him to snuff out the life of our good loving brother. just as we could have been consumed by hatred, i know that you can hear clem's voice in a way that enters your heart, words like forgiveness and hope, full of kindness and love. i know that this past sunday they had a different future in his church, but his voice was still there. i have been told that one of the most popular recurring dreams is falling in a nightmare, going down, but in my dreams, as i stood on a cliff i knew i was not alone. we are proud of the people of charleston, this state standing and in hand with each other.

black, white, young old, their hands together, asking why are we here? we are the people of south carolina and we are standing -- the president and the past -- the present and the past. the past is behind us, looming. together as we have teetered on the edge of racism and hate and hopelessness, trying to pull us down, a voice urged us to move forward in unison, together so that we might be saved and that deep, baritone voice comes back and encourages us. we know that he sang those songs of these and togetherness -- pete's -- opeac and

togetherness. ehis voice is here with me. you may try to silence the voice, but we can still hear it as it urges us to keep the faith and continue to love and trust one another. encourage us to do it out loud, silence never protected us. psalm 50, verse three, he would not the silent. we must have the courage to carry god's message as clem did. he went out praising the lord ministering to the lost soul who is there. we must continue to nurse the souls of our future. generations with fruit and drive out --

i know that his voice was heard in that courtroom last week, he spoke of forgiveness, it can can use -- continues to resonate through his children congregation, through me, to you. in closing, i say speak up. his voice can be heard speaking of the injustices that we swallow in silence. we must keep talking, we must do it for the senator for cynthia heard, for myra thompson, for fo glance -- ethe lancel, for the victims i'children.

his voice will be heard. i am a glad that you heard his voice. i appreciate the activity that is going on today. his spirit has been in each of us as we move forward to pass a budget without discussion, after all the work is done, it has been discussed and worked on and we came together and passed a resolution. i know that the senator from -- there are tears in your eyes. i know what it means. i would say, thank you, the real work that we have done and will do in this state, we will walk and in hand -- and -- hand in

hand. as we go forward and work on issues, i hope that we carry this message forward and continue to hear that voice of the pastor, the reverend, the great senator clemente. god bless you. at the end of the day we want to make certain that we come back and have a discussion that relate to the issues. i want to tell you about what we will do as we lay his body to rest and the other activities. thank you. >> senator from lexington. >> i ask that the words be printed in the journal. i believe that the house is waiting for us, so that we can move on. >> the question is in the adoption of the resolution amending -- a two thirds vote.

those in favor say aye. the ayes have it. >> i believe we received the amendment from the house, is that correct? >> has. without the -- without objection. >> which resolution was that? >> i don't want to be recorded on the resolution. >> senator from lexington. >> members of the senate, to those within the hearing of my

voice, i wanted to wait to speak until after we had did the amended resolution. i want to talk to you for a moment and talk to the world about where we are and how we got to where we are. and i would like to ask you to allow me to do that as a senior serving member of the south carolina senate. i came to this body when i was 31 years old. to be candid, i was wet behind the ears and had no idea what i was getting into. my father sat in this chair as i was sworn in. one house members had at that

time, there is a difference in elections and in serving and when you walk through those doors that spoke of responsibility is draped over your shoulders. each one of us who served in this body relies that -- realize that responsibility every day. that responsibility was brought home in a way last thursday morning that we never realized we never wanted, and we regret that we faced. i don't think the people of south carolina, nor the world and the nation that has been watching since last wednesday evening, really relies -- realize what the senate has dealt with and how they have

responded in a reasonable and responsible way to what we were elected to do. those of us on this side of the aisle as we watch tv last wednesday evening were shocked to learn of what was going on and had transpired in charleston. that shock became greater concern as the night went on and particularly on our side of the aisle, when we got no return text or phone calls from senator clemente, we realized with hope contrary to realizing where we were going to be.

we came here on thursday morning because we had a budget that had to be dealt with. we grappled as a body with how to deal with our responsibility to the people of south carolina and at the same time to honor our friend and colleague who we had been with as late as 5:00 the afternoon before. we took and did our responsibility, we held a memorial service for senator pinckney. we did our business with regret and left town and now we are here today, as we went to the same process, how do we deal

with a conference report and the issues of this week and the tragic loss of nine lives in charleston. again we did our responsibility. with respect, and i will tell you a personal experience that i had had relative to this whole process that we go through, and where we are here this afternoon. i had no idea when it started 45 days ago, that it would come to mean what it has meant to me. service for about 45 days ago. the preacher preached, and as a

part of his sermon, he said, pray for the grace to believe. pray for the grace to believe. i contacted him after that service. i said i believe for me, you have to explain that a little further with another sermon one day and invite me to hear you explain that, because that concept of grace to believe i wasn't really sure what that meant. but on this sunday, or last saturday i told him that i had learned what praying for grace to believe really meant. because i had seen the grace to believe, exemplified by the victim's family in charleston, s.c. when they stood and ask for forgiveness from their hearts.

that is the grace to believe. to believe that god knows what is best, and that he is in charge. and i have seen the members of this body come together in a way that is unimaginable to the rest of the country with the grace to believe, because if you don't think it's difficult -- then you have no idea how it is to walk through these doors, in a body that you have served for years with a member, and see that black drape and that white rose, and realize. this body is in the process of grieving as is the people who have worked for the south carolina senate for years.

charleston, s.c.. ., has set an example for the country, and the how to deal with tragedies. the families of the victims have set an example for the country and how to deal with tragedy. and yes in my opinion, this south carolina senate which i love has set an example for the rest of the country into how to deal with tragedy. and how to pray for the grace to believe. we have. we would like to have spent today grieving our friend. we had a responsibility to do our business, and we have done it. and now i would say to you, to the press, to the people of this

state, thank you for your attention to this matter, and thank you for your coverage dealing with the issue that we will be back here to deal with. we have now adopted a resolution and we will be back. but i would also say to you this body, like the families in charleston, needs an opportunity to grieve. we have been here together and we need the opportunity to grieve. we need for our friend to lay in state tomorrow out in the capital, and we need to attend and celebrate senator pinckney's life. we ask you to join us in not

only grieving for our friend and colleague, but celebrating his life and realize that we, like you, although our elected officials, are human beings who heard. and we heard for the loss of our friend. and god bless him, and god bless us. thank you. >> thank you. the senator from cherokee. >> senator from cherokee is recognized. >> thank you, mr. president. senator from lexington, we are in a time of grieving. grieving our colleague. i invite you and the state of south carolina and the nation,

to google the debate of the confederate flag in 2000. if you see my speech that day, and how i feel towards the flag. that is enough about the flag for today from me. i have heard since last thursday , this subject. i have listened, i thought, i have prayed, and i continue to listen and think, and pray. and at the proper time, i will vote. but today senator, you are exactly right. today for most, this is a time of grieving. that is what we are doing now. we are grieving over our friend and colleague, senator pinckney

and his eight church members. i asked south carolina and the nation to continue to grieve. i like you, from spartanburg saw the comments of forgiveness from the victims families. i must confess to you, i'm not there. i couldn't do it. i could not forgive him. i don't forgive him. i don't. i can't. i hope i live long enough to be that kind of christian. but i'm not there yet. i confess to you, i'm not. i hope one day i can forgive him. i cannot forgive him for what he has done. i cannot forgive him for what he has done to this state. i hope i live long enough to forgive him.

but at the proper time, mr. president pro tem, i want you to bring this matter to a vote. the sooner, the better. don't let this thing faster. please just as soon as we can, let's have a vote on this matter and move on. everything that has been asked of me both sides of the aisle is what would clem want us to do. thank you, mr. president. >> thank you. proceed. senator from arlington. >> allow the majority leader from cherokee some comments to be placed in the journal. >> without objection. >> thank you mr. president. in that vein, senator from cherokee, the reason i ask to be heard, the next matter before

the body is the bill that will be read across the desk. we all have a very short time to speak on that. i thought i would take my shot on it briefly now. i thought a lot since last thursday. a very emotional day we had in this chamber. many of us, tears running down our face, could not talk. i couldn't get out of complete coherent -- a complete and coherent sentence. many of you did a great job speaking of our dear friend. we hearken back as we think about this issue we hearken back in our history in this chamber, and the senator from bowman when he got appear earlier and talked about his longevity, and indeed -- it occurred to me. the senator from lexington, you

have been here longer, he served in the house. i also did. and i was over there with the senator from bowman. that was a very interesting time in the 1970's. that makes me the third longest serving member of both bodies. and you know what i remember about those early years in the house? besides, we used to collect the wild wild west in those days. you heard us talk about it, with the ethics bill and that type of thing this year. i have had a lot of people ask me over the years, tell me about that era. tell me about that era back in

the house. and we refer to it as the wild west daily? -- didn't we? but you know it i remember, i remember in 1979, i saw on a news report that it was in the 1980's that senator kay patterson put up an amendment in the house to take down the confederate flag. well guess what? it wasn't the 1980's. it was 1979. 1979, as i remember it was in august. the legislature was still in session. i'm not sure if we were trying to get a budget. it has been so long ago. but we were down here for some reason. in august. it was as hot down here as it is right now. hot outside.

i'll never forget it, i got sick that we. deathly sick, i don't know what it was. i went back home and i was out of commission for a couple of days. and somebody voted for me. somebody had voted for me, that is the reason i remember this. we had those flip -- you've flipped them. those of you who were there remember those. as we would vote on the board. somebody just, for whatever reason, voted me on a confederate flag amendment. to take down -- or to not take down the confederate flag. funny how you remember that kind of stuff. but it brings to point right now, here we are.

it was 1979 and there were many other debates over the years. we had to change the rules in the house. because of what was done in the budget every year. i won't ever forget that. here we are 36, 37 -- 36 years later. still debating the flag. here we are. that long. my point in sharing that with you, it's time. there were a lot of scripture quoted last week, just wonderful tributes. a lot of scripture, very poignant, very meaningful to me. and we all remembered senator pinckney's great speech that he gave from this podium about

thomas. i'm so glad we had the benefit of technology and we can pull down those screens. we finally got that one down. i notice it took a little while but we got it down. and we saw once again how he weaved in the tapestry of thomas, what he was talking about in the body camera legislation. he had just come over to my seat and thanked me, chairman of judiciary for getting a bill to come forward. and then he made that speech. and he talked about having the benefit of the scene of thomas. i cannot leave it into my comments, but i looked at senator alexander a bit ago, and i talked about he might, if you wanted to use a lot of different scripture, you could pull into

this discussion about after all these years -- seeing what is it, do we see that the senator from charleston started out today seeing? understanding about this issue that has plagued our state for so many years, what is it that we see? what would the senator from jasper if he was here, what piece of scripture would he use? acts, chapter 10 came to mind. the early church, if you think about it. the early church struggled. it struggled most? with what? going out to the gentiles. and including others with the call to the gospel. now think about if they had not have done that. think about peter's vision in chapter 10. and how previously, when he got

hungry, he would only eat that which was clean. but then after having that vision in chapter 10, he understood. his eyes were opened. in the early church, it began to disperse. it began to attract other believers. but the thing is, his eyes were opened. his eyes were opened. you know what, my eyes have been opened from that 21-year-old in the house. i see over there that i did not see him until a few minutes ago the former governor of south carolina if you would join me in welcoming the former gathering -- governor.

the honorable david beasley to the chamber. [applause] i hope you will forgive me, i don't know where senator dodd and 10 went -- darlington went. anyway the former governor and i got elected to the house together. we were both 21 years old. he has a lot more hair than i do now, but in any event, i was younger by a few months then he was. he told everybody he was younger, but that's all right. [laughter] i wanted to say this. what i meant, and i did a poor job of weaving it into my

comments, i thought about how senator pinckney had woven his comments that story of thomas. think about the development of the early church. and think about our evolution. not only as believers, but also as public servants. those of us that have had the privilege of serving, over there, over here. whether our eyes have been opened, whether we had the ability to really grasp this issue from the perspective of our minority brothers. we will talk about it when we get to the bill, i'm sure. that is why we believe, why we say what we do today, about this issue as it relates to our heritage, as it relates to

assemble that the people up of -- people of south carolina, the minority community, may be offended by. that we understand that. that we care. more importantly, as in the book of acts, that we see. that we want to see. so with that, the bill will be read across the desk. the chief sponsor may make the request. i wanted to tell you, we have looked at the bill. my staff and others have reviewed the language of the bill. and we feel like the best thing to do, rather than refer it to the committee, when it is read across the desk, is that it go without reference so that we

don't have that not or that hurdle to clear. i would ask you, regardless of how you feel about it, in order to expedite matters i can pull it out and put it on the desk when we come back. but i don't see the need for a committee meeting and judiciary and i would hope that we could let it go without reference have it on the calendar, so that it would be ready when the pro tem calls us back. i would also hope mr. president pro tem that this senate, one side or the other is going to have to go first. we can both take it up on the same date. but i would hope that the senate does meet first, and we do address this issue. i don't know that it is going to be a particular issue for the house in terms of struggle to pass it. i would hope in your

consultation with the speaker that the decision can be made for us to come on as the senator from cherokee mentioned. i think we need to do it as quickly as we can. and in keeping again with what the senator of lexington said about this week, we can't do it this week for obvious reasons. we could not give the bill but one reading today. that is the other thing for those watching. you said, you are up there a bloviating and you have all this discussion, but you have not actually done anything but the resolution. we had to do that first. the second thing to understand, we can only get one reading a day. the first reading will occur today. the next reading will occur when we meet on the next day whenever that is. we could not give it another reading if we wanted to take it up today. but with that, thank you very

much mr. president. >> that request to distribute to the members. >> without objection. senator from florence. >> since you mentioned those who watched the workings of the senate signing the amendment is huge. but what they may not understand senator, until we passed that amendment, we could not do anything. so i hope the world has to understand the senate was not sitting on his hands. >> read that bill across the desk, and if we can get it without reference, it will be placed for us to take it up -- poised for us to take up when we come back. otherwise we will certainly work with you to get it out to the floor. >> thank you.

senator from kershaw. >> i defer. >> thank you. unanimous consent to have the comments. >> without objection. the clerk will please read. >> introduction of a bill, an amendment to the code removing the flag for the statehouse and capitol complex. senator from kershaw. >> i rise for a very brief explanation. i was hoping the senator from richmond was here. but senator jackson and others you were here a decade and a half ago have heard it said before that we stand on the shoulders of those who come before us. i think today we truly stand on the shoulders of those of you who began to process that this bill will finish. this bill, getting first reading today, will remove the confederate battle flag from the line of the statehouse -- the

lawn of the statehouse, and will place it in the appropriate place. and many of you who cosponsored this place, that is in the state museum, the state confederate relic. that is what this will does. i appreciate those who cosponsored. i would ask anyone who would like to cosponsor, go to the desk and let them know. i think the president -- thank the president pro tem for allowing us to take this bill up and i look forward to debating it and i believe, passing it when we come back to this the senate. thank you, senators. >> mr. president. >> from kershaw. >> with the consent and suggestion of the senator i would ask it to go without reference to be placed. >> without objection it is so orde

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] announcer: we are asking whether or not you think the south carolina flag should be removed. from brian, if someone wants to display a racist flag on a private property, fine, but not on the public equity to -- public property. reverend clement of think they -- the funeral for clement of pinckney will be live on c-span. >> c-span gives you the best access to congress congressional hearings and news conference is, bringing you the

that shape our policy. and every morning "washington journal" is life -- live. c-span, created by america's cable companies and brought to you as a public service by your local cable or satellite provider. >> hillary clinton visited christ the king united methodist church. st week's shooting, gun background checks and the confederate flag. from road to the white house this is 90 minutes. [applause] >> somehow i'm sure all of that is not for me. [laughter] [cheers and applause]

>> just kidding. thank you for your patience. it is either really hot in here or i'm having a hot flash. we hope it will conduct a little bit. we are still in a house of prayer. will you pause with me please, for a moment of prayer. gracious god we thank you for your presence and your people that are gathered in this place. our prayer is simple, lord. open our eyes that we might see. open our years that we might hear. open our hearts, that we might receive and be changed. you are known by many names but i pray in the name i know. in the name of jesus, amen.

howard thurman is one of my favorite theologians. in one of his most known books he makes this comment. " the masses of men lived with their backs, only against the wall. they are the poor, the disinherited, the dispossessed. what is our religion say to them? for me as a preacher, that rings very shockingly true to the core of what i believe my mission is. but for us as a people, the question is still relevant. relevant. what does our nation, what does our country say to those who live with their backs against the wall? last week in

charleston, north carolina, we were reminded of what patriots can do. today we certainly continue to grieve with the lives lost there. we must also take this moment to not just focus on the one who pulled the trigger that day. on the policies, the people, and structures that are pulling the trigger daily. [applause] today we are here for a dialogue. the conversation. we hope that it is the beginning of many conversations that we will have with those who seek to

be the leader of this country. in st. louis there really is a tale of two cities. we live in a region that has some of the best education that the nation has to offer. in that same region we have children who attend unaccredited school districts. children who cannot read when they should be able to read. in this region we have health care known all over the nation. yet we have mailed in the reason

-- failed to expand medicaid. and in this region you can travel a distance of 10 miles. those 10 miles can determine the difference between misery and otherwise. we're 43rd and economic ability. we have communicated divisions in the places where we should have all of their the. there should be no question on what it means to protect and serve. no question about what it means to have justice in the. secretary clinton cannot answer

all of those russians for us today. but it is important that we don't forget the lessons. we are grateful that she has chosen to come here today, to listen so that we might be heard and to give us the opportunity to listen. so that she might be heard. i introduce to you secretary hillary clinton. [applause] secretary clinton: thank you. thank you so much, pastor tracy. thank you for welcoming me to your church. this community.

and with such powerful word. i am here to listen, also to engage in the kind of open and honest discussion that i hope is happening all at ross america. last week just a few hours before the massacre at mother emmanuel ame church, during wednesday night i will study -- bible study, i was in charleston visiting a technical school. meeting students -- black white, hispanic. who were pursuing paid internship. and learning skills. that would prepare them for the jobs of the future. i have heard their stories. i shook their hands. i have looked into their eyes.

and i saw the hope and the pride that comes from doing work that is meaningful, feeling that you matter, and that there will be a place for you. that is the basic argument our country. these young men and a few young women were doing their heart. that night word of the killing struck like a blow to the soul. how do we make sense of such an evil act? an active racist terrorism -- an act of racist terrorism perpetrated in an act of -- house of god. had we turn grief, anger, and despair into purpose and action? those of us who are christians

are challenged by jesus christ to forgive 70 times seven. a daunting, even impossible task for most of us. but then we have seen that scriptural admonition in action. isn't it amazing, remarkable even, when fear, doubt, desire for revenge might have been expected? but instead forgiveness is found. although a fundamental part of our doctrine, its practice is the most difficult thing we are ever called to do. that is what we saw on friday when one by one grieving parents , siblings and other family members looked at that young man

who had taken so much from them and said -- i forgive you. wanda simmons, the granddaughter of reverend daniel's's, said " although my grandfather and other big him's died at the hands of hate, this is proof everyone prays for your soul" she said to the killer, "so that hate wayne." their act of mercy -- so that hate won't win." their act of mercy was stunning. hate cannot win. there is no future without forgiveness, archbishop asman 22 taught us. forgiveness is the first step towards victory in any journey.

i know that it's tempting to dismiss a tragedy like this as an isolated incident. to believe that in today's america bigotry is largely behind us. that institutionalized racism no longer exists. but despite our best efforts and our highest hopes, america's long struggle with race is far from finished. we cannot hide from hard truths about race and justice. we have to name them and own them. and change them. that is why i appreciate the actions begun yesterday by the governor and other leaders of south carolina to remove the confederate battle flag from the statehouse.

recognizing it as a symbol of our nation's racist past that has those -- no place in our present for our future. it should not fly there, it should not fly anywhere. [applause] i also commend walmart or deciding to remove any product that uses it. today amazon, ebay, and sears have all that suit. i urge all sellers to do the very same. [applause] but you will know -- but you know and i know that that's just the beginning of what we have to do. the truth is equality,

opportunity, civil rights in america, they are still far from where they need to be. our schools are more segregated than they were in the 1960's. nearly 6 million young americans are out of school and out of work. think of that. the numbers are particularly high for young people of color. statistics like these are rebukes to the real progress that we have made. they pose an urgent call for us to act publicly, the, and are slowly. we should start by giving all of our children the tools and opportunities to overcome

legacies in order to live up to their god-given potential. i just also of the young attending camp. in the church. i was thrilled to see that because that is the kind of commitment that we need more of. in every church, every place until every child is reached. i learned this not from politics, but from my mother who taught me that everybody everybody needs a chance and a champion. she knew what it was like to have neither one. her own parents abandoned her. by 14 she was out on her own working as a hassle -- housemaid. years later when i was old enough to understand, i asked what kept her going. our answer was simple --

kindness along the way from someone who believed that she mattered. all lives matter. four who are -- for her was a first grade teacher who saw that she had nothing to eat at lunch and without embarrassing her brought extra food to share. the woman whose house she cleaned to agreed to let her go to high school so long as her work got done. because those people believed in her, gave her a chance, she believed in me. she taught me to believe in the potential every american. that inspired me to go to work for the children's defense fund after loss will. inspired me to work for the legal service corporation, where i defended the rights of poor people to have lawyers. i saw lives changed because an abusive marriage ended or any

legal in fiction stop. in arkansas at the law school there i supervised law students who represented clients in court and prisons. organized college scholarship funds for single-parent and led efforts for better schools and better health care. so, i know. i know what personal kindness, political commitment, and public programs can do to help those who are trying their best to get ahead. that is why we need to build an economy for tomorrow, not yesterday. you don't have to look far from the sanctuary to see why that need is so urgent. you also don't have to look far to see that talent and potential are right here if only we unleash it. i believe that the talent is universal but that opportunity is not. we need to rebuild the american

opportunity society for the 21st entry. you might ask -- how do we do that? first, start looking at the faces and the energy of the young people that i just saw downstairs. we have to start early. make sure that every four-year-old in america has access high-quality preschool. hillary clinton: those early years are when brains develop. ectomy to lifelong success. i'm the grandmother of the most amazing, extraordinary nine-year-old in history of the world. i'm saying this because i know what the evidences. i know that 80% of your brain is developed by the age of three. we have to do more. when i say we, i mean churches,

and houses of worship, i need businesses, i mean charities i mean local government. all of us need to do more. when i was first lady lady of arkansas, i struggled with this issue. we had a lot of kids in the delta and to arkansas, and up in the mountains. we were not going to be able to afford a universal pre-k program. i look for programs that people could run themselves. i found a program in israel designed to help the children of immigrants, particularly from ethiopia who came with their parents seeking with it is freedom. they were ethiopian jews, and they had to escape. many of them had never been to school. the secret to the program

called the home instruction program, was to teach the mother to teach her child. we need to do more of that. [applause] i call on all of us to find ways to reach into the families. as our kids grow up, they will need not only a good education but the skills for tomorrow's jobs. we need tax credits for businesses that invest in apprenticeships, particularly providing opportunities for economically disadvantaged young people. in order to create those new jobs, we have to attract investment as a community. it is too often ignored, or written off. whether you live in ferguson, or west baltimore. you should have the same chance as any american anywhere to get ahead, and stay ahead. [applause] hillary clinton: we should be authorized -- we offer rise the tax credit -- reauthorize the

tax credit, and small businesses in low investment areas, it should be permanent. a lot of new jobs will come from small businesses. we know that women, and people of color face extra hurdles becoming entrepreneurs. it is hard to find the support networks, it is harder to get that loan. we have to do more to knock down the barriers of every good idea can get a fair hearing, nh is to create a new business. and raise their income. [applause] we must do all we can to be sure our communities respect law enforcement. and that law enforcement respect the communities they serve. [applause] hillary clinton: we need to come together for common sense gun reform to keep our community safe. [applause]

[cheers] the key to all of this is revitalizing upper democracy and persuaded the 50 million americans who do not vote, that by not voting, they make it possible for people who do not agree with them, do not support the aspirations, to call the shots. [applause] earlier this month, i went to texas southern university to speak out against systematic efforts to get power, and disenfranchised young power -- evil -- people. we need early voting in the state, and universal voter registration. [applause] i think every young american, when they turn 18, should be universally automatically registered unless they say no. [applause]

[cheers] if we restate the fabric of our communities, we will only do so if all americans do their part. i grew up in the methodist church. my mother taught sunday school. she made sure -- she did it to keep an eye on my brothers. she was tehre to make sure they showed up. she also made sure we had the wisdom of john wesley, the founder of methodism. to do all the good you can, by although ways you can and other places you can, and all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you can. that, more than prayer -- [applause]

it meant we had to step out of the church, roll up our sleeves and get to work. i was blessed with a wonderful youth minister who took some of us into chicago to hear dr. martin luther king jr. speak. i grew up in all white middle-class suburb. i do not have a black friend, neighbor, or classmate until i went to college -- did not have a black friend, neighbor, or classmate to delay went to college. i leapt at the chance to hear dr. king's words. the sermon was titled " remaining awake. he challenged us to stay with the cause of justice. not to slumber while the world changed around us. i think that is good advice for all of us today.

we should all commit to stay away, and stay active, to be out -- do our part. never stop working for a stronger, more prosperous, more inclusive america. government has a big part of the responsibility to promote the growth, fairness, and justice. but so do all of us. in quite moments, and the days ahead, in honest conversation let's talk about what each of us can, and should do. because ultimately, this is all about the habits of our hearts, how we treat each other, how we learned this the the humanity and those around us. how we teach our children to see that humanity to. we don't have to look far for examples. those nine righteous men, and women who invited a stranger

into their midst to study the bible with them. someone who did not look like them. someone they had never seen before. their example, and their memory, show us the way. their families, their church does, as well. let us be resolved to make sure they did not die in vain. do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. thank you, and god bless you. [applause] [applause]

>> thank you for this poignant words, secretary clinton. just so everyone understands how we will do this. all my life, i wanted to be oprah. [laughter] just kidding. i like my life. we are sister churches, right across the grass from one another. when the call came for us to have this opportunity, it was important we do it together. you get two opera's -- oprahs. we have invited people we hope will share a comprehensive view of what is good about our region, what is challenging, and how they have come up with innovative ways to make a difference. because st. louis is a show me

state, it would not be complete if we did not have an opportunity for the audience to also be involved. we passed out cards ahead of time. at the end of the discussion we will choose a card, or question, and involved that as well. i thought it would start the discussion with dr. jason parnell. he has a great fan base. he is also the lead author of a comprehensive look at what is challenging in our region. talking with them first will provide a backdrop for the rest of the conversation. dr. parnell: thank you ray much, reverend blackman. hello?

is that better? thank you. thank you for a. i did want to share the work that we have been doing for the sake of all which are started as a collaboration between scholars of washington university at st. louis, and st. louis university. just over a year ago, we released this report -- a comprehensive report looking at disparities through the lens of what we call the social determinants. not just outcomes, looking at educational, economic, and residential neighborhood factors that lead to health disparities. one of the most striking out comes talk about an average region is an 18 year gap in life expectancy between two zip codes. between north st. louis city, and am really african-american, and the jeff van loon neighborhood and st. louis county, predominately white.

less than 10 miles of geography, and an 18 year gap in life expectancy. what we unpacked is what is different about various areas of our region. i started calling it the geography of any quality. what is different is unemployment rates almost four times as high for african-americans a median income that is less than half. the health outcomes that a company that, such as a baby b eing more than three times as likely to die before their first birthday. a homicide rate for african americans is 12 times as high as it is for whites into lewis county -- or st. louis city, and st. louis county. where not just focus on disparities, we are also focus on solutions and talking about

how addressing social determinants impacts everyone, regardless of their race, or socioeconomic status in st. louis. live indicated six areas. i was happy to hear you talk about early childhood. investing in high quality early childhood for all children is recommendation number one. treating economic opportunity recommendation number two. investing in coordinated school-based health care is another recommendation. investing in the full gambit of mental health services. from stigma reduction, the awareness of treatment. investing in healthy neighborhoods. so than a matter where you live in st. louis. you want to be able to find fresh fruits and vegetables. and safe places to recreate. and addressing chronic, and infectious disease prevention

and management. so, all of these factors interact but we believe there are evidence-based, and community informed solutions to these solutions. we've engage the community. we've engage local, and state policymakers. with engage business leaders. we are in the process of translating the work we did in the report into a series of discussion guides, and action toolkits. an operation called focus st. louis, to give community members tools to respond to the areas of recommendation. we just said dr. anderson come out for a community-based health and health care talk. we are very focused on what can be the entire st. louis region do to move forward. hillary clinton: i really commend you on doing this project, because i think it is

long overdue that we really dig into the data to try to understand what the disparities are, what the sources of them are, and what are some of the solutions. if all we do is complain, or criticize, without coming up with a good base of evidence, and a good set of recommendations, it is hard to build political, and public support. i want to just follow up on something you said. this is not only true in this region, between st. louis city and the county, it is true across the country. what they are doing is important because we have to put it all together from coast-to-coast. just focusing here, i think there are a number of strategies that could be deployed, that would be self-help strategies

community-based strategies neighborhoods, individual families, churches businesses, and the next step should be to look at what the contribution, everybody in the private sector, and the public sector, can make. and then put out what those contributions can be, and in lists people to start making them. for example, on early childhood. i am a big believer in programs -- they can start of his voluntary, or supported by various community organizations -- literally visiting the new mom, the new parents of every newborn. and beginning to build a relationship, and offering support. so many of these young parents don't have the families nearby. they don't always know everything they are supposed to know to take care of their babies. they don't have follow-up they

are supposed to come back to well child visits and shots, but they need somebody who can be in that home a few hours a week to show them what to do. i think we could enlist a huge number of maybe retired moms, and grandmothers, or retired nurses. people still working, but could give time during the week. we have to start at the beginning. we need to help parents understand they are there child's first teacher. they are the most important adults in that child's development. it is not only what we need to do to expand medicaid, which is so important so that people get the health care they deserve to have. other states have made that choice, i hope it will remain here. it saves states money. it helps support community, and world hospitals -- rural

hospitals. we need to assign responsibility to every sector of society then work together to get those delivered. i thank you for the overview your report gives. >> thank you very much. [applause] >> we also have dr. tiffany anderson. she is the superintendent of the school district. you can give for a hand. just a little over three years ago, we would not have thought we would still have a jennings a school district. just come in and am very innovative work, taking the school from on accreditation to exceeding accreditation standards. [applause] she has done some wonderful innovative work will stop we've asked her to share some of that today. dr. anderson: it is wonderful to

be in a place of worship, let me start out by sharing a few things that we do. i must first say, i thank god for being here, and being next to all of these wonderful people today. just being a listening here about what we really deal with. so often, we are invisible in what we say, and what we have to offer. this moment truly tells us you are not invisible in her presence. clearly. clearly. you all know i am a preacher's daughter. i will be short, because there are a lot of people on the panel. you normally see me on crossing guard duty. to do this work, and make the changes you have to make, you have to be willing to be in schools, and remember they are now the center of the community. we wanted to be church, but not every parent since their child

the church. they have to send their child to school. when you remember that then you realize you have to do all of these pieces. i will give some practical examples. if every teacher loves their children -- if any of my students, if i gave them permission to leave, we do year-round school, one of the only places we do that. [applause] dr. anderson: any of my students are in the audience, stand really quickly so i can see you. they probably did not make it in because i told they cannot leave until 2:30. [laughter] dr. anderson: with that in mind, i want to know 100% free lunch with 90% african-american students. three years ago, we were at -- you have to be a 70% to be accredited, below 50% is unaccredited. we are now at 78% as of last

year. [applause] dr. anderson: so, i thank you. ellen's show you some things about how we got here. the first thing have to know, europe to serve the whole child. let me tell you something said jennings does. it is important to know this because we have got to be the highest minority, and highs poverty in the area. we have one of the smallest budget in all of the districts. we have the lowest expenditure as well. resources or low standards should be high resources. my resources, what i hope, that it is rentable -- recoverable. you really should have a mental health screening when you come to the door. [applause] dr. anderson: everyone of our schools has a mental health

therapist. it is part of what we do. we do it for our students, and ever families. we're building the first hospital clinic. you can take those classrooms, and turn it into a hospital. we are helping to pay for the construction. it opened in january. we're the pediatrician on staff. not only will they serve jennings students, but they will serve anybody in jennings. it doesn't matter if you come to jennings, your child is my child. we are all connected in this ring. preschool funding is pretty much nonexistent. most of the districts around do not have preschools. we have preschool, it cost 60,000-80,000 dollars.

the money that i save, i able to hire a preschool in every school. you must do that. you must do that. my hope is that it will start being funded. the progress that we made, we are being innovative, but on a shoestring budget. you should not have to have almost no central office, and large class sizes that's not be the norm. that is the other piece. i will give you two other quick examples. i still believe relationships are projected district. in all of our schools, parents can wash one load of laundry for free for one hour of volunteerism. come to any pdo -- pto and you will see a packed pto because we're the only school-based food pantry.

we're the only one. it was when it just opened up in east st. louis. we give out about 8000 pounds of food a month. 30% of our staff are employees. i know we have a lot of folks here. we hired parents, and alumni. economic recycling. in less you are fed, and healthy, and have all those of the pieces, you will not achieve. i will give you a few examples, but all of you are invited to come to jennings at anytime and volunteer. you heard what she said. it goes fraud all of us. the last thing, in jennings we track ever children from birth all the way to cradle. i don't care if your private charter, we visited every school

you can imagine. we came back, and we had -- they don't funded the way the need to. our funding was cut to one parent or teacher. i am going to my trading in a couple of weeks. we have another staff member that serves that. and you're pregnant, you have your parent teacher training. you come and one of our preschools. in jennings, we teach to bang grade levels above -- two levels above. we have 100% placement. every one of my 138 babies they graduated, there placed in post secondary, and i have a council that follows them all the way through college. that is what it takes to make a difference. [applause]

>> secretary clinton, may i suggest dr. tiffany anderson for vice president. [laughter] [cheers] hillary clinton: what i was going to say, i think we have three oprahs up here. i'm so glad to talk about the whole child, and working with the whole family, and providing opportunities for parents to be involved so that they are partners with teachers, and i think what you just said, and the results you're getting should be a wake-up call. about what is needed, and i would hope that you would get more financial support for your pre-k, more financial support to do the work that is making a

difference in these children's lives. you have earned it. you've shown what it means to really take care of our kids. [applause] hillary clinton: i want you to know -- >> i want you to know i thought you'd be perfect for this because of the work she has done. we have many teachers and st. louis who are just as committed and dedicated. that story doesn't really gets told. one of the things that really strikes me about dr. anderson as when i called her about this panel, she was on the road. you don't remember? she doesn't live here. she lives in kansas, right? she drives to take care of these babies. when i call at 6:00 in the morning, she said i've been on the roads and 2:00.

that is the kind indication that we have here. -- dedication that we have here. [applause] >> you are going next, chris sorry. i'm just glad a not you. i'm just introducing you. this -- he's with beyond housing. he is beyond housing. they don't just create affordable housing, they do a comprehensive community development. if there is single thread that you are hearing run through each of these persons, it is that we cannot silo people. we cannot only address one issue.

we have to look at holistically what is impacting our communities, and our individuals, and our families. we wanted to share about his initiative that looks at the whole family. chris: it is an honor to be here. a note to myself -- never follow dr. anderson ever again. i thank you for hearing our collective stories about our work here. you said earlier we have a lot of solutions. how do we take them to scale? we are a place based developed organization. it is in normandy. we are -- we believe in the notion that home matters. home was a place for you come home to every night, it is also delight in and around where you live. if we will take care of our families and take care of our children, we have to recognize what happened. we think you should focus on how

things helped. do all of those together, and say how do they connect. you heard dr. anderson talk about a lot of point of connectivity. but how you support the family. we support the notion. what we have done with 24 small little cities, yes, we work with all of them, try to help them get better. we said is, we're driven by your voice. we believe in a revolving circle. the community has all the answers, all we have to do is listen. for the last five years, we have done a variety of things. we invested over $50 million in our community. we build new homes to add to our rental portfolio. we bought an rehabbed housing.

can we change the bill environment -- the build environment? my neighborhood is getting a little bit better. yes, the housing is important, but if that is all we do, we will still fail. less like at economic development. the community told us we haven't had a grocery store for over 50 years. who would love a new grocery store. four years ago, we were able to build a 60,000 square foot lot -- 16,000 square foot lot. the average increase of sales over the four-year. is averaging 9% per year. what is important, the average increase of other places is less than 2%. our folks know, good, healthy affordable food is good. folsk -- folks have to eat, right

now we have a movie theater under construction. you can staffing will week later, that is good. i invite you to the grand opening in october as well. a lot of times we struggle with the basics. that is not what a thriving community looks like. you have to have other things, like entertainment. we have a two story community services building. we believe i retail opportunities. how do we build a sense of community? how do we make sure we are driving resources? we are partnering with the normandy school district. that is struggled mightily for a whole host of reasons. we worked with united for children, they worked with our license pre-k, our role is to

given the resources to say to those mom-and-pop providers how can we help you provide better services for our little ones? how to make sure they're ready for the first day of kindergarten? invest in our little ones. do that, and they will be successful. when they get to kindergarten, every kindergartner has received a college savings gap of $500. we have over 800 kids with college savings account already. after this next school year, we will have over 1000 children. we will tell them that you can go to college. it is just a matter of where you will go to school. we also have a program called viking advantage. child and their families save a

dollar, we match it with three, to pay for college. some of the may graduate. what we found out is, we're at about 80% persistence rate of kids staying in college. the hard part is finishing. 85% of our kids are finishing and graduating. how do we drive resources in a very intentional way to say that you can be great, you can live your dreams, and our job at adults is to support you along the way? we have 300 per dissuading and walking cup -- clubs, cooking clubs, and others. if you don't feel good, the rest of life is complicated. how do we get people to be healthier? how do we get them to say i want a better life, and how can we

invest in it? we like to get stuff done. we like to build things. we also want to provide programs, and support programs. we run st. louis is only freedom school will stop it is an absolutely fantastic program. at the end of the day, we believe one of the hardest things for folks understand is this notion that community building happens at the speed of trust. how can you be in community over, and over again and be with folks during the good times and not so good times? ribbon breaking's are great, but the real work cap and stay in and day out. the real work happens with this idea of kindness. no matter what it will take, we are not going away. we will stay with you.

we will make sure your child's life is successful. [applause] hillary clinton: i am certainly picking up a theme from our panelists. that is -- we need comprehensive approaches to these issues. if we continue to silo evil, to just work in certain channels. we will not be as successful as we could be. as you heard from the diagnosis, and the recommendations from the study to what is being done in one school district that faces a lot of challenges. community building is really at the heart of what you are doing. i think sometimes when people hear our three panelists, they get excited, but then they say

-- who is going to do that? that is complicated. how do you break down the bureaucratic barriers, and get more people involved to produce these outcomes? that is a challenge. it is clearly a surmountable challenge. if more developers cared about building communities, rather than buildings we would have more people doing exactly what you are doing. what we need to do is all be apostles -- missionaries for this viewpoint. it try to get more people to think like what you are hearing. then try to take it to scale. if it works in jennings, if it works in normandy, let's make sure it keeps working. let's move from there to provide more support for more people to do exactly what you have heard.

this is very exciting. before i came here, i did not know about any of this. i think it is important, whether running for president, or just being a person, that you listen. try to learn from the frontlines. doing the hard work, making a difference, i have to thank you for giving me a lot of great ideas about what others can do as well. [applause] >> along that line, i want to acknowledge our treasurer, with the stand please? [applause] in the city of st. louis, just develop the same kind of college savings plan that chris talked about. every child entering kindergarten in the city of st. louis will receive a college

account of $50 given by the city. it is a new program that she is in charge of. i will quote her from a place we were together yesterday. she said if st. louis can find the millions of dollars necessary to build a new football stadium -- [applause] [cheers] >> 418 that doesn't want to be here -- for a team that doesn't even want to be here, we can certainly find money for our children. i want to salute her. [applause] >> they gave me some leeway with these first three rows, so i padded them. >> one of the recommendations is universal child development.

we know from experimental work in the state of oklahoma that the children who have these have better outcomes than children that don't. they have higher expectations for the children. we have been working with treasurer jones, and a very proud of what just been doing. i think we can do that as a region. we will work towards that. [applause] hillary clinton: i think it is important to look at what city under the leadership of the treasurer is doing, and what some states are doing. i have to tell you, traveling around the country talking about universal pre-k, i get to a point where i say -- probably to state that is leading the country in providing universal

pre-gay is oklahoma -- three -- pre-k is oklahoma. therefore, it seems to me that it is a good idea. a good idea to talk to political leaders. my goodness, if oklahoma can do it, certainly missouri can do it. [applause] it will >> it was important on this panel that we don't gloss over the fact that we have serious challenges here. those challenges are rooted in the foundational fact that this nation -- racism. it showed its way on august 9 when michael brown died. our next panelist is the ceo of teach for america here in st.

louis. he is also a progressive fighter for justice. because of her position, she was chosen to be part of the president's task force on policing. though she does become of many things, i will ask her to speak to this divide, and the need for police, and community reform. [applause] >> i greatly appreciate the opportunity, and the invitation. i will willingly say that this seat that i occupy to be occupied by many in this movement. young people in particular. i want to acknowledge that because i come to you with lessons i have learned of the streets, and through ferguson, and through the classroom. also some ideas. the first lesson was a clarification about what

leadership is. i was able to codify this definition paying very close attention to what young people dead in ferguson. i figured out the leadership is proximal it maintains closeness of the issue without fear of retribution. it is consistently truthful, about mistakes, truthful about the facts. that leadership keeps showing up regardless of how dangerous it is. lastly, the real leadership is unapologetic. when me know what is right, we continue to fight for it. [applause] i will say as i have audience with you, not only is that the kind of leadership we have seen in ferguson, and cleveland and all around the country. that is the kind of community we will continue to demand from our public servants. [applause]

it is also critically important to recognize, as an educator, when young people show up and display the credit leadership, with all due respect it's not require an organization. they already possessed those assets. if you look at our young people, as full beings, who have a great deal to offer the world. think about what they have to give us, then we can learn those kind of lessons. [applause] so, community programming is important, church programming is important, and yet, we cannot program children out of poverty. if we could, we would not still be in the situation. i come to you with that lesson, to say that we are having a policy discussion i am told that policy decisions match the

efforts of across the region. [applause] the other thing that i know that august 9 confirmed for me, is that kids can learn if they are dead. all of the conversations we are having about education are poor naught if they end up like michael brown, or tamir rice. so, as much as i will have a conversation that is rooted in my experience as a educator, it is also the idea is that anyone needs to lead that young person. three things the first is what we call responsible leadership,

the idea that you're seeing a child as their full cells -- self if a child is from ferguson or jennings, bosnia, mexico, they bring unique skill sets to be world. layered onto what officers do we are constantly have any conversation about being anti-biased. we are not just talking about mindsets, we are also talking about knowledge and skills. number one, mindsets, not only should we do you training people away from bias, we should be setting a hiring standard. there should be a minimum bar of anti-racist mindset that officers and teachers should come into the classroom with.

there are also things like diversifying the teaching force and police force. we know that 2% of teachers are african-american men. at teach for america we have done things like half of our incoming teachers are people of color. it is possible to find these folks, we also have to make sure we are getting behind structural diversity. when you talk about getting beyond mindsets, we talk about knowledge and skills. knowledge is built by immersion. we are in our fifth week of teaching teachers right now, not only are they teaching summer school right now, they are getting rigorous training, we are also sending them on home visits. where also sitting them down to learn every seat -- feet of

elders. if we actually ensure that knowledge comes not just from a textbook, the college of education, but actually immersing ourselves in the community, and learning from the people who have been continuing to build that community, we can build that knowledge base. the last thing is skilled, that has to continuously be developed. it has to be that we are consistently evaluating people raised on their skills. when a teacher is doing well they should be rewarded, when a teacher is not doing well, they should be coached to figure out if they can do well, and if they cannot, there are lots of different occupations. the same with a police officer. until we have very clear data about officers records --

officer's records in the communities they serve, it is impossible to make that decision. [applause] the second point, i appreciate you have continued to the national conversation about the personal -- prison industrial complex. if we examine that, we have to go back to its roots. not only can we create national level policy to incentivize the police officer and teacher training i am talking about, we can also do it with the decline of disparaging officer issues. if your first interaction is negative, you have now learned the lesson that you should be internalizing the idea that something is wrong with you, we know it can happen -- we know what could happen.

we should never be dooming children to a future of criminalization when they are only eight, nine years old. [applause] again, policy structures and incentivizing in a different way to support issues in schools. if we change punitive measures in schools to actually align with restorative justice framework, and people can learn how to channel anger, and actually move through the world in a thoughtful and professional way, then we are not only empowering them to escape a life of crime, we are also empowering them to be full citizens. [applause] the last piece that i will say is that this work is not finished. i was a member of the president's task force, i am a member of the ferguson commission, i am a proud educator yet, until these

things go from being on paper to actually being the living, breathing constitutional rights of every citizen in this country, and the laws that are actively passed by ira government -- our government, we will not see full-scale change. we still need special prosecutors with officer involved shootings. we still need police departments and governments to a knowledge the trust that has been continuously broken and communities. we cannot move forward unless we are consistently incentivizing treatment for all public servants. i appreciate the opportunity, i appreciate so much the effort that has been made in the community with our teachers last year they made 1.5 years in growth in reading and math in a year.

we clearly said in less your classroom is academically rigorous and culturally responsible, you are not meeting the standards. we know that the proof is in the pudding, my hope is that policy and structural solutions will match the good work you have seen today. [applause] hillary clinton: excellent. [applause] >> we intentionally asked some activist and some on the grounds to be with us today. would you stand? [applause] i asked them to stand, secretary, so you can see

unlike what the media represents, we are intergenerational, it is faith people and people of not -- who are not of any faith, all races, we are in this together, we are not going away. [applause] hillary clinton: i would expect nothing less. i appreciate britney's important statement about structural and policy differences. this has to be approached on many levels, but you also have to embed the structural and policy changes, and support systems, so that when you go one-on-one, whether it is with teachers, or law enforcement

officers, or any other member of the community who has a lot of contact with and power over their fellow members of the community you can do it too great success with a group of people, but if you not -- if you do not continue it and the same lessons are not passed down year after year in 25-30 years you are back to where we are today. i am more hopeful today than discouraged. i know how hard this is. i thank you for serving on the police commission appointed by the president. i know certainly he is doing every thing he can to try and put the policy and the appropriations power behind incentivizing these changes. it has to continue. one of the challenges in the country is because of our

differences, political for sure partisan for sure. geographic differences, we have a different -- a lot of different communities around the country with different needs and perceptions, experiences. we are not as good as we need to be on persisting and continuing changes that we know work. you know britney, from your experience as an educator, you can turn a school around, but unless you change the mindset the behavior, the knowledge, the skills of the people who will be in that school after you leave it has no staying power. our challenge is number one, to do the work to create better outcomes, to chair that -- share that, and sustain it. you cannot do that without systematic and policy changes and incentives. it goes back to the point of the

neighborhood building, the new markets tax credit is something my husband started. it has revitalized poor and distressed communities, it has made a huge difference and the congress let it expire. it did not matter how much evidence there was, if this was a tool to help people in st. louis, and many other places around the country and less there is a strong basis of words -- base of support, political and vocal, to keep things at work, we are just on the hamster wheel. what you heard from the panelists and pastors is we have opportunity, shame on us if we do not see the. -- if we do not seize it. that's what i think we have to be doing right now. [applause]

>> thank you. i am looking for greg, i need a time check, honey questions can we take? -- how many questions can we take? this works. how many? >> the first question asked -- asks, considering mass incarceration and its affects, what policy changes you pursue to reverse the trend, and how committed will you be to healing past injustices? hillary clinton: it comes to families and the strength of families. one of the four pillars of my

campaign is to do all i can to strengthen families. without strong families, you will not have a strong america. one of the key problems facing african-american families is the disparity in sentencing, is the mass incarceration for nonviolent offenses and other minor problems that should be diverted away from the formal criminal justice system. i gave a speech about this a few weeks ago in new york, i am very committed to this. when you look at the numbers they are daunting. it is clear that there is disparity in identifying children, starting from the earliest ages with a heavy prejudice against black children. you have two kids who are acting

out in school, as i remember, all kinds of kids act out, the challenge is how you change their behavior and support them and get them on the right track. when you get -- when you start at the early age labeling kids as troublemakers, it becomes a self filling prophecy. -- self fulfilling prophecy. we have to get to a true juvenile justice system as opposed to what we have now. that is another funnel into the adult is an system. we have to do more to set up the criteria so that african-american men are not sent to prison for doing the same thing that a white man of the same age, the same background, the same jurisdiction does. [applause]

i believe we can do all of this in a way that still keeps neighborhood safe. i've had a couple people say to me, if you send people -- if you don't send people to jail, what we get a bad crime rate? that's not how it works. we of course would keep violent people in jail. we cannot expect to avoid because consequences of mass incarceration at the rate we now have -- rates we now have. we cannot support a system that makes money off of mass incarceration. [applause] as well as making money off of immigrant incarceration. there are two different parts of this industry. i want is to have a open

conversation, look at what is working in some places, and begin to use the federal government as an incentive to make people in local, state jurisdictions change the way that they go about imposing criminal justice. i know everything we are talking about takes time. it takes persistence. we have to start somewhere. i intend to tackle this problem. it causes great hardship for so many communities, and it is not fair. i think we can do better on all of those accounts. [applause] >> tying this all together, we want you to be aware that as a part of this commission we get a lot of data, one of the things that has kept me up at night is the data that says in 2014 there

were 1100 black children since from schools to the juvenile system. in that same year there were only 63 white children who had that same result. i again say that this is a race issue, even though we don't want talk about it. it brings me to the next question -- >> in terms of what you just said, that whole school to prison pipeline really seems like there was a big report about dissension. the rate in which african-american students are suspended and put out of school as early as kindergarten. in fact it was preschool, there were some districts suspending preschools.

some of the rationales were things like i cannot afford another alternative. it does become a mindset peace. personally that is not a belief i have some education is supposed to be the one thing you don't take away. that becomes a mindset in terms of how you adjust the adult behavior. the cycle of oppression is so ingrained that people naturally do those kinds of things. when students come out of jail there is no -- or juvenile, they come back to high school there's nothing in between, no counseling. we have a program where they go there first, get mental health counseling, and then transition. giving support and resources unfortunately the mindset for

the teachers, leaders -- for our leaders, that has to change. that piece is huge. when we start talking about what needs to change. when our teacher the first day they go on a home visit. for our leaders, we give them racism training -- dismantling racism training. for every president at seamus -- -- for every principle it should almost be required. hillary clinton: when you're talking about what you have done in jennings, you'd mentioned that you had mental health and other health care programs, i think that is key. a lot of teachers -- i agree completely that race is a big part of that. in some communities it is also

economic disparities. they have been for, they will always be poor, they are behaving poorly, we don't want them. we know that, people carry prejudices. i think it is fair to say that a lot of our kids are coming to school with heavy challenges. poverty is toxic. family disruption is toxic. violence in the neighborhood is toxic. a lot of little kids have developed all kinds of anxiety and depression and all sorts of problems that are not being tended to. you have provided your teachers, and addition to the training and accountability that you want to invest, you have also provided them with an alternative. if they see that child acting up, acting out, unable to sit down, unable to behave, rather than see it as a behavior

problem, see it as a health problem. see it as a environmental -- and environment problem -- an internal problem. a big problem is lead paint poisoning. we have so many kids affected by the time they are in third grade, their iq has been dramatically reduced because they have led in their brains -- lead in their brains. you have to provide alternatives. the numbers you just gave, the disparity is truly a wake-up call. there were -- there will be kids of all races who have the best of intentions, the best trained teachers will have a problem with some of these kids. the vast majority of need something besides being thrown out of