weekly and to be sure to listen and follow wherever you get your favorite podcast. >> u.s. senate is back at the top of the hour. lawmakers will continue work today on a bill creating new science and technology programs to try to help improve u.s. competition with china. they will also take a procedural vote this afternoon on president biden's picks for medicare and medicaid services. watch live senate coverage starting at 3:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span2. >> or topic in this half hour of the washington journal is race and public health. our guest is lily tyson head, voices for a father's legacy foundation and good morning. start by explaining what the foundation does and whose legacy you are focused on?wh >> guest: good morning. john, thank you so much for having me today. excuse me.

voices for our father's legacy foundation was organized in 214 as a cyber one c3 nonprofit to remember and honor our ancestors the 620 african-american men who were victimized and unethically treated from 1932-1972, 40 years by the united states public health service syphilis study in alabama. these men were human beings but were dehumanized and abused in labs, excuse me, they were our fathers, grandfathers, uncles, cousins, neighbors and coworkers and dearly loved and the foundation in solidarity with descendents, national centers for bioethics and research and healthcare at the university

many dedicated supporters and we are trying and working hard to preserve the history of the longest lasting non- therapeutic study in u.s. history. we want to tell the untold stories of the study and build a lasting memorial event, healing and inspirational garden at the bioethics center and we want to provide academic scholarships to descendents and encouraging of them too go into the medical field and we want to foster medical research, social justice and education. we are moving forward determine to transform the legacy of the united states public health assistant study from shame and trauma to honor and triumph. as the daughter and my personal

connection to the foundation and this study i am the daughter of freddy lee tyson who was unwittingly deceived and to be a part of the study along with all of the other 622 men. i am deeply saddened and concernedne about a system that allows such inhumane treatment, deceitfulness and showed the lack of respect for our of the ones and human dignity but as president i am honored and humbled with this responsibility and hopefuly that today we can make a difference. >> host: lily tyson head with us in the segment of the washington journal. here to take your calls as well as talk about the legacy of the tuskegee study, if you are in

the eastern or central time zone, (202)748-8000, mountain or north pacific, (202)748-8001 and you can start calling in this morning. ms. had, most of our viewers probably know that the name of the study is the tuskegee study but you said in your remarks there that the official name, the united states public health service syphilis study conducted in tuskegee and making county, alabama, why do you prefer that longer name and that more involved name of the study? >> guest: because that is the correct name of the study. when the studies started in may 1932 the name was the united states public health syphilis study of i'm sorry, united states public health study of untreated syphilis in the negro

male and that was the name of the study and that is what it was first funded for. after the study became known to the public it then went to the name or they started using the name tuskegee study. that is, in my opinion, wrong and a continued injustice. tuskegee is not the owners of that study. the public united states public health service is the owner of that study and so should it be named that. you also have some type of accountability for that study. none of the medical professionals even after it became known ever held accountable for the study so we should start referring to the study as the united states public health service syphilis study at tuskegee and include in

macon county because that is where the men came from. they came from rural, macon county. when you disregard that you are disregarding that whole community of people that was effected by this study. this is why the foundation is trying to change and improve that and when we accept responsibility for the good as well as the bad we can move forward in a better attitude and to do much better in our treatment. >> host: tuskegee study was not a vaccination study but in the time of vaccine hesitancy when it comes to the coronavirus vaccine, whatco do you see as yr role today?

>> guest: i see as our role pretty much almost as someone who could be a play big role or a big part in helping to join together with the medical agencies and healthcare agencies to build a bridge of that and that we all could cross from mistrust to trust in our healthcare system. our voices are important and our voices i think would help to provide an insight into how and injustice is done and how it impacts individually, not only

for that time but for generations and generations after. >> host: i want to give you a chance to chat with some of our colors thisds morning. kyle is up first out of buffalo, new york great kyle you are on with lily tyson head. >> caller: good morning, john. ms. tyson, just calling in and i'm talking about the the shop's trial educator here in buffalo new york. i was waiting to get in touch with you but you weren't on in anyways, new topic. as an educator it is hard because a lot of the history lessons that i have learned is not really shared in the mainstream society i guess when it comes to different cultures with previously worrying about the whole black lives matter and there is many people who don't

really get the history of african-american in the country with just purposely getting things done to us and we are shed light on a lot of these topics that many of us have known for decades but i guess with the vaccine i think that is why you have had skeptics, skepticism based on some of the things that we have seen our government due to our american citizens and you know, i do know it is 2021 but it is hard because when our government played a role in not just this case, i mean, we can go back into other issues where african-american roles were any pigs for testing and so i definitely see the older

generation, i guess, definitely being more skeptical when it comes to these type of issues, especially when many things are rushed and a lot of the vaccines we are seeing with the covid was just rushed and then we are seeing side effects from different, just different things and i guess i don't know. i will just take my answer and listen to your responses and stuff. i really appreciate having this format and getting the education of their to the public. >> host: thank you for the call. lily tyson head, give you a chance to respond. what did you hear and that? >> guest: first of all i would like to thank the caller for coming in and for calling in and i would like to echo what he said about the history of the

black americans in this country from the beginning and although the study is reference to quite a bit with the vaccine and one of the reasons for the hesitancy about the covid-19 vaccine is some people believe that they will be injected with something and they are basing that one te misinformation and the false fact that the men were injected with something and they were not. the men were not injected with syphilis. the men stepped out on good faith to better their health because they were told deceitfully that they had bad blood with no explanation and they were not told nor were they informed of what the study was intended for so, with the misinformation that caused some hesitancy but the study is just only one of them is treatments

as is the social and racial injustices that black americans have experienced and in this country for centuries and some are still experiencing this especially when it comes tog, healthcare and there are other racial injustices that we are seeing now everyday with the black lives, not black lives matter movement but what we've seen the killing of a lot of black men and i want to focus on the health part of it because when you are really effecting one health you are effecting a life and affecting lives for generations to come so i appreciate the caller pointing that point out and i am hoping that by talking about what has happened and reflecting on it

and seeing how we can change and make a difference especially within our advocacy because if our attitudes don't change we will not change and we need to locate each other as human beings and be treated with the respect for the dignity that each human being deserves to be, especially when it comes to healthcare. >> host: tuskegee study went on for some 40 years before it was finally ended, fast-forward to may 16, 1997 and then president bill clinton formally, formally apologizes for the tuskegee study, one of the individuals at that ceremony that day at the white house, herman shaw, tuskegee study survivor and these are some of his remarks that day may 16, 1997 at the white house. >> in my opinion, it is never too late to work to restore

faith and trust and so a quarter of a century after the study ended president clinton decisions together were here to allow us to finally put this horrible nightmare behind usut s a nation, almost welcome decision. in order for america to reach its full potential we must truly be one america, black, red, white together adjusting each other, caring for each other and never allowing the kind of tragedy which happened to us in tuskegee studies to ever happen again. >> host: never too late to restore faith and trust, by

herman shaw. do you think it's been fully restored when it comes to the legacy of the tuskegee study? >> guest: yes, yes, yes, i do but it will take a lot of work and a lot of hard, serioust , heartfelt conversation and i think together not alone but together we can, we can bring about the faith and trust in getting better healthcare and equity in our lives. i believe that truly -- i don't think we will ever be perfect because we are human beings and we are still going to have some, we will still have some discrimination and some injusticesdind but i think we co

much better of what we are doing now. when i asked my father about how he felt a few days after he learned that he had been a part of the study and my father said that i cannot do anything about what has happened to me and all of those other men but it is up to you all to make sure that it doesn't happen again and you paraphrasedwords and echoed a little and what mr. shaw had just said and for some of the words that was an apology by president clinton and you also read and heard those or some of those words. it began with forgiveness and

working together to make sure that each person is treated with respect the dignity and equity. >> host: here is a little bit of then president clinton remarks from the day may 16, 1997. >> forty years, hundreds of men the trade, along with their wives and children, along with the community in macon county, alabama, the city of tuskegee and the fine university there and the larger african-american community. united states government did something that was wrongte, deeply, profoundly, morally wrong. it was an outrage to our commitment to integrity and equality for all our citizens.

to the survivors, to the wives and family members, the children in the grandchildren, i say what you know, no power on earth can give you back the lives lost, the pain suffered, the years of internal torment and anguish. what was done cannot be undone. but we can end the silence. we can stop turning our heads away. we can look at you in the eye and finally say, on behalf of the american people, what the united states government did was shameful and i am sorry. >> host: president clinton from 1997. lily tyson had one of those children that president clinton was referring to. she is the president of voices for our father's legacy

foundation, voices for fathers .org and hear taking your calls, your questions as you talk about the legacy of the tuskegee study. barbara in new york city is next. good morning. >> caller: good morning, john. good morning, ms. head. when the covid vaccine was being promoted there was no mention of a booster shot but now doctor anthony fauci is saying people will need a booster as soon as this fall. also, as far as i know no one has gotten the facts and name got a legal telling them what kind of chemicals are in the vaccine. at this point, how likely to think it is thatow something was put in the vaccine that will make people need a booster, whether they wanted or not? >> host: ms. head, any thoughts on that concerned that you are hearing in a question? >> guest: i am not a medical professional. i really can't address the fact about what was in the vaccine but i can tell you that i trust,

i trust the vaccine and as far as one can trust, i rely on the history of vaccines over the years and i know that i have always taken a vaccine and when i found out that the vaccine was becoming available, i was a static because i knew that that would help me protect me and my family from possibly death or serious illnesses and i knew that i had always already taken a vaccine. [audio difficulties] i am an advocate of taking vaccines. i was not overly concerned about the expediency of the vaccine,

nor was i overly concerned about the fact that it had not been officially approved by the fda but it had received emergency approval and i trusted that. i did my own personal researchl and i talked to my personal doctor and i talked to my family and most of all i saw the devastation that it was doing to all people, especially in the wblack and brown community. so that was alarming to me and i became a full blown advocate of taking the vaccine. if you are able and that is how you can better protect yourself and better protect your families, your loved ones and those are around you and that --

for me, there's just no getting around that. it's important that we do our research. now, understand that the men had not or did not have this opportunity. they were not informed. they did not know. they were less educated but they trusted and they believed that what they were doing wasbe helpg them to be better as well as help them to protect their families to provide them with some type of healthcare butem ty were in morally treated and in my opinion so i would suggest to everyone do your research and become informed and find out and then you make your own decision as to what you want to do about if you have not taken the vaccine. you make your decision on that

and then for those of us who art still uncertain and relies you might have a booster, i have no problems with that if we have to have a booster. w , i will take it. i must say the descendents that i have spoken with and the board of directors of the foundation, all of us have taken the vaccine and we advocate for it because our fathers were denied penicillin after penicillin was discoveredic as a cure for syphilis. they were denied that so here we are again in a position that we can do somethingth for our generations to follow by taking the vaccine. we should not deny ourselves. >> host: was your father or the other survivors of the study ever compensated by the federal governmentev for what happened? >> guest: yes, there was some compensation and emphasis is on

the word, some. there was a class action suit brought upon by attorney fred gray and tuskegee and it was brought to his attention by mr. charlie holland because he, which is disturbing to hear, found out because someone literally just told him about it when he was out and about that he was a part of a study and he did not know so there was a class action suit brought on and it was settled out of court and i think in 1973 about one year after the study became known. >> host: couple more calls for you. terry is waiting in atlanta, georgia. terry, good morning for you are on with lily tyson had. >> caller: hey, good morning,

john great how are you? >> host: doing well. >> caller: ms. tyson hand, i want to first salute you and your daughter for the work you have done so consistently and so, you've been so committed to this cause. i have. so many questions and i know i'm limited to time but i first found out about this tuskegee study through the hbo program documentary, ms. ever's boys and of course, i was shocked and concerned. i've been to tuskegee several btimes. as a child, my older sister attended and as a graduate from tuskegee so i've been all through the campus and attended the carver museum and i guess my question is, how much of the

documentary was true and how much was embellished and also, do you have any support for your foundation from any organization such as perhaps pharmaceutical companies or major contributors and -- >> host: let's take up those two questions you asked. >> guest: first of all, i thank you for calling in. good morning to you. first of all, let's talk about ms. ever's boys. that was more embellished that was factual. it painted the men in a light that was uncomplimentary and inappropriate and you could say it was wrongfully done. that is another part of the missionto of the foundation is o

produce a or to do a documentary that will shed light and tell the true -- truth about the story of the men. they were wonderful, wonderful and that is the first question. don't use that as your means of, i guess i could understanding and believing that what you are seeing on the screen is true. as for donations for major foundations and different companies and so forth we welcome them because we need funds but we have received one grant from the spot joy foundation and we did receive one sizable grant from spock joy foundation to help with our research project, the untold

story. >> host: time for -- >> guest: and the other donations of individuals with donations. we also have a membership that you can go to our website and become a member and you can also donate their and my number is also available there and you could give me a call if you want to talk personally with mee and ask me any question about the study and i would appreciate that. >> host: kind offer of you to do that because we are running short on time and we will try riverside, california, ginger, please make a quick. >> caller: yes. good morning. this is ginger from riverside and i want to make a brief but if we could convince others of the black community with i believe -- developed the moderna

or was a part of that medicine or shot and would that be a possibility? i saw her on tv last week and i think that would be an encouragement and with all due respect, i respect you highly and thank you so much. >> host: ms. head, i will give you the final minute here. >> guest: thank you so much for calling in and good morning to you. any coming together in solidarity and support would be wonderful and it would be welcome. we could come together and also discuss and share all of the information that is happening after and i think that would be another way in which we could improve the trustworthiness that will lead to trust and confidence and the treatment of

the vaccine. >> host: lily tyson head is president of the voices for our father's legacy foundation, voices for fathers .org. if you want to check out their work and we do appreciate your time this morning. >> guest: thank you so much, john, for having me and i am grateful for the opportunity to talk about the men and their legacy, the foundation and how we can all come together to make a difference. >> u.s. senate is back at the top of the hour. lawmakers will continue work today on a bill creating new science and technology programs trying to help improve u.s. competition with china. they will also take procedural votes this afternoon on president biden's medicare and medicaid services. watch live senate coverage starting at 3:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span2. >> for a look ahead at the rest of the week at the white house we turn to mario parker, bloomberg news, white house reporter joining us