>> representative john lewis is next. his most recent book is "march,d the second of a graphic novel series on the civil rights movement. [applause] >> good morning and welcome. we are excited to present to you a major participant in the civil rights history of this nation, united states representative john lewis from georgia's fifth congressional district. congressman lewis is a man of integrity, one of the most

courageous leaders the civil rights movement has ever produced. >> aboard a sharecroppers on february 21, 1940, outside of world troy alabama he lived on the family farm and attended segregated public schools in pike county, alabama. inspired by the activism surrounding the montgomery boycott and in the words of reverend martin luther king, jr. that he heard on the radio, he decided to join the movement your ever since, he's remained a vanguard of progressive social movement and the human rights and voting struggles. congressman lewis is the subject author or co-author of numerous text. most notably he has co-authored a number one "new york times" of selling graphic novel series "march."

>> book one was released in 2013. book two was released this year and immediately became a "new york times" bestseller. congressman lewis is the recipient of numerous awards including the medal of freedom from president barack obama, the naacp metal, the capital award of the national council of la raza, and the only john f. kennedy profile in courage award for lifetime achievement. and now as you sit at his feet, please listen and learn from an insiders perspective about "march." but first, step up and give a rousing ovation to one of the finest citizens this nation has to offer. ladies and gentlemen, the honorable john lewis, and

co-author andrew aydin, digital director and policy advisor. [applause] >> good morning. >> good morning. >> delighted, very happy and very pleased to be here in miami, miami book fair, one more time. i want to take the link that i want to thank the link for being involved in part of this effort. thank you for those kind words of introduction. you heard in the introduction

that i didn't grow up in a big city like miami or atlanta or washington or new york, chicago or philadelphia. i grew up in rural alabama 50 miles from montgomery. outside of little place called troy. my father was a sharecropper, a tenant farmer. but back in 1944 when i was four years old, and i do remember. how many of you remember when you were four years old? what happened to the rest of us? my father has saved $300, and a man sold him 110 acres of land for $300. my family still owns this land today. [applause] on this farm there is a lot of cotton and corn, tenets, hogs, cows and chickens.

be out there working in the field, i tell the story in "march," picking cotton, having peanuts, pulling corn. and my mother was said boy, you are falling behind, you need to catch up. i said, this is hard work. she would say hard work never killed anybody. well, it's about to kill me. so working on the farm, raising those chickens taught me hard work. discipline, perseverance, to never give up, to never give in, to keep the faith and to keep my eyes on the prize. now, some of you know doubt have heard me tell the story, you probably read it in "march," that on the farm it was my responsibility to care for the chickens. and i fell in love raising chickens. i know you are all great readers

of books. you love books. but you don't know anything about raising chickens. i know some of you love to eat chicken, but you don't know anything about raising chickens. as a little boy it was my responsibility, my calling to care for the chickens. so when a setting in was setting, to take the first eggs, place them under a setting in and wait for three long weeks for the little chicks to hatch. some of you may be asking, john lewis, why did you -- from time to time another hand would get on that same nest and there would be some more eggs and had to be able to tell the fresh eggs from eggs that were already under this heading in -- this heading hen. do you follow me?

that's okay. so when the little chicks would hatch, i would take these little chicks and given to another hen, put them in a box with a lantern, gives a more fresh eggs, mark them with a pencil, place them under this heading hen. this heading hen is in the nest for another three weeks. when i look back on it was not the right thing to do. it was not the moral thing to do, not the most loving thing to do. it was not the most democratic thing to do that i was ever quite able to save $18.98 to order the most inexpensive incubators from the sears and roebuck store. any of you old enough to remember that sears roebuck catalog? you really do? that heavy book, the book. some people call it the ordering book pick some people called it the wish book. i wish i had this, i wish i this. i just kept on pushing.

but as a little child of an eight or nine, i wanted to be a minister. i wanted to preach the gospel. so from time to time with the help of my brothers and sisters and cousins, we would gather all of our chickens together in the chicken yard like you are gathered here in this hall. my brothers and sisters and cousins lined the outside of the chicken yard, around the chicken yard. along with the chickens that would help make up the audience, the congregation. and i would start preaching. kind oi look back on some of the chickens would bow their heads last night some of these chickens would shake their heads. they never quite said amen, but i'm convinced some of those chickens i preach to in the '40s and 50s tended to listen to me much better than some of my colleagues assume kimmy today better than in the congress. [laughter] [applause] as a matter of fact, some of those chickens were just a little bit more productive, at

least they produce takes. that's enough of that story. growing up there we would visit the little town of troy. visit montgomery, visit tuskegee, as for those signs that said white men, ben, white women, code when, white waiting, colored waiting. go downtown on a saturday afternoon to see a movie. all of us looked -- blue-black joe haddock officers to the balcony. all the little white children were downstairs on the first floor. i asked my mother, my father, my grandparent why, why? that's the way it is. don't get in the way, don't get in trouble. but in 1955, 15 years old and in the 10th grade i heard of rosa parks. i heard the words of martin luther king, jr. the action of rosa parks, the

words the leadership of dr. martin luther king, jr. inspired me to find a way to get in the way. i was inspired to get in trouble. and i got in what i call good trouble, necessary trouble. so it was my idea to write "march," "march: book one," "march: book two," inspire another generation of people not so young to stand up, to speak up and speak out and get in good trouble, necessary trouble, to help change our country and make our society and make our world a little bit better. [applause] >> some of you may be asking if we tell the story, how did you meet rosa parks? how did you meet martin -- martin luther king, jr. rights

in school in nashville, tennessee, rosa parks came to speak at a rally, at a church. and i met her. but long before the end, i applied to go to a little college called troy state college, now known as troy university. submitted my application can my high school transcript or i never award from the school. they didn't admit black students. at the age of 17 i wrote a letter to dr. martin luther king, jr. i didn't tell my mother or father can any of my sisters or brothers, any of my teachers. dr. king wrote me back and sent me a round-trip greyhound bus ticket and abiding me to montgomery to meet with them. september 1957 an uncle of mine $8100 bill, more money than i ever have. gave me a big drunk with some of you today probably call a foot locker. one of these big upright trunks

that had the drawers that you could open up to bring it back together, had the curtains. i put everything that i owned except those chickens in the foot locker and took a greyhound bus to nashville. and after being in school in nashville for about three weeks, i told one of my teachers i've been in contact with dr. martin is akin to. this teacher knew dr. king. they both studied together in morehouse college in atlanta. so dr. king got back in church just in time when i was home frofrom spring break so i can s. in march 1958, 18 years old, home for spring break i took the bus to montgomery. a young lawyer, never seeing a lawyer before. never met a lawyer before, young man by the name of freddie gray

would been a lawyer for dr. roza park, he became our lawyer during the freedom ride entering the march from selma to montgomery. met me at the greyhound bus station in downtown montgomery and drove me to the first baptist church and ushered me in to the pastor study. i saw martin luther king, jr. and pastor abernathy behind the desk i was so scared. didn't want to say or what to do. dr. king said, are you the boy from troy? are you john lewis? and i said, dr. king, i am john robert louis. i gave my whole name. and he started calling me the boy from troy. [laughter] i went back and had a discussion with my mother and my father. i told him of my being with dr. king and reverend abernathy. dr. king had said i may have to

file suit against the state board of education, troy state. in that process the home may be bombed or burned. we could lose the land, go back and have a discussion. so i decided to continue to study in nashville. so in nashville a group of students from the university, tennessee state, american baptist college, vanderbilt university and peabody, black and white college students stood in the way of peace, the way of love, the way of nonviolence. we studied what gandhi attempted to a competent south africa what they accomplished in india. we studied civil disobedience. we studied margaret kingery junior and what the people were all about. then we started sitting there. andrew aydin will tell you he did a little research, working

on "march" and discovered that in 1960, after we had been sitting in, and peaceful nonviolent action waiting to be served, people would come up spit on us, but their lighted cigarettes out in our hair, down our back, pour hot water, hot coffee on us, we were so orderly and so peaceful. and then we heard that we may get arrested. and during those days when i protested, i sort of wanted to look good, so i put on my sunday's best. i had very little money. i wanted a new suit if i was going to go to jail. so i went to a used men's store in downtown nashville and bought

a suit. i paid $5 for it. and i tell you, seeing this picture, andrew, i look fresh. [laughter] and if i still had that suit today i probably could sell it on ebay for a lot of money, for a lot of money. my first arrest. during the '60s i was arrested 40 times. and since then, in congress, five more. the last time i got arrested, two years ago, october 2 years ago, there was 200 of us. eight members of congress, hundreds of private citizens. we were trying to get the speaker of the house to pass a bill that the senate had passed, to bring it to the floor, for comprehensive immigration

reform. it doesn't make sense to have millions of people living in this country of ours and not providing them citizenship, or on a path to citizenship. that's right, not right, that's not there. in my book there's no such thing as an illegal human being. as the pope said -- [applause] as the pope said when he spoke to the congress a few weeks ago, we all are immigrants. we all come from some other place. now, "march" tells an unbelievable story. not just my story.

just think, a few short years ago in 1961, the same year that president barack obama was born, black people and white people could be seated together on a bus leaving washington, d.c., traveling through virginia north carolina, south carolina, georgia, mississippi. we were on our way to new orleans to test the decision of the united states supreme court. 13 of us became part of the original freedom ride. i was one of the 13. we went through a period of training for four days. the night of may 3, 1961, we went to a little chinese restaurant. i had grown up in rural alabama. i went to school in nashville.

i never had chinese food before. they had a wonderful meal. someone spoke up and said you should eat well. this may be like the last supper. the next day some boarded a trailways bus, some boarded a greyhound bus. my seat mate was a young white gentlemen. the two of us entered a so called white waiting room, attempted to, and raw feels south carolina we were attacked, even and left lying in a pool of blood. we were beaten by members of the klan. may 1961, february '09, one of the guys that beat us came to office. he was in his 70s. his son was in his 40s. came and said, mr. lewis, i'm

one of the people that beat you. i want to apologize. will you forgive me? the young son started crying. he started crying. and i said, i accept your apology, i forgive you. they hugged me, i hugged them back, and the three of us cried together. that is the power of the way of peace, the power of the way of love. that is the power of nonviolence that is moving to a reconciliation. "march" is saying in effect we must come to the point where we lay down the burden of race. it is saying to future generations that we can create the beloved community but it doesn't matter whether we are black or white, aikido, asian american or native american. we are one people, one family,

one house. we all live in the same house. not just american house that the world house. [applause] i would like to quote a man who was born here in the great state of florida, a. philip randolph, was born in jacksonville, florida. he moved to new york and became a champion of civil rights, human rights, labor rights. and mr. randolph said when the so-called big six when reading, planning to march on washington, he said to us sometime, maybe our for mothers and forefathers all came to this great land in different ships, but we all are in the same boat now. that we must look after each other, care for each other and try to move closer to the beloved communicator.

dr. king put it this way. we must learn to live together as brothers and sisters over we will perish as fools. gandhi said it is nonviolent or nonexistence. "march" is saying to another generation, it is possible for us to be a little more human. just be human. i tell young people all the time, that's what "march" is saying and andrew is going to speak about it, we have become to that point where we have the capacity, the ability to forgive. and lay down the burden of division, the burden of separation. i tell young people, never hate. hate is too heavy a burden to

bear. now, some people ask why are you so hopeful, why are you so optimistic. i think it's in my dna, but it's also what i discovered in school, in life, that it's better to love than to hate. it's better to do good man to -- better to do good men to do evil. can become to the point as human beings we recognize and respect dignity in the words of every human being? we want to spread the word. we travel all across america carrying the good message, the message of hope, the message of love, the message of peace.

in my last arrest, i must tell you, i left my bail money someplace. we had been told it was going to be $50. i didn't have the money or the capitol police arrested us were apologizing saying we hate to do this, congressman, but we've been ordered to do. we want to apologize for missing you and it's going to cost $50 to get out of this place. and this young man, my staff person somehow i went in his pocket and found $50 got me out of the place. i did read to you, right? [laughter] -- we pay you. i'm very, very hopeful about the future. "march: book one" is out. "march: book two," and march 3

and i'm so sorry the artist to illustrate is not here. because this young man is so good, andrew will tell you. he makes the word sing and dance at sometimes when you are signing a book and we signed together, we will draw a chicken, and the chicken is saying amen. so i said to each and every one of you, you must never ever give up. you must never ever. you must keep the faith, be hopeful, be optimistic, be happier, enjoy life. and let's do what we can to save this little piece of real estate we call earth. not just for this generation but for generation yet unborn.

we can do it and we must do it. thank you very much. [applause] how do you follow that? my name is andrew aydin. i served as the congressman's digital director and co-author of "march." [applause] i'm sure at some point you came here today you asked yourself why did john lewis decided to write a graphic novel?

and it's my fault. it start in 2008. it was the summer of hope and change. barack obama was sweeping through the democratic primaries and that which is on congressman lewis' reelection campaign as his press secretary. it was coming down to the end of the campaign, the congressman was trouncing his two opponents. those of us on staff were starting to talk about what we are going to do afterwards. some folks said i'm going to go to the beach. other folks said i'm going to go visit my parents. i said i'm going to go to a comic book convention. as you can imagine the absolute work of politics, i got laughed at for saying that. except one person did not laugh. it was john lewis coming from the back of the room he said do not laugh, there's a comic book during the civil rights movement. it was influential. that comment but was called martin luther king of the

montgomery story, sold for 10 cents. i didn't know much about at the time but once he told me i went to look it up on the internet. i read. it was about the montgomery bus boycott, an introduction to gandhi, the philosophy of nonphysical files. i have been reading comics since i was five years old. truth be told i started reading comics after my dad left because it was a refuge, please read stories about justice, about role models and heroes who fought for the right thing for no other reason than it is the right thing to do. and so having done that, having read some whole life and seeing john lewis and seeing that a comic book i played a meaningful role in the civil rights movement, couldn't help myself. here was a man who'd been a part of almost every seminal moment of the civil rights movement. ..

writer, he chaired and help lead the march on washington. he he helped lead the mississippi freedom center and ultimately the march on bloodied sunday. size 24 years old, years old, i did not know any better. i started asking the congressman, the icon jumbo john lewis, why don't you write a comic book? at first he said zero, well maybe. which if you ever have a chance to work in politics well maybe is a very kind way of saying no. but i cnnot get up on the >> i couldn't give up on the idea. he meant so much to me. i grew up in atlanta and he has been my congressman since i've been three years old. my mother still doesn't believe that. and yet, having grown up in atlanta, having heard so much about the civil rights movement, no one ever taught me about the role of young people. that really and truly they were

the linchpin. they were what pushed radical reforms into the mainstream. that they made the movement toward. they were the glue. so, i kept asking, why don't you write a comic book and people kept laughing. and i kept asking. until finally one day john lewis turned around and said to me, okay, let's do it, but only if you write it with me and of that day changed my life. so, i say to you today, if people are laughing at you, you are probably doing something right. [applause]. >> but, that was the beginning. how do you go from having a congressman say okay, i will do it to actually getting a book together and published. it took us five years in the commerce meant obviously has a

day job. i am on his staff and i did too, so it meant every night, every weekend when people go see their family, when people go out, relax and see a movie, we would go back to work. i told the kids get the day, you think homework is bad, try that. in the meantime, i also decided to elect to grad school and i wrote my graduate thesis on montgomery story. i wanted to know the history and what i found it proved it to me we were on the right path. interns .-ellipsis king actually helped edit that comic book. can you imagine doctor martin luther king junior comic book editor? but, there he was in the fall of 1957.overate comic book strip in his edits made into the final version and so the congressman patiently worked with me. for months that became years. it was a surreal journey. early on, the congressman

invited me to go along on the pilgrimage, which is where he leads members of congress and to alabama. shows them the sites and tells them the stories. i got into an elevator and there was jonathan soller, robert kennedy dated later the publisher and ethel kennedy, robert kennedy's widow and i couldn't help myself. oh, my gosh, excuse me, i just thought you would want to know, you are in a comic book i am working on with john lewis. fo kennedy looks up at week-- me with those big beautiful eyes and she says, well, that is nice, dear. so, you can understand what it met to me a few years later when she called me on my cell phone to tell me that march book one was the first graphic novel ever to win the robert f kennedy book award. [applause].

>> butz, that was not the moment we realized we were well on our way to inspiring a new generation. that moment came before book one came out. i got a phone call from a reporter at a conservative newspaper that shall remain nameless and he said look, i don't usually do this, but i gave your book to my 9-year old son and he has read it. ended and he went and put it on his sunday suit and he's marching around my house demanding equality for everyone. imagine if we existed in a world where there was a social consciousness in every 9-year old, in a generation and injustice would no longer be tolerated. but, it's not just that. we don't teach the civil rights movement. teaching tolerance puts out a report every couple of years that looks at the quality of civil rights education in this country and it's nothing but bad news. thirty-four states get a d or f

and another 13 get 8c, three states do it okay. that is it. how can you understand what is happening in this country if you don't understand the civil rights movement? so much of our politics stem from that model decade. so much legislation. so much activism, so much hope, everything comes from that. we have to change that. we call it the 10 word problem. kids graduate from high school knowing 10 words about a civil rights movement. my luther king, i have a dream. that's it. but, we are changing that. in two years, march is being taught in schools and more than 30 states. and has been using freshman reading programs that more than a dozen universities. the congressman is getting it all to read he's going around country talking to us students and explain in his life story

and it's important they see him. it's important they say he is a real human being, someone they can emulate. in this society today civility is sorely lacking and no human being will represent that more than john lewis. [applause]. >> in the congressional office, i help with the congressman's social media. in a sense, i tweet for a living. [laughter] >> is part of my job, but it's very serious part. because social media represents a fundamental change in the way we interact with each other and with our elected officials. one of the things i like to ask the students when we go to these schools is what would doctor king have tweeted, what would that have posted and how would they use these tools.

i think right now, we are seeing a generation of armchair activists that like to talk and complain and voice their on social media, but they are not using it to organize and show up to the full extent of its possibility. we are starting to see growth, but that's why marches so important because it leads tesch lays out the principles of nonviolence. we focus on communication and the many monographs machine, the small tools they were able to use to such small effects to show this generation to have cash to use those principles to achieve greater results. we have had students engage in sustained campaigns of civil disobedience after we had visited their schools and to e-mail that say they are organizing. we see the passion that they have. was a breather want to know. they want to know what they can do. so, we will get their. where do i think we should start? we had to start with student loans. there are so much wrong in this country, we need an activist

generation. we had to get rid of the student loan debts of the students caminos activists. it's not the only problem, certainly not. but, that allows us to create a generation later did a different way, when john lewis got married in 1968, the wedding announcement read, william miles to wed unemployed political activists john lewis. people who are had of their time pay price. we must lift the burden of debt, so that this generation is free to pay the price to build a more perfect union. one more story. when i was a kid, and i was in high school i brought comic books to english class. my english teacher took them away and said they weren't real books and they should not be on my desk. i had the opportunity to go back to my high school. with congressman lewis and see

my english teacher and discuss her experience in teaching our graphic novels. i say that as no form of, up to the teacher because she is doing the lords work. she is a teacher and deserves that nobel peace prize for putting up with a students every day, but i say it as an example of the power of an idea whose time has come and the brief time span which changes possible. so, i ask you, join us, march. thank you. [applause]. >> we had time to take a few questions. i think there is a microphone. >> congressman lewis, i would

like to ask you a question about a guy from my synagogue. he called himself an activist. he refuses to register to vote. i would like to know how i can convince him-- he says he follows the money about parties and they are both corrupt, but i told him it's the basic civil rights. >> you tell him-- >> talk into the microphone. >> just tell your friend that i would strongly suggest that he register and vote. to vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have in a democratic society and we should use it. [applause]. >> you should further say i met this guy named john lewis who said-- he gave a little blood on

that bridge on the right to vote and we have to vote. you fail to vote you don't have a voice. you can't complain. thank you. [applause]. >> thank you both for writing these books amongst other things it gives us the pleasure, honor of hearing from you, but my question is: what was more difficult for you, the hard work on the chicken farm or serving on the benghazi committee? >> well, as a staffer i will point out john lewis does not serve on house oversight, that's a leisure cummings. but, i think deshler, the partisanship and washington is

too far and the important part of john lewis his story is that he is above that. he is on example of what it is to see forgiveness and to work together with people of different ideologies and i would not have given my 20s on this project and spreading his story if it wasn't worth it, if it wasn't crucial to the future of our democracy. he is everything and his example is everything we must follow, so are you are right. that was too far into much, but i hope it pointed out to the american people is that we all have to rise above it and follow john lewis his example of forgiveness and to show that you cannot spell revolution without love. love is the highest virtue of this country and it must be honored as such, so thank you. [applause]. >> converse in lewis, i just wanted to say that there was absolutely no need for the

couple who introduced you to request a standing ovation from this miami book fair audience. [applause]. >> thank you. >> okay. to my congressman lewis, in light of your vast contributions in the civil rights movement, just twofold question. number one, what is your view of black lives matter and the second would be, what would be one of your favorite books that you have read that you would highly recommend that other people read that has had a significant impact upon you? >> i think the young people engaged in the work of black lives matter are fallen in a very rich tradition. when you see something that is not fair, not right, not just you have to speak up and speak out and find a way to get in the

way. to get in trouble. good travel. to help educate. to help inform. i think in america today we are just too quiet. [applause]. >> i think we are too quiet. >> and one of your favorite books that you would recommend other people read? >> well, read march, by all means. thomas version, when i was watching on that bridge from selma to montgomery i was wearing a backpack before it became fashionable to wear backpacks and in that backpack i had two books. number one was the history of political tradition by a harvard professor and a book by thomas margin on contemplation. before going on a march, before

sitting in, before going on a freedom ride, before walking across that bridge, some of us have what i call an executive session with ourselves. you prepare yourself. i thought i was going to die. so, you've read and you get the necessary energy and the necessary strength. i thought i was going to be arrested and jailed. was beaten. i had a concussion on that bridge. i thought i saw death, so sometimes just reading books, poems, essays. there are plenty of good books out there. >> thank you. >> i have a question.

you know how water-- let's say we have a huge pipe and water is shooting down it; right? pretty strong force, good horse and then you have smaller pipes coming off of it. the pressure and the speed of the water will go down because it's getting diluted; right? so, in the 60s you say civil rights and the first thing i think of this african-american civil rights. you know, changing the system. the focus of all african-americans and many other american citizens, the contribution of the media, television, how everything came together to do that made eight tectonic shift. so, when you say, when i hear you say today we must continue civil rights and you start off and you say, for example student loan; right? here's my thing: when you take

on a lot of things, to me sometimes you lose efficacy and it gets, your strength is weekend, so when you say civil rights like do you think there is-- do you think you can do many things parallel or do you think there is an order so that-- i don't know if you understand what i'm saying. >> i think the reason we start with student loans is because it allows an entire generation to find that always-- voice. if it john lewis had had to go pay student debt after he graduated, remember he missed his graduation because he was marching-- he was in jail, and prison. there would have been no civil rights act. there would have been no voting rights act because he would've had to work. how many progressive reforms are we missing out on because this

generation, the next on lewis has to serve that debt rather than serve society? >> correct. [applause]. >> let me put it another way. to march on washington, i mean, we label these things civil rights, but the march on washington called for a minimum wage. these are fundamental human rights efforts. the language of the civil rights movement has been co-opted. the summer you're the freedom rides, the freedom vote and now you have the freedom caucus that stands for nothing like the freedom vote for the freedom movement did. and it was about so much to so may people, so i think they didn't focus on just one thing and we can't limit ourselves, but the reason i say we start with student loans is because we need a whole generation. >> exactly, but when ice hear you say talk about civil rights for everything-- okay. >> thank you for your question. >> thank you. >> congressman lewis, would you say the civil rights movement has emerged into the progressive

political movement completely and if it has not completely merged into the progressive political movement, what would you say or what would you enumerate are the remaining goals of the civil rights movement that need to be accomplished? >> i think part of the-- part of our politics have try to catch up with the civil rights movement. we still have a great distance to travel because of the supreme court decision on the voting rights act. more than 30 states have changed their boating law, making it harder and more difficult, not just for people of color, but for young people, for our senior citizens, and my position is open up the political process and let everyone to men. when i spoke at the march on

washington on august 28, 1963, when i was 23 years old and all of my here and a few pounds lighter i said one person one vote and today money is controlling american politics. as a great nation, is a great people we can do better. we can do much better. make it easy, make it simple. >> so, you will have to be the last question. but, tweet as and we will answer you on social media. is that cool? >> congressman lewis, you are one of my heroes and in fifth grade you sign my cast when i came to your office and i have quoted you when you said hate is too heavy a burden to bear. could you give us some practical tips on how to put it down.

>> well, i can to say it in this audience, but i heard doctor king's and one occasion and maybe i can paraphrase him and let him take the hits. he said just love everyone. he said just love the hell out of everyone. love is a better way. just love everyone. why love everyone. why should we go around putting someone down because of the color of their skin, their religion, sexual orientation, or the part of the world they come from. is it possible for us as human beings to come to that point, to merge, to grow where we can be just a little more human. i was raising chickens and i prayed for some of those chickens.

i would teach those chickens, i would say don't fight, you be kind. [laughter] >> i would tell them, i would say listen to me. so, if little creatures can get along, why can't we as humans? just emerge and be kind to everyone. [applause]. >> thank you. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]