Why Are You Here?
At the NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet, Roland Martin called on Black America to rise, declaring, “This isn’t a speech—it’s a summons to fight for what our ancestors built.”
The Premier Ballroom of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Baton Rouge was filled Saturday evening with elegantly dressed Black Louisianans gathered for the 83rd Annual Louisiana NAACP State Conference Freedom Fund Banquet. Nearly 480 people attended the event, underscoring the strong community support for the NAACP’s mission. The featured speaker, journalist and media entrepreneur Roland Martin, didn’t waste time before challenging the audience.
“Why are you here?” he asked, urging attendees to take out their cell phones and record themselves. The exercise, reminiscent of the church tradition of “turn to your neighbor,” was Martin’s way of pressing home a sobering question: why aren’t we outraged about the rollbacks of Black political gains happening before our eyes?
Courtesy of the Black Star Network
Support Black Media
Martin, owner of the Black Star Network and host of Roland Martin Unfiltered, shared his journey from working for major outlets like CNN to building his own platform. He urged the audience not to simply pray for or congratulate Black-owned media, but to financially support them.
The four-time NAACP Image Award winner was quick to point out he was not there to make new friends or have any more people call him "brother." At one point, visibly frustrated, he declared, “We are engrossed in line dances while things are at their worst.”
A Wholesale Assault
Martin described what he called a “wholesale assault” on Black America. He criticized leaders who, in his view, seek white approval and wait for permission before taking action.
“Every major Black leader should be in Louisiana because of what has happened in this nation,” he insisted. “If the Supreme Court invalidates the use of race in gerrymandering, you’re not just going to see half of the Black Caucus wiped out—councilmen, school boards—the entire infrastructure of single-member districts, which was hard fought, will be wiped out. Things we literally died for are being erased right now. And we are quiet and relaxed.”
The Divine Nine and Missed Opportunities
Martin also critiqued the Divine Nine, the coalition of historically Black Greek-letter organizations, for being “insular” and “playing it safe.” He explained that those organizations were not truly engaged in the community.
“The average Black man on the street doesn’t know the colors of these fraternities and sororities,” he said. “We’re so comfortable in our present condition while the attacks are happening all around us.” He went on to say, "What is happening today will have negative implications for our children’s children.”
As a member of a fraternity and the Masons himself, Martin challenged the organizations to live up to their historical missions of service, scholarship, and civic leadership.
Remembering the Deacons for Defense
Midway through his remarks, Martin tested the room by asking how many people knew about the Deacons for Defense and Justice, the 1960s Louisiana-based group that protected civil rights workers from white supremacists like the Ku Klux Klan. Only about a third of the audience raised their hands.
“This happened in your state. Right down the road,” Martin reminded them. “Maybe part of the problem is education about Black history.”
A Call to Action
Martin underscored that many freedoms enjoyed by women, the disabled, and others in America came at the expense of Black sacrifice.
While talking about ultra-conservatives and MAGA supporters, he stated, “We have got to care about our issues as much as they care about theirs.”
He concluded with a stark reminder: the U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear arguments in a Louisiana case that would have national implications and could eliminate half of the Congressional Black Caucus, the largest Democratic caucus with 62 members.
“There is a massive effort to defund every aspect of Black America—business, education, political, social, health—every aspect,” Martin warned. “This is a wholesale assault on everything we have fought for since slavery and Reconstruction.” He vowed, "I will fight until hell freezes over, and then I’ll fight on the ice.”
