>> it's truly an honor. onrpon eecongratulations. i want to make a comment/question? [laughter] >> of course. >> this really taki me to anoth lev w nei ndanatee d

l o boaotof the stuff that's happening today from yeserday. i stayed at a shelter in the bronx. i don'tget bin'm itltdrc toldhr i was coming here, i needed a late pass. i want to know when you have stuff like this, and i'm not going to a book down club -- boogie down club, by hele islan, is ties into the salvation army. you get the picture. so how do we, you kow what i'm yonco ooe temeol th an not going to say punch them in the nose, but -- and i said it without anger. can we do something you're?

there so many people who wantt comeut lt t a innad. ntorti [applause] >> i would say first of all thank you for coming. thank u for coming. ppe] d 'tpeo t issue, but i don't know. >> which is a we live in a punitive society, and the incentives to chgethat tomenweh tns through being ae in ialin country. so if you think that people get what they deserve, think poverty is purely a function of individual choice deothoue bioad ecoforsmone trying to understand that the world are

living, especially comes to a history that implicates society, and nt about e indiual aplyu lofo en re ise inhis space, that others might speak about something that they might not ever know, which is a difficult it is, ie yur atio anu brngt atnt >> i want to thank you for writing such a wonderful book. and writing it in the way -- i whoucr iwiit tytutrm he tt yo did. because it focuses in on the struggles of our people going the hiha o mentioned afterward

towards the end of the discussion about losing the rights that we had, it seem that we are going througha peri liktahe various states that have been -- have an active voter id laws on the pretexthat they ar tyng oec tv olro r fraud. and do you see that we need to be as strong as our ancestors, in seeing clearly the underlying pr vsadee ngy werand ar holders in pursuing and keeping

the rights that we have came from the '60s on? t's equia discussion, you know, in the states about this. the justice department, as you know, has been vigorously looking into these instanc. felok to sti useful, both, i think we often think about the civil rights movement in particular because its more recent, but back to those people vod and ld oic the86ad thth mr, w do need to be vigilant in a democracy always about our rights as citizens of all stripe i think it maters. >> i would cometagre andihinkta in,m

eomisaw en period that might call for a third reconstruction, precisely because of the backsliding that is unfolding right as we speak. wrg .anou f i teach the douglas narratives, the second one is my bond things and my freedom. and in that book you said that there was a law that no one coulds isvemr d fr oa t o ndf a,d you know if that law became custom or pattern on both sides, that we just wouldn't discuss it? that's my first question. and the second one really is the premise of the book, and it's hiy?idered our

so i want to know the category that you would place your book can. wodhsopod, when you ce our >> it is history. i'm a journali so it is history. it's nonfiction, and your first question again? i want to go backto yr i noatwas n considered a crime to rape a black woman. that i know. but i've not heard about that. and the emise of the boo really was to tell the storyof estlm dh ce, arback as i could take it. and in so doing, tell us all little bit about ourselves. [inaudible] toearn about your book.

i learned from john davis, a wonderful woman, your editor. wog dep a goofoun y e obama's decided to step into the ace. and that's the point at which michelle obama where there was a turn and she suddenly became, yokn the lw ake neck. she was doing a story with ebony, it and i was, i interviewed her, and we had a half hour. the last question is, is it ything us want to tellme. sgg. shidan oome to chicago, walked down the street i grew up on, interview my mom and my friends. because of what you have done.

the power of michelle obaa is st ahees ldas e. be considered -- you know, as powerful and clear and crafted. it's a great thatyou created this book to tell this incredible story. i'm wondering did she kw a hss ber unearthing it? >> some of it was new to her, a lot of it was new. she knew -- we had written an article in "e new york tieou--te e he o the ared pit this was her mother's line. her family had long known or suspected those white ancestry. thlw was ot, thtsmin int not tirs mpe d kth

particulars. >> thank you. spent justikeo thank you again for the writing ofhe ok ers icomnt the evidence i was just evidence that i would refer to, the laws that are on the books against mixed marrgeyo il whh sjstt hat h m- would suggest you that this is something that was a very common occurrence happening way back then. otherwise it would not have been in need f the laws that you have o the books all over the ace, tryingt re su inror. ryom. >> this is not my area of expertise, but there are people, legal scholars in particular, th were alrltihiat rlationships

eo iv a hnd fe and even white men trying to pass on property and possessions t familand thouhe ors. so i think there was certainly some of that. but the extent of which i can't speak to. >> to add a little bit of context to hat, ctlly oof th eyfista oe wa and i believe a 1670 law in virginia, to prevent cohabitation between men of african-american descent and mefurance ecy use re f ery was not what it would become at that point.

there was tremendous fluidity. there was a lot of unity based eainve dfric tnce o cty uc lot of interracial, what would have been cohbitation or someone who got made at the time. oth words, you're precisely righ it w sch t rlalveo,v rigid system of control, already people of like mind, of shared experience found each other, d it mattered il fe at' a problem. let me rephrase that. that expression of humanity goes back to the very beginning. well, if there are not any other

quesons su. seseo eecs andsheou oc he won't hear you if you're not at the microphone but we will take thequestion. [inaudible] eveth w women, jewel and joan, before? >> no. talking about the two people -- there was a man, the qustion wathat melbar ereee who knew melvin yet, and she did not. spent i want to fall upon a question that was raised earlier. what hashefirstlads ines accounts, her position on the writing of this book,

which was a very public thing, "new york times" has stood behind it, and jodi kanr has be fe or plg elba so it's not as if she doesn't of the soap press acounts suggest that she has not fully embraced this investigation. so i wonder now that the bookis t, sriesthen, the ict didn't. has she called you? an e-mail, a telegram [lauter] spent i can take hthe fist ladysot maeprs atnorr. she has a policy of not participating in books, and that's a blanket policy, which is that for all of us who are writingthem. during he procs, i met with members of eta '

dahe it be too ce out, i gave copies to her staff, and she has also seen the book. what she thinks i don't know. giyoyoil o. strikeme that [applause] >> for me information vit the author's wte elns. >> what are you reading this summer, oktv wants to know. >> i'm reding lyndon johnson, th g t t setme. spmo my tme -- >> i've got