another part of Civil where they talk about how people believe that the only cases Ben Crump fights are things that's in the media, like, Oh, he's just looking for attention, He's just going for the highest number.

Guess what. Henrietta Lacks was a little old lady that her daughter in law happened to be at an event and while she's sitting in the midst of this luncheon, she hears a doctor talking about, uh, some cells that they got from an elderly woman's body, and and she's and he's explaining the story. And I don't know, of course, because I've never talked to his daughter, nor have I really really researched enough about what happened that triggered her

to ask more questions. But it's clear that the research went on from there and come to find out it was her mother in law's body that was extract These cells, which they call immortal cells, were extracted from So now

think about that. Who the heck knows a lady named Henrietta Lacks who was born in Virginia moved to Baltimore like nob but yet and still they got in touch for being crump and he is suing Johns Hopkins University because a doctor from Johns Hopkins from the hospital there is responsible for um, you know, taking this woman's cells. So this that is crazy. But you know what my sign. Organ harvesting is the thing though, that's the thing, that

is the thing. It's a real thing. And a lot of people say that's what a lot of these kidnappings and you know, missing people are that people are kidnapping and taking people for orients. And then they also say their bodies when you bury your bodies, that you gotta come back and check because the August organ harvesting, they're taking the organs out of the body. I know, somebody said that they had to re dig up a body

because they needed to do some DNA research. In all have been removed everything, there was nothing but the shell of the body. So this is the thing, and it's crazy. And they said that these organs are very very expensive. It works a lot of money. The same thing happened to what's his name, Kendrick Johnson that was killed in Lalvasta or Valdasta, Baldasta, Georgia, where they found his body wrapped up in a map behind the bleachers UM and come to find out, the two people who are suspected

to have been involved their their students. Also this was this was a high school student and these high school's athletes um and these other kids are also high school students, and where they found the body and the whole story it points directly to these two young men who father or grandfather is worked at one time for the FBI. So but when they did find his body and you know his parents and had their own autopsy, his organs

have been removed. Even his fingers nails have been clipped, like the butts of his fingers were gone because they, you know, we're trying to get rid of evidence. So, as you said, this is a real thing. It's unbelievable, man. So this Henrietta lacked situation. When I when I heard it, it was just weird. It was like, what's the what

is the chances that someone's daughter in law? It's somewhere and they're just hearing somebody speaking and she realizes that it would be her, you know, somebody, her husband's family, Like, what is the what is the chances of that? Mm hmm, Well, I think that the chances are nothing, but God that that that these people have to be exposed for what they've what they've done to us, and what they continue to do. And so now there has to be a reckoning and they God, she was there, she did hear it.

I think this happened seventy years ago. You know, so this has been a thing for me. It's like why why why does it taking too long for you to acknowledge that this is just completely wrong? And the family? Why do you ask why? I asked why this said, like why do we go through like this? Like why why is their processes they're taking this long? That we have America? It's America, That's why it's America. But anyway, with that being said, I don't know, I don't even know.

I don't even know how to talk about all the things. There's so many things. Okay, I don't know, but I'm glad to know that finally there's some movement on the Henrietta Lacked situation and hopefully it will expose, as you said, this issue of Oregon harvesting, which of course they're doing

it to black people the most. That's why we were so heavily involved in fighting for um what's the name of the little the the oh god it baby Rock, baby i'm in Raw and his sister, because remember they were taken from their family, from the mother and father, and the internet went crazy. Tatiana, I leave the actress hit us up like, hey, I need you guys to

help me bring some light to this situation. And once once you get more involved with the activists, the CPS activists, which is the Child Protective Servitive Services activists, there are kids being taken from their parents every single day, and I mean in situations like we know that what happened

I'm in Rob was crazy. It was crazy. Instead of the system giving them help for the right nutritional diet to support them take you know, being vegan and still breastfeeding, and he may not have been getting all the vitamins he needed because you know, breast milk. Uh. If you if you're in your body if you don't have certain things. Of course, it's not translating to the baby properly. That

doesn't mean you take them off the breast. It means that the doctor has to give you a regiment that's necessary for you to be as healthy as possible to make the baby healthy. But they don't work with you as a vegan because they want you to buy formally. And so it's all. It's all, you know, these people have had so long my son to be intentional, very very intentional about what they are doing. They are so

damn intentional about it, I'll tell you. But anyway, you know, it's funny because as I'm sitting here talking to you in real time, we wanna put the child's name on the internet because i mean, on on our show out

of respect for the parents. But we are very close to a woman whose child has been being attacked in school, bullied and beat up for the last two years, and the school in the last incident where multiple children jumped him, this school did not even want I mean, at that point the mom was like, I'm gonna have people arrested because she didn't know what she doesn't know what else to do. The school is not really doing anything about it. And these kids have been beating up on this particular

child and torturing him. And the crazy thing is she moved to a better neighborhood, hoping to move him away from the things that was happening where we all live, and it hasn't helped. And so long story short, she's and the school refused to turn over the children. They don't even want to. They won't even bring the parents

together for a meeting. They will not even bring the parents together for a meeting because they have found that they could be more fights between parents and they don't they don't have to give the names because the protection of the system, and you know, all of this other ship. And meanwhile, as I'm sitting here and talking to you, he had another fight today. He's been fighting his way through school for two years and it happened again today.

It's just and and I feel like, you know, there's no excuse for picking up a gun, there's no excuse for knives, knives and violence and all of that. But I also understand that our system is so messed up that if if he was a kid that reacted in that way, yeah, sure he would be wrong. And would have to suffer the consequences, but we would be able to understand that for two years, the system has completely

failed him then done nothing to protect him. So at this point he's got to figure out probably how to protect himself and thank himself. Now. Thank god, he has the kind of family that's there to support him, and he's a good kid, so he would never find himself in that situation. But it's not just picking up a gun. It's also suicide. It's also you know, depression. All of that can happen to somebody and it's the system's fault because the system is doing nothing to help him. Yeah,

it's it's actually disheartened and it's sad. He's a good kid and just just hearing the way that they're going about it. Like usually, you know, when we were in school and there were situations, parents were called all parents, there was a meeting. We sat down. Your parents looked at my parents, we looked at each other, and we and we tried to work together to try to stop a situation. Like and it said that they think that parents are supposed to fight over things that kids are doing.

Like at some point, somebody's wrong, right and the parents should be able to acknowledgate my child. My child is the problem here that I'm going to discipline my child, I'm going to communicate with you. You let me know anytime there's an issue. And that used that used to always cut it off for us. You know, when we started handling ourselves and there was no parents involved, that

kept it going. But when parents actually got involved and they were in community and they were building with each other, I very seldom seen things get out of hand. And if you just coming after somebody's child got beat up and he comes, they come angry, and there's no liaison in between, there's no media that nobody's sitting down and trying to talk out and and hash out the situation,

then that turns into an issue. But to just bring two adults together and and and trying to figure out the best solution and have y'all working together to try to you know, calm a situation that makes sense to me. So I don't understand the school's philosophy. I think it's stupid. I think it's stupid. I think it's you know, it's counterproductive, and it's actually leading to more because but like you said, two years your same situation has been a current and

and whatever the strategy that they're utilizing hasn't worked. You know, I'm just, you know, I'm just I don't know. Man, so much going on. Man, I was, I was at I was at Kingdom yesterday, dope event basketball. You know, I'm always a basketball fan in New York. Kingdom was super dope, no problems seeing Hallom model. It was like the old Hallom back in the days, like Grant's tune in Hollow Week just gave you that feel. And then I go home and then they say way away from

each other, which has nothing to do with it. Somewhere else and people get shot and killed. Some one person that's killed, they said, a young boy who ironically was a basketball star is shot and murdered. And now none other people are injured. It's just so many things going on at one time. You know, you just you want, like you want to be able to enjoy the good things, and then there's some negative that comes. Man. We just we need to or we need to reckon it. We

need a a wash like we need to. We need we need to very put the whole city and some holy water man and just some sage. We need to walk around the streets with sage. Well, I mean, that's not really a bad idea. But I will say is that I am predicting that no eat that all the efforts that we are taking, which we now are starting out mid night marches, um, you know, we're fighting for resources, we're doing all the things. I mean. I was having a conversation with the New New York tsar as you

mentioned a t mitchell Um for violence. I was talking to him this morning and he was like, you know, nine people shot in any place from a federal government perspective, is a mass shooting that requires mental health services. The truck should be set up, the media should be there, there should be supplies, everything that's needed should be poured into the community. And they don't do that for us because they don't see our lives the same, which is

why they moved on so quickly from Buffalo. Move right on, because it's it's just you know, black folks. And the only thing that makes it a little bit more spicy is that it is a it was a white supremacist who committed that crime. So therefore it helps some of the political agenda that the media plays into whichever side they may be on. But in our situation, black and brown people out there killing each other, all we have is, you know, pretty much the Act did the activists and

you know, the community, and that's really it. And I'm predicting that no matter how much work we do, this particular summer is gonna probably be one of the worst summers that we've experienced in a long time in terms of violent crime. I think that we have the ability to turn it around by the time that, you know, the new year comes around and we get towards the next summer. But right now, it's it's gonna take some

real brick and martel work. People gonna have to roll their sleeves up and be outside, literally out in the street. You're not gonna solve this from behind the computer, doing a show, talking on the radio, put even right in the check It's that's gonna be a little part of it and and important, but it ain't gonna be the whole thing. Yeah, it's gonna I said that yesterday at the rally. Is gonna take It's gonna take a combined efforts because it's because it's not a sprint, it's gonna

be a marathon. It's gonna take every it's gonna be Lottie Doddy and everybody's gonna have to be there. We're gonna need activist community people. We're gonna need former game people. We're gonna need current game people. We're gonna need youth, we're gonna need old We're gonna need every dimension of our community to come together to put this a denting with it because there's so much trauma and there's so much normalization of violence at this point right violence has

become so normal. Like I'll be watching and I see kids, kids were shooting at the priests in front the priest and just walking by and they just decided they're gonna have a shootout in front of the preset, and it's like, I want to understand the ration now or just to mind state when I used to work by a priest, I didn't want to do anything leave Like as soon as I've seen the police call, it kind of deterred me. These kids, you know, and in this generation, are not

deterred by anything. So that's why I know that law and force usman can't stop to shoot them because they're not even deterred by the law enforcement. It's gonna take a new influence. It's gonna be the the culture has to shift to say that shooting and violencing these things are not okay, They're not cool. It has to be frowned upon. The culture has to say it together in order for it to change, you know, because these kids

don't care about what law enforcement does or things. You know, some of them, actually, I feel like when like I remember we were young, I said all the time when you went to jail was like a badger honor. So some of them feel like it adds to their quote unquote reputation when they do sometime in prison. But when they what they don't realize is that when you're not coming home and you're doing twenty and twenty five and thirty and forty years in prison, its just it's completely

you're losing your life. And they find that out within the first couple of years in prison. So my our job is to make sure that they don't have to find that out. That no one has to lose their life. No one has to lose you know. So we're gonna but it's gonna take a real consulted effort in a combination of all of our skill sets, understandings, emotions, feelings and passions to really put it there in this Today we've got a guest of all guests and uh coming

and joining Street Politicians. I've no idea why this is the first time that Roland Martin is on Street Politicians, But you know, yeah, I agree, I don't know. I have no I think it's my songs fault man. Definitely. I definitely said Rolling should have been here about at least three shows already. I think sometimes sometimes I think I purposely have not invited Rolling because I'm like, he's gonna be too hard, and I if we can't even I can't handle Rolling on this topic. But now I'm

too hard. I'm happy to have you on to my Haitie Freedom shared on the day, so so people will know who you are working. We're shooting some problems, we're shooting some promos, and so I'm gonna where the June teenth shirt on the show. But I figured I work in the Haiti shirt. Now wear June teenth on the head man. You know you, we we know that's the reason why we asked you to come and be on today. It was perfect because you are from Texas and raised

and when folks are talking about June tea. I'm not sure people really understand all the history. You said something the other day that really triggered me, which is that in nineteen eighty, Texas acknowledged June Team. So already in nineteen eighty Texas was there, you know, that became the first state to make Juneteenth a state holiday. I gotta give up to my alpha pa Alpha fa turned the brother of the late state of Riginia, Alt Edwards. He's known as the father of June teenth. He pushed this

issue for years. He was the one that got it over the hump. So June teeth had been celebrated for all of those years since eighteen sixty in Texas, but he officially became a say holiday in nineteen eighty. And so those of us, uh from Houston, from Texas, you know, we take June teeh real personal and we were piste off. We were piste off and a lot of people we're talking trash by saying who asked for this? We don't need this, because they had no understanding of what June

teenth meant to us. June Team was always about uh self reliance, about empowerment. It was always it wasn't just concerts and barbecues. He was also always voter registration. It was always enlightenment. Uh. And I think what we are not experiencing. You're now seeing why people have no clue about history. Even the great size is bi ll Not has got his butt kicked on social media in the last twenty four hours because he claimed that, uh, June

team freed the slaves. But no, it didn't. People also used to say, oh, y'all black goes in Texas, y'all were so late. Y'all found out two years late. No, it was issued January eight six three, but it was unenforceable because they need control in the Federate States. Uh. And then of course the war didn't end until April of eighteen sixty five. And then of course with General

Granger comes in June sixty five. But anybody who's still running around talking about, oh, they freed the slaves, not true. It was in December when the thirteenth Amendment was actually a past that actually what officially in the slavery And but then again it didn't officially in slavery because slavery is still on the books because we have other thing

called the prison systems. And so what I am hopeful and we're already seeing it is that by June Tea now being a national federal holiday, we're going to have people who now forced to actually learn American history and know what the hell actually happened in this country and not just believe of the fictionalized version or or the half story. We've often been told, well tell me something real quick. And I know, my son, you have uh question as well. But what did June Teeth look like

in Texas all these years? Like now we see off businesses closed, government agencies closed. It was that. So everything you're seeing the federal level you saw in Texas. Uh. I mean you had again, you had businesses that closed, you had celebrations, you had commemorations. Uh you you you had you had outdoor concert. I mean, so all this stuff that you're sting the national level, because you gotta remember, other black people in other states began to also have

June Team celebrations. So June Teeth you saw, you saw stuff in North Carolina, South Carolina, and so it began to be embracing other all across the South, other parts of the country, and so it became a theme. And that's why when um it then when it when they got elevated, there was just talk about making the national holiday.

That's because June Team had already being celebrated in twenty plus states, and so it is become a thing, and people have to understand this is the only this is the only national event that even recognizes mentions are invoked slavery m And so when I hear people say we didn't ask for this, I need people to understand that it's our opportunity to how we also use this So CNN and at the big concert from the Hollywood Bowl, and that's great, but how are you using those same

airways to educate people on the actual story, the actual history. You got everybody piste off from the Kohenah Jones and the sixteen nine team project. Uh, And they've picked off the black historians like um, you know, like Dr gred Car and uh, like uh and so many others who

have been talking about these things for years. But this is the opportunity for us to educate, not as African Americans, educate all Americans, because too often we've had really a a horrible, horrible history lesson in this country because we haven't been wanting to tell the true story all of it, and so this is the opportunity that we actually had. So listening to you, you said that the thirteenth Amendment was what actually was the freedom. So the proclamation didn't

free to slaves. No, the proclamation only applied to slavery in the states that were in rebellion, the Confederate States. But the proclamation also exempted certain border states like Maryland and Missouri, so that as a basal proclamation did it wasn't like this freees all slaves in America. No, it was specific to the states that were in rebellion, and then there were still exemptions, so slavery still continue after

eighteen sixty three. Then it wasn't until a from ninth, eighteen sixty five when the Confederates when they surrendered that then it applied to those states. But in Texas they that they resisted that and they kept it going for two more months, and that's when General Granger and those black troops came in in eighteen sixty five and said, no, you're actually free. Because they had to send those federal troops to different states to notify the people of the

formerly enslaved people of African descent. But again even then even then, slavery was not illegal. It wasn't until the thirteenth Amendment, the first of the three Reconstruction Amendments fourteen and fiftieth Amendment. But even when the thirteenth Amendment was passed, it allowed for slavery in volunteers, the involunteering service, whatever you wanna call it, for the Constitution reads. So slavery

in America still exists in our prison systems. Right, that's why we ask why to maka, You and I have just talked about this beforehand, while we have to deal with this issue. So, like I personally believe that companies should not be using prison labor because, if we understand our history, after after the Reconstruction period, those same racist Southern plantation owners needed black folks to work the land. So the Panics system came into place. So they literally

created systems to keep people black people enslaved. And so then you had all of these laws, these these these minor and fractions that lad the long prison terms to keep people of African ascent still working the land. And so that's why if you read the book um um uh God, why is it? Why is it escaping me? Uh? And I follow him want to pull a surprise. That's why I always say it's called slavery without shackles. Uh, Jim Crow with slavery without shackles. Right, The system still exist,

sharecropping still exists. About Savory by another name, yeah, yeah name yeah. And Alexander right yeah no, no, no, no no, he's a reporter with the US the Land of Constitution. Um. Yeah, so, but but that's what I'm always telling people that, um, look understand what happened after Douglas Black Douglas Black slave by another name, UM called the reenslavement of black Americans

from a civil world World War two. That's called slave without shops and so, which now means if we're having this June tenth conversation and we're discussing the mass based proclamation, we're discussing the PEAT system, we're discussing this now we're getting into the economics. Now, I would see that's that's that's why can the holiday. I want us to go there to talk about the commemoration side and the commitment side, because we've been you've been talking about equity, right, like

that's what makes this whole thing important. But before you go there, we're still on the historic piece. Right, So we so right now, what we're learning is that there were many layers and levels to what freedom was supposed to be. But you're saying that the folks in Texas. I just want to make sure we're clear on this. The folks in Texas is not that they were just late and slow, but there was an actual attempt to stop the people from Texas from learning anything about it

until the Black troops arrived. Now, the question I have for you is did the black troops go because I think you said they traveled around to many places where there are other states like Texas that they had to go to that were late in terms of being free. You got to remember remember during that period, um those othern states resisted, so they placed federal troops in state capitals to make sure those state lawmakers did not continue with the level of racism. So remember reconstruction last ten

twelve years. The D. D. Dubos book put it at twenty years. But so when you got to the election of eighteen seventy six, the catestity election, So the Great Compromise of eighteen seventy seven was all right, we're gonna let Hayes become president. We Southern Democrats. We promised to leave the Negroes alone, so we need y'all to withdraw the last There were three states where Southern where federal troops remained in the state capital to keep those Southern

states from essentially reimposing slavery. So the deal was cut in eighteen So that's what it's called the Great Compromise of eighteen seventy seven. Well, black Republicans blasted their own party for agreeing to that deal. It was a contested election in eighteen seventy six, So the deal was Southern Democrats said, I will let the Republican Hayes becomes president, but y'all a got to agree to remove the federal

troops from the last three Southern states. The Republicans agreed to that the worst decision ever because the moment they did that, those racist Southern Democrats immediately reimposed Jim Crow. And that's the That was the beginning of Jim Crow, which lasted for the next ninety two years. And that's what you saw. A systematic You saw a systematic change. Just remember get Great Comments of eighteen seventy seven. You had a Supreme Court in the place in verse for

a furgus of decision. But then you get the Supreme Court invalidating the Civil Rights Act I think was eighteen seventy five, where they literally ruled Congress could not outlaw discrimination, and the Supreme Court opened that particular door. And then you had those black state legislators who were then kicked out of Congress, kicked out of the United States Senate.

And then, of course in e. T. Ninety you the Mississippi Constitutional Convention where they said, we are tired of black people getting elected the state wide office, and so they changed the constitution Mississippi. And there was a guy in Isaiah T. Montgomery and African American. He was the only black person who was attending it. He voted, along with those races to strip the power of the vote

from black people. And as a result, that's why whenever you, whenever we call O, I don't use words like uncle Tom sellout o yo, I don't use it. I don't allow those to be used. But when I see there as a black Republican, who will who will? Who will? Who will this black folks? I called them a modern day Isaiah T. Montgomery, And he owned businesses and and he here this day, his name is mud in Mississippi because of that decision. But they were angry with black advancement.

And the thing that to me, because that people don't understand that it's so frustrating, is that Yo, after after methanmist proculamation, in any of the Civil War, black people stop start getting elected. And if you read James D. Anderson's book The Education of Blacks in the South eighteen sixty nineteen thirty, what you will realize is that black people put in the state constitution in the South for

publicly financed education. Those were black let's legislators. And when they booted all the black folks out and change the laws, they kept that provision right there. So we ow freed slaves for they're being taxpyer funded education uh in the South as a result of them being elected to office. And so all of that, all of that history, um is really a part of June tenth and so this this constant battle for either So it wasn't that they were free, No, they were free from being enslaved, but

they were still not free. So what we have in Texas have been saying all these years that we are in a constant battle for freedom, that we still are not free. We simply were no longer enslaved. Am So what do you think that we should be doing now? How should we be commemorating June teams Like as as a people, we should be the next step there too, There's a we should be commemorating and celebrating, but there

should be a mission involved politically registering people to vote. Two, we should be creating freedom schools where we literally are teaching this history. Uh, those freedom school existed in the civil rights movement, and in fact, Marry and Right Elements Group Children's Defense Fund they actually still do the freedom schools that they do the training at Alex Haley's former

farm in Tennessee. Um and funny because I was on the train with her from New York and she told me about that and I didn't even know that, And I said, wild, Marian, I literally have been talking about freedom schools and my speeches for a decade. I'm talking about how we needed that. But thirdly, we should be using June tieth is black economics in terms of we should be saying and again I'm being very I have

I don't care. We should be saying if you're having events, are you using black caterers, black transportation companies, black pr companies, black event planners, black audio visual companies, black videographers, and all of that. Because I've long said America has never really had a problem with black people. We made America money. The problem is we never benefited economically from this, and

so this should be an economic conversation. That also was a thing that we talked about that we also understood in as well. This is about economics. This is about ensuring that we're not throwing parties and then we're not benefiting from it. We have to contend with this wealth gap, this black wealth gap that is one tenth that of

whites in this country. And that mean and it's yes, I totally understand people with the reparations argument and the reparations debate that's going on, but that's still hoping trying to convince somebody to actually pass reparations. I'm going after the money that's on the table right now. And and and my and again, where I am is where King was? You read that April third nine speech and listen to it. It's a forty three minute and sixteen second speech. We

get caught up in. I've been to the mountaintop. I've seen the promised land No No, No, No, go back, where he talked about redistribute the pain. We've talked about supporting black businesses, where we've talked about going to places

and shopping where they respect at us, employing us. Go back and read Martin Depp's book on Operation and bread Basket uh in nineteen sixty nineteen seventy one, and look at that particular book where they talked about what they did and how when they when they went after those companies, they were asking them to hire black people in senior management, hired black people on frontline jobs, invest money in black banks,

hired black companies as contractors. And so part of the problem that I think that we've had is we've gotten so caught up and solely social justice, criminal justice reform, voting rights, which are all important. But if you do not deal with the money, then you're not actually dealing with America. America is about the money. There is one federal agency that shares along with the White House. You

can they can literally play flag football together. You walk a hundred steps out of this building, you're in the East wing. That's the partner of treasure. White Houses power, treasury, his money. And so that's the thing that we have to be on. And so I don't talk about money as this is a love of money. But every problem that we talked about finances has a direct correlation to that issue. We said it all the time. You just said they didn't they didn't feel more in the dreamer.

They got mad when he woke up. You know, they want to give us the dreamer and tell us. You never tell us about when he woke up. But here's a deal, though. He's a deal. Though. Even even if you use that about took out the dream, the same folk didn't even lets to that speech. That was a radical economic speech. But seeing again, so I'm gonna use it this way. The dream part of King's speech is the hoop part of a preconcern. Oh that's when he started. He's he he's, he's you know, he's rhyming and and

and and the organis is playing. But so when Turks always was a man passed to preach that thing, and he say what did he preach about? And he got three point and then they say, I don't really know, man, he preached that thing, which means you can't tell me the scripture and you can't tell me the three points. But you got caught up in the hoop part, so that I have a dream the mountaintop. That's the hoop part. But the whole part, the whope part, whop and hope

if we can put those things together right. But that's the that's that, that's the wet it. You can't see that. That's that makes you feel good part. But you've got to deal with the CSIS or the scripture, which is what he laid out when he said they gave us a checkstamp insufficient funds. And so that was the whole deal. So the battle for the four acres in the middle, the battle for right land rights, uh, the amount of

black land that was stolen in this country. Black people who were literally run out of Arkansas, Mississippi, in Texas and Alabama, fleeing racism, fleeing uh you know, black black husband's uh, running out because they said we will kill you if y'all stick around. Black people literally left acres

of land because of safety. When you think about Tulsa, when you think about the brother who owned the black newspaper who fled from Tulsa, and then they tell to blame it on him, and he opened a black newspaper in Buffalo. That's economics. And so this is what I'm talking about. How and so many of our people ain't got no clue about any of this, And so I want us to use June King and Black History Month

and m OK's birthday to expand this. I keep telling people, don't play I have a dream for the mountaintop a part at any m o K event unless you go play the other part. Let me let me so that I gotta go all the way back. This is the end. We're done. We at the end of your education. Today out and told you that your new job is to start some type of educational forum, if you will, or activists, young activists where they can hear that. Because it's one

thing to put a book in someone's team. You've been giving me books to read, and I've been reading along for a while, Tiffany offten, we read along. But it is something else to hear you say the things that you just said and then get interested enough where you want to be fed more. And that's the core, and that's what drives people to read. I had when we did a session together uh last week on team with Infocis,

and when you got off, they asked me. A woman said that she was struggling with helping getting her children, especially her sons, to sit down and read. She said, it's really difficult. It's the hardest part of their educational experience. And what I said to her is it's the content. It's what you're giving them to read. To your point after school at Hollid, if you want them to read, you have to be able to give them things that

it's interesting. Well, the thing about what you're doing in terms of educating people is you make folks interested enough to go read the content, right, the material they don't want to just read when you're telling them that basically white people had everything. Black folks was just slaves and there's not no stories except Martin, Luther, King and Roll and that's the end of the history. Lesson. But that's

not what I want to talk about. I'm going back to your first point about people who said we don't need June team. I didn't say we don't need you team, but I was certainly one of those saying we are calling for this, this and this criminal justice issues. We're calling for marijuana reform, we want people released. We all of it. We want gun money for gun violence, and

y'all giving us this holiday. And what we were concerned about is that you could get a holiday and not get the other legislative items that need to move that brings down. So we already understand. You know that, and you agree with that. But also you're saying Juneteenth is important because it forces us to have those other conversations. It forces people to say, if you believe in observing the holiday, then you shouldn't believe in giving us what

Juneteenth is supposed to be about. That's not even my point. I saw, uh in the last couple of days that you were in a heated exchange with other people that I respect intellectually on Twitter. Y'all were going back and forth about the Asian hate bill versus the African American hate bill. And I see both sides. I see you saying that under the Civil Rights um, the Civil rights what is it called the Civil Civil Rights Act, that's the word um, that it does cover hate crime issues, right.

But then I see these individuals saying, well, how come we can get an Asian bill, an lgbt Q I A bill. Now I have checked this out I know the Asian Bill happened. You got Mitch McConnell's wife, an Asian woman. You've got a whole Congress that was on the same page about voting for the Asian hate bill. But black folks do want to see, just like we got June Tea. They want to see something that says African American portex Just skip one, skip one. The Matthew

Shepherd James Bird Act. Oh, I see, I don't know that one. Tell me that was that was a hate crimes bill. It was named after Matthew Shepherd, the uh, the gay young man who was killed, and James Bird. It is called the Matthew Shepherd James Bird Hate that and it's and that's again that's specifically named after gay white boy and a black man. And it was and

that was in response to hate crimes. And so what people have to understand is that and and that's why I walk people through the impetus for the COVID nineteen Hate Act was the attack on Asians. That was the impetus. But the impetus does not mean it's only for them or it was only about them. So this year is the fiftieth anniversary of Title nine. Right, if you're a woman, you're like, man, I'm glad we have Title nine. Title nine wasn't about sports. Title nine actually was about opening

the professional schools two women. So you had an explosion of women, doctors, dentists, lawyers, engineers. You name it because of Title nine, asked the average person where the town nine comes from. It is a provision of the Civil Rights Act. As somebody as somebody who's disabled with the with the American Disabilities Act. Do you know how that got passed. It's a provision of the Civil Rights It's act. But listen, I gotta add one thing. Add one thing.

Why were women even put in the Civil Rights Act? Because the racist state representative out of Virginia, I think his last name was Smith, he thought that's what was gonna kill the ability to put women in. In fact, it got more votes. So what people are arguing when they say they want to see a specific deal for us, you can't. Laws that are passed by Congress don't apply just to one particular group. But that's not when you see when you hear the word Asian, right, that's that's

the particular group agent. It's not in the it's not in the build. No it's not bill. No, it's not. It is called the COVID nineteen Hate Act. That's what the bill is called. It is, it is not, it was, it was, it was. It was because you had at tax on Asians, is your hat an increase? You had individuals who were saying, we need some protection. If you actually read the bill, it literally does not apply to just Asians. The pretext of the bill describes these things

that have happened to Asians. But when you read the bill, when you read the remedies, the remedies applied to everybody. The creation of a database that applies. That's not only Asian attacks that go in, that's attacks as any hate crime attack going that database. So so when you read so so the video, actually it's not a strong bill. It doesn't actually do a lot. In fact, the bill that was passed by the House after the Buffalo shooting

actually is a stronger deal against white domestic terrorists black. Basically, you're saying the possibility of us is getting a bill that says black, it's not gonna happen because because because roling before you answer that, the issue is marketing, right, You've got the White House using the word Asian. You have um, you have also Congress talking about the Asian hate crime, and you had the Asian community right being very very grateful for what happened, and they're connected officials

and others stepping forward. Why is it so hard? Because now you've got LGBT that's just signed the other day. That may not be the name of that, that was an executive orders executive What is the problem? And that's what I'm saying, I hear you. But how was how was civil rights at soul? That was black? Okay? Well, but guess what. Guess what? We need it again? We need to do it now something again again Okay, but but but again Okay, So we want the Civil Rights

Act again when you already have a civil Rights Act. Well, I don't know so much about this Civil Rights Act again, but I don't okay, So, so what is the bill? What does the bill that people want? What's the bill? Definitely something around lynchings, because we haven't even passed that, have we? No? No, it's pegs aren't been signed the law. It's when when was that that was last year? Or something that just happened. It just happened right right, right,

But Okay, but the point they didn't say. They weren't walking around saying it's the black anti Lynching bill. They never used that language. Every time, it seems like everything that has to do with black people, the language that's used is inclusive. No no, no, no. The George Floyd for perfect example, the George Floyd Justice Act applied, will apply to everybody. That bill has actually been positioned essentially

as a black bill. Okay, but you get no no no, no, no, no no no no no again though, again, this is what I'm trying to understand. Do we want do we want for remedy or do we want them to say black when they actually said black before? Are we saying we want to hear the two because again, yeah, I'm saying I think that, so I'm I'm just I'm saying it is Literally, when the Civil Rights Act was passed, that was black. When the Matthew Shepherd James James Burt

Act was passed, that was gay and black. So we've actually had it before, so they a problem. The problem. The problem is we've actually had deals before where black was mentioned. It was called the so called Black Bill Voting Rights Act, even though that applies the variety of people. That's always been framed as a black issue. And so but it sounds to me like people today like, well, I wasn't around in I want to hear black now.

But you act as if that hasn't happened. It's simply factually inforrect But but but but I think I think it's true that we haven't been around. Right, I'm forty two, So the history that you had there is new. There's

the new information for me to learn every day. But what I will say is that the challenges that we're facing require new and improved approaches, right, and we know that there needs to be new ways, just like just like the George Floyd Justice and Police and Acts had to be passed because there needs to be new remedy remedies or had to be signed the executive order because it needs to be new remedies to deal with policing. But it's not enough. We're still dealing with matth. We're

still so what specifically do we want? Here's here's the deal, here's the deal. I don't I don't waste times like yo, we need a black bill. Okay, what's the bill? And then with some and then what's like, what's the bill. I'm gonna tell you this, and we're gonna we're gonna end this for now. But obviously there's need for much more dialogue on screen, off screen, on Twitter, off Twitter, because we have to all get educated, because we all

on the same side. The one thing I will say is that in that Asian hate bill, which you said is the COVID, hey at, there were resources that was specifically earmarked for therapeutic services and you know, and and services basically to address dealing with violence within the Asian No, that's not true. That is that is not true. Any group can apply. No, I'm trying to tell you any group can apply for the funds, okay, to help you're doing a better job. I'm literally I literally read the

bill on the air. The woman who actually put the provision in with the money responded to the tweets, to one of the tweets, So again the grants that you're talking about, any group, any community group can apply, Okay. I'm just telling you money is not the money is not only for Asian groups to apply. There's no job. They're not doing a good job. That's that's those jobs.

And I promise you that black folks who are dealing with mass shootings on the streets of Africa don't know that they can go apply right now to get that. Which is why I need those black people to watch Rollombart on filter in the Black Start networks because the reality because the reality is you're not going to get information from these other sources. They're only gonna talk about that. And that's precisely why all of that stuff that I

hurt from people. That's why I said, y'all, here's the bill, here's the language. Somebody to hear me in the check. What about the money, I'm like, they put in thirty million, Like what does this say? Right here? These are the groups the money is for. And so there are federal that that that are Look if you when you talk about okay LGBT, guess what if there are resources there for LGBT, black LGBT group should be applying. We shouldn't mean well that's the white folks. Know you black and

gay or lesbian boom apply for the funds. What we have to understand is, and that's this is all I'm saying. I need our people not to be so locked in loaded on the emotional part. I need us locked on the factual part and moving it forward, and so we know the impact the George for Justice Act. I told the families directly on the anniversary of his of his death.

I said, y'all should call. Y'all should make a public call for President Joe Biden to have a meeting at the White House with y'all and law enforcement and until Scott Graham and McConnell to be at the meeting as well. I said, because and I told being prompt, I said, to get this thing back on track. I said, now here's the deal, y'all call for it. The Biden doesn't do it, that's on him. We can kick his ass, I said. But if he does it and Republicans don't

show up, we know that's who we can target. But what I'm not gonna do, what I'm not gonna do, and this is where my studying of our history comes in. What I am not gonna do is get stopped at the emotional door and not focus on getting the results. And I think unfortunately too many of our people are caught up in well we didn't you don't say this,

what does it say? What does it do? And I want us also focused on that because we have to get stuff done, but there's certainly much more need for conversation about this, and I'm and I love it because we all we gotta be brought up to speed because we're not going to be able to make any change if we just, you know, if we don't know the

information right. And that's and that's why I black on Media Store important because look, because because again we're going to read the bills, we're gonna go get the information. We're gonna say, look, we're going after the sources. And that's the problem. And I'll be honest with you, a lot of our folks spend more time retweeting something MSNBC or CNN said than what we talked about, and people like we didn't know. That's why we did five days a week, every day every day, because well, I don't.

I don't want us depend upon somebody else who's not going to give us the information. Rolland Martin Unfiltered, thank you for being with us today. You back for show, and y'all download the download the black Star Network out because that way, if YouTube and Facebook blockers trusted, we own the app and it won't be blocked. Right, Thank you, Thank you, appreciate all right, rolland has so much information in him. It's like, I mean, but but it's a lot, right,

And there's so many different perspectives. We have a lot of other friends who have different perspectives and it and it all educated, right, brilliant people are brilliant. And we are talking about Joe Blow from over the road. We talked about people who also study and nate and I'm sure they have a perspective to respond to what he just said as well. Um, but it definitely helps me, Like I'm because I couldn't understand exactly what was happening. So now that he explains what his position is, I

get why he continued to push his point. But I still understand the point that they were making in terms of the idea that the administration went out and marketed these bills. The reality is that black is not a

good marketing. They don't want to use the word. They don't want to use, just like what you were talking about the Mareverary case, right, and you talked about how you know, um Bandon and others had wanted them to specifically point how this was racism that you know that the the attorney was using and a white woman who did an excellent job. She chose not to focus on that, right she wanted she because in the eyes of a lot of people in America, white people in America, it's

not something that they want to identify with, right. They don't want to They don't want to focus on the fact that America's racist. They don't want to focus on the fact that these things are specifically happening to white people. Right, So they want to put us all into this one category and say, Okay, blacks will be able to benefit more, and it will actually happen if we don't focus it primarily on blacks. And that's just the strategy that America uses,

and a lot of us aren't comfortable with that. We just gotta call it out direct but we have to cool it out directly until we make them uncomfortable enough to where they do things that they need to do for us directly. Listen, we got so much going on for June Team. We did get a lot of information from rolling and we need to actually cut the show so we could go jump on a June Team on celebration and commemoration event with our brother Reverend Stephen A. Green.

So there is Unfortunately, we move and moving, moving, and and you know, I think that's what that's what it's all about. It's cool that we do a podcast, but it's even more important that we're on the ground because that at this evening we've got to be somewhere for Brittney Grinder. I mean, by the time folks get to

see episodes that we need to be doing things. Yeah, by the time people see this episode in in just two days, we would have done more work than many folks do all year long in terms of their their activism. So with that said, I'm not gonna always be right to make a d Mallory is not gonna always be wrong, but we will both always and I mean always be authentic.

June Teeth Peace. Listen to Street Politicians on the Black Effect Network on I Heart Radio and catch us every single Wednesday for the video version of Street Politicians when I Women Dot TV