While walking the blue carpet at the NAACP Creative Honors, Roland Martin shared some profound and challenging insights regarding Black Greek-letter organizations, the necessity of Black media, and the current political climate in America.
When asked if fraternities and the Divine Nine should be doing more for the community, Martin’s answer was an unequivocal yes. He referenced Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?, noting that Dr. King, who was an Alpha himself, identified four specific institutions structured to liberate Black America: the Negro church, the Negro press, Negro fraternities and sororities, and Negro professional and business organizations.
However, Martin pointed out that Dr. King believed these four institutions had never fully committed themselves to the liberation of Black people. Martin challenged D9 members to elevate their current focus.
He noted that while many Greeks remain focused on the college glory days of “who ran the yard,” the real question they should be asking now is, “who runs your cities?” Martin argued that these organizations spend far too much time on small, insular business rather than tackling the broader issues that truly impact Black America.
To build real political and economic power, Martin challenged D9 members to go beyond simply defending their community service records. He emphasized that their collective presence needs to be seen at City Hall, on county commissions, on school boards, and in Congress to drive true economic development.
Transitioning to the topic of Black independent media, Martin reminded the audience that Black people would not be where they are today without the historic Black press. He paid homage to trailblazers like Ida B. Wells, Robert Abbott of the Chicago Defender, and publications like Ebony, Jet, and Essence.
Martin stressed that Black media creators and consumers cannot operate based on white validation or a fixation on mainstream outlets. He shared a personal anecdote from his time at CNN during the 2008 election.
Despite CNN broadcasting to 200 countries, Martin insisted on stepping away from the desk multiple times that night to broadcast for TV One, a Black-owned network. His reasoning was simple: TV One valued and paid him for his perspective before mainstream media did, and he refused to view CNN as superior to Black-owned platforms.
“Even when I was at CNN, I didn’t leave Black-owned media. They wanted me to. They asked me to. I said, absolutely not”. Martin insisted on stepping away from the CNN desk multiple times that night to broadcast for TV One, a Black-owned network, explaining to CNN executives, “TV One paid me from my perspective before y’all did”.
When asked if America’s current political tension is a direct result of electing its first Black president, Martin agreed. He explained, “In the history of America, every period of Black success has been followed by white backlash.”
According to Martin, figures like Donald Trump are “absolutely… the result of that Black success.” He outlined exactly how this backlash has evolved rapidly over the past few years, starting with the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, which he noted was “the first protest in American history where black people were centered, but majority of Americans agreed with it.” He explained that the subsequent years brought coordinated attacks: “What happened in 2021? They attacked BLM. 2022, critical race theory. 2023, they attacked DEI. 2024, it was all woke.”
Martin warned that “the desire is to absolutely roll back Black success” and dismantle foundational civil rights legislation, including the 14th Amendment.
Check out the full interview below.
Photo Credit: DepositPhotos.com
