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If you have ever owned a slave,
please raise your hand.
4
00:00:33,826 --> 00:00:37,872
And there's not one hand
going up anywhere in this theater.
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Slavery is not our fault.
6
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We didn't do it.
7
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We didn't cause it.
8
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It's not our responsibility.
9
00:00:47,548 --> 00:00:50,134
But it is our shared history.
10
00:00:55,306 --> 00:00:58,726
And when we try and turn it
into something that it's not...
11
00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:02,521
when we try and make
more light of it than it was,
12
00:01:02,605 --> 00:01:05,316
then we are denying who we really are,
13
00:01:05,399 --> 00:01:09,195
and we are impeding our ability
to truly move forward
14
00:01:09,278 --> 00:01:11,656
as a community or as a nation.
15
00:01:19,538 --> 00:01:22,458
We're at the Lorraine Motel.
16
00:01:23,292 --> 00:01:26,712
And right outside Room 306,
there's a wreath,
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which is approximately
where Dr. King was standing
18
00:01:29,799 --> 00:01:31,425
when he was shot down.
19
00:01:32,301 --> 00:01:36,013
And if you look across the street,
there's a building over there
20
00:01:36,097 --> 00:01:38,015
from where the shots were fired.
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00:01:38,724 --> 00:01:41,519
It was a shot that almost couldn't miss.
22
00:01:43,062 --> 00:01:47,275
Exactly one week
before Dr. King was shot,
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00:01:47,358 --> 00:01:50,861
there was a demonstration here
in Downtown Memphis
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00:01:50,945 --> 00:01:53,447
to support
the striking sanitation workers,
25
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and my dad took my older brother
and I to that demonstration.
26
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It broke into violence
and my dad told us to run.
27
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It's difficult to think about now,
28
00:02:08,004 --> 00:02:12,758
because there was a young Black teenager
named Larry Payne.
29
00:02:12,842 --> 00:02:14,593
He lost his life that day.
30
00:02:14,677 --> 00:02:18,472
He encountered a police officer
and was killed, and...
31
00:02:19,557 --> 00:02:23,060
It's just one of those events
in my childhood
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that made me realize how lucky I was.
33
00:02:26,439 --> 00:02:30,359
How lucky I was
not to end up like Larry Payne.
34
00:02:31,402 --> 00:02:35,781
And how lucky I was
to have come out of Memphis...
35
00:02:36,615 --> 00:02:37,950
in the way that I did.
36
00:02:52,631 --> 00:02:57,762
We've gotta give ourselves
to this struggle until the end.
37
00:02:57,845 --> 00:03:00,097
Nothing would be more tragic...
38
00:03:01,015 --> 00:03:02,600
than to stop...
39
00:03:04,852 --> 00:03:07,813
at this point in Memphis.
40
00:03:09,190 --> 00:03:10,858
We've gotta see it through.
41
00:03:19,700 --> 00:03:23,204
Tonight, Jeff Robinson
will tell us stories that we've not heard.
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00:03:23,287 --> 00:03:25,247
Stories that we think we know,
43
00:03:25,331 --> 00:03:28,042
but have not wrestled
with their meaning yet.
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00:03:28,125 --> 00:03:29,794
The story of us.
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00:03:30,628 --> 00:03:34,006
Ladies and gentlemen,
give it up for Jeff Robinson, y'all.
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00:03:44,725 --> 00:03:45,643
Hey, y'all.
47
00:03:49,021 --> 00:03:51,565
I was 11 years old in 1968.
48
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And to my young eyes,
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we had been on a path
toward racial justice that was amazing.
50
00:03:58,864 --> 00:04:02,159
There was the Civil Rights Act,
the Voting Rights Act.
51
00:04:02,243 --> 00:04:05,538
We were winning on buses
and at lunch counters.
52
00:04:07,498 --> 00:04:11,460
We were seemingly, to me,
at a tipping point
53
00:04:11,544 --> 00:04:14,380
where we were either gonna roll forward
54
00:04:14,463 --> 00:04:17,007
with this incredible momentum
on racial justice
55
00:04:17,091 --> 00:04:19,218
or we could roll back.
56
00:04:19,301 --> 00:04:21,554
And then April 4th happened.
57
00:04:22,972 --> 00:04:24,849
And King got shot in the neck.
58
00:04:26,225 --> 00:04:30,312
And it felt like the whole thing
just rolled back.
59
00:04:32,773 --> 00:04:36,402
Because then came Richard Nixon
and the War on Drugs.
60
00:04:37,361 --> 00:04:39,363
We're 50 years later now.
61
00:04:39,447 --> 00:04:41,282
And once again,
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00:04:41,365 --> 00:04:46,871
young activists in America are making
Americans take a look in the mirror,
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00:04:46,954 --> 00:04:51,083
in terms of our true history
of race and racial prejudice.
64
00:04:51,167 --> 00:04:55,504
Once again, the young activists
are calling us to account.
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00:04:55,588 --> 00:05:00,301
Once again, America is having to look
at issues of race dead in the eye,
66
00:05:00,384 --> 00:05:03,888
and once again, we are at a tipping point.
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And the question
for all of us in this room is:
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"What are we gonna do about it?"
69
00:05:11,353 --> 00:05:14,648
We are our own worst enemies
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00:05:14,732 --> 00:05:18,986
when it comes to making
true racial progress in America.
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00:05:19,069 --> 00:05:23,532
And unless we are willing to take
a long and hard look in the mirror,
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00:05:23,616 --> 00:05:28,037
this concept of taking two steps forward
and three steps backward
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00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:32,583
is where we are going
to continue moving in this country.
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00:05:41,217 --> 00:05:44,929
In 2011, my wife and I became parents.
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00:05:45,804 --> 00:05:49,058
My sister-in-law who lived here in Queens
passed away,
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00:05:49,141 --> 00:05:52,686
and we became the parents
of her then-13-year-old son.
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00:05:54,396 --> 00:05:57,942
And if you ask Matthew Liam Brooks,
"What are you?"
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He will tell you, "I'm Puerto Rican,
Taino Indian and African American."
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00:06:02,613 --> 00:06:04,281
And he's very proud of that.
80
00:06:04,365 --> 00:06:06,784
And when I look at him, I say,
"I understand, dude.
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But you're a young Black male.
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"Cause that's what America is gonna see.”
83
00:06:11,622 --> 00:06:12,748
And all of a sudden,
84
00:06:12,831 --> 00:06:16,335
the surface skimming
that I felt like I had been doing
85
00:06:16,418 --> 00:06:21,173
on the history of race
and what racism meant in America,
86
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it wasn't enough,
and so I started reading more.
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00:06:24,343 --> 00:06:30,891
And I found myself getting angry
and feeling ignorant.
88
00:06:31,475 --> 00:06:35,604
I went to Marquette University
and I graduated from Harvard Law School.
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00:06:35,688 --> 00:06:38,649
I've had one of the best educations
in America,
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00:06:38,732 --> 00:06:43,612
and I started learning stuff
about the history of race in this country
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that I had never heard before.
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00:06:46,574 --> 00:06:49,159
And I thought,
"How could I not have known this?
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How could I not have been taught this?"
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And I started thinking,
"If I don't know this,
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00:06:54,873 --> 00:06:58,544
I wonder how many other people
don't know."
96
00:07:12,516 --> 00:07:14,268
Slavery had nothing to do with the war.
97
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That was not the cause
of the Southern states seceding.
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That was not the cause of the first shot
being fired on that fort over there.
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It was about money.
100
00:07:24,653 --> 00:07:26,447
And it was not about slavery.
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00:07:26,530 --> 00:07:29,491
It was about Morrill Tariffs.
It was about more money.
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00:07:29,575 --> 00:07:34,371
Lincoln wanted to impose 45%
more taxes on the Southern states.
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00:07:34,455 --> 00:07:37,666
Taxes on the goods
the Southern states were producing.
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00:07:37,750 --> 00:07:42,004
And those goods were,
essentially, cotton, tobacco, and rice.
105
00:07:42,087 --> 00:07:43,005
Predominantly.
106
00:07:43,088 --> 00:07:44,548
And those goods...
107
00:07:45,424 --> 00:07:48,135
were produced by slave labor.
108
00:07:49,219 --> 00:07:50,054
All of it.
109
00:07:50,679 --> 00:07:51,764
Isn't that right?
110
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I mean...
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00:07:53,474 --> 00:07:55,684
Ninety-five percent of it?
112
00:07:57,061 --> 00:07:58,354
Isn't that right?
113
00:07:58,854 --> 00:08:04,318
If it's 95% produced by slave labor,
enslaved people...
114
00:08:05,527 --> 00:08:08,614
and the North is saying,
"We're gonna tax you on that
115
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because we want some of that money,"
116
00:08:10,616 --> 00:08:12,034
and the South is saying,
117
00:08:12,117 --> 00:08:13,827
"Wait a minute.
We're the ones producing,
118
00:08:13,911 --> 00:08:15,871
so you shouldn't be taking the money,”
119
00:08:15,954 --> 00:08:18,624
that money wouldn't exist
without slave labor.
120
00:08:18,707 --> 00:08:22,753
That did affect the bottom line,
wouldn't you agree with that?
121
00:08:22,836 --> 00:08:24,546
They chose to stay.
122
00:08:24,630 --> 00:08:26,590
In most cases, in the South,
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00:08:26,674 --> 00:08:30,344
that's the way it worked,
because they were treated as family.
124
00:08:31,095 --> 00:08:32,554
And they knew what they had.
125
00:08:32,638 --> 00:08:35,724
They didn't know what they were
being faced with if they left.
126
00:08:35,808 --> 00:08:40,312
So your view is that enslaved people
were treated as family?
127
00:08:40,396 --> 00:08:42,940
Then why wouldn't it be all right
for me to own you,
128
00:08:43,023 --> 00:08:45,401
as long as I treated you like family?
129
00:08:46,860 --> 00:08:48,821
If that's the way economics work.
130
00:08:50,447 --> 00:08:52,157
Would you be satisfied with that?
131
00:08:52,241 --> 00:08:54,618
-In today's world?
-In any world.
132
00:08:54,702 --> 00:08:57,454
-In today's time?
-At any time.
133
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No.
134
00:09:01,250 --> 00:09:02,876
So was slavery evil?
135
00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:04,086
Yes.
136
00:09:05,003 --> 00:09:06,296
I'm not denying it.
137
00:09:06,380 --> 00:09:10,259
And this flag has nothing to do with that?
138
00:09:10,342 --> 00:09:11,176
No.
139
00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:15,639
This was a soldier's battle flag.
140
00:09:18,392 --> 00:09:19,768
I think I need to--
141
00:09:19,852 --> 00:09:24,148
I'm a little sick today,
and so I'm just standing in the heat.
142
00:09:24,231 --> 00:09:26,108
Thank you for talking to me.
I will say that.
143
00:09:26,191 --> 00:09:28,152
I appreciate that.
144
00:09:28,235 --> 00:09:30,320
-Thank you very much for talking to me.
-Yes, Sir.
145
00:09:39,455 --> 00:09:41,331
I needed to walk away.
146
00:09:43,208 --> 00:09:49,089
I am definitely interested in engaging
with people that don't agree.
147
00:09:49,173 --> 00:09:52,885
But it seemed like facts...
148
00:09:54,011 --> 00:09:57,014
were not that important to this gentleman.
149
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He knew that what he was saying
made no sense whatsoever,
150
00:10:02,311 --> 00:10:04,646
but he believes it so deeply...
151
00:10:05,731 --> 00:10:07,900
that he's unwilling to let go of it.
152
00:10:10,110 --> 00:10:15,115
So I don't know if he can be reached.
153
00:10:16,575 --> 00:10:22,331
But I know that if no one tries,
he definitely won't change.
154
00:10:34,510 --> 00:10:37,262
People aren't just good or bad.
155
00:10:37,346 --> 00:10:39,473
People are many things.
156
00:10:39,556 --> 00:10:43,268
Every person in this theater
knows that's true,
157
00:10:43,352 --> 00:10:45,270
'cause every one of us has been
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00:10:45,354 --> 00:10:48,899
a saint or a sinner
at some times in our life.
159
00:10:48,982 --> 00:10:50,400
And you know what?
160
00:10:50,484 --> 00:10:53,320
Countries aren't just one thing either.
161
00:10:53,403 --> 00:10:55,030
They're many things.
162
00:10:55,113 --> 00:11:01,036
America has demonstrated its greatness
time and time and time again.
163
00:11:01,119 --> 00:11:03,956
And America is one
of the most racist countries
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00:11:04,039 --> 00:11:05,541
on the face of the Earth.
165
00:11:05,624 --> 00:11:08,961
Those two things
are not mutually exclusive.
166
00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:12,089
It is not an either-or.
167
00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:19,555
And the reason I'm asking us
to think about this
168
00:11:19,638 --> 00:11:23,183
is that, literally,
the future is at stake.
169
00:11:27,813 --> 00:11:30,023
Can I see a show of hands?
170
00:11:30,107 --> 00:11:33,694
How many people can see
a triangle in the form on the board?
171
00:11:33,777 --> 00:11:35,362
Just throw your hands up.
172
00:11:35,445 --> 00:11:36,780
How about a circle?
173
00:11:38,198 --> 00:11:39,449
How about a star?
174
00:11:40,784 --> 00:11:42,244
The Star of David?
175
00:11:43,328 --> 00:11:45,998
You realize none of those shapes
are on this screen?
176
00:11:46,081 --> 00:11:47,499
Not one of them.
177
00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:49,251
Not one of them.
178
00:11:49,334 --> 00:11:53,297
But what your brain does
is to fill in the gaps,
179
00:11:53,380 --> 00:11:55,173
so that the world makes sense.
180
00:11:55,257 --> 00:11:58,844
And we look at these shapes
and we say, "I kind of recognize them."
181
00:11:58,927 --> 00:12:02,306
And so we fill in the gaps
so the world makes sense.
182
00:12:02,389 --> 00:12:05,642
And that doesn't have any problem
when you're doing something like this.
183
00:12:05,726 --> 00:12:10,898
But the thing is that we can
fill in the gaps on all sorts of things,
184
00:12:10,981 --> 00:12:13,191
including our judgments about people.
185
00:12:13,275 --> 00:12:14,109
And sometimes,
186
00:12:14,192 --> 00:12:18,196
what we're filling in the gaps with
comes from a really ugly place.
187
00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:22,492
This is the only time tonight
I'm going to ask you to do this.
188
00:12:22,576 --> 00:12:24,745
I want you to work with me,
189
00:12:24,828 --> 00:12:28,457
and I'm gonna ask you to,
loudly and quickly,
190
00:12:28,540 --> 00:12:31,710
say the color, not the word.
191
00:12:31,793 --> 00:12:33,795
-Are we ready?
-Yes.
192
00:12:33,879 --> 00:12:35,172
Ready?
193
00:12:35,255 --> 00:12:36,214
Go.
194
00:12:36,298 --> 00:12:40,177
Red, yellow, blue, green, brown.
195
00:12:40,260 --> 00:12:42,763
Blue, brown, red, yellow, green.
196
00:12:42,846 --> 00:12:43,764
Faster.
197
00:12:43,847 --> 00:12:46,725
Red, yellow, blue, green, brown.
198
00:12:46,808 --> 00:12:49,144
Blue, brown, red, yellow, green.
199
00:12:54,858 --> 00:12:59,404
This thing is 80 years old.
200
00:13:00,405 --> 00:13:04,159
And what it does is to simply demonstrate
201
00:13:04,242 --> 00:13:06,119
that you are making connections
202
00:13:06,203 --> 00:13:10,248
between the word and the color
below your conscious level.
203
00:13:10,332 --> 00:13:12,542
You don't even know that you're doing it.
204
00:13:12,626 --> 00:13:15,295
And when that connection is broken,
205
00:13:15,379 --> 00:13:19,174
it actually takes
just a little bit more time
206
00:13:19,257 --> 00:13:21,426
to get to the right answer.
207
00:13:21,510 --> 00:13:27,766
That is the heart of the science
about unconscious bias.
208
00:13:27,849 --> 00:13:32,270
Whether it's unconscious bias
or deliberate bias...
209
00:13:33,146 --> 00:13:37,526
the person experiencing it
experiences exactly the same thing.
210
00:13:37,609 --> 00:13:41,113
If you don't get the job
because a racist doesn't hire you,
211
00:13:41,196 --> 00:13:43,740
or because somebody has unconscious bias,
212
00:13:43,824 --> 00:13:45,450
you still don't have a job.
213
00:13:45,534 --> 00:13:50,580
If you get arrested because somebody
had bias to call the police
214
00:13:50,664 --> 00:13:54,918
because someone Black
is existing in space and they're nervous,
215
00:13:55,002 --> 00:13:57,379
whether it's unconscious or deliberate,
216
00:13:57,462 --> 00:14:00,590
you still have to deal
with a law enforcement officer.
217
00:14:00,674 --> 00:14:03,010
The difference is meaningless
218
00:14:03,093 --> 00:14:07,806
when it is talking about the experience
of the person who is victimized by it.
219
00:14:09,224 --> 00:14:13,061
I'm moving from D.C., I'm sweating
right now. I'm in my apartment.
220
00:14:13,145 --> 00:14:14,563
But, you know...
221
00:14:15,063 --> 00:14:17,524
somebody called the cops on me
in my own building.
222
00:14:17,607 --> 00:14:19,026
About-- How many of y'all?
223
00:14:20,444 --> 00:14:22,154
About six of y'all showed up.
224
00:14:23,155 --> 00:14:26,783
New at 5:00, a rude welcome
to the neighborhood
225
00:14:26,867 --> 00:14:29,578
for a man on the Upper West Side.
226
00:14:29,661 --> 00:14:31,788
He was moving into his apartment building
227
00:14:31,872 --> 00:14:36,334
when a half-dozen NYPD officers
suddenly showed up.
228
00:14:36,418 --> 00:14:40,297
Darren Martin streamed the encounter live
on Instagram.
229
00:14:40,380 --> 00:14:43,050
He says one of his neighbors
called the police
230
00:14:43,133 --> 00:14:45,594
thinking that he was actually
breaking into the apartment.
231
00:14:45,677 --> 00:14:47,637
Even claiming that he had a weapon.
232
00:14:49,931 --> 00:14:53,518
-So this is 106th Street in Manhattan?
-Yep.
233
00:14:53,602 --> 00:14:55,604
And on the night in question,
234
00:14:56,104 --> 00:14:58,815
looking at where this car
is parked right here,
235
00:14:58,899 --> 00:15:00,317
is this where your U-Haul was?
236
00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:04,279
Our U-Haul was parked right outside.
Right over here where this car is.
237
00:15:04,362 --> 00:15:06,114
Right in front of the building.
238
00:15:06,198 --> 00:15:08,950
-And then, it looks like 56 is--
-Right over here, yeah.
239
00:15:09,034 --> 00:15:11,453
So this is the apartment
that I was moving into.
240
00:15:11,536 --> 00:15:12,704
Yeah, this is it.
241
00:15:14,122 --> 00:15:17,834
And it's outside. It's a regular building.
Looks like any other walk-up here.
242
00:15:17,918 --> 00:15:20,462
I don't know what those cops' intentions
were when they came.
243
00:15:20,545 --> 00:15:22,422
They were looking for someone
with a weapon.
244
00:15:23,673 --> 00:15:25,092
I could've been killed.
245
00:15:26,551 --> 00:15:29,137
-Can I go see my guy? Can I go upstairs?
-Not right now.
246
00:15:29,221 --> 00:15:31,890
-Why not? Why can't I go anywhere?
-We have to check it out.
247
00:15:31,973 --> 00:15:33,350
What's the problem? I live here.
248
00:15:33,433 --> 00:15:36,228
-We gotta do our investigation.
-What are you investigating?
249
00:15:36,311 --> 00:15:37,604
Listen, they called, right?
250
00:15:37,687 --> 00:15:39,773
-We're doing our job. That's it.
-Who called you?
251
00:15:39,856 --> 00:15:41,191
If you're doing nothing wrong--
252
00:15:41,274 --> 00:15:43,360
-Who called you?
-Someone called us.
253
00:15:44,069 --> 00:15:46,613
Well, I'm glad that this is nothing more
254
00:15:46,696 --> 00:15:49,825
than a cramped space in a hallway
255
00:15:49,908 --> 00:15:53,578
in an apartment building
on 106th Street in New York,
256
00:15:53,662 --> 00:15:55,747
and not another landmark
257
00:15:55,831 --> 00:16:00,210
where another person from our community
is killed by the police
258
00:16:00,293 --> 00:16:01,711
and we're asking why.
259
00:16:05,465 --> 00:16:08,677
The biases and prejudices
260
00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:12,889
about race in America
are so deep in our DNA
261
00:16:12,973 --> 00:16:17,185
that sometimes we don't even
recognize that they're there.
262
00:16:18,145 --> 00:16:21,648
Take the Implicit Association Test,
if you haven't taken it.
263
00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:24,067
It's up on the Harvard website,
264
00:16:24,151 --> 00:16:28,905
and it tests your implicit or unconscious
association on all kinds of things.
265
00:16:28,989 --> 00:16:31,783
On race, on gender, all kinds of things.
266
00:16:31,867 --> 00:16:34,661
And I was interested, as I was
looking at all of this information,
267
00:16:34,744 --> 00:16:38,582
so I went and took it,
and it made a mistake.
268
00:16:38,665 --> 00:16:40,292
So I had to take it again.
269
00:16:42,169 --> 00:16:46,089
Because, see, it gave these results
and it's like, "That ain't me."
270
00:16:46,173 --> 00:16:47,883
So I took it again.
271
00:16:47,966 --> 00:16:50,302
And it had the same results.
272
00:16:50,385 --> 00:16:53,430
A negative impression of Black males.
273
00:16:54,264 --> 00:16:57,559
A negative impression of myself.
274
00:16:58,727 --> 00:17:01,646
And I thought, "Where did that come from?"
275
00:17:01,730 --> 00:17:08,737
I've had some good days
276
00:17:08,820 --> 00:17:10,363
I've had...
277
00:17:10,447 --> 00:17:11,948
All right, Betty Jo, where you at?
278
00:17:12,032 --> 00:17:16,286
Some hills to climb
279
00:17:16,369 --> 00:17:21,374
I've had some weary days
280
00:17:21,458 --> 00:17:24,419
And some sleepless nights...
281
00:17:24,502 --> 00:17:26,421
Well, he's got his hands up there
for her now.
282
00:17:29,382 --> 00:17:31,092
This guy's still walking.
283
00:17:32,219 --> 00:17:33,887
He isn't following commands.
284
00:17:34,846 --> 00:17:36,640
Time for a Taser, I think.
285
00:17:38,475 --> 00:17:41,603
That looks like a bad dude too.
May be on something.
286
00:17:42,437 --> 00:17:44,231
He may have just been Tasered.
287
00:17:44,898 --> 00:17:46,358
Shots fired!
288
00:17:47,734 --> 00:17:51,279
Twenty-one, we have shots fired.
We have one suspect down.
289
00:17:54,741 --> 00:17:58,995
Sometimes clouds hang low
290
00:18:00,247 --> 00:18:06,419
I can hardly see the road
291
00:18:11,466 --> 00:18:15,428
Has your brother been misportrayed,
in terms of who he was?
292
00:18:15,512 --> 00:18:17,514
Yes, he has. The narrative...
293
00:18:18,974 --> 00:18:22,519
started out as Terence being a suspect.
294
00:18:22,602 --> 00:18:25,063
Well, he was a student, not a suspect.
295
00:18:25,563 --> 00:18:28,233
Just left school 15 minutes earlier.
296
00:18:28,316 --> 00:18:30,944
Fifteen minutes later, he was dead.
297
00:18:32,612 --> 00:18:34,739
In the media, he was a thug.
298
00:18:34,823 --> 00:18:37,200
He was a criminal. He was a drug addict.
299
00:18:37,826 --> 00:18:40,245
-He was a bad dude.
-Yes.
300
00:18:40,328 --> 00:18:42,998
Nobody ever humanized my brother.
301
00:18:43,081 --> 00:18:47,419
And I had to let America know
who that bad dude was.
302
00:18:47,502 --> 00:18:48,712
That was my twin.
303
00:18:50,130 --> 00:18:51,298
He was a father.
304
00:18:53,091 --> 00:18:54,092
He was a son.
305
00:18:54,175 --> 00:18:57,387
He was a brother, an uncle, a cousin.
306
00:18:58,096 --> 00:18:59,514
He was a friend.
307
00:19:00,849 --> 00:19:02,892
He had a family who loved him.
308
00:19:04,436 --> 00:19:07,105
And my brother did not deserve to die,
309
00:19:07,605 --> 00:19:10,191
unarmed, with his hands in the air.
310
00:19:10,275 --> 00:19:15,739
Nobody deserves to die
and take their last breath alone.
311
00:19:16,573 --> 00:19:18,533
He took his last breath alone.
312
00:19:19,743 --> 00:19:22,245
He laid in the street like an animal.
313
00:19:31,171 --> 00:19:34,924
George Orwell did not write about a year.
314
00:19:35,008 --> 00:19:37,802
He wrote about a mindset of oppression.
315
00:19:37,886 --> 00:19:42,098
And there are two things that he said
that I would strive for each of us
316
00:19:42,182 --> 00:19:44,642
to please remember as we go forward.
317
00:19:44,726 --> 00:19:48,396
The first, "Who controls the past,
controls the future.
318
00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:51,608
And who controls the present,
controls the past.”
319
00:19:51,691 --> 00:19:53,985
A government that is in power
320
00:19:54,069 --> 00:19:59,157
has the ability to shape the views
of the population it governs
321
00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:05,955
by putting out a narrative that sometimes
has nothing to do with the truth.
322
00:20:08,208 --> 00:20:10,710
People don't realize, the Civil War--
323
00:20:13,213 --> 00:20:16,508
-Yeah.
-If you think about it, why?
324
00:20:16,591 --> 00:20:18,218
People don't ask that question.
325
00:20:18,301 --> 00:20:20,053
"But why was there the Civil War?"
326
00:20:20,136 --> 00:20:22,764
Why could that one
not have been worked out?
327
00:20:22,847 --> 00:20:24,974
I mean, had Andrew Jackson
been a little bit later,
328
00:20:25,058 --> 00:20:26,684
you wouldn't have had the Civil War.
329
00:20:26,768 --> 00:20:27,769
He was--
330
00:20:28,603 --> 00:20:31,356
He was a very tough person,
331
00:20:31,439 --> 00:20:34,109
but he had a big heart and he was--
332
00:20:34,943 --> 00:20:37,445
He was really angry...
333
00:20:38,196 --> 00:20:41,199
that he saw what was happening
with regard to the Civil War.
334
00:20:41,282 --> 00:20:43,535
He said, "There's no reason for this."
335
00:20:45,370 --> 00:20:48,164
There are several things
that are problematic there.
336
00:20:50,875 --> 00:20:56,297
The first is that Andrew Jackson died
almost 16 years before the Civil War.
337
00:20:56,381 --> 00:21:00,885
The second is that if he had said,
"There's no reason for this,"
338
00:21:00,969 --> 00:21:03,638
it wouldn't have been
because he was saying,
339
00:21:03,721 --> 00:21:06,224
"There's no reason to have slavery,”
340
00:21:06,307 --> 00:21:11,062
because Andrew Jackson had
no problem with enslaving people.
341
00:21:11,146 --> 00:21:13,231
He was a slaver.
342
00:21:13,314 --> 00:21:19,779
And Andrew Jackson will tell you
what he thinks about slavery himself.
343
00:21:19,863 --> 00:21:23,450
Andrew Jackson posted this ad
offering a reward
344
00:21:23,533 --> 00:21:27,954
for the capture of an enslaved person
who had escaped from him.
345
00:21:28,705 --> 00:21:34,377
And the ad describes the enslaved man,
what he was wearing, where he might run,
346
00:21:34,461 --> 00:21:38,423
promises to pay all expenses
involved in capturing him
347
00:21:38,506 --> 00:21:41,593
in addition to the $50 reward,
348
00:21:41,676 --> 00:21:48,141
and $10 extra for every hundred lashes
any person will give him,
349
00:21:48,224 --> 00:21:50,810
to the amount of 300.
350
00:21:52,187 --> 00:21:56,149
That's who Andrew Jackson was.
351
00:21:56,232 --> 00:22:02,030
And that is who is on the face
of our $20 bills.
352
00:22:03,573 --> 00:22:06,034
Countries aren't just one thing.
353
00:22:09,412 --> 00:22:12,790
They would sell enslaved people
out of this location
354
00:22:12,874 --> 00:22:14,542
six days a week.
355
00:22:14,626 --> 00:22:19,297
Everyone from newborns to 70-year-olds
were sold out of here.
356
00:22:20,965 --> 00:22:24,594
For enslaved people
to make the most money
357
00:22:24,677 --> 00:22:27,805
for the traders and for the sellers,
358
00:22:27,889 --> 00:22:29,974
they have to be prepped first.
359
00:22:30,058 --> 00:22:35,855
Prep could be everything
from high-fat and high-protein diets
360
00:22:35,939 --> 00:22:38,274
to get them into better physical shape,
361
00:22:38,358 --> 00:22:40,818
as well as, you know, fresh clothing.
362
00:22:40,902 --> 00:22:44,364
You have this sort of prepping of the skin
through oiling.
363
00:22:44,447 --> 00:22:46,282
If they're looking a little bit older,
364
00:22:46,366 --> 00:22:48,785
they could either dye the hair
365
00:22:48,868 --> 00:22:51,287
or pluck any grays
that someone would have,
366
00:22:51,371 --> 00:22:55,333
things of that nature, in order to,
when they come up onto the block,
367
00:22:55,416 --> 00:22:58,836
they're able to garner
the largest amount of money.
368
00:23:00,505 --> 00:23:03,800
And I'm looking at, here,
a "List of Negroes."
369
00:23:03,883 --> 00:23:09,264
And it says, number one,
the name is Sunday, the age is 45.
370
00:23:09,347 --> 00:23:12,308
Enslaved people,
they didn't have last names,
371
00:23:12,392 --> 00:23:15,562
generally, until the 1870 Census.
372
00:23:16,854 --> 00:23:20,066
And so it was the question of,
"What is your name?"
373
00:23:21,526 --> 00:23:24,279
Because the names could be changed
each time you were sold?
374
00:23:24,362 --> 00:23:25,697
They would be changed.
375
00:23:25,780 --> 00:23:28,533
That's the first thing that is changed
every time you're sold.
376
00:23:28,616 --> 00:23:30,994
So on all broadsides you will ever see,
377
00:23:31,077 --> 00:23:33,121
this is just the name
they come to the sale with.
378
00:23:33,204 --> 00:23:37,000
And keep in mind
that the enslaved property of slave owners
379
00:23:37,083 --> 00:23:39,544
was worth more
than everything else they owned.
380
00:23:39,627 --> 00:23:41,629
It was worth more than the plantation.
381
00:23:41,713 --> 00:23:43,089
It was worth more than the land.
382
00:23:43,172 --> 00:23:45,550
More than the goods
that are produced on that plantation.
383
00:23:45,633 --> 00:23:46,509
More than the house.
384
00:23:46,593 --> 00:23:49,137
More than any other liveries
that they have.
385
00:23:49,220 --> 00:23:54,934
So the first thing that's going to be sold
to pay for a debt is your enslaved.
386
00:23:55,018 --> 00:23:56,894
Because you didn't have to
buy them outright.
387
00:23:57,562 --> 00:23:58,896
You could mortgage them.
388
00:24:01,524 --> 00:24:04,861
When it came to movement of enslaved,
389
00:24:04,944 --> 00:24:09,157
prior to being brought onto that block,
they're going to be chained.
390
00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:11,409
Now, everyone's going to be chained.
391
00:24:11,492 --> 00:24:13,411
It's not just going to be grown-ups.
392
00:24:13,494 --> 00:24:16,456
It's not going to be the elderly.
It'll also be the children.
393
00:24:16,956 --> 00:24:20,376
And so I think what I'm looking at
are shackles
394
00:24:20,460 --> 00:24:23,796
that were designed for an adult male,
395
00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:29,761
and shackles that were designed
for a child of maybe 3 or 4.
396
00:24:29,844 --> 00:24:31,137
Yes. Yes.
397
00:24:38,394 --> 00:24:39,520
Ista...
398
00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:41,773
what are...
399
00:24:44,150 --> 00:24:49,739
the three holes that I see
in these bricks in the walls there?
400
00:24:49,822 --> 00:24:51,115
They're fingerprints.
401
00:24:52,408 --> 00:24:56,329
Enslaved people would begin to learn
a skill at the age of about 6.
402
00:24:56,412 --> 00:24:59,832
And so fingerprints and hand prints
and thumbprints
403
00:24:59,916 --> 00:25:02,293
exist all throughout the city,
404
00:25:02,377 --> 00:25:04,837
because enslaved people built the city.
405
00:25:05,588 --> 00:25:09,717
And so on churches, on businesses, on--
406
00:25:09,801 --> 00:25:11,678
In alleyways, you see these.
407
00:25:11,761 --> 00:25:14,847
In theaters, you see these
all throughout the city
408
00:25:14,931 --> 00:25:16,474
in very, very subtle ways.
409
00:25:16,557 --> 00:25:19,394
And if you don't know what you're
looking for, you may not see them.
410
00:25:19,894 --> 00:25:20,978
But they're there.
411
00:25:21,062 --> 00:25:26,901
Absolutely, and they are a way
of the enslaved who created this city
412
00:25:26,984 --> 00:25:29,862
and created the economy
that created this country
413
00:25:29,946 --> 00:25:32,865
to remind us, "Hey, I was here too."
414
00:25:45,002 --> 00:25:46,879
And so if I make the statement to you:
415
00:25:46,963 --> 00:25:51,259
"America was founded on white supremacy."
416
00:25:52,009 --> 00:25:55,263
You could say,
"Jeff, that's an extreme statement.”
417
00:25:55,346 --> 00:25:59,726
And what I would say to you is,
"Don't believe a word I say about it.
418
00:25:59,809 --> 00:26:03,312
Just listen to what Americans said."
419
00:26:03,396 --> 00:26:07,275
Because they were willing to tell you
exactly what they thought.
420
00:26:07,358 --> 00:26:09,485
All you have to do is go look.
421
00:26:09,569 --> 00:26:13,990
We know that in 1619,
20-and-odd enslaved people
422
00:26:14,073 --> 00:26:17,326
were brought to America,
landed in Jamestown.
423
00:26:18,453 --> 00:26:22,039
And by 1636, less than 20 years later,
424
00:26:22,123 --> 00:26:27,754
we launched the first
American-made slave ship, the Desire.
425
00:26:27,837 --> 00:26:30,506
And it wasn't built
in Alabama or Mississippi.
426
00:26:30,590 --> 00:26:33,134
It was built in Massachusetts.
427
00:26:33,217 --> 00:26:36,637
And look at the name of the ship.
The Desire.
428
00:26:36,721 --> 00:26:41,017
And the names of the three
subsequent ships built in America
429
00:26:41,100 --> 00:26:44,312
to go to Africa to get enslaved people.
430
00:26:44,395 --> 00:26:48,441
The Fortune, the Hope and the Prosperity.
431
00:26:48,524 --> 00:26:52,570
They are telling you
with language that is crystal clear
432
00:26:52,653 --> 00:26:56,282
what they think
about the concept of white supremacy.
433
00:26:56,365 --> 00:26:59,285
In 1662, Virginia passed a law that said,
434
00:26:59,368 --> 00:27:02,371
"Children of enslaved mothers
are also enslaved."
435
00:27:02,455 --> 00:27:03,539
Very simple law.
436
00:27:03,623 --> 00:27:04,874
Why did they need it?
437
00:27:04,957 --> 00:27:08,461
Because it was clear
that white slave masters
438
00:27:08,544 --> 00:27:13,841
were raping Black women
on a normal and regular basis,
439
00:27:13,925 --> 00:27:16,302
and these rapes were producing children.
440
00:27:16,385 --> 00:27:19,347
And the law just wanted to say,
"We don't want there to be any mistake.
441
00:27:19,430 --> 00:27:22,225
If those babies come out
with blue eyes or freckles,
442
00:27:22,308 --> 00:27:26,145
those aren't people,
those are enslaved people.”
443
00:27:26,896 --> 00:27:28,815
The law made sure to know that.
444
00:27:28,898 --> 00:27:32,985
Virginia then passed a law saying,
"If slaves become Christians,
445
00:27:33,069 --> 00:27:34,821
that doesn't mean that they're freed."
446
00:27:34,904 --> 00:27:38,699
Because you become a Christian
if you are enslaved
447
00:27:38,783 --> 00:27:43,204
only by the charity
and piety of your owner.
448
00:27:43,287 --> 00:27:47,667
This is the language
that Americans were using
449
00:27:47,750 --> 00:27:50,127
to describe the institution of slavery.
450
00:27:50,211 --> 00:27:53,631
They equated it with charity and piety.
451
00:27:53,714 --> 00:27:56,509
1669, Virginia passed a law,
452
00:27:56,592 --> 00:28:01,931
"An enslaved person's death
while resisting a master is not a felony."
453
00:28:02,014 --> 00:28:04,559
Would you look at those words, please?
454
00:28:04,642 --> 00:28:08,396
And think about the videos
you have seen in the past ten years
455
00:28:08,479 --> 00:28:14,485
of Black and brown people ending up dead
in altercations with police officers
456
00:28:14,569 --> 00:28:16,612
when they are unarmed?
457
00:28:16,696 --> 00:28:18,739
It's still not a felony.
458
00:28:21,409 --> 00:28:25,830
In 1739, there was a slave revolt
in Stono, South Carolina,
459
00:28:25,913 --> 00:28:27,582
that was incredibly violent.
460
00:28:27,665 --> 00:28:30,585
There were some white people
that were actually beheaded.
461
00:28:30,668 --> 00:28:34,797
And the state of South Carolina responded,
and they responded quickly.
462
00:28:34,881 --> 00:28:39,886
By 1740, they had passed a 58-chapter law,
463
00:28:39,969 --> 00:28:43,973
and the purpose of that law,
in their words, not mine,
464
00:28:44,056 --> 00:28:49,604
"So that the slave may be kept
in due subjugation and obedience."”
465
00:28:51,522 --> 00:28:56,110
This wasn't just social racism
or individual racism.
466
00:28:56,193 --> 00:28:59,739
This was the law inscribing this.
467
00:29:02,450 --> 00:29:06,621
Can you talk just a little bit
about where you're taking us?
468
00:29:06,704 --> 00:29:09,999
I'm taking you on Ashley Avenue
469
00:29:10,082 --> 00:29:14,295
between Fishburne and Line Streets.
470
00:29:15,755 --> 00:29:18,633
Now, the neighborhood
didn't look like it looks today.
471
00:29:18,716 --> 00:29:21,218
It was a lot of farmland
and some wooded area.
472
00:29:26,724 --> 00:29:30,603
Some people just refer to it
as the Ashley Avenue Oak.
473
00:29:33,689 --> 00:29:38,110
Lynchings or hangings
took place here on this very spot.
474
00:29:41,864 --> 00:29:46,827
This happened from slavery, it happened
all the way up until the early 1900s.
475
00:29:46,911 --> 00:29:50,623
So there were lynchings here
even after the Civil War ended?
476
00:29:50,706 --> 00:29:51,832
Absolutely.
477
00:29:57,797 --> 00:30:00,716
Well, everybody needs to know
what happened here
478
00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:02,802
so that we would all
be able to learn from it.
479
00:30:02,885 --> 00:30:04,553
Because it's a part of our history.
480
00:30:05,346 --> 00:30:06,597
American history.
481
00:30:19,735 --> 00:30:23,322
The word "slavery”
appears once in the Constitution.
482
00:30:23,406 --> 00:30:27,201
That's in the 13th Amendment,
outlawing slavery.
483
00:30:27,284 --> 00:30:29,286
And if you go back
to the historical documents,
484
00:30:29,370 --> 00:30:32,289
what you'll see is that
the Southern states would get upset
485
00:30:32,373 --> 00:30:34,375
when the word "slavery" was used.
486
00:30:34,458 --> 00:30:38,629
And for God's sakes, we don't wanna make
white people uncomfortable.
487
00:30:38,713 --> 00:30:42,216
So the Northerners said, "Don't worry,
we won't use the word 'slavery'
488
00:30:42,299 --> 00:30:44,176
when we go to the Constitution.
489
00:30:44,260 --> 00:30:48,097
We'll call them things like
'such persons."
490
00:30:48,889 --> 00:30:53,269
The Three-fifths Clause in Article I,
Section 2 of the Constitution.
491
00:30:53,352 --> 00:30:57,523
All those Black folks in Virginia,
236,0007
492
00:30:57,606 --> 00:31:00,526
Well, they will be counted
as three-fifths of a person.
493
00:31:00,609 --> 00:31:01,944
Each one of them.
494
00:31:02,028 --> 00:31:08,534
Article I, Section 9, no ban on migration
or importations of such persons
495
00:31:08,617 --> 00:31:09,869
until 1808.
496
00:31:09,952 --> 00:31:11,203
What are they saying?
497
00:31:11,287 --> 00:31:14,874
"We have built all of these ships
to go get enslaved people,
498
00:31:14,957 --> 00:31:18,085
and we need at least about 20 years
to keep doing it."
499
00:31:18,169 --> 00:31:19,712
So the Constitution says,
500
00:31:19,795 --> 00:31:22,465
"You can keep doing it
for the next 20 years."
501
00:31:22,548 --> 00:31:24,050
Article ll, Section 1.
502
00:31:24,133 --> 00:31:26,135
"Each state shall appoint
a number of electors
503
00:31:26,218 --> 00:31:29,513
equal to the number
of senators and representatives.”
504
00:31:29,597 --> 00:31:33,434
What we are talking about, folks,
is the Electoral College.
505
00:31:33,517 --> 00:31:36,437
The Electoral College
was based on the fact
506
00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:38,981
that the Southern states were concerned
507
00:31:39,065 --> 00:31:40,900
about the power that they would have
508
00:31:40,983 --> 00:31:45,654
to prevent the government from taking
the enslaved people from them.
509
00:31:45,738 --> 00:31:47,865
And this was one of the compromises.
510
00:31:47,948 --> 00:31:50,034
That Three-fifths Clause?
511
00:31:50,117 --> 00:31:54,914
Three-fifths of 236,000
adds a lot of delegates.
512
00:31:56,791 --> 00:31:59,585
Article IV, Section 2,
no freedom for a runaway,
513
00:31:59,668 --> 00:32:02,296
because slaves have to be returned
to owners on demand.
514
00:32:02,379 --> 00:32:06,675
And people have said that the folks
who wrote our Constitution were brilliant.
515
00:32:06,759 --> 00:32:08,094
And I agree with that.
516
00:32:08,177 --> 00:32:10,346
They were brilliant
and they were sneaky too.
517
00:32:10,429 --> 00:32:15,434
Because they said, "You know, somebody
may try and amend the Constitution
518
00:32:15,518 --> 00:32:18,104
and get rid of Article I, Section 9.
519
00:32:18,187 --> 00:32:22,399
So in Article V, they said
"You can't amend Article I, Section 9,
520
00:32:22,483 --> 00:32:23,776
until 1808."
521
00:32:23,859 --> 00:32:28,906
This is how important
the concept of white supremacy
522
00:32:28,989 --> 00:32:31,992
was to the people
that founded the country.
523
00:32:32,076 --> 00:32:35,955
When they were talking about life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness,
524
00:32:36,038 --> 00:32:39,959
they saw that
as being completely consistent
525
00:32:40,042 --> 00:32:42,920
with enslaving people.
526
00:32:44,463 --> 00:32:46,006
The law picked a side.
527
00:32:49,593 --> 00:32:52,763
If you read the historians,
they will tell you
528
00:32:52,847 --> 00:32:57,476
that modern-day police departments
were originally formed,
529
00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:00,688
especially in the South, in slave patrols.
530
00:33:00,771 --> 00:33:03,524
I am not saying
that modern-day police officers
531
00:33:03,607 --> 00:33:05,484
are members of a slave patrol.
532
00:33:05,568 --> 00:33:06,694
They are not.
533
00:33:06,777 --> 00:33:10,364
There are law enforcement officers
all over America
534
00:33:10,447 --> 00:33:13,826
who are fighting for racial justice
535
00:33:13,909 --> 00:33:18,664
and Constitutional and decent policing
in our communities.
536
00:33:18,747 --> 00:33:20,291
But I will tell you this:
537
00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:22,501
People in my community,
538
00:33:22,585 --> 00:33:26,338
from my great-great-great grandfathers
on down,
539
00:33:26,422 --> 00:33:29,508
have had a reason to fear that badge.
540
00:33:29,592 --> 00:33:31,093
Because the people wearing it,
541
00:33:31,177 --> 00:33:33,679
and the weapons and guns
that they carried,
542
00:33:33,762 --> 00:33:36,891
were used to oppress us.
543
00:33:36,974 --> 00:33:38,809
So the next time you're wondering,
544
00:33:38,893 --> 00:33:43,147
"Why is there such animosity
in the Black community
545
00:33:43,230 --> 00:33:44,815
when it comes to policing?
546
00:33:44,899 --> 00:33:46,317
Why is there such concern?”
547
00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:48,444
It's in our DNA.
548
00:33:51,488 --> 00:33:53,490
I always used to tell Eric,
549
00:33:53,574 --> 00:33:58,621
you know, "Don't have any interactions
with the police officers.
550
00:33:58,704 --> 00:34:01,582
Because the police officers,
they have the upper hand.
551
00:34:01,665 --> 00:34:04,001
You have to remember,
they're the ones with the guns.
552
00:34:04,126 --> 00:34:08,380
They're the ones that could arrest you,
and no matter what you say."
553
00:34:08,464 --> 00:34:11,342
So he would say, "Oh, yeah, I know, Ma."
554
00:34:11,842 --> 00:34:14,678
And even with all the talk,
555
00:34:14,762 --> 00:34:19,058
we can talk to our children
as much as we want,
556
00:34:19,141 --> 00:34:25,522
it's not always gonna be a good turnout
when things like this happen.
557
00:34:26,690 --> 00:34:27,900
That's Eric.
558
00:34:27,983 --> 00:34:32,738
Eric is, I think, five months old
in that picture, if that old.
559
00:34:33,906 --> 00:34:35,699
He was my first-born.
560
00:34:37,785 --> 00:34:41,538
Eric was a gentle giant.
561
00:34:41,622 --> 00:34:44,583
He was a person
who cared about other people
562
00:34:44,667 --> 00:34:47,378
and who thought everyone was his friend.
563
00:34:47,461 --> 00:34:48,462
Are you serious?
564
00:34:53,384 --> 00:34:55,219
If you can share it...
565
00:34:56,929 --> 00:35:01,183
what was going through your mind
as you heard your son saying,
566
00:35:01,267 --> 00:35:02,559
"I can't breathe"?
567
00:35:03,185 --> 00:35:08,482
Until now, I cannot look
at that video in its entirety,
568
00:35:08,565 --> 00:35:10,818
because when I seen it for the first time,
569
00:35:10,901 --> 00:35:14,530
I remember me going
through this house banging on walls,
570
00:35:14,613 --> 00:35:19,034
yelling at the police officers,
"Let him go! Let him go!"
571
00:35:19,118 --> 00:35:22,121
Now [ could see exactly
what they did to him.
572
00:35:22,204 --> 00:35:23,539
Do not touch me.
573
00:35:23,622 --> 00:35:29,336
When this tragedy happened to me,
I just wanted to take to my bed,
574
00:35:30,254 --> 00:35:31,839
and just go to sleep,
575
00:35:31,922 --> 00:35:35,843
and just wake up
when this terrible nightmare was over.
576
00:35:37,177 --> 00:35:39,138
But it was never over.
577
00:35:39,221 --> 00:35:45,519
And the Holy Spirit
spoke to me one evening and says,
578
00:35:45,602 --> 00:35:49,315
"Are you gonna lay there
and die like your son?
579
00:35:49,398 --> 00:35:53,193
Or are you gonna get up, lift up his name,
580
00:35:53,277 --> 00:36:00,200
and let people know exactly who he was
and not let the media demonize him?"
581
00:36:00,284 --> 00:36:03,787
My son will not have died in vain.
582
00:36:03,871 --> 00:36:06,540
We are gonna support him
every step of the way.
583
00:36:06,623 --> 00:36:09,793
Me and my grandchildren,
my nieces, nephews, sisters,
584
00:36:09,877 --> 00:36:13,672
everybody is going to support this cause,
585
00:36:13,756 --> 00:36:16,717
"cause we won't rest until we get justice.
586
00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:22,389
Even though it's too late for my son,
we have to save other lives.
587
00:36:23,724 --> 00:36:26,477
How would you like your son
to be remembered?
588
00:36:27,561 --> 00:36:30,898
Well, I would like my son
to be remembered as
589
00:36:30,981 --> 00:36:37,071
the sacrificial lamb,
that everyone knows his name now.
590
00:36:37,154 --> 00:36:41,575
And I am so glad that
it is making a difference,
591
00:36:41,658 --> 00:36:45,454
that people are more aware of the cruelty
592
00:36:45,537 --> 00:36:49,124
and the injustice that's going on
with people of color,
593
00:36:49,208 --> 00:36:53,629
and maybe they will stand up
and take notice, and say,
594
00:36:53,712 --> 00:36:56,507
"Well, hey, we have
to do something about this."
595
00:36:59,385 --> 00:37:00,469
This is real.
596
00:37:00,552 --> 00:37:03,555
We see what's actually going on
in this world today.
597
00:37:04,515 --> 00:37:10,312
And I'm just hoping that his name
will live on in history forever.
598
00:37:10,396 --> 00:37:14,400
And as long as I live,
I will always say his name,
599
00:37:14,483 --> 00:37:17,694
and I will ask everyone else
to please say his name,
600
00:37:17,778 --> 00:37:21,073
and tell people what does it mean to them.
601
00:37:22,199 --> 00:37:24,493
-His name was Eric Garner.
-Yes.
602
00:37:24,576 --> 00:37:27,830
Eric Garner was his name. Is his name.
603
00:37:31,834 --> 00:37:36,338
A home and country
604
00:37:36,422 --> 00:37:41,301
Should leave us no more
605
00:37:41,385 --> 00:37:45,722
Their blood has washed out
606
00:37:45,806 --> 00:37:51,270
Their foul footsteps' pollution
607
00:37:51,353 --> 00:37:56,316
No refuge could save
608
00:37:56,400 --> 00:38:00,612
The hireling and slave
609
00:38:00,696 --> 00:38:05,367
From the terror of flight
610
00:38:05,451 --> 00:38:10,289
Or the gloom of the grave
611
00:38:10,372 --> 00:38:15,210
And the star-spangled banner
612
00:38:15,294 --> 00:38:21,425
In triumph doth wave...
613
00:38:21,508 --> 00:38:23,927
In case you doubt
the lyrics to the third verse
614
00:38:24,011 --> 00:38:26,180
of the national anthem
that you just heard,
615
00:38:26,263 --> 00:38:30,058
these are the handwritten lyrics
from Francis Scott Key.
616
00:38:30,142 --> 00:38:35,564
"No refuge could save the hireling
and slave from the terror of flight,
617
00:38:35,647 --> 00:38:38,066
or the gloom of the grave."
618
00:38:38,150 --> 00:38:42,529
He is celebrating
the murder of enslaved people.
619
00:38:42,613 --> 00:38:44,198
And why would he do that?
620
00:38:44,281 --> 00:38:46,575
He was the wealthy owner
of enslaved people.
621
00:38:46,658 --> 00:38:49,119
He came from a Maryland
plantation-owning family.
622
00:38:49,203 --> 00:38:52,247
In United States v. Reuben Crandall,
623
00:38:52,331 --> 00:38:56,543
he prosecuted a man
for possessing abolitionist literature.
624
00:38:56,627 --> 00:38:59,505
He was the city prosecutor
in Washington, D.C.,
625
00:38:59,588 --> 00:39:02,090
and he sought the death penalty.
626
00:39:02,174 --> 00:39:04,218
And here is his closing argument.
627
00:39:04,301 --> 00:39:07,930
"Are you willing, gentlemen,
to abandon your country,
628
00:39:08,013 --> 00:39:12,476
to permit it to be taken from you
and occupied by the abolitionist,
629
00:39:12,559 --> 00:39:18,815
according to whose taste it is to
associate and amalgamate with the Negro?"
630
00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:25,364
I guess he wrote a nice poem,
but that's who Francis Scott Key is.
631
00:39:28,242 --> 00:39:32,704
By 1835, cotton
from enslaved people's labor,
632
00:39:32,788 --> 00:39:36,041
55% of U.♪. exports.
633
00:39:36,124 --> 00:39:39,753
So when we see America
starting to become industrialized,
634
00:39:39,836 --> 00:39:44,383
we see that cotton
from the labor of enslaved people
635
00:39:44,466 --> 00:39:46,760
was a critical part of this.
636
00:39:46,843 --> 00:39:50,639
Twelve U.♪. presidents
owned enslaved people.
637
00:39:50,722 --> 00:39:54,518
This covered about
50 of America's first 60 years,
638
00:39:54,601 --> 00:39:56,645
and that's why I am saying to you,
639
00:39:56,728 --> 00:40:01,024
the people that founded this country
had no problem with white supremacy.
640
00:40:01,108 --> 00:40:06,697
They depended on it
to make America a great nation.
641
00:40:12,077 --> 00:40:14,663
So when did slavery end in New York?
642
00:40:14,746 --> 00:40:18,458
Slavery in New York ended in 1827,
643
00:40:18,542 --> 00:40:22,796
but to really understand New York's rise,
644
00:40:22,879 --> 00:40:25,799
in terms of becoming
a financial powerhouse,
645
00:40:25,882 --> 00:40:29,636
it's important to understand
the connection between New York
646
00:40:29,720 --> 00:40:36,727
and enslavement, even after slavery
was abolished in New York City.
647
00:40:38,353 --> 00:40:43,025
The building behind us is the
Cotton Exchange, established in the 1850s,
648
00:40:43,108 --> 00:40:47,779
one of the greatest
commodities exchanges in the country.
649
00:40:47,863 --> 00:40:53,994
New York was a center for finance,
is still the center for finance,
650
00:40:54,077 --> 00:40:57,205
and this is where slaveholders would come
651
00:40:57,289 --> 00:41:00,626
to get all their endeavors
financed and insured.
652
00:41:00,709 --> 00:41:06,256
We found out recently
that major insurers like AIG and Aetna
653
00:41:06,340 --> 00:41:09,760
insured enslaved people as goods.
654
00:41:09,843 --> 00:41:15,932
Enslaved people who died en route
during the Middle Passage,
655
00:41:16,016 --> 00:41:18,685
enslaved people who died
on the plantation,
656
00:41:18,769 --> 00:41:21,605
all those people,
with their lives, were insured.
657
00:41:21,688 --> 00:41:23,690
So they have life insurance policies.
658
00:41:23,774 --> 00:41:28,236
Also, major investment banks,
like the now-defunct Lehman Brothers,
659
00:41:28,862 --> 00:41:32,949
provided financing for slaveholders.
660
00:41:33,784 --> 00:41:37,412
So the economy of New York
was entwined with slavery.
661
00:41:39,706 --> 00:41:44,711
We're walking up just from the waterfront,
right back here, about a block away,
662
00:41:44,795 --> 00:41:50,258
and as we're coming to the corner
of Water and Wall Streets,
663
00:41:50,342 --> 00:41:52,010
there is this little park.
664
00:41:59,059 --> 00:42:02,813
I have an idea in my mind when you say
"slave market."
665
00:42:02,896 --> 00:42:07,776
But can you just tell us, explicitly,
what was happening on this site?
666
00:42:07,859 --> 00:42:10,195
So there was
a municipal market, a pavilion,
667
00:42:10,278 --> 00:42:14,282
that operated from 1711 until 1762.
668
00:42:14,366 --> 00:42:19,705
By the mid-1700s,
one in five New Yorkers were enslaved.
669
00:42:19,788 --> 00:42:21,498
So they created this municipal market,
670
00:42:21,581 --> 00:42:24,334
where once you were kidnapped
and brought here,
671
00:42:24,418 --> 00:42:26,628
you would be sold at this pavilion.
672
00:42:27,379 --> 00:42:30,006
In addition, if you were already
enslaved in New York,
673
00:42:30,090 --> 00:42:33,135
and your slaveholder didn't have something
for you to do during the day,
674
00:42:33,218 --> 00:42:37,556
you could be rented out
for the day at this market.
675
00:42:37,639 --> 00:42:41,143
Like any other transaction
that might occur in the city
676
00:42:41,226 --> 00:42:44,104
where the city would impose
a tax to get revenue,
677
00:42:44,187 --> 00:42:47,566
the slave trade was just
another thing to be taxed?
678
00:42:47,649 --> 00:42:50,861
Exactly. And that's why New York City
was such a pro-slavery city.
679
00:42:50,944 --> 00:42:52,904
When we say that to people,
they're shocked.
680
00:42:52,988 --> 00:42:55,449
New York was pro-slavery.
681
00:42:55,532 --> 00:42:59,369
New York received, from cotton alone,
682
00:42:59,453 --> 00:43:02,914
$200 million in that time's currency.
683
00:43:02,998 --> 00:43:07,794
So if you could imagine the interests
that would wanna protect that.
684
00:43:10,630 --> 00:43:14,176
How many of you knew that
the mayor of New York City
685
00:43:14,259 --> 00:43:18,680
advocated that New York leave
the Union during the Civil War?
686
00:43:19,347 --> 00:43:21,475
He didn't say, "Join the Confederacy."
687
00:43:21,558 --> 00:43:25,353
What he said was, "With our aggrieved
brethren of the slave states,
688
00:43:25,437 --> 00:43:28,315
we have friendly relations
and a common sympathy.
689
00:43:28,398 --> 00:43:33,487
We have not participated in the warfare
upon their Constitutional rights
690
00:43:33,570 --> 00:43:35,530
or their domestic institutions."
691
00:43:35,614 --> 00:43:38,325
He was saying, "We can't give this up.
692
00:43:38,408 --> 00:43:41,369
If we withdraw from the Union,
we don't have to join the South.
693
00:43:41,453 --> 00:43:45,415
We can make business deals with the North,
and business deals with the South.
694
00:43:45,499 --> 00:43:47,959
The money will keep coming in."
695
00:43:49,711 --> 00:43:54,591
So, what was the role of slavery
in America on the eve of the Civil War?
696
00:43:54,674 --> 00:44:00,222
Well, that yearly cotton production,
1.5 million pounds in 1790,
697
00:44:00,305 --> 00:44:06,645
try 2.3 billion pounds,
60% of U.♪. exports by 1860.
698
00:44:06,728 --> 00:44:12,108
If any of you have ever held a ball
of freshly picked cotton in your hand,
699
00:44:12,192 --> 00:44:14,528
with no stems or no sticks on it,
700
00:44:14,611 --> 00:44:18,448
you will know that
it weighs virtually nothing.
701
00:44:19,115 --> 00:44:21,910
How much of that
do you think you had to pick
702
00:44:21,993 --> 00:44:25,705
to get to 2.3 billion pounds of it?
703
00:44:25,789 --> 00:44:26,957
And how did they do that?
704
00:44:27,040 --> 00:44:30,544
Because the number of enslaved people
wasn't 700,000 anymore.
705
00:44:30,627 --> 00:44:32,420
It was 4 million.
706
00:44:32,963 --> 00:44:38,510
And remember, we're not bringing
over people on slave ships after 1808.
707
00:44:38,593 --> 00:44:41,346
Now, history will show
there were definitely ships
708
00:44:41,429 --> 00:44:47,102
of enslaved people brought after 1808,
but that market dried up very quickly.
709
00:44:47,185 --> 00:44:50,897
This was done by breeding.
710
00:44:51,606 --> 00:44:54,150
Black women were bred...
711
00:44:55,527 --> 00:44:57,821
so that they would bear children
712
00:44:57,904 --> 00:45:01,658
who could continue
American cotton production.
713
00:45:05,328 --> 00:45:09,040
The value of enslaved people,
in 1860 dollars,
714
00:45:09,124 --> 00:45:12,544
$3.5 billion dollars.
715
00:45:13,378 --> 00:45:17,632
One hundred billion dollars
in today's money.
716
00:45:18,717 --> 00:45:21,595
More millionaires per cap it a
in the Mississippi Valley,
717
00:45:21,678 --> 00:45:23,763
that's Tennessee,
Mississippi, and Louisiana,
718
00:45:23,847 --> 00:45:25,640
than any place else in America.
719
00:45:25,724 --> 00:45:30,145
Today, that is one of the
poorest sections in the country.
720
00:45:30,228 --> 00:45:34,399
There are all kinds of people
who are desperate to make arguments
721
00:45:34,482 --> 00:45:38,486
that the Civil War was about
something other than slavery.
722
00:45:38,570 --> 00:45:43,950
In the state of Texas,
elected officials are trying to pass laws
723
00:45:44,034 --> 00:45:48,288
that will require their school teachers
to teach that slavery
724
00:45:48,371 --> 00:45:51,458
was a side issue in the Civil War.
725
00:45:52,667 --> 00:45:56,421
And my response to that is,
once again, don't believe me.
726
00:45:56,504 --> 00:46:00,050
Just go back
and look at what the states said.
727
00:46:00,133 --> 00:46:05,013
"Our position is thoroughly identified
with the institution of slavery,
728
00:46:05,096 --> 00:46:08,224
the greatest material interest
of the world."
729
00:46:08,308 --> 00:46:13,480
"The people of the slave holding states are
bound together by the same necessity
730
00:46:13,563 --> 00:46:17,525
and determination
to preserve African slavery."”
731
00:46:17,609 --> 00:46:21,196
"That the servitude of the African race,
as existing in these states,
732
00:46:21,279 --> 00:46:25,617
is mutually beneficial
to both bond and free."
733
00:46:25,700 --> 00:46:29,412
"The election of Mr. Lincoln
cannot be regarded otherwise
734
00:46:29,496 --> 00:46:31,206
than a solemn declaration
735
00:46:31,289 --> 00:46:34,668
on the part of a great majority
of the Northern people
736
00:46:34,751 --> 00:46:39,381
of hostility to the South,
her property, and her institutions.”
737
00:46:39,464 --> 00:46:42,592
"They have endeavored
to weaken our security,
738
00:46:42,676 --> 00:46:46,054
to disturb our domestic peace
and tranquility,
739
00:46:46,137 --> 00:46:48,932
and persistently refused to comply
740
00:46:49,015 --> 00:46:53,144
with their express
Constitutional obligations to us,
741
00:46:53,228 --> 00:46:55,438
in reference to that property.”
742
00:46:55,939 --> 00:47:00,694
Georgia was essentially saying,
"You freaking lied to us.
743
00:47:00,777 --> 00:47:04,489
You told us that we could keep
these people as enslaved people,
744
00:47:04,572 --> 00:47:06,616
and now you're taking them away from us,
745
00:47:06,700 --> 00:47:08,785
and we're leaving the Union
because of it."
746
00:47:08,868 --> 00:47:11,037
And you know what? Georgia was right.
747
00:47:11,579 --> 00:47:16,209
They were promised that they would get
to keep people as enslaved people.
748
00:47:16,835 --> 00:47:21,047
I'm from the state of Tennessee,
and if I wanna go to my home state,
749
00:47:21,131 --> 00:47:25,760
and walk into the Tennessee statehouse
to see one of my state legislators,
750
00:47:25,844 --> 00:47:29,681
I gotta walk past this guy,
Nathan Bedford Forrest,
751
00:47:29,764 --> 00:47:34,394
who was either the originator of the KKK,
or one of its first Grand Wizards,
752
00:47:34,477 --> 00:47:40,233
somebody that was clearly involved
with the KKK coming to a height of power,
753
00:47:40,316 --> 00:47:43,028
somebody that was a Confederate soldier,
754
00:47:43,111 --> 00:47:46,197
and what he had to say about
the Civil War, at least he was honest,
755
00:47:46,281 --> 00:47:50,118
"If we ain't fighting for slavery,
then what the hell are we fighting for?"
756
00:47:52,078 --> 00:47:58,293
Ignorance is not bliss, because
it allows a false history to thrive.
757
00:47:58,376 --> 00:48:01,337
"Who controls the past,
controls the future."
758
00:48:01,421 --> 00:48:05,133
And if slavery just ended,
and then we had the Civil Rights Movement,
759
00:48:05,216 --> 00:48:08,428
and everything was fine,
then what are we still complaining about?
760
00:48:08,511 --> 00:48:11,222
"Who controls the past,
controls the future."
761
00:48:11,306 --> 00:48:13,725
And your children, they are being taught
762
00:48:13,808 --> 00:48:16,102
that slavery was a side issue
in the Civil War.
763
00:48:20,148 --> 00:48:22,901
Six months
before the Emancipation Proclamation,
764
00:48:22,984 --> 00:48:27,489
Abraham Lincoln
passed the Compensated Emancipation Act.
765
00:48:27,572 --> 00:48:29,115
What did that do?
766
00:48:29,199 --> 00:48:30,992
He freed D.C. slaves,
767
00:48:31,076 --> 00:48:35,747
and first, he set up a commission
to pay approximately $300,
768
00:48:35,830 --> 00:48:38,792
which was about $7000 in today's money,
769
00:48:38,875 --> 00:48:44,589
in compensation to former slave owners,
for each enslaved African freed.
770
00:48:44,672 --> 00:48:47,634
Please read that carefully.
I'm not fooling.
771
00:48:47,717 --> 00:48:54,432
After nine months, 900 slave owners
were paid $1 million,
772
00:48:54,516 --> 00:48:57,185
in 1860 money...
773
00:48:58,394 --> 00:49:00,647
for lost property.
774
00:49:01,481 --> 00:49:06,111
So when people have a discussion
about reparations for slavery,
775
00:49:06,194 --> 00:49:10,740
it's a false debate, because
reparations have already been paid.
776
00:49:10,824 --> 00:49:13,451
They were paid to slave owners.
777
00:49:15,537 --> 00:49:20,667
At the very same time that America
refused to give the Negro any land...
778
00:49:21,376 --> 00:49:24,254
through an act of Congress,
779
00:49:24,337 --> 00:49:29,008
our government was giving away
millions of acres of land
780
00:49:29,092 --> 00:49:31,052
in the West and the Midwest.
781
00:49:32,220 --> 00:49:34,514
Which meant that
it was willing to undergird
782
00:49:34,597 --> 00:49:37,642
its white peasants
from Europe with an economic floor.
783
00:49:37,725 --> 00:49:40,353
But not only did they give the land...
784
00:49:41,187 --> 00:49:43,648
they built land grant colleges
785
00:49:43,731 --> 00:49:46,860
with government money
to teach them how to farm.
786
00:49:46,943 --> 00:49:53,283
Not only that, they provided county agents
to further their expertise in farming.
787
00:49:53,366 --> 00:49:57,120
Not only that,
they provided low interest rates
788
00:49:57,203 --> 00:50:00,165
in order that they could
mechanize their farms.
789
00:50:00,248 --> 00:50:03,626
Not only that, today many of these people
790
00:50:03,710 --> 00:50:08,673
are receiving millions of dollars
in federal subsidies not to farm,
791
00:50:08,756 --> 00:50:11,217
and they are the very people
telling the Black man
792
00:50:11,301 --> 00:50:14,429
that he ought to lift himself
by his own bootstraps.
793
00:50:15,597 --> 00:50:19,142
And this is what we are faced with,
and this is the reality.
794
00:50:19,225 --> 00:50:21,269
Now, when we come to Washington...
795
00:50:22,228 --> 00:50:27,942
in this campaign,
we are coming to get our check.
796
00:50:31,529 --> 00:50:33,198
So, what happened after the war?
797
00:50:33,281 --> 00:50:35,491
Something was happening in the South,
798
00:50:35,575 --> 00:50:39,078
because the enslaved people
who were newly freed
799
00:50:39,162 --> 00:50:42,916
had been in the starting blocks
for 246 years.
800
00:50:42,999 --> 00:50:46,044
And when the word "go" came,
they were ready.
801
00:50:46,127 --> 00:50:52,091
'Cause what many people fail to recognize
is Reconstruction was actually working.
802
00:50:53,301 --> 00:50:57,222
In 1868, before the 15th Amendment passed,
803
00:50:57,305 --> 00:51:02,227
there were 700,000
Black registered voters in the South.
804
00:51:02,310 --> 00:51:06,773
Two thousand Black men
served in elected office.
805
00:51:06,856 --> 00:51:09,817
There was a Civil Rights Act in 1875.
806
00:51:09,901 --> 00:51:13,571
I bet most of the lawyers
in this room don't even know this.
807
00:51:13,655 --> 00:51:15,740
It outlawed racial discrimination
808
00:51:15,823 --> 00:51:19,786
in housing, schools,
public transportation, and jury service.
809
00:51:19,869 --> 00:51:23,623
It was just overruled
by the Supreme Court in 1883.
810
00:51:24,207 --> 00:51:26,876
And then Rutherford Hayes
got elected president.
811
00:51:26,960 --> 00:51:30,880
And in 1877, he withdrew
the Northern troops from the South,
812
00:51:30,964 --> 00:51:33,716
and what happened then is that
the Confederates regrouped
813
00:51:33,800 --> 00:51:36,261
as organizations like the KKK.
814
00:51:36,344 --> 00:51:40,765
The Southern states started passing laws
to enforce and maintain white supremacy,
815
00:51:40,848 --> 00:51:46,562
and if you want an example of what
was happening, in 1896 in Louisiana,
816
00:51:46,646 --> 00:51:51,734
there were 130,344
Black registered voters,
817
00:51:51,818 --> 00:51:54,654
and two years later,
there were just over 5000.
818
00:51:54,737 --> 00:51:59,617
Why do you think 125,000 people
819
00:51:59,701 --> 00:52:02,453
decided not to vote?
820
00:52:05,832 --> 00:52:08,668
There was a chance
at the end of the Civil War,
821
00:52:09,210 --> 00:52:12,088
and there was Reconstruction,
and it was working.
822
00:52:12,171 --> 00:52:16,175
And they reached the tipping point,
and they just rolled right back.
823
00:52:18,219 --> 00:52:21,139
And this is what we rolled back to.
824
00:52:23,516 --> 00:52:28,980
In 1896, the United States Supreme Court
decided Plessy v. Ferguson.
825
00:52:29,063 --> 00:52:33,776
Mr. Plessy got on a train, on purpose,
knowing he would be arrested,
826
00:52:33,860 --> 00:52:36,821
to test the law in America.
827
00:52:36,904 --> 00:52:39,574
And the United States Supreme Court said,
828
00:52:39,657 --> 00:52:44,037
"The law of America is separate,
but equal.”
829
00:52:44,120 --> 00:52:48,374
It's not the custom,
it's the law of the land.
830
00:52:51,377 --> 00:52:53,796
Now, I'm gonna ask you
to look at that image,
831
00:52:53,880 --> 00:52:58,134
and understand what was normal,
832
00:52:58,217 --> 00:53:01,554
accepted, and American...
833
00:53:03,598 --> 00:53:04,682
in our country.
834
00:53:14,984 --> 00:53:18,780
Because you wanna talk about race in
America at the turn of the 20th century,
835
00:53:18,863 --> 00:53:22,200
well, there were race riots
in New Orleans and New York City.
836
00:53:22,283 --> 00:53:26,120
In 1901, 105 Black people are lynched.
837
00:53:26,204 --> 00:53:29,207
1902, 85 Black people are lynched.
838
00:53:29,290 --> 00:53:32,460
1903, 84 Black people lynched.
839
00:53:32,543 --> 00:53:35,922
1904, 76 Black people lynched.
840
00:53:36,005 --> 00:53:39,133
1905, 57 Black people lynched.
841
00:53:39,217 --> 00:53:42,387
1906, 62 Black people lynched.
842
00:53:42,470 --> 00:53:45,598
1907, 58 Black people lynched.
843
00:53:45,681 --> 00:53:48,726
1908, 89 Black people lynched.
844
00:53:48,810 --> 00:53:51,854
1909, 69 Black people lynched.
845
00:53:51,938 --> 00:53:55,149
1910, 67 Black people lynched.
846
00:53:55,233 --> 00:53:58,403
Between 1877 and 1950,
847
00:53:58,486 --> 00:54:04,700
more than 4000 racial,
terrorized lynchings in America.
848
00:54:15,211 --> 00:54:19,799
This article appeared in
the Chicago Defender, December 20, 1947.
849
00:54:19,882 --> 00:54:26,305
It says, "Enraged, jealous whites
shoot down successful businessman.
850
00:54:26,389 --> 00:54:30,726
Believed Dixie gang murdered young father.
851
00:54:30,810 --> 00:54:34,981
Enraged whites, jealous over
the business success of a Negro,
852
00:54:35,064 --> 00:54:38,526
are believed to be the lynchers
of Elmore Boiling,
853
00:54:38,609 --> 00:54:43,156
who was found last week,
riddled with shotgun and pistol bullets.
854
00:54:43,239 --> 00:54:49,162
Those who know say Boiling
has long been a marked man,
855
00:54:49,245 --> 00:54:55,293
since he was rated by whites here
as too successful to be a Negro."
856
00:54:59,422 --> 00:55:02,592
Your family found
your father's body in a ditch.
857
00:55:03,134 --> 00:55:05,261
Is this the ditch that
we're looking at now?
858
00:55:05,344 --> 00:55:07,180
Yes, this is actually the spot,
859
00:55:07,263 --> 00:55:11,100
and it's ingrained in my memory
860
00:55:11,184 --> 00:55:14,854
where I'm just looking at him
in the ditch with his eyes open.
861
00:55:17,982 --> 00:55:19,275
We heard the shots.
862
00:55:20,151 --> 00:55:23,446
We thought that someone
was killing some cows,
863
00:55:23,529 --> 00:55:26,199
but we actually heard the shots
that killed my dad.
864
00:55:28,951 --> 00:55:32,580
We all went down there,
not knowing what to expect.
865
00:55:34,373 --> 00:55:38,878
His truck that he was driving
was still running, with the lights on.
866
00:55:40,546 --> 00:55:44,217
He had been shot six times with a pistol,
and once in the back with a shotgun.
867
00:55:47,512 --> 00:55:51,349
I knew that what had happened to my father
868
00:55:51,432 --> 00:55:54,644
was extremely bad.
869
00:55:55,353 --> 00:56:01,734
I cried most of the time until my mom
finally sent me away with the neighbor.
870
00:56:03,986 --> 00:56:06,781
This is a fabulous picture.
871
00:56:06,864 --> 00:56:09,033
Could you tell us who is here?
872
00:56:09,116 --> 00:56:15,373
This is Mom, Bertha Boiling.
Bertha Nowden Boiling.
873
00:56:16,874 --> 00:56:20,002
And this is my dad, Elmore Boiling.
874
00:56:20,086 --> 00:56:24,340
And one of the things that
we always laugh about, the children,
875
00:56:24,423 --> 00:56:29,720
is that this thing in his hand,
actually, is her purse.
876
00:56:29,804 --> 00:56:31,597
She kept the money.
877
00:56:31,681 --> 00:56:37,186
So on this picture, Dad took her purse
and had it under his arm,
878
00:56:37,270 --> 00:56:38,938
because that was the money.
879
00:56:43,776 --> 00:56:48,864
What was the trajectory of your family
after your father was lynched?
880
00:56:49,490 --> 00:56:52,243
By my father being the main breadwinner,
881
00:56:52,326 --> 00:56:56,872
we went from prosperity
to poverty almost overnight.
882
00:56:56,956 --> 00:57:02,795
And my mom, she became
a presser in a dry cleaners.
883
00:57:02,878 --> 00:57:06,716
And her arms had the burns that showed,
884
00:57:06,799 --> 00:57:09,969
you know, that came along
with that kind of labor.
885
00:57:10,052 --> 00:57:13,139
And that was the labor
that put me through college.
886
00:57:16,017 --> 00:57:20,813
The lynchings occurred
for terroristic purposes.
887
00:57:20,896 --> 00:57:23,649
They wanted to keep Blacks terrified,
888
00:57:23,733 --> 00:57:27,320
to keep them from trying to do things,
and it worked.
889
00:57:29,614 --> 00:57:31,032
Was anyone ever prosecuted?
890
00:57:31,115 --> 00:57:37,872
No. The killers who, actually, one of them
actually admitted that he killed my father
891
00:57:37,955 --> 00:57:42,043
because he insulted his wife
over the telephone, were never indicted.
892
00:57:49,342 --> 00:57:52,887
And that was what made me decide
to do the historic marker.
893
00:57:54,388 --> 00:57:59,477
I had to have some symbol
to tell the world
894
00:57:59,560 --> 00:58:06,317
that here was a good man that
was killed just because he was successful.
895
00:58:06,859 --> 00:58:11,864
Am I correct that it is on, literally, the
very spot where your father was killed?
896
00:58:11,947 --> 00:58:14,742
Within feet of where
he was actually killed.
897
00:58:33,761 --> 00:58:37,598
And Confederate monuments
started appearing in America.
898
00:58:38,182 --> 00:58:41,769
And these weren't monuments
that were built right after the Civil War,
899
00:58:41,852 --> 00:58:44,980
when people were thinking,
"Oh, my God, we just lost this war,
900
00:58:45,064 --> 00:58:48,818
and our heroes are so dear to our heart.
We wanna memorialize them."
901
00:58:48,901 --> 00:58:52,238
No, no.
They came mostly in the 20th century.
902
00:58:53,364 --> 00:58:55,658
This is a guy named John Pelham.
903
00:58:56,367 --> 00:58:57,827
What did he do?
904
00:58:57,910 --> 00:59:01,038
Well, he resigned from West Point in 1861
905
00:59:01,122 --> 00:59:05,000
to join the Confederate Army,
and here's what he did to get a monument.
906
00:59:05,543 --> 00:59:10,131
"He displayed a genius for dashing
to a spot that commanded the battlefield,
907
00:59:10,214 --> 00:59:12,800
and bravely raining shot and canisters
908
00:59:12,883 --> 00:59:15,594
on forces that greatly
outnumbered his own."
909
00:59:15,678 --> 00:59:20,391
Translated, he killed
a whole bunch of American soldiers
910
00:59:20,474 --> 00:59:22,476
in defense of slavery.
911
00:59:23,436 --> 00:59:29,358
And they built a monument to him for that,
not for something else.
912
00:59:29,442 --> 00:59:33,028
When people say, "Well, George Washington
owned slaves too, and he has a monument.
913
00:59:33,112 --> 00:59:34,780
Are you gonna take away his monument?"
914
00:59:34,864 --> 00:59:38,534
And my response
is the Washington Monument was not built
915
00:59:38,617 --> 00:59:40,703
because George Washington owned slaves.
916
00:59:40,786 --> 00:59:44,790
He did own slaves,
and he will be damned for that.
917
00:59:44,874 --> 00:59:49,086
Having said that, George Washington
led the Revolutionary Army,
918
00:59:49,170 --> 00:59:50,963
and, I don't know, he founded the country?
919
00:59:51,046 --> 00:59:53,549
So maybe that's why
they built him a monument.
920
00:59:55,760 --> 01:00:00,264
The fact that he owned enslaved people
had nothing to do with his monument.
921
01:00:00,347 --> 01:00:03,976
The Confederate monuments
were built for one reason,
922
01:00:04,059 --> 01:00:09,148
to honor people
for what they did from 1861 to 1865.
923
01:00:09,231 --> 01:00:11,317
And those monuments honor people
924
01:00:11,400 --> 01:00:14,278
during that time period
for doing one thing,
925
01:00:14,361 --> 01:00:17,364
maiming and murdering American soldiers
926
01:00:17,448 --> 01:00:21,076
so that they could keep
owning enslaved people.
927
01:00:22,536 --> 01:00:24,413
That's where the monuments are.
928
01:00:26,415 --> 01:00:28,542
Those are the top ten states.
929
01:00:30,753 --> 01:00:34,256
And this is who we are in America.
930
01:00:35,424 --> 01:00:38,886
What's up, y'all? Tami Sawyer here.
931
01:00:39,845 --> 01:00:43,641
I'm live at the
Nathan Bedford Forrest statue.
932
01:00:44,350 --> 01:00:46,477
Right here in Memphis, Tennessee.
933
01:00:46,560 --> 01:00:50,856
I just wanted to come down
and let Nathan Bedford Forrest know...
934
01:00:51,941 --> 01:00:54,443
that he has a formidable opponent.
935
01:00:57,488 --> 01:01:03,118
I was asked, "What's one thing you think
you could make happen in a year?"
936
01:01:03,202 --> 01:01:05,579
I said, "We can get
these damn statues removed."
937
01:01:05,663 --> 01:01:10,376
And I didn't believe it, but I said,
"That sounds like one thing we could do."
938
01:01:10,459 --> 01:01:13,796
And I went on Facebook,
and I made a post that said,
939
01:01:13,879 --> 01:01:16,215
"Who wants to talk about these statues?"
And next thing,
940
01:01:16,298 --> 01:01:20,761
we had filled Bruce Elementary gym
with 350 Memphians of all ages,
941
01:01:20,845 --> 01:01:23,347
races, genders, sexualities, creeds,
942
01:01:23,430 --> 01:01:26,600
even a descendant
of Nathan Bedford Forrest himself,
943
01:01:26,684 --> 01:01:28,602
who came together to say,
944
01:01:29,186 --> 01:01:32,189
"We want Nathan Bedford Forrest
and Jefferson Davis,
945
01:01:32,273 --> 01:01:35,234
and all Confederate memorabilia,
removed from our city."
946
01:01:35,317 --> 01:01:37,695
-Take them down.
-901.
947
01:01:37,778 --> 01:01:39,989
-Take them down.
-901.
948
01:01:41,240 --> 01:01:43,492
Protect the people, not the statue.
949
01:01:43,576 --> 01:01:45,661
Protect the people, not the statue.
950
01:01:45,744 --> 01:01:48,247
Protect the people, not the statue.
951
01:01:50,541 --> 01:01:52,501
How do you respond to the people that say,
952
01:01:52,585 --> 01:01:56,505
"This isn't about slavery
or oppression of Black people.
953
01:01:56,589 --> 01:01:59,633
This is about Southern culture,
and Southern history,
954
01:01:59,717 --> 01:02:01,969
and maintaining our history"?
955
01:02:03,429 --> 01:02:08,100
I think that those people
need to, one, learn history.
956
01:02:08,183 --> 01:02:11,854
When people talk about Southerners,
they think about white people.
957
01:02:11,937 --> 01:02:15,107
But the economy of the South
and the culture of the South
958
01:02:15,190 --> 01:02:17,651
was built off slavery.
959
01:02:17,735 --> 01:02:22,114
The food we eat, right?
Fried chicken, ham hocks, collard greens.
960
01:02:22,197 --> 01:02:23,616
That's Black people.
961
01:02:23,699 --> 01:02:25,367
The music we listen to.
962
01:02:25,451 --> 01:02:30,289
Elvis is not Elvis
without Black musicians, right?
963
01:02:30,372 --> 01:02:33,500
Martin Luther King was killed here, right?
964
01:02:33,584 --> 01:02:35,878
Blackness, the blood of Black people,
965
01:02:35,961 --> 01:02:39,089
seeps so deeply
into the ground of the South,
966
01:02:39,173 --> 01:02:40,507
you cannot look at--
967
01:02:40,591 --> 01:02:43,636
You cannot describe Southerners
or Southern history
968
01:02:43,719 --> 01:02:47,723
or American history
with the exclusion of Black people.
969
01:02:47,806 --> 01:02:52,645
And so the people who say that we're
rewriting history, they rewrote history.
970
01:02:52,728 --> 01:02:55,064
Now, if we had a statue that says,
971
01:02:55,147 --> 01:03:00,194
"Here lies the graves of a notorious
slave owner and his wife,
972
01:03:00,986 --> 01:03:03,948
who only became one
of the richest people in Memphis
973
01:03:04,031 --> 01:03:08,202
because of his brutal practices
towards Black Americans."
974
01:03:08,953 --> 01:03:14,458
But that's not the history
that people are ready to reconcile.
975
01:03:16,335 --> 01:03:19,254
And I see our Black kids,
their lights go out in their eyes
976
01:03:19,338 --> 01:03:22,132
at 3, 4, 5 years old.
977
01:03:22,216 --> 01:03:25,928
They believe they're lesser than
by the time they've reached kindergarten.
978
01:03:27,554 --> 01:03:29,890
And if we can change anything,
979
01:03:29,974 --> 01:03:32,810
I believe that we could change
the landscape of our city
980
01:03:32,893 --> 01:03:36,021
so they didn't have
to be reminded on a daily basis
981
01:03:36,105 --> 01:03:40,359
that they are considered second-class
citizens by many people in this country.
982
01:03:42,569 --> 01:03:46,699
History is being made in Memphis tonight.
983
01:03:48,158 --> 01:03:49,910
Within the next few hours...
984
01:03:51,203 --> 01:03:57,042
both the Nathan Bedford Forrest
and Jefferson Davis statues
985
01:03:57,126 --> 01:03:59,712
will no longer stand in our city.
986
01:04:05,134 --> 01:04:07,302
While we watched the cranes come in,
987
01:04:07,386 --> 01:04:11,390
the park get filled with workers, and
I was right across the street to witness,
988
01:04:11,473 --> 01:04:14,435
at 9:01 on December 20th, 2017,
989
01:04:14,518 --> 01:04:17,479
Nathan Bedford Forrest
rise above that pedestal
990
01:04:17,563 --> 01:04:19,481
for the first time since he was placed.
991
01:04:24,278 --> 01:04:25,738
What was that feeling like?
992
01:04:26,488 --> 01:04:28,449
It's a complicated feeling.
993
01:04:28,532 --> 01:04:33,620
One of relief, one of joy,
and one of sadness.
994
01:04:33,704 --> 01:04:34,913
Where was the sadness from?
995
01:04:35,914 --> 01:04:39,001
We had to fight so hard, right?
996
01:04:39,084 --> 01:04:42,337
That I had friends
who went to jail for this,
997
01:04:42,421 --> 01:04:45,424
that a woman was killed for this, right?
998
01:04:45,507 --> 01:04:47,801
And that our statue came down,
999
01:04:47,885 --> 01:04:52,264
and almost another thousand stand
across the country.
1000
01:04:53,223 --> 01:04:55,809
And that people
are working harder to protect them
1001
01:04:55,893 --> 01:04:59,354
and tell us that
we are wrong or attention-seekers
1002
01:04:59,438 --> 01:05:03,275
than they are to reconcile
and get to a point of truth
1003
01:05:03,358 --> 01:05:05,986
and understanding about
who these people were.
1004
01:05:24,963 --> 01:05:28,675
February 10, 1915,
The Birth of a Nation is released.
1005
01:05:28,759 --> 01:05:35,015
D.W. Griffith's stupendous motion picture
production of Thomas Dixon's famous story,
1006
01:05:35,099 --> 01:05:36,225
The Clansman.
1007
01:05:36,308 --> 01:05:41,939
It employed the services of 18,000 people,
and a symphony orchestra of 40.
1008
01:05:42,022 --> 01:05:44,566
As you can see,
it took three years in production.
1009
01:05:46,735 --> 01:05:50,823
It was one of the first movies
screened in the White House.
1010
01:05:52,908 --> 01:05:56,912
And it had white actors in black face,
like this one.
1011
01:05:59,331 --> 01:06:01,333
And this story, by the way...
1012
01:06:03,043 --> 01:06:08,507
does damage,
not only to every Black person...
1013
01:06:10,008 --> 01:06:14,346
but it takes the issue
of sexual assault...
1014
01:06:14,972 --> 01:06:19,810
and twists it in a way that's incredible.
1015
01:06:21,854 --> 01:06:25,065
Because, of course,
rather than let a Black man touch her...
1016
01:06:29,820 --> 01:06:31,488
she'll jump to her death.
1017
01:06:36,451 --> 01:06:39,246
This is what Woodrow Wilson
had to say about the movie.
1018
01:06:39,329 --> 01:06:42,791
"The white men were roused
by a mere instinct of self-preservation
1019
01:06:42,875 --> 01:06:46,920
until at last, there had sprung
into existence a great Ku Klux Klan,
1020
01:06:47,004 --> 01:06:51,758
a veritable empire of the South,
to protect the Southern country.”
1021
01:06:51,842 --> 01:06:55,137
This is the president
of the United States.
1022
01:06:55,220 --> 01:06:59,516
Folks, this was entertainment.
1023
01:07:00,350 --> 01:07:04,188
This was a pleasant evening at the movies.
1024
01:07:05,314 --> 01:07:10,152
This is who we are as Americans
at the turn of the last century.
1025
01:07:18,702 --> 01:07:22,873
Over your shoulder is a bridge
with a man's name on it.
1026
01:07:22,956 --> 01:07:28,337
And I have seen pictures of that bridge
ever since I was a young, young child,
1027
01:07:28,420 --> 01:07:32,174
and I see the name Edmund Pettus.
1028
01:07:32,257 --> 01:07:34,468
I think there are
very few people in America
1029
01:07:34,551 --> 01:07:37,387
who know who Edmund Pettus really was.
1030
01:07:39,223 --> 01:07:45,729
Edmund Pettus
was a powerful leader in this area.
1031
01:07:46,563 --> 01:07:49,816
He was a former U.♪. Senator.
1032
01:07:51,610 --> 01:07:58,200
Most importantly, he was
the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan.
1033
01:07:58,283 --> 01:07:59,451
Highest leader.
1034
01:07:59,534 --> 01:08:03,413
When this bridge was completed
in 1940 or so,
1035
01:08:03,497 --> 01:08:05,374
they wanted a symbol.
1036
01:08:05,457 --> 01:08:06,917
They wanted to name...
1037
01:08:07,709 --> 01:08:13,632
the bridge after somebody
who would send a signal
1038
01:08:13,715 --> 01:08:15,467
of "stay in your place,"
1039
01:08:15,550 --> 01:08:21,473
because symbols
are more powerful than words.
1040
01:08:21,556 --> 01:08:24,893
And so this is a very powerful symbol.
1041
01:08:24,977 --> 01:08:30,065
Every time someone cross
the Edmund Pettus Bridge, it gets in them.
1042
01:08:30,148 --> 01:08:34,528
Every time someone see
a photo of it, it gets in them.
1043
01:08:34,611 --> 01:08:39,157
Every time one sees something
on TV, it gets in them.
1044
01:08:39,241 --> 01:08:41,201
So that's why, in the Senate,
1045
01:08:41,994 --> 01:08:45,998
I introduced a resolution
1046
01:08:46,081 --> 01:08:50,085
to change the name
from Edmund Pettus Bridge
1047
01:08:50,168 --> 01:08:52,504
to the Freedom Bridge.
1048
01:08:52,587 --> 01:08:55,924
The state of Alabama,
last year, passed a law that said
1049
01:08:56,008 --> 01:08:59,428
you cannot change the names
of any of these
1050
01:08:59,511 --> 01:09:02,556
so-called iconic
white supremacist symbols.
1051
01:09:04,391 --> 01:09:06,893
And somebody says,
"Well, this is history."
1052
01:09:07,769 --> 01:09:10,188
This is symbolism. This is not history.
1053
01:09:10,272 --> 01:09:13,900
We ought never confuse
symbolism with history.
1054
01:09:14,943 --> 01:09:20,949
Symbolism is somebody's idea
about a response to what happened.
1055
01:09:21,033 --> 01:09:22,409
Not what happened.
1056
01:09:22,492 --> 01:09:24,870
You are to move off
of the street immediately
1057
01:09:24,953 --> 01:09:27,789
and assemble in front
of Lehman's Pontiac Dealer,
1058
01:09:27,873 --> 01:09:30,000
otherwise you will not be protected.
1059
01:09:40,510 --> 01:09:44,931
And here it is,
50-some years later after that,
1060
01:09:45,015 --> 01:09:47,601
and we're still fighting
for the right to vote,
1061
01:09:47,684 --> 01:09:51,355
we're still fighting to keep our children
from being killed,
1062
01:09:51,438 --> 01:09:57,027
we're still fighting to keep
our people from being incarcerated,
1063
01:09:57,110 --> 01:09:59,738
we're still fighting
for all kinds of things.
1064
01:09:59,821 --> 01:10:03,742
So that just demonstrates
the depth of white supremacy.
1065
01:10:03,825 --> 01:10:06,578
And I didn't fully understand that.
1066
01:10:17,422 --> 01:10:19,758
The Greenwood neighborhood in Tulsa
1067
01:10:19,841 --> 01:10:22,469
was called Black Wall Street
by many people.
1068
01:10:23,053 --> 01:10:26,473
These are some of the images
of how Black Americans
1069
01:10:26,556 --> 01:10:31,436
were living in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1921.
1070
01:10:31,520 --> 01:10:36,066
The level of economic advancement
was astounding.
1071
01:10:40,362 --> 01:10:45,784
Six hundred businesses, 21 churches,
21 restaurants, 30 grocery stores,
1072
01:10:45,867 --> 01:10:49,871
two movie theaters, six private airplanes,
1073
01:10:49,955 --> 01:10:54,835
a hospital, bank, post office, schools.
1074
01:10:54,918 --> 01:10:59,464
Libraries, law offices, even a bus system.
1075
01:11:00,465 --> 01:11:04,719
On May 30th of 1921,
a young Black man was arrested
1076
01:11:04,803 --> 01:11:09,307
and accused of trying to assault
a white female elevator operator.
1077
01:11:09,391 --> 01:11:13,645
All of the historical records
say that the kid tripped in the elevator
1078
01:11:13,728 --> 01:11:15,355
and bumped into this white woman.
1079
01:11:15,439 --> 01:11:18,108
But he was arrested,
and the rumor mill started,
1080
01:11:18,191 --> 01:11:19,401
and a lynch mob formed.
1081
01:11:22,446 --> 01:11:25,991
Well, the men in Greenwood
were World War I veterans,
1082
01:11:26,074 --> 01:11:27,742
and when they heard
about the lynch mob,
1083
01:11:27,826 --> 01:11:30,412
they got their guns
and they went down to the courthouse.
1084
01:11:30,495 --> 01:11:35,292
Not to break anybody out,
but to keep the lynch mob out.
1085
01:11:39,796 --> 01:11:44,468
On June 1st, 1921,
white people rented airplanes.
1086
01:11:44,551 --> 01:11:46,845
They got burning balls of turpentine,
1087
01:11:46,928 --> 01:11:50,891
and they dropped them
on the businesses and homes in Greenwood.
1088
01:11:51,725 --> 01:11:55,520
And when Black people ran out
of the burning buildings and homes,
1089
01:11:55,604 --> 01:11:59,858
they were shot dead
by white people standing outside.
1090
01:12:01,276 --> 01:12:05,614
I get angry when I read about this
1091
01:12:05,697 --> 01:12:08,283
referred to as "the Tulsa Riot."
1092
01:12:08,366 --> 01:12:12,204
This was not a riot.
This was a massacre.
1093
01:12:23,507 --> 01:12:27,677
This was the cost
of preventing a lynching.
1094
01:12:34,309 --> 01:12:37,229
I thought the world was coming to an end.
1095
01:12:38,230 --> 01:12:41,358
I felt, "Well, what in the world
is going on?"
1096
01:12:41,441 --> 01:12:45,737
Being as young as I was,
I didn't understand.
1097
01:12:45,820 --> 01:12:47,113
But it was quite a mess.
1098
01:12:47,989 --> 01:12:49,658
It was quite something.
1099
01:12:53,370 --> 01:12:57,123
Would you introduce yourself, please?
Tell folks your name?
1100
01:12:58,041 --> 01:13:02,254
My name is Lessie Evelyn Randle.
1101
01:13:02,879 --> 01:13:06,007
It was Benningfield
before I married, and...
1102
01:13:07,634 --> 01:13:10,637
I am 100 and...years old.
1103
01:13:22,065 --> 01:13:24,901
I remember, I don't know
what you call them, rebels,
1104
01:13:24,985 --> 01:13:26,695
or what they were, came in,
1105
01:13:26,778 --> 01:13:29,406
and they just spared
Grandmother's home,
1106
01:13:29,489 --> 01:13:31,116
they didn't burn her home.
1107
01:13:31,199 --> 01:13:34,578
But the homes all around us were burned,
1108
01:13:34,661 --> 01:13:40,250
and stores were just cleaned out...
1109
01:13:41,209 --> 01:13:44,004
and everything,
but it was quite something.
1110
01:13:44,087 --> 01:13:46,715
I never want to see
anything like that again.
1111
01:13:48,925 --> 01:13:55,849
I saw two or three being shot down
as we were escaping.
1112
01:13:57,809 --> 01:14:03,565
At one time, we went in an area
where they had killed so many,
1113
01:14:03,648 --> 01:14:09,654
just had them piled up
in the street in a pile.
1114
01:14:10,280 --> 01:14:13,617
And I thought that was terrible.
1115
01:14:14,242 --> 01:14:17,037
I remember thinking that...
1116
01:14:17,120 --> 01:14:19,873
I said, "What are these people doing
lying around like this?"
1117
01:14:19,956 --> 01:14:24,002
One of the people told me,
"They're dead. They were killed."
1118
01:14:24,836 --> 01:14:26,171
I said, "Oh, my God."
1119
01:14:26,254 --> 01:14:29,674
That, of course, scared me,
being a kid and everything,
1120
01:14:29,758 --> 01:14:31,593
but it was quite something.
1121
01:14:39,976 --> 01:14:44,064
-So this is a city-owned cemetery?
-Yes.
1122
01:14:44,147 --> 01:14:46,650
-The name of it is...?
-Oaklawn Cemetery.
1123
01:14:47,359 --> 01:14:51,279
And it was a place where we have
1124
01:14:51,363 --> 01:14:53,615
very credible evidence,
1125
01:14:53,698 --> 01:14:56,576
eyewitness testimony
that's been passed down,
1126
01:14:56,660 --> 01:14:57,786
that bodies were dumped.
1127
01:14:58,703 --> 01:15:02,874
And we've gotten documented stories
from white citizens that live in Tulsa
1128
01:15:02,957 --> 01:15:06,461
who had families here
during the massacre and before.
1129
01:15:06,544 --> 01:15:08,755
"Cause one of the guys
that I interviewed told me,
1130
01:15:08,838 --> 01:15:10,382
he said, "My father took me..."
1131
01:15:11,049 --> 01:15:13,885
You used to be able to walk up
to the rail system.
1132
01:15:14,511 --> 01:15:19,182
He said they brought rail cars
through here, flatbed rail cars,
1133
01:15:19,265 --> 01:15:21,142
and they just rolled bodies off.
1134
01:15:22,268 --> 01:15:25,313
But our contention was
the bodies were dumped
1135
01:15:26,272 --> 01:15:28,650
all the way where the underpass is,
1136
01:15:28,733 --> 01:15:33,780
and they intentionally put
the interstate on top of their bodies,
1137
01:15:33,863 --> 01:15:36,658
knowing that nobody would ever think...
1138
01:15:36,741 --> 01:15:38,785
-To look under the road.
-To look under the road.
1139
01:15:41,329 --> 01:15:46,918
What is the most reasonable estimate
of how many people died?
1140
01:15:47,001 --> 01:15:51,256
You're looking at 4000 people...
1141
01:15:51,923 --> 01:15:54,050
- Easy.
-that you cannot account for.
1142
01:15:54,634 --> 01:15:57,011
-Yeah, I agree.
-So it's a genocide.
1143
01:15:57,095 --> 01:15:58,930
It's an ethnic cleansing, you know?
1144
01:15:59,013 --> 01:16:02,100
Even to call it a massacre
marginalizes it,
1145
01:16:02,183 --> 01:16:04,978
because it's just too big.
1146
01:16:05,061 --> 01:16:06,938
It's too big of a story.
1147
01:16:09,232 --> 01:16:11,651
-You see the steps over to the left?
-Yes.
1148
01:16:11,735 --> 01:16:15,029
We call those the Steps of No Return.
1149
01:16:16,489 --> 01:16:19,284
And why are they called
the Steps of No Return?
1150
01:16:19,367 --> 01:16:21,619
'Cause the houses were never rebuilt.
1151
01:16:26,291 --> 01:16:27,709
Yeah, it's a powerful...
1152
01:16:29,711 --> 01:16:31,212
Powerful place to be.
1153
01:16:32,172 --> 01:16:34,090
And you look forward,
you look at the city,
1154
01:16:34,174 --> 01:16:36,885
-and you just imagine what was.
-And what could have been.
1155
01:16:36,968 --> 01:16:39,512
-Yeah.
-If this hadn't been destroyed.
1156
01:16:41,014 --> 01:16:44,350
This city could've had
an incredibly different destiny.
1157
01:16:44,434 --> 01:16:46,478
-Yeah.
-Definitely.
1158
01:16:56,946 --> 01:16:59,908
I never wanna see
anything like that again.
1159
01:17:00,533 --> 01:17:04,037
Of course, you never know
what may happen again. You never know.
1160
01:17:04,454 --> 01:17:07,707
Because the way it's going now,
from what I've seen...
1161
01:17:09,375 --> 01:17:12,045
I feel like anything could happen.
1162
01:17:15,757 --> 01:17:19,260
How is it possible
that this could happen in America
1163
01:17:19,344 --> 01:17:24,057
and not be taught in history books
up one side and down the other?
1164
01:17:27,644 --> 01:17:31,272
Do you know how many people
were prosecuted for the Tulsa Massacre?
1165
01:17:31,356 --> 01:17:32,357
Zero.
1166
01:17:33,066 --> 01:17:38,822
Do you think law enforcement didn't know
who rented an airplane on June 1st?
1167
01:17:38,905 --> 01:17:42,408
Do you think law enforcement
couldn't tell from the pictures
1168
01:17:42,492 --> 01:17:45,912
who were walking around town
with shotguns over their shoulders
1169
01:17:45,995 --> 01:17:49,082
to figure out who may have shot
some of the Black people?
1170
01:17:49,165 --> 01:17:53,336
Do you really think law enforcement
didn't know what happened?
1171
01:17:53,962 --> 01:17:57,632
The reason I have shown this,
and shown the pictures of lynchings,
1172
01:17:57,715 --> 01:18:01,553
is that these kind of things
could not happen
1173
01:18:01,636 --> 01:18:06,266
without law enforcement acquiescence
or direct involvement.
1174
01:18:06,349 --> 01:18:09,936
You can't hang somebody
from a tree in the middle of the city
1175
01:18:10,019 --> 01:18:12,397
and have the police not know about it.
1176
01:18:16,276 --> 01:18:20,363
The hand you see in that picture
is the hand of Emmett Till's mother.
1177
01:18:20,905 --> 01:18:24,576
That woman is one of
the bravest women in American history,
1178
01:18:24,659 --> 01:18:28,913
because she took her personal tragedy,
1179
01:18:29,455 --> 01:18:33,918
her incredibly personal tragedy,
and she made a decision.
1180
01:18:34,002 --> 01:18:38,214
"I am going to make America
look at who we are."
1181
01:18:38,298 --> 01:18:44,637
And in 1955, this next picture
appeared in newspapers across America.
1182
01:18:45,805 --> 01:18:47,849
And I believe, personally,
1183
01:18:47,932 --> 01:18:50,935
that many white people
across America woke up
1184
01:18:51,019 --> 01:18:52,979
and looked at this picture in the paper,
1185
01:18:53,062 --> 01:18:55,857
and said something
to themselves like this:
1186
01:18:56,357 --> 01:18:59,277
"I know those colored people down there
are causing a problem...
1187
01:19:00,445 --> 01:19:02,488
but I didn't sign up for this."
1188
01:19:13,124 --> 01:19:15,126
Everyone thinks that America
1189
01:19:15,209 --> 01:19:18,630
is still one of the most
segregated countries in the world
1190
01:19:18,713 --> 01:19:23,551
because of social
individual prejudice, and finances.
1191
01:19:23,635 --> 01:19:27,221
And I'm not saying that those two things
don't have some relationship
1192
01:19:27,305 --> 01:19:29,390
to our segregated country.
1193
01:19:30,308 --> 01:19:33,728
What I am saying is,
federal, state and local governments
1194
01:19:33,811 --> 01:19:36,773
deliberately sabotaged
Black home ownership.
1195
01:19:36,856 --> 01:19:38,816
This wasn't a mistake.
1196
01:19:38,900 --> 01:19:43,404
This was the deliberate policy
of the federal government.
1197
01:19:44,364 --> 01:19:47,408
The Federal Housing Authority
drew red line maps
1198
01:19:47,492 --> 01:19:51,663
of every major city in America.
1199
01:19:51,746 --> 01:19:55,124
That's the red line map
of Brooklyn, New York.
1200
01:19:57,126 --> 01:20:01,881
"A," or green ranking,
meant the neighborhood was homogeneous.
1201
01:20:01,965 --> 01:20:04,968
A "B," or blue ranking,
meant it was still desirable
1202
01:20:05,051 --> 01:20:06,928
and expected to remain stable.
1203
01:20:07,011 --> 01:20:09,722
A "C" ranking meant it was declining,
1204
01:20:09,806 --> 01:20:13,559
beginning to be integrated,
bordering on Black neighborhoods.
1205
01:20:13,643 --> 01:20:19,607
And a "D" ranking was red,
for redlining, any Black presence at all.
1206
01:20:20,858 --> 01:20:25,279
And this was the truth
from sea to shining sea.
1207
01:20:26,572 --> 01:20:29,951
And then we reach 1954,
with Brown v. The Board.
1208
01:20:30,535 --> 01:20:33,121
I will tell you,
this had a major impact on my life,
1209
01:20:33,204 --> 01:20:35,581
in terms of school desegregation.
1210
01:20:37,041 --> 01:20:40,003
This is what Thurgood Marshall
argued in the Supreme Court.
1211
01:20:40,628 --> 01:20:43,339
"Separate but equal was
the inherent determination
1212
01:20:43,423 --> 01:20:47,927
that people who were formerly in slavery,
regardless of anything else,
1213
01:20:48,011 --> 01:20:51,472
shall be kept as near that stage
as is possible."
1214
01:20:51,556 --> 01:20:53,099
And doesn't that make sense?
1215
01:20:53,182 --> 01:20:56,310
What the heck is
"separate but equal” except:
1216
01:20:56,394 --> 01:20:58,229
"You are not human enough.
1217
01:20:58,312 --> 01:21:01,607
Don't drink my water
out of my water fountain,
1218
01:21:01,691 --> 01:21:07,071
don't use the bathroom and my toilet,
don't go to school with my children."
1219
01:21:08,281 --> 01:21:14,037
Let's stroll and see if we can find
our eighth grade graduation picture
1220
01:21:14,120 --> 01:21:17,749
and second grade
First Communion picture.
1221
01:21:18,458 --> 01:21:19,667
It used to be down here.
1222
01:21:20,918 --> 01:21:24,464
I think the lights may come on as we walk.
1223
01:21:26,924 --> 01:21:28,509
-There we go.
-There it is.
1224
01:21:29,260 --> 01:21:30,386
Here we go.
1225
01:21:30,845 --> 01:21:33,306
-Yeah.
-1963.
1226
01:21:34,098 --> 01:21:37,060
-There's First Communion.
-First Communion.
1227
01:21:37,143 --> 01:21:38,311
That's me.
1228
01:21:40,104 --> 01:21:42,190
-That's Opie right there.
-That's right.
1229
01:21:42,273 --> 01:21:44,650
-That's my older brother, Herbert.
-Yep.
1230
01:21:48,738 --> 01:21:52,366
My older brother, Herbert, and I
were the first two Black kids
1231
01:21:52,450 --> 01:21:54,327
to come to school at St. Louis.
1232
01:21:54,410 --> 01:21:58,706
Opie, you and I met each other
the summer before the second grade,
1233
01:21:58,790 --> 01:22:02,335
and that was the start of
one of the best friendships
1234
01:22:02,418 --> 01:22:04,587
I've ever had in my life.
1235
01:22:05,630 --> 01:22:10,009
Well, as we were going to school here,
1236
01:22:10,093 --> 01:22:12,261
and different things
were happening in the world,
1237
01:22:12,345 --> 01:22:15,598
I remember when King
was assassinated, for example.
1238
01:22:16,349 --> 01:22:18,101
Op, what do you remember about that?
1239
01:22:18,184 --> 01:22:22,897
I remembered that... I think
it was the first time I saw my father
1240
01:22:23,481 --> 01:22:26,150
be armed with a shotgun in our house
1241
01:22:26,234 --> 01:22:31,364
just because of the fear of civil unrest.
1242
01:22:33,074 --> 01:22:37,662
But we were still so young at that time
1243
01:22:37,745 --> 01:22:42,917
that we didn't have a true sense
of what was really going on.
1244
01:22:43,000 --> 01:22:43,876
Yeah.
1245
01:22:43,960 --> 01:22:45,878
-We were just having fun.
-Yeah.
1246
01:22:45,962 --> 01:22:51,551
And we would go places,
and the only thing that really...
1247
01:22:51,634 --> 01:22:56,055
I think the first time
that I felt any discomfort is,
1248
01:22:56,139 --> 01:22:57,598
and you might recall this,
1249
01:22:57,682 --> 01:23:01,853
we took the bus to the Crosstown Theater,
1250
01:23:01,936 --> 01:23:05,940
and the movie Patton had just come out,
with George C. Scott.
1251
01:23:06,399 --> 01:23:08,067
And at the Crosstown...
1252
01:23:09,652 --> 01:23:12,321
we went and we had to sit in the balcony
1253
01:23:12,405 --> 01:23:18,202
because Jeffery wasn't allowed
to sit in the main area.
1254
01:23:19,162 --> 01:23:23,291
I didn't think much of it because I wanted
to sit in the balcony to start with.
1255
01:23:23,374 --> 01:23:24,542
It's pretty neat up there.
1256
01:23:24,625 --> 01:23:29,964
But it was the first time that I realized
that there were differences
1257
01:23:30,047 --> 01:23:32,717
on how we were treated by others.
1258
01:23:32,800 --> 01:23:36,971
And I remember it was something
that we kind of brushed off
1259
01:23:37,054 --> 01:23:41,976
in our childhood,
but looking back on it, it's just sad.
1260
01:23:43,102 --> 01:23:45,104
One thing I remember
more than anything else
1261
01:23:45,188 --> 01:23:48,024
about those days,
where y'all were concerned,
1262
01:23:48,107 --> 01:23:50,860
and hopefully you don't even
hardly remember this,
1263
01:23:50,943 --> 01:23:56,199
because I tried to take care of it
in a very professional manner.
1264
01:23:57,491 --> 01:24:01,329
We went to Sacred Heart in Walls,
to a basketball game,
1265
01:24:01,412 --> 01:24:06,459
and we were all getting out of the car,
and we were walking into the gym.
1266
01:24:07,043 --> 01:24:10,713
And a man grabbed me by the arm,
and said, "What are you doing?"
1267
01:24:10,796 --> 01:24:11,923
And I said, "Pardon me?"
1268
01:24:12,006 --> 01:24:16,552
And he said, "We don't allow Blacks
in the gym, or to play in the gym."
1269
01:24:16,636 --> 01:24:19,847
So this is Mississippi,
which is right over the line.
1270
01:24:19,931 --> 01:24:21,599
And I said, "Well, that's fine."
1271
01:24:21,682 --> 01:24:24,936
And I remember turning to y'all,
and I said,
1272
01:24:25,019 --> 01:24:27,021
"They've got a problem with the clock,
1273
01:24:27,104 --> 01:24:30,399
and with what's going on here,
we all are out here. We're leaving."
1274
01:24:30,983 --> 01:24:35,988
And the parents of the team,
they were fine with it.
1275
01:24:36,072 --> 01:24:37,698
I explained to a couple of them.
1276
01:24:37,782 --> 01:24:39,825
We were walking out the gym door,
1277
01:24:39,909 --> 01:24:44,413
and the pastor there
at Sacred Heart was coming in.
1278
01:24:45,081 --> 01:24:47,500
He stopped me, and said,
"Mr. Orians, what are you doing?"
1279
01:24:47,583 --> 01:24:50,544
And I said, "Well, this is what happened
when I went in the gym."
1280
01:24:50,628 --> 01:24:53,172
And he goes, "No, that ain't happening."”
1281
01:24:54,966 --> 01:24:56,842
And he went back in that gym,
1282
01:24:56,926 --> 01:25:00,012
and he got the coaches
and the parents together,
1283
01:25:00,096 --> 01:25:02,306
and we went back into the gym
and we played.
1284
01:25:04,976 --> 01:25:06,435
I didn't know that.
1285
01:25:06,519 --> 01:25:07,603
I figured not.
1286
01:25:18,698 --> 01:25:22,243
What I remember about that tournament,
1287
01:25:22,326 --> 01:25:25,788
a kid on the other team,
at one point, calling me a nigger.
1288
01:25:26,539 --> 01:25:28,499
And I remember there was a time out,
1289
01:25:28,582 --> 01:25:32,003
and my dad must have been
near the bench, and I said to him,
1290
01:25:32,086 --> 01:25:34,171
"You know, this kid called me a nigger."
1291
01:25:34,630 --> 01:25:37,675
He looked me in the eye and he said,
"What do you wanna do about it?
1292
01:25:37,758 --> 01:25:41,470
Do you wanna quit? Do you wanna cry?
Or do you wanna keep playing?”
1293
01:25:41,929 --> 01:25:43,806
And I was like, "I wanna keep playing."
1294
01:25:43,889 --> 01:25:48,436
And he's like, "Then forget about it
and keep playing," which is what I did.
1295
01:25:49,145 --> 01:25:52,648
But my memory of that
was always just that
1296
01:25:52,732 --> 01:25:54,108
it was this kid...
1297
01:25:56,819 --> 01:25:58,362
who had interacted with me.
1298
01:25:59,363 --> 01:26:01,949
I definitely remember the trip
to Walls, Mississippi,
1299
01:26:02,033 --> 01:26:05,870
because I remember that you could
get a Coca-Cola for a nickel
1300
01:26:05,953 --> 01:26:06,954
in those machines,
1301
01:26:07,038 --> 01:26:11,375
and up here, it was like 10 or 15 cents,
and I'm like, "Damn this is great.
1302
01:26:11,459 --> 01:26:15,087
Maybe we wanna live here," and
my father's like, "I don't think we do."
1303
01:26:15,880 --> 01:26:18,341
But it's one of the things
1304
01:26:18,424 --> 01:26:23,304
that you protected all of us from,
1305
01:26:23,763 --> 01:26:28,184
and I just wondered whether those things
were still in your head.
1306
01:26:30,394 --> 01:26:32,813
I was thinking about this work
that we're doing,
1307
01:26:32,897 --> 01:26:34,899
and thinking about coming back to Memphis,
1308
01:26:34,982 --> 01:26:39,195
that the relationships that I built here,
1309
01:26:39,653 --> 01:26:41,989
even though I haven't
seen people in so long,
1310
01:26:42,073 --> 01:26:45,326
are some of the warmest things
that I can ever remember.
1311
01:26:45,409 --> 01:26:51,165
And these kind of relationships
are the things that are important in life.
1312
01:26:51,248 --> 01:26:53,834
And it is so good to see both of you.
1313
01:26:53,918 --> 01:26:58,547
And I just love the fact
that we were able to grow up together.
1314
01:27:00,216 --> 01:27:02,635
Dick, I'm gonna give you back this ball.
1315
01:27:03,302 --> 01:27:05,846
The first integrated
high school game in Memphis,
1316
01:27:05,930 --> 01:27:09,850
Catholic, 14, Father Bertrand, 7.
1317
01:27:09,934 --> 01:27:11,227
-There you go.
-Yeah.
1318
01:27:11,310 --> 01:27:12,895
-Thank you both so much.
-All right.
1319
01:27:12,978 --> 01:27:15,022
-Jeffery, man, good seeing you.
-Absolutely.
1320
01:27:15,648 --> 01:27:17,566
-Dick, thank you, brother.
-All right, buddy.
1321
01:27:21,946 --> 01:27:26,659
The promise of Brown,
what a lie that's turned out to be.
1322
01:27:29,203 --> 01:27:33,666
American schools today
are almost as segregated
1323
01:27:33,749 --> 01:27:36,252
as they were in the '50s.
1324
01:27:38,712 --> 01:27:44,260
This is the "victory" document
from the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
1325
01:27:44,885 --> 01:27:47,638
The document that was circulated
in the Black community
1326
01:27:47,721 --> 01:27:50,516
the night before the buses
were gonna be integrated,
1327
01:27:50,599 --> 01:27:53,894
a bus boycott that lasted
for more than a year,
1328
01:27:53,978 --> 01:27:57,398
where Black women
were going into white homes,
1329
01:27:57,481 --> 01:27:59,442
being maids in those homes,
1330
01:27:59,525 --> 01:28:02,445
and they were getting up
at 4 and 5:00 in the morning
1331
01:28:02,528 --> 01:28:04,155
to walk to those homes,
1332
01:28:04,238 --> 01:28:07,366
and then walk back to their homes
in the Black neighborhoods,
1333
01:28:07,450 --> 01:28:10,244
and get there
maybe at 8:30, 9:00 at night,
1334
01:28:10,327 --> 01:28:13,038
try and feed their families,
try and take care of their families,
1335
01:28:13,122 --> 01:28:17,418
and then get up the next day,
and do it all over again for over a year.
1336
01:28:17,501 --> 01:28:21,213
And I get 15 minutes late to work,
and I get pissed off.
1337
01:28:24,341 --> 01:28:26,635
This is the victory document.
1338
01:28:27,595 --> 01:28:31,891
"The bus driver is in charge of the bus,
and has been instructed to obey the law.
1339
01:28:31,974 --> 01:28:36,353
Assume he will cooperate
in helping you occupy any vacant seat.
1340
01:28:36,437 --> 01:28:40,858
Do not deliberately sit by a white person
unless there is no other seat."
1341
01:28:40,941 --> 01:28:42,568
Where did this come from?
1342
01:28:42,651 --> 01:28:46,155
This is the difference that
every Black person in America knows.
1343
01:28:46,238 --> 01:28:48,991
It's the slip between the law and living.
1344
01:28:49,575 --> 01:28:53,162
Yeah, the law says you can ride that bus
and sit wherever you want,
1345
01:28:53,245 --> 01:28:55,956
but don't go
getting yourself killed over it.
1346
01:28:57,082 --> 01:28:59,585
"In case of an incident,
talk as little as possible,
1347
01:28:59,668 --> 01:29:02,671
and always in a quiet tone.
Do not get up from your seat.
1348
01:29:02,755 --> 01:29:05,090
Report all incidents to the bus driver."
1349
01:29:05,174 --> 01:29:09,094
"Talk as little as possible,
and always in a quiet tone."
1350
01:29:09,178 --> 01:29:11,388
Don't make white people uncomfortable,
1351
01:29:11,472 --> 01:29:14,767
because the cost of that
could be your life.
1352
01:29:15,559 --> 01:29:19,522
"If another person is being molested,
do not arise to go to his defense,
1353
01:29:19,605 --> 01:29:21,482
but pray for the oppressor...
1354
01:29:22,942 --> 01:29:27,446
and use moral and spiritual force
to carry on the struggle for justice.”
1355
01:29:27,530 --> 01:29:30,074
And I don't know what to say
about that one,
1356
01:29:30,157 --> 01:29:34,745
and I definitely don't know
what to say about this one.
1357
01:29:35,913 --> 01:29:39,875
"If you feel you cannot take it,
walk for another week or two."
1358
01:29:41,418 --> 01:29:45,005
This is the difference between
the law and living...
1359
01:29:45,965 --> 01:29:47,925
when you're Black in America.
1360
01:29:59,353 --> 01:30:02,523
When was the last time
you were here in this temple?
1361
01:30:04,024 --> 01:30:05,234
Fifty years ago.
1362
01:30:07,278 --> 01:30:08,571
Larry's funeral.
1363
01:30:13,367 --> 01:30:17,830
I remember it was around 700 people here.
1364
01:30:17,913 --> 01:30:21,083
I mean, they was all outside,
it was packed.
1365
01:30:22,418 --> 01:30:25,713
And Larry was in a white casket.
1366
01:30:30,009 --> 01:30:34,179
And my mother and father
were standing at his casket.
1367
01:30:35,889 --> 01:30:37,975
And they was crying.
1368
01:30:47,776 --> 01:30:51,363
This is where the march started,
at Clayborn Temple,
1369
01:30:51,447 --> 01:30:53,240
and they marched downtown.
1370
01:30:56,118 --> 01:30:57,911
Larry and...
1371
01:30:59,038 --> 01:31:02,666
some more of his classmates
had left school,
1372
01:31:02,750 --> 01:31:06,712
because the school was
urging everybody to go down there.
1373
01:31:07,421 --> 01:31:11,842
And so him and some of his friends
had went down there.
1374
01:31:15,512 --> 01:31:20,184
What did your family hear about
what actually happened to Larry?
1375
01:31:21,018 --> 01:31:22,686
It was-- Witnesses.
1376
01:31:22,770 --> 01:31:24,605
I mean, a lot of witnesses at that time,
1377
01:31:24,688 --> 01:31:29,401
and they said that the officer,
Leslie Dean Jones,
1378
01:31:29,485 --> 01:31:31,487
he was running with a shotgun,
1379
01:31:31,570 --> 01:31:34,740
and Larry saw him
running with the shotgun.
1380
01:31:34,823 --> 01:31:38,535
So he ran in what they call
a boiler room,
1381
01:31:39,161 --> 01:31:41,163
and he ordered Larry to come out.
1382
01:31:42,206 --> 01:31:46,251
And Larry, he came out
with his hands in the air
1383
01:31:46,335 --> 01:31:47,878
and said, "Don't shoot.”
1384
01:31:50,339 --> 01:31:54,426
He put the shotgun in his stomach,
and pulled the trigger...
1385
01:31:55,678 --> 01:31:57,513
at close range.
1386
01:31:59,306 --> 01:32:00,683
At close range.
1387
01:32:06,438 --> 01:32:08,732
My mother, she ran out the house,
1388
01:32:08,816 --> 01:32:10,317
she didn't have no shoes on,
1389
01:32:10,401 --> 01:32:13,612
and she reached to touch Larry,
1390
01:32:13,696 --> 01:32:16,740
and he put the barrel in her chest,
and told her to "Get back, nigger."
1391
01:32:18,784 --> 01:32:20,828
And she said, "That's my son."
1392
01:32:24,707 --> 01:32:28,001
When I got home,
my father, Mason Payne,
1393
01:32:28,085 --> 01:32:30,587
he was in the driveway, and he was crying.
1394
01:32:31,338 --> 01:32:33,424
And I said, "Dad, what's wrong?"
1395
01:32:33,507 --> 01:32:36,927
He said, "Larry gone. He won't be back.
1396
01:32:39,179 --> 01:32:40,347
He won't be back."
1397
01:32:44,935 --> 01:32:46,979
He was a young Black man...
1398
01:32:48,856 --> 01:32:50,566
in school and working.
1399
01:32:54,153 --> 01:32:56,238
He didn't have a chance to live his life.
1400
01:32:57,656 --> 01:33:00,909
Larry was murdered in cold blood
for no reason at all.
1401
01:33:04,121 --> 01:33:06,623
Devastated. We were devastated.
1402
01:33:06,707 --> 01:33:09,334
I mean, still going through it.
1403
01:33:10,043 --> 01:33:11,587
Still going through it.
1404
01:33:13,213 --> 01:33:15,841
Larry's gone,
but he will never be forgotten,
1405
01:33:16,383 --> 01:33:18,051
not by the Payne family.
1406
01:33:36,945 --> 01:33:41,200
But I must confess that
that dream that I had that day
1407
01:33:41,283 --> 01:33:45,120
has, in many points,
turned into a nightmare.
1408
01:33:45,204 --> 01:33:47,206
Now, I'm not one to lose hope.
1409
01:33:47,289 --> 01:33:49,541
I keep on hoping
1410
01:33:49,625 --> 01:33:52,252
I still have faith in the future,
1411
01:33:52,336 --> 01:33:56,089
but I've had to analyze many things
over the last few years,
1412
01:33:56,173 --> 01:33:58,592
and I would say,
over the last few months,
1413
01:33:58,675 --> 01:34:02,513
I've gone through a lot of soul-searching
and agonizing moments,
1414
01:34:03,013 --> 01:34:08,185
and I've come to see that we have
many more difficult days ahead,
1415
01:34:08,268 --> 01:34:12,481
and some of the old optimism
was a little superficial,
1416
01:34:12,564 --> 01:34:15,567
and now it must be tempered
with a solid realism.
1417
01:34:15,651 --> 01:34:21,198
And I think the realistic fact is
that we still have a long, long way to go.
1418
01:34:21,281 --> 01:34:25,577
I think the biggest problem now
is that we got our gains
1419
01:34:25,661 --> 01:34:29,039
over the last 12 years
at bargain rates, so to speak.
1420
01:34:29,122 --> 01:34:30,874
It didn't cost the nation anything.
1421
01:34:30,958 --> 01:34:33,627
In fact, it helped
the economic side of the nation
1422
01:34:33,710 --> 01:34:36,880
to integrate lunch counters
and public accommodations.
1423
01:34:36,964 --> 01:34:42,553
It didn't cost the nation anything
to get the right to vote established.
1424
01:34:43,053 --> 01:34:45,389
Now we are confronting issues
1425
01:34:45,931 --> 01:34:50,394
that cannot be solved without
costing the nation billions of dollars.
1426
01:34:50,477 --> 01:34:53,689
Now, I think this is where
we're getting our greatest resistance.
1427
01:34:53,772 --> 01:34:55,649
They may put it on many other things,
1428
01:34:55,732 --> 01:35:00,654
but we can't get rid of slums and poverty
without it costing the nation something.
1429
01:35:01,405 --> 01:35:03,448
A lot of people who want change,
1430
01:35:03,532 --> 01:35:06,660
they just don't want the change
to cost them anything,
1431
01:35:06,743 --> 01:35:11,081
or to require them to change anything
about the way that they're living.
1432
01:35:14,334 --> 01:35:17,254
Fifty years ago, this report came out.
1433
01:35:17,796 --> 01:35:20,382
It came out about three weeks
before King was killed
1434
01:35:20,465 --> 01:35:22,593
in my hometown of Memphis.
1435
01:35:23,343 --> 01:35:27,806
And these are the things that it said,
the basic conclusion of the Kerner Report:
1436
01:35:27,890 --> 01:35:30,058
"Our nation is moving
toward two societies,
1437
01:35:30,142 --> 01:35:33,770
one Black, one white,
separate, and unequal.”
1438
01:35:33,854 --> 01:35:37,691
Folks, this is what
they're saying 50 years ago.
1439
01:35:37,774 --> 01:35:40,485
"The deepening racial divide
is not inevitable.
1440
01:35:40,569 --> 01:35:43,447
The movement apart can be reversed.
1441
01:35:43,530 --> 01:35:45,407
Choice is still possible.
1442
01:35:45,490 --> 01:35:48,076
Our principal task
is to define that choice,
1443
01:35:48,160 --> 01:35:50,746
and press for a national resolution.
1444
01:35:51,580 --> 01:35:53,248
To pursue our present course
1445
01:35:53,332 --> 01:35:57,920
will involve the continuing polarization
of the American community
1446
01:35:58,003 --> 01:36:03,717
and ultimately the destruction
of basic democratic values."
1447
01:36:04,301 --> 01:36:06,053
Does that sound familiar?
1448
01:36:08,472 --> 01:36:11,016
"What white America
has never fully understood,
1449
01:36:11,099 --> 01:36:13,435
but what the Negro can never forget,
1450
01:36:13,518 --> 01:36:17,522
is that white society
is deeply implicated in the ghetto.
1451
01:36:17,606 --> 01:36:19,858
White institutions created it,
1452
01:36:19,942 --> 01:36:24,738
white institutions maintain,
and white society condones it."
1453
01:36:25,238 --> 01:36:27,407
This is 50 years ago,
1454
01:36:28,033 --> 01:36:31,620
and three weeks later,
that's what happened in my hometown.
1455
01:36:34,331 --> 01:36:39,419
King was killed on April 4th, 1968.
1456
01:36:40,379 --> 01:36:43,840
He was scheduled to give a speech
in a Memphis church
1457
01:36:44,591 --> 01:36:48,095
that Sunday, April 7, 1968.
1458
01:36:48,679 --> 01:36:53,183
This is the title of the speech
that was found among his papers
1459
01:36:53,266 --> 01:36:56,019
in the Lorraine Motel after he was killed.
1460
01:36:57,020 --> 01:36:59,398
I wonder what that speech
would have been like.
1461
01:37:11,368 --> 01:37:17,708
So in 1968, the Fair Housing Act
ended 34 years of legal redlining,
1462
01:37:18,250 --> 01:37:22,504
and what I wanna tell you
for a few minutes now is about luck.
1463
01:37:23,588 --> 01:37:25,882
Because if you look at this picture,
1464
01:37:25,966 --> 01:37:30,554
the guy on your left
with the little gangster lean
1465
01:37:30,637 --> 01:37:32,472
and the tilted hat, that's me.
1466
01:37:34,850 --> 01:37:38,478
The guy in the front with the hat
looking down at my younger sister
1467
01:37:38,562 --> 01:37:41,314
is my younger brother,
who's seated in the front audience.
1468
01:37:42,149 --> 01:37:44,985
And that's my father,
my older brother, and my younger sister.
1469
01:37:45,068 --> 01:37:49,656
That's the house we lived in
in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1962.
1470
01:37:49,740 --> 01:37:52,117
In an all-Black neighborhood in Memphis.
1471
01:37:52,200 --> 01:37:54,995
And what happened in '68,
after King was killed,
1472
01:37:55,078 --> 01:37:58,331
is that there was a developer
who was essentially buying
1473
01:37:58,415 --> 01:38:00,000
all the houses in our neighborhood.
1474
01:38:00,834 --> 01:38:03,170
Well, my dad wouldn't sell our house.
1475
01:38:03,879 --> 01:38:06,548
My dad and my mother
were converted Catholics,
1476
01:38:06,631 --> 01:38:08,675
and they wanted their kids
in Catholic school,
1477
01:38:08,759 --> 01:38:11,011
and that meant
schools in East Memphis,
1478
01:38:11,094 --> 01:38:13,513
and that meant
living in a white neighborhood.
1479
01:38:13,597 --> 01:38:15,807
So my dad made a deal with the developer.
1480
01:38:15,891 --> 01:38:18,602
"You buy me a house,
and I'll give you my house."
1481
01:38:18,685 --> 01:38:19,936
We went looking at houses.
1482
01:38:20,020 --> 01:38:23,231
Every time we would look at a house,
we would offer the asking price,
1483
01:38:23,315 --> 01:38:25,525
and the house would get sold
by somebody else,
1484
01:38:25,609 --> 01:38:26,860
or "Another agent sold it,"
1485
01:38:26,943 --> 01:38:29,321
or "We lost the contract
when we went fishing
1486
01:38:29,404 --> 01:38:32,449
and it fell out of the boat,"”
and all these excuses.
1487
01:38:33,283 --> 01:38:35,744
This is the house
that we ended up living in.
1488
01:38:36,328 --> 01:38:39,289
Four bedrooms,
two and a half bathrooms,
1489
01:38:39,372 --> 01:38:42,959
a quiet place for me and my brothers
and sisters to study,
1490
01:38:43,043 --> 01:38:44,544
a good school district,
1491
01:38:44,628 --> 01:38:49,883
all the things that Americans say
you need in order to be successful.
1492
01:38:51,093 --> 01:38:54,513
We went to look at this house
and offered the asking price,
1493
01:38:54,596 --> 01:38:57,516
and we had white friends of ours
go about a half an hour later,
1494
01:38:57,599 --> 01:39:00,352
and they offered less money,
and they sold it to them,
1495
01:39:00,435 --> 01:39:02,187
but they were buying it for us.
1496
01:39:09,778 --> 01:39:11,905
-This does bring back a lot of memories.
-Yeah.
1497
01:39:11,988 --> 01:39:15,742
-And it looks about the same as it was.
-It really does.
1498
01:39:15,826 --> 01:39:20,038
Maybe a little paint, but this is
pretty much how I remember it.
1499
01:39:20,789 --> 01:39:26,128
We moved into this house
after Dr. King was killed in 1969.
1500
01:39:26,211 --> 01:39:31,591
And your family played a role
that I never quite understood
1501
01:39:31,675 --> 01:39:34,427
until you and I have just recently talked.
1502
01:39:34,511 --> 01:39:39,099
-Could you tell us about that?
-My mother-in-law was a Realtor.
1503
01:39:39,182 --> 01:39:43,854
She was a 64-year-old Jewish woman
who had been born and raised in Memphis.
1504
01:39:43,937 --> 01:39:47,816
And so she agreed
to be your parents' Realtor,
1505
01:39:47,899 --> 01:39:50,193
and she would show them houses,
1506
01:39:50,277 --> 01:39:52,487
and when they came
and saw this house,
1507
01:39:52,571 --> 01:39:53,947
it was a brand-new house.
1508
01:39:54,030 --> 01:39:56,324
The real estate agent came to the door,
1509
01:39:56,408 --> 01:39:59,786
and at first, I think she thought
my mother-in-law was the customer.
1510
01:39:59,870 --> 01:40:01,371
My mother-in-law gave her her card,
1511
01:40:01,454 --> 01:40:03,707
and when she realized it,
she said something,
1512
01:40:03,790 --> 01:40:05,876
and slammed the door in their face.
1513
01:40:06,626 --> 01:40:08,837
So by that time,
they'd seen so many houses,
1514
01:40:08,920 --> 01:40:11,548
they just said,
"We've got to find another way."
1515
01:40:11,631 --> 01:40:15,260
So then their friends,
Web and Pat Smith,
1516
01:40:15,343 --> 01:40:18,138
were the ones who bought the house,
1517
01:40:18,221 --> 01:40:21,016
and when they came
and the Realtor saw them,
1518
01:40:21,099 --> 01:40:23,185
she was very excited and happy.
1519
01:40:23,268 --> 01:40:27,355
And so then they bought the house,
and transferred it to your parents.
1520
01:40:28,732 --> 01:40:34,779
And what I remember
is you and Andy, and my parents...
1521
01:40:34,863 --> 01:40:38,366
I have this memory of you guys
laughing in our living room,
1522
01:40:38,450 --> 01:40:40,785
and I knew it had something
to do with a house,
1523
01:40:40,869 --> 01:40:44,789
and I knew you and Andy
had helped us to get this house
1524
01:40:44,873 --> 01:40:48,460
and we couldn't talk about it
until we moved in
1525
01:40:48,543 --> 01:40:50,503
because my parents were concerned
1526
01:40:50,587 --> 01:40:52,672
that somebody would do
something to the house,
1527
01:40:52,756 --> 01:40:54,716
if they knew we were moving in.
1528
01:40:55,217 --> 01:40:56,509
But then after you moved in,
1529
01:40:56,593 --> 01:40:59,429
did you have much difficulty
in the neighborhood?
1530
01:40:59,930 --> 01:41:03,475
I remember the first week
that we moved in,
1531
01:41:03,558 --> 01:41:06,311
my daddy sat
on the carport right here,
1532
01:41:06,394 --> 01:41:11,149
under the carport, in a lawn chair
with a shotgun across his lap.
1533
01:41:11,233 --> 01:41:14,277
And he would sit there
until early in the morning
1534
01:41:14,361 --> 01:41:17,489
because he was gonna be ready
if somebody came to the house.
1535
01:41:17,572 --> 01:41:18,657
I didn't realize that.
1536
01:41:18,740 --> 01:41:21,576
I remember it took a while
for people to get used to us living here.
1537
01:41:21,660 --> 01:41:25,288
The woman that lived right here
came over,
1538
01:41:25,372 --> 01:41:27,791
the day we moved in,
to the front door,
1539
01:41:27,874 --> 01:41:31,294
and she had a plate
of chocolate chip cookies.
1540
01:41:31,753 --> 01:41:33,755
And I am addicted
to chocolate chip cookies,
1541
01:41:33,838 --> 01:41:35,757
and I have been ever since I was a kid.
1542
01:41:35,840 --> 01:41:39,094
And she knocked on the door,
and my mom opened the door,
1543
01:41:39,177 --> 01:41:42,430
and I had run behind my mom,
just to see who it was.
1544
01:41:42,514 --> 01:41:45,600
And she said,
"May I speak to the lady of the house?"
1545
01:41:45,684 --> 01:41:47,894
And my mother said,
"You're looking at her."
1546
01:41:47,978 --> 01:41:51,356
And she just spun,
and walked back to the house.
1547
01:41:51,439 --> 01:41:55,443
-Taking the cookies with her.
-I was like, "Could I have one cookie?"
1548
01:42:10,834 --> 01:42:15,463
And so that was me and Herbert's room.
That was Teresa and Michelle.
1549
01:42:15,547 --> 01:42:17,257
And was that your room
or the bathroom?
1550
01:42:17,340 --> 01:42:20,385
-That's the bathroom, then my window...
-Your window faces that way.
1551
01:42:22,887 --> 01:42:26,057
The yard looks even a little bigger
than I remember.
1552
01:42:26,141 --> 01:42:28,393
I just remember it being huge...
1553
01:42:29,561 --> 01:42:33,189
and having to use those clippers
along the edges of the fence
1554
01:42:33,273 --> 01:42:38,153
to cut that grass
that he never could stand.
1555
01:42:38,236 --> 01:42:41,072
With all the shit we were taking
about moving in here,
1556
01:42:41,156 --> 01:42:44,576
he's like, you know,
"My yard will be the best yard."
1557
01:42:44,659 --> 01:42:46,119
-The showplace.
-Yeah.
1558
01:42:53,585 --> 01:42:58,631
There's a cemetery
right across the street, and I remember...
1559
01:43:00,550 --> 01:43:04,095
Soon after we moved in,
I was over there one night.
1560
01:43:04,179 --> 01:43:07,015
I'd just come out of the house,
I don't know what I was doing,
1561
01:43:07,098 --> 01:43:11,770
but I was sitting on the wall,
and a police car pulled up.
1562
01:43:11,853 --> 01:43:15,190
And the officers got out
and asked me who I was,
1563
01:43:15,273 --> 01:43:17,984
and they patted me down, and they said,
"Where do you live?"
1564
01:43:18,068 --> 01:43:20,945
I said, "I live right across the street.
I'm just hanging out here."
1565
01:43:21,029 --> 01:43:22,489
They said, "You don't live there."
1566
01:43:22,572 --> 01:43:25,200
And they brought me over here,
and of course,
1567
01:43:25,283 --> 01:43:27,077
Mommy answered the door, and they're like,
1568
01:43:27,160 --> 01:43:29,954
"Just wanted to bring your son home,
make sure he was safe."
1569
01:43:30,038 --> 01:43:33,833
I'm like, "No. They were saying
I didn't live here. Didn't believe me."
1570
01:43:34,793 --> 01:43:36,920
And then I remember Mommy
and Daddy always saying,
1571
01:43:37,003 --> 01:43:38,505
"Well, we don't have to move far.
1572
01:43:38,588 --> 01:43:41,174
We're just going right across the street.”
1573
01:43:41,257 --> 01:43:44,177
So the cemetery across the street
is where they're both buried.
1574
01:43:54,187 --> 01:43:56,356
Shortly before my dad died,
1575
01:43:56,439 --> 01:44:02,695
he was asking whether he
and my mom made the right decision,
1576
01:44:02,779 --> 01:44:07,534
saying, "I know it was hard on you
and your brothers and sisters,
1577
01:44:07,617 --> 01:44:09,828
and living in that neighborhood
had its challenges,
1578
01:44:09,911 --> 01:44:12,330
and maybe it wasn't the right decision."
1579
01:44:12,414 --> 01:44:17,377
And I don't know what would have happened
to my brothers
1580
01:44:18,128 --> 01:44:23,550
or my sisters
or me if we hadn't come here.
1581
01:44:25,760 --> 01:44:29,973
This is part of what made me who I am.
1582
01:44:36,229 --> 01:44:39,107
This is what luck looks like.
1583
01:44:40,316 --> 01:44:44,112
I have worked as hard
as anybody in this theater
1584
01:44:44,195 --> 01:44:48,533
to get where I am today,
and I am proud of that.
1585
01:44:48,616 --> 01:44:50,577
But I am lucky.
1586
01:44:51,244 --> 01:44:54,581
I was not the smartest kid
in my neighborhood,
1587
01:44:55,457 --> 01:44:59,669
and that ball that we saw rolling back
when King got shot,
1588
01:44:59,752 --> 01:45:02,422
the only reason
I didn't get crushed by that ball
1589
01:45:02,505 --> 01:45:05,383
is that I had unicorns for parents,
1590
01:45:05,467 --> 01:45:09,512
who figured out some way
to get their kids into a situation
1591
01:45:09,596 --> 01:45:11,598
where they had a better chance to succeed.
1592
01:45:11,681 --> 01:45:14,017
And if that's what it takes
1593
01:45:14,100 --> 01:45:16,769
to have a legitimate chance at success,
1594
01:45:16,853 --> 01:45:20,899
having unicorns for parents,
or just having dumb luck...
1595
01:45:22,150 --> 01:45:25,069
Is that really a country
that you want to live in?
1596
01:45:26,029 --> 01:45:28,031
And so when you hear words,
1597
01:45:28,114 --> 01:45:32,076
when you hear the concept
expressed of "white privilege,"
1598
01:45:32,160 --> 01:45:36,748
I am begging you to think about that
in a different way.
1599
01:45:36,831 --> 01:45:40,043
White privilege doesn't mean
that you haven't worked hard.
1600
01:45:40,126 --> 01:45:43,129
It doesn't mean that you haven't
overcome obstacles.
1601
01:45:43,213 --> 01:45:46,049
It means that you walk
through the world differently
1602
01:45:46,132 --> 01:45:49,219
than the Black and brown people
in this country.
1603
01:45:49,302 --> 01:45:54,098
It does not take away from your hard work
or your accomplishments at all.
1604
01:45:54,182 --> 01:45:58,228
It simply says
this playing field is not level.
1605
01:46:00,230 --> 01:46:03,983
And that's because racism
is more than just prejudice.
1606
01:46:04,067 --> 01:46:08,905
It is prejudice plus social power,
plus legal authority.
1607
01:46:08,988 --> 01:46:13,535
And Black and brown people
have never had the last two in America.
1608
01:46:13,618 --> 01:46:16,955
Not when we were brought here
as enslaved people,
1609
01:46:17,038 --> 01:46:19,249
not during the Civil Rights Movement,
1610
01:46:19,332 --> 01:46:22,669
and not while Barack Obama
was in the White House.
1611
01:46:25,922 --> 01:46:28,007
So, what did our prison population
look like
1612
01:46:28,091 --> 01:46:30,385
as we entered the Nixon years?
1613
01:46:30,468 --> 01:46:34,305
Looked like about that,
just under 400,000 people.
1614
01:46:35,723 --> 01:46:39,602
Here's what John Ehrlichman
had to say about Nixon's strategy.
1615
01:46:40,895 --> 01:46:42,438
"We knew we couldn't make it illegal
1616
01:46:42,522 --> 01:46:45,316
to be either against the war or Black,
1617
01:46:45,400 --> 01:46:48,611
but by getting the public
to associate the hippies with marijuana,
1618
01:46:48,695 --> 01:46:52,198
and Blacks with heroin,
and then criminalizing both heavily,
1619
01:46:52,282 --> 01:46:53,950
we could disrupt those communities.
1620
01:46:54,033 --> 01:46:56,494
We could arrest their leaders,
raid their homes,
1621
01:46:56,578 --> 01:46:57,620
break up their meetings,
1622
01:46:57,704 --> 01:47:01,332
and vilify them night after night
on the evening news.
1623
01:47:01,416 --> 01:47:05,795
Did we know we were lying about the drugs?
Of course we did."
1624
01:47:05,878 --> 01:47:09,090
And when we hear, today, America say,
1625
01:47:09,173 --> 01:47:13,636
"My God, the opioid epidemic,
it's taking our children.
1626
01:47:13,720 --> 01:47:16,180
This is horrible. It's a medical issue.
1627
01:47:16,264 --> 01:47:19,350
We can't treat our children
as enemies in a war.
1628
01:47:19,434 --> 01:47:21,227
We have to help our children."
1629
01:47:21,311 --> 01:47:24,814
I'm not trying to be facetious
or to say that's not right.
1630
01:47:24,897 --> 01:47:26,149
Of course it's right.
1631
01:47:26,232 --> 01:47:28,526
But where was that sentiment
when crack cocaine
1632
01:47:28,610 --> 01:47:30,862
was destroying Black communities?
1633
01:47:34,907 --> 01:47:38,703
This is Bill Clinton
signing the 1994 Crime Bill,
1634
01:47:39,245 --> 01:47:42,582
a bill that did more damage
to racial justice
1635
01:47:42,665 --> 01:47:44,125
in the criminal legal system
1636
01:47:44,208 --> 01:47:47,170
than any bill that I can remember
in a long time.
1637
01:47:47,253 --> 01:47:50,298
This is not about Democrat or Republican.
1638
01:47:50,381 --> 01:47:52,634
This is about America.
1639
01:47:52,717 --> 01:47:55,470
Bill Clinton is saying,
"When I sign this Crime Bill,
1640
01:47:55,553 --> 01:47:57,639
we together are taking a big step
1641
01:47:57,722 --> 01:48:00,350
toward bringing the laws of our land
1642
01:48:00,433 --> 01:48:03,186
back into line
with the values of our people.”
1643
01:48:03,269 --> 01:48:05,355
And he was speaking the truth,
1644
01:48:05,438 --> 01:48:08,316
because the values
that America has expressed
1645
01:48:08,399 --> 01:48:09,734
up to that point,
1646
01:48:09,817 --> 01:48:11,819
and with what that law did,
1647
01:48:11,903 --> 01:48:15,615
they were the values of mass incarceration
and white supremacy.
1648
01:48:19,202 --> 01:48:20,244
So, what happened?
1649
01:48:21,412 --> 01:48:22,872
That's what happened.
1650
01:48:25,041 --> 01:48:26,542
And it wasn't an accident.
1651
01:48:32,423 --> 01:48:33,633
And so here...
1652
01:48:34,550 --> 01:48:39,639
are pictures
of what I refer to as "snuff films,"
1653
01:48:39,722 --> 01:48:43,393
things that we have now
gotten used to seeing in America.
1654
01:48:43,476 --> 01:48:45,978
The killings of Black
and brown men and women.
1655
01:48:54,904 --> 01:48:57,323
The ten cities with the largest
police departments
1656
01:48:57,407 --> 01:49:03,413
collectively paid out $1.02 billion
1657
01:49:03,496 --> 01:49:07,625
between 2010 and 2015
in police misconduct cases,
1658
01:49:07,709 --> 01:49:09,794
which include alleged beatings,
1659
01:49:09,877 --> 01:49:12,171
shootings, and wrongful imprisonments.
1660
01:49:12,255 --> 01:49:18,094
You can't pay a billion dollars
for police misconduct,
1661
01:49:18,177 --> 01:49:20,138
and not have criminal activity.
1662
01:49:23,725 --> 01:49:28,271
So we now know that to some Americans,
Black Lives Matter is a hate group.
1663
01:49:30,690 --> 01:49:33,067
And what I would encourage you
to think about...
1664
01:49:35,278 --> 01:49:40,867
is that the things that they're saying
about Black Lives Matter activists today
1665
01:49:40,950 --> 01:49:42,869
are the exact same things they were saying
1666
01:49:42,952 --> 01:49:45,413
about Martin Luther King in the '60s.
1667
01:49:49,917 --> 01:49:56,299
Martin Luther King was arrested
30 times in 12 years.
1668
01:49:57,175 --> 01:50:00,303
We have a word for that.
It's called "thug.”
1669
01:50:01,137 --> 01:50:04,766
That's what we refer to activists
today as, in America,
1670
01:50:04,849 --> 01:50:07,059
because they're in our face.
1671
01:50:07,143 --> 01:50:09,979
They're making us look at things
we don't want to look at.
1672
01:50:10,062 --> 01:50:12,982
They're interrupting our football games.
1673
01:50:15,109 --> 01:50:19,906
We've gotta give ourselves
to this struggle until the end.
1674
01:50:19,989 --> 01:50:23,826
Nothing would be more tragic than to stop,
1675
01:50:23,910 --> 01:50:26,704
at this point in Memphis.
1676
01:50:26,788 --> 01:50:28,456
We've gotta see it through.
1677
01:50:30,082 --> 01:50:31,334
America was at the point
1678
01:50:31,417 --> 01:50:34,003
where we were going to move
from who we were
1679
01:50:34,086 --> 01:50:37,340
to who we could be,
and who we always wanted to be.
1680
01:50:37,882 --> 01:50:41,469
And I remember thinking as a kid,
"Well, who's going to lead us now?"
1681
01:50:42,303 --> 01:50:45,640
The leader that was going to make
this movement go somewhere
1682
01:50:45,723 --> 01:50:47,266
had been taken away,
1683
01:50:47,350 --> 01:50:51,729
and I think that's a lesson
to be learned about this work,
1684
01:50:51,813 --> 01:50:55,775
and a lesson that the women
who established Black Lives Matter
1685
01:50:55,858 --> 01:50:57,360
have learned clearly:
1686
01:50:57,443 --> 01:51:01,197
You can't kill one person
and stop the Black Lives Matter movement.
1687
01:51:01,280 --> 01:51:04,492
And the three women that set it up
that way did it on purpose,
1688
01:51:04,575 --> 01:51:09,080
so that there would be leaders
in small communities all around America.
1689
01:51:10,456 --> 01:51:12,750
-Say his name!
-George Floyd.
1690
01:51:13,292 --> 01:51:15,711
-No justice.
-No peace.
1691
01:51:16,254 --> 01:51:20,258
You are seeing Black people,
brown people, white people,
1692
01:51:20,341 --> 01:51:24,053
people from every race in this country,
1693
01:51:24,136 --> 01:51:26,681
demonstrating together.
1694
01:51:26,764 --> 01:51:29,976
That has never happened before
1695
01:51:30,059 --> 01:51:32,562
on the scale
that it's happening right now.
1696
01:51:32,645 --> 01:51:34,480
-Say her name!
-Breonna Taylor!
1697
01:51:34,564 --> 01:51:40,027
The possibility of radical change
is in the air.
1698
01:51:40,695 --> 01:51:42,363
-Whose streets?
-Our streets!
1699
01:51:42,446 --> 01:51:43,823
-Whose streets?
-Our streets!
1700
01:51:43,906 --> 01:51:47,952
I want to tell you
why you were invited here tonight,
1701
01:51:48,744 --> 01:51:51,205
and it really comes down to this:
1702
01:51:51,289 --> 01:51:54,041
50 years from now, somebody,
1703
01:51:54,125 --> 01:51:56,419
maybe in an auditorium like this,
1704
01:51:56,502 --> 01:51:58,713
is going to be talking
to a group of people
1705
01:51:58,796 --> 01:52:02,049
about what happened in this generation.
1706
01:52:02,133 --> 01:52:06,721
Did we turn up the volume
on our videos and our TV
1707
01:52:06,804 --> 01:52:11,225
and just let that ball roll back,
like we have every single time
1708
01:52:11,309 --> 01:52:13,519
we've come to a tipping point?
1709
01:52:13,603 --> 01:52:17,648
Or did this generation
decide to do something different?
1710
01:52:17,732 --> 01:52:21,068
And I hope and expect that each one of you
1711
01:52:21,152 --> 01:52:25,281
will be out there with me
pushing that ball to a new direction.
1712
01:52:25,364 --> 01:52:27,533
Thank you very much and good night.
1713
01:53:36,310 --> 01:53:42,775
Well, I woke up this morning with my mind
1714
01:53:43,359 --> 01:53:49,323
Stayed on freedom
1715
01:53:49,949 --> 01:53:55,162
Woke up this morning with my mind
1716
01:53:55,788 --> 01:54:01,419
Stayed on freedom
1717
01:54:02,086 --> 01:54:07,842
Woke up this morning with my mind
1718
01:54:07,925 --> 01:54:12,972
Stayed on freedom
1719
01:54:13,055 --> 01:54:15,766
-Hallelu
-Hallelu
1720
01:54:15,850 --> 01:54:18,477
-Hallelu
-Hallelu
1721
01:54:18,561 --> 01:54:25,401
Hallelujah
1722
01:54:25,943 --> 01:54:28,112
Well, I'm walkin' and talkin'
1723
01:54:28,195 --> 01:54:33,617
With my mind stayed on freedom
1724
01:54:33,701 --> 01:54:36,662
Oh, yes, I'm walkin' and talkin'
With my mind
1725
01:54:36,746 --> 01:54:41,292
You know that it's stayed on freedom
1726
01:54:41,375 --> 01:54:44,336
I said, I'm walkin' and talkin'
With my mind
1727
01:54:44,420 --> 01:54:48,716
You know that it's stayed on freedom
1728
01:54:48,799 --> 01:54:50,801
-Hallelu
-Hallelu
1729
01:54:50,885 --> 01:54:52,720
-Hallelu
-Hallelu
1730
01:54:52,803 --> 01:54:56,557
Hallelujah
1731
01:54:56,640 --> 01:55:00,227
Oh, well, ain't no harm with your mind
1732
01:55:00,311 --> 01:55:04,273
Come on, now!
Stayed on freedom
1733
01:55:04,356 --> 01:55:07,068
Oh, no, there ain't no harm with your mind
1734
01:55:07,151 --> 01:55:10,362
You know it!
Stayed on freedom
1735
01:55:10,446 --> 01:55:12,323
You can sing along, now
1736
01:55:12,406 --> 01:55:14,700
Ain't no harm with your mind
1737
01:55:14,784 --> 01:55:19,163
You know it!
Stayed on freedom
1738
01:55:19,246 --> 01:55:20,998
-Hallelu
-Hallelu
1739
01:55:21,082 --> 01:55:22,958
-Hallelu
-Hallelu
1740
01:55:23,042 --> 01:55:25,669
Hallelujah
1741
01:55:25,753 --> 01:55:27,379
Come on and walk, now
1742
01:55:27,463 --> 01:55:30,341
Walk, walk, you better walk, walk
1743
01:55:30,424 --> 01:55:34,720
Come on and walk
Walk with your mind on freedom!
1744
01:55:34,804 --> 01:55:35,971
Walk, walk
1745
01:55:36,055 --> 01:55:37,681
Come on, now
Walk, walk
1746
01:55:37,765 --> 01:55:42,144
You better walk, walk
With your mind on freedom!
1747
01:55:42,228 --> 01:55:45,272
Oh, oh, oh
1748
01:55:45,356 --> 01:55:47,233
You better walk
1749
01:55:47,316 --> 01:55:49,151
Come on and walk
1750
01:55:49,235 --> 01:55:53,364
While I'm singing and shoutin'
With my mind, yeah
1751
01:55:53,447 --> 01:55:57,243
Stayed on freedom!
Are you stayed on freedom?
1752
01:55:57,326 --> 01:56:00,830
Singing and shoutin' with my mind, yeah
1753
01:56:00,913 --> 01:56:03,707
Stayed on freedom
1754
01:56:03,791 --> 01:56:06,919
You know, you're singing and shoutin'
With my mind
1755
01:56:07,002 --> 01:56:11,298
You know that!
Stayed on freedom
1756
01:56:11,382 --> 01:56:13,008
-Hallelu
-Hallelu
1757
01:56:13,092 --> 01:56:14,844
-Hallelu
-Hallelu
1758
01:56:14,927 --> 01:56:17,346
Hallelujah
1759
01:56:17,429 --> 01:56:18,347
Come on and sing!
1760
01:56:18,430 --> 01:56:20,349
-Hallelu
-Hallelu
1761
01:56:20,432 --> 01:56:22,226
-Hallelu
-Hallelu
1762
01:56:22,309 --> 01:56:24,770
Hallelujah
1763
01:56:24,854 --> 01:56:25,855
One more time!
1764
01:56:25,938 --> 01:56:27,690
-Hallelu
-Hallelu
1765
01:56:27,773 --> 01:56:29,692
-Hallelu
-Hallelu
1766
01:56:29,775 --> 01:56:36,782
Hallelujah
142180
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