hopeful that the doctor will come back and allow us to hear that is the number one book i am encouraging all people to read and also the forgotten man. >> realized that the 11,000 the 11th annual harlem book fair coming to live from the schaumburg auditorium for our schedules starts in just a couple of minutes with the author catherine acholonu who will discuss her book "they lived before adam" followed by

"new york times" senior editor who reflects on her husband's writings from the iraq war. later grigory walker presents his book and research of the trojan war. our coverage continues with the biography panel followed by a discussion of african american language and culture. we end the day with a panel that is all coming up from the 2009 harlem book fair. in just a couple of months -- in just a couple of minutes, 85

>> they do levander of government to the annual harlem book fair and thank you to our viewing audience think you've to c-span for once again partner with us to tell our stories today boats we will bring a very interesting panel discussion with authors and books signings and storytelling and analysis with the whole of the black world and print and in writing. as we say here we are the of black review and this is a public platform from which we do that. again i would like to thank you all founder of the harlem book fair thank you once again. we will begin our program

>> good morning i was like to welcome you to the schomburg center for research in black culture i am troy johnson the president and founder of the african american literature book club aalbc.com is

dedicated to the books by and about black people today it is indeed my honor to introduce the author talks the zero will be taking place we have another one scheduled at 12:10 p.m. with the author who will be discussing the non fiction work a journal for jordan and the third author talk that will take place will be this afternoon with grigory walker. of the african expedition into the trojan war that begins at. >> but now we have the of 35 who is the author of the book "they lived before adam". in 2001 after more than 11 years of research catherine discovered a library of ancient stone inscriptions of

the nigerian tribes. these inscriptions are located across the river stay in nigeria and that discovery fuel resurging traded in access and the lost civilizations of ancient nigeria and as ground-breaking as this researcher at -- research team before columbus, they lived before adam extends the conversation and controversy surrounding africa as the birthplace of human civilization it is my honor to introduce catherine acholonu and discuss her work "they lived before adam" thank you [applause] >> i would like to first of

all, address the significance to the work and research we have done. we believe that our findings have expanded knowledge and to believe that our findings call for another look at the history of mankind. we believe that it is important that history be rewritten so that africa, the black africa place will be assured the contribution of black africans are what our findings are about.

let me first of all, acknowledge the following, the fourth lady of political nigeria she sought a new vision into this nigeria. who are we the citizens of the state call the boy king because his contributions on his part and his wife for their support for this project and also in my home state were intellectuals like we can function and where academics and new ideas come together. we are grateful to the

organization and for supporting our new publication "they lived before adam". i stand here today not just myself alone but from 2004, led the united nations of african culture is a program from the global secretariat of which i happen to be the nigerian representative and ambassador. and the specialists from the united nations arts and culture. and a specialist and a distinguished member of the

college of new york york. i am a professor of linguistics of africa and study for the international studies at the manhattan college summit college of new rochelle, and all in new york state. this is the second in the serious from this project which a ratcheted -- originally began 19 years ago in 1990 on the campus of manhattan college. on behalf of my co-authors and myself we express gratitude to the u.s. department to the organization and washington national studies from 1989 when i discovered and

published the african enslaved author in 1991 when this nation and granted me the honor of their supporters as the international visitor here in new york. looking at 2,000 years of africa colonization published in 2005. together these two books are in total of 1,600 pages or is it is important for african adults when it is published was presented a world in september 2005 to the people of nigeria represented the by

the minister of culture and tourism and defense. i am here on behalf of the harlem book fair to present her new book "they lived before adam" prehistoric origins of the igbo-the never-been-ruled" two things have a ground-breaking addition. the first is the discovery and transcription of the lost writings of prehistoric africans. the stones and southern nigeria are in a row place in the cross river state have international researchers since the colonial days but we with the first to see the description as a form of writing and to actually and transcribed some of these letters. another transcription was

found in ireland which many linguists have been struggling for decades were also transcribed by our team into an african a bridge in fact, some were found in west virginia and the usa. what we have found that is that it they contain two letters which is the foundation was the rise from mesopotamia before or thousand b.c.. the fourth and the last of the letter saugh we also found letters from egyptian hieroglyphics such as cell letter r & n. but there is an indian

language that now due to a fact they form the roots of most culture religion and the world. that triangle the so-called the quadrangle and every other geometric shape. the fact they were discovered where many were buried underground ensures they were indigenous and belong to him and his three. may say the inscriptions are executed by the stone age people who inhabit the area and they were invented by humankind. and she was the first woman to have borne a child through

pregnancy and the first child was a boy. she was indicated it just like the oral tradition that includes an -- she has a seven hebrew name that is found in the biblical story of creation. the first anhydrous letter and the hebrew language represents the infinite and a by god. there are over 300 of these and nigeria. another thing that marked day turning point* in our research was a discovery of the team of archaeologists from nigeria

other instruments along being of 1.2 million b.c.. geologist the professor, and others, walking with british members of the department of archaeology in the '70s discovered several non polished as well as polished and axes and picks in the town in southeastern nigeria. they're trade publishing a number journals of the time the was the home of a whole will directness the indigenous of man that was the one-stop

shop to provide survival tools to the civilization that means it was from a prehistoric nigeria out of africa and migration at the man took off to populate the five continents of the globe and also homo erectus all look like they were made, it was also the accomplishment of the archeology. from a number of languages spoken from all continents of the globe today, what several other linguists have perfected the us? and concluded that mankind is the hebrew bible says speak one language at the beginning. wears analysis of words from

many languages stores that he proved the language group is the home of the nigerian homo erectus was spoken by the inhabitants of the countries and nigeria, egypt, mesopotamia, t urkey, india, china, greece, u nited kingdom, nazi america, south america, north america including replant thoset describe the description of the atlantic were to be found directly derived from the language environment. also were 90% of words used by adam and the household and their meanings. seven include the origin and meaning of symbols used in every religion and literature

followed by the wordpro in these we found that the hebrew bible and the chinese and the recently discovered egypt christian bible that wherever we look 37 evidence days we saw evidence for leading universities that even at them in black africa however it was previously believed adam and eve were descended from east africans our findings reveal it was not the east african but more like a igbo nigeria who is home of a homo erectus?

that igbo who was the ancestor of the homo erectus who came out of the africa migration. conducted by french paleontologist, reveal the direct ancestor of homo erectus would at the nigeria chad they sent 7 million years previous and had ancestors between two and 4 million years. this shows we did not come from anywhere that's simple evolution that we have never

been ruled with the kings and the queen's park of igbo oral traditions confirmed the findings that 280,000 b.c. human evolution was interrupted and adam was created through the process of genetic engineering however but also reveals the creation of adam, he became divided all over arafat and each ancient egyptian world traditions are maintained that the homo erectus people and had a mystical power and their words could move rocks and fountains and change the course of rivers. when they were shut down by

those who made him and created him. the small door sioux were the heroes of every part of the world there was a two founded and sustained wire they continued to age where they continue to and transfer the language and culture. therefore we say the things that you read about refers to the falling apart not only of the igbo but of the pre-historic igbo the ancestors of mankind. adamant was taken from his

nigerian ancestry and was moved and altered and became less than his ancestry. of this evolution as well as creationism, this theory that black africa is the oldest of mankind and the first. as the lost paradise of even but in fact, it was nigeria that the solution to the problems were to be sought with black africa. thank you so much. god bless

[applause] >> we're going to open the floor for questions if anybody has questions i assume there is a microphone on this side please feel free to step up to the microphone and pose any questions you may have for the authors of this afternoon. don't be shy. >> [inaudible] it is very interesting. >> an excuse me for the benefit of the c-span audience it is much better you come to the microphones everybody can hear the question.

>> i am an architect and also a professor at the university of new york and i find it a the reformation to be very, very interesting and the reason why is because there are stories we have been losing to of past centuries will we heard were more quote tail and data time when we are not educated in terms of the process of reading certain documentation and regards with the existence of mankind or the eggs the days eventuality and my

question is how does that bug that pertains the stories of the bible itself or the i finally vibrio tech. >> we have spoken about the beginning of mankind and spoke about the evolution and creationism it is where it adam falls into that story. there is science and there is religion it deals with issues of faith and mostly we do not deal with issues of faith when we do research. because we believe the that

the stories in the bible for example,, scriptures are what we call full tale and oral traditions. they are condensed information, a condensed is a word that the essentials are there but the details are not often there. indicates of the christian adam and how it relates to the 280,000 years ago e event when add them with the homeless sapiens were different from his ancestor homo erectus, and it through the evolutionary travel geneticists are assured

that something happened someone put a hand in the evolutionary process. so the story we have a bible is the process by which a man and a day woman who used to be naked and did not know how to farm, and not identify a person by sex is 70 change and then they realize they are naked. that is the point* where evolution that is the path. that is all i can say at this point* [applause] >> my question is the region

reef around the stone inscriptions, would that have been in the region where the nok culture was found? would they have been related? >> the answer is yes because they are between 9,000 b.c. and 5,000 b.c.. we gather we discovered there was a civilization in the area of nigeria and that was a mighty civilization. it is enveloped much of nigeria and the surrounding environment. what you call nok where

information was taught. >> thank you that this battle the time we have for questions right now. we will take a short 10 minute break that backstop there will be at 12:10 p.m. with author david kennedy. we ask you for a few moments and will be back in about 10 minutes [applause] [inaudible conversations] . .

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

you have been watching catherine acholonu, author of "they lived before adam" para booktv coverage of the 11th annual harlem book fair will continue in a few minutes with dana canedy who will discuss her book, "a journal for jordan". [inaudible conversations] >> this summer booktv is asking, what are you reading? >> i just finished pretty recently a bug book called liberal fascism and i had to read a lot of stuff with that so the stuff i will confess reading memos have been graphic novelists,, books for grown-ups. but i am not reading a book

called rebirth of a nation by jackson lear's, it sounds pretty silly if it is not which i'm going to be reviewing for national review. it is pretty good so far and ideologically i have some problems with that but it is a good read. this sort of intellectual occurrence that lead to progress of era and i have been reading some stop by the social sciences to address social democracy which is pretty good and i picked up a copy of a book called math land because i think it is an interesting social phenomenon. not a good recreational drug and out. and that is really about it. in terms of books and recommend to people, my friend has a new book out about ellis island that has been gloriously reviewed and i'm hoping to get to. there is one of my favorite books, and all the history book written by lbj liberal named eric goldman and the book is

called on it with destiny, history of american politics. fantastic easily accessible book. another book by a guy named arthur accurate, the decline and fall of american liberalism. i hope i'm getting this titles right. i smoked a lot of pot before i came on here. what else? my own book, liberal fascism. end of the angel graphic novel series which takes place after the tv series and is a pretty good read if you are a lot of our audit. i just reread the watchman, pretty recently which was of the famous graphic novel 1980's, it is a pretty interesting chord of historical and doctrine and i think it is a good, but but more interesting and are influx of the time and i guess that is about it for now. i'm very much looking for to the new book by chris caldwell about

europe and immigration and with people on the right in particular friends of chris conwell i have been waiting for a long time. he is a fantastic writer. >> the seymor summer reading lists and other program information visit our web site at booktv.org. >> and book expo american new york city 2009 at the university press with the director of yale university press. what you have coming out this fall? >> we have a number of great books for the fall starting with the making of americans by e.d. hirsch. i thank you remember ed hirsch one of the best-selling books called cultural literacy and he cares very much about what role education has and actually

defining what it is to be american in this book is sort of a i think the capstone of his career which includes many best sellers in many decades of activism and education and talk about the centrality of information and knowledge of what it means to have a shared corpus of knowledge and how brand that is to run national identity and how it is being threatened by the way education is splintered across the country so it is a book that has a lot of arguments and advocacy, a lot of ways to look forward it to what the new administration can do about education. >> the other book is a balance on the edge, when animals teaches about humanity? >> this is a marvelous book. it is very moving and very touching. what she does and has run a platform and she has been on 2020 and 60 minutes and when she tries to do is try to understand how human behavior did affect global population of animals and while in captivity and is a very

touchy subject. i think people who have read jeffrey masson on these kinds of issues will really respond to this book because our actions to have consequences and especially on those creatures who can argue for themselves. like elephants for instance so she talks about elephants have a nervous breakdowns, that is what the title refers to in the emotional life of animals. actually how our own empathy toward understanding how they behave teaches us something about what it is to be human and so it's a very interesting sort of turnaround there. in our efforts to understand animals we actually begin to understand ourselves back to a biography is coming out by two artists, charles dickens and andy warhol. can you tell me about michael slater's book on charles dickens. >> everyone thinks about that we've learned everything we need to know about charles dickens but they're actually hasn't been a biography in over 20 years of this is a first fall cradle to grave biography of dickens in a

couple decades and we're excited about this. there's new information and i think that dickens is the kind of christmas, there will be some good books or sales with this book as well. >> and andy warhol biography, who is arthur? >> a distinguished historian and an art historian and critic, he writes for the nation magazine and this is a wonderful biography really of the kind of posthumous legacy data warhol left behind. a lot of people think actually it is more interesting to think about andy warhol than that of his paintings and art and this book actually talks about what andy warhol did to the meaning of an american icon, how he has become one of our most of the american icons in such an unlikely way. he did largely through working with iconographic subjects, whether the campbell soup can warrantless taylor. this is a book that actually takes a look at how he redefine

what it is to be iconic. >> the director of the yale university press, as director what decisions to make on a day-to-day basis? >> may be easy to say what i don't make, but basically all the departments run up to me, operationally, editorially, marketing and financially. so the starting, of course, with the books we have the staff of about 14 out of caris and impresses only as good as the book publishes so that's an important decision we make they today. we are the largest book based american university press in the country and the only one with a significant london base as well. >> il university press celebrated 100th anniversary last year. can you give me history on the press? >> is started basically the latin charts of a lawyer who graduated from yale to work on the lower fifth avenue and over

the decades it became more and more famous for its listing manatees in our history and the 1960's there was separated into the university saw it apart and of the university and in the '70s there was a big london office that was built is still there today and as i said we do about 400 books a year also in the humanities and shall so science's. >> john donatich is director of university press, thank you. >> thank you so much. >> booktv is live coverage of the 11th annual harlem book fair continues. starting shortly, dana canedy, senior editor of the new york times and author of the "a journal for jordan". [inaudible conversations]

>> afternoon everyone, i'm with the african-american literature book club and then it is my pleasure to introduce the author talked this afternoon. we have two more scheduled, we have one coming up at 1245 with author gregory walker will be discussing his nonfiction work the ethiopias discovered that the african expedition into the trojan war. a right now we have author dana canedy it is discussing this incredible story. her book "a journal for jordan: a story of love and honor". dana canedy is a senior editor for the new york times. in 2001 she was part of a team that won a pulitzer prize for national reporting. a journal -- "a journal for jordan" is a mother's letter to her son. affairs in its honesty about the father he lost before he can even speak. it is also a father's advice and

prayers on behalf of the son he will never know. in 2005 and first sergeant charles monroe keane began what would become a 200 page journal for his son in case he did not make it home from the war in iraq. charles king, 48, was killed on october 14th 2006 when an improvised explosive device detonated under his humvee in an isolated road near baghdad. his son, jordan, was seven months old. please join me as well, author, dana canedy, and she tells this revenue story. [applause] >> i want to share some of the

journal entries with you. this is a story of a remarkable man, and our lives together and this is a book i never wanted to write. i wished this book did not exist because that would mean that charles was still here. charles and i did it for about a year's on and off and i say that because i broke up with him a couple of times. [laughter] but he was a remarkable man, a clear military man. and he was incredibly dedicated to the soldiers who served under him. in the meantime i had my career as a journalist for the new york times dance so a good part of our relationship was spent in different places. he off in the desert training soldiers for battle are going to conflicts around the world and be reporting on stores everywhere from the dominican republic to the presidential recounting in florida to appear at new york. well, in 2005 he got orders to

go. >> and suddenly i thought all my gosh he had always been there. and i thought he can't leave. well, i was turning 40 and he was going out to the war so we decided to try to have a baby. and he left for the war in december of 2005 while i was five months pregnant with her son jordan. he was gone entire time i was pregnant with jordan. and before he left i gave him a journal. a seven store shopping for a friend and i saw this journal and it was a guided journal with questions from and to their children and god forbid he doesn't come back, wouldn't it be nice if he jotted down just a few thoughts for the baby. we knew we were having a boy. he became consumed with this journal. and he took it. >> with them, filled up over 200 pages that he wrote in the hot

desert in iraq after his mission here and he would go on on his missions during the day, come back and nine in his room and said his life would be on under the door and he would ride before he went to sleep. he wanted this to be a guide for our son's life in case he did not come back. he told them in their everything from the power of prayer to how to pick a wife to what it means to be a black man in america to his love of the military. you name it, is in their beer he told about his relationship with me and explain to him why he one of the sun. he told them how to deal with racial this commission. anything that he could think of that he thought this baby would need to grow into being a man is in there and he really meant for to be a conversation with our son that last 70 years. and so he sent the book back to me a couple of months before he came home on leave to me jordan and only add to beat him once

for two weeks, but when jordan was just born charles called me from my racket he was shaken up because he was in charge of 105 men. he was in charge and i asked him before what does that mean, what will you be doing? he said my responsibility will be everything from making sure they get their mail to recovering the bodies and literally that is what he did. he called one day and one of his young soldiers have been blown up in a tank. and charles had to go and recover his body piece by piece by piece out of this tank in the middle of the night. it shook him off and so he called me and said and when to send the journal home to you, it is not done but if something happens to me you'll have this and jordan will numbing. so he sent it home to me and i started reading it while jordan was sleeping beside me give, jordan is here running around with my nephew summer so hopefully you'll have a chance to meet him later. he is three now. anyway, i read it and i fell in love with this man all over

again. charles was this really tall, i don't know if you can see the pictures there, muscular soldier. but he was gentle and incredibly shy man. and so he did not talk a whole lot so i got this journal where he is talking about the beauty of rain storms and rainbows and what he thought about women, i cannot believe it. and so i thought to myself when a beautiful gift he has given to our son but, of course, at that point of thinking he still going to come home so when jordan was six months' home he came home for two weeks and meet him. he went back. >> supposedly just to collect his soldiers and come home for good, he would have been, and 30 this one month. when he was blown up by a roadside bomb. well, the first weeks and months after he died allison thinking about writing a book. i went back to work and i

thought, i just can't bury him and go back to work, i got to do something with this grief so the first thing i did was i decided to write in the new york times. i said to my boss i'm probably the only national journalists in the country who has lived with the grief of this war firsthand having lost a loved one plus he left this amazing journal and out by people to know about him so i wrote about it on the front page of the new york times. the response from readers was completely at really overwhelming. i have to tell you that was two years ago and i am still receiving phone calls and e-mail's from people who read that article. that prompted the book. it is called "a journal for jordan" and what it is is a memoir. i decided to take the journal entries and expand on them and talent jordan the full story of his parents live together. i decided i am not pointing this

is a very talented. he wasn't a perfect man, i am not perfect, our relationships only was not perfect but it was as good as i've ever seen and i want jordan to think his father was a saint whose example he could not live up to -- you wasn't but he was honorable and decent and prayerful and strong, he was a strong prideful black man and an american hero. and this book has been so well received and that it has been sold in australia, brazil, holland, several other countries, poland, taiwan, and to me i'm so proud of that not because of what i did appear and i feel this is in the bombing, and the vehicle for telling the story, but that people all over the world would embrace the story about an average black family and as a warrior who literally die for our country and the sort of sacrifices he made. you know, charles was a complex man. on the one hand, as i said he was incredibly shy and didn't talk very much, but, on the

other hand, he was also an artist. you will see over there a picture of an angel, that was one of the last things you true. so here was a guy who the plot a battlefield, lead his troops into war, but he to angels and he drew children and he wrote a beautiful journal. so like everybody else there are many dimensions to him and i want our son to know that and understand it so that is why i wrote this more. i also wanted even though i wanted to share with the world i wanted to be personal for jordan so i rode it literally to him, every chapter begins dear jordan. stars from the beginning of our relationship and goes all the way through to the decision to have him, his father leaving for the war and what happened after. interwoven in that are his father's words in his own and voice of the journal. i also wanted people to see the journal so and literally reproduced some of the pages so that you to see charles handwriting and hear his voice

for his self. i like to share some of it with you but one of the things i want to tell you is that remarkably there are themes that comes through in the journal and i don't think they were intentional at all. i think he had no idea that he was coming back to certain things, but when i read it became immediately apparent. the first was the power of prayer and faith in your life. he writes about that probably a dozen times or so in the journal. in the second team that comes through is his profound love for the military and how he was proud of what he was doing protecting the country and a third theme in this comes through the over and over is his respect for women and how you expect jordan to be a gentleman. he writes at least a dozen times about how to treat women and what two look for in a woman and i'm very proud of that. i knew that about him, but to read it in his own words is

really extraordinary and so even though he could be here physically i feel like he is here with me helping a guy this little boy because when he needs to hear about dating or when he wants to know about discrimination in our when he has a question about madonna or maybe doubting his faith, i will be there to help them. i am a mother and on how to teach him to be a man and he will have his father's voice right there guiding him to lie. i think the journal will mean different things to him a different points in his life. there are certain entries that are written for a boy answered entries that are written for a man. for instance he tells them about sex in the journal which i hope he will have to read until he's 40. [laughter] but it is in there when he needs it. it is in there. the book that i wrote is written for a man so i want him to grow up with the journal. to turn to it and feel like he is having a conversation with his dad whenever he needs to put the book that i wrote will be for him when he is a young man.

i would like to share some things with you from the book. one of the interests that i want to read is about charles' decision not to come home for jordan's birth. nothing about that is he had wanted this baby for a long long time. we had talked about having a child over the years and he was so excited, but you know, and he had promised me he was going to come home when he was born and we have probably the biggest fight of our relationship which i read about in the book over the last minute decision not to come. what is so remarkable about that at the time, at the time i was upset, it is the kind of sacrifice soldiers make in this country every single day. without a book ever been written about them. and he made a personal sacrifice to put his happiness decided to defend our country and it was hard for me and the reason he did it coming he left in

december of 2005 to go to the war. jordan was born in march of 2006 so just three months later. he said his young soldiers and they were young, many just out of high school, many of them saw him as a father. he had billed about a jail some of them, talk to them about birth control, taught them how to balance their checkbooks and some have gone to the prom the year before and he said, i just can't leave them, they are scared, they're just getting acclimated to the war and getting used to being an iraq. he said something happens to these guys because i left them i am their leader and i can't do it. he said i know you need me but they need me more. i was serious and scared and i was about to have a baby in three weeks and i had no plan me and all a sudden i'm faced with what does this mean? and my doctor had arranged to induce me awake early so that we could cornyn to schedule and he could come from iraq and

suddenly he was in coming. well, we worked through that and i understood it. i am proud to share that story now because even though many have you understand the outrage of felt at the time i think you'll also see what kind of man of character he was. he wrote a journal entry about that and this is what he said: jordan, i could not be at your birth because of the war. remember i told you all about the themes, theme about women comes through in this as well. i could not be at your birth because of the war but you were surrounded by strong women when you were born. all of these women embodied the reasons you should never ever disrespect or later hand against a woman. these are your first teachers my little prince, protect them and embrace them and oyster them like a queen. women with our duty are a dime a dozen but being with a woman with these qualities of loyalty,

trust and caring for really are who have a lot more meaning. never listen to your friends, all your heart and look for the strength of a woman. powerful once -- powerful words. thank you. churched [applause] i am so proud of them appear in and the things he left for our son to read about life. and there are things then he writes about me that made me feel like you're still with me and that he is still flirting with me. i sometimes when i am missing him i read them and it just helps me to understand that there is more to life than just a physical presence, there are

spirits and not even the war could keep him from leaving his spirits with this child, not even death could keep him from leaving his words and his wisdom and being able to talk to his son during he found a way to continue to take care of him even after he was gone. in you know, it's interesting to me that among the things he writes are just everyday things that he wanted jordan to know about himself. i want to share one with you that i think is kind of funny. the because he wanted him to know him so closely that he wrote a lot of things on the journals that i didn't know about him. i didn't know he had his first kiss in the eighth grade with a girl named denise brew but then there were just little funny stories about his childhood that are his way of letting his son know just he was a boy and a young man as a person so he writes for example about fashion in his junior high school.

my -- they were black patent leather and a gram a king would always say this stack issues were no good for your back here and i guess i had to learn the hard way here and i was walking downtown and glanced at my reflection and a promise store window. i was walking huns like an old man and had to throw them away. i love the their own personal stories like that in here. in there is also practical and buys about how to deal with why appear here's what he rents to jordan about racial discrimination. son, every situation dealing with discrimination is somewhat different. discrimination comes from ignorance for not knowing about a person's race or background i guess it is human nature for different cultures to profile one another and is not fair to judge someone by the color of their skin or their race or religious beliefs. unless a person is true or nauseous keep her opinions to herself. you never know what kind of hidden talents a person might have to share with you like would be boring for all the

same, a preshave people for who they are in line from the differences. [applause] i think that there is no way that jordan is a character will be shaped by these powerful messages and words from his dad and so i had to share the story with people. there is another thing he did in the journal that was incredible. now there are two chapters in the book dealing with the war. one is a chapter is planning what his life was in the war and what he was doing in his leadership. the second was the reconstruction of what he did it. i had to interview the soldiers for this chapters and i probably talked about 20 soldiers his bosses and commanders and it went through the pentagon and on documents to come with it and i knew the doctor when he was brought in.

i really research this and one of the things the soldiers tony after he nine is that he would start -- hi, baby -- he would start his days in the gym at 5:00 a.m. in iraq. 5:00 o'clock in the morning working out there and i have a gym on my second floor that i can't even drive myself to. imagine fortitude in the door on emissions. they say that he was this fear stuff warrior. i never knew that die. and they would say to me when i would tell them how gentle and sweet he was, how he would pack a picnic in go to central park and have a picnic and romantic evenings and they say we never met that guy. with so there were two sides to him and i found out talking to them after he died was he used lessons that were happening in situations that are happening in the war as lessons to write about. life lessons to our son. imagine going out on this

mission, something happening on the mission and you turn that into a lesson then she read about it is phenomenal to me that he had the fortitude to do that in here is an example of that. the first of may we lost our first soldier, it was very sad. everyone cared about him. we had to get together the night before the memorial so everyone could have a chance to speak about how he lived. the soldiers and some of the wild stories to tell about roddy. laughed and smiled thinking about the crazy things you do to make us laugh and that was a healing night, a chance to say to a fallen soldier of laughter is a medicine for the soul. he also wrote two probably two dozen letters to me and i incorporated some of those and in one of them he did write about the news of losing broad daylight, the soldier, a 21 year-old young man his life was pregnant with their first tell when he died and this is what he writes about that and then

refers to the nickname he gave me after i became pregnant i know you heard the bad news. it was something we would never have to experience, it is but a rough two months and this is been the most painful thus far. i can't begin to tell you today is a tough day for my company. we had a memorial from my soldiers killed in action and dealing with any be proud of me. is hard talking on the phone, you can say everything you want to because of the restrictions. we've been in a lot of pain lately and everyone has been supportive economic glad when this is over. i knew in my soldiers came to my room and knocked on my door that night that i would have to face the inevitable. when i'm able to handle it was the question here and don't worry i did above and beyond the war was the toughest. we've given our fallen, and a sendoff. i have a great company. we will keep the memory of our friend with us as we continue with our missions.

[applause] there is another entry in the journal or he writes about experience an award to teach short and a lesson. this was about soldiers and another company you were killed in this is what he said the 18th was a long stone night. we had a memorial for two soldiers from a company killed by an improvised explosive device. and my soldiers went to the memorial another excuse was that they did want to go because it was depressing. i told a little selfish of them not to pay their respects to two men who were selfless and given their lives for their country. these may not always be easier or pleasant for you, that is life but all is pay respect for the way people live and what they stood for. as the honorable thing to do. [applause] i started out say what i wanted to say again which is as proud as i am of this i wish to do not

exist, i wish he was here and we were struggling with the things that all parents struggle to together and enjoyed our little boy, but so rarely do we hear the stories about the lives of the soldiers on the line, iraq and afghanistan and other places. you see on cnn or on the news to soldiers killed and iraq and rarely anything to people stop and think there is a name behind that person and a mother and a life and dreams pernod so i thought if i have to open myself up and share a bed of my privacy and my private life to be able to put a name and a face to the war and happy to do that and that is one of the reasons i wrote to us. i wanted people to know that every one of those soldiers has streams and alive to get back to enhance sacrifices they're making on behalf of our country and as i said most of them never have a book written about them. but i hope that in some ways

this helps a lot of them and i've heard from a lot of soldiers and their families who have been proud how about this. at attitudes to go to the pentagon and speetwo soldiers, had a chance to go to a convention of grieving military families in speetwo about 400 families who have lost soldiers and so many of them are happy that this book exists but the primary reason i did it was selfish because i needed an outlet for my grief and 123 something for my little boy over there and i do however thank you all for letting me share our story with you. [applause] are we out of time? >> what a moving story. this truly is not just to get to jordan -- jordan but anyone who picked up this book and read it. we have about five minutes for questions again if anyone has something that would like to pose, there is a microphone to

my left simply step up to the microphone and let's take it and it's of the remaining time have been posing questions you might have. anyone? >> thought i am from sarasota, florida. i don't have a question and i have a comment. i feel very proud of new so thank you. we're doing this for the rest of us. [applause] >> thank you very much. >> i did see you on c-span initially when you first wrote this and enjoy that interview. thank you so much can i think he. i really appreciate that. [applause] the no, it has been the toughest time of my life and i had to do this but it is really not about me. i do appreciate that but it is about that little boy over there

and about his dad and the other soldiers and i feel like on use me as a vehicle to tell the story so i am proud to do it. [applause] >> anyone else coming to mind? >> my name is cheryl and i am a teacher in philadelphia. one of the things, it is not necessarily a comment but i thank you for your courage, i thank you for your willingness because it takes courage to revisit pain but we also know that pain is healing so you can really experience the healing but what i also want to thank you for is telling this story about men. i do a lot of work with males in philadelphia particularly between the ages of 13 in 18 so it helps and i will be using

excerpts from your book and my classroom, but it shows that human males which often don't have a chance to experience either because the things that men do or the things they get mad so i thank you. >> thank you. [applause] >> i don't have a question but i also am moved by your sharing experience and i cannot help but thank you and all so to stand with you. i am ecology professor and i am also a writer. i write various things but it has become my passion like you

make her rich writing came from having -- losing a baby. >> i am sorry. >> i'm a teacher, thank you. and i am also, to find the writing is a wonderful way of gaining control over your life. is there be. and i keep telling my students that and i am going to add to the testimony that i have that space and back. and actually wrote an essay, it has sued coming out and dealing with clause is a pain. something along those lines but it was my way with of using mad to teach and share my insides. it is one of will to hear you.

can you speak a little bit more to your organize saying principles? >> t want to say hi first? said thank you for reading our book. >> thank you for reading our book. [applause] >> when i decided to do was to do it chronologically and to tell the whole story from our childhood and the forces that made this who we were into it that way. the remarkable thing is because the journal so comprehensive charles talked about nearly the same things so i felt like we're writing it together. out rack my part and put to the journal and find something relevant to what i was talking about at that point and put his words and so we're both having a conversation with him together and as i organize it. >> that is about all the time we

have for questions and comments now like to thank you all for attending this really moving and living presentation. >> thank you for coming. [applause] >> we have about a 10 minute break before we listen to and get the chance to hear gregory walker and that will start at 1245 and seven that is permanence. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] a live picture from harlem as dana canedy wraps a per book presentation. coming up next, gregory walker, author of a "shades of memnon: the african hero of the trojan war and the keys to ancient world civilization" in the keys -- you are watching the tv coverage of the 11th annual harlem book fair. [inaudible conversations]

this summer booktv is asking, where you reading? >> the founder of public affairs books, what are your planning on reading this summer? >> one of the first things i plan on rating is k of close top which is being published by public affairs but i can see that i have had a chance to read it. everybody tells me that is absolutely marvelous. peter carlson was a reporter for the washington post for many years and it tells the story of nikita khrushchev visited the united states in 1959i believe. when he came here and a time in the cold war at its peak and he was the quintessential russian and he came here and traveled the country and went out to iowa

and then how the cornstalks war and when into hollywood and disneyland yen and he captured that moment in american history and told the story when i gather is enormous good humor and also history of a very tricky time so that is the first book and rating. the second book and good to read is chrism buckley, i think all those who follow this canvassing have heard a little bit about the book received one way or another as a famous line is what is said to his mother, he looked at her as she was about to take her last breath and she said, i forgive you. what i'm hoping is that my grandchildren don't say that to me when the time comes but when i read the excerpts of the book in the near times magazine i realized how truly revealing it is about the way ahead in which families of a certain time live

to gather and how you come to terms with the fact that these extraordinary people that you grew up with the rich than align it sounds to me like something really worth reading. >> to seymour summer reading lists and other program information visit our web site at booktv.org. >> next more live coverage from the 2009 harlem book fair. coming up, gregory walker, author of a "shades of memnon: the african hero of the trojan war and the keys to ancient world civilization". [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] good afternoon everyone. and the president and founder of the african-american literature book club and its been my pleasure to introduce the authors this morning and afternoon. i also want to make sure that you knew that all of the author's books that have been presented here today are available for sale of 130 tapestry to ride by the main stage. so please support the office by purchasing their books. next up and the final author and are offered talks series is brother g8, gregory walker, a chicago-based journalist, poet, historian and author. while working part-time for the associated press brother g. spent 20 years conducting

research for the african election genre writing "shades of memnon" in developing contracts -- contacts in archaeology and anthropology and linguistics worldwide. he has also written columns on, books and graphic novels for american library association, contributed to national new publication in these times, and is one of the popular group of chicago poets who inspired the motion picture love jones. again it is my pleasure as we join either gregory walker as he discusses his research into the great mythology of the trojan war. welcome brother g.. [applause] >> hello their. i want to think everybody out here for coming i know you have a lot of things you could have been doing so i came here and i

wanted thing c-span and everybody for coming here. i have been waiting a long time to speak about this in such a forum and the subject matter that i'm speaking on has been waiting a very long time also. nominee people here are familiar with the trojan war story? the trojan horse, helen of troy, achilles' getting shot in the heel. you know, all these things are mainstays of what we call the foundation of western literature. what people don't know and what i meant to reveal and have been working on for the past 20 years is of the revelation about a third book of the trojan war that very few people know about. everybody knows that achilles was a great here -- hero in the story of the trojan war. very ping -- very few people know that the greatest hero and not according to my opinion but the greatest year according to the ancient greeks was a hero named memnon whose name means

immortal. in now, in my studies about memnon i kept on having to come upon one astonishing thing after another after another after another because memnon represents those who need to increase the call the blameless ethiopians. when i was doing my research of age and history of ancient cross culture history and kept on saying these references all over the place. but before that led me give you a bit of a foundation for this. because since i have had a "shades of memnon" free book series -- seven book series, three books are out now. but since it has come out almost miraculous things have taken place around this book. in the book has been used in dozens of schools all over the country. i have young men who had a gangster rap mentality who read the "shades of memnon" book and a totally changed their perceptions and their ways. i had white people who read the

book to that of a sign and they told me finally someone is doing a multi-cultural book that shows all the different people in the world based on real history. hollywood has come knocking at my door sometimes and i finally settled on a deal and a working with wesley snipes to do a series based on my work. [applause] now the way this came about, a little about a first -- i've always been and knows the individual ever since i was small. nosing my way into things and try to find out what means one and who means to come even if it meant i got in trouble. and so before i graduated from college columbia college in chicago i was already a multiple award winning journalist for some investigative things i did. after that i went over to the associated press and i stayed there in that time in that fast paced newswire atmosphere and i was able to hone the things that

i was able to use to read this book series it was a great place for two because of the associated press to have to make snap judgments about what is what and what is worth doing what. so those hipaa things were critical and crucial. now i spend my brains when i was doing this. allyson just writing and doing stuff in the ap, i was doing things for other people and i used to be a really huge, book bug and and i castillo m. i started writing columns for the american library association. believe it or not for a while for so years as the cisco and ebert, books. i would do a review for the american library association and a graphic novel or a series of books, books that would make a lot of money. so a lot of people in the, but industry want to buy the dinner without coming to the shop. so i use my influence for some

years and detritus of a lady to nielsen of the big names and even some of the small names in the comic books publishing to finally pay attention to presenting african characters and some other characters of color in honorable and respectable ways. they assured me every year that they were going to get right on that baron but, of course, they did not. after some amount of years went by sen i am wasting my time, here i am and pumping up this thing. and they are not coming through for everybody else. this is what i'm going to do. and as billing and comic book review empire and people send any notes from all over the world and want me to speak about, these and how they can be used in schools. i had a nonprofit or position based on this and i turned my back on all of that in seven i'm

going to research history to see where real african people have real heroes. so i turned my back on all of it to come on the whole career. i started doing research cross-cultural in ancient history and i kept on saying two things. i kept on seeing this named memnon and everywhere i turned. and also kept on saying things about people they call the ethiopians particularly the ancient greek people. so i started two really tell into it and try and find out who are these ethiopians that the ancient greeks keep talking about and who is this memnon was supposed to be the king of the ethiopians. i started doing some astonishing research and started finding things out that were so astounding in my mind why his is presented to the world before. what happened to this. where in the world was as great

epic history and tradition that flash down. a maid in accessible to the whole world particularly when you're talking about something that is not on the fringes, you're talking us something that is basically a foundation of a white european western history which we are all supposed to be getting to the schools. according to what most people are seventh to appear in so i started to do research and became apparent to me particularly when doing research into the ancient authors, the agent and then medieval of shares in the 20s century, people knew about memnon and became apparent that anyone is used to have a classical education with and why was that because memnon was a direct part of the trojan war story. the story of the odyssey is a

course of this yes. making his way home. the story of alien is about the war of the proper and is a showcase for achilles coming in and hunter and all these things. the handbook, the ethiopians is about what happened between those two things. there are books still being taught in libraries all over the world that are lying to people telling people bad myths to us because they wanted to cover up the home representation of african people in this. the story of alien and with the death of actor. anybody saw the movie starring brad pitt about four years ago the great and mighty achilles and nobody can stop them and they can throw a spear and a fly. what they did not tell you is that at that point they should have shown memnon.

memnon came along at the end of the iliad and that is one actor is killed appear if anyone remembers the movie troy when achilles was dragging the body of hectare around walls that would be the original iliad, the rest of the theme we generally know about achilles getting shot in the heel, the whole trojan war thing. that took place in a book coming a hit in book called the ethiopias. which really means the black people. it meant a bird faced people among the greeks. and the leader of the ethiopians was memnon. among -- one of the mind blowing things i found about the whole memnon sauna, i caught up in the early '90s working since 1989 and i caught up to the work of

gregory, an eminent great scholar, and he wrote a book called the best of the achilles. another name for the greeks. in this book he talks about the greatest of the great among the greatest, hector, achilles, odysseus, all the characters but then he gets to a chapter on the ethiopians and he talks about, he goes into elaborations and a lot of things i had seen up to that point and he is a greek scholar. i gambled on a scholarship for more research. this i revealed some very amazing things because when i was doing my research into the blameless ethiopians and i kept seeing references that the greeks kept saying calling them blameless ethiopians, the most favored of the gods. and i was puzzled by that and did all kinds of research for a long time to try to figure out why they would call these black people blameless people.

gregory revealed that history for me and it turns out that in ancient greek times everything was based on praise and blame. if you've got a lawyer, your lawyer would come to represent you and you'd find people to praise you. the highest government to give people is to call them blameless. a blameless people. this was written about by homer, and all kinds of grain and fantastic writers among the ancient greeks. as a matter of fact,, if you flipped into it and go really deep particularly in to some of the older versions of the iliad he will see in iliad chapter eleven where homer says and this is very serious for me -- i have to take my hat off for this -- this was very mysterious to me.

in iliad chapter 11 he said to troy, no hero came of nobler line or in nobler memnon it was mine. why would he say that? why would he say that about an african hero who was in the enemy of the drakes? i come from chicago. i was there and i was when this in the heyday of the michael jordan era. when the archrivals, the knicks, of the bulls would come to town and would be an restaurant and a street as are talking trash to each other as basketball players do. but then michael jordan would walk up. the trash talking with either stop or go down to a minimum and everybody went downtown two this brother. and what they were enemies were there to beat them at basketball like the knicks or not, when michael jordan came in the transcendent with his greatness. he transcended all the pending

s. he stood above all of that. in this is what memnon is. this is what memnon represents. ..

>> they call the person who at that point in history was the greatest in the world. the king 0f troy. he was memnon's uncle. blood ties between african people and all kinds of people all over the world. the same way you have the situation in england and in europe where you have the families that are intermarried with each other. they did their blood mixed up. so he called his nephew, memnon, to come and help them. he was known as being unstoppable. unstoppable. now, they came on the heels of another hero, which is a

heroine. before memnon came to help the trojans and amazon warrior queen came. a group of amazons came to help fight against the greeks on behalf of the trojans. the amazons were defeated, and then they called memnon. when the ethiopians arrived the trojans were overjoyed. they knew that no army in the world could beat memnon's army. they were overjoyed. and, in fact, several things happened. one thing that happened that showed the ability of memnon is the fact that an old man rushed to the field to fight. he was in full armor, and the rest before memnon and brought his sword. memnon saw that this was an old, of the lead man. not true back and said, i'm not going to fight you. i did not come to the field of battle to demean myself by slapping down old man. please remove yourself from the

field of battle. the old man left. memnon killed his son, but this was an example of that ability, the ability that this character represented and that ability of a blameless ethiopians. after this happened memnon killed a bunch of great characters from the greek tradition. and finally achilles came out. achilles came out to be the achilles agamemnon, the two most epic characters, heroic characters in the trojan tradition came out. this is what drew him out. memnon's army chased the greeks all the way back to their home. in ancient times if somebody chased you back that meant you got on your boat or suffered

your fate. so you have all these greeks.xd this is something that they never showed any of the movies or books or representations about ancient greek. face painting and other things about this. the greeks were so scared that when the sun rose the ethiopians were going to descend upon them and kill them all. they said, look. we know that these ethiopians are honorable people and they don't like slaughter. if you think you are so bad you send out your greatest hero. we will send out our greatest hero. whoever loses, your army has to leave the field, thus saving us from being killed wholesale. well, they set out achillies and memnon. neither one could best the other. but if anyone remembers the movie clash of the titans, if anyone remembers the show hercules, all of that, their is a tradition among the ancient greek gods. if something is happening they do not like, they will

interfere. the greek god zeus interfere in the fight between memnon and achilles, and he cast a spell on memnon. and achilles killed memnon. then right after that the normal stuff that we all know happens where achilles ran through and an arrow shot guided by apollo shot him in the heel, and he died. but they do not tell you, what did leave out is the fact that memnon's name means immortal. it means immortal. you can't kill this brother. if you do, he can't stay dead. when the memnon was killed memnon's mother came. most of the gods and goddesses came to the throne of zeus. they said, what you did to memnon was unjust. in fact, he was part got. we came to complain about what you did to this man. so you know what, you're right.

i got in the way. i tell you what, since he is all that he said he is i will revive memnon, and he shall live again. and furthermore -- and this is something that was not done in any of the greek -- furthermore i will make him an immortal. he will become immortalized. they gave him the opportunity to live on mount olympus. memnon declined. he said i'm not going to live here. i am going to go back to my home. the story i just told you was first told around 750 b.c.

what was originally an old tradition among the trojan war that the writer and poet homer left out. so a lot of people think. there are a lot of things about that. but the thing to remember is that according to the ancient greek the greatest of greek heroes was not achilles it was memnon. as a matter of fact if anybody knows this history or tradition about the odyssey, when odysseus makes his journey, he sees all these dead people that he knows. he sees achilles. and achilles said, and i quote, i would rather be a pauper, a beggar on earth than be a king

here. revive this african hero named memnon to go on in the world. why is that? what happened? and so that sent me to another round of research. all right. their must be something about these people that they called the blameless ethiopians. this is not just one character who is standing by himself. this is a character representing a group of people. he represents a group of people and a group of people with a certain way of life, and this is what i've found out. in the iliad and odyssey they talk about the respect of the gods. they go across the great western notions to go and sit and dined with the blameless ethiopians. everybody else in the world, including the aged greeks themselves had to get to the temple and make sacrifices to

the gods in order to interact with the duties. but the ethiopians pit sit across the table with them and eat and dine with them. this was a fantastic thing. this was something that was so astonishing to me, particularly when we think about the way black people have been portrayed in western civilization over the past hundred and 50 years. warren the direct opposite of what has always been portrayed. and not something that was made up, because something that a bunch of afrocentric or african centered people made up. these are ancient greek people and of the people themselves actually said about the ancient black people. i did a lot of research and that found up to these people were. the ancient greeks called them the ethiopians. they called themselves the

kushite. the kushite went around the world doing amazing things racing up civilizations, helping people, doing doing all sorts of fantastic, fantastic things. [applauding] >> right. >> well, the opportunity to answer questions for the next five. please step up to the mic and make sure everyone can hear your question. let's take advantage of this time. [applauding] >> please step to the mic. >> yeah, i am happy to be here and to hear you. when you talk about the

blameless ethiopians, i also found something. i took time to find out. we have been doing research from the homeland. the greek materials that you have also. egyptians knew about these people. someone asked me about the empire . so we have information. what you have got from the homeland, the blameless ethiopians. and then we studied 10. it was submitted made by the ancient people to represent

these lords. of all the great wars and civilization. >> right. [applauding] >> i have been doing this for 20 years. in 1999 after his research. the first but did not come out until 1989. the first book came out in the year 2000. over and over and over, new discoveries about the representation and the interaction had done nothing but back up my work over and over and over again. thank you, sister. >> hi, my name is steven thompson. my question, memnon, would this be the same personality that the greeks were making a reference

to, a kingdom pharroh named amenhotep. that name it seems like it was used. >> my brother is bringing up a very interesting point. when alexander took over into egypt around 320, 330 b.c., what they did was name these two sections. they renamed those two statues that statues of memnon. they thought that from their perspective the greatest hero in the world was memnon. they saw these big, giant statues, and they renamed these here is where the magical part

of the traditions. an earthquake took place. the statues became cracked. from then on every time the sun rose the statue would let out a particular sound. there were different people that say the sound had different sounds. some say it was a heart. some say it was like singing. to the aged -- ancient greek people and to the romans what is actually meant was memnon was speaking to his mother who was the goddess of the sun. the goddess of the sun. so this kind of stuck with it. so here is one book written on the feet of that statute. this is from an anonymous greek writer. and he says nymph of the sea,

know that memnon still lives, still speaks to his mother. while the voice of achilles can no longer be heard, either increase or in try. so the legends about hamel went on, and other people wrote all throughout the medieval times times. a young group of hip-hoppers read my book. they wrote this. dark like the shade of my father and my mother, dark like the shade of my sister and my brother. shade of memnon. [applauding]

>> all right. thank you all for coming. the next thing is going to start at 1:30. it will be a panel discussion called life is short and wide. that starts at 1:30. again, i think you all for joining us. we welcome the c-span family for joining us, as well. enjoy the rest of the afternoon [applauding] >> oh, one final announcement. i encourage you to purchase. they are available outside. please. it is not only their work, but our stories. thank you. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> that was gregory walker, author of "shades of memnon." you're watching a book tv's live coverage of the 11th annual harlem book fair. coming up next a panel on biography. more from the 2009 harlem book fair after this break. [inaudible conversations] >> who is iris chang? >> she was most known for the 1997 best-seller. it did huge things to raise awareness about japanese atrocities during world war ii.

it came a whole movement, rather than just a book in the late 90's. >> was she a historian? >> a historian and a journalist. she would see them as mutually exclusive. a big tool of hers was archives. she spent days and days. in the national archives and other archives, but she also went out and confronted people face-to-face. >> where was she from? >> from illinois. we met in college. the mid 80's. >> what kind of relationship? >> at first it did not know what to make a for. she was always many steps ahead of me. very few internships. every time there was one she would get it. if i thought of applying she would have already gotten that. she was always so far ahead of

us. she had the idea to write for the new york times. she just called them up. she had stories and the front section of the new york times. do does that? i saw a real talent backed up this incredible marriage. i decided to try to emulate her instead of seeing her as a rival. through the years both of us wrote books. she became a huge role model of what it meant to be as successful author. >> what happened to her? >> the whole reason why i wrote the book. one of the most shocking things that i ever experienced. she committed suicide, which seemed for no apparent reason in 2004 when she was 36 years old. there are lots of rumors that were swirling everywhere that

the right-wing japanese had. she had a lot of enemies. >> because of her book? >> very critical. there history book and their political leaders. there are also rumors that the u.s. was somehow behind it. very active veterans of the bataan death march to see japan for their enslavement. the department was not so happy about that. but it turned out she fit a lot of patterns of manic depressive illness or bipolar disorder that got worse after she had her son. that is what happens with women. her. >> what was your last conversation? >> she called me just three days

before she killed herself. that was the first time i ever sensed something was very seriously rock. i realize now it was affected by col. then it just seemed like a strange, bizarre, bizarre thing. i did not know what to make of it. that was the first time i knew she was really depressed and disconnected from reality. she was so depressed it was hard to get the birds out. in retrospect she was explaining to me why she was about to do this. she talked about a lot of guilt in the way she had raised her son. she talked about a lot of fear that she had. i had been a good friend to her. it was very, very disturbing. i did not think that her life would end a few days later. >> so what did you find about

iris chang? >> she was very, very complex. this myriad of perfection, all of us saw her as having the perfect life and being the perfect person. she did not want to even share her problems with us. she was incredibly driven, and that is what helped her to uncover. atrocities in japan. a mental illness. she did not know when to stop. her inspiration. not being treated for the mental illness. >> is there astigmatism with mental of this?

>> and asian culture. it is really, really extreme. they're much less likely to get treated with therapy or medication. when they do get treatment usually at the 11th hour. it is really hard to reverse. just because her family forster. then he was telling her. >> what changes have you made in your life because of her suicide? >> no one has ever asked me that before. i -- i appreciate living. a lot of it is corny. i appreciate living in the moment. i am having my second child in several months. just looking a lot more clearly toward the light to things in

life and enjoying them. i have returned to writing about tough topics, but just knowing my limits. it's okay to take time off, not be so driven every second of the day. >> besides this book what other books of the written? >> i wrote three other books. the one before this one, all in m y head." 18-year migraine. all that is about pain and how it is all in our head. then i wrote two feminist books, "feminist fatale."

and then one called "her way" a lot of young women and sexual attitude. more status. >> we have been talking with paula about her book. >> this summer book tv is asking, what are you reading? >> this summer i plan on reading several books. a couple of them that i need to finish right now. one of them is on william wilberforce. he was a great man in history responsible for eliminating the slave trade. he is one of my political heroes and life. the abolitionists in america looked to wilberforce and his example of how to get rid of slavery in the united states. so almost anything i can read about wilberforce i usually try to get my hands on. the book i am in the middle of

right now i want to finish this summer. it is a tremendous book about his life and how he brought people together to limit the slave trade in great britain. another book that i am going to read this summer is called "the longest day." it is about the terribly long day when we invaded europe at normandy. eventually it led to the end of world war ii. a friend of mine recommended it to me. so it is just an amazing book. so i am excited about agreeing that. some recent books that i read i would recommend. one written by a navy s.e.a.l. about his experiences in afghanistan. it is called the "lone survivor." he is the lone survivor. it is one of the more remarkable stories of human courage.

it is really a tribute to the courage of his comrades who lost their lives in that time in afghanistan. but it is a tremendous book. th" it is fascinating in that it talks about the french revolution, the american revolution. it ties history together better than any book that i have ever read, especially how each one of those countries affected each other. so it is one of the bitter history books that i have ever read. >> to see more summer reading lists and other information visit our website at booktv.org >> now back to more coverage of

the 2009 harlem book fair from the langston hughes auditorium at the schomburg center for research in black culture. starting shortly a panel on biography. [inaudible conversations] ♪ [inaudible conversations] >> good afternoon. please welcome. >> thank you very much. [applauding] >> and i am happy to be here, and i so happy to see you sitting in the audience. as you know, writers need readers. so we need the dialogue and the conversation. without you there is no

conversation. so thank you very much for being here. i am going to begin with my biography. the other writers are on the way. they phoned us. they're stuck in traffic. as soon as they come they will come up to the table and tell their stories. all right. i am going to begin by giving you some information. the masterpiece. it has been translated into many languages. however, we have not heard about his literary sister. she also came out. 1966.

published by heinemann that made her nigeria's first female novelist. she went on to publish more novels, more sure stories. after being a commissioner. let's say after administration she decided to open up a publishing company. so she became africa's first female publisher. says she is a pioneer in writing and publishing similar. now, what do i do in my biography to back up, after living in nigeria in the rural area .

after studying flora nwapa's books i wanted to know how come this village girl was able to evolve into an international author. and it was through research. i did get some grants, but i found out that flora nwapa came from an illustrious family. for example, her grandfather was the chief, what we call a warring chief who was appointed by queen elizabeth the second to collect taxes and to introduce british life and culture to the nigerians, specifically in southeastern nigeria. that help the whole lot because it sends her grandfather was all warring chief definitely she was exposed to british life and culture. another significant factor, a

family member, her great-grandmother was what we call at trader, a trader and palm kernels. the british election. so it was the trade that the women carried on that helped with the growth of flora nwapa into the international world. specifically when the portuguese and the british came to a southeastern nigeria oguta, where flora nwapa went to school and lived, the missionaries with her, relatives going on to study in england that had had of veryt influence on flora. why? well, she was introduced to not only what we call traditional african culture, but alongside with that was the introduction

of the british culture, specifically her great-grandmother's and grandfathers would decide proverbs. they were what we call the custodians of igbo culture. flora nwapa learned. let's say modern culture. so what is beautiful about flora nwapa is she was able to a straddle both worlds. in other words tonight you will find in her books proverbs and let's of traditional customs, but you will also find that she was able to master the english riding, reading, and publishing so definitely families helped her become a great writer. next we have the introduction to

what we called missionary education as a student at t they she was able to learn more dearies of writing and perfected rfected her skills. so flora mwapa went on to study at the university of edinburgh in scotland. she came back to nigeria, started teaching and writing, and we are so happy that she is one of the role models for african women all over the world. last night we had the flora mwapa literary award. flora mwapa was one of the role models. she was a trailblazer that,

so many women writers. so in this book it gives you traces of history of the mothers. the influence of missionary education. all of these people and persons influenced and transformed the life of this village girl into an international star. there are other secrets in the book, which you will learn. and certainly going to ask you to buy the book.

you will be inspired to find your true gift and become a great role model. thank you very much. [applauding] >> my name is sullivan fitzgerald. i am the author of a book. i will be reading from this book, it's just a few words. i think we have 50 minutes. one is it. picks for coming. my friends from trinidad. eighty-four thanks for coming all the way to be here with us. many years ago i wrote a book.

all these nasty things about the caribbean. i felt that i should write a book to say, listen, there is another reality. i began to read that book. in the course of writing the book i showed the book to another famous literary there from london. weber. the first point i wanted to make was that he was not the first person to write about the eastern experience in the caribbean. in point of fact the first person from the caribbean to write about the eastern experience was this fellow,

a.r.s. weber. i had never seen the book. did not know where it was. so i had to run down to the british library and the library of congress. that founded in the archives. and that sent me on the path of this fellow called a.r.f. weber. this little island. was born in 1880. the place where you have the mining of gold. and he went down and began to work in the mine fields speculating gold and diamonds.

well, one year or one day they sent up a shipment to england with all of the diamonds. and when it got to england it was full of lead. somebody had stolen the gold and diamonds. of course business broke up which led him to leave the interior of round frontier town, as it were, to go into georgetown, which is the capitol. of course he got very much involved in the politics of the day. needless to say he a rose and became one of the most important thinkers in the caribbean. one of the guidelines here, what do all of these writers have in common today? well, they all have in common that they were born fighting a very strong racism and

colonialism and had to get out there and fight the man whether it was new york or ghana. and he was leading the freedom fighters. my task then was to try to recover and to recuperate mr. weber. it was recovered by a very important woman. you all know a book called "in search of my mother's garden." but one thing that guided me in my writing are these words of alice walker speaking. this is what she says. we are a people, but people do not throw away -- do not there

their genuses away. it is our duty as authors and writers for the future to collect them again for the sake of our children. and if necessary bone by bone. and so i thought that my task was to go and find out about this. discover to make him available. one more thing before i read. one of the purest cases. these guys are so very important. they are left by the wayside. one of the contributions is that long before -- wonderful and

marvelous. long before he came to talk, weber was talking in 1931. if you don't know that you should get that. it's very important really get these to know what we have done and try to recuperate them. i'll read now from one section of his poems which reminds me somewhat of bob marley. one has to live. one must live. the next piece he comes to new york. the heart of the renaissance. he talks about his experience there. all read the first section. life and death. the intricately woven connection. helen read from my book on page 32.

weber argued that death and life are intricately woven together. but he said if death is a part of life why is then at death we shrink and shiver? is joins us to eternity. the answer echoes similar sentiment. he says for now we see through a glass darkly, but then face-to-face. now i know in part. then shall i know even as i am known. weber, however, puts it. he uses it about another writer. this is what weber says in his book of poems. he wrote about economics. he says time still tell me. you may not.

i must shred the hidden way. knowing all and yet the pad. struggling, fighting, still in bracing. another poem, an examination of death. and this poem he sits and ponders on the mystery of life and death. teach me than to tear not death. to weber that is but another stage on an unending journey of a person's existence. but at this mighty stream.

he beckons all to sit with them. learn from the furnace of the deep. in the life and death all he indicates that only time will reveal the mystery of life in which we in our blended state cannot but fathom from the standpoint of our own material existence. yet they are things we can do to make ourselves ready for death. as some would say i will live for a cause. if i die in the process then so be it. what then should we care about

death? according to weber we should only see your the life not lived well. may i repeat, what we fear about death. according to weber we should only fear in the life not lived well which to him is worse than death. suggests living is the walking dead. this is what whether -- weber says. tilt your chin and trying and say what chair.

he goes on. the last one i go to. he lived and died by it. he took in every aspect of the world around him. his interests were wide and all encompassing. he believed and living. he was a man in search of life. even if death would catch him. and he does it all, but he says fear not. the fear of death should only be. what is there. so again the fear of death should only be what trails of

glory we leave behind. we live our life courteously. what did we had? that is from the palms of webber. just a second thought. we will take me to my last. weber, of course, fought the british. like all of the great caribbean writers. he fought them tremendously. but he pleaded for independence. be allowed to travel and go around. and here, of course. coming to the heights of the harlem renaissance. this will be my last section. of course, anybody knows new york rush hour.

underground rush hour. i don't care where you are. here we are talking about the rush hour in 1925. he offers a descriptions of new york rush hour subway experience at 5:00 in the evening. he claims it was one of the most amusing and sometimes exasperated experiences of the traveler. the sense of contemporaneous this which and what he might have been describing the first decade. 1925. this is what he says. being at rush hour in new york. remember. they come up to america. he says, and the rush hours mostly about 5:00 passengers in the subway train our stacked absolutely literally like

sardines. made and jammed together. just who does the pushing is nothing. squeezed tight and fast. now that is all very well when a man happens to be waged or a woman between women. all are mixed. though world seems to be riding in the subway at that hour. and it is male and female. as only some room is available. one has to be cautious with o

ne's hands. it was the latter. and then your number is up. the utmost in humor prevails, and everybody takes it smiling. their is a potential danger when they are jammed tight together in a 20 20 minute ride. the slightest movement of a land may may be misunderstood. but as it is in winter we all wear overcoats. one wonders what must it be like in this summer when clothing of both sexes is quite not so copious. that is weber on the subway in

harlem. thank you very much. a.r.f. weber. thank you much. [applauding] >> good afternoon. first of all, i would like to apologize for being late. i was actually coming from another one of these wonderful panels being presented here at the harlem buck pistol in 2009. of what tenth bank you for inviting me to this panel. means a lot to be. i am an author, publisher, a former journalist. a book that i am going to be

talking about today is called harlem godfather. it is actually a collaboration. i don't know how many of you know who he is. okay. that is what happens. with those of you who don't know bump johnson was a harlem gangsters who pretty much to reined from the 1930's until his death in 1968. one of the challenges in writing this book was i did not want to glorify a gangster. i did not want to put on a pedestal someone to do so much harm to the community, but my problem was i knew bumpy

johnson. a -- i want to tell you a little bit. when i was nine years old i was selected for the gifted children program. of course they don't have one in harlem. when i get to that meant i had to go to ts166. so this was a big deal. to everybody except a nine year old. i knew i could not possibly dress well enough to go to school with a bunch of white kids. i had never been around a bunch of white kids. the only thing i knew about white folks, this is 1956, is

what i saw on tv. what they knew about me, what they saw on tv. she made this big deal about awarding me or rewarding me for receiving such an honor. she convinced my mother that my record was to be to write a around with her her that summern her big black cadillac, 1966, an african-american woman with the big, long cadillac. running around meant riding in the car with her while she did the number runs. she turned out there conditioners. we came to the gramm apartment

complex. it's beautiful. the brass chandelier in the lobby. brass doorknobs. marble floors in the lobby. high, really high. you know how in harlem we love the high ceilings. he looks like a linebacker. so it looked really funny. you know, come on in. so i go in with madame. all right. you go sit in the corner and be quiet. don't say anything. all right. i hear her arguing.

they are arguing. raised voices. i am sitting there. there are four guys. not watching their words. i'm sitting there. okay. then i hear the voices from the rob -- room coming up the hall. there is this man's deep voice. and he is telling madame off. as he is walking into the room. and let me tell you just -- hello. how are you doing? hi. and madame said, let me introduce you to my darling, my god child. okay. hi, mr. johnson. well, hello. how are you? and what are you doing here

today? well, you know she's just won an award at school. she has been picked to go the igc. one of only three children in manhattan to get picked for the program. well, that is nice. we have to think of something nice for you. how would you like some ice cream? yes. what do you say? yes, sir. well, okay. go get some ice-cream.

>> he told me what a nice a guy he was, and then restarted talking. one of the things that i realize the reason why madame brought me over there is mr. johnson loved kids and madame was always in trouble with mr. johnson. but if i was with her, and he

treated her nice. so she always brought me with her. and even got to the point* where i demanded air-conditioning. he got me to finally admit i did not want to go to itc and he asked me why? i said because because when you are in nine years old and that the answer to everything? i said because. he said because why? and i said they will make fun of my close. the and i was very serious. he said miss kk you don't go to school because of your clothes. you are supposed to go the reason is to get an education. >> host: i was in school people used to make fun of my close this is a man i am nine years old i don't know

anything but you could tell these were some threads and i looked at him and said mr. johnson people made fun of you because of your clothes? he said yes i said why did you do? he said i'd be that much. we were never in a room alone the guys started laughing and they instantly stopped. he said i don't want you to beat them up. i want you to go and show them that you are as good as them. i thought, all rights. shortly thereafter he was arrested and right after that we had two men knocked on my mother store -- door at 10:30 p.m. and when my a mother opened the door they gave her a white envelope with

two, $100 bills. 9056, two, $100 bills was enough to pay for school clothes for me, my older brother and my sister for the entire school year. you old-timers know, for about $25 you could buy all the clothes that you needed. the funny thing is that i knew that mr. johnson, his name and i knew there people that called him a bumpy even in parliament nine years old i knew who bobby johnson was at nine years old i could not make the connection because my mr. johnson could not be that

old murderer that gangster that everybody said. i could not bring myself to make that connection until more than 20 years later when i now thanks to mr. johnson i went to school and made something of myself. i am now a reporter at "the philadelphia inquirer" which is one of the top 10 newspapers in the country and there is a program that comes on a and the that is several of the rock and ended in mentions bumpy johnson a notorious harlem gangster who is rumored to have helped with the only successful escape from alcatraz and i am talking to my daughter but i am listening but not looking at the program so then something happened and i just happened to look up and they were

showing a picture of bumpy johnson and it was my mr. johnson. and as soon as i saw it i thought of course, it is bumpy johnson, mr. johnson is bumpy johnson. so then i had to investigate. i felt compelled. my journalistic and uses kicked him. i thought of it day she started to do research and interviews and all kinds of events this schaumburg became my second home. one of the people that i talk to was dr. john henry clarke [applause] he knew bumpy johnson and the things that i wanted to know from him more than anything what bumpy was like because this time i was wanting to

know was what was wrong with me? how can i admire this man that i know has done such dastardly things? and i was kind of afraid to bring that up to him because i did not know how to articulate. he was a real guy. and after he called me down and gave me tape-recorded that worked, the feelings put me add these gummy he said the saying is i admired bumpy as well and i still do to this day. this was in 1995 or 1996. i said how could you? he said because people are three-dimensional and there is more than one side. he said everybody exploited

carl umbro bumpy exploited harlem but he gave something back. he was a gangster but he was a gangster with a social conscience. so to a acknowledge the good things that he has done, does not mean that you turn a blind eye to the bad things that he had done. it was not the perfect answer but it was the right answer because i did understand there are things he did for me and for so many other people it did not erase all of the bad he may have done. it did not. when i decided to go ahead and write "harlem godfather", i did some of leaving in the wards but including some temples.

because if you want to know about my past i will tell you that but on the surface middle-age middle class african-american woman a best-selling artist with awards blah, blah, blah you do not want to know the rest of the stuff. and if i can be three dimensional then so can bumpy. i met his wife, mamie john sin in 1993 or 1994. and we became so clothes that she called me her goddaughter i love to maybe johnson so much. i loved her so much. she recently died. she shared with me a lot of stories about bumpy johnson and throughout the years when i was doing this research it was not for a book. i don't know why i was doing the research.

i have absolutely no clue but i felt compelled. she was encouraging me and said this person will talk to or this person so she was giving me leads and it was wonderful. she then decided we should write a book about the time of american gangster there is a movie that came out about 1997/98 that got everything wrong about his life. and maybe thought the movie was funny. she was not upset. her thing was they got it wrong, they did not know. when american gangster came out, she was furious because frank lucas did no. he knew her husband and frank lucas was not her husband's protege.

he was more like the ninth funky you take out the a garbage. or go pull the car around but in the movie he made himself and and maybe was furious. she said comment kk kk we will try to this book so we sat down and wrote this book i would say 80% of the book is based on research that i did back in the '90s before i knew i was going to read a book the other 20% came from her memory and anecdotes that she told me so it was a true collaboration. it was her life stream to

write a book. she always wanted to write a book but did not know what she wanted to write about. at 93 she became a published author. can you imagine that? and then she passed away may 1st of this year. but at least she saw the book published. of like to read an excerpt from "harlem godfather" if you don't mind? [applause] >> just a few minutes. >> of this is the charleston years that made it bumpy who he was. he was born october 1st 1905 in the negro section of charleston.

when bumpy was 10 a crisis of the family his 19 year-old brother was accused of killing a white man. this was south carolina a state whose unknown taking matters into their own hands when it came of accusing blacks against whites. in 1904 when year before bumpy was born one of the most atrocious lynchings occurred and berkeley county only 40 miles away a 21 year-old was fishing with six white men on the way, argument ensued who had earlier o molested his sister and he threatened to face a man but when the group returned to town bookie was promptly arrested and when he could not pay the $5 fine he was thrown into jail but later that day of a small group of white men went to the jailhouse and the man he be released they took him to the riverside and scalp him, poked out his eyes, cut off his

genitals, cut out his tongue and then tied him and he was reportedly still alive to a great and threw him in the river. the crime was so heinous that even the south carolina governor was second when he heard the details but nobody was brought to justice. this was the south carolina that dean anger up when he moved to harlem in 1919 his character was already formed he was sent to harlem by his family because he had decided he was not going to back down to the white men and they did not want to get him killed. so "harlem godfather" was published last year and actually published it through my own publishing company. with is a tribute to bumpy

johnson, also may be a but also a tribute to kk who is still trying to figure things out and excepting things for what they are. thank you [applause] >> good afternoon. i am from chicago [applause] and i am happy to be here this is almost like a second home to be the schomburg center has been a part of my life is not quite as long as the chief but somewhere in the vicinity. every time we come with third world press the chief allows us to come to this grand institution over 75 years old and we are very fortunate to

be here and most certainly for the harlem book festival 11th anniversary. thank you for allowing me to say a few words to you. my wife is in the back taking note [applause] we have been together since 1969 [applause] and we always sell brothers that the way a marriage last may always marry a woman smarter than you. [laughter] then you lakisha tell her that then you say why do right to memoir? this is my memoir, the yellow black and this is my mother it is a book that took 50 years to get out of my system and i open with a poem that is

titled yes i have nothing but my mother's memories and no piece of cloth or reread books no recipe for spaghetti or cake or coleslaw no photographs of the two of us laughing or holding hands i do not even remember her voice all i have deep inside of me are her last words, you are smarter than us, use the library and take care of your sister. and learn from what i have done wrong. coming from the lower east side a detroit michigan and chicago i group been a situation i would not wish on anybody. i was born in little rock we migrated up south to michigan. my father left when i was quite young and my sister was just born.

my mother a very pretty woman, "yellow black" she is not an educated woman she could read and write and computer to figures but she was brought into the sex trade at a very early age through black ministers. we were trying to move to detroit we moved into a place that was not suitable for anybody we went to largest black church in the troy doubt the time and sat in the front pew and the minister could not take his eyes off of another. has taken out after the sermon he whispered in her ear and one week later we move to one of his apartment buildings he was a rich richman and she service tim -- serviced him

every tuesday and thursday until he ran for the national presidency and somehow fell and hit his head and died and within the week the wife put us out and said don't come to a funeral so since we realized servicing ministers is not that dangerous they continued but it was dangerous. why write a memoir or write an autobiography? my life has been a long journey. in the beginning my sister and i essentially lived on the streets of parts of our lives. my sister was a year and a half younger one child of 14 another is 16 and other at 18 by the time she was 27 she has six children and never married and five fathers for the six

children saw her life for the most part was in a very difficult situation. i left the strike and came to shove go to live with a stranger who was my father and that lasted about six months. i finished high school and ended up going to join a magazine selling group that travelled across illinois into misery selling magazine prescriptions to stay alive. fast for i could not make a living at that i ended up in the military in the united states army. i was trying to join the reserves but they're not taking reserves in 1963 by went to the regular army. why is this interesting? by that time i was reading and was saved my life, brothers and sisters, was art.

literature, richard wright slapped me in the face, wake up in the gross why began to question the world a little differently. i was listening to louis armstrong and he was the baddest to trumpet player in the world negative not care for his mannerisms but i did understand there is a genius working with that horn than another called miles davis he was tall and black and clean all the time and played that trump could the way the wind gravitated to him like a free shoe store. [laughter] [applause] i decided i will place some trumpet. i was six-foot one

inch, 131 pounds like a walking skeletons and the guy said you do not have enough wind in you. i was walking home dejected and passed to the poor man's bank. what is that? the pawnshop. i walked in there and a man said i said what is the cheapest trumpet? $303? that is like $350 today. i said he said i will sell it to $3 down and $1 per week and i will teach you how to play it. it is a deal iran home i came back the same night and to start playing trumpet and then i became first trumpet when i went back to school and default.

[applause] music and literature, the arts saved my life for as i move been i began to understand the importance of our and as a result of really began to think differently so i graduated and this is the first 22 years and by the time you're six your life is almost framed by 21 it definitely is. i sought answers, at 24 years old i became haki madhubuti. part of the swahili language. i started to penetrate and redefining coulter of white supremacy. money, sex, corporate greed and the structure eight -- destruction of black

men our leadership of black-and-white to prostitute themselves in the name of jesus like use razor blades to justify the cowardice and to corrupt brought all of my life i have been trying to move to that level of how would you be a good man and how you make something and bring it back to the world in a much better place? so for me, regime became the answer. started reaching a high school and as i move to the military at that time it was a hurry up and wait so there was a war but i waited with books and i read about that and "yellow black". i write about my mother her name was maxine. this is one section. once accidentally walked and on my mother and a customer having sex. she was covered by his body and i early age knew that she was working.

i saw no enjoyment in her eyes and heard you cries of pleasure and the room i shared with my sister were i was always instructed to go when she was working i consumed black literature. i soon realized that sex was also an empowering tool for beautiful women who like professional athletes have less than a 10 year window to find another trade. my mother and hurt 304th year on the other side of men at lining up of four flavors -- favors in behind a bottle and annual and it up clearinghouses. seen her like that there applaud my perception of the world and help to determine my decision and a lifestyle that i never drink alcohol, liquor, i have never been high or smoked. i view drunkenness as a weakness and a curse and

without knowing it up 49 was searching for a healthy lifestyle and eventually i would find it and the literature and the music i consumed. i am somewhat of an anomaly. i am may begin. i will not even if runs from me i will 96. teach chase it. i came into the health thing but i am also in two black people. i love black people so what we try to do in chicago is we have built these institutions we have four schools from the national charter school we service over 1,000 black children per day and my wife has been primary in this endeavor.

so in 1967 i found an apartment about the size of this table for $400 and now you come to chicago we own one-half of the block in the middle of the black community [applause] when it comes to the schaumburg we say beauty and ourselves of you come to third world press you see the same thing. what we do it two 1/2 years old we teach these children to love themselves. to love themselves. relive that loath with that knowledge about themselves as they come through our program. in terms of 1969 we have young people all over the country who have come through universities, colleges, now lawyers or doctors or anthropologist or architects because my wife and i and others decided we would

dedicate our lives to our people and ourselves. i am as a writer or a poet or a man who loves humanity, was people, we realize quite early my wife and i and others that essentially we can do what we work to do. we did not come into the world as a big ears. somewhere along the way we lost our way that is why this institution is so important. they look at anybody who wants to control their own culture, is essentially that is what we are trying to do in chicago. what woke me up at 13 years old i was selling magazines on the south side of chicago. i am selling everything to stay alive but by 1955, let me read a section. killings arrived early for men

who did not appreciate their place. when chicago boy not much older than me doing to an ancestors in 1955 as one of the most brutal lynchings ever recorder. . . tongue

hanging loosely from the face like a child screaming for mercy before the final death blow, this was the place payment from the people of the state and nation that had never respected or acknowledged black people as humans. immaterial's body returned to chicago locked in a wooden box not to be open. already chopped into pieces. upon viewing his tortured,

mutilated, disfigured body. there was a national killing. a cowardly work of the christian sons, in material's mother decided her child's murder was not to be hidden in a cold classic, with lower combined with the highest sermon on evil and evildoers. the photographs in the 1955 issue, people lined up in news stands, and a new message in the

nation. the magazine was sold out in 48 hours. africans born in america now saw the end game, white supremacy, nationalism, rage, violence and ignorance. and now apartheid america was public news, national news, world news, jet magazine, win against convention. put on muscle, shoes and resistance, the shaking was beginning. and a march for freedom. she did not let his death become history's forgotten stage. a woman named rosa parks.

martin luther king jr. the united states was soon to meet hours and history, his future about to be rewritten. >> this picture right here on the left. and under it, paul roberson and w. e. b. dubois, is cultural grandfather. thank you very much. [applause] >> you know the panelists, karen

hockey, if you would like, line up to the left. the first question -- if you don't have a question, you would like to make a comment, come right up. the microphone is over there. >> let me just say that you all have here in the harlem book festival something that you can go to bed each night with a smile on your face, it is very important that these cultural

institutions and structures are not only supported, but carried from neighborhood to neighborhood, and when you live in the midst of this you don't realize how important it is and how critical is. after the day is over, go home on your evenings, sit down and jot a note, and say thank you. it would be appreciated. [applause] >> the other analysts may want to speak about the power of the media in terms of jet magazine in terms of awakening the consciousness of black america on the killing of an it feel, but today, as you know, jet

magazine, every magazine in terms of johnson's publication is petering to stay alive. i would like you all to comment on the significance of economic development and institution building in terms of sustaining the idea. new york city, the challenge you're having with the budget and the impact, as we think about moving forward to the next generation, how should we be preparing young people, they you guys have opposed, and institutions of second -- institutional and economic development. >> i will be very brief. one of the problems we face today that most black young people have no idea to they are. if you don't know and you are, anybody can name you.

[applause] >> this is why is so important that all people, particularly black people, the healthy development of black institutions. these institutions have to be essentially institutions about growth and development. our history is very important, but we can't live 5,000 years ago, we need to understand it, and understand what we are doing into the future. finally, if that is not done, what has happened is the lowest common denominator who can speak the fastest, knows the back roads, of will become a leadership. you have ignorant people telling how ignorant other people are. we have to be in the forefront of development in all areas of human evolution and finance is critical. one of the greatest weaknesses, how do we begin to make money

not for money's sake but in order to conceive of the development of our communities. one of the major problems, 42-year-old, is how we find capital to do cultural work which is not going to bring back the return. [applause] >> question directed to dr. haki madhubuti from detroit as well. i am an educational rider studying leadership at columbia. the question i have for you is when we go to the elementary level we see very few, what can we do? >> you become an ambassador, this is critical. what we have done in chicago, we have the same problem, finding young men. if you are in an audience, get a degree in education. the problem is many of them do

not want to go and work four years. university work is work, it is not a time, it is work. you become an ambassador, first within the context of your own family. they all too often, those of us who have had the color of education, we do not talk to our own families first, you encourage them to go to the university. you become the next teacher within the context of the school, the elementary school that you were in, and for the administration, we need conscientious men like you, and women, i am not only going to teach, always keep your hand in the classroom but also understand, how can i move the school to the next level. our flagship school, the

national charter school, we have waiting lists. in the middle of the black community we have a waiting list to get to that school. [applause] >> i have another question. i am doing research in the area of studies, the cultural capital. modifying juvenile behavior. the elbows of education psychology, looking at children in terms -- they grow up into, finding, how do we get -- how do we get our children to right?

the various venues at the bookstore, i see as eating food. for leaning, reading and writing. >> i can answer these questions, that is what we are doing all my life. i can tell you where you are culturally. the first thing is to clean. what is on the walls, the image on the walls reflect you. then to your book case, if you have got a bookcase. if you are reading, the children would be reading. the culture within the context

of a home. . auld this defines us. we are one of the few people who led alien culture into our homes and the fine us. in every black home, you find the most dangerous monster on 24/7. you can't multitask and read richard wright. it becomes the culture we

develop. one of the brightest and most important educator's in this country, american research education association, the largest body of researchers in the world, 25,000 members. my wife -- [applause] >> my wife at the university of chicago in three years. when she walked off of the state's northwestern grabbed her. she was inducted into the national education academy. she is going to have a workshop later on. she will ask questions more accurately than i can. >> all right. of wood like to thank you for coming but i have a question.

how are you? i am maia perkins. i have a question. you can ask pretty quickly. what you found out about yourself by writing the biographies, the biography that you wrote for mr. weber, and what karen quinones miller learned about, and even when haki madhubuti learned about writing this memoir, this autobiography of yourself over the first twenty-one years of your lives, how it came full circle, by publishing the books that you had written. >> i keep going back to the first question in terms of having the newspapers, the development of that. the last question in terms of how do we get our kids interested. nature of cognition, how we know

in 2009, is quite different from how we know in 10 years before. people learn, and what they know, is so different, we have got to find ways in terms of how we get people over the sense of who they are and utilize the take on your question of education. that is one of the challenges, you teach at one level, one way of knowing, the center kids are listening at a different level. that is my take, i should mention that. what i learned about myself, what i learned about our people is that we can to lose and forget persons who have contributed so much to development.

a few minutes ago, on the street just sitting there, i wondered how many people know how much has been done for our knowledge and development, i don't know what he has now but it seems to me what i learned so much about writing about whether, this very great man, he had done so much. i didn't read because of my time, anticipated the two great services in the nineteenth century. one is charles darwin, and the other is lord k in terms of economics. john winston was the taxonomist from whom darwin learned how to stuff birds. you never hear about winston but he is the guy, darwin went to the university of edinburg, that is what led him to learn about

birds and stuff. here is whether --weber talking about the need for government to intervene. he made those contributions, how i became an economic heretic, we know nothing about him. not just to know how -- talk about geniuses, embraced them as our own. >> our session is over and i would like to encourage you to do one thing. the commonality is we are booklover's. so i am going to ask you to buy our books, from one part of the street to the other, thank the authors and buy their books.

thank you for coming. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> you have been watching the panel on biography from the eleventh annual harlem book fair. we will continue our coverage with a panel discussion on african-american language and culture following this short break. it is book tv, live from the 2009 harlem book fair.

>> book t b is asking what are you reading? >> i am managing editor of the hill newspaper, covering politics 24/7. tie would like to get away from politics at least for a little bit. one of the books i started to read but haven't finished is called caddy for life, written by john feinstein, one of the fastest sportswriters of our time and focuses on the life of bruce edwards for tom watson, diagnosed with lou gehrig's disease, it tracks his final few months on the pga tour. another book i am going to be reading is a book written by one of my friends called receive me falling. i will be reading that this summer. it has gotten some good reviews.

another book my wife just finished is called the shaq by william paul young. it is a fictional book. touchdown know much about it but i hear that you can buy this book so i will be checking that out. i have always been fascinated by the search for osama bin laden and i will be reading a book by michael scheuer, in charge of the units searching for osama bin laden. he got a lot of attention. i haven't read any of his books, but i should take a look at one of his books and this one is called marching toward hell:america and islam after iraq. the last book i will be checking out is the 15 club. i am a big golfer, is a how-to book focusing on the mental game of golf as written by a sports

psychologist. it has taken a few strokes off of my game and i can get all the help i need. those are the books i will be checking out this summer. >> to see more summer reading lists and other program information visit our web site at booktv.org. >> book expo america in new york city, i am with craig o. harris, founder of p.m. press. what is that? >> good to see you as always, it is a small group of publishers. we do t of media, dvds, audio lectors including music and fiction and nonfiction. this all has ideas behind it, the ideas are political in the sense that we want to have an open dialogue not only about current events but how history

has been interpreted, who makes history, who defines what is important for people to know and how we could empire people to make the right decisions. >> this is your first year, you have a lot of books coming out, kim stanley robinson is one that you want to talk about, can you talk about a series he started? >> what is news to us, doing fiction, because what is important for us is to have ideas behind what we do. fiction is a place where stories can often be told and interpreted in different ways. we started a series called the outspoken author series which combines short fiction from popular science-fiction writers like kim stanley robinson, and long, in-depth interviews where they talk about personal politics, what they're trying to get across in the story, and demystify a bit of what the science fiction is about. to the reader, it can be

shocking, as the author, personal ideas are often covered up by these fictional narratives. but fascinating stuff. >> would be setting out with? >> kim stanley robinson's lucky strike, an alternative history about what would have happened in she -- hiroshima is the bomb was not dropped. i will not do away the story, but it brings into play how people are responsible for their own actions, from the lowliest soldier to us as individual consumers. these stories say what can happen when people take control and responsibility for their own actions. this is a parody of the left behind series of books where he gets his opportunity to blast the right wing born-again christians who we take great pleasure in blasting. >> you consider yourself a

politically leftist publisher? >> i am uncomfortable with using the terms leftists as with right wing because they carry too much baggage with them, but to the people who use that term, to the reader, i would say leftists are perhaps -- or perhaps extreme leftists would be the stereotyped. >> what other books do you have coming out? >> we have been working with an author, derrick jensen who is well known for his nonfiction. he has done a bunch of good books from climate change to history, from prehistoric history, native american history to the present day. what we are working on with him is a different turn, he has done a couple of goals under an imprint called a flashpoint imprint, where he is writing like most of our fiction, a story behind it. he has a tale to tell but he has a skill that involves what

happens when men exploit nature and what happens when there's climate change, what happens when there is a very bad relationship between those on top and those on the bottom, between the haves and have nots, he does these in fictional accounts that are gripping, good stories. we have done books with him where he interviews his own influences. we have done a book called how shall i live my life where the interviews environmentalists to spiritual folks to doctors, animal rights activists, and finds out for himself how people can live on a planet that is more just in a way that we can treat each other in a more humane and fair manner. >> you are a book publisher but you also want to talk about your dvds you are publishing? >> we have dvds and cds. they're all documentary's.

we have covered everything, much of our material deals with prison abolition. we do not believe that is the way to solve society's problems. we have done dvds would focus on political prisoners in the united states. we have done cds, audio lectures with numb chomsky and others who may be best known for their written books and best-selling books, but what they have to say on various subjects is equally important. we try to present the media, film, audio and book so people can explore these ideas in whatever format is easiest for them. >> in regards to format, outside of dvds and cds, the bucks were putting out, you are printing the book, are you thinking of putting books in other formats?

>> we are making them as available as possible. come to our web site and download any of the books that we publish, these books will be available as various hand-held devices, none of which i expect to catch on too widely. it is important when you are working from a perspective of getting ideas across in every format. that is what we are doing. >> what does it take to start a publishing venture? >> simple answer, an unbelievable amount of dedication and the ability to work 20 hours straight, the ability to go night and nights without sleep is one of the major things. it takes a lot of money. the end nontraditional publisher, we don't have a great deal of money. what we have is a sustainer program called the friends of

p.m. press where people pay $25 a month. that way we have a sustainable basis we can work on to help out with credit costs. >> book tv's coverage of the harlem book fair continues. up next, a panel discussion on african-american language and culture.

[inaudible conversations] kin..

[inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations].

>> you're watching book tv's live coverage of the harlem book fair now in its 11th year. for more information on the harlem book fair visit qbr.com, starting shortly a panel discussion on african-american language, and culture. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations].

>> good afternoon. we can do a little better than that. good afternoon! and welcome to this afternoon''s panel. we be, you are, they is. black english, language and culture. we have two comfortable panelists, who are with us today, to talk about the status of black language and the importance of black language and -- in 2009. and we are going to ask them to introduce themselves to you, and we'll start with dr. datsun. >> good afternoon, i'm howard datsun, director of the schaumburg center for research and black culture and i spoiz

the reason i'm on the panel is that i did a book a-a few years ago entitled the emergence of african-american culture and, one of the chapter in the book deals with the question of the origins, if you will of what we call ourselves, call black english. and i'll be saying things about that and what its relevance is for this topic today. >> good afternoon, can you hear me? okay. my name is carol lee, also known as safashia mataboui with the school of education and social policy at northwestern university and founder and chairman of the board of directors of the betty shabazz charter schools and the concept development center, a school founded in 1972. and is still in operation, and i'm also president of the american educational research association. >> thank you, panelists.

some call this period, 2009, the post-racial period and you may agree or not agree with that but i'll ask the panelists from your discipline what is the relevance of this panel discussion, talking about black english in 2009 and why is it important and should it be important to the community specifically, the african-american community? >> well, i'll start, and i have really two points to make, the first one is that there is an old adage, that if you ask the wrong question you are guaranteed to get the wrong answer. and, this is one of those areas where i think we may be -- have been busy asking the wrong question. in the sense that, we have gotten ourselves caught into a conversation about whether we -- black people should be speaking

black english or standard english and whether standard english should supersede or override black english, and whether black english outlived its usefulness, all of these considerations and concern is. and, the reason why i say it is this wrong question, is that in the 21st century world, language is in fact your key to being able to negotiate this world. and, rather than getting caught in the question of whether we should have one or the other, it really should be a situation of discussing the merits of both, and the other languages we are going to be learning. i just came back from algiers. there is a pan-african culture festival sponsored by the algerian government and they brought over 5,000 people from artists, intellectuals, scholars, writers, et cetera from all over the african continent and some parts of the

diaspora. and the first thing that struck me as i got off of the plane, was that we were met by a group of algerian students, one young lady was 18 years old. and she was already fluent in french and the arab language. but, she was also fluent in english. and we had a conversation with her and we asked, well, you know, how did you learn your english? and she said, from watching television. and she literally had sat watching television, growing up over a period of 18 years and learned not just -- learned english, over and above her knowledge of the arabic which she already spoke and learned with her family and the french she learned in school. so, this is a young lady, 18 years old who is speaking three languages and able to negotiated and carry on conversations with

people through those three linguistic structures around the world. we here in the u.s. get caught in the quite frankly foolishness about english only. if we become english-only, we will become a people that are isolated from the peoples of the world. this is not the time for black people to be, you know, getting bent out of shape about whether they are going to speak black english or standard english. they need to be speaking both, a, but they also need to be learning, we all need to be learning the languages of the other parts of the world, and, this is not inconsistent with african tradition. virtually anyplace you go on the continent of africa, people who haven't been to school anywhere are speaking at least two, sometimes three languages. so, to go back to my original point, you asked the wrong question, you are guaranteed to get this wrong answer and yes,

we should be speaking and continuing to learn and perpetuate, have knowledge of, beacon verse sant in our african-american vernacular language but we also need to, yes, we do need to learn standard english. and, we need to be learning other languages so that we are capable of, among other things, communicating with the people here in this country. in this city of new york. they listed the number of languages and i remember, that is not ast nominal could be -- an astronomical number of languages and i'm fluent in english, standard english -- i guess i am -- i'm fluent in colored english, and i'm fluent in spanish and i learned spanish as part of my peace corps training, and i spent years in latin america. you can't believe if you haven't had that experience, what life

expanding experience it is for you to learn another language and to be able to put yourself intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and linguistically into another language and the addition of languages is something that strengthens you, enhances you, gives you more capability to negotiate your world, and to be a healthy human being, in the 21st century. i think we need to be having the conversation about how we make our children -- assist our children in becoming multi-lingual, rather than having a debate about whether we should be mono lingual in either standard english or black english. [applause]. >> well, i would like to piggy back on dr. dobson's point. as i indicated, in my introduction, i am the president of the american educational research association, which is

the largest association of educational researchers actually in the world and aera has now gone into collaboration with other international associations from around the world, to form what we now call the world educational research association, wera and as we were pulling together our representatives from these bodies from across the world, the scholars in the u.s. kept struggling over the question of, we have to make sure that we are able to translate, when we have meetings, et cetera and when we had the first meeting with these scholars, from around the world, it was not only the fact they all spoke english but they often talked, particularly, in europe, of having conferences in english. and, it just seemed sort of a minor detail to them, the idea that somehow people didn't speak more than one language.

i think that there are three or four sort of big ideas that i'm going to sort of put under the veil of sort of umbrella of a scientific study of language that is really very important, it is really important for to us distinguish between sort of scientifically, if you will, what we know about language and language variation on the one hand and the political and ideological kinds of debates and philosophies that are the reason that we even pose this as a question. language as howard indicated is very much tied to a sense of identity, of who you are. and this fact that black english has survived across these many generations to me is a very clear testimony that blak black people have historically understood the connection between our ability to speak black english in our intimate

relations with one another and our sense of familihood, our sense of our place in history, time and space. i think that these debates about the question of black english are very much informed by what is a fundamentally accountable whites supremist kind of ideology around a variation. they are all lansing, national languages, all have lots of variations or dialects, and sometimes these dialects are based on the region in the country, from where you come, and sometimes they are based on issues having to do with class status, i remember when i was in college, i had some -- for those of you who -- i was a delta cigna pheta and my colleagues were from new york and i was from chicago and they talked about soda pop and the airport and i thought it was strange and it was because they were black people from new york versus

black people from chicago, versus black people from alabama or california and i think we have lots of interesting examples in the this public media, to sort of help us understand, in parted the power of african-american english or black english and one of this points i often make is, if you listen for example to someone like oprah winfrey, who transfers verses many kinds of boundaries and most of the time you hear her speaking what we call the quote-unquote standard english, until she wants to get intimate, and when she wants to get intimate and bring the audience in close, and to have them feel that they are really at home, no matter who is out there in that audience she'll revert to speaking black english, and i think if you listen to our president, president barack obama, and when he is -- when he will be speaking this version of language we are calling standard english, but when he wants to be rhetorically powerful you see that not only the rhythm of his speech changes, but, also, the pronunciation of vowels, for example will begin to change.

certainly, we have a long tradition in terms of politics, the political rhetoric, particularly in our minute material tradition, because in the case, black english, sometimes, people want to associated black english only with sin tax, i be versus i am. and that is one aspect of black english be but it is also the rhythm of the speech, also the tone is tone ation and rhythm and your body when you are communicating and also certain kinds of language, there are people who have studied, for example, interestingly, the influences of african-american english on what we call standard english. that there are certain words, for example in the english language, certainly in the south, but even in terms of the general sort of median and public, that have as their origin speech in the black community. and, certainly, i think hip-hop has become another powerful example of the power of the

rhetoric of black english that has had an impact all across the world. all languages have variation, and one of the premier linguistses studying black english, dr. geneva smithem from michigan state university uses the term the language of wider education and what we call standard english rather than being standard is like the language of commerce, is the language in the business sort of commercial community, but it's not necessarily the language of in the macy. so, a lot of times, even at the university, to try to help students to understand this, the appropriateness of language to place, you could take a working class white kid who comes out of boston, who will come to northwestern university. and once he gets there, he knows

the language of wider communication for him there is going to be some version of this standard thing. but, when he goes back home, and is hanging out with his cousins who were the not going to the northwesterns of the world, and he is hanging out in the pub drinking beer with them he will not speak the same way. he will speak the language that he grew up with, which is a particular dialect or version of english. that has functionality in terms of place. someone has said, actually the difference between the language -- a language and dialect is an army, languages have armies behind them, to give them power. so, all i'm saying is that it is important for us to not get sidetracked into thinking that the debates about blook black english are about language, they are not. they are simply about power and there are -- is no place in the world where you will not find variation in the speech of people speaking a particular national language, that differs

according to region, place, class, and historical background. >> and i want to kind of add to that -- [applause]. >> i want to add to that, that this thing we call black english has its own, you know, counterparts, in other parts of the world and we need to recognize the fact that we come out of a very particular at thises historical moment and that historical moment has been critical in shaping the language that we speak. if you go back to the air r of the slave trade, the -- one of the realities of that experience was that the people who were captured and brought to the americas were very diverse people. speaking very, very diverse languages. languages that at times were not

mutually intelligible. and so, when they arrived on these shores, they are faced with the challenge of trying to figure out how to communicate with one another. and equally important, how to be able to communicate with those who are their captors. and, in the context of slavery, it is important for us to realize that these enslaved africans of diverse african backgrounds virtually invented this new language that we call black english. now, it didn't just happen in the u.s., and just happen in the english speaking world indeed every place you go in the america, there is a variation and a version of language invented by black people this those places, using the european based vocabulary to some extent, but -- or structure, and vocabulary,

but, with a specific african content to it. and so, in a place like brazil, there is an african version of portuguese that is spoken there, that is quite distinct from the standard portuguese, that is spoken. in a place like aruba, there is a language that you had popiamento that is invented there, a combination of the english that and dutch that is unique -- a unique african based language that we invented during slavery in order to be able to communicate with ourselves because we didn't share a common language. and, in a place -- in haiti, you have -- >> creole. >> and et cetera, et cetera and what we are call black english is not something that is simply a subset of what happened in the united states. it is a reflection, and manifestation of what took place throughout the americas among people of african descent as they tried to figure out how to

understand, negotiated and articulate in language that made sense to them. the nature of their experiences, and being in the new world. so, that is a first point and the second points, though, is that one of the worst things that happens to our young people when they go to school, is they walk in to the door and the teachers declare the language they bring with them wrong wrong. because, they are the not just saying their children are not speaking the right language, they are saying that the not only what they speak is wrong, but, everything they have lived up to the time they come through the door is wrong. in other words, their culture is wrong and it calls into question the very identity and being of the child, when you say that what you are saying is wrong and, there is absolutely no reason why the schools or anyone has to say this. all you have to do is when you walk into the school, say we'll team you another language, we'll

teach you something we call standard english and there is a place for our vernacular language, which, you know, is -- basically language is -- an instrument of kanucks, if it succeeds, in carrying the message i have to you, and you carry your message back to me, then it is language. it works. and it doesn't have to have all the pejorative stuff on top of it. finally i'll say we need to insist that our teachers in our schools stop in effect laying on our children this added learning burden. they can continue to know their street language, as i do, but they can also learn the new languages that are being offered in the schools, and they should be encouraged to learn those new languages because it will be one of the tools to their future in

the 21st century. >> could i make one very brief and then -- i know you have a response to that same question. and that is, two points i want to make. one is, the international examples that howard gave, the power of them is the power of african culture and identity. to have survived even in the lack of -- direct consciousness of it. and you are talk about brazil and you go through there and there are these huge yorba -- into temples. >> what do you call them where the gods -- riches, as tall that's inside of this building. and, that -- and many of -- of us heard the stories of the winos in the alley, saying i gotta pour a little drink for h

ancestors. how did these things survive, you know, many years ago, i was in guyana, in georgetown and someone had died, and they brought the body back and went in and, they had brought the elderly sister in from the countryside, and it was lake a wake and she was [humming] and i didn't know what she was saying but i knew exactly what she was doing and so you know, alice walker talks about this, to kill the language is to kill the connection, it is to act like -- to act like all of the ancestors' shoulders on whom we stand, the reason we even exist and are able to sit here and be here, to erase all of that, and so therefore it is sacrosanct to think about doing it and the other is african-american english, arficanized english is not simply a language of the street. if you look at our greatest writers, tony morrison will tell you when she wrote the opening of it may have been "the buest

eye" i don't remember which novel it was and she wanted to have it as and in miment, wanted it to be crafted in a way that was an intimate conversation, and she had to draw on the structures of the black english and we can go from langston hughes to alice walker and ceeley in the color purposing speaks the voice of her grandmother and my husband, and you can go on. and so, african-american english or arficanized english is also -- it is also a language cultivated for literary communication and not just language of the street. >> i a, all the time, you can't sing the blues -- in standard english. it just don't work. it just don't work! [laughter]. >> yeah. and in my haste to get this panel discussion started i neglected to introduce myself, and my name is wade hudson, and i am president of just us books,

a children's book establish publisher located in new jersey. [applause]. >> many of our young people only speak in black dialect. or the language of intimacy, as you would say. but many people point to the necessity of their being able to spook in the language of commerce and when we consider all of the points that you have made, the appearance of they political aspect of looking at black dialect and also, how the use of black dialect has been used in the art form, through literature, how can we encourage and let our young people know the importance of being able to utilize other languages? not just standard english but other languages? what ways can we motivate them and encourage them?

>> well, one of the things that has happened, to be perfectly honest, is that language has almost been stripped out of school, so-called foreign language. they keep taking more and more of the -- and so, if kids don't have the opportunity to do the study, and to -- as a structured part of the learning, then, it doesn't have the value it is supposed to have. that is the first thing and so, we -- as parents, as educators and others need to insist on the reestablishment of language programs in schools, grade school, junior high school, high school, college. it is one of the great weakness i believe of the american educational system, now that we are the not doing that. but, that is -- at the educational level, at the level of the students, i mean, the truth is, that they find themselves at a linguistic

disadvantage, every day. and, we are not -- i don't think we are doing enough to -- -- their response is to go deeper into the -- i'll call it the street language, and, to try to validate that as their sense of identity and authority. they can't find security there. and expect to be able to negotiate the world. and it is our duty, our responsibility, to insist that they learn these other languages. in the absence of it, they are in effect crippling themselves and we are participating in the crippling process. i would say we, as adults, as teachers, as parents, et cetera, have an obligation to, basically, insist that the young people know the languages and

let them know what they can't do if they don't know them. i mean, that is probably the most important. without the language, they are just -- whole aspects of the human experience, that a are cut from o off from and our responsibility as adults is to foster their human development to the max. and, if we are not taking on that responsibility, as parents, as children, we are failing them -- as parents and teachers and educators we are failing them and a lot of the responsibility, pressure rests on our shoulders and we have to bring before them almost on a daily basis the things they need to know in order to be able to be and to do. >> well, i think it is very important -- i don't fundamentally disagree with howard's comment. i would say that the challenges

in terms of our children, our young people, learning to speak this variation of english, are due directly to the fact that the vast majority of african-american children are in schools that are criminally poor. and the fact that many of them speak african-american english at home and with their peers is not the source of the problem of their learning. all of us... as human beings, we are have clear about what it means to read other human beings and figure out what we have to do to get people to do what we want. and, if what our children come

to want is access to the market economy in terms of the workplace, part of what they need is opportunities to experience it. our young people have very few opportunities for mentorship, internships, for example in workplace settings, very little opportunity to come to college campuses before they are seniors in high school, and northwestern university, we have something called "the center for talent development" and you have to be tested to be quote-unquote gifted to enter this little program in the summer, and they have kids from 4th or 5th grade up through high school and once the summer hits, the campus is replete with young people. and, hundreds of young people that are on there, you can counted on one hand how many african-american or latino students that you ever see in that program, but the kids who

are in that program have a sense of what is college like -- college life like, what does it require to be able to get admission into it and once we make or schools into better places for our kids, which i would argue is one of the gravest political challenges that we have as a communities, in terms of responsibility that we take to allow them to continue to do what they do with our young people, then -- i don't think the issue of them learning to speak, another variety of english, is a huge matter at all. and i assume somewhere along the line we'll have some discussions, about the educational implications, of teaching from the strength that kids who are speakers of african-american english bring. that is what i do. i talk about it in my most recent book, "culture, literacy

and learning, in the midst of a whirl wind" teachers college press which is largely about how to draw on the kinds of things kids bring, in terms of reaching, discipline and specifically in reading and writing. >> hello, everyone, i am carla ranger with the dallas county community college district and we sponsor a program that advocates literacy called the african-american read-in which is a part of an initiative by the black caucus of national council of teachers of english, and of course this is a topic that is very relevant to us, in the community college district, and of course at the university's -- universities and high schools as well and we wanted wade hudson to be a part of this panel and i was asked to moderate and we were outside talking with others who have an interest in this topic and we have also asked to join us mr. rodney reynolds, who is the

publisher of american legacy. american legacy. yes. to get back to a very basic question, there is much discussion and documentation of the discontinue newts between school language and culture. and home language and culture. what do you think is an effective approach in addressing these dis continuities and it gets lax back to what you were hinting, camera, and i'd look a response from each of you, to that question. >> i think the first important issue in terms of schools is to help young people understand language. and to understand the structure of language, the functions that language serves.

in my own work, i have shown how knowledge of signifying, your mom is so skinny, she can do a hoola hoop in the cheerio, that involved in understanding the -- and signify, you have to understand figure tiff language and you have to understand irony and satire and so, our kids will come into a classroom for example, where they will be asked to read some literature for example, that involves figure tiff language, symbols, irony, satire, et cetera, and they have struggle -- may struggle in the classroom, because they are speakers of black english and the teacher thinks they don't have the capacity to deal with the complexity and as soon as the kid walks out of the door he starts producing the very kinds of figure tiff tropes that they

ask him to done and i've shown in a number of studies how helping speakers -- students of african-american english to understand the structure for example of something like your mom is so skinny she can do a -- hoola hoop in a cheerio, to understand the structure of that and how do you know, for example, in listening to hip-hop is another example, uses -- talk about in the book, the mask by the fujis, and there is no kid who years ago listening to the mask would think the reference to the mask in those lyrics is literal. everybody listening to it, the kids listening to it, understand the mask stands for something, but, they don't know -- may not know the word symbol and may not know what kind of strategies they are using to reject a literal interpretation, and to construct a figure tiff interpretation and so, what we have done in our work and what we call culture modeling is to help start kids with the -- examining the every day uses of

language and the critical thinking that lays behind the production and analysis of their every day language. and, then, show them how that then applies to the reading of very complex text. there is also -- has also been work by geneva smitherman, who i mentioned earlier is certainly without question the preeminent scholar of study of black english in the united states and she has shown the national assessment of educational progress and the closest things we have to a national exam in the the u.s., and she had shown, taking writing samples of 7th graders, looking at thousands of essay, that it -- had already been scored, in prior years, and, she found that the higher the use of black english, not in terms of i be versus i am. but, in terms of rhetorical strategies, the higher the grade that had been given to that assessment. so, the point i'm simply trying

to make is that there is an existing body of work, one that shows that by helping speakers of black english understand the power of the language they use, that that can be used to help them become bitter in this case, readers and writers. >> -- better, in this case, readers and write sneers i think it is important not only to know black english and standard english but i think it helps us to communicate effectively in today's society. especially i think it is important for our youth. the internet has been extremely helpful, in the society in which we live today, but, i think sometimes our youth, our children, begin to become involved in the internet and use computers far too soon, i think we need to get back to the basics in terms of learning how to read. the language skills. i think, that that is so important. i know that that was one of the

things that we need -- i did as a parent. my wife and i did as parent, was to make sure that our children could read early on, and i think it is so important. we have to interact in a number of different communities. not only in our own community, but -- because i might talk differently to my friends, but i have to know how to interact in the business community, as well. and i think that is so important, and i think our youth and our children need to understand that they have to be able to effectively communicate in two different societies, basically, today and i think that is one of the things that is so important. >> i went to chester high school in chester, pennsylvania. it was a racist town, and we had -- our junior high school up through junior high school it was all segregated and in the en high school we integrated and when we integrated our junior high school into the -- with the

other white junior high schools, that -- found ourselves in the a very competitive situation and those of us who had chosen to become academic majors found ourselves at a tremendous disadvantage and we started a study group, 8 of us -- actually, 9 of us ended up graduating and 8 of us were in the study group, and the way we figured out how to get through all of those courses was to -- we'd have our meetings, read the stuff in the standard english and then sit down and talk about it in the street language. and break it down into language that you know, you -- that we could understand. and by the time we got around to doing the test we knew the stuff, and if we didn't write it in the street language, we wrote it in the standard english but we learned it through the application of the street language, or african-american vernacular language, of the --

modalities and it worked. so there are -- there are many ways in which that which we have learned as our basic language can be used to advance our, you know, situation and our being. we do need to be clear, though, that learning the other language is a different kind of work. and we didn't need to develop the same level of -- or mastery of it that we have of the language of our homes and our base cultures. >> could i add one brief thing, though, just to that? i keep trying to place this discussion about african-american english in the larger context of using language. learning -- a middle class white child who grows up in a home, speaking this thing that we call standard english, or language of

wider communication, in terms of pronunciation and sin tax, saying, i am instead of i be, when that kid, particularly hits middle school or high school, learning to speak the language of mathematics, learning to speak the language of physics, learning to speak the language of science, is learning a different language. and it's not easy. in other words, it is not that because you can speak standard english at home, that that gives you some sort of easy pathway to learning the academic english of disciplines. and for people who have gone to graduate school, they have often the biggest challenge there, first year graduate students when you listen to them try to talk about the content that they are studying, they sound like second language learners. because they are learning a

different language. >> right. >> and, your example, howard, would hold equally true, of a student who was bilingual in spanish and english, so the ability for them to talk their ideas through in spanish, and in other words, we -- so much of what happens in terms of talking about black people is situated as though we exist in some kind of special bubble universe for black people, or for colored people. we are talking about the issue of the kinds of challenges that are always attached to learning new varieties of language. and black kids are in a very -- the very same position as other learners are. the question is, what are the -- not that the challenges are so much different. it is the question of what of the nature of the supports that are available to help them do

that, and the problem is, that for black kids, who are poor, and who are speakers of african-american english, the supports available to them in school are of a quality -- qualitatively different order than they are for kids who are more avenue fluent, and or affluent and white. . >> i think also, the primary definition and purpose of language is to communicate. and i think one can speak the so-called standard english and system not be able to communicate very well with someone who may be more learned or may have a more broader vocabulary. and i think that standard english keeps -- from my viewpoint, keeps changing, too. because different words are added. every year. so, you know, when we really

talk about standard english, then my question is what are we really talking about? what really is standard english? is it the way commentators on television express themselves, is that this standard english? is it the way some of the tv performers communicate and express themselves? is that standard english? or are they using a mixture of dialect along with so-called standard english? so, i think sometimes we can get caught in the trick-bag of looking at standard english as the superior one, as what you are saying, and if the primary goal of language is to communicate, then i think we really need to focus on that, too. yet understanding that we need to help our kids understand the importance of being able to communicate on different levels. >> this point that you are

making about language in change in very important. we are living in the midst of change, not only in terms of vocabulary but in terms of what we call sin tax as well. so wade, right? >> yes. >> if i were to call you and say, hey, wade, is that you? you would say, what, it's -- >> it's me. >> it's me, english teachers would say you are supposed to say, what, it's i. nobody says it's i. why? because that is a structure of the language. that is in the midst of change. we are living in the midst of this change right now. if you listen to television, and all of the variety of people who are on television, speaking, as an english teacher, which is my training, i hear all kinds of errors. they are the not the i be errors, but they will be errors, if they have a subject and there is a long phrase in between the subject and the predicate and they will not use the appropriate congregation on

that, and -- con you. >> gags on that and i have ph.d. students who constantly write thing using the word a noun like "people" and pronoun like that instead of who to refer back to them and these are advanced ph.d. students. right? so there is a woman connie weaver who years ago did a study and wrote letters and sent them off to businessmen the people we think the standard english is supposed to gives this automatic passport to, right? and she would imbed in some letters, she'd put errors that were not associated with black english. and they didn't pick those out. they didn't even notice them and then, some others she'd put errors that were associated with black english and those they picked out, right? so, all i'm saying is, black people, we really have to move -- we live in this spiderweb of racism. where everywhere you turn, white

supremist ideology has something that we are supposed to be reacting to, and they say you don't have language, oh, we have language, don't have this, oh, we have this. we are human beings and human beings struggle with language variation. and, in human communities, language changes. and, in all human communities, in different ways, people struggle over power, about language. and as howard had said earlier, everywhere in the world where you find african people, having been taken from africa and brought to be a slave -- enslaved in parts all over central south america you find arficanized versions of french, of spanish, of port dpeez. so, these -- these are d-portuguese and these are notch ral phenomenon and it is important to understand it and get out of the game of always having to react to some kind of negative stuff people are

putting out there. it is silly. >> and the politics you are talk about, of the language, i mean, at a certain level, nobody speaks standard english. it is a standard written form. there is a standard written form that is a convention, if you will, that people embrace, but, the white people who come to school, don't speak standard english. the asian people who come don't speak standard english, et cetera. that is one side and the other is that yes, the language is constantly changing. and among the critical change agents in american english and maybe we need to state that it is american english, not standard english, because, there are other englishes. >> that's right. >> that's right. indian english, canadian english. >> canadian english and a -- and the brother and sister from jamaica!

speak something called jamaican english. but, right here in the united states, whatever it is we call american english is being transformed daily by our language, by our vernacular, by what we said and how we say it. and they are more -- i mean, especially among young people, they have taken -- take on through the music, and through the interaction with black folk, they take on the language that we speak. and so, that which is -- and i guess the real question is, the -- what we might call the language of the public discourse or the public environment where we talk. as opposed to the language of either the courtroom or the -- actually the newspapers, not even the television any more.

those kinds of things, and so i think we need to make those distinctions. within it all, know two things, this language we speak is over -- is as old as america. and that is the first thing. and, that it is a living, vital, dynamic language that is constantly changing and constantly introducing new vocabulary into it and that vocabulary and the way it is spoken is constantly impacting on what america and americans say and think and understand, and the ways in which they understand their world. >> we have had -- let me just get to our other panelists, who have joined us because i know there are questions of the audience, we have another panelist, and didn't properly introduce rodney reynolds, rodney is president and ceo of rjr xhuk rchlr communications a and publisher of american legacy and executive producer and american legacy television and thank you for your rance to the

first question and we hope to get responses from each of you and we have had another, again, another panelist to join us and i'd like for judy to introduce herself, because, having a linguist here, and historian and author and all of you are authors and a publisher, we also have a teacher, a high school teacher. >> yes. >> judy, will respond to very quickly, that -- the discontinuities between home language and culture and school language and culture and your approach to up bringing those together or dealing with that effectively, if you can respond to that, and, then, i'm going to ask each of you to bring it back around to the harlem book fair and to books, if you have a book or an author you might suggest that parents can read, that will assist or support with this or give to their children to read and then we want to go to some questions. >> okay. what's up! how are you duin', how you be? what's going on, girl!

it's nice to meet you! what it be like, asante-san amount, hello, i'm judy andrews and i have been teaching for 18 years at boys and girls high school in brooklyn. and i believe the language that a-- a lot of the students are speaking today is reflected in media and this in the image they try to perceive, that they actually do perceive, but they try to emulate. because of the curriculum that teaches teachers are given under the new no child left behind act, we have been forced as teachers to teach contrary to the culture of the student even though we have multi-cultural education. as a result of that, you have students who are african-american, who are speaking a variety of languages, even though they may be from the caribbean, and call themselves caribbean-american or they may be from what we call back in the day, the gullageeche.

language which is a reflection of the slang the students are speaking today, and when you hear your grandmother say, i reckon so, you can do that, or that is up to the notch or we have to hold on, we own freedom, that is still a spectrum of language that is still a part of the african-american experience and so in order for teachers, educators, parents, and the professional world, to look at the discontinuities of language we have to first started with the family and create a respect for language that we are not getting from the world and from each other:

>> to your history and to your culture. and that should not be separated. i think it starts with parenting and in the home where there is a respect for language. and then as you go into adulthood, you learn how to create your own i would guess nuance of the written word. and other spoken word. that kind of go together but you have to find your own place.

and it's very difficult to do that in america because of the media, the image and a lack of respect for african people and african-american people in this country. so we have to determine what is it that we are going to say that is going to create respect amongst us. >> all right. thank you. you each mentioned so many topics that we could actually get into, but we do want to get some questions. but to give our audience one or two books or authors or papers or essays they might read, parent should read or have their sons and daughters read to help them understand who they are linguistically and culturally. if you have a suggestion will you do that now? >> we have a mobile truck that we take around the country. last year we did about 15 cities. it's a mobile museum. it's all about our history and our heritage, and this past year

we added another component to it that included a reading corner that was sponsored by scholastic. and day, i noticed, on the truck there was a read and rise of books series that a lot of the students went to ever able to read the books. and they were culturally really geared towards the african-american culture, and it was also i think sponsored in part by the urban league. i think they have something to do with that series as well. so that's just one. and then i know as i was coming down, my wife mentioned, she runs a program called freedom schools in mount vernon, new york, and she mentioned that they believe the freedom schools all across the country, i think that's what she said, are supplied with books from justice books, i believe.

>> thank you. suggestions for authors or books. >> well, i would recommend authors rather than books. i think any of the work by abu g. would be a appropriate. baldy myers is an excellent writers for young adults and he has written what was 60 books that deal with the urban experience. and langston hughes. langston hughes writes the language of blues and the people, and i think he demonstrates the black english or ebonics, whatever you want to call it, is not an inferior language or way of expressing.

>> well, i mentioned earlier in our conversation that there are so many great african-american writers who draw a very powerful ways on african-american english and deal with themes that are things of empowerment and identity. and they certainly, you know, alice walker, mary barack is, langston hughes, i came up a booty. toni morrison. we could go on and on and on. a great issue i think about these great writers which i think is true of all great writers around the world, the great writers i believe are like priest who have the gift of second sight. that is, they understand powerful things about what it means to be a human being. and that one of our major responsibilities is to teach our children when they are very done to love books.

to love books into love to read. and once they love the books and learn to read, they will read a widely. and they should be able to read widely across all kinds of traditions, but certainly within the tradition of african writers who do talk in powerful ways about the conundrum of the human experience. and just as a very brief example of what i'm talking about. as much as i and howard have read about the holocaust or enslavement of african people in the united states, it was really not until i read toni morrison novel beloved that i had a sense of what it meant to step inside the shoes of a woman living, and a man, living at that time. or alice walker's -- not alice walker. toni morrison to the bluest eye to understand what made you stand inside the shoes of a young black girl living inside a world in which the images to

find her out of existence. and at the same time, understand the humanity of a father who would do the horrendous thing that the father does in the bluest eye. these are difficult kind of questions that great writers deal with, and that active reading help our kids to read widely will transform. it will also mean that rooms like this will be full of people because it's full of people who love books. >> thank you. if you have questions, where you line up at the mic here to my left, and the panelists will be glad to respond. >> good afternoon. thank you to doctor howard dodson and also to max rodriguez for organizing this very important discussion on books. [applause] >> my question is to doctor lee who made a point earlier on the importance for community

control. when you are talking about how it's important that our students be able to have people who respect their culture in terms of not just denigrating black english. and one of the barriers to that in terms of community control, especially as it relates to urban cities in this country seems to be unions. and particularly here in new york. you see how the ocean hill brownsville fiasco of 1968 really ended with the community losing control because of the teachers union. and being from philadelphia, i've heard from several black educators about the ways in which the teachers union there settled with a provision in the contract that limited the number of black educators. so if you've written extensive extensively, what suggestions do you have, doctor lee, for people within the union and for

communities to deal with unions in terms of being more sensitive to the needs for african-american children? >> i would make two comments. one is that public education is it essentially political. and one of the patterns that is beginning to emerge in districts across the country, it's true in new york city. it is certainly true in chicago. is it where school systems are now fundamentally directly under the control of the mayor. and once, and in some respects, although some people may have resisted that, that actually can potentially be politically empowering because mayors want to get reelected. and the fundamental question is how we are organized at the community level, understanding all the key players in the game

of financing, education and making educational decisions. and on the whole, i think that we are not, because even at the point of ocean's brownsville, situation, it was still a politically different one in the sense that the politics, it wasn't as direct as i think as it is now. the second point i would make is that there is, that unions in many respects are not gaining but losing power. teachers unions included in the united states. so i wouldn't necessarily at this point i point to the unions as the source of the problem, if you will. charter schools are not only on the rise, even in terms of some of the focus of the new administration in terms of education. charters are a major part of the transformation of schools,

public education in the united states. lots of black people resist it. my sense is it's out there, it's coming. when this started happening in chicago, we said if this is the name of the game, we are going to be in it. so if you want to have it, we have got to have some schools. so we have three charters in chicago with the intention of not only developing more in chicago, we've got our sights on new york city. we got our sights on new orleans. in terms of expansion, because we think that the politics of charter schools opens up an opportunity for those of us who say we've got ideas about educating our children, to actually take the reins and do that. and i think that's another opportunity that in every place, such as in new york city, you've got plenty of charter schools here. i think that black groups should be organizing politically to get schools and control them. >> and that's starting to happen a lot, i know, in east orange

where i live. our church started a charter school last, this last year. and we started with 230 students. so it is a growing movement, and i think that is one of the answers. >> very briefly. we have been in the business of education for almost four years. for most of that time we ran independent african centered schools. we charged very small tuition, even less than catholic schools. we made little money. when i was working directly in our schools i'd didn't make more than $400 a month. however, we still have to charge. with chartered schools, it's public money and kids can come free of charge. >> that's right. >> next question. >> i have a question and in a statement. the question really is for any panelists. i name is from african

perspective. you talk about language. i want to address the issue about naming your child, how much of a communal sense when you name your child. i'm talking about so why did he. if i hear someone else and no disrespect to anyone here, name their child alice a., or indication, and i'm not knocking what to do, but understand the power of the name of what that represents, and secondly, this is a wonderful, phenomenal opportunity but what we are missing in this audience are the young people and that's were i'm at in terms of their voice so we can hear what they are saying about the length which we are talking about. they need to be here too we are talking about. that's all. >> i had a student named ration a. [laughter] >> i think many students are into the rap culture. there's a lot of, there's a new thing called poetry slam, which is really an expression that was started back in chicago at a jazz club by a young man named mark, i think his name is mark

smith. it was a way for students to express their feeling, because they didn't have the money to go see a psychiatrist or a therapist. so poetry slam is this a new version of rap and hip-hop. it allows students to really tell you what they are thinking about the world and who they are. and we have national poetry slam contest. actually teach poetry slam at a boys and girls high school in brooklyn. the problem that we're having with culture is we have integrated to a point where we have lost julliard. and the only time we discover who we are in our language, whenever it is expressed when you are at a family reunion or family outing, where we can connect to the family. i stress the family a lot because it's not enough to just have a charter school like doctor lee explained. it's more to get the family involved in the school and education process. you should go.

you shouldn't have to give a list of books to people because we're in an age of technology now. where you can go on the computer and you can find out what your interests are, what are the things you like to read about. there is a multitude of information out there, and i think it's african americans we need to explore more and not have such fear about going into a bookstore, or going into the public library. it's more than that. you have to really have a love for books, and put that in the minds of the child at a young age. let them fend -- don't let them fend for themselves so we have to teach them. >> i have been told that our time is up, but i believe that our panelists will be here for a little while, or at least out front for a little while longer for additional questions. thank you again, judy, andrew, roger reynolds, doctor howard dodson, wade hudson, doctor

carol lee, for this topic of interest, not just african-americans, but to the entire community. and when we are asked who is at the door, when it comes to our understanding of the link between culture and language, the answer maybe it's me. it may be it is i. but it ought to be we are at the door to find out. thank you very much. [applause] >> [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

>> you have been watching a panel discussion on african-american language and culture. book tvs live coverage of the 2009 harlem book fair continues with our final event of the day, a panel on writer ama ata aidoo after this break. >> this summer book tv is asking what are you reading? >> i am not to sack a managing editor of the hill newspaper. hill newspaper covers politics 24/7, so in the summer i at least like to get away from politics at least for a little bit here and one of the books i started to read, i haven't finished yet, is called caddy for life. this is written by john feinstein, he is one of the best

sportswriters of our time i think that focuses on the life of a bruce edwards who was a caddy for a golfing legend, tom watson. edwards gets diagnosed with lou gehrig's disease. so it tracks his final few months on the pga tour. another book that i will be reading is a book written by one of my friend called receive the following. so i will be reading that this summer. it's on amazon.com. i will be checking that out. another book my wife just finished is called the shack. it's by william paul young. a lot of buzz around this book. it's a fictional book. i don't know too much about it but i hear you can apply this book to your everyday life, and so i will be checking that out as well. i've always been fascinated by the search for osama bin laden, and i'm going to be reading a book by michael sure your. he is the former cia agent who was in charge of the unit

searching for bin laden. he recently wrote for the washington post. i haven't read any of his books but it reminded me that i should take a look at one of his books. and this one is called marching toward hell, america and islam after iraq. the last book that we will be checking out is called the 15th club. i'm a big golfer and this is kind of a how-to book. it focuses on the mental game of golf. it's written by a sports psychologist bob rotella. and i would recommend it. i started, it's taken a few strokes off my game and i can get all the help i need. so those are the books i will be checking out this summer. >> is the more summer reading list and other program information, visit our website at booktv.org.

>> the publishing imprint of 12 publishes 12 books a year. cary goldstein is publicity director at 12. mr. goldstein, what are some of the books you have coming out in the later 2009? >> this summer where publishing henry waxman's, the waxman report, in july. it's a look back at some of the landmark legislation that the congressman has been involved with. tobacco, clean-air, nutritional labels. and what he does is he explains to us how coalitions are built, how does get moved from subcommittees to the committees, how he collects both. and it's really a look at how it is made and of course has a couple of big bills going this summer so we expect a lot of attention. >> did you approach henry waxman or did he approach you? >> our publisher approached the congressman and thought that he would be a perfect person to explain how congress works. and i should add that josh green for the atlantic monthly has written to the congressman and asked for a job. >> another book by peter

peterson. >> he has lived a fairly phenomenal life. who was born in 1926, raised by greek immigrants, was born in the depression era in nebraska. worked in his father's beiderbecke found himself of the secretary of commerce for nixon. chairman and ceo of lehman brothers and later cofounded the blackstone group your kerry are in the greatest recession since the great depression, and he has sort of a birds eye view of this, that few people would have. >> who is pope bronson and ashley merryman. >> a journalist and writer of the number one bestseller. ashley merryman is a science journalist. and these have taken a look, much as they did for the economy, and friedman did for globalization. they are taking a global look at children. what they discovered is there are certain key twists that science is have overlooked. and recent research shows that

conventional wisdom of raising our kids is all wrong. so they want a national magazine award for a piece they did on praise in new york magazine. it turns out for example that we all think grazier children and give them confidence, very bright, very good looking, will show, in fact, that make her children less inclined to do things they don't think they are good at. furthermore, more inclined to cheat. they are also chapters on siblings. there are chapters on gifted programs, testing for private schools. it turns out that the testing for gifted programs, they do in kindergarten, and testing for ely to private schools, they retested a lot of these kids three or four years later and they found that they have in this place these kids 73% of th time. three years later, they developed differently and at different rates. 73% of these kids should not be in the programs they are in. >> is at risk in today's economy to publish only 12 books a year? >> actually i think it makes a lot of sense because, i talked

about this before, we put all of our energy on one book for a full month. we are not distracted by other, you know, campaigns. and we can be created and we cannot just publish a book one way. we can publish one book several ways. on the one hand, it's a book about deception. robert is one of them world leading authorities on deception. he is the chair of the department of behavioral science at umass. i'm sorry, i'm blanking. he has written this book, when he was a young assistant professor yuan to the national archives. he thought he would listen to the nixon tapes and go to the greatest liar ever and learn a thing or two. what he discovered was remarkable, aside to make a remarkable. what he said was even he, an expert, couldn't tell when nixon was truthful or not. so the book is not about your medoc port clinton scalise. it's about the lies we tell everyday. each of us tells on average

three lies every 10 minutes. and icu, you look good. i feel well. no more lies we are told, the level of our own lives increases. clinically depressed people have more accurate views of themselves and powerful people, who tend to maintain a façade of strength in order to maintain their ambition. so he covers all these things but it's not just, like i was saying, it's about how to handle lies in the office, lies in your bedroom, lies at the dinner table. that we published it so psychology book, a book about business, it's a book about becoming a more honest person yourself. >> how far in advance do you plan your 12 books a year? >> well, we have acquired, we got books scheduled through next august. so we have august 2010. yeah, august 2010. so we are scheduled through august 2010 people are starting to think about the following fall.

not all of the main script have been delivered yet but we know what's coming up. there is some great stuff coming up throughout this next year. >> as an acquiring editor and an editor, what do you do? >> most of my job, 90% of my job is spent promoting the books. but i also have the opportunity to edit about a book a year. i edited one novel last summer. i'm working on one right now produced by jerry wind child. as an editor what most i do is look at the books that are coming in. i let them know whether i think we can spend a full month promoting these books. and that's one of the things that we are thinking about, is not just great writing first and foremost. a singular book, which there are in other books like out in the market but also at its a writer and a subject that we can focus on for a full month. beyond review coverage. >> twelve books.com is the

website. cary goldstein is director of publicity. >> book tvs live coverage of the 2009 harlem book fair continues with our final event of the day. starting shortly a panel discussion of the danae and writer ama ata aidoo. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> good afternoon.

this is a panel entitled politics and legacy of ama ata aidoo. our moderator is very distinguished writer, novelist and anthologist. seven books. the most recent one is ama in between. doctor nunez is distinguished professor in the cuny system and is now the provost vice president at major evers and so it is with great pleasure that i introduce doctor nunez as our moderator for this afternoon's panel, politics and legacy of ama ata aidoo.

[applause] >> thank you. the guinean writer, ama ata aidoo, has left an indelible mark on almost every literary genre. from poultry, drama, fiction, essay, children's literature and more. equally significant are the values infused in her writing. the revolutionary dynamic she sets in motion since she began to write in the 1960s. from slavery to human and political rights of women, and the dispossessed, the colonial impact, to re- connections between africa and, ama ata aidoo familiar themes into pushback against the threats to our shared humanity and sense of human decency.

this afternoon, we have four distinguished scholars and writers who will talk to us and discuss the works of ama ata aidoo, and the impact of her work on our society today. we begin first with doctor carol boyce davies. doctor carole boyce davies is at the forefront of attempt to broaden the discourse surrounding the representation of and by black women and women of color. she earned her doctorate from the university in nigeria, her mashers degree in howard university and her bachelor's degree at the university of maryland. her most recent book is an encyclopedia of the african origins experiences and culture.

the way we have structured this panel is that i will introduce each one of these distinguished scholars, and we have sort of cleared sort of thing niche for them to speak about the work of ama ata aidoo. so beginning with doctor boyce davies, what i will ask her to discuss is the impact of ama ata aidoo work on the politics of women's rights. [applause] >> thank you, elizabeth. it's such a pleasure being in schomburg. always the center of academic excellence and scholarly conservation of our history. a pleasure always to honor that. i'm talking today about politics and the works of ama ata aidoo. and basically what i want to do is locate her within a series of context. recently, i was actually in algeria last week -- this week

actually for the pan african african altar and i was looking at c-span international which has a program called african voices. and in it they were interviewing a dg. and she says interestedly speaking casualty about things that occupied her that she was concerned about the idea that marriage is not set up for the benefit of woman, and indeed can be dangerous to woman, but that women are conditioned to behave and suffer the price. she is speaking casually, but her sense of any relationship to the kinds of work that people like ama ata aidoo would have already put forward. she says also in that discussion that her recent work tries to confront the hypocrisy of denying that same-sex relationships existed -- exist in africa. so what i wonder, put forward personal is the question of ama as the letter as a form of the. and it is my contention that her generation are able, are now

able to put these issues casually on the table while writers like ama ata aidoo had already set the table itself. i'm using this domestic metaphor deliberately. so while she claimed the influence as she should, even down to the fact of coming out of the house, technically having lived in a house, i am arguing that she is also coming out of another house and that is a house of african women's writing in which ama ata aidoo was indeed literary form other. so it's really critical than in any of our studies or considerations of this question of ama ata aidoo to consider that the feel of women's writings is now a rich one which is nice because the people like ama ata aidoo. so that works like susan allens is really important, women writing africa, which sort of fills in many of the historical contours of african women's writings, add further to the breath of that understanding of

this field and earlier works at one with which i was involved with with africa all press and icy catherine is in the audience, steadies the women in african literature. and in which two contributors who i know are here today participated, reveal a variety of critical studies on the various writers. indeed, we were trying to pretty much clear the ground at that time so that one can actually have an ongoing systematic study of the women and african literature. so now it's not unusual to find you know, works at actually tie to themselves feminism and african literature. so one does the casual e-mail search and you find all of these works coming up with their title. and indeed, the feel of african feminism can now be identified as a very rich one. meanwhile, the work of ama ata aidoo has progressed consistently in pace with this through individual essays, by scholars, works by people like

vincent on the politics and really against colonialism. whenever i see, and wonderful essays as well. i want to really highlight changes on its wonderful introduction by susan allen which gives you an amazing overview of the entire oeuvre of ama ata aidoo. perhaps now if i would just turn to some of the ways in which ama ata aidoo tried to articulate her own feminist politics it may be helpful. one of the first places in the collection called sisterhood is global and is by robin morgan which became one of the first subject of our reality of african women. in that short essay, to be a woman, which followed the statistical information on republic of gagne itself is that such a divorce, rape, sexual-harassment and so on engaged at that point. particularly striking was her assertion that as she came of age, she recognized that women

were meant only to provide a variety of service roles and then being a writer was therefore not part of that scheme. and as a result, she's been quite a bit of time talking about the difficulties and the pains of writing as an african woman writer back then. including, you know, the variety of attacks that one would get from colleagues, scholars, other riders and so on. and what she argues in one of her conclusions is that the criteria for judging human accomplishments is the excuse of the masculine where women outside of the preventing of what constitutes a full and functioning human being. and it is here that, she offers one of her first associations that marriage which becomes the pretext for the preoccupation in the thing around your neck. she said, and this is i will pull out some of her points, she says in an essay, quote, marriage is both singularly effective as an instrument of oppression.

it has put more than half of humanity through mutations that are entirely humiliating and at best ridiculous purchase to make an interesting point which i see as another pretext to my own work in which he says that it is a radical struggle and the various national liberation struggle. go, the fact that a colleague understands a finer points of marxism or is the most fearless fighter in the bush does not automatically mean that he has the notion of women's capabilities. enter final receiver which was indeed, proves reality in several locations, quote, don't be shocked if when victory is one they return you to the veil as part of the process of consolidating the gains of the revolution. page 65. this is accurate, as you know, proven to be quite accurate for a number of locations. this was, of course, written in the heady days of feminism movement of the more recently

published today from african woman, published in 1991. then listing women who turned seven, it expected limitation that she makes a point that one should assess a series of things and looking at the condition of african woman. indigenous african society factors. the conquest of the continent by europe, and to be clear about the lack of vision or courage in the leadership of postcolonial african leaders period of. and it's a point that a number of african feminist would come to a really nice way, and some of them would say that it is actually the men who spoiled the gains of independence, if you will. and somewhat actually argue, and she says that if we were to really bring women into the picture, they should in this half of the world, then we can be sure that we have a more vibrant understanding of realities of the continent. this is a position that many other progressive areas have had to come to and it's often a sign

that if you work with educating women, you educate the continent itself. but you know, others would also come to that point later, for example, think a rough. but they see the emancipation of women as the last possible hope for ourselves and for everyone else on the continent. as we know, the african union is critical of the rights of women ratified by 23 countries. now, if we were to turn to some of the work itself, and i'm just going to briefly talk about two points before i stop. one is the whole logic of the creative theatrical. what i argued in her work is that she acts are sometimes put forward some of the major theoretical positions that she would also argue in some of her shorter essays. and she does this marvelously in a work called and a walk which

really theorizes the middle passage. and it is actually might be one of those works which has to be addressed seriously if we look at the whole iraqi were russians that come from middle passage sexuality. and she also along with that has really an amazing way of incorporating within that same text the logic of the woman caught as it were between traditional expectations and then of course the logic that sort of keep her back in a particular position. so i wanted to really make sure that the question of reclaiming the self for ama ata aidoo has to do with reclaiming the african for herself, the african self itself but also the black female body, the black female self. she does this marvelously working with her subject well which provide the african return stories suggest i will take you back to africa narrative which is really i think a small text within.

it's like i'm going to take you back and all that, you know, to the continent and make you a princess. so now she goes to africa where she is clearly not a princess and she is dealing with major issues. so the expectations and experiences are less than romantic, and clearly she is ill prepared as well to confront the realities of living in an african familial context. and of course, this is work done by skillfully as she allows the family of woman to really come together to work this difficulty out in many different ways of the husband remains. i mentioned, one of the ways i found her interestingly locating, in the big house, those of you who are familiar with the eyes of god and know this as well, that janie when she is the mayor's wife is a similar situation sorbent stalled in the big house and having to sort of carry out the sort of dreams of the male who is now sort of set himself as receiving the benefits of, you

know, this colonial struggle, if you will. but she resists this and find accomplice he with his relationship locates in the sort of economic globalization by the slave trade and the development of new capitalism. which uses its own people as commodity. and she is not afraid, ama is not afraid to confront this question about african complicity of those few who are able to profit from the slave trade itself. and what i found in changes, which is, and i'm conscious of the times or try to wrap this up now, what i saw in changes was an amazing ability to deal with the contemporary experience. she returned to marriage again, but she has a character who has to deal, read, reject an unsatisfactory marriage. but interestingly be reduced to eight wife and a polygamist

marriage finds is also not satisfied. and the entire text can be written as a critique of marriage with which we began. but without the losses for the woman this time. mobility is critical. motherhood is not essential even though she is a mother. instead, there is a lusty enjoyment of her sexuality and as she comes to be into claimers up under these conditions, as she continues to find answers to difficult questions. so let me just close with how ama sums up the situation. quote, so the marriage state but dramatically changed. all questions and answers disappeared. she had had to teach herself not to expect him at all. as she believed when he insisted that he loved her very much. she knew it was true, that he loved her in his own fashion. when she became certain of was that his passionate loving had proven quite inadequate for her. she comforter herself that made her boned blood myself, not her

unseen self, would get answers to some of the big questions she was asking of life. and this is how she answered. not suggesting that this is going to be a perfect situation, but suggesting that there are a series of questions that would still have to be engaged which still have to be answered and which i would suggest it takes is really directly into a future but also of other works, including with which i began. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, doctor boyce davies. i met ama ata aidoo about 20 years ago when i was directing the national black writers conference and invited her to speak, and was really impressed with her. and much of what you say, have said there, doctor boyce davies, resonates with me on meeting her. we're going to move now to another professor here, and this is doctor nana holy who is

assistant professor of english at indiana university, or are you associate professor? she was born in ghana and she is an accomplished artist who comes over tree, dance and fashion design among her means of expression. doctor hoying will. paul: is about the politics of motherhood and ama ata aidoo's work. [applause] >> good afternoon. i want to begin -- yes, some allows are short and nobody thinks about us. and did we forget ourselves how short we are when we come up to

tall people. [laughter] >> i'm glad i recognize that. i am one of the few people -- well, i possibly the only people here who can claim i have been blessed to know ama ata aidoo. she was my college professor. we became colleagues. above all, she has been my sister from day one, and i am proud to say i am also a well-known scholar on ama ata aidoo. so it's a pleasure to be here. i normally will watch this kind of thing on c-span, and i have always desired to be here. so it's a real pleasure and the occasion is also for me to share my love of this wonderful woman. those of you who are here. in all on ama ata aidoo that

ideal, trying to come to terms with what brings the affairs together, the topics that prevails in my head is the politics of mothering. mothering constitutes the foundation stones upon which ama ata aidoo constructs her artistic works. it's not surprising that that should be the case. ama ata aidoo also happens to be one of the lucky few to come from the system. and so she really is very strongly aware of herself as a gendered self, who is has a concept of femaleness. is very deep-seated and not confined to their narrow terms

of. most people see mothering as taking care of people. however, who also happens to be very strongly grounded in their indigenous culture of donna, she is a daughter of a chief. i mean, i can vouch for her. ama ata aidoo will not tell you but i know her and we shared these things. from the day i met her, the thing that struck me was how distinct she is, how academic and as a writer. i go to college for the first time and see a ghanaian woman who was your professor. who was profoundly. however, she always was not the professor. she was a big sister, the

ghanaian woman, you know, somebody who always maintained a meaningful, human, womanly relationship with people she came in contact with. i also was witness to a woman being in the very male dominated institution. and away ama ata aidoo handled herself, i mean, most people would say, oh, no, she's not a woman. who is a woman? ama ata aidoo is very much a woman, a ghanaian woman, an african woman, one who is raising the consciousness of herself as a woman and womanhood is really very strongly based in a very complex, diverse a fight

sense of womanhood. which is a sickly mothering. and mothering is not biological or sociological. where you nurture or, you know, pick up on people. mothering is the essence of human organization, and other ages is the fact that the ages actually do recognize woman as the human organization as development. that children born into the human community trace their descent through the woman. this recognition of what woman represents in humans development and organization actually becomes very healthy. it gives you a sense of responsibility, and also makes

you a mother. i have to say, that somebody called me and asked mother once. i have been all kind of names. that for someone to say f. mother, i almost dropped dead. but later on i realized, okay, there must be something internally motherly about me. of course, i fear rise mother so had to recognize my theory is based on some factual elements. so this approach -- thank you -- which really doe does fine womad and gives african women a sense of whatever, is made the basis of scholarship as well as creativity, which really i cannot say enough about.

i don't care which ama ata aidoo work you read. and regardless of how small or how young, if it's a female character, that sense of awareness of being the center of the world, it doesn't mean that she romanticizes. and women worship, no. women go through a lot. women are abused, but women are hardly ever there unconscious victims of abuse that we tend to find in many works. ama ata aidoo, any sa carol referred to in dissent, did say when people ask me, every now and then, whether i'm a feminist, i naturally answer

yes. but i go on to insist that every woman and every man should be a feminist. especially if they believe that africans should take care of our land, should take charge of its wealth, our life, and our own development. because it is not possible to advocate the independence for our continent without also be leaving that african women must have the best that the environment can offer. for some of us, is his a crucial element of our feminism. ama ata aidoo is the prolific. her works, i mean she has written in every possible genre. one of my favorite works of course is anaawa but i love every single one of her works. in each one of them ascends of what mothering, as he consciously constructive

ideology, is evidence whether it is the low child who is having the confrontation with another young person, male or female. and contemporary ghana, having one of those, no, you won't. no, you don't, that kind of thing, it still becomes a way of recognizing what mothering constitutes in the world. and it comes from women from a very early age on where knowing who they are and recognizing that the world literally rides on their shoulders. and every man is some woman's child. and that is the spirit that runs through her works. i want to show you a little

excerpt from no sweetness here. her first collection of short stories which was published in 1970. and the story that i want, it's called a gift from somewhere. basically it begins with a woman who has experienced child, twice already and has a third child, a boy. is in her mind already dead. and a medicine man from the north who is also in need of food, and more so than medicine runs into her. he is thinking of his stomach, but little did he know that the woman he was trying to hit for something so he can't eat was in

dire need of a miracle. so the child she believes is dead, and this man, you know, starts feeling his way around. oh, there is something. it in your stomach. so, you know the child is dead, right? and meanwhile, the man psychologically is like oh, my god, what have i stumbled into. all i wanted was a little food. but indy and the woman jumps, i mean immediately she jumped at the chance because she actually believes her child is dead. she is thinking of, god, now i have to -- three times, how much can a woman take? but already i know what i have to do, pretend that i'm used to this, and you know, prepare myself to separate again. the way that the woman is given

pacing, what pacing is really deeply psychological and political. because the plight of women and the way that the world takes what they do for granted, and also the fact that things to do with women, which is really at the center of creation, is oftentimes taking on, that's what women do. it's women. folks who bring this out. anyway, the medicine man does what he can and leaves. and the woman now is -- he tells her to go and bring some specific thing so he can work you know, some medicine for the child protection. when she comes out, he has gone. but she doesn't give up hope.

she comes to believe that her ancestors must have a sense to her. but you know this child does not die. it is wonderful. but this child did not die. the strange world always something to surprise us with. something, he did not die. somehow. to this day, was he not a just from god? and then the man is gone. but the woman, you know, respects the fact that this is the passing through. her child's life is restored to

her, the mother. and following that, she had a lot more children. of course, the husband marries a second wife. blas. .

what bane's meet is the way the father acts. that he should say, you are not following your mother. why couldn't he say, okay my son come today you don't have school, why don't you pick up your machete and follow me to the farm? i mean, constantly, women practice come a position themselves in ways that make it evident that the essence of mothering and without that there will be no human communities because the women stopped giving-- and go beyond that to take charge of ensuring they are racing to freshen the fruits or there will be no human community

and there will be no wealth in no development and the world had better recognize that. thank you. [applause] thank you dr. horne. our next speaker and scholar and poet is rashid the is mali. she is a retired professor from rutgers university and the city university, i believe you were there two and a poet. she will talk to us about the poetic artz of ama ata aidoo. [applause] >> good afternoon. i met ama ata aidoo in the '60s. we were both students at the

time. actually, ama ata aidoo and i are the same age. and, it was strange in the '60s here. not a lot of people, even though at lot of women or african women, were wearing african clothing, it was the dawn of a kind of consciousness that was very, very much involved and african women were wearing african clothing, but there would be a difference when an african born woman would work and effort can from the diaspora. one day i was walking down the street and i heard this voice. look at you. i turned around and there is ama, wearing blue genes.

now, i cannot imagine, blue genes and a huge head type. i was wearing just a simple-- if you were not an african you would not understand. you would just call it what you call it. she is standing with her arms wide open like that. let's get you. i knew this was a sister and we have been friends, we have been friends ever since. ama has two very important collections of poems. one is called, someone talking to some time and the other is called, an angry letter in january.

these poems, like all of her work, show her politics. it also shows her, her capability as a poet. none that was talking about ama from a point of view. because you know, the old empire which was one country from which i come on the other side but having some ghanian blood and they come from the more ghanian side, we do have a society, so for us, the earth and the mothering, it is central to our being, but on that same level, poetry is one of the essentials of african literature. the oral literature that we talk

so much about is based on piano, the structure of poetry, so when we talk about the poetic of any african writer but especially someone like ama than we are definitely talking about the very core foundation of the transition from the orality to the script, and he if you look at some of the ways in which ama constructs are poetry, and i was struck by it last night, just be doing it, i'd do similar things, but we tend to use words in a way that, that are following that praise, this song structure, which is metaphoric and not necessarily metaphoric in the western sense but

metaphoric and the african sense. that is, what you called, what you say, you call into being, so if ama ata says, whether it is prose or scholarly work, if she says something is mothering, then it is the essence of mothering end not a comparative, but rather the very foundational part of what mothering means, meaning together, to construct birth, to protect and that it is not necessarily a gender thing. it could be that a man can also mother but we don't talk about that and that could be something for another discussion, but smothering has a very specific function in african society. in her poetry, she uses very interesting ways in which she

juxtaposes politics, where some of the earlier works, she is talking about black/white issues, she is talking about colonial versus the colonies the issues. she talks about class, and i think on that level, she probably is one of the early writers of the so-called postcolonial or pre-postcolonial era that does this. i was at a conference once on african literature, and somebody was talking about post colonialism. we have had this long conversation and ama ata says, sister, when did post colonialism actually occur? [laughter] i said, i said because they were

speaking about it from a point of view that-- that it had already happened, so i said i did not know that it ever occurred. i thought we were in the midst of it right now but if you read her poetry, she talks about that. in particular there is a poem and again, because we are mindful of the time, but in someone talking to someone, she has a poem where she talks about, she talks about-- and in the same poem, she talks about malcolm x's autobiography and she talks about-- in the title of it is of love and commitment. i think it is a wonderful title and titles, again, are an announcement whereas they serve a different form, a different format in western poetry and

sometimes for the african born writer, who gets, who gets a lot of their structure, and their artistic structure from their culture, it can be a clash because the ways in which titles, the ways in which form is used may go counter to the african essence of a piece. but, she talks about, she talks about it and she says i borrowed the malcolm x's autobiography to read, and then this is wonderful. she says, stokley, just stokley. it is on the line by itself, so again i am talking about the way in which she uses the words on a page which has to do again, i am suggesting, the poets of african culture. stokley with a?

mac. stokley, then she puts a full stop. these are not things that she has done because she does not know the grammatical structure of formal english riding, but i think that she is trying to say something here very specifically. she has a poem also called greetings from london and it is a subtitle, c c. cece is kind of a generic term that women use the monks themselves of all ages. sometimes it can be cece, and it just means that i accept you as my, as my sister but not from necessarily from the biological immediate family, but from a larger biological affiliation. and in this poem, she starts the poem just cece.

cece is on one line in the next line says do you remember when? i'm going to read this one piece, for lines so you can get a sense of how she constructs her poetry. cece, do you remember when grandfather-- in 1867, climbing palm trees, the machine and manchester would not die for lack of oil. that is almost an indictment, and you are not prepared for that because she set up by saying it is greetings from london said you think, i am in london and i have just seen the buckingham palace. it is really the most beautiful structure in the whole world. thank god i am in reach. my eyes see london because that is the dream of every colonial, to see the country and god forbid that you don't see the

buckingham palace. but, you have to really, you have to really read that and see that in her work. some people can read this and not see politics. maybe it is because they see politics and everything that i do that. i guess the other thing that we share is, we share our love what africanism. we both, as i say, are around the same age. we believe that it was a new africa of let and there should be these new people and that these people for the african personifier in the african purse ana was what we were constructing. this was going to be constructed out of three elements. one was the tradition, one was the traditional africa, one was the technical or the euro western trade and then the third

was going to be a combination of these two things, creating nano this new person who was going to come back to the people and with them joined them and construct this new africa. this was a non-gendered situation. men had to do the same thing as lemon. unfortunately many of the women found but that was not true and that our brothers who espoused africanism really have their own place for where women should be. and it wasn't necessarily along side them. one of the tragedy's of pan-africanism does not include west africa but if you look at algeria and a lot more needs to be written about bill jerry, the veil in algeria which is talked about a lot, was used in a very political way and women made those decisions and they

participated on the highest level in the most difficult and dangerous situations. that helps to bring them the liberation of algeria and a very woman consciously there, when he was overthrown, the first thing he did was to bring in the code of the family and the code of the family issued its first law that women would be back in the kitchen, back in the bedroom and back in the house, and the tragedy of the algerian women, who had achieved at that time college educations and a sense of out of the house, they all were put back hundreds of years. very few people ever about that, and i think that is something i will leave to my learned scholars to do. but, finally, in this book an

angry letter in january, i think in this collection of poems, ama ata is extremely in control of both her subject and heard genre i would like to see her do some more poetry like this. she organizes her books, these books in sort of sections, and some of the titles, images of africa, the century's and, after a commonwealth conference, no grief, note joy. again, this is just, just this one and i won't use, i will just use this one. the title of the poem is the title of the book, an angry letter in january, the first

line so again i am going to just read it the way the line is constructed. dear bank manager, i have received your letter full stop. thank you very much. threats, intimidations, and all. i mean, so what, if you won't give me a loan of 2,000, or only conditioned by special rules and regulations, because i am, and then she puts a space, not in italics, white male or in italics, a commercial fireman. i mean, to me, you know yeah you could say it is angry but it isn't really angry. it is just the way in which she is in zeroing exactly on the

issue, exactly on the point in that to me is what ama ata does most common most profoundly. she zeros in with out access words. no matter what her genre, she gets right to the point and she says precisely what is intended, what is needed but most of all, what she means her, and she really, really, really does not like to be paraphrased or to be assumed to have been saying something that she did not actually say, so i think that this is a very, a very good opportunity for some of you who may not know her work to hear these things and for us to reflect, because sometimes you know if you have read it. you think you have understood it but when you go back over it and you look over it, you really are

once again not amazed but really humbled by the profundity of an african-american woman, especially in african women who comes from sub-saharan because we do make sometimes those negative distinctions so subsahara is the stepchild of northern sahara, but anyway, she is a models writer and i would urge all of you to really try to find her books and i would urge you to look for the books that have been written about her by some of the panelist. ama ata aidoo poetry is really the kind of work that i think, especially some of the young women now who are struggling to find a poetic voice, i would

really urge them to read some of her work, not that you want to copy but i think that it would help a lot. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you. i thought we had much more time than we do so i'm afraid i'm going to ask our next speaker, who is originally from sierra leone west africa. she teaches in the english department at the university of new york and she is the author of several award-winning books come including womanist and feminist esthetics. she is going to talk to us about the legacy of ama ata aidoo. i want to leave just about ten minutes for q&a. i don't know how we are going to do this, but here we go. [applause] >> good afternoon, and it is really appropriate that i should end this session because given

the time factor, i am going to sum up ama ata aidoo's legacy or give this some summary of what has been said in as short a time as i possibly can because i really would like to see or experience what it is you were thinking in the audience. but, first i want to thank my friends and colleagues and i should actually say my sisters, on the panel. i have known everybody here for many, many years including professor nunez. i was just saying that i was a regular in her conferences. in fact your decades ago, and i was really happy to see that she was tapped to moderate our panel. carol traveled from gainesville

under the most arduous circumstances to be here, because like all of us you simply say ama ata aidoo and we run or jump, okay. alright, a good deal of what i am going to say, as i said, will be by way of summary because it has already been said but as i was thinking about my remarks i couldn't help but reflect on the word legacy. you see, is someone who is a ward smith and one of the things that you will find most fascinating about this right here is your love of words, her desire to penetrate words and to expose them to the magnitude of her irony. she is the most ironic writer you will ever read. she says one thing and it does other things.

so, legacy. legacy comes from old french to medieval latin, meaning money or property left in there will. and the irony of associating legacy in terms of that meeting, of course we don't mean that. we mean something else. what has evolved to mean the bounty of good deeds that one leaves behind and is remembered by. and the deeds and words of course. in the case of the artists and writers, but if you think of the word legacy for ama, ama-- all of us refer to her in that endearing way, ama has been at the forefront of african writing

since the '60s. in fact, the birth of modern african literature you might easily say to continue the metaphor, that you have, you know, women actually participated in a large degree in creating and of course shifting this literature, but unfortunately, given the politics on the african continent-- continent, she has not receive the rewards of writing, the rewards of her labor. i can't stress that enough, that ama needs to be rewarded for her writing by virtue of having publishers publisher burt because when i spoke to her about two weeks ago, she is in seclusion writing a new novel. it is going to be a splash, just

as we will be waiting for the novel, and it came out and made a splash. okay. so, as far as legacy does let's make sure ama can also leave behind the monetary rewards of her labor. [applause] but, back to legacy as we use the word, even for people who create, you know, meaningful work and for the most part, we don't wait until they pass away. we actually start talking about their legacy while they are alive. this is-- i will say a couple of things regarding that. ama built a legacy on a ground

that was filled with legacies that she had to dismantle. so, we have a two-pronged process here. on the one hand, dismantling such a legacy and on the other, building her own. now, let's see. one of those legacies that she had was compared to dismantle. boy, the first that comes to mind is the legacy of colonialism and colonial education, and it has already been talked about here. now, the seas on books and shelves of books have been written on this subject but let me just boil it down to this, that the colonial mind actually tries to convey to the colonial subjects the benefits of thinking in duality.

okay, right in the middle. life had to be split. on one side this and one side that and for the most part, the first sight, which in discourse has been called self, was regarded as good and the other side, the other bad. you can just put a multitude of things in those columns. those splits were so dangerous for africans. i can't even begin to tell you, because i did have that education and it was left to parents and in my case, both parents, my teaching, to say no with a lot of wiggle room in between. so, ama, the colonial under

current never goes away. even though it has been talked about how it is time to give up this colonial bashing. 40 years later, what are we still talking about? again, once again go to her works and enjoy a mind, an original mind at work. another myth, another legacy actually another legacy in the form, that she had to dismantle was from the local cultures, the traditional culture. let me say, ama the doors african traditions. she is not about tradition bashing. in fact, african cultures shift

the writers. they actually are matched in nav because of you take them out of it, they are really like fish out of water. just watch those who have come to the new world for any state of political exile and watch how slowly they are writing. ..

the time she had to dismantle. it has been talked about. women's lives. experience in all of her books. number 2, switching to those saw you story elements of --

bringing them out. one would say he is idealistic. she is really valuing what matters in the traditional way of life. and the experience, the countryside as much as the city. and the original use of language. time is against me. and naked beauty. a giant that we should respect and honor. and her legacy lives in all of us in our works and in all of

you. thank you. >> that was a great job in summing up. we have had a great introduction, more than a great introduction to the work and life of ama ata aidoo. i have a question for the panel. acquistion near to me. the timeliness about this panel, as you know, president barack obama just came back from donna. some of you heard his comments, how would ama ata aidoo have reacted to this president -- visit and the comments that he made? >> i am sure ama ata aidoo would have asked michele.

and the little girls. and amazingly emotional experience, was able to address that so we can do that and come out and talk. i was concerned about him flattening it out to human cruelty. could have really highlighted the new world, so called, how we got to be -- and of course the political question we need to engage, i am sure you will do it later, the moment that was lost. >> he linked it to -- it was not just human cruelty at that point, a specificity of focus that would pull out specifics of african people's experiences in that historic moment and his return and what that means. and would have recognized his

position, how he is respected in the world as a leader, not just of the u.s. but as a black leader and also the questions of his place in history and its link to the past. >> a missed opportunity. >> he should have asked michele what she thought. >> i want to say something. >> one of the people who has constantly drawn attention to the subject of what happened between us and the rest of us. in other words, the silences that surround african people, and those of us in africa don't talk about it. okay? my grandfather is from jamaica. he came and settled in ghana.

we called in daddy, the white man. that doesn't mean, it is location. white is the west. white is a multiplicity of things. my grandfather was -- he was a black man in the colonial structure that existed at the time. even i grew up knowing that america, there is a toss, the sense of ourselves was based on the notion of this son of africa who is the product of this

colonial affairband and an african woman in jamaica coming back home. the irony is my grandfather -- he married my grandmother in ways that we do not mary. my grandfather was warned, but it is easier to cohabit. that particular one, you should avoid because she is the daughter of the traditional ruler and you don't really want to get that business. he did get tangled in his black male. >> interesting word you use

about the silence. and so -- >> that is good. >> from that standpoint, given that we can look at -- the comment by the media. missed opportunity. and a line him, happy silence. the atlantic ocean was difficult at times. >> just before they shut me out. before they do, i want to make

certain our panelists -- and jeter allen and professor a shiva -- i want to take this opportunity to thank the founder of qb are and the harlem book fair we are enjoying today. i want to extend my gratitude and appreciation to him. [applause] >> we can go on with the questions but if we get cut off, you know why. does anybody have a question? >> thank you for this panel on the very important legacy of the work of ama ata aidoo. i came across her work with her play the dilemma of the ghost.

i appreciate dr. davies's remark of a literary response to raising the sun. the most movement--most moving part of that is the cultural dissonance is windy african-american woman and african-american man, particularly when the african american woman is arguably angry when a female family of the african man talks bad about slaves, she is a slave? and they think very pejorative lee of her, when it is much deeper than that. it is an issue that was mentioned by dr. warren, not that they think she is a bad person, does that there is a huge cultural gap. ama ata aidoo opened those silents, but for me as a writer, you talked about this in your

own way as, she emphasized truffe especially through that column that was read, thank you, the fact that as a writer, you ultimately get to a truth you are exposing the tween cultures. it is completely irrelevant, the ways in which post colonial leaders, they are the same ethnic group, people who were colonized are believed to be easier or better when africa has shown us the west. legacy is to demand nothing but unadulterated truth and excellence from the leaders who, like obama, a man of color but still held to the same high standards that we hold in our community.

>> thank you so much. [applause] >> another question from the audience? >> i wanted to respond to what you just said, very briefly. i can tell you that i and others have had these conversations, that somehow there is always a qualifier when we are articulate, when we are creative, when we are scholarly, when we are inventive, all of the things that are not necessarily ascribe to us, but they are ascribed to us by people who themselves were not necessarily the primary inventors. so when we xl and do these things, this is our legacy, this

is our legacy. we gave the world the technical beginnings. we gave the world the very script we still use. we gave the world language, we gave the world culture. and now, when we xl, we are only doing what we should be doing. this is the larger picture of what i perceive as mothering, and this is -- ama ata aidoo is the mothering figure we say she is, and many fit this. what we do is not just abstract, but in fact, we can learn excellence because we have excellent, because we come from excellence. [applause]

>> tuzyline jita allan, we use up some of your time so i want you to respond. >> i just want to thank the panel for a wonderful talk that very much touched me deeply. 2 -- two quick questions, the second one lists a couple books of hers that the audience would purchase because i am interested in that. the two i'm interested in, the way in which i find as a black woman, when we are talking in black communities in various panels and a lot of other situations, the strength of black women is not often mentioned when talking about a mothering and marriage, it sound like the author you are discussing is offering a paradigm, a way in which we should think about black women and black woman who did that i don't often hear discussed in

these various state of the unions and various things about black people. it sounds like you guys, this woman's work is so instructive of the way in which, apart again of the black people in this country need to think about her. i wonder if you could expand more in talking about her work, motherhood and marriage and how we may be able to use that in the community. >> i am going to throw that question to tuzyline jita allan. we have 1-1/2 minutes. >> you have already spoken so eloquently on this topic. a statement i could create that could carry with you on that

subject, it has to be with the whole idea of individual autonomy, especially female autonomy, and we see women have to have room to discover who they are outside of the inherited parameters of biology, and all these other factors, that are both in the traditional societies, but heavily with the regime of colonialism, that made matters even worse. she pried open a lot of family secrets. women featured largely, that particular project, the woman

coming into her own space, ama ata aidoo opted for legal means, it is actually happening on the ground. it is not like she got it. but she was testing this theoretically in writing to see how to react to it, how to respond to people who were actually living it. but also to say that for all of her feminism, she is very much steeped in ways of doing and ways of being that have begun and she writes about that sometimes to test the waters but for the most part to expos the gaps so that people can come to

a sense of putting things, the loose ends together on their own. how can i ask that question, given what her husband has just done to her? >> i am afraid we are coming to the end. i want to thank you for being here, and to thank our scholar writers, the harlem book fair for sponsoring this panel, thank you. >> the name of the book? >> the landmark of the goat. changes -- i am doing it in

chronological order -- and go on the internet. go on the internet and you will get the book. thank you so much. [applause] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible

conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> wrapping up a panel discussion on ama ata aidoo, this concludes our live coverage from the 2009 harlem book fair. you can watch a real air of the coverage beginning this evening at midnight eastern. pulitzer prize winner and reduced profiles multimillionaires who are trying to take the planet green. afterwards, sunday on book tv. journalist walter cronkite died

at the age of 92. he anchored the cbs evening news from 1962 to 1981. we talked with him in 1997 about his career in broadcasting and his memoir, a reporter's life. this last about an hour. >> walter cronkite, had you had your heart operation before this book was finished, would you have talked about it? wasn't that big a deal? >> probably not. articulately, the knowledge i had shortly after the operation, everyone in the world has had this operation up to now except me. i would like to have it settled the rest of the spring, turns out people say when i had mine, it seems to be about as common as clipping one's toenails.

>> when did you find are you have a heart problem? >> very surprisingly i never had a heart problem of any kind. my advanced age, more doubles, more singles, i felt very little pressure. nothing wrong, your blood pressure has always been perfect, but just in case, haven't had a stress test for a couple years. one stress test lead to another until i was on the operating table for this quadruple bypass. i didn't have any symptoms at all. >> what was the date? when did this happen? >> the operation was april fool's day. i always wondered about that. it was april 1st. >> what is it like?

>> it is terrible. magnificent surgeon, a good texas boy, i am an adopted texan myself. i have a lot to share, he is a marvelous surgeon. thoracic heart surgery at new york hospital. he is so attentive, marvelous to follow up so quickly and so thoroughly, came over immediately after the operation, back in the hospital he was in the room every day checking up. >> is it hard to recover from? >> i had a rapid recovery, seems

to me. the doctors kept saying i was way ahead of the turf. there were no complications or problems. i had a dear friend whose birth we practically officiated, one of our best friends since he was an infant. now does some lighting from mcgraw hill. she called to ask how i was. the doctors say i am ahead of the turf, and that is what they tell everybody. >> you tell story in the group about an early operation for appendicitis, you give a graphic detail. would you tell that story again?

>> when they asked me what kind of anesthetic and wanted. they describe to me a spinal flaw. this was back in washington after the war. especially 1950. they should have this final block. if i am conscious, watch the operation. indeed he did. i am conscious. in this operation, you are

conscious but you're head is in big blocks. your head is all covered except for your eyes, if anybody can see. no emotion at all obviously. and the geologist was standing behind me. they put a clamp on one of my blood vessels. i wanted -- i never understood what that was, although they kept telling me soldiers died of it. i never quite understood what it was. now i realize what shock was. it is paralysis of your entire body, you can't breeze, your heart is dangerous because you

are not breathing. sub might i am in shock. banesto, the anesthesiologist, was talking to the nurse about my car. they have this cute little chevy in silver springs, i looked at it a couple days ago, i am going back sunday to get it if it is still there. i remember those words specifically. when the shock hit me, there was no way to let anybody know. he is the one who is supposed to be keeping tabs on this, talking about a new car. and here i am frozen in place, i am rolling my eyes, the only way i can get any attention and that is not getting it done and i am about to pass out. obviously my vital signs began to fail, my body, the surgeon was looking down into the

cavity, and he yells oxygen! oxygen! and hoops, turned up the oxygen and the minute he does i am fine, instantly. another couple of seconds and i could have had irreparable brain damage. it makes you wonder what happened on the operating table, many operations where we hate to tell you this but his heart couldn't take it, his heart failed, that kind of thing, makes you a little suspicious sometimes of medical practice. >> you tell another story about a time you went to the himalayas with a helicopter. what were the circumstances there? >> another case of possibly passing out, i guess. i was visiting pakistan. general kas