truth and speak the truth and stand on the tourist america needs truth tellers and we are the truth tellers. of thank you very much for coming out tonight. i appreciate it. [applause]

>> we are here to listen to peniel joseph. i had the pleasure of interviewing peniel on c-span on the occasion of 2010 for dark days bright nights. it was one of those wonderful and under her readers c-span but conversations for i had never met him before and

ford is easy and humility i left thinking i will read his books from now until the end of time. also with the award winning from the midnight hour a narrative history of black power in america. why you're here is to hear "stokely" a life" that is described in "the new york times" review as insightful and highly engaging and a fully written biography. and following the assassination. like his peers the student nonviolent coordinating

committee he led to concentrate the thinking and carmichael was a complex figure and it was captured wonderfully in the book deal of good a life" you can never be disappointed with his titles. peniel joseph is a distorted and activists at tufts university of with a commentator and also a really nice shoe collection. [laughter] please give a warm welcome to peniel joseph. [applause]

>> eight you. i am thinking for the of what congress to talk about this invitation of "stokely" a life" it is a privilege to be here. i spent 10 years on the life of stoically carmichael and a lot of the questions i have received is why? why did i spend so much time why was stoically carmichael so interesting to me and why did he deserve a biography and why did he deserve this attention? and to answer that before going into stoically carmichael's life, of the of legacy that he left and what it means especially in the context of race relations

with d.h. of all, and ferguson and where we are now. i have to begin with my mother who is watching this is 75 years old, retired, a haitian immigrant from the mid '60s and was my first history teacher. my mother was part of the 1199 at union i was on my first picket line in elementary school and she taught me values that was important to shape to lie as a man and a person but also as a writer and scholar. cost and within that context to grow up in jamaica queens in new york but to find out of all these different

people who struggle for social political justice that i came to find him as stoically carmichael. i was impressed even in elementary age child i did not know i would be his biographer at the time. then i think of stoically carmichael the first time i encountered him was through the miniseries eye on the prize. and to have the definitive documentary about the civil-rights movement and did it in six parts then eight parts and through the

episodes and then growing up in the '80s with the context of everything from spike lee to different demonstrations against police brutality that documentary was the signal moment in my own intellectual development so well was by a the miniseries size of the prize as i became an activist he always stayed on my mind with a history of the black power movement in the course of doing research on the book that i came too deeply investigate and research so

that is by way of introduction. this is day biography as one of the political activist in the postwar period and malcolm x and martin mr. king, jr. he was born in 1941 in trinidad and comes two weeks before his 11th birthday and his family is one of the only black families in that neighborhood procopius precocious and very intelligent child and though

setter unusually charismatic with the only black students to tested to the bronx high school of science which is one of the best public high schools did new york city and one of the most popular if not the most popular and what is extraordinary is and with the civil-rights movement in 1954 and 1965. and then to be mentored with political activist openly gay and he asks a friend who is that speaking of there?

and that is a lie will be when i grow up. science is important so with those traditions some large you wish american and a vibrant left that is democratic. some are black and global. and then to listen to the african speeches and our love. to find out about patrice of the of kong go. and to think of this period

of the civil rights movement with a truncated history lesson we have one of the most extraordinary periods in american history. wed may think about that period, may 17, 1954 is the brown segregation decision. the 13 month by governor a bus boycott. . .

the start of the city and movement where black students demand equal service sparking hundreds of demonstrations, but importantly it we will spark the student nonviolent coordinating committee. we we have heroic figures who are still alive today , johanna mulholland is here. judy richardson, congressman lewis, and stokely carmichael. 1961, the freedom rides where groups of interracial activists tried to defy

segregation. there is going to be a greyhound bus that is firebombed. the the most iconic pictures and portraits, but force the hand of the attorney general, robert kennedy, to send in federal marshals. 1961 is also the year of raging protest in terms of counterdemonstration for civil rights protest and integration. james meredith becomes the first black student to integrate the university of mississippi. 1963 is the centennial of

the emancipation proclamation. the city of birmingham, birmingham, alabama is on fire. connected with a local movement to try to desegregate. he is incarcerated and writes letters and defends the movement against critics one of the best lines is arguing that in the future young men and women will be remembered as heroes. they will be be remembered as heroes for bringing the nation back to those great wells of democracy.

1963 is the year of german shepherds and fire hoses that were powerful enough to take park off of trees. children being incarcerated. also also the year out what i call his finest moment where he delivers a forceful and robust and eloquent speech about race relations, american democracy, and citizenship where he calls the civil rights problem a moral problem as old as scripture and as clear as

the constitution. the next morning there is an assassination. field secretary for the naacp. his work has been continued by his widow. also the year of the march on washington. it is important to remember, the very first words martin luther king speaks, now is the time to make real the promise of democracy. november 22, 1963, the assassination of john f. kennedy, and it is going to send shockwaves throughout the country. but it provides a context for comprehensive civil rights legislation.

the year of freedom summer, the 50th anniversary of the summer project which is an experiment in interracial democracy and mississippi, something that stokely carmichael contributed to. mostly remembered for the tragic murders of three civil rights workers who were killed right outside of philadelphia, mississippi. the year of the voting rights act. in alabama, nonviolent demonstrators were routed by alabama state troopers. that violence known as bloody sunday, inspires wind

and johnson in a joint address to congress to say that civil rights is a national priority, voting rights is a national priority, and it is called a turning.in the politics of the dignity of humankind and the destiny of democracy. the voting rights act is passed. five days later los angeles explodes. that is the civil rights movement, and i preface my comments like giving us a short sketch of the civil rights movement because even

before carmichael calls for black power, he is is one of the key activists in the united states working for civil rights. before we can talk about the movement for black power, we power, we think about him as a community organizer and activist who was arrested 27 times for civil rights organizing, a student right here who joined the nonviolent action group, some of the most committed and brilliant young activists who were trying to not just desegregate parts of the self and washington dc and places like cambridge they are trying to transform institutions. and what is interesting about stokely carmichael is that he finds his vocation as an organizer, as an organizer.

he visits mississippi for the first time at the age of 19, and it is the first time he is arrested as a freedom fighter june 8, 1961, and he spends not just time in the county jail in jackson, mississippi, but over 30 days in a penitentiary, one of the state of mississippi's worst prison farms. there are so many different activists spending time in jail,, but carmichael and his experience in jail galvanizes his political activism. rather than be discouraged, he calls up his mother

before he goes to new orleans and tells his mother that their will be media and journalists, and he wants her to tell them that no matter what happens she is proud of him. she says, i don't want you involved. stokely tells her, tells her, the movement has become his life. you don't ever want your mom to embarrass you. whenever the whenever the press calls you, you tell them you are proud of me. he ends up in jail, and the press calls her. she says she is so proud of her son she does not no what she is going to do. now, when we think about carmichael as one of the key

organizers, he is going to fall in love with itself. that first visit is going to be just the tip of the iceberg. people like bob moses. he will be in greenwood. by the time of freedom summer he we will be the second congressional district director heading activists organizing in the mississippi delta. when we think about stokely, what was he doing? he was an organizer, living and working among poor black people in the mississippi delta. when we think about the black folks, these are african-americans who often times did not have birth certificates, would never

have certificates of death, many never had left the surrounding confines of the plantations. and they tried to not serve as leaders but provide help. we celebrate the 50th anniversary of a speech. she she spoke before the credentials committee in atlantic city and talked about being beaten. she talked about the hardships that poor black people were facing and told the credentials committee that they were facing these troubles because they wanted to be treated like decent human beings. she questioned, if there was no political representation

for american citizens who happen to be poor and black. stokely carmichael will be one of the biggest cheerleaders and supporters. he talks about her in an interview. activist, oral historian, and all around brilliant icon. martin luther king jr. is important. martin luther king jr. there are more in the united states. he says that his vision of american democracy is found when she gets the respect and credit and access. before he becomes this black power icon and image and

symbol of political revolution,, before he is with fidel castro and others, sl is pursuing radical democracy and the deep south one of the most interesting parts from the was the relationship between doctor king and stokely carmichael. they were friends. stokely serves as his chauffeur and bodyguard during freedom summer. they marched together. that relationship comes to the floor once stokely becomes chairman in may of 1956. the meredith march from june 7 until june 26th is

the march that transforms stokely carmichael's wife and the civil rights movement. going to be shot on the second day of the one man march across the state of mississippi to approve a black man could march through mississippi without fear. carmichael, martin luther king jr., to his bedside and about to continue his march. after being arrested for the 27th time he we will call for black power. what did that mean? well, well, it meant radical, social, political, and economic

self-determination. king said, don't use the term black power because they equate that with violence. carmichael said the decision was a collective one, and and black people need to start defining political and social phenomenon for themselves. when we think about them, even though their were disputes and disagreements, they find common ground. especially for black people. what is interesting, we talk about the politics of ferguson, social, economic poverty, police brutality, the black people stokely carmichael was most concerned about was the poorest of the poor. it was not students, elites.

it was the poorest of the poor. so when we think about king and carmichael,, that becomes close between 1966 and the king's death. in the course of doing research, one of the most fascinating things was his antiwar activism. the biggest antiwar activist was carmichael, and carmichael, and he is the person who is one of the people who inspires thing to come out forcefully against the war. carmichael gives a powerful speech at the university of california at berkeley. over 10,000 people.

he criticizes the war in vietnam and talks to white students about american democracy, racial privilege, and what can be done to transform democratic institutions. i have interviewed people were their. what they say is, that speech was a human rights speech. his antiwar activism inspired them to speak out. by april 15, 1957, they are on the same platform in new york city at the un building carmichael speaks before king. he criticizes the war,

violence in the united states, and connects the war in vietnam to the civil rights and black power movements domestically. martin luther king speaks after, and they meet after the demonstration is over. stokely teases came and says the only reason you are coming out against the war is the activism i have been doing. if you can imagine stokely carmichael teasing martin luther king jr., it gives you a great portrait of their relationship. later that month they are both in atlanta. he says, what are you doing.

i am out here doing the work of the people. i want you to come to my church. why? tomorrow i i am giving my comprehensive speech against the war in vietnam. he replies he we will be in the front row. when we look at the footage, after he makes that speech the person who is leading a standing ovation is stokely carmichael. he has the dark shades on, but it is him. we think about stokely, he

is not just an activist for radical democracy. after he becomes a black power activist, he is a full-blown antiwar activist, anti- imperialist activist and american hegemony around the world which is crucially important because he provides the context for the black panther party. they go to alabama and help local people organize for democracy. no black public officials. fifty years later we have similar instances, but in 65

it was hugely dangerous. they organize an organization whose nickname we will be the black panther party which travels all the way to oakland, california. he provides a platform for the antiwar movement that different radical activists will participate and support in the 50s. his legacy is a transformative legacy.

why is that? well, he leaves the united states of america. the reason is because of his international travel in 1967 he does a five-month tour, he is in london. he is in cuba with fidel castro. castro says carmichael is under his protection. he is in algeria with the revolutionary algerian leaders offer him a headquarters and support, something that carmichael does not take them up on but the black panthers do in a couple of years. he meets two of his biggest political heroes, and exile

after a coup in ghana and the charismatic leader who had told the french to leave , and suffered the consequences after. he meets up with the beautiful and brilliant south african singer, activist, icon who has been introduced to the united states by belafonte. they begin a whirlwind romance and are married by 1968 and become this global pan african couple. when we think about the international trip, the

change and transformation of his life. he comes back committed and convinced that the key to black equality and liberation lies in the unification of africa and promises to return. by 1969 he does just that. even though he returns for political speaking tours in the united states he becomes a committed anti- imperialist pan african revolutionary, changes his name,, and really becomes by the 1980s in the context of the reagan revolution, saturation, the rise of neoliberalism and the counterrevolution that transforms the hopes and dreams that 1960s era radicals and revolutionaries had carried with them, he

becomes an anachronistic because he believes in the idea of a global political revolution. one of my favorite parts is reading about barack obama's reaction. his early 20s, talking about pan africanism, a critique of capitalism and is just basically spitting fire, speaking words of fire obama recounts that his eyes blaze as he spoke, the eyes of a madman or a saint. i am here to say that he was

neither one. he was a radical political activist who was unapologetic in and pursuing social, political, economic, and social equality for black folks. he had his flaws and shortcomings. i can spell them out, but what is so important is the fact that he provides us with a blueprint to understand american race relations in a different way from the cast of iconic characters we usually look at, the bridge between martin luther king and malcolm x, a a context for radical political self-determination, even when it is unpopular. speaking truth to power when the standing ovation stops. when you when you measure what it means to work in the mississippi delta with poor

black sharecroppers, intensities in alabama after sharecroppers have been kicked out of where they have been for decades because they want the right to vote. what does it mean when you are writing about democracy in 1966 in places like the new republic. people don't want to publish you or hear your opinion. carmichael was an unapologetic political revolutionary even after the age of political revolution ended in the united states. his life is especially important and crucial. when we think about where we are in 2014. his activism helped make it happen.

certainly it is going to be both. it is top-down and bottom-up. the reason it happened during the civil rights movement is because social movement created such disruption in the united states, created such a movement and momentum for change that there had to be legislative and political solutions applied to real world problems. president kennedy says as much when he says there is a revolution happening right here in the united states, states, and it can be either violent or peaceful. the most important aspect of

a michael's activism was the way in which he helped organize poor black people to try to transform democratic institutions that did not want to be transformed. one of the the methodologies is the idea that it is over and everyone loved the fact that it was going on. it it is a fairytale. rosa parks, martin luther king jr., and barack obama. by the time of obama's election people say, that's it. people will tell black people, you have obama. obama. what else do you want? i have not gotten my invitation to the white house. when we think about the civil rights movement, it

was always contested. millions of americans had a different a different conception of american democracy that was not expensive enough to include ella baker, the brilliant organizer who is the lead organizer of the student nonviolent coordinating committee, naacp organizer who told those young students that it was about more than just a hamburger. the reason she told those young students that the movement was about more was because by april 1960 of 1960 the new york times and mainstream media were trying to say that is what it was about. ella baker said, this is not about lunch counters or

hamburgers. james baldwin says it in a way that only he can. he writes, the young people who are organizing and in demonstration across the south are doing it to do more than what baldwin calls tasteless cups of coffee. so what is important when we think about stokely carmichael and the civil rights movement, where we are today, carmichael's life provides an example of a

life well lived. he does not become a a hedge fund leader, the world's biggest leader, and then the iphone. he provided millions of poor and semi- educated black people hope through organizing for democracy and then a political revolution but calling for black power and determination. the whole idea is impossible without stokely carmichael. self-determination and black people thinking of themselves in ways that in the 1960s were profoundly impossible, eloquent, beautiful, intelligent, had the right to disagree with each other and the mainstream, it is impossible without stokely carmichael.

i guess we we will take questions at some. i will conclude by saying the most important thing to me was providing an introduction to a new generation of americans who do not realize the profound impact he had on american democracy. providing an introduction to somebody was always personally sincere. his sincerity and love and passionate belief is what stands out for me. he walks the talk. did not say they were

advocating for black equality. he lives the life of advocating even when that meant injuring himself. i think that the important part for us to remember is his willingness and courage to speak truth to power, it is really outstanding and provides a legacy that hopefully we can all learn from. thank you. [applauding] >> monday book tv features books.