♪ >> monday, the texas congressman talks about cyber and data security in federal government agencies and the report card released in may on agency management of information. he is joined by cybersecurity reporter tim starks. >> the federal government has almost 11,000 data centers. one of the biggest companies in the world has four. there is no reason the federal government should have 11,000. and you can realize savings. we realized four agencies have realized $2 billion worth of savings over the last two years

by moving into the cloud. >> watched "the communicators" monday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span two. this year, c-span is touring cities across the country exploring american history. next, a look at our recent visit to nashville, tennessee. you are watching american, all weekend, every weekend on cspan3. >> the civil rights room is a sacred space that houses nashville's role after the brown decision the year after king's assassination. the purpose of this space is to engage our community and highlight the pivotal role nashville played in crafting this path towards dismantling segregated institutions.

when you walk in this space, you something sacred took place in the spot we are standing. it gives the narrative and puts nashville into this longer context of civil rights. i think nashville affairs differently than other cities in the south. during the 1960's, nashville had no loss of life during the sit-ins, during school desegregation, or protests. i think nashville's story is unique because it was the only strategic movement led by students and the community. students in nashville did not wake up in 1960 and decide to change the world. they had been training in nonviolent techniques in 1958 and 1959 for a time such as this. because of the methodology and nonviolent techniques practiced years before most students were desegregating cities across the

country, that is what separates nashville and puts nashville on this larger map of this methodical, nonviolent model it has been known for. after the brown decision, the state of tennessee decided to desegregate in 1957. 13 students enrolled in schools around town in nashville. the expenses were different from school to school. we have this image of this mother walking her children to school. you see the crowd, the protesters, this gentleman holding the sign that says god is the author of segregation. you can see that expressions on their faces and the terror this mother felt. this was a first grader. imagine walking your seven-year-old child school for the first time at a previously all-white school and there is a mob behind it. one thing we found we had the pleasure of interviewing these participants is each story differed from school to school,

the neighborhood to neighborhood. compare that story of his mother walking through the small to the mr. grove. his experience was totally different. he still remembers his first grade teacher's name. her name was mrs. fox. his story was when he walked into the school, he felt very safe. you have these contrasting narratives of what was going on in nashville from school to school and location to location. toer southern states looked us and thought we were doing a good thing by starting with first-graders as opposed to what was going on in little rock and clinton, tennessee. you have these high school students who had already formed their opinions, who were already prepared and knew what they were getting into. in nashville, our students were first-graders. other southern states that we were doing a great thing. so we became known as the stairstep model. we would desegregate our public

schools one grade a year. in 1957, we started desegregating first-grade. that would have taken nashville 12 years to desegregate. fast forward you have the ground law that says all schools have to desegregate. one of the stories left out of our narrative is that our local catholic school desegregated in 1954. they did not wait for a mandate. they decided they were going to desegregate after the brown decision. public schools, it took about three years. one of the interesting things that happened in nashville in 1957 was that you have a group of people who decided that nashville should not desegregate its public schools. that effort was led by john casper. he was from new jersey and left his family to come to the south. he started and clinton, tennessee, and came to nashville. he helped organize the white

citizens council. they were going to stop schools from desegregating. one of our schools was bombed on the first day schools desegregated on september 9 of 1987. that was the cotton school. one black girl had enrolled at that school. the school was bombed. fortunately, no one was hurt. no one was there, and the school continue to open and move forward. at the time was instrumental in forward thinking of having her students write down what happened. now after major acts of terrorism, because that was an active terrorism in 1950 school, she had her students journal what it was like to come back to school and what it was going to be like having this one black child enrolled in your school. this room gives you an idea of what happened after nashville's response to brown. that sets the groundwork for a

larger story that happened in 1960. while the country was looking at gentlemaenand the that marched into the lunch counter, nashville citizens started a week later here. our students have been training in nonviolent techniques before february 1. we have a large number of historically black colleges and universities. including american baptist college and fisk university. you have students who are here who are idealistic and going to change the world. had beenthe students training in nonviolent techniques under the direction of reverend lawson. jim lawson came to nashville because dr. king asked him to come. dr. king thought the south needed a nonviolent leader.

he had studied in three years under disciples of gandhi. what made nashville special in 1960 was that the students trained. they went through this nonviolent academy as they called it. bernard lafayette refers to it as a west point training. the students would train every week. they would train in local churches on how not to fight back, what it means to believe in yourself and this nonviolent philosophy. they came up with rules. there were five things you had to be able to do and five you could not do. the first rule was do not block entrances to the doors. students knew it was against the law to block the entrances to store aisles and they knew they did not want to break the law. the rules go on to say do not leave your seat, do not have conversations. show yourself as courteous and friendly at all times. even when the students were being arrested, they were being

beaten and spat upon. they had milkshakes thrown in their face. they would get back up and take their seats. do not strike back nor curse if abused. the students believed they were following a nonviolent lesson. this is the path that they chose to take and it proved to be effective in 1960. we can ask questions if a nonviolent movement would be applicable now, but these were the rules the students came up with. every saturday, they would get up and go downtown. they would sit at places like walgreens and will worth -- woolworth's and take their seats. nothing happened the first saturday. in 1960, the students went down every saturday in february. it is this photo that is exactly where we were standing. the students marched on this

block print test for 50 plus years, the library and civil rights room sits on the very block where the students protested and marched. that is why we refer to it as sacred space, because the students marched on this spot. the students were arrested, put in jail, and given a fine. they had to pay $33. the students refused to pay the fine. they decided they would fill up the jail and put the burden on the city of nashville. it was methodical, strategic, and they knew what they were doing. in addition to that, february has gone by. now it is easter in the spring of 1960. everybody got a new outfit. most people shopped downtown nashville. the students organized one of the largest economic withdrawals our city and country has ever had. 98% of the african american community in nashville decided not to shop downtown. many of the white families were afraid to come downtown.

that is one of the reasons nashville's economic withdrawal proved to be one of the most effective ways. by spring, they had desegregated several of the lunch counters already. another great piece of history is for those of us who are april 19, 1960. date sticks out in nashville's history. one of the local attorneys hired to help defend the students and get them out of jail, in the predawn hours of april 19, his home near the campus of fisk university was bombed. it has been recorded the same responsibled group for because court and bombing in 1957 was also responsible for the bombing of his home. he and his wife were home at the same time. they were not injured. the students were able to utilize that bombing to their advantage. without instant message and

texting and cellphones, they mobilized 4000 people that same day to march in silence from the campus all the way to the courthouse. by the time we get to the courthouse, the students have called all of the networks. and the mayor. they asked the mayor to meet them downtown. it took the courage and dedication of one of the young college students, diane nash. she asked the mayor a question in front of the camera. in front of 4000 people, in front of the country, if you thought it was fair people should be treated differently based on the color of their skin. he hador goes on to say to answer as a man and not a politician. within the next two days, dr. king was speaking in nashville. dr. king was already scheduled to be in nashville. no one knew the home would be

bombed, the mayor's proclamation, or diane nash would asking the pivotal question, or 4000 students would march in silence. within two days, the civil right's footprint had been etched into history. the national students took what they learned in 1959 and the lessons of nonviolent and desegregating downtown lunch counters and moved on to help orchestrate the freedom rides in 1961. around the country, they were ford to abandon the rides fear of losing their lives. nashville students said we must carry this torch. nashville students did not stop in 1960. they went on to help orchestrate every major movement of our time, the freedom rides, the selma,n washington, national students were in the forefront, whether john lewis, diane nash, it was nashville students that led the less that

helped lead all of those major movements of our time. fast-forward 50 plus years, what we are doing is offering civil rights training to our local law enforcement officers. we need to have conversations around race relations in 2016 is just as relevant as it was in 1960. working with our local law enforcement officers, we have been able to bring in law enforcement officers and have a conversation, putting nashville into larger dialogue of race. what was nashville doing when the trayvon martin incident was going on, what was going on with nashville when what happened with michael brown. about asking questions how law-enforcement officers responded. the training is in the second year. we have worked with hundreds of local law enforcement officers.

and agents throughout the state of tennessee to talk about a civil society and rights and what one looks like to the other. >> our staff recently traveled to nashville, tennessee, to learn about its rich history. learn more at c-span.org/city iestour. you are watching american history tv, all we can, every weekend, on cspan3. >> each week until the 2016 election, we bring you archival coverage of presidential races. next, ronald reagan accepts his party's nomination at the 1980 convention in detroit. the former california