-- >> yes, they should be, absolutely, they've squandered the relationship. very much like republicans squander the relationship. so, you have right now this look over towards what trump is because what they're getting now is not meeting their political interests or political needs. >> what are both sides doing wrong? >> everything. everything. >> what could both sides do better? >> just acknowledge our history. can you just acknowledge our history in this country? >>

>> reporter: thank you very

much the special. thank you for all you do for show, both of. you nbc's troy in the in north carolina, and south carolina. and charles coleman junior, supervise attorney at msnbc legal analyst, their host of the bring to msnbc special, black man in america, go in 2020. it airs tonight at msnbc's -- peacock. straight head, he of bob pennsylvania joins us the middle east in the significance of the upcoming reelection bid for joe biden, and how his state, pennsylvania, might hold the key to the future of american democracy. another hour of velshi begins, right now. good morning, sunday, february the 4th. i'm ali velshi. in case you hadn't heard, with all the missiles flying around, there was an election yesterday, the democratic party held its first official primary of this election cycle in south carolina. and the result was on surprising. as an incumbent who wasn't facing any credible challenge,

joe biden won the contest in a landslide. yesterday's race, if you can even call it a race, stands in stark contrast to what happened in the last presidential election cycle. for years, ago the south carolina primary was high drama. biden lost badly in the first three states that held caucuses and primaries in 2020. he placed fourth in iowa, fifth in new hampshire, and a very distant second in nevada. heading into south carolina, to make his presidential campaign was on its last legs. but just days before people head into the polls, biden received a key endorsement from the south carolina congressman james clyburn, one of the most powerful and influential black lawmakers in the country. it helped biden lockdown support from the black community, one of the key voting blocks for the democratic party, and it ensured his victory in south carolina and beyond. congressman clyburn continues to support joe biden. they've appeared together again on the campaign trail in south

carolina last year. and with nearly all of the votes counted from yesterday's primary, biden won with 96% of the vote, and will receive all of the state certificates. those results should provide some comfort for democrats. trends in recent polling you have not been great for biden though. multiple polls conducted by different organizations since late last year have shown donald trump beating biden in a hypothetical head to head matchups. both on a national level, and some key battleground states like georgia, michigan, and pennsylvania. those results are often close, and within the margin of era. but the trends if illustrate have been consistent. turnout was going to be a key factor in biden's campaign this year, as it was in 2020. a record 158 million people voted in the general election four years ago, which led to biden receiving more votes than any other politician in the history of this country. turnout surged among asian americans, hispanics, and younger voters that year. demographics that all broke in favor of biden.

in 2020, biden had the overwhelming support of black voters. 87% of whom voted for him compared to just 12% who voted for trump, according to nbc news exit polling. four years later, there are signs of flagging or legging enthusiasm among some of those key democratic voting blocks. a new nbc news poll released this morning show support for biden dipping to 75% of black respondents, 16% saying they will vote for donald trump. likewise, most arab americans in younger voters appear to be growing disillusioned over americas continued support of israel amid its ongoing war in gaza. yesterday's primary did show, however, many people are still willing to head to the polls and vote for biden. but as november approaches, democrats will have to energize the base again, and build the coalition that led them to victory four years ago. joining me now is the democratic senator from pennsylvania, bob casey. he's a member of the finance committee, and the select committee on intelligence.

senator, it is great to see you, thank you for me with us this morning. >> ali, great to be with you this morning. >> reporter: let's talk about this new nbc news polling out. it is a long time from the election, but we look at trends more than we look at the actual numbers. it does show that disapproval over joe biden's handling of the war in gaza is continuing to grow. my colleague, gabe gutierrez, talked to one voter recently about that issue, and how it is affecting their vote. tell us what the voters told gave. >> reporter: how disappointed are you with the biden administration? >> heartbroken. i am so hurt, there is a widespread, underground campaign of arabs, of muslims, where we cannot morally support president biden. >> if not president biden, would you vote for former president trump? >> no. i would write in on the ballot, cease-fire. free palestine.

>> reporter: so, this brings up the point i was just having with a different demographic, with charles and tremaine. some people will vote for donald trump. some people won't vote for donald trump. but in states like yours, in pennsylvania, predicting michigan where gave was talking to this voter, it could make all the difference. >> ali, there's no question that there is major divisions about how we continue to prosecute the effort to destroy hamas. because if you don't disable the threat to the people of israel by disabling hamas, and taking out their leadership, you are going to have continual conflict in the middle east. so we have to deal with, and the israeli government has to deal with that threat. there is no question about it. some people of different approaches for that, i think most americans the would agree that when you have a terrorist organization, which continues to threaten the people of israel, you have to take action. i will say this, though. i think when it comes down to this choice in november, both

in the presidential race, i am a candidate as well. i think we are going to be able to demonstrate that there is a major contrast. not only when it comes to how you approach security issues, whether it is a border security, or international issues. but especially at home. about lowering costs for families. i think that's where a lot of people are going to make their determination. i have been fighting now for months to hold corporate america accountable for what i call, reinstallation. i've got this report that we issued a couple months ago. and we have issued several more that corporate america's jacking up their prices. the price of food especially, making record profits. and we've got to continue to make sure that people know the choices before them. do you want to elect the party, whether it's a president, or a senate majority that is going to give tax cuts those big corporations? or do you want to elect people that are going to crack down on

price gouging in abuse that jacks of the prices of groceries . >> reporter: you mentioned europe for reelection this year. i want to talk about pennsylvania, another battleground state, real quick. the republicans lost resoundingly in pennsylvania, in the last midterms. in some part because of policies, but i would argue more, a great deal more time in pennsylvania. in large part because the republicans ran very unusual candidates who were very outside the mainstream, even of the republican party. so with major republicans supporting joshua pirro for governor, the democrat for governor, versus the republican candidate. there seems to be some discussion in pennsylvania, which is doubling down on all the crazy in pennsylvania, about republicans trying to get back to the mainstream conservatives, or republicans are all about. what do you make of that? >> reporter: >> we'll see, look, everyone of

us has to earn the vote of the people we get support from, and that's very true in mine. but i'll tell, you ali, you know pennsylvania well. it's just by way of one example, if mainstream means that the candidates, as my opponent does, lives in connecticut and has been lying to the people about living in connecticut and not in pennsylvania, i don't think that's mainstream. it's mainstream to nominate candidates that are going to go invest in china like my opponent has, when he was part of the largest hedge fund in the world, and check the investments from china from the depth of our security and economy. so they have a different definition of mainstream. i think some of the extremism on the right when it comes to banning abortion, banning books, and completely rejecting any attempt to reduce gun violence in america, in addition to so

many other policies that are extreme, i'm sure there's not much extreme in the republican party is icy in pennsylvania. >> reporter: what is your sense of the way forward for the biden administration from the airstrikes we've seen in the last couple days that have indicated, finally, that they are not looking for a broader war or an escalation, but the middle east right now is a lot of dry tinder. >> reporter: there's a lot of lou room for miscalculation or misinterpretation. what do you think? >> as you know, and as your coverage has so expertly focused on, this is a difficult balance to strike. when you have these iranian proxies all over the region that been built up for decades, when they're attacking american covers, we saw -- specialist sanders and specialist moffitt. there has to be a response to that directly. you have to make iran pay. i know that there are some armchair warriors other their talkative eating iran tomorrow

morning, so to speak. i think that those who were saying that should, a, look at all the intelligence, as i have begun to do. and secondly, to make a determination after a good debate about what you are willing to do on an authorization for the use of force. i don't think we are anywhere near that now. but i think you have to continue to make sure that iran knows we are not going to tolerate attacks on our service members. we are not going to tolerate attacks on american interests. but the balance here is what you've been covering all weekend. the balance is degrading their capability without triggering a much larger war with us glittery measures. so it is a difficult balance. i think the administration is working hard to make sure that we strike that balance. >> reporter: i had a conversation yesterday with congressman bacon of nebraska, a war veteran, as you know, a combat veteran. and he was echoing some of the sentiments of some of your

colleagues, republican colleagues in the senate about a direct strike on iran. give me your sense of why that is so much more of an escalation than strikes on those proxies or militias in the region. >> reporter: >> i think you can advocate for that, you have to do at least two things. you have to spend a lot of time with the intelligence. that includes talking to the national security professionals at the department of defense, and our intelligence agencies as well. and secondly, you have to be willing to stand on the floor of the house and senate, have a vigorous and fulsome debate, which we did not have the lead up to the warnock, and then casting upper down on an authorization for the supporters. if you are not willing to do that, then i think it is really just pointing fingers at the administration about what should be done. you have to be willing to

debate, what are the consequences of a full scale war, with iran. but that does not take away in any fashion our ability to prosecute a determined effort by our military to make sure that iran knows we are not going to tolerate the killing of our service members, and we're not going to tolerate the continued attacks, either on our interest, or on commercial shipping vessels as we have struck again today against the houthis. so we get that balance right. but i think we are not at that stage yet where most members of the reserve are talking about an authorization for force. >> reporter: senator, good to see, you thank you for joining us this morning. senator bob casey of pennsylvania. coming up next, we head to the region we were just talking about from the latest on the u.s. strikes in the middle east. you're watching velshi, on msnbc. dy bee vaccinated against the flu, but don't forget this season's updated covid-19 shot too.

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>> reporter: u.s. central command conducted on the strike in yemen against houthi anti ship cruise missile, which they say were preparing to launch against vessels in the red sea. right around, show you in a minute when i see him up. but i will show you the area in which it was supposed to be. it is right around here at the bottom of yemen. it's the listen almost daily siri strikes against the houthis from the u.s., which is related to be not part of yesterday's much bigger u.s. led coalition air strike, which were also against the houthis in yemen. see here, this is the territory that the houthis control. this is yemen, right here. it's important to note that while the houthis control a large swath of territory, they are not the internationally recognized government in charge of yemen. now the coalition also came in response to the months-long spree of houthi attacks on international vessels, both military and merchant in the

red sea. they hit 36 houthi targets across 13 locations in yemen, including underground weapon storage facilities, missile systems, and launchers. air defense systems, and radars. they were conducted by the u.s. and uk with intelligence and logistics support from australia, bahrain, denmark, canada, the netherlands, and new zealand. and they follow the u.s. and uk coercion strikes that were conducted earlier in january on the 26. although the international involvement was different. the biden administration that all of these actions against iran ebay to these are different based on fridays u.s. airstrikes on iranian-backed proxy forces, and their iranian headquarters operating in iran and syria, which hit more than 85 targets and seven facilities. four in syria, three of them in iraq. the strike hit force is responsible for the more than 160 attacks on u.s. troops in

the region, since the october 7th hamas attack on israel. including last sunday's deadly attack on a u.s. base, and the extreme northeast corner of jordan, right near the border with iraq and syria. the attack was on this base, it killed three u.s. soldiers, and wounded more than 40 more. adidas official tells nbc news that, if the pentagon news damage assessment find the targets were not fully destroyed, we should expect a second round of strikes in these specific locations. now the official added the does not appear to be any change to u.s. troop readiness in the middle east. him after the break, i will talk to nbc's matt bradley, and dan blues about what happens next. we will be right back. and we could see exactly when they'd arrive with a replacement we could trust. that's service the way we want it. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ ma, ma, ma— ( clears throat ) for fast sore throat relief, try vicks vapocool drops. with two times more menthol per drop,

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washington. national security global avails report for nbc news. dan de luce, these guys look familiar to you, it's because they've been on tv all weekend talking about these things. we've been saying with you, the biden administration is saying that all these actions are described in the last segment, they are all different, they are different alliances, different targets, different groups of people. different groups of american forces conducting the actions, but they all tend to go back to one source. and that is iran. the interesting thing is, d'arnaud parts on iran, despite their some american politicians confidant to happen. what is your sense of that? that's >> right. i think in the end, it is sort of simple. all of this started with an attack on israel by hamas, which is also and gusting from iran. so then we have this conflict that is now without question, a regional conflict. and the biden administration, on the one hand, felt it needed

to respond to the drone attack, in jordan, that killed those three american troops last sunday. but they also, a long with other u.s. allies, felt they needed to do something about the incessant attacks on commercial cargo ships doing to really important trade out there in the red sea, in the gulf of aden . so give u.s. strikes against houthi forces, against their drone missile launch sites, an anti ship missile. that's happen earlier this morning, there was another u.s. strike. they call it a self-defense strike, where they go after an anti ship missile before it can do any damage. and this is serious. the houthis are not to be underestimated. they have ballistic missiles, they have drones, they are very accustomed to coming under aerial bombardment, having fought the saudis for years. and they are vowing escalation

will mean that with escalation. so we are not out of this. i think we're going to see more strikes against the houthis, and you're probably going to see more in iraq and syria against those iranian-backed militias that are also not necessarily backing down. >> reporter: i want to take advantage of the fact that you are israel to discuss that part of the story right now. in a brand-new interview with the wall street journal, the very influential and very far- right politician who happens to be the national security minister in bajema tanya who's cabinet, his names and to bar cabin of year, he made some rather explosive comments, he heavily criticized president biden by name, he praised donald trump also calling for israel to resettle gaza, claiming that handing out cash to palestinians in gaza will cause them to leave and live elsewhere. this interview has gained a lot of criticism within israel, especially amongst the opposition. the opposition leader -- tweeted that the comments are a

direct attack on israel's international status and direct attack on the war effort. they are harmful to israel security, and above all prove that he, mean ben-gvir, understands nothing about foreign policy. i like to call on prime minister benjamin netanyahu to restrain him, but netanyahu has no control over the extremists in his government. at the top two about. this most of us who follow the israeli politics understand that ben-gvir and another couple of right-wing ministers are very influential, but sort of outside the mainstream of is really thought. he >> the outsiders, the fringes, pam invading the mainstream. if you want to find an analog, you could almost say it's like you're seeing trumpism creeping its way into the republican party back in 2016. it is almost eight similar phenomenon. but this is new, and when it comes to the israeli right, it's kind of, like as the kids say, ben-gvir was just saying the quiet part out loud. this is some of that we've been hearing a lot. and in fact, last weekend, there

was a meeting in jerusalem. i didn't get to go, but my colleague went. and she reported on this. it was a festival of right-wing personalities, including a couple of ministers, including, i believe, ben-gvir. all of them talking about how they wanted settlements to return to the gaza strip. now if you remember, the gaza strip is kind of like the weight is now because back in 2005, the settlers withdrew and amos essentially took over about two years later, after a vote that empowered hamas. so now, there's all of these folks that are watching the gaza strip being almost completely leveled by the israelis over the past nearly four months. and they want to move their settlements back in. that was looking like almost a davos of right-wing israelis in jerusalem last weekend. but now, western see this more more frequently in the mainstream. we talk about netanyahu not being able to control israeli ministers, he can't really

control them. he has already empowered them. he's >> reporter: an card because of them? >> to retain his cabinet. claude and he is managed to stay in power for so long, i think he's a longest serving premised or israel, longer even when the founding fathers of the state, david memory in. so he owes his legacy, he owes his strength to these right- wing ministers, including the finance minister, isabelle smoke ridge. these men are actually settlers. they are ministers, but they're actually settlers. they live in the west bank. so they are part of the settler movement, they see israel's mission as settling in the west bank, and the gaza strip. so this is something that will be controversial. we're out protesting, if you remember last summer, against benjamin eaten yahoo reform bill, that would've kneecap the judges. and allowed for the right-wing

agenda that benjamin acuña which is always championed, which is involved on some level, annexing the entire west bank. that would mean the title -- final death mail to the two- state solution, which has been whimpering and dying for the past several decades anyway. up >> this is a dangerous moment could see not just the cabinet divided, but the entire israeli society divided. it already has been. and that's one of the reasons a lot of folks say hamas chose this moment to launch its attack . >> reporter: dan, the complexity here is that in the last five days, something's happened that is breathe a little bit of life back into the two-state solution. and that is an agreement that was hammered out by mossad, in the cia, and qataris, and the egyptians, that israel has not dismissed out of hand. and hamas has not dismissed out of hand. so it looks like there were some

possibility to let the hostages go, some cessation of military activity for a while. so, as matt said, by the right- wing minister saying the quiet part out loud, it could be yet another thing, including these airstrikes that we've seen the last couple days that work against a potential deal to get the hostages out, just off the board holman. >> negotiations are incredibly fragile intensive. and it took a huge amount of effort to hammer out the framework that is there, that has been presented to hamas. israel did sign off on a, netanyahu did sign off on this general framework agreement, negotiated by cia director bill burns claude had their other counterparts as intermediaries. but yes, these kind of statements, these ultra right wing statements really do threatened to blow the whole thing up. along with so much else it's going out on the ground in gaza. but this is why secretary of

state blinken is heading out to the region today, because he's trying to salvage this negotiation keep it alive, and the hope is that if they could some how him around a cease- fire agreement, get hostages released. you lower the temperature, and these iranian-backed proxies, the theory goes up and back off, at least the last time. there was that short cease- fire. in the key part of this negotiation now, which is putting netanyahu in a really difficult position, is that the saudis are reportedly saying, okay. we will all agree to some of this and help you if israel agrees to a palestinian state. and that is putting netanyahu in a really difficult position with these altering members of government. >> reporter: keep in mind, only got a minute left. netanyahu came to power in 1976, the first time on the basis of the opposition to a palestinian state. so this is his bread and butter.

he happens to few right-wing ministers supporting him in that at the moment. but in fact, he's never really been in favor of a two-state solution. >> and that's one of the challenges the biden administration faces. we've been hearing about those the other night, about those sanctions about those israeli settlers for using violence against palestinians in the west bank. that rifling took the headline the next day. but there was another addition that was announced by the biden administration that they are consulting recognizing a palestinian state, ali, hugely ambitious project. and that would involve a lot of negotiations with the saudis that would help to underwrite it, and helped to finance any reconstruction in the gaza strip. and it would involve essentially we breathing, resurrecting the palestinian authority, which has been were bound for the last several decades. so we're talking about this, we're talking about a realignment of the middle east. one that would rebuild the palestinian movement and its state from the actions of the gaza strip. and that is why the biden administration is looking past these negotiations to something

even bigger, something that is alluded so many past presidents, ali? >> reporter: guys, thank you for amazing analysis and for just being there for us all weekend. nbc's matt bradley in tel aviv, when certain has not slept. and -- who also hasn't slept. thank you, we appreciate. it in a small time in louisiana, one woman is standing up against a major corporation to honor her family and her community. >> i just to understand why a chemical company would want to try to lay claim to those bodies. and gentler on your skin. try downy free & gentle.

>> reporter: the full text of a long-awaited bipartisan national security bill is now expected to be released new day. now the bill, which has been finalized in the senate appropriations committee, is likely to include aid for ukraine, israel, and taiwan. as well as significant reforms to border immigration policy, like limiting who can qualify for asylum, speeding up the processing, time for asylum claims, and ending so-called catch and release. by reporting the government claims process. voting on that bill is expected to begin this coming week. blake yesterday, a surprise move by republican house speaker mike johnson complicated matters, when he introduced a stand-alone bill that would provide 17.6 billion dollars in aid to israel. but the bill does not include any aid to ukraine or anything to do with immigration reform,

which is what the republicans won in the first place. the white house has responded with a very strong statement last night saying, for months, the administration has been working with a bipartisan group of senators on a national security agreement that secures our border, in provide support for the people of ukraine -- just as legislative text says they come up with their latest, cynical, political maneuver. despite the white house insisted that congress worked together to find a solution, speaker johnson promised that the larger bipartisan bill, as it stands, will be, quote, dead on arrival in the house. in the white house has previously indicated that it would veto and israel only bill. coming up, the story of a close to street town in louisiana founded by former enslaved people in the late 19th century. i'm gonna tell you why this town was dismantled in the 1970s, and how one woman has taken up the cause of her late mother and five generations of her family in a fight to

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>> reporter: the state of the world in our future can be daunting wednesdays. with existential and humanistic challenges, from immigration to democracy itself in america. and that's without thinking about the large-scale global issues, like climate change, and war. issues that feel impossible to approach. but serious issues can't be washed away. hunger, almost, miss poverty, discrimination, injustice, inequality, it's not solved overnight, or even in the short term. they are chipped away at by ordinary people getting out of their comfort zones, and taking steps to improve their communities. and i want to start featuring some of these ordinary people for you. people who are setting out to make the world immediately around them and, by proxy, the world at large better place.

they are small acts of courage will only help you. they will inspire you, and i hope they will empower you. let's start in reveal town, louisiana. it was a quaint, to street town down by the mississippi river. it was founded in the late 19th century by emancipated slaves, and it was home to roughly 100 residents. everyone who lived there was family, if not by blood, and by marriage. that is until 1970, when a chemical plant moved in, and everything changed. soon after the plants operations began, residents say plants, and greenery in the town start to die, and water began running different colors. a thin layer of white powder later discovered to be pvc covered the town. one brave women, janice dickerson, a civil rights activist, could not stand to watch what was happening to her hometown, and after seeing her towns environment devastation, mrs. dickerson led a lawsuit against the company. the lawsuit, the settlement, is sealed, meaning it is not available to the public. but local reporting has said that researchers found toxic

levels of pollution in the air, the soil, and the water, as well as evidence of exposure to vinyl chloride gas in children in the community, which can cause damage to internal organs, the nervous system, and blood. and in the settlement of the lawsuit, the chemical company paid to relocate the residents, but the damage was already done. the residents were given 30 days to evacuate before reveal town was bulldozed to the ground, except for one key piece. at the center of where the town once stood, is the reveal town cemetery. the cemetery hold generations of reveal town residents, entire families and histories, five generations of dickerson's are buried in that cemetery. but years later, the cemetery was at risk as well. in 2009, someone from the community tried to bury a family member at the cemetery, but the church that manages the cemetery asked them for payment. this had never happened before. no one had ever been given a bill for the reveal town

cemetery. janice dickerson discovered that the chemical company now known as axial corporation claims to own the land that the cemetery is on. but according to jen's dickerson and her lawyers, there are no historical records of axial ever purchasing that land. by 2021, the case was still working its way through the courts, and jenna dickerson, who was less than 70 years old passed away. now, with her mother at rest in the reveal town cemetery, marla dickerson has picked up where her mom left off. since december, the community has tried to bury three people at the cemetery, but they were unable to do so, according to marla. at times, local law enforcement had been called while funerals in progress, bringing people involved. marlon her attorney are gearing up to continue the battle to preserve that cemetery, and all the history that comes with it. i spoke to marley yesterday, i am bringing that conversation after a quick break. quick brea.

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>> reporter: for the, break i told you about marla dickerson, who is fighting to preserve a cemetery in louisiana. a cemetery where her and generations of black families were buried. i chemical company is now laying claim to dead black bodies. i spoke to marla dickerson yesterday, here is our conversation. more, let me ask you first of all about why this cemetery, in a town that has now disappeared, at least from the

historical perspective, why it is so important to you. >> it's family. this is our family burial ground. this is where our history resides. this is where our lived ones reside. and it is sacred to us. so regardless of whether our town which was an amazing place to grow up, and to be a child, is no longer there, that cemetery is what binds us. the cemetery is what holds our top issue. >> reporter: it's interesting, people who are not black in america may not entirely register the importance of cemeteries for black people, particularly in the south. >> yes. and our ancestors are revered. they are the people who kept us with our history, as we all know. black americans were brought to this country enslaved.

and we don't know where our origin most of the time originates. so, for us, in reveal town, and most of black america, our history is preserved through oral records. so when i am able to talk to my grandparents, my great grandmother, my great aunts, about those who came before me, and really feel a kinship to my family members who i had never met before, i understand characteristics. the nature of little things that maybe have similarities between family members. so our cemetery was a place of reverence for us, for those who had gone on before. >> reporter: you and your mother have dedicated so much time and effort to fighting for that memory. reveal town is gone, but tell me what it was like. you mentioned that was a great place to grow up. what was it like before it was

torn down? up >> as you mentioned, it was two streets. it was very small, so everyone was either related by blood or by marriage. it was, there was no fear of having claude -- being a kid, and going from place, to place. when lunch came, whoever's house you were at, when you are playing, it was time for lunch. you came in, and if you had to take a nap, you took a nap while the. discipline was rendered by everyone, because it was a place where people know that you were loved. and if you did something wrong, then you had the ability to discipline your children, or discipline the children of the community. with no fear of retaliation from anyone else. because, again, we were family. it was a quaint town. a quaint little to street

village. it was not even a town that we had. so when you are surrounded by family, when you are surrounded by loved, when you are surrounded, that creates piece, and tranquility, that, today, a lot of us just did not have after reveal town was destroyed up. >> reporter: marla, truly, before having this conversation with you, have never thought about who owns a cemetery. talk to me about why it's important that you keep the cemetery out of the chemical companies hands. with >> this cemetery, we were able to locate the cash sale of the cemetery, which was purchased by reverent taylor in 1874, for the distinct reasons to bury the residents of reveal town. when it comes to the importance of cemeteries, again, in the black immunity, as i stated, we want to have a place where we

can go and visit and honor our deceased who have gone before us. so when it comes down to ownership of the cemetery, when you are getting ready to be buried, it is important that there are no constables in the way. we had never thought about the ownership of the reveal town cemetery either, because we knew that it was a community cemetery where everyone had been buried. >> reporter: it's a big fight that your mom was involved in. what inspired you to continue the fight after her passing, you were ultimately able to bury her at the cemetery. why did you decide to keep this fight going? it >> because my mother is my icon. she is my superhero. she has always taught my sisters and i to stand up for what was right, and what was just in this world. and i know that they are going to be people who pass on afterwards who want to be buried next to family members.

so it is important that we continue on with this fight. to make sure that, a, we can bury people, but then, be that the cemetery is preserved. i just don't understand why a chemical company would try to want to lay claim to dead, black bodies. i am on shore of that. i do believe it is enough areas claim. i do think that, if it is something that we had not continue to fight, that maybe they would've bulldozed the cemetery, and put a plaque and say, here once there was a cemetery, and try to erase our loved ones from history. so it is something that i know that i have to continuously fight. i have nieces, nephews, cousins, who are also going to continue this fight, long after i'm gone, if we don't settle this, or it comes to some type of

conclusion. but it is important for us to be able to bury our loved ones where they were originally thought that they wanted to be buried. so that is in the reveal town cemetery. it is an important for us to keep fighting that fight. >> reporter: marla, thank you so much for telling us the story, and for the fight that you are continuing. marla dickerson, thank you for your small acts of courage. that does it for me, thank you so much for watching. stay right where you are, inside with jen psaki begins, right now. with jen psaki begi right now. >> well, it's been one of those weekends where we kind of need for hours with everything that's happened. but we're going