terrible than they could have imagined. it's all been one big lie. it's a giant ponzi scheme, and it's been going on for years, and there have been all these redemptions, and i can't keep it going anymore. i can't do it. andrew stared at his father, his mind a jumble of disconnected thoughts and phrases. he was trying to piece together what his father was saying, but the sentences kept evaporating. he grabbed at them, frustrated, as they continued to disappear. ruth lit a cigarette, her hand shook. what's a ponzi scheme? it means the asset management business was a fake, andrew said. i've been lying to your mother, i've been lying to you, i've been lying to the customers, i've been lying to myself. i have an appointment on monday, referring to the family lawyer, and i'm probably going to jail. he broke down then, really sobbing. andrew rose from the ottoman and awkwardly draped an arm around his father for a few seconds. at that, andrew started to cry

too. through his tears he said, but there was all this money. where did it go? >> the money is gone. i've got 50 billion in liabilities, his voice trailed off. andrew stopped. 50 million? 50 billion. >> you can watch this and other programs online at booktv.org. up next, john carlos, the winner of the bronze medal in the 200-meter dash in the 1968 olympics recounts his symbolic black power gesture during the awards ceremony. he and his co-author dave zirin speak in seattle. [applause]

>> how is everybody? john took one look at this room, and he said, man, we have to move to seattle. this is great. [laughter] >> right. >> yeah. well, today is a very special day for me, and i want to tell you why, if i could. this is the 25th anniversary, this week, of the greatest concert i ever went to in my entire life. [laughter] i was just a shade under 12 years old, i was growing up in new york city, and i got tickets to go to madison square garden to see run dmc. [cheers and applause] and the opening act that night is a group you might have heard of, they hadn't even dropped an album yet, but run dmc put them out there because they were on their label, a group called the beastie boys. [laughter] and the beastie boys came out there and they have skills, but nobody in madison square garden wanted to hear the beastie boys. so they started throwing things, they yelled at the beastie boys

to get off the stage because people were there to see run dmc. now, why do i tell you this story? um -- [laughter] i'm well aware that you are here tonight to see run dmc. [laughter] and i am your resident beastie boy. [laughter] but i will try to keep my comments brief so john can get on the mic. it's so great to be at this museum, but as john and i have been traveling around the country with this book, we haven't just been going to museums and bookstores, we've made a point to go to every occupation site in this country as part of occupy usa. [applause] and when we go there, it's amazing, it's always amazing to see people born years, no, decades after that 1968 moment get so excited to see john and get so excited to hear what john has to say.

and if you think about it, it makes perfect sense why. i mean, at that moment in 1968, that image from 1968 is such an image of defiance, such an electric moment of do what you must, but i will stand for what i believe in. i'm going to be bold no matter what price i might have to pay. it's no wonder that people are still attracted to it. and then, of course, the issues that they were fighting for at that time, for racial and economic justice, obviously, those are not issues that we have achieved at this point in american history. we are not done with those fights. and john speaks to that very directly at occupy wall street at the very first time we went to an occupy site. john stood up at the general assembly, and he said i'm here for you. why? because i am you. i'm here because 43 years later the fight has not yet been won. we're not here for ourselves, but for our chirp to come. children to come. and it had a powerful resonance with every person there. and we are thrilled, to be

perfectly clear, that that moment from 1968 still connects with people so strongly. but we wrote this book, "the john carlos story," because we want to set the record straight. we want to end the historical whitewash, and we want to let people know it was more than just a moment, it was a movement. more than a moment, it was a movement. called the olympic project for human rights. we want people to know that in the 1960s which these days seems to only get recognized when mcdonald's puts dr. king on a commemorative cup, actually was something much broader, deeper and radical, so radical that it even galloped into the world of sports to the point at which the top athletes in the world were also part of the struggle. look at basketball. who was the best basketball player at that time? you could argue it was bill russell, part of the struggle. college basketball? part of the struggle. best football player, jim brown. part of the struggle. the best of everything, muhammad

ali -- ah. [laughter] part of the struggle. and, of course, a couple years later, this merging of sports and politics exploded in women's sports, people like billie jean king, lacy o'neill. it made sense for people that as long as you had this hyperexalted platform, you were going to say something about the world and about injustice. and this movement exploded in the world of track and field, exploded into the olympic games in the form of the olympic project for human rights. now, it was a movement, and they had four demands that they were making of the international olympic committee, four demands that they said you better meet these demands, or every single african-american track star will not show up to the 1968 olympics. we will not go unless our concerns are met. and what a powerful thing that was to say. but let's see how those medal counts look without black athletes. not so good. as they said in their founding statement, why should we run in mexico only to crawl home?

and their four demands are not just beautiful to me, but prescient, ahead of their time. these were their demands. one -- and these were so controversial at the time, but now you're going to hear these and be like, yeah. but one of their hands, restore muhammad ali's boxing title. muhammad ali had his boxing title stripped for his opposition to the war in vietnam. they said muhammad ali is the warrior saint of the black athletes' revolt. two, disinvite south africa and rhodesia from the olympic games. they have no place on the olympic field. three, hire more african-american coaches. u.s. track and field team dominated by black athletes, you know, the number of african-american coaches if you tried to count them on two fingers, you'd be one too many. there was just one. and their last demand, and this is where they openly, consciously and brazenly just stepped in the crosshairs was they said avery brundage has to

go as the head of the international olympic committee. [applause] >> for those of you clapping, you know how daring that was. he was the most powerful person in olympic sports, he also just happened to be an open fascist. he was the person who delivered the olympics in 1936 to hitler's germany. he was a white supremacist. he was somebody who was so out there if rick perry was around back then, he would have been like, damn, you're crazy. [laughter] and he also was incredibly powerful in the olympic movement. and these guys said, you know what? he's got to go. they came up with this plan for the boycott. now, the boycott fell through, and it fell through really for two reasons. one of those reasons was very good. the ioc caved, and for the first time ever withdrew their invitations to south africa and rhodesia. the pressure worked. the goals worked, the movement

worked. but the second reason is more complicated. and this always comes up when it's about trying to get athletes to actually do something for social justice. far too many people said, gosh, i've been training my whole life for this one moment, for that 10 seconds, those 20 seconds on the track. i've got to chase that carrot, i can't give it up. and so the boycott fell through. and at this point people like john carlos, tommy smith, lee evans, they were face with the a choice. the choice was, well, do we just stay home anyway in the absence of a broader movement, or do we go there and actually represent our movement on the medal stand? and we know what they chose. so before the final race in the 200 meters, john carlos and tommy smith got together, and they said, okay, what are we going to do on this medal stand? we're going to wear black gloves to show our commitment to fighting racism. we're not going to wear shoes to showcase the fact that we are bringing up the issue of poverty in the african-american community, people who can't even

afford shoes. we're going to wear beads around our necks to showcase the history of violence and lynching against people of african descent. and john carlos, and you can see it in this picture, in an incredible breach of protocol, decided he was going to be up there with his jacket unzipped and with the usa on his chest covered by a black t-shirt, and he was doing that as a tribute to his people back home, white and black, working people, who he said their appreciations were not appreciated in u.s. society. so they came up with this great idea that they were going to do this. of course, there was one thing they had to do first. [laughter] what'd they have to do? gotta win. i mean, it would be a pretty awful story if they came in ninth. [laughter] and were like, oh, man, we brought these beads and gloves for nothing. [laughter] you know? far less inspiring a story. and here is where john carlos engaged himself in what i think is one of the most dazzling

feats of athletic pyrotechnics ever. and also one of the most transdepressive and rebellous feats ever. and people should go back and look at this race, and you'll see what john carlos did. john carlos at this time was, in my opinion, the fastest person on earth. he was running 100 yards in under nine seconds. any track and field people here? you can testify that's good. it was a world record. he could run 200 meters in under 20 seconds. it was amazing. and so john carlos kicks off on this race, but his mind isn't thinking i've got to cross that line first, i've got to get the gold, his mind is thinking, i have to figure out how to pace this race so tommy and me are on this medal stand. people go on youtube, you should watch it. and you'll see john carlos repeatedly breaking the cardinal rule of sprinting. the cardinal rule is you've got to be like orr my yus, you never look back. and john carlos looking back, looking back, looking book like

orpheus did, and he went to hell for it. john carlos is constantly looking back going where's tommy, where's tommy. at one point he's like, come on, tommy, stop bsing. [laughter] that was for the cameras. he didn't say bs-ing. and then tommy got his tommy leg kicking, crossed the finish line first, john's looking over his left shoulder, didn't look over his right shoulder, and there was peter norman crossing the tape from australia, and peter norman got the silver, john got the bronze. now's the time to do what they came to do, except there was one other thing they had to concern themselves with; the very real idea that if they got up on that medal stand, they might be shot dead on the spot. and if that sounds unrealistic, if that sounds like hyperbole to you, please remember back to what it was like in 1968 for a second. think about dr. martin luther king dropped with an assan

sin's -- assassin's bullet, robert kennedy. days before the start of the olympic games, hundreds, if not as many as 1500, 1600 workers slaughtered in mexico city before the start of the olympic games. these were things that john and tommy knew very well, so tommy turns to john, and he says, what happens if somebody takes a shot at us? and john says, well, you know, we're trained to listen for the gun. [laughter] and you know we're fast. [laughter] so we'll do the best we can. they get up there on that medal stand, they do all the choreography they plan. peter norman, the greatest sprinter in the history of australia, chose to wear a patch that said olympic project for civil rights, so he continued to stand with them every year for the rest of his life much to his eternal credit despite all kinds of pressure to get him to recant

on his actions on that day. and they stood up there and raised their fists as the national anthem began. and as john says, these are his words in the book, he said, it got so quiet in that stadium, you could have heard a frog piss on cotton. [laughter] and then the boos started and the anger started, and they walked off the field, and there's a famous shot of john and tommy throwing up their fists in the face of garbage being hurled at them as they walk off the field. and they paid a terrible price for what they did that day, an absolutely terrible price. we talk about it as great length in the book. john suffered. his family suffered. his kids suffered. i mean, the fbi was tailing him long after he was involved in any movement just to let him know that he stepped out of his place. but he said, you know what? that day in 1968 i call that my emancipation day. because that was the day i truly became free. [applause]

which gets us back to that first question which is that question of why, why does it still hold so much power and electricity so many decades after it happened? why when we go out to the occupy sites, why when we do meetings are the rooms filled with people born decades after 1968? and i really think it gets back to that sense of looking power in the eye and saying, i will be free. i will not be broken. i'll never forget the night of september 21st this past year, it was the night that the state of georgia executed troy davis. and we were out there in front of the supreme court in washington, d.c., and this was a young woman there who had been working to save troy, and we thought we were going to do it, and troy davis had become an incredible advocate for his own freedom. he became a freedom fighter from death row. and this woman, her name is misty, she got so sad, and she said sometimes i feel like the

one thing this country just cannot abide is a free black man. i think the reason why that image is so powerful is that you look at tommy smith, you look at john carlos and his fist up in that air, and you know that if nothing else, at that moment he is free. and with that, i give you the man himself, dr. john carlos. [applause] >> now you guys understand, why this guy i got to write the book. he's such a great orator. [laughter] and now you understand why my pockets always have holes in it as well. [laughter] dave zirin. listen, let me try and give you guys a little overview as to who i am, how i came about and where i'm headed.

there are so many stories written about john carlos, so many individuals had stories that they could tell, personal stories, about when they saw me at track meets and so forth. and god has put me on a magical roller coaster, you might say, just by i read my own book, and i say if i was an outside person, it'd be difficult for me to believe that one individual could have so many exciting things take place in his life. but as david has been finding out along the way, you know, a lot of people's been check anything and making the statement, hey, man, did john carlos tell you about those trees in the project, or did john carlos tell you about the chicken strike, or did he tell you about the 48 hours? all of these things are in the book. but in any case, i'm going to start off with this fist. this says black power. they intimidated so many people, white people in particular by using that phrase, "black

power." because when they used that word or that phrase, "black power," it made many people think that black power meant destruction. the statue of liberty or ground zero, destroying america. it wasn't anything about destroying america. it was about rebuilding america and having america to have a new paradigm in terms of how we could truly be with each and every one of us did that pledge when we was going to elementary school and junior high school about the land of the free and the home of the brave. we all wanted to be great americans, but as young athletes we found that something was wrong. something was broke, and we wanted to take our time to evaluate and then take our initiative to fix it. so power, before it was a fist, it was an open hand. this open hand encompassed people of color. when you deal with humanity,

that means people of color around the world, and that encompasses all colors. and then you sit back, and you look at these individuals, all of them are strong, all of them have a clear vision as to how things can be better. and one individual steps out amongst the five and say i need to move this pebble because if i move this pebble, i can make a significant change. and he reaches down, and he realizes he can't move even a pebble by himself. others step out and say the same thing. i think i have a better formula. i can move this pebble. he finds that he has no better luck than the other one. then they all get back together and collectively come to one point in life that we have a problem in society, and if we come together in terms of a force, we become a very powerful force. together we can move not only that pebble, but we can move a mountain. this is what we were trying to illustrate to society. at that time we had a right-wing

press that didn't particularly like me, they didn't like the way my hair looked, or they didn't like the way my skin looked, or they didn't like the way i talked or walked. but yet and still this skin, this color, this hair, this walk, my god ghei it to me. -- gave it to me. and he gave me other rights as a human being. i looked at a lot of my friends coming up as a young individual, i looked at how drugs was dropped upon them, i looked at how families was broken up. i thought about slavery and thought about how they broke up families in slavery. send the mother to the north, the father to the south, the son to the west and the daughter to the east. some of them, most of them never to see one another again. and then somebody brought it to their attention, said, hey, you know, what you guys did in america was unjust. there has to be some sort of restitution.

let's create welfare in modern times, social service. well, as a youngster i began to evaluate what is welfare, and what is social service. another tool to divide and break up a family. because when i looked at welfare, and my friends would be on social service and welfare, i remember people would come in, the first thing they would do is look under the bed and look and see if we see a man's slippers under there or go look in the ashtray looking for a cigar or look in the closet to see if they see a man's trousers or suit or a man's shirt. and then they would look at the woman and tell her, hey, you look like you have a man in this house, we're going to cut your assistance off. so their game plan was all over again to divide and conquer. these are things that you pick up along the way. but the deal is this, everyone saw the same things i saw, but the difference is how many of us

had an opportunity to search our minds and realize that if we're going to make a change in this life that we live, we have to make a commitment. commitment to yourself. anybody makes a commitment, you make a total commitment, not a partial commitment. as i stated again and again, no woman has ever been partially pregnant. either you're mr. president or you're not -- pregnant or you're not pregnant. either you're committed or you're not committed. now, the things i saw with -- as a young individual with these drugs, as a young individual you look at a food bowl, and you realize that every ethnic group was right there this harlem. we were getting along real fine. we didn't have no gangs running through the streets, we didn't have drugs running through the streets, we didn't have the muggers coming out at night, there wasn't no carjackers. but what happened was there was a lot of domesticated workers that started moving into harlem. so it looked like the white

folks decided let's have this meeting, and after the meeting was over the next morning, they was loading up the wagon trains, and they was moving out of dodge. we didn't understand at that time why they were leaving. but at the same time we did realize that something took place significantly because when they was here, it was bootleg liquor called king kong, and those who are my age or older know what king kong is. it was a manmade liquor that make you think of modern day drugs called pcp. i can drink it, i can fly. and flew to their death every day. and then overnight just like the white folks left, overnight king dong left. king kong left. and a thing called heroin came into the neighborhood. smack, mud, dirt. ain't nobody in my neighborhood that i knew had a truck or a plane or a boat. but it appeared there. and in the process i began to look at my friends and realize that maybe i was fortunate,

maybe i was blessed because i had a mother and a father that stayed there strong and kept my family value going. my father was a shoemaker, had his own business. my mother when she came in, she used to do her job as an abortion clean -- she'd go up and clean up the abortion offices, clean up the afterbirth. me and my brothers used to go with 'em. i looked at my mother and said, well, mom, if you're doing this, maybe you could go to school and be a nurse or something. my mom took me up on it. she went to be this nurse. so we had this family unit, but in the process of running around and noticing that most of my friend if not all of my friends did not have that family unit due to those drugs that came overnight. the father was a junkie, the mother might have might have be, or the mother was a junkie and the father was a wino, or both of them might have been in that state. we didn't have mcdonald's or

carl's jr., in-n-out, and we didn't have a fridge, we had an icebox. you put the icebox in there, most of us didn't even have a block of ice, we had ice cubes because we had that ice last a whole week. we couldn't get it. there was no food in a box. i began to look at my partners going to school and realizing that teachers didn't have no concern about what was happening in their house, they were just classified as dummies or troublemakers. they never took time to be concerned about the fact that kids was coming to school with no food in their bellies, no love in their household, no understanding as to what education was all about. and nobody giving a damn. then i began to look at the same time about guys using these drugs and running around, i begin to ask why are you shooting these drugs? didn't you see what happened to your father? look at your sister, man, why are you doing these drugs?

and somebody went to my father and said, mr. carlos, johnny's running around with those junkies. my father is a stern individual, he came up to me and he said, johnny, if i catch you running with these junkies again, i brought you in this world, and i'll take you out. you understand? [laughter] so i read that to mean i have to be on my cause to find out why they're doing that, and i read that to make sure my father never found out that i was running. [applause] because i was compelled to find out why would you shoot these drugs. and i went up on the roof one day, and there was junkies up there, and they was cooking up their goods, and i said, man, why do you guys do this? and one of the old junkies looked at me, and he said, johnny, you really want to snow? he said because i remember you came up here to mess with us, and it looks like you're really here to find out why we do this. let me explain to you. i was young like you one time, and i fell in love with the most

beautiful woman, we got married and had kids. when i tried to get a job to support my family, they told me there was no job for me. they told me to look down the street somewhere else. there was no job there. then i went to the other side of town, they said, man, you're not qualified to do a job. you need to go to school. so i thought he was right, so i turned and i went to school, but they told me i couldn't qualify to go to school. i can't get in this school, i can't get in that school, i can't get in the other school. but some of them got through and made it. got through school. and those that got through, they came back feeling good, i've accomplished something. i went to school, and i have a degree. it was a worthless degree like degrees are worthless today. when you sit back and they say, you know something, you came for that job two or three years ago and we couldn't give you a job, and here you are with a degree, we still can't give you a job. why not? because you're overqualified.

we can't pay you what you're worth. so the guy looks at me, and he says, you see, johnny? do you know what it's like to be damned if you do and damned in you don't? now here's the kicker. he said my little girl come up to me and said, daddy, it's my birthday next week. are you going to buy me that dress that you promised me for my birthday? little girls didn't wear jeans, they wore a dress every day. their mom would be up half the night washing and ironing it. every little girl wanted a pretty new dress. you going to get me that dress, daddy? yeah, baby girl, i'm going to get you that dress. and he goes down the hall and looks in his pocket, and there ain't nothing there but holes. do you think he feel good? his self-esteem start to dwindle. next day his son comes home from school, and he say, pop, i just talked to my pe teacher, and he told me if i come to school next day with tennis shoes, i'm going to fail my pe class.

now it's infringing upon his kid's education. i need some converse sneakers, daddy, can you get 'em? yeah, son, i'm going to get 'em. he reaches into his other pocket, he's got bigger holes. his self-'s teach is duped some more. now his wife comes and says, baby, we've been married 15 years, our anniversary's friday. now he's got tears in his eyes. he says, yeah, baby, we going to have a good time friday knowing that he can't fill anyone's dream. and then he gets to the point where his self-esteem has drooped so low until when he gets up in the morning to go brush his teeth or brush his hair, he realize that that guy in the mirror, i do not like. how does a man not like himself? god didn't intend for him not to like himself, but somebody set the stage for him not to like himself. and somebody said use these drugs. all you guys in here, most of you guys are actually college

students, most of you guys saw that movie billy holiday, "lady sings the blues," and you remember the scene where the bus is going through the south and billy saw the kkk running around with sheets on their head and a big cross burning, and she was going crazy like what is this racism, and they was trying to suppress her and push her down. they didn't push what she saw in her mind, racism and bigotry. and then somebody came to billy and said, billy, take this. it'll help you forget it. that's the same thing that happened to all those individuals that turned the drug fiends, to dope fiends. because they wanted to forget who they were, because they was not who god intended for them to be merely because someone had a fetish towards people of color. this is why john carlos started taking note to the point where i sat pack and i looked and i said, hey, man, there's no

firemen on the fire department. how did i know this? because i saw a kid in my building whose house was not on fire but just had a mother that had some rice on the stove, she went down to visit one of her friends and left it there and smoke came. somebody pulled the fire alarm. they went in to the apartment in new york, they got an apartment with a kitchen as soon as you walked in the door was to the right or to the left, and then you got maybe four or five bedrooms in the back. they come through, and they chop up every piece of wood purposeture in that -- furniture in that house, every piece of clothes and throw it out on lennox avenue. i remember going into my apartment, upon, pop, why'd they do that? and my father looks at me like, son, what's the matter with you? they do this when it's a fire. no, daddy, come outside. come on, let me show you something. my father took the time to come. i said, show me the fire, daddy. i don't see nothing burnt. my father looked, he looked at me, and he knew i got to give my

son some answers. he's right. he went to the fire chief. when he went to the fire chief, i laid back. i didn't need to go see the chief, i knew what the problem was right away. out of sight, out of mind. no one was in the fire department representing me. no one had compassion to say, hey, man, we can't do that to these people because they have a right just like you. the police department, how many black cops did we have in harlem? two. and them two there to make me who i am today. because when i sat back and i looked at this little guy called robin hood on tv and any kid across america lived in the ghetto, a guy named robin hood. he wasn't a black guy, he wasn't an asian guy, he was a white guy. had a little funny green suit on, big feather in his hat, wearing some tights, but i studied this guy. and this guy made me understand that he had the vision and the

mind and the courage to say let me split the pea. and let me be fine in my mind about the fact that there's two laws. there's god's law and there's man's law. should i be concerned about god's law or man's law? well, he chose to go with god's law to the point where he said i'm not concerned about the fat cat, i'm concerned about all the cats. i will steal from the rich and give to the poor. not because i'm a thief, just because it's the right thing to do. those individuals that didn't have food in those boxes, i used to go right over by yankee stadium, the freight trains, and hit those trains. now, as i said, my father didn't play that. so i had to be very careful, but i had to be diligent to try and help those that didn't know how to help themselves. go without eating for three or four days. hold your kids from eating for three or four days and see how

they talk to you on the fifth day. hunger's a bad thing. no one should go hungry just merely because of the color of their skin. as a young individual, i wanted to be a swimmer. not just a swimmer, but the best swimmer in the world to represent, so i thought, the best nation in the world. because i heard this guy talking about, oh, i'm going to swim the english channel. hey, pop, what's the english channel? why is this guy singing the english channel? is he getting a check? [laughter] is he getting a trophy? is he getting recognition? why is he doing it? i'm the best swimmer in the harlem bathtub. [laughter] i'm going to be the best swimmer. i say another thing, pop, how do they swim when sharks are in the water? do they similar with a knife in their mouth? what happened if -- when they need to go to the restroom? he says, let me go find the answers. in the meantime, i heard someone

else on the radio talking about the olympic games. whoa, what's the olympics, pop? he says, son, that's where the greatest nations in the world get their greatest athletes and bring them together for physical competition. he said they want to see who's more superior, they want to let the world see which nation is more superior than the other. i said, pop, how many black swimmers does america have? he said, none. i said, great, i'm going to be the first. [laughter] my father let me go two, three years went by, he came to me and said, son, i gotta talk to you. i said, what's that? he says, i hate to rain on your parade, but you will never be a swimmer representing america. and i said, why, daddy? and he did like this, he put his hand out, and he rubbed his hand, i thought he had a bug on him or something. i said, what's the matter? he said, son, when you usually go up to the white area to the pool, you and your boys got

inside the pool, and as soon as you jumped in the water, what happened? it didn't take but a second, and you could see the picture in your mind, all the white parents jumped up, betty, bobby, ricky, get out the water. harry, get out that water. [laughter] and i was very confused at the time because when they tell them kids to get out the water like something was going to roll off me and make them look like me, and then i see the parents putting suntan lotion on them and lay down on the beach to look like me, it blew me away. i don't know what to believe now. [laughter] so now in the process of going through all this, god put me in touch with a guy that i heard on the radio, the first one that was talking -- adam clayton baptist church and got to realize there was two types of people on the black side of town. there was people that looked like me, there was black people that looked like white folks. now i saw adam clayton paul's father, he looked like me and my

father. he came out and said, listen, i'm not feeling well today, told the parishioners, i'm going to let my son, adam jr., give the sermon today. well, when adam jr. came out, he was a white man! i said, pop, that's not his son. my father said, oh, yes, that's his son. [laughter] i said, no, daddy, that can't be -- no, that's his son. and i said to him, i said, well, he's a white man. he said, no, he's black. he said they have some fair-skinned white people -- black people. he said, what the difference is, he say, all of them are not changing over because they are ashamed of their race, they change over because they want a better standard of life. he said, now, some of them get a little overzealous -- [laughter] he said, but this is a true black man. so i got to realize we've got this going on, and then i heard this guy on the radio talking like malcolm x. who was this guy, malcolm x?

i was enthralled with this guy. he was so prolific in his statements, he was so strong in his character on the radio, and i had to find out who was this guy because everybody else was going upstream, he was coming downstream with no hesitation. who was this guy? and they said he's going to come down to teach, the ruler down there. well, i didn't have time for the games, no more spin the bot and chase the girls, i'm trying to chase this guy to find out what he all about. and i remember going down to 116th street, and i'm sitting in the streets just like these people in the front row because i don't want to miss nothing. but what i heard on the radio was secondary to what i heard live in terms of this individual because the way he was talking with my young mind, he was blowing two black to be so light-skinned blowing that black. when i saw his skin was so fair, i thought, man, he can't be talking like this. [laughter] but he was proud of who he was,

and he was proud of who he was and proud to let black people know that they should be just as proud of who they are. he was teaching about having respect for yourself, have respect for your neighbors, fight for your dignity, fight for the dignity of your community. i loved that. so i began to go to the meetings every saturday, and i would make it a point to stay after the meeting so i could run with him and say,, mr. x, can i go with you? he said, if you can keep up. and i think god helped me because he helped my running ability because i had to jog to keep up with him. but i was feeding the knowledge. now, i left malcolm down the line. malcolm went away, god called him. and then as we get closer to the olympic games, i get a call on the telephone. i had left east texas state, it was a bad situation. the school was integrated one year before i got there. i'm coming off lennox avenue in new york, that was a bad mix. that's like putting vinegar and

alcohol together or some combustible thing, you know? it was just bad. [laughter] so i come on back, and i'm helping my mother paint the kitchen, and the phone rang. and she said, johnny, yes, someone on the phone want to talk to you. it was professor harry edwards. and he says to me, he says, john, they're having a meeting downtown at the americana hotel. do you think you could break away? someone asked me to invite you to the meeting. no problem. let me check with my mom. hey, mom, they're having a meeting. do you think i can go? oh, if they want you at the meeting, you need to be there. i'll handle the rest of this. all right, man, tell me where to come. i walk into this beautiful lobby. now, my mother was a perfectionist, she the type of woman buy furniture, put plastic on it, and you got to wait five years before you can sit on it. [laughter] y'all know what that's about. so anyway, i'm looking and seeing all this beautiful sofa in there, and i'm seeing the artwork and saying, man, i could

get this for my mother, i'm just thinking about getting it all. i let that float through my mind, and then i went to the desk. i said, i'm looking for -- and he told me where to go. i go upstairs, and i knock on the door. a guy comes to open up the door, and he looked forward -- familiar to me. he invite me in, i go on in. they offered me cookies, soda, sandwich, whatever i want, and i'm sitting down, and i'm looking -- some of these people look familiar. we've seen them on tv. but i'm still not putting the dots together in terms of where i am. and then after about 20 minutes, 25 minutes the door opens and here come a living legend walk out, and the first thing i'm thinking to myself, oh, my god, my mother need to be a rock in my pocket because dr. king walked out the room. who would have ever thought that little johnny carlos would be in the room with dr. king? my household he was like god's

first lieutenant. [laughter] and when he came in, i realized right away that not only was he a civil activist or was he a minister, but if he wanted to be on "saturday night live" standing up as a comic, he'd have made money because he knew how to crack some jokes and relax the people. and he sure relaxed me because he saw me shake ago little bit. [laughter] i'm in there with the big boys. so he went on, and he made this statement. he said, listen, he said, i want to come out, and i want to support this olympic boycott. i want to support the olympic boycott. i don't want to be in charge, i want to be second in command under harry edwards. and we went on and had the strategy about what we going to do and why we going to do it and how we going to do. and then he says out of nowhere that he received a letter in the mail, and the letter said that they had a bullet with his name on it, and he wouldn't have to wait long. when he said that, that's

ringing in my brain like a big gong. so at the end of the meeting, he said, do you have any questions? i couldn't wait to throw my hand up. yeah, dr. king, i got a couple of questions. first question, did you ever play any basketball? did you box? could you run? he said, i couldn't play -- [inaudible] i said, why would you get involved in the the o olympic movement? he say, listen to me. imagine a boat in the middle of the lake and the water's calm, he said, and you take this rock out the boat and you hold it over the side and drop it, what happens? i said, well, it give vibrations. he says, absolutely. it creates waves. go out to the far end of the lake. he said that olympic boycott is that rock. he said, if you guys chose to step back from the olympic games, the greatest thing is that you're not killing anybody. you're not putting anybody down. as a man, as a woman you're just making the statement i'm choosing to step back, and he

said to me, also, imagine what would have happened if black soldiers are deciding to step back and not go to war, do you think america would be as great as it is today? i said, oh, that's heavy. put that in my little basket. [laughter] he said to me, he said, john, you said you had another question. yes, dr. king, i have another question. you said that they said they have a letter with a bullet with your name on it. why would you go back to memphis? and when he said what he was about to say, i used to wear shades. they didn't die late like they do now, and i pulled my shades down. i want to look in his eyes, and i don't want to look through no glass. why would i look at his eyes, baby girl? why do you think, sir? no, not to connect. if a man tell me they're going to kill me, i'm going to be a little shaky. i looked to see if he was afraid to die. he was solid as the rock of gibraltar. and not only was he, did not

have no fear, but when you look in someone's eyes, you know when love is in their eyes. he loved society so much until he was ready to give his life, and when you look at a pick chuf of -- picture of gandhi, you see the same love. when you look at rosa parks, you see the same love, or paul robison, the same love. and my hero, john brown. when you look in many his eyes, you see the same love. this individuals made the ultimate commitment. they didn't make a partial commitment. john carlos did not make a partial commitment in 1968. if it was partial, i wouldn't be here in 2011. my day is done. but my day is not done because the war that we started years ago, long time before '68, it still goes on today. 1968 -- [applause] i'll tell you guys about those applause in a minute. i got how much, a minute and a half? [laughter] all right.

well, they got a time schedule, so we got to keep up with it. so anyway, in 1968 when you sit back and you think about it, we were young and idealistic as david said, and we had a vision, a paradigm in terms of how can we make society better. we looked at individuals that stood up, and all those individuals died just like the one individual that stepped out to try and move that pebble. he couldn't do it by himself. dr. king died. gandhi died. malcolm dies. because they was out there by themself. they was the leaders by themselves. then we said let's get these young individuals together, this thing called the olympic movement is 15 minutes in the sun for any young individual that goes to the olympics. if i asked you who won the mile in the olympics, you couldn't tell me.

if i asked you two olympics ago who's the 100-meter, you couldn't tell me. so i'd listically, we decided to get this theory going. let's have some discussion. well, i don't know about me boycotting the olympics. i promised my church i was going to win. i trained too hard. my mother's expecting me to win. i can't give up my opportunity to go to the o olympics. we said we're just trying to have some dialogue so we can have some exchange, but okay, i'm willing to do that. so we get on this hypothetical train, and we start rolling down the tracks. now, all the people outside the train they're waving, god bless america, make sure you bring home the gold, make our medal count high. they was all excited. now we come to the conclusion that, hey, we going to do this thing, we going to attempt to make this olympic boycott possible. everybody understands that we're going to make a better

situation, we're going to make society better. everybody was at their crossrods in life, just like you face at one point in your life. now we've got the thing where we say, okay, we're on the same page, we're going to attempt to do something collectively. we come together as a unit. and now that we said we're going to do this, let's stop the train. let's put out the banners on the train. olympic boycott, black athletes and anyone that's sympathetic to the cause. 1968 olympic boycott, all the banners all the way down the train. now we start the train up again, and all those people out there waving, they're gone. [laughter] why? because just the way america was, we talk about boycotting the olympic games, i don't want to hear that. you ain't supposed to be concerned about yourself, you supposed to be concerned about america. i say when is america concerned about me? that's the question. so now we sit back and look, okay, all the people out there

waving is gone, but some replaced them. what replaced them was fire bombs and missiles that they shot at the train. that 43 years that tommy smith and peter norman was out there, 43 years we dealt with bombs and chaos and murder and mayhem. and then you sit back and you say here we are 43 years later, and now life in chains from the villain all of a sudden we was resurrected, and we the heros now. people want to step next to us. hey, man, i want to take a picture with you. hey, man, i think when they put that statue up in san jose, i deserve to have a brick with my name on it. i said to them, well, wait a second. i love you eternally. i say, i love you less than yesterday and more than tomorrow, okay, i'm wrapping it up. i say, but let me tell you this. as long as i live, i could never

let you take the picture with me, i could never let you put a brick down there, i said, because if i allowed myself to do that, that's like when i was a kid in school looking for my history. somebody whitewashed it out. i couldn't find out who frederick douglass was even though i was going to frederick douglass junior high school. [laughter] so somebody whitewashed my history. and i told them if i let you get in the picture right now, i'll be whitewashing history. oh, no, i deserve it, i was with you all the way, we ran track together. i said, oh, do me a favor, open up your shirt. show me the burns on your chest. show me the burns on your neck or pull up your pants leg and let me see the burns. i don't have no burns. i say, absolutely. i say, tommy smith, come up here. pull up your pants leg, let 'em see the burns. open your shirt, turn your neck, let 'em see the burns. i say, you want to see mine? let me show you mine.

do you know what the difference is? mr. smith made a total commitment. i didn't make a partial commitment. you made a partial commitment when things got rough, you decided to bail. now things is good in life, you want to come back like society owe you something. you didn't do anything to deserve to be rewarded for anything. but now you want to get in the picture? don't ever let yourself be in the crossroads of life and be afraid to make the right choice. now, i fought so many years -- i'm 66 now, and i can say for at least 65 years of my life i knew this theory. and the theory is that we have a tendency to be afraid to offend our oppressors. you are afraid to offend your oppressor. if i got my foot on your neck and you can't breathe, you afraid to come and tell me, get your foot off my neck. and i've seen so many of them do it at the olympic games, i've seen so many of them do it in the business world, i've seen so

many of them do it in the educational field. those that's in the corporate office, they sit back, and they take abuse, they take jokes about different races, and they're afraid to step up and say, hey, man, what you doing is wrong. so i want to just say god bless you guys and thank you for giving us this opportunity to share with youtonight. [applause] >> hey, wait one second. hey, hold on. everywhere i go, everywhere i go they always want to give me applause. i don't want no applause, you understand? god told me i only have to communicate to one potential. he says you're doing better than the one, but you only need one. i said, lord, why only one person? you know what he told me? he said, john, you speak so good that you can put so much love and sunshine into one person's

heart that can radiate throughout the world. that's why they applaud. but my attitude is that being an earthling, listen, guys, i'm here to communicate. but if you feel like you must applaud, go in your pocket and throw jib -- jingle up here. [laughter] >> we have time if people want to ask questions either to dr. john, myself, both of us. there are microphones right there, people can line up. we have time for -- >> [inaudible] >> -- a couple of questions. that's on you, john. >> god, i need to -- >> okay. john's going to run to the bathroom real quick. [laughter] there's no shame in that. he did say he was an earthling just now. [laughter] >> there you go. >> while people are lining up, just a couple of pieces of interesting news for you. first of all, we got a notice today that the book which has been out just about a month

ising being reprinted, so it's sold out of -- [applause] first print anything a month. and that's wonderful. the second piece of news we heard today, i don't know if people heard this, but dr. john was on cnn this morning in the world's shortest segment ever. it lasted two questions before they cut him off. because they started by saying that john carlos, first of all, we want to talk to you about the occupy movements that you've been going to. now, you were involved in the black power salute, and he said, stop right there. it wasn't a black power salute, it was power to the people, human rights for everybody. don't call it a black power salute. that was the first thing. then she goes, okay, okay, okay, but we wanted to ask you, also, if we could back then in 1968 before we talk about the occupy movements, you paid a price. you had your medal taken away. he said, stop right there. they never took my medals away. that's propaganda they've been

spreading for 43 years. now what's your question? click, they cut him off. just like that. now, the aftermath of that -- raise your hand if you ever heard of deadspin.com. it's like the most-read sports web site. big headline on deadspin.com, cnn's awkward interview with john carlos. [laughter] six hours later, a call from cnn will you, please, come back on so we can do the interview properly? [laughter] so it's a beautiful thing if you get the chance to go online and see it. so i just wanted to give you guys a bit of an update about what was happening and then just the last thing, giving you kauais a little -- guys a little update, giving john some time. there's been a lot of great articles about the book. when john spoke at occupy wall street, the next day it was in "usa today," l.a. times, daily news, the headline in "usa today" was olympic protester helps occupy wall street which was pretty cool.

and that was amazing to have that happen and to be able to have this occupy movement happen while the book has been out has been a beautiful thing. hey, john, you're back. >> did i leave? >> [inaudible] >> where is the black glove? >> well, i hate to say, man, mr. smith, those was his gloves. [laughter] i thought mr. smith would have the kindness in his heart to say, hey, man, we made history, you keep the gloves. he didn't have that in his heart. [laughter] so now 43 years later someone else has the gloves. he don't know where they are. so it ain't about the gloves, it's about the theory of the gloves. you know? if i had the gloves, they'd be saying put it on ebay right now. [laughter] >> so, good, so now questions. yes. >> okay. i just want to say thank you for what you did in 1968 because what you did in 1968 allowed me

to go to san jose state in 1971, and eric -- [inaudible] we were part of a social experiment that i'm sure came from the efforts that you guys did, you and tommy smith, lee evans, people like that in '68 where they had 50 blacks from all over california come to san jose state as part of an eop program, equal opportunity program. >> yeah. >> and we were part of that program back then, and i'm sure a lot of that came from you and dr. jeffreys and people like that who -- >> [inaudible] >> back in '68. so i just wanted to let you know how glad and how proud i am of what you did and how you opened doors for people like us. and you set the stage for us, and i dedicated my life to

giving back to young people, and, you know, because i know i walk on shoulders like yours. so i just want to say thank you. >> thank you, man. thank you very much. [applause] i love the fact that you guys are partners. [inaudible] yes, sir. >> [inaudible] >> what's your first name? >> carlos. >> that's the best name in the world. [laughter] >> [inaudible] >> hey, man -- [inaudible] >> and i waited all these years to ask you this question. i was 16 years old at that time. [inaudible] and you know for what reason. >> right. >> why they didn't allow you to

leave with the student body for -- what was the reason? i waited 20 some years to ask you -- >> well, i'm going to tell you about that. it is great that you asked that question because it's a very important question. first of all, god blocked us from coming to see -- it wasn't that they didn't let us come because we was ready to come, but god blocked it. and we for 30 years fought the government to release the confidential information. you've got the confidential information act in the united states. well, for 30-some-odd years professor edwards fought them tooth and nail to release the report. they had it planned that they was going to kill those students down there in mexico city, and the plan was to have us come down to mexico city and join up with you as you was just asking why we didn't come and kill us all. and then it'd be done.

okay? and for most of you guys that don't know, they said they killed 50 students. lie. then they said they killed 150 students. bigger lie. now they say 350 students, still a lie. they killed close to 2,000 individual students down there in mexico city. they killed so many, they took them and through them in the furnace, then they took the rest of them and put them in boats and took them out to the ocean and dumped them. then they turned on this man here and his comrades and run 'em up into the mountains and said don't come down until these games are over. these are the atrocities people had to fight about. and then 43 years later half of the population has never even heard of this. games. that's why we didn't come. it wasn't our act. like, for instance, george foreman is a very, very dear friend of mine, i can say like a brother. and when george got the flag and

waved the flag around in the ring, there was a guy named pappy galt gave him the flag, the head boxing coach. pappy came to me after the demonstration, and he said, john, i can't see i agree with what you did, i can't say i disagree with what you did, but what i can say is you're going to have to have a way to feed your family. i have a plan. his plan was to give george foreman that flag in that ring. so he invited myself, my wife, tommy and his wife. we were getting to go. then my god stepped in one more time and said, no, i'm going to make it impossible for you to go. and i sit back now in my old age and say thank god that you was on your job and blocked us from going. not to say that pappy put us in harm's way or had he thought about putting us in harm's way. but just the mere fact that we did this demonstration and they had george with the flag, you

know, it was like piranha. all they had was that one dude to come approaching us, and everybody in that boxing arena would have jumped on us. i don't be concerned about me, but i'm always concerned about the women in my life. so i just say thank god that you protected us and kept us away. no disrespect to those young students, but i say thank god that you kept us away at that particular time because i had to be here now to talk about just what you talking about. >> thank you, brother. to witness this great history making -- >> thank you, sir. thank you. [applause] >> yeah, okay. as long as you did that, i'm all right. let me ask you this though. the meeting that you spoke on that dr. edwards -- was that because i can remember lee telling me it was some meetings

at san jose state, some bsu meetings that came to, and it was kind of discussed where it was kind of an understanding that there was going to be demonstrations if you, in fact, went to the olympics, there was going to be demonstrations. but there were different things talked about. and i think lee and them had the berets, and different people did different things, but why do you think the glove was so huge? because i don't, you know, and i think it had something to do with the black panther party. >> i don't know, man, because i told everybody at that time, i said, man, i'm a catholic. i ain't no black panther because i believed in the theory any man's an island within himself. i said that then, and i say it today. now relative to the glove, why did we use the glove? the glove was there because tommy said he had the gloves, but the main concept why i told

tommy to bring those gloves was for the first time in the history of the olympic games, that's the first time they put it in technicolor worldwide. it was going around the world for the first time as well. we wanted them to have no misunderstanding as to who we were representing first, was black people and then america. simple as that. it wasn't about the black panthers, wasn't about, you know, people say, oh, john carlos left his gloves home. i didn't have no damn gloves, tommy had the gloves. [laughter] relative to what you said in regards to lee, lee is absolutely right. we had a vote on this hypothetical train -- >> right, right. >> -- and hen they voted -- when they voted they wanted to go to the olympic games, it was left to every man will do what he feels necessary to do when he goes to the olympics. why we got together to do that demonstration, i really think, man, based on my religious beliefs, based on that vision that god gave me when i was a kid, it's like god rolled up his

sleeves, i'm going to handle this one. he brought all the pieces of the world together, all the sand, and he reached down, and he pulled one, tommy smith, and threw it on the table. he reached down, peter norman, threw it on the table. reached down again, john carlos, threw it on the table. y'all don't have to do this, but you can if you like. now, he protected us. when you think about the young white guy there, peter nor match, they could have had 16 million guys out there, and not one out of that 16 million would have had the nerve to step up and do what he did. you think about peter norman relative to -- let me put it like this. when we got back from the games, tommy smith lived there, i lived there. america lived all over us. but they said let's go over here and kick tommy smith's butt until we get tired. they was tired of him, all right, let's go over to carlos and kick his butt until they get

tired too, and they switched and forth. but australia at that particular time was parallel to south africa in their views about the human race. they was just as prejudiced to the aboriginal people as the people in south africa. now, peter norman stood there on the stand, he stood at attention, he didn't disrespect no flag, but just merely because he put a button on his chest and said olympic project for human rights, i stand for humanity and couple with the the fact that he stood for humanity with two black individuals, when he went back to australia, it wasn't no trade-off. they whipped him morning, they whipped him noon, and they whipped him night. they broke up his marriage as they broke all of our marriages up. they drove him to drink, they drove him to nervous breakdowns, and eventually they drove him to breaking his heart. when they had delivered there in

2000 the australian olympics, they never even let him walk across the field in terms of acknowledgment. and not only did they disrespect him, he was a greatest and still the greatest sprinter that that nation has ever made or built or brought about. but he never denounced us, he never walked away from us, he never turned his back on us, and he stood fast all the way to his death. 15 million individual whites would have came out there, and i don't think none of them would have did what peter norman did, but it just gives you an indication of saying we can no longer allow these things to happen. >> and it -- that was great. [laughter] just something i heard today that, i mean, one of peter norman's last acts of his life was if people have seen the picture of the statue at san jose state, this 24-foot-high statue, you'll see that the

silver medal part is empty. john thought it was a disrespect to peter norman. and so the people at san jose, they got in touch with peter, and peter said, you know what? i'm fine not being there because that was a privilege for me to stand there with john and tommy. and, hey, now maybe other people can stand there as well, right there at that statue. and i'm only raising that not just because it's a beautiful story and it says so much about peter's character, but i heard today there now is such a thing as occupy san jose state, and where do you think people gather? [laughter] that statue. and where do you think they do their general assemblies from and speak from? that silver medal stand. so that's peter's legacy. [laughter] >> well, you know, it wasn't that simple, you know, about peter norman. when they called me and asked me about the statue and i thought build some statues, first thing i said i don't want no bronze statue with gray/turquoise pigeon poop running down the side.

[laughter] and they say, no, man, it's going to be a unique statue, like something you've never seen before. i said, okay. i got wind they was building the statue, but someone called me and said, man, they're just building you and tommy. when i got there, it was just like they said, they had built the statues, they was putting pieces together, but over there where peter was, i say, what's going on? how come peter's statue's not there? well, you know, john, peter didn't go to san jose state, you and tommy graduated san jose state, so we raising the money from the student body, so we just concerned about tommy and you. i said, no, man, if peter don't go there, i'm not going there. one of them came over and said, john, peter preferred not to be there. so i said, whoa, wait a second. so we go straight to the president's office, i say, hey, we need to make a phone call, dr. dan connection -- kessler.

he said, to where? i said, to australia. we've got to call peter norman. i pick up the phone, what do you americans want now? hey, peter, it's carlos. hey, john, how you doing? the i say, man, i'm kind of disenchanced. what's the matter? i understand you don't want to have your statue built here. he kind of sighed, and he said, no, john, who told you that? he said, let me tell you something, john. he said, man, i love you until the sun go and come back, is and i'm going to still have love for you. he say, man, only reason why i don't want my statue there is because i didn't do what you and tommy did. he said, i supported what you and tommy did. he said, man, i thought it was only appropriate that i would leave my space blank so anybody that come from anywhere on planet earth that could understand what you guys was all about and what to lend support, they could stand right there with where i stood and take a picture with you guys. now, let me tell you something.

tommy smith, i love tommy. knowing tommy, tommy would have never did that. [laughter] ever would he have done that. so i'm telling you that i have the utmost respect, admiration and love for peter long after i leave this world, man, because a true man. >> hey, man, i just want to say it's been, like, ten years -- >> right. >> -- since the symposium that you -- >> right. >> i owe you dinner, i'm real impressed with you did the book. i love ya, you know, and you know who i am now. >> yeah. >> yeah. so after this i'll talk with you. >> right on. right on. >> we've got time just to finish up the line there. how many people in the line, one, two -- >> three people. >> three. all right, let's do these three. >> dr. carlos, a real pleasure, much respect for everything you did. i was 10 at the time -- >> [inaudible] >> oh. turn on the mic.

>> you said you were 10? >> i was 10 at the time. >> you look like me, i look like i'm your age. [laughter] >> [inaudible] >> oh, man, i'm just teasing. l. >> i know. so i was the youngest sibling in my family, and my older brother and my father were involved in the sclc, we grew up in d.c., and, you know, i felt like i was part of it because they told me everything that was going on. and so being, you know, loving athletics and being aware of the civil rights movement, um, you know, i was finely attune today that moment -- attuned to that moment. and the way you said dr. king described throwing a rock into a pond, that signifies perfectly that moment for me. it was like a metaphorical and literal punctuation point to the whole civil rights movement, it was so impactful, so meaningful, you know? i just wanted to say that. and also i had a question. one of the things that you guys stood for was, you know, getting the ioc to reject rhodesia and

south africa from participating in the olympics, but i'm wondering, and i don't mean this to sound sarcastic, but why didn't you demand that of the united states at the same time? >> why didn't we what? >> demand that the unite not be able to -- the united states not be able to compete in the same -- >> go ahead, baby. >> it actually was, first of all, it was a concrete demand from the african people's struggles in rhodesia and south south africa, so it was about an international, sol dare with an international -- solidarity with an international with pan am. it was identifying with the very real movements in those countries. that's the first thing. and the second thing is, of course, we all know it's not a level playing field in any country in this society. the same way john carlos wasn't allowed to compete at swimming as we talk about in the book. yet in south africa and rhodesia in particular, you had

racialized olympic teams, whole segments of the population who participated in athletics who were the best sprinters, jumpers, what have you, who were not allowed to be part of the olympic trials of those countries. so it's not to say that they're somehow worse than the united states, and we all know the united states was in vietnam supporting all kinds of things that are head-turn anything terms of how terrible it was, but it was responding to very real movements in those countries and very real segregated injustices in terms of how they participated and how they contributed to the olympic movement. >> thank you. >> did you -- did he hit it? >> he did. >> okay. as long as he hit it. [laughter] >> come on up here, queen. >> hi. hello, is this on? [inaudible conversations] >> my name's mariah, and i'm a citizen journalist and a digital connector, and i was wondering how you feel about the way media

has changed since -- >> come over here. come here. /. >> that's a great question. >> i want them to hear -- >> yeah, it's a great question. everybody should hear it. >> yeah. go on, make your question. >> how do you feel about the way the media has changed since 1968? >> how do i feel about how the media's changed since 1968? that's a great question. >> yeah. ..

i have the compassion for humanity and concerned about humanity but they trained how to go for that metal. if she says anything outside the circle, i got to be different because they took connie smith's medal away. all these years brought propaganda. yet here we are 43 years later, i was on cnbc -- cnn this morning. >> the story when you were in the bathroom about what happened. >> you got that? [laughter] >> this young lady here, the media changed as much if they think you stand on your own two legs, i am going to -- i am a man with meyer and eyes.

when i stand on myron two feed and express who i am and and no fear of expression. they can't white wash you know more if they have live tv. it is all right. they can continue -- they tell me i am the horse that feeds you or the cow that gives you milk and this and that. a lot of people -- you are the cow that gives milk but i am the grass the cal has to eat in order to give milk. [applause] >> talk about your story again. >> how do i feel about how you talk about it? i am flabbergasted. i wish i could be your age again so i could live through this. i think i am one of the most blessed guys in the world to live life that lived and have a

book written about my life and have so many people excited about the story that they read about my life. i am truly blessed and thank you for asking that question. >> what is your name again? >> what is your best subject in school? math? i thought you were in journalism. so if is both. i wish you the best. [applause] >> if you go back to cnn how will it be different? >> that is the question you need to ask cnn. [applause] i didn't plan the program. they did. >> highly sledge or something. i don't know.

the main point is yes, john will be back on cnn and they will show more respect. there will be thousands upon thousands of people poised and ready, oops, you did it again. >> i don't have anything about cnn. it was many years before cnn call me on their show. if i don't do it it will be fine. you only got to read one a day. i have to reach the masses in one shot. one 0 day. i reach the masses one time. you have to do it one time and people take pictures. can you put your fists up? rsa no. i don't put my fists up no more. why? you put your the up and i will point to it. what are you pointing to? [applause] a point to illustrate that the

baton has been passed. [applause] [inaudible] [applause] >> i love that. >> raise your fists at any point this evening. >> all right. >> totally changed -- [inaudible] -- your life changed drastically. i actually know this for a fact because i am from new york and i have brothers that are 22 years older than me and they told me about you and tommy and i know that there are factors that are the same. how do you move on?

that situation where things happen to us and we hold on to those things. but you are not bitter. >> it is contrary to what you said. my life hasn't changed. things have changed about me. i have been the same johnny carlos today as i was when i was a little boy. i am the same guy. when people get recognition they get big headed. i am> god. i love people. a i like to laugh and have a good time and make people feel good and when it is time for me to -- elected to that too. hy never tried to be anything more than what my father raised me to be. who are you? never wanted to be more than

pearl carlos's sun. i am happy being that. certain times you step up. i stepped up but i have been stepping up since i was a little kid. situation in my project. did i talk about this? >> when you started talking you said those caterpillars. then you went on to another subject. were you worried about the caterpillars? it is a good story. >> i went to my mother and asked we lived in the penthouse and on the sixth floor. our problem was it was the only apartment up here and my mom came in from work and she came in in the morning and she would never come downstairs. my mom was like been -- big ben, the clock. every day in the window and all the other parents were talking.

one day i went to my mother and said how come you never go downstairs and hang out with mothers down there and talk to them? i leaned to my mother and son are you stuck up? when i looked at my mother she said what did you say? like that. are you stuck up? my mother looked at me with tears in her eyes and said i have never thought i was better than anyone and never raised my kids to think i was better than anyone. so why don't you go downstairs? she said i work in the hospital and the operating room and this project is infested with caterpillar's every summer. to god's truth, the jail station -- we turn its head of legal we turn the set off and you can hear the caterpillars eating the leaves at night. you can hear them.

that shows you how many there were. she said i can't go into the operating room with a rash on my neck or my arm. you remember whether caterpillar falls out of the tree, how fragile they are. you take it off he will bust it no matter -- you will bust it and when you get your hand to your side you have a rash on your neck. so i said that is right. okay. so i took it upon myself. must have been 14. i went to the project manager. always believed on -- i am not wasting time. i went to the magistrate and said to him we have a problem. what do you mean we have a problem? what are you doing in my office? it is about these caterpillars. whar do you never spray the trees? get out of my office, he said. i said i have a right to be here. i live here and i want to know about these caterpillars. he pushed a panic button on his

desk. they grabbed me. take him out of here. i went to the gas station to see mr. gardner. my father sent me to get some gas. i got the big can. where is the money? [inaudible] i took the can and had a pocketful of stick packs. i put it in the trees and i poured the trees in the projects and maybe 20 or 25 yards between the tubes on each side. i took the first can and told the women in the project, go upstairs and told the guys don't play ball today and -- [inaudible] -- took the gas can up first street and knocked me back.

okay. everything on the tree -- by the time i got to the third trees they had called the police. the guard came running up and by the time they came to me i hid the third tree. the first three on down. i went and hid four trees and nobody. i thought that i might have embarrassed my mom. i knew i embarrassed my parents. and the judge gave me a rich to come to court. my father said i am not going to court and my mother said i am not going to court. you won't get me down and embarrassed me. i got to court and -- mental deficiency -- my father said no. not to my knowledge. maybe you can expand what is

wrong with your son doing that to those trees. is he concerned about the welfare of the people in the project? your honor, that is a real good question and on would like to know the answer myself with my son is here. what do you ask him? well? i said your honor, let me just explain. my mother and i had a conversation about why she doesn't come downstairs. my mother explained she doesn't come down because of the caterpillars. i got thinking i would go to the project and every summer i go up there they sprayed the white folks trees. people of color down here, they don't spread. i went to the manager. they're not doing their job. the judge looked at my father and said what was the last time they spread? john was a little boy last time they sprayed. the manager said come up here. the you have your records with you? no, i don't have them. this is a good time to take a

recess. when you come back from lunch you make sure you bring your records back. the judge was a smart judge because he told the bailiff i want you to call the new york city housing authority and have someone bring the records down here. come back from lunch, bring a little piece of paper -- is that all you have? my secretary went in and this is all i could find. anyone in the audience from the housing authority? here comes this guy with a big bundle of papers and he looked at them and said the project received money stipend to spray the trees. the last 15 years they received stipends. the last 15 years. how often have a spray in the last 15 years? 15 years.

they wrote that is a spray every year for the past 15 and took that money. so now from johnnie being the full of the neighborhood now switch it over like i am ready to be the hero of the neighborhood. the judge looked at the guy and the mayor looked at the guy from downtown. come with me. they fired him right then in the court. my father looked at me and the judge looked at me and the judge looked at my father and said mr. carlos, you should be really proud of your son. he had more concern for the people and you should be really proud of him based on the fact that he looked out for your wife and his mother. he is leaving the court room. case over. my father said to me son, you have done a lot of things in your life and i got to add a lot of damage. but i tell you one thing.